“Darling!” Mum said, her cheeks flushed. “You were wonderful. Really great!”
“Was I?” I said—wondering how she knew.
“Oh, yes, we saw you on the TV.” She gestured at one of the many screens that were positioned around the room. “It was live on the London evening news.”
“Was it?” I asked her uneasily, wondering if Danny and Nydia had been watching the news while they were still waiting for me to turn up. I looked at my borrowed diamond-encrusted watch that was worth fifteen thousand pounds. It said that I was now an hour and forty minutes late for Nydia’s party. I didn’t have any money or my phone on me, so I couldn’t ring them and tell them I was planning to come. And now there was every chance they would have seen me and Sean on the evening news and would be thinking I had forgotten all about them completely. And I suppose, in a way, I sort of had. I sort of wanted to.
I looked around at the party thronged with celebrities from lists A to Z. Sean was right, they seemed to have let most of the UK’s celebrities in, all looking for even a sniff of publicity. As I wondered how Sean and I would ever break out of this crowd, I realised that my plan not to tell Nydia that I would be late wasn’t just because I didn’t want to upset her, it was because even though it meant letting a friend down, I had wanted to be at this premiere tonight and I thought that Nydia wouldn’t have understood. And even though I left messages for Danny asking him to call me, I could have easily texted him and told him what was happening, but I didn’t.
I didn’t because deep down I wanted to keep this new life, this new and exciting life where I was someone so different and important, far, far away from my old life where I was just Ruby Parker, mid-to-low-popularity-ranking ex-soap schoolgirl actress who was always getting picked second from last for netball. I had thought I could keep my new life and my old separate and still have both, being a different version of Ruby Parker in each part. I suppose the reason I wanted to keep them apart was because I was afraid of the way I was changing and afraid that my friends wouldn’t like it.
Being a part of The Lost Treasure of King Arthur had made me see myself differently, had made me have more confidence in my acting and more confidence in myself. And even when I walked down the red carpet as terrified as a person could be, now that I had done it, I had changed a little bit more. Because I knew that if I had the chance to do it again, I would be better at it.
But the sick and guilty feeling I had in the pit of my stomach at the thought of seeing Nydia, Danny and Anne-Marie watching me on TV, and knowing that I hadn’t exactly lied to them but hadn’t exactly told them the truth, made me realise the truth: that this life, the glamorous life, wasn’t my real life, and that I didn’t want to throw away my old friends so easily for something that would be over all too soon and might never come back.
I knew I had to get to Nydia’s as soon as possible.
I turned to look at Sean, who was in a very close and quiet conversation with his father. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it looked to me as if they were arguing about something. Or rather, Sean’s father was arguing, and Sean, head bowed, face closed, was listening as if his dad’s words were as heavy and hard as hail stones.
I hovered for a moment longer, hoping that Sean would look up and see me, but he didn’t. It was no good; I decided I would just have to tell Mum that I needed to go to Nydia’s and ask her to lend me the money for a taxi. After all, Sean’s idea to keep it all one big secret seemed rather silly now.
I turned back to talk to Mum but she had gone, drifted off amidst the glittering cloud of satin and silk created by celebrities dressed for a big night out. I could just see the back of her bobbing and nodding as she cornered poor Jeremy Fort again.
Looking back at Sean, I could see he was still entangled in conversation with his father. Pat Rivers’ face looked so deadly that I was certain Sean’s plans to accompany me to Nydia’s party were officially over. I wanted to stay close to Sean and make sure that he was OK but I also needed to get to Nydia’s and see her and Danny, so I decided to make my way towards Mum.
“Ruby, darling!” A familiar voice sounded like a siren in my ear. And I heard the “mwah! mwah!” of a kiss delivered about a centimetre away from each cheek.
I made myself smile at Brett Summers, who officially confirmed that this was a VIP party that anyone could get into.
