“This poor girl has had a very difficult time,” Mum told Mr Chance. “I don’t think we’ve met before – I’m Janice Parker, the woman you entrusted your daughter’s care to here in Hollywood.”
I could hear the ice and anger in my mum’s voice, but I don’t think Mr Chance could. I think he was just relieved to have someone else there to manage his daughter so he didn’t have to try and figure out what to do.
“Mrs Parker, I am so sorry for the inconvenience…” Mr Chance began, treating her to his smarmy smile.
“Anne-Marie is not an inconvenience,” Mum snapped. “She’s a lovely, funny, sweet girl – or don’t you even know that about your daughter?”
It suddenly dawned on Mr Chance that my mum was fed up with him too. I don’t think he was used to people standing up to him. He looked rather shocked.
“Well, anyway,” he said stiffly. “What’s done is done and it can’t be changed. Life is hard and the sooner children learn that, the better they will do. Anne-Marie and I are booked on a flight out of LAX this evening. We need to get going…”
He looked at the back of Anne-Marie’s head. “Are you packed, Anne-Marie?”
Anne-Marie pulled away from my mum and nodded without looking at him. “I’ll go and get my bags,” she said quietly. All the fire and anger had burnt out and drained away, and now she looked sad and small. I wasn’t used to seeing her look that way and I was really upset that some of it might be because of me.
I watched as she ran up the stairs and then, after a second’s hesitation, I followed. I had to try and talk to her.
She was zipping up her case when I walked in, stuffing in some of the new dresses and shoes she had bought and trying to lean on the lid of the case while zipping it up. She wasn’t having much luck. I was glad to see that Nydia wasn’t with her, but I was sure she’d turn up soon so I knew I’d better make it quick.
“Hi,” I said. It wasn’t my best ever start to a making-up speech.
“Hi,” she sniffed without looking at me. But she didn’t throw anything at me either and I took that as a good sign.
“I’m really sorry that you’re so upset. I really hate to see you like this,” I said tentatively. “And I know that part of the reason is because of what you think happened with me and Sean. Anne-Marie, I am so sorry. Are you still really angry with me?”
Anne-Marie looked up then and I could tell she must have been crying for a lot longer than when her dad got here.
“It’s just that you knew, Ruby,” she said. “I told you how important you and Sean were to me, especially with my rubbish parents, and all this time you were…”
“But we weren’t,” I said. “Honestly, Anne-Marie. It wasn’t even until we got to Hollywood that things went a bit bizarre. I’ve never fancied Sean before and he’s never liked me…”
“He has, he always has,” Anne-Marie said wearily. “And I’ve always known that, but you were with Danny. And anyway I never thought you’d really go out with him…”
“And you were right! Because I wouldn’t!” I exclaimed. “I like Sean, I like him a lot – but you? You are one of my best friends and I love you.”
Anne-Marie said nothing as she wrestled with her case. It kept pinging open no matter what she did to it. After another second’s thought I went over and pressed my elbows down on the lid, squidging it flat. Bits of shoes and clothes poked out all around the edges.
“Quick,” I said. “Jam your stuff in now and do up the zip!” I pressed my elbows down with all my might and Anne-Marie eased the zip round, stuffing in bits of stray fashion as she went until finally it was shut.
“Done!” she said, smiling for the first time.
“At last!” I said, standing up. We eyed the case suspiciously as if we both expected it to explode, but when it didn’t, we half smiled at each other. “Anyway,” I said, “it looks likes I’m going on a date with Henry Dufault.”
“Really?” Anne-Marie looked sceptical. “But I thought you hated him?”
“I do,” I said. “Or at least, I think I do, but I said I’d go, so I guess that point is up for debate.”
“Does Sean know?” she asked.
“I don’t think so,” I said. “We haven’t talked that much since yesterday. Look, the way he finished with you was really rubbish and he knows that. If you talk to him maybe you can sort things out before you leave?”
