Shooting Star

by Rowan Coleman

  “No, you haven’t actually,” I said.

  “Well, I should have,” Sean said.

  “No, you shouldn’t,” I said, peering down the hall, first one way and then the other.

  “But why?”

  “Because.” I turned round quickly to find that Sean was standing right behind me and that if he hadn’t been a few centimetres taller than me we would have been standing nose to nose. As it was we were standing my nose to his chin. Reluctantly I looked up at him and he smiled down at me.

  “Let’s just go,” I said, backing out into the hall, because despite the high likelihood that I would bump into an adult or a friend, it seemed like the safest option just then.

  The adults were all outside sitting around the pool, and Nydia, Gabe and Anne-Marie were still watching the film, so it was easy enough for us to sneak out.

  Sean had called a cab company and asked them to pick us up on the corner of the street. As we walked down the road the whole of Hollywood was laid out beneath us, as if the world had turned upside down and the sky full of stars had been laid at our feet.

  “One of those twinkling lights belongs to your father,” I said to Sean.

  “I know,” Sean said quietly.

  “Sean, he was really, really horrible to you,” I said. “Are you sure you want to see him?”

  “I think so,” Sean said, and just as the cab pulled up to the curb he picked up my hand and held it, not letting go for the whole of the journey.

  “Can you wait for us?” Sean asked the driver. He’d been careful not to be Sean Rivers superstar in the car. He switched that part of himself off, like I’d seen him do so many times before. People would walk past him and look at him, and they might think they knew him from somewhere, but they wouldn’t know where. But Sean wanted the taxi to wait, and taxis don’t wait around for just any old teenager, so I watched in awe as he switched Sean Rivers back on when we got out.

  “Sure, I’ll wait for you, Sean,” the driver said. “My daughter loves you. Will you give me your autograph?”

  “No problem,” Sean said.

  He’d let go of my hand briefly as he gave the driver some money and his signature, but as we turned to face the offices of the Pat Rivers Talent Agency he grabbed it again. It felt strange, my hand in his. Sean and I had been friends for ages now. He often put his arm around me or gave me a hug. It never once seemed strange, or made me feel funny. Of course he was holding my hand. He was nervous about seeing his dad and he wanted the support of a good friend, of me. Sean didn’t know that for some reason holding hands with him was making my stupid heart race at a million miles an hour. And as long as he never knew that I supposed it didn’t matter. I’d just have to hope I didn’t die of a heart attack before we’d finished visiting his dad.

  Sure enough the lights were still on in the agency and there was even a very tired, bored-looking receptionist sitting behind a glass desk in the foyer.

  “Sean.” I pulled him back just as he was about to walk into the office.

  “Yes?” He looked at me.

  “Well, your dad’s been right here all along, this address has been in the Yellow Pages all along. You could have looked him up on the Internet, or phoned him any time. But you didn’t. So why now?”

  Sean looked up at his father’s name displayed in pulsating lights over the doorway. “I miss him, Ruby,” he said almost apologetically.

  “He bullied you!” I said.

  “I know, and I hated him for that, but he’s my dad. We were together a long time. I hate him, but I love him and I miss him. I want a dad around. You get that, don’t you?”

  I nodded. I did get that. When my mum and dad split up, the worst thing about it was Dad not being at home any more. His shoes weren’t at the bottom of the stairs; his toothbrush wasn’t in the bathroom. It took a really long time to get used to the fact that he was still my dad, only he didn’t live in the same place. He told terrible jokes and wore clothes that were far too young for him, but he’d never hit me, or forced me to do something I didn’t want to. At the end of the day, I supposed, a dad is a dad, and you love the one you’ve got even if he’s not very nice.

  “Come on then,” I said, squeezing Sean’s fingers. “Let’s go in.”

  “Hi,” Sean said to the receptionist, who barely glanced at him over the top of her magazine as we walked up. “Can I see Pat Rivers, please?”

  “By appointment only,” she said gruffly. “And we don’t represent kids any more.”

