Heidi Heckelbeck Lights! Camera! Awesome!

by Wanda Coven

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1: HOW TO BE FAMOUS

  Chapter 2: THE HOST OF OUR SHOW!

  Chapter 3: BLOOPERS

  Chapter 4: LIGHTS! CAMERA! AWESOME!

  Chapter 5: THE STARS ARE OUT TONIGHT!

  Chapter 6: A REAL SUPERSTAR

  Chapter 7: THE IT GIRL

  Chapter 8: FALLING STAR

  Chapter 9: BEHIND THE SCENES

  Chapter 10: FIFTEEN MINUTES OF FAME

  Heidi Heckelbeck Lends a Helping Hand Teaser

  About the Author and Illustrator

  HOW TO BE FAMOUS

  “Roar!”

  “ROAR!”

  “ROARRR!”

  Heidi Heckelbeck and her best friend Lucy Lancaster squealed and ran across the playground. They were playing Cheese Dinosaur Tag.

  Stanley Stonewrecker dressed like a dinosaur. The rest of the class—or, at least, those who were playing—was the cheese. And, of course, in this game the dinosaur loves cheese and won’t stop until he gets some.

  “He’ll never find us under here,” Lucy whispered.

  Heidi plunked onto the ground and accidentally bumped into a pair of pink polka-dot flats under the table. Heidi stared fearfully at the shoes because she knew exactly who they belonged to—Melanie Maplethorpe, her least favorite girl in the class.

  Melanie peered under the table and glared at Heidi. “What do you think you’re doing?” she cried, pushing the toe of her shoe into Heidi’s side.

  “Sorry,” said Heidi. She dragged out the word like saw-ree.

  Then Lucy noticed Melanie had a magazine in her hand.

  “What are you reading?” asked Lucy, trying to change the mood under the table.

  Melanie turned her new magazine around so Lucy and Heidi could see the cover.

  “I’m reading She-She magazine,” Melanie said, lightening up. “It’s my absolute favorite.” She-She magazine had all the latest tween fashions and celebrity gossip.

  “This SPECIAL issue has advice on how to be FAMOUS,” Melanie went on. “And if there’s one thing I want to be, it’s FAMOUS!”

  Then Melanie slid underneath the table beside the girls.

  “Do you want to hear some tips on how to be famous?” Melanie asked.

  Heidi and Lucy looked at each other in surprise. Melanie rarely ever shared anything, except maybe insults.

  “Okay, sure!” Lucy said.

  Melanie smiled and opened up her magazine. “Okay. ‘Tip number one,’ ” she began. “ ‘When you’re famous, you always have to dress like you’re walking on a runway—that’s because everyone wants to take your picture.’ ”

  Melanie showed celebrities posing for pictures. Then she turned the page.

  “ ‘Tip number two: You’ll want your fans to think you’re normal,’ so you have to shop for everyday things, like oranges.”

  Melanie showed a picture of a pretty girl in dark glasses picking an orange from an orange display.

  “ ‘Tip number three,’ ” Melanie said. “ ‘You really have to like FANCY things.’ This one’s super-easy for me because I LOVE fancy things. Like, one time I ate SUSHI. That’s very fancy.”

  Heidi and Lucy nodded.

  “Last but not least,” Melanie went on, “ ‘tip number four: You have to be okay with people being completely jealous of your perfect, amazing superstar life.’ ” Then she closed her magazine and sighed loudly. “And I’m totally fine with that.”

  Then, out of nowhere, Stanley’s face appeared under the table.

  “ROAR!!!”

  The girls screamed. Heidi and Lucy crawled away as fast as they could and hid behind a tree. Heidi peeked out from behind the trunk.

  Stanley waved over to Melanie. “Hi! Are you playing?” he asked her.

  Melanie just stuck her nose back in her magazine. “No, I am not. Because famous stars DO NOT ever play Cheese Dinosaur Tag.”

  Then Heidi turned to Lucy. “Wow, I’m sure glad I’M not famous,” she said, “because I LOVE to play Cheese Dinosaur Tag!”

  THE HOST OF OUR SHOW!

  After recess, Principal Pennypacker visited Heidi’s classroom. “I have wonderful news!” he began, rubbing his hands together with excitement. “Brewster Elementary is going to have its very own school news show. And we need someone to host it.”

  Sha-zoom! Melanie’s hand shot up like a space rocket launcher. The principal nodded toward her.

  “Host?” she asked. “So I could be a host on TV?”

  Principal Pennypacker chuckled. “Yes, Melanie—just like that. Only this show would not be a Hollywood production. It would be for our school community.”

