It's a sunny California day in early February, and I am rushing to meet Kylie Jenner outdoors at the Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village, near Malibu. I am anxious because we have never met, I am beyond late (my flight out of New York was five hours delayed), and most of all, because our conversation is being filmed for Keeping Up with the Kardashians as part of a larger story line on Kylie's Teen Vogue cover shoot. It's been years since filming The Hills, and my reality sound-bite skills are rusty.

A gorgeous Kylie emerges from the gated pool area in a cropped but conservative long-sleeve gray sweater and high-waist trousers, with jet-black extensions flowing to her lower back. I am struck by the ironic realization that we actually know very little about this superfamous 17-year-old, whose every movement is documented by paparazzi and social media. It seems that each day brings a new Jenner-Kardashian drama. And lately her father, Bruce Jenner, is taking his turn in the vicious news cycle. Kylie herself has graduated from kid sis to an influencer whose fame rivals that of her sisters. Does the relentless spotlight rattle her?

What's remarkable about Kylie is that she seems to (masterfully!) both reveal and conceal herself to her 19-million-plus Instagram followers, which is, of course, a canny way to hold the public's interest and keep us coming back for more. I feel like I have seen a million (thoroughly critiqued) images of her face and body, but I have no idea what she is thinking. However, nothing about Kylie in person suggests that she is remotely calculating. She is sweet, accommodating, polite, überprofessional. (After all, she did start her working life at age 9, on the show.) Endearingly, she says "all righty" a lot. Her voice is soft, and she has a vulnerable, childlike quality, despite her pointy, femme fatale manicure and row of fluttery false eyelashes.

With most celebrity interviews, you talk about work—their movies, their music, their modeling career—and that hopefully leads to insights about their personal life, which they tend to share in carefully considered tidbits. With Kylie, it's the opposite: You start with her personal life because that is her work. And even though we have all been invited to voyeuristically peer into her world on TV, it still feels presumptuous to conclude that we "know her."

It seems like we kinda know her, but not so much. She's got quite a few surprises up her sleeve; she definitely knows how to keep a secret; and she never says more than she wishes the whole world to know. As it turns out, baby sister is clever and in control.

KYLIE WANTS TO BE A MOM ONE DAY.

"Having sisters is the best. I have a different relationship with each of them. I go to Kim for fashion advice, Khloé is always boy and family advice, and Kourtney is like another mother to me. It's so fun being an aunt. When I look to the far future and decide to have kids, I need to have a million girls. Ten years from now—in 2025—I hope I have a kid."

SHE TAKES HER GLAM SERIOUSLY...UNLESS SHE DOESN'T.

"I never really wear makeup unless I need to, because when I do my makeup I like toreally do my makeup. So I'm never going to spend just 20 minutes, you know? A good night out is, like, two and a half hours for full makeup, curling hair, whatever. I love false lashes—individuals, strips, extensions."

STILL, THOSE MAKEUP-FREE SELFIES ARE SUPERPOPULAR.

"Yeah, I've realized people really like my no-makeup selfies."

BECAUSE SHE LOOKS SO GREAT!

"Oh, thank you." [I cannot pry another word out of her on this hot topic of her appearance—not one!]

SHE WAS THINKING OF GOING BLONDE A MONTH BEFORE KIM DEBUTED HER PLATINUM HAIR AT PARIS FASHION WEEK.

"I just love my hair colors. Like now, I'm even sick of my hair. I need to change it. I haven't been blonde in a while—I might go lighter for summer." [By March, Kim has beaten her to the look, so I am not sure what we can expect from the spokesperson for Kylie Hair Kouture by Bellami Hair. Stay tuned.]

KYLIE BOUGHT A HOME FOR MORE THAN $2 MILLION IN CALABASAS, CALIFORNIA.

"I'm moving out when I turn 18. I'm ready to live on my own. It's a really big step, but I'm ready. I wanted a house near my family in a quiet neighborhood with a front yard and a backyard that my dog will like. Also, I have so many shoes, and none of them fit in my old closet."

THE WORLD FOLLOWS KYLIE. KYLIE FOLLOWS OLD BOYFRIENDS.

"I can't say who I'm really obsessed with. [laughs] I follow all these fashion blogs that are cool and inspire me. I'm not really obsessed with anyone except for the people that I like romantically. I get excited when they post. Sometimes I like to stalk my exes."

KYLIE READS THE COMMENTS.

"Today I posted my Instagram picture three different times. I kept deleting it and re-posting it because I kept looking at the comments and they were bad comments. And I was like, "Ahhh!" and I kept re-posting it. The people who take the time to write these comments are so mean and hateful, like they just want to come at you and hurt you."

BUT THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO SAY NICE THINGS, TOO.

"Right. And you can read 1,000 nice comments but remember the mean one. I think you should only really listen to what your family and your close friends say. I try to let it go in one ear and out the other and just stay positive."