Confessions of a teen queen: Lindsay Lohan is starring in two new films, she has real-life drama with her hook-up Aaron Carter, and Hilary Duff wants to kick her butt.

It's early morning on a Wednesday in February, and Lindsay Lohan already has everyone at the photography studio under her thumb. Whatever Lindsay wants, Lindsay gets. If she doesn't like something, an employee being paid to keep Lindsay happy is nearby to make sure the offensive whatever-it-is exits her personal space.

Lindsay was an in-demand child actress (that was her in The Parent Trap and Life-Size), and now she's one of the hottest teen stars on the planet, which may go a long way in explaining why she has people at her beck and call.

Its just 11 a.m., but Lindsay is having a craving for a McDonald's Happy Meal. No prob--a staffer runs out.

Lindsay doesn't like most of the clothes the stylist offers her. OK, Lindsay picks the outfits herself.

And when Jessica Simpson's "With You" is swapped out for Justin's "Senorita," an assistant hyper-speeds to the stereo to school the GL staffer (who dared to touch that dial) with a firm, "Lindsay prefers Jessica." It's not a request.

At first, this Lohan's Law thing is a total turn-off. Ten minutes in the company of Lindsay and her entourage, which includes a personal assistant, an icy publicist and her always-in-tow friend Natalie, and immediately there is a feeling that this actress is a real-life Drama Queen.

Fast-forward a week. GL has Lindsay on the line.

"Thank you so much for talking with me!" Lindsay chirps. "You were the girl with the reddish-blonde hair at the shoot. I remember you. How are you? I hope you know that I did have a lot of fun at that photo shoot." That wasn't glaringly obvious, no. "As you get older, you have to surround yourself with people who make you feel comfortable so you can find the confidence you need," she continues. "It's a matter of trust. My sister ... I want her to understand. A lot of what I do, I do for my sister. Because once I grow up, I can't go back to these teen roles, these high school roles where the characters are learning to be themselves."

At this point, we'll admit we're tempted to push the spoiled-diva image, the too-easy "teenage drama queen" angle we have of Lindsay so we can headline this story with a movie-title tie-in ... but we can't.

Get her away from anything resembling a Hollywood scene (like a photo shoot), and Lindsay's ... nice. She's articulate and sweet, even warm. Maybe the whole her-way-or-the-highway thing is something all those people around her think they're supposed to cater to.

When you get Lindsay one on one, she's not demanding or spoiled. Look closer, and you see a pretty 17-year-old girl, who probably sounds a lot like your best friend.

She's a teenager who loves to talk about fashion and is constantly checking her T-mobile. She's just moved into her first apartment with Raven (yes, "That's So Raven" Symone), and she loves to dance.

So, come to think of it, Lindsay was confident at the shoot, an event where as many as a dozen people were staring at her, basically searching for flaws so the camera wouldn't catch anything less than cover-perfect. That's probably a scary trip for anyone.

"I'm not as hard on myself as I used to be," she says. "But that's what happens when you're growing up--you don't like things about yourself that much. I didn't like my body or my freckles or my red hair. I still don't like my freckles that much--they just bug me.

"My friends have that skin, that flawless, no-freckles skin. Mine is just an annoyance to me. I don't even like to lay out because I worry I'll get more freckles. But then I think, 'Suck it up and have fun.' Who wants to sit around thinking about what they don't like about their looks?"

Some girls totally dig sitting around thinking about their looks, and usually it's these girls that tend to pass judgment on others.

This kind of "reality" is defined by who they believe is the cutest and who has the best clothes, coolest haircut or even the hottest boyfriend. It's ugly, catty and cold and the very foundation of Lindsay's new movie, Mean Girls.

"I would define a 'mean girl' as someone who doesn't think about other people's feelings," Lindsay says. "Mean people are really insecure people. You can't change them or the way they act. They're just mean. They care about themselves, and doing or getting what they want."

In Mean Girls, Lindsay plays Cady, the new girl who finds herself in an all-out girl-gets-boy war with the meanest clique at her high school--the "plastics."

So why do girls go head to head over superficial issues? "Girls go through a lot in high school, especially who their friends are, who they're going to get along with or not get along with," Lindsay explains. "All my characters deal with this--I think most girls deal with this. It's hard but you gotta just take people with a grain of salt. Life is way too short."

In Lindsay's off-screen life, she's had to deal with her share of people who don't get her, specifically Hilary Duff: Hilary has even put out to the press that she doesn't like Lindsay.