  “OK,” Sean said, “but I’m not here for an agent. I’m his son – he’s my dad. I’m Sean Rivers.”

  The receptionist dropped her magazine. “Oh my…” She looked from Sean to me, and then back at Sean again. Holding eye contact with Sean as if she were afraid that he might vanish if she blinked, she picked up the phone and pressed a button.

  “I know you didn’t want to be interrupted, Pat, but your son Sean is in reception.”

  She put the phone down and smiled at us, her lips stretched wide across at least twice the amount of teeth that an average person has.

  “He says go right up,” she said. “Second floor, turn right.”

  “Son!” Sean let go of my hand the instant he saw his dad, probably mostly because Mr Rivers enveloped him in a huge hug. He held Sean pinned to him for quite a long time. When he let go, Sean was red in the face.

  “I knew you’d come back to me. I knew that soon you’d realise all that business, it was nothing really. So I got a little obsessed, I know that now. I worked you too hard. I tried to get you to your full potential before you were ready. But I knew that once you’d had some time to think you’d see that you need me.”

  Sean blinked. “Hi, Dad,” he said.

  “Well, let’s not stay here,” Pat Rivers exclaimed. “There’s a place down the street that does the best ice-cream milkshakes in California. Let’s go celebrate!”

  He looked at me as if he’d only just realised I was there.

  “Ruby Parker,” he said, his smile fading just a little bit. “Can I buy you a milkshake too?”

  “Yes please,” I said, even though I just wanted to jump back in the cab and go home.

  “Well, come on then, kids,” Pat Rivers said.

  We got in the cab that was waiting for us and drove around the corner to the diner. Sean’s dad didn’t stop talking the whole way. Sean still hadn’t got a word in edgeways by the time we arrived.

  “So how is this going to work?” Pat said as we all sat down. “How do you want to relaunch yourself? To be honest, son, there are so many things that you could do – the world is your oyster. I must get ten calls a week asking me if you would consider a project. All you have to do is say what you want and you will get it, no questions asked.”

  “Actually, Dad,” Sean took a sip of his chocolate milkshake, “I didn’t really come over because of work. I made out that I was coming over to screen-test for Spotlight!…”

  “I heard that!” Mr Rivers exclaimed. “But I knew it couldn’t be true because if you were ready to start working again you’d have come to me first. Still, you’re here now and that’s what counts.”

  “The thing is,” Sean went on, slowly stirring his straw through the thick shake, “I’m not ready to start working again. This year has been great. Getting to know Mom again, acting for fun and going to the Academy has been a blast. I get to hang out with friends, and I go to the movies without having to walk down a red carpet. People go past me in the street and they couldn’t care less about who I am. I’m not ready to give that up, not yet.”

  “You know,” Mr Rivers said. “This Spotlight! movie is going to be huge. That would be the perfect way for you to come back.”

  My jaw dropped. He was sitting across the table from Sean, staring at him and apparently listening to everything his son said, and yet he couldn’t have heard a single word.

  “Dad,” Sean paused, trying to find the words he wanted to say. “The reason that I came to Hollywood was to see yo
u, not to get work, but because…because I miss you. I don’t want a part in a movie or anything else. I just wanted to see you.”

  I held my breath as Sean and his dad looked at each other across the table. Sean’s smile was so sweet and so hopeful that I wanted to fling my arms around him and kiss him. Definitely best not to go there, I decided.

  “Does your mother know you’re here?” Pat asked after a moment. It was the last thing I expected him to say and by the look on Sean’s face he was thinking the same.

  “No,” he replied. “I didn’t want her to try and stop me. It’s just me and Ruby.”

  “I’m glad you came, son,” Mr Rivers said, softening his voice. “I’ve missed you too, of course I have. And, well, if you don’t want to work any more then I’m fine with that. Like I said, I know I worked you too hard in the past. I know I drove you away. I don’t want to lose you again.”