“How lovely to see you, darling!” Brett gushed as if she hadn’t tried to get me fired from Kensington Heights and finish my acting career before it had even begun. “And you look wonderful! I can’t believe how you have changed since I saw you last—my little girl all grown up! A real little lady and working on a movie now with Imogene Grant!” It seemed as if Brett couldn’t finish a sentence without a verbal exclamation mark tagged on the end. I nodded and wondered how quickly I could escape her clutches.
“Mmmm,” I said.
“Of course, I knew her when she was no one, darling!” Brett fluttered her false lashes at me. “I don’t suppose she remembers me, does she? Does she ever talk about me?”
I took a step back from Brett, who seemed to be slightly lopsided and holding a glass of champagne in one hand at an angle that would have caused it to spill if it still had any champagne left in it.
“Um…not really, no,” I said. Brett’s painted-on smile turned sour for a moment and I think she would have frowned if her forehead hadn’t been frozen by some chemical cosmetic procedure.
“Well, anyway, I’m so glad I saw you because, well, I’ve always thought that I had a hand in making you what you are today, and I feel as if really I passed the torch on to you—the new generation.” I tried not to laugh out loud. “But I want you to know, Ruby, that now it’s up to you to help me, your mentor. I’ve had no luck since I was…since I left the show. So I was wondering if you could talk to Mr Dubrovnik for me about finding me a part in your film?” I wanted to say she’d be perfect for the part of the mummified killer zombie-witch and wouldn’t even need make-up, but I didn’t because I couldn’t quite bring myself to be that rude. And besides, Brett when she’s angry is far scarier than a mummified killer zombie-witch.
“I don’t think that I…” I had begun when Sean appeared at my side.
“Excuse me,” Sean said. I could see with one glance at his tense white face that he was very angry and upset. “I’m sorry to interrupt,” Sean said, his voice polite but tight, “but Ruby and I have an engagement we have to get to, right, Ruby?”
“Right,” I said to Sean. I flashed my fakest smile at Brett. “Must dash! Cheerio!”
“Oh!” Brett looked affronted. “Well, Ruby, if you could just talk to…Ruby!”
But I was already following Sean as he weaved in and out of the partygoers, keeping his head down as he went, avoiding any chance of having to stop and make small talk. I glanced over my shoulder at Mum, who was still talking to Jeremy. I saw her put her hand on his shoulder and toss her red hair as she laughed. A moment ago I had wanted to tell her that I was leaving but now suddenly I did not.
If she was happy to go off and make a fool of herself over Jeremy without even wondering where I was then let her find out later that I’ve gone. Suddenly I didn’t care if she worried. I wanted her to; I wanted her to think about something else apart from Jeremy Fort for five seconds.
We left the noise and the heat of the party, turning into a long corridor as I rushed after Sean who was stalking towards the back of the building.
“Sean!” I called after him. “Are you OK?”
“I’m fine,” he said, which was obviously a lie.
“Where are we going?” I asked him, hitching my blue silk skirt up a little further so that I could lengthen my steps and catch him up. “What’s the plan?”
Sean stopped dead and I ran into the back of him. He turned around and helped me steady myself before taking a deep breath and trying to find his smile, but it seemed only just about there.
“I’m sorry, Ruby Parker,” he said, his voice low. “It�
�s just my dad. He just doesn’t get that I’m still only a kid, you know? The minute I got to the party, the second after we walked the red carpet, he’s laying into me about kissing you—that stupid little kiss that didn’t mean a thing. All he cares about is that I might upset my fans, who might not buy my merchandise or see my movies any more because they think you’re my girlfriend. Well, I tell you what—I wish they wouldn’t, because then I’d be out of a job! And then he’s telling me about another project he’s agreed for me and another one after that.” Sean ran his fingers through his hair. “Ruby, I’ve got the next three years of my life planned out for me already, and during those three years between working and studying not once is there any time just for me to be…me.”
Sean looked quickly at his feet and I got the feeling that he was trying not to cry.
“But you do want to be an actor, don’t you?” I asked him in wonder, because his life sounded just about perfect to me. Sean dug his hand into his trouser pockets and shook his head without looking up.