Anne-Marie shook her head and gave me a watery smile. “No,” she said. “I’m not ready to talk to Sean. But it’s nice to talk to you. Come and hug me.”
“Does this mean we’re still friends?” I asked her hopefully as I had my arms around her.
“I suppose,” Anne-Marie said, sounding a little bit like herself. “You chose me over Sean and for any girl to do that must mean that she is usually a really good friend.”
“Do you think you could tell Nydia that before you go?” I asked her as she hefted her case off the bed.
Anne-Marie shrugged. “Yeah, I’ll tell her that we’re OK. But you’ll sort it out. You and Nydia never fall out. You are like the Great Wall of China.”
“What? Do you mean really strong with deep foundations?” I asked, a bit perplexed.
“No you can both be seen from outer space,” Anne-Marie said, and suddenly the old, fun, wise-cracking, sarcastic Anne-Marie was back. I knew she wasn’t completely back; I knew she was still hurt and upset and confused, but I knew she was insulting me to prove that our friendship was on the mend and that meant a lot to me.
“I deserved that one,” I said with a wry smile.
“I’ll say,” Anne-Marie said as she lugged her case into the hall. “And now I have a ten-hour flight with my dad to look forward to.”
When we got downstairs, everyone was there to say goodbye to Anne-Marie, including Nydia and Sean. Anne-Marie hugged my mum hard, and then Mrs Rivers, and then she hugged me again, so that Nydia and Sean could see I suppose. Both of them looked fairly surprised.
“Bye, Nyds,” she said, hugging her too. “Listen, I’ve had a chat to Ruby and we’re cool now so don’t feel you have to blank her over me. That would be even sillier than girls falling out over a boy.”
“If you say so,” Nydia said, glancing at me.
“Bye, Annie,” Sean said as Anne-Marie walked past him. She paused and turned to look at him.
“You dumped me in the worst possible way at the worst possible time and I think you are pathetic,” she said. “And if you ever call me Annie again I’ll punch your pretty blue lights out. Got it?” “Got it,” Sean said.
I had hoped that after Anne-Marie had gone Nydia would come and find me so that we could make up, or that at least I’d be able to try and talk to her. But she went straight up to her room and shut the door, after asking Mum to call her if we heard any news.
But we didn’t hear anything for ages. Time had never gone by so slowly, there had never been less on TV and the phone had never been so quiet before. So quiet in fact that I caught Mum picking it up just to check it had a dialling tone, which would have been funny except that I’d just done that exact same thing about five minutes before.
At some point I knew we would find out who would be playing the role of Arial. But the evening seemed to be going on for all eternity.
I wanted it to be me, but if it was, would I ever be friends with Nydia again? After all, she had been Arial in the UK TV special. She was really the most qualified of us of all to do it and she was more than good enough. If they picked me and not her I wasn’t sure that we’d ever be friends again. But what if they picked her?
I tried to imagine how I would feel. I think it would be like when you see four actors on a split screen waiting to find out if they’ve won an award. They all have the same smile on their faces – a fake one. And when they hear a name being called out that isn’t theirs, they keep on fake-smiling and usually nod as if to say they knew all along it wasn’t going to be them that won the award and that they weren’t bothered anyway, because awards are meanin
gless. But inside they are hurting really, really badly. That’s how I would feel if they picked Nydia. I’d be glad for her, and glad that a girl who deserved the job had got it, but if it wasn’t me I’d be gutted. I would feel as if my insides had been torn out and I was empty.
Of course it could be Kirsty O’Brien. If it was then I’d feel exactly the same only perhaps a little bit of relief. Because then me and Nydia would go back home to London together knowing neither one of us was better than the other.
That’s when my mobile rang. I looked at it for a panicky moment, wondering if it was the studio calling me with the news as it was a local number I didn’t recognise. But I was sure they’d said they were going to phone Mum direct. I was sure they wouldn’t break news of this import direct to the child involved, because if it was bad news or anything I might jump out of a window or need counselling. If it was good news I might jump out of a window or need counselling. Knowing how worried the studio was about being sued, I was sure the call couldn’t be from them. I seriously hoped not anyway. After a deep breath I pressed answer on my phone and held it to my ear.