  His face sort of crumpled as if he were trying not to cry and I realised then exactly who it was that Sean inherited his acting skills from.

  “Really?” Sean asked, his face lighting up. “You miss me too?”

  “Of course,” Mr Rivers said, sniffing. “You’re my only son.” He reached a hand across the table and clapped it on Sean’s shoulder. “It’s probably best you don’t tell your mother for a while though.”

  “Why?” I asked, speaking before I remembered that I was only supposed to be there for moral support and was not to get involved.

  “Because, Miss Parker,” Mr River said, narrowing his eyes slightly, “Sean and I need some time to get to know each other again.” He looked at Sean. “He needs to know he can trust me. Sean, we will tell your mom, it would be wrong not to, but after we’ve had some bonding time – right, son?”

  I resisted the urge to shove my fingers down my throat and took a large slurp of milkshake instead.

  “Right,” Sean said happily.

  “So have you taken the screen test for Spotlight! yet?” Mr Rivers asked after a couple of seconds.

  “No,” Sean told him. “I mean, I was never going to take it. I only said I would to get Mom to bring me over here.”

  “But you still could if you wanted too, right?”

  “Yeah, I could…” Sean said hesitantly.

  “I’m just thinking, it takes a long time to cast a musical. There’ll be all sorts of stuff they have to do before filming starts. Find the kids with the right chemistry. Workshop it with the actors, rehearsing, staging the dance scenes, choreography, singing, coaching…”

  “So?” Sean asked him, perplexed.

  “Well, if you don’t even test for a role you’ll be back in England within a week. But if you test for the film and get a part you’ll be here for weeks. We could spend some serious time together.”

  “But I don’t want to be in Spotlight!” Sean said.

  “I know that, son, but if you make out that you do, go along with it, we would be able to see more of each other. And you’d be giving me the chance to make things up to you, to really be a good dad. You can pull out of the film later on, say you’ve changed your mind at any time. You’re Sean Rivers after all. You can do what you like.”

  “Except it’s not very fair to pretend to take a part when you…” I started to interfere again, but Sean spoke over me.

  “OK,” he said. My jaw dropped open for a second time and I stared at him.

  “Sean!”

  “OK, I’ll take the audition, and if I get offered a part…”

  “Oh, you will,” Pat Rivers said, and he was probably right.

  “Then I’ll stick around for as long as I can, but only until they start rehearsing properly. I’m not going to sign any kind of contract, because I’m serious. I don’t want to be famous any more, Dad.”

  “Son, there are some things you can’t change,” Mr Rivers told him with a glint of triumph in his eye.

  “We’d better get back before we’re missed,” I said, looking at my watch. Besides I wanted a word alone with Sean.

  “Here’s my personal number…” Pat Rivers pushed a business card across the table to Sean. “I’ll see you soon, OK?”

  “OK!” Sean said, grinning happily.

  “Come on,” I said. “The cab’s still waiting. I hope we’ve got enough money…”

  As we stepped out into the night air Sean hugged me so tightly that my feet left the ground.

  “Sean!” I said, feeling flustered. “Stop doing that!”

  “But I always hug you,” Sean said happily.

  “I know, but not now, not when both of us are supposed to be at home in bed and no one – including your girlfriend and my mum – knows that we’re here. It makes me feel…odd.”

  “I’m sorry, Rubes,” Sean said, with a shrug that proved he wasn’t. “It’s just that it’s worked out exactly the way I hoped. Dad was really happy to see me and he doesn’t care that I don’t want to work any more. I think when I left him to go live with Mom, it really made him see what matters.”

  “Are you sure about that?” I asked him as we climbed back into the cab.

  “Yes, of course. He said so – didn’t he?” Sean said.

  “Yes, he did. It’s just that, well – Sean, he’s got you to do something that no one, not your mum, not Sylvia Lighthouse, not even Anne-Marie, has been able to do. He’s got you to audition for a film.”

  It’s Your Life!

  The Inside Scoop on the inside information. Who’s on the way up and who’s on the way out!