It's been all over the tabloids that Lindsay and Hilary Duff "hate each other" because of, (surprise, surprise), a guy. We knew about this before we met her, so maybe that's yet another reason we misunderstood Lindsay.

At the risk of perpetuating a stupid situation, we'll just give you a quick summary: Basically, Lindsay got caught in the middle of popstar Aaron Carter's on-and-off relationship with Hilary Duff.

Lindsay thought Aaron liked her, so she dated him. But word has it he was still seeing Hilary. All three ended up at the premiere of Hil's hit Cheaper by The Dozen and things got, um, tense. Lindsay's people reportedly did what they do, which is lay down Lohan's Law. Hilary then told reporters Lindsay was mean to her.... Hmm, where do studio execs get their ideas for these crazy teenage film plots?

"People assume I'm a certain way without even knowing me," Lindsay says (OK, we're feeling super guilty). "Like, 'Oh, she thinks this,' or, 'She's like that.' I try to ignore it. If you say something back, it just drags the situation out, and people feed off it."

But that's how it can go when the "image" you give people is different from your real self, your authentic self. And maybe this is something Lindsay will have to manage throughout her career or--at least, for now.

Before the subject doses, we had to ask: How far would she go for a guy? "Not very far. If somebody likes you then he likes you. You don't have to try so hard, and you definitely don't have to take people down in the process." OK then.

The Girl As Drama Queen

Right now, Lindsay is at a multi-plex near you in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. It's a fabulous role for her because she gets to try on lots of different characters and exercise her years-in-the-biz acting chops.

Lindsay agrees that girls are drama queens. Lindsay says she considers herself a girl's girl because she loves the color pink and her favorite movie is Breakfast at Tiffany's. Something not so girly about Lindsay? She has an affection for the guitar. Not that girls aren't great on guitar--it's just stereo-typically a guy thing. "I learned guitar for Freaky Friday," she says. "I like playing, and I wanna keep playing."

This could be why Lindsay has decided to record her own CD, a career move that mirrors Hilary. "I want it to be hip-hop rock, like stuff you'd hear in a club, because that's me every night. I think life's too short to stay home. I like to go out. Me and my friends go to dinner, then we go dancing. We always have fun."

Always? Is there ever drama with her real-life girlfriends? "I'm so happy with the friends I have now," she says. "I get into little arguments, and I have moments where I don't trust them, but that's how friendships are. You have to argue." About what? "Probably boys. We're always talking about boys, and why they act certain ways."

When we tell Lindsay that not all friendships involve arguing or mistrust, she doesn't worry about it. And perhaps she shouldn't. As for Raven? "I actually haven't seen the apartment yet! We met at the Fruity Fair photo shoot and she mentioned she wanted an apartment, and I said I did, too. Raven's really cool. She's really honest, and I like that. She's kind of mature, and she's grown up around adults, like me, so we'll mesh well."

Since the Raven-Lindsay household hasn't actuary happened yet, we ask Lindsay to talk about the one person who will always understand her, her beloved little sister Aliana.

"My sister is just hysterical," Lindsay says brightly. "One night my mom was out to dinner, and I couldn't get in touch with her. So I called home and said, 'Ali, where's mom? Do you know when she's coming back?' Ali said 'no.' I said 'Ali, it's midnight, why are you still awake?' She said 'I'm hanging out with my friend watching TV--what's your problem? Mommy's a big girl. She can do whatever she wants and be out late, so snap-snap, girl friend, and get over it!' The things she says! It's like she's 25. She'll be so mad when she reads that, but she'll love it."

With the exception of her little sister, we still think Lindsay has the world under her thumb ... but not in the same way as the first day we met her. Hey, nobody can deny that she's a big deal in the world of teen films. She's been around since she was practically a toddler and is likely to stick around for the long haul.

So while her professional people might sandpaper everyone else in their path, we'll just have to chalk it up to the fact that they're convinced they've got a very important job to do. Which is, basically, to make sure Lindsay Lohan is comfortable so she can do what she does best--be the reigning Queen of Teen.

Is the feud over?

Maybe Valentine's Day put Lindsay in the mood for love and peace. Over the long Feb. 14 weekend, Lindsay was telling pals how she wished the feud between her and Hilary would come to an end. A couple days later on TRL. Damien Fahey asked Lindsay to reveal the one thing she'd like to get out in the open. Lindsay suddenly blurted. "I love you, Hilary Duff!" She then went on to explain that she wished the animosity between her and Hilary would end, saying, "I have no problem with her, Maybe she has a problem with me but I don't think she should." But, as of press time, Hils wasn't going out of her way to show Lindsay the love back.