“You know what?” he said, finally looking me in the eye. “I’d rather stay home and read a book, or play football in the park with my friends. I’d rather do my homework in one place, go to school in one place and live in one place. I’d like to have a dog. I’d like to make friends I could keep longer than three months. I’d like to meet a girl to take to the prom and know guys to hang out with while she’s dancing. I didn’t choose this life, Ruby, it chose me. And now it feels like it’s…smothering me or…Oh, I don’t know what I’m talking about.” I reached out and held his hand.
“Then just leave it, Sean, just stop,” I said. Sean shrugged and chewed his lip.
“That’s just it,” he said. “I can’t. Dad won’t let me. I’m making him richer than he ever dreamed he could be. And it’s like he keeps saying, I’ve got the family to think of. The family needs me to keep working. Well, I’m an only kid and I don’t see my mom any more so he is my family.” I hesitated to ask my next question as I looked at Sean struggling to keep his anger and hurt under control.
“Why don’t you see your mum?” I asked him eventually. “Can’t you tell her how unhappy you are and tell her to come and get you?” From the look on Sean’s face I had a sudden terrible feeling. “Oh, Sean,” I whispered. “Is she dead?”
Sean surprised me by laughing, a mirthless, unhappy bark of a laugh.
“Worse than dead,” he said bitterly. “She doesn’t want to know me. Hasn’t done since her and Dad divorced. I don’t know exactly how it happened, I was still pretty young at the time, but it was soon after I got famous during that commercial that they broke up. I woke up one night and Dad was packing all my stuff into a bag. He said we were going on vacation. I didn’t realise until the next day that we had gone without Mom.” I watched Sean’s gaze as he seemed to focus on a distant memory. “They used to scream and argue but I can’t really remember why, only that one minute Mom wanted and loved me and the next minute she was gone. There was this big court thing—I remember having to tell a social worker or someone that I wanted to live with my dad. I mean what else could I say? I knew she didn’t want me. She couldn’t have because she didn’t try and keep me, she didn’t fight for me.”
Sean’s voice strained under the weight of emotions he was feeling and I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing. We stood for a second or two longer in the corridor and I watched Sean repeat a routine I was beginning to feel he had performed more than once. He seemed to doggedly put himself back together piece by piece until at last he lifted his chin, looked me in the face and turned on his smile at full brightness.
“Let’s forget about all that,” he said as if we had just had a normal conversation. “Come on, Ms Parker—it’s getting late and we’ve got a party to get to!”
Somehow I knew that forcing Sean to talk more wouldn’t help him, and besides, I didn’t think I would have anything helpful to say to him. Of all the things that had happened in my life, the sad things and difficult things, at least I knew that both of my parents loved me and supported me. I had no idea what to say to someone who seemed to be frightened of one parent and never saw the other one. So I followed Sean to the back of the building down to the lower levels and out through a fire exit. It was amazingly easy to run away. Not one person stopped us; the people that passed didn’t even look at us. When the alarm went off on the fire exit door, people just walked past as if nothing had happened, as if it wasn’t unusual for two teenagers in evening dress, one of whom was world famous, to be wandering about the back entrance of the Odeon Leicester Square. And maybe in London it wasn’t.
We came out at the back of the cinema in a narrow alley that runs along the edge of China Town, and while we had been inside it had got dark and the rain had stopped, leaving black puddles in the road reflecting the glare of the brightly coloured lights back up at the night. I breathed in the delicious smell of crispy duck and my tummy rumbled.
“Taxi!” Sean hailed a black cab that was just passing the bottom of the alley.
“You got any money?” he asked me.
“Nope,” I said as we climbed in. Sean grinned at me and produced a crocodile-skin wallet from his jacket pocket.
“Good job I ‘borrowed’ Daddy’s wallet then, isn’t it?” he said.