  Kirsty O’Brien.—our fave girl TV Star can do no wrong! The critics love her and so do we. Here’s hoping Kirsty kills on the set of the new movie production of Spotlight!

  Sean Rivers—Sean’s back and we have three readers’ cell phone snaps to prove it. Sean’s in Hollywood again and rumors are rife that he’ll be returning to the big screen again. Please make those rumors come true, Sean. IYL! misses you and so do all the girls of America!

  Danny Harvey—You’ve never heard of him and neither have we, but in the UK he’s a top TV and recording star. Watch this space—Inside Scoop predicts big things for Danny Harvey.

  Ruby Parker—Remember Ruby? Our fave young Brit is back to try out for a role in Spotlight! Since you voted The Lost Treasure of King Arthur as your DVD of the Year, we’re sure that young Ruby is shooting towards stardom.

  Adrienne Charles—We’re so over Adrienne here at IYL! Turns out the rumors about her bullying other kids at her school were true—that’s NOT cool, Adrienne!

  Hunter Blake—Never thought we’d ever see Hollywood High’s Hunter over this side of Inside Scoop, but rumor has it that he’s being acted off the set of his new movie by British newbie Danny Harvey! Here’s hoping you get your groove back, Hunter…

  Henry Dufault—What is it about Henry that means he can’t stay out of trouble? This talented actor has been asked to leave his latest school again after an incident with a fire hydrant. We say, Henry, why can’t you just calm down? You don’t have to be a rebel for us to notice you.

  Chapter Six

  “I’m not mentioned in this magazine either!” Anne-Marie said, as she pored over the copy of It’s Your Life! that Mum had brought home to take our minds off things while we waited to find out if any of us were going to be called back for the next round of auditions. “I know it’s an American mag, but you’d have thought they would have spotted my talent by now. I was the star of the TV version of Spotlight!, or one of them anyway, and I’m Sean Rivers’ girlfriend! When are people going to start noticing me?”

  We were sitting by the pool trying hard not to listen for the phone. Waiting for news of an audition is one of the worst and best things that I have ever done. It’s a weird mixture of excitement, hope, terror and disappointment because you try to be ready for whatever the result is.

  And this morning it was even harder to wait for two reasons. Firstly because it wasn’t only me that was waiting for news – it was my two best friends as well – and secondly because I had hardly had time to think abou
t what had happened last night with Sean and his dad.

  Somehow the two of us had made it home and back to our rooms without being caught, but that didn’t make me feel any better about what had happened. Mr Rivers had seemed as if he meant what he said about wanting Sean back in his life, and Sean was so happy. But I couldn’t help feeling that Mr Rivers was going to end up using and hurting Sean again. I just didn’t know how to explain that to Sean, and so far this morning I hadn’t had a chance to talk to him as he hadn’t come down yet.

  “Why haven’t they mentioned me?” Anne-Marie was still complaining. “They’ve mentioned Sean and Hunter Blake – even Danny! And you, Ruby, they never seem to shut up about you, but not me. Why don’t they ever mention me?”

  “They haven’t mentioned me this time either,” Nydia offered.

  “What does a girl have to do to get famous around here?” Anne-Marie slapped the magazine down on the table.

  “Don’t ask me,” I said with a shrug. “I did practically everything wrong the last time I was in Hollywood.”

  “I need to get Sean to go out somewhere in public with me.” There was no stopping Anne-Marie in this frame of mind. “Maybe I can get him to take me shopping on Rodeo Drive, and we’d be bound to get snapped by the paps, wouldn’t we, Rubes? Like that time they took that photo of your mum and wrote all those horrible things about her. If I can get Sean to be seen out with me, they’d have to find out who I am and then they’d write about me.”

  “You might not want them to write about you, Anne-Marie,” my mum said as she came to join us. She was carrying the cordless phone in her hand, as if she normally took it all round the house with her and wasn’t waiting for a special call that would determine all of our futures at all.