“Hello?” I said uncertainly.
“Hi, Ruby, it’s Kirsty.” As I heard her voice I felt a strange mixture of relief and disappointment because I still didn’t know anything – but then I thought, hang on, perhaps Kirsty knows. Perhaps they’ve already given Kirsty the part and she’s rung to commiserate with me.
“I hope you don’t mind me calling,” Kirsty said. “Danny gave me your number because I was freaking out waiting for the phone to ring. He said I should talk to you because you were the best freaker-outer in show business and that after talking to you for five minutes I’d feel really sane.”
“Oh, tell Danny thanks,” I said sarcastically. “So you still haven’t heard?”
“Nothing. I was wondering if you had.”
“Nothing.” But as I said it I heard the house phone ring downstairs. “Did you hear that?” I asked Kirsty, my voice tight.
“Yep,” she said. “Is it them?”
“Hang on, I’ll find out.” Still with my mobile in my hand I went out of my bedroom door at exactly the same time as Nydia. We looked at each other and slowly walked down the stairs to the hallway where Mum has answered the phone. David, Sean, Sean’s mum, Alberto and Marie were all standing there staring at my mum as she talked.
“Yes, Miss Darcy,” Mum said, nodding. “Yes…uh-huh…uh-huh…yes, I see…I see…of course. Of course. Of course.” Me and Nydia looked at each other, a temporary truce between as we waited to hear our fate. “Yes, yes, I’ll explain everything,” Mum said finally, her voice completely neutral. “Thank you so much. Goodbye.”
She hung up and we all stared at her.
“Right,” Mum said. “Ruby, Nydia – would you like to follow me into the study, please?”
As we followed I put my phone to my ear. “Still there?” I asked Kirsty.
“Yes, but now my phone is ringing. I’d better go,” Kirsty said. “Call you later.”
Nydia and I walked into Jeremy’s study and sat on the brown leather sofa opposite his desk. Mum looked from me to Nydia and back again.
“Are you two still not talking?” she said, which made both Nydia and I breathe out frustrated sighs. What did that have to do with anything?
“No, we’re not,” I said quickly. “But, Mum, what did Christina Darcy say? Who’s got the part?”
Mum paused and pressed her lips into a thin line and knotted her fingers together. This usually meant that she was either cross or about to deliver a lecture. I suspected lecture. I just couldn’t believe she had chosen now to give it!
“Acting is an extremely competitive career,” Mum began, so off the topic that I wondered if she’d forgotten what we were supposed to be talking about. “People’s feelings get hurt all the time. Ruby, you remember how you felt when those reviews for The Lost Treasure of King Arthur came out, don’t you? All actors get rejected at one stage or another, even really good ones…”
“Are you saying we both got rejected?” I interrupted her. I love my mum, but sometimes she can really go on.
“No…” Mum paused as if debating what to say next. “In fact, one of you has got the part.”
Nydia and I stared at each other and suddenly I realised that we were holding hands, gripping each other’s fingers tightly.
“Who then? Who’s got it?” Nydia squeaked.
“I’m not going to tell you,” Mum said steadily. “Not until you’ve cleared up your differences.”
“Mum!” “Mrs Parker!” Nydia and I wailed at the same time.
One of us had got the most hotly-contested part in the history of Hollywood teen musicals and only my mother knew which. So it was typical that she decided to use that power over Nydia and me to try and sort us out now.
“Look,” Mum said firmly, “if you two want to be actresses and go up for these big roles then you’ll find yourself competing against each other a lot. You need to make sure that your friendship survives, because one thing I’ve learnt is that a good friend should always be there for you, no matter what. And you should always be there for your friends. You mustn’t fall out over parts.”