I decided that there was no point in saying anything at all and that we were probably in so much trouble already that we couldn’t get into any more. I gave the driver Nydia’s address. As we sped off out of the city centre I paused and looked out of the back window. I had no idea how angry or worried Mum was going to be when she found out I had gone, and no idea how angry and annoyed my friends were going to be when we got to Nydia’s house.
“Oh, well,” I said, more or less to myself, “at least I’m being rebellious at last.”
But when I thought that Sean and I couldn’t get into any more trouble—well—I was seriously wrong about that.
Chapter Sixteen
“Hello, hello,” I said breezily to Nydia. “Sorry we’re late. We brought some food! I held up a bag of crisps and chocolate that Sean and I had bought at the corner shop with his dad’s money.
“I love this town,” Sean had said to me as we left the shop. “No one cares who you are. You go into a shop and buy snacks with a girl in a blue ball gown and no one even raises an eyebrow.” I shrugged, feeling my nerves grow as we approached Nydia’s house.
“Well, Mr Memhet’s known me since I was a baby,” I said. “And he’s probably never heard of you.”
“Awesome,” Sean had said, and he really meant it.
Now, as we stood on Nydia’s doorstep, she looked from me to Sean and her eyes widened.
“Sean Rivers!” she squeaked. I breathed out a sigh of relief; it looked as if she might be so impressed by Sean that she’d forget to be cross with me for being really late.
“Hey, pleased to meet you,” Sean said, reaching out and shaking Nydia’s hand. “I hope you don’t mind me crashing your party, but it’s so good to get out of ‘movie world’ for a little while and hang with some real people, you know?” Sean smiled at Nydia who seemed frozen to the spot.
“Shall we go in?” Sean suggested, which reanimated Nydia.
“Yes, yes, of course,” she said, stepping back to let him by. “Ruby did tell you, didn’t she, that it’s not a party, party? It was a family thing with a few friends, to celebrate because I’ve got a part in a TV show…”
“Cool,” Sean said. “What part are you playing?”
“It’s not very important really,” Nydia said quickly. “But anyway, Mum and Dad are out, giving lifts home to my grannies, and my brothers are out with their mates. In fact, it wasn’t much of a party before you got here, and now…” Nydia looked anxious, but Sean beamed at her.
“Well, it’s a good job I’ve arrived then, isn’t it?” he said. “Let’s get this party started.” I flashed a grin at Nydia but she stared back still looking as if she had just witnessed first-hand a real-life alien encou
nter.
“Sean Rivers!” Anne-Marie appeared in the door. For a moment she was as silly and as giggly as a girl confronted with her dream boyfriend could be, and then she seemed to collect herself and transformed before our eyes into her old cool blonde self.
“We saw you on the news, Rube,” she said, arching an eyebrow. “We thought you’d ditched us for Sean, but then nobody could blame you.” Anne-Marie stared intensely at Sean as if he were the waxwork dummy of himself that had just gone on show at Madame Tussauds.
This might have been embarrassing and uncomfortable for Sean Rivers except that he was staring back at Anne-Marie in exactly the same way, and she didn’t even have a waxwork dummy.
“Um, hi,” Sean said, and suddenly all his smooth confidence seem to evaporate. He looked just like a normal fifteen-year-old boy again, not that I got to hang out with that many fifteen-year-old boys. Any actually. Apart from Sean.
I looked at Nydia, who was rolling her eyes, and remembered that Sean was her crush too.
“Hello,” Anne-Marie said, holding out her hand. “I’m Anne-Marie Chance. I go to school with Ruby. Of course I know who you are.” She smiled and Sean’s cheeks flushed a deep red. “Come into the living room and have some cold pizza.” Anne-Marie made the invitation sound impossible to resist. “It’s not much of a party really but I bet it’s sometimes nice for a big movie star like you to hang out with some real people…”
I watched, impressed, as Anne-Marie led Sean into Nydia’s living room.
“That girl is amazing,” I said to Nydia. “You’d think she ran into a movie-star heart-throb that she had a huge crush on and a shrine made out of posters to in her bedroom every day of the week.”
“Yes,” Nydia said, her voice cold. “You would.”
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