“We haven’t fallen out over the part,” Nydia told Mum. “We fell out because Sean dumped Anne-Marie for Ruby, and Ruby says she would go out with Sean—”
“If he wasn’t Anne-Marie’s boyfriend!” I interrupted hotly. “And besides that’s not the reason why we’ve fallen out. Not really. I’ve talked to Anne-Marie. I’ve explained things to her, which is more than you’ll let me do. I think you’re angry with me because of this audition. You want the part of Arial. You want it really badly and you think you deserve it – and so do I. Me and Sean might have given you a reason to be angry with me. But this, this is the reason that you still are.”
Nydia scowled, but she was still holding my hand.
“You’re right,” she said. “I do want this part. I don’t want you to have this part because I want it. I didn’t realise how much.”
“If it’s you,” I told her, “I’ll be really upset. I’ll run off and I’ll cry for about a day and a half, but then even though I’ll still be jealous and fed up, I’ll be glad for you. And I’ll still be your friend who is proud and happy for you. Because, Nydia, you’re my best friend and we’re…well, we’re like the Great Wall of China.”
“What, you mean you can see us from outer space?” Nydia asked me, perplexed.
“No, I mean our friendship is strong with deep foundations and, most importantly, it’s ancient. I wouldn’t let anything come between us.”
Nydia screwed her mouth into a sideways knot as she thought about what I’d said. “OK, perhaps I have been a bit unfair. Perhaps I should have let you explain about you and Sean, and maybe I didn’t realise how badly I wanted the part of Arial. But I feel the same way as you do. If you get it I’ll be upset. But I won’t hate you. Because you are my best friend and you always have been and you always will be.”
“Brilliant,” I said, hugging her.
“It is a relief,” Nydia said. “Because I’m rubbish at not being friends with you.”
“Fancy a swim to cool off?” I asked her.
“Good idea,” Nydia replied.
“Ahem,” Mum stopped us as we were about to rush off. “Don’t you want to know which one of you got the part?”
We both sat down with a bump and suddenly my heart was racing, thumping so hard that I thought I could hear it knocking against my ribcage.
“Christina said it was a very hard choice to make,” Mum told us. “She said that all three of you girls were brilliant, but it was between you two. They weighed up everything they had seen in the auditions, and your film experience, Ruby, along with Nydia’s experience of already playing the part. But in the end they said they chose the person who really embodied the essence of Arial, the person who lived with the same bravery and free spirit as she did.”
And in that second I thought I knew w
ho it was, but I was wrong.
Mum looked at Nydia and said, “I’m sorry, love.” And then she looked at me and said, “Ruby, it’s you.”
' teen gril!
Magazine’s
The hottest heat from the Hollywood Hills and beyond…
News, news, news!! This week at TGM! we can hardly move for all the top gossip that’s landed on our desk, and true to you TGM! girls as always, we’ve been following up to find out what is fact and what is fiction.
FACT: We know what you want to know the most – Sean Rivers will be playing the lead role of Sebastian in Spotlight! The Movie Musical. Our insider sources tell us that he hasn’t signed a contract yet but that he has been heavily involved in the casting process. There’s only one word that TGM! can use to describe this momentous news and it’s “YESSS!”
FICTION: Hollywood High star Adrienne Charles has NOT been sacked from the show. Last week websites reported that the famously divatastic teen’s contract had not been renewed as audience interest in her had started to plummet, but Blenheim Studios have confirmed that Adrienne is on board for the next two series and they are very happy to have her.
FACT: You heard it here first – in more Spotlight! The Movie Musical news, our very own Brit chick Ruby Parker has beaten ten squillion American girls to win the role of Arial opposite her old friend Sean Rivers! We’ve missed Ruby while she’s been having her break from the limelight, nearly as much as we’ve missed Sean – and here at TGM! we reckon that Ruby and Sean have supported each other in this decision to take that step back into celebrity life. If you read this, guys, we’re really glad you have!
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