  Then the principal held up a sheet of paper. “Here is the sign-up sheet. If you’d like to be considered as a host, you will need to sign up and make a sample video with the help of your parents. In the video you should tell us one thing about the school that you would like to talk about.”

  Melanie’s hand shot up again.

  “Yes, Melanie?”

  She jumped out of her seat. “May I pass around the sign-up sheet and collect signatures?” she asked.

  The principal walked over to Melanie’s seat and placed the sign-up sheet on her desk. She instantly grabbed her pen and signed her name on the top line.

  This was not surprising to Heidi. Melanie had to be the first one to sign up, of course, she thought.

  “Once the videos are all in,” the principal continued, “the class will watch them and vote on who should be our school news host.”

  Then the kids in the class all began to talk at once.

  “I signed up!” Lucy told Bruce. “Did you?”

  Bruce nodded. Then both of the friends hurried over to Heidi’s desk. Heidi stared at the sign-up sheet uncertainly.

  “Go ahead, Heidi! Sign up!” Lucy encouraged her. “We did!”

  Heidi slowly unzipped her pencil case and pulled out a cinnamon roll–scented pencil.

  Melanie stood next to Heidi’s desk and tapped her foot impatiently.

  “Why even bother signing up, Heidi?” Melanie asked. “You’re not exactly the TV show host type. I mean, what if you make a MISTAKE and everyone LAUGHS at you?”

  Heidi felt her cheeks grow warm. That Smell-a-nie is NOT going to tell ME what to do, she thought. Then Heidi pressed her pencil firmly on the line and signed her name.

  Melanie humphed. “Well, you’ll never beat me,” she said, snatching the sign-up sheet back from Heidi. “I was born to be famous.”

  Heidi folded her arms. Ugh, she thought. Melanie’s right. She probably will beat me. And why did I sign up anyway? I hate being in the spotlight. Merg.

  BLOOPERS

  A few days later, Heidi told her family about the school news program and how—for some dumb reason—she had signed up to make a video.

  “Don’t worry,” Henry said. “I know the perfect thing you can do for your video!”

  He ran to the hall closet and put on his raincoat, rain hat, and boots. He set a table fan on the counter and switched it on full blast. Then he grabbed a large spoon and held it in front of his mouth.

  “This is Henry Heckelbeck, coming to you LIVE from the middle of a Category 5 hurricane,” he reported. He tilted his head toward the fan, and his rain hat blew off. Then he pretended to brace himself against a gale-force wind.

  “Do not go outside!” he warned. “This storm is a DOOZY!”

  Everyone laughed—even Heidi, who didn’t usually find Henry particularly funny. Henry bowed and sat back down on his chair.

  “So, what are you going to make your video about?” Dad asked.

  Heidi twir
led her spaghetti with her fork. “I have no idea,” she said at first. “But maybe I can talk about how our school library could use some new books.”

  Mom and Dad looked at each other and smiled.

  “Now, that’s a stellar idea!” praised Dad.

  Mom nodded. “You can use the bookcase in the den as a backdrop.”

  Heidi began to get excited about making her video. Since her friends had already finished their videos, she invited Lucy and Bruce over the next day to help. They made cue cards and dragged a comfy chair in front of the bookcase.

  “Oh, can I be the director?” Lucy asked. She pointed to the chair. “Sit here and pretend you are reading a book. Then talk about how much you like to read.”

  Heidi plopped onto the chair with a book.

  Bruce set up the camera to make sure everything was perfect. “Ready?” he said.

  Heidi nodded and opened the book.

  “Action!” cried Lucy.

  Heidi looked up from her book. “Oh, hi, I’m Heydee—wait, I mean, hey, I’m Hi-dee-aye-yiy-yiy. Oopsie—I messed up.”

  Lucy waved her hand in front of the camera. “CUT!” she said.

  Heidi took a sip of water. “Okay, I’m really ready this time,” she said.

  Bruce began to film. “Oh no! CUT!” he said. “You got water all over yourself.”

  Lucy grabbed a tissue and handed it to Heidi. Heidi wiped her face and dabbed her shirt. They started again.

  “Action!” Lucy cried.

  Heidi looked up from her book. “Hi, I’m Heidi, and . . . and . . . and I forgot my next line.”

  Lucy held up a cue card. “And you LOVE books!” she whispered.

  Heidi bounced in her chair. “Oh yeah!” she said. “Now I’m seriously ready.”

  Lucy clapped her hands in front of the camera. “And ACTION!” she cried again.

  Heidi looked up from her book. “Hi, I’m Heidi, and . . . OUCH!” A paper airplane had hit her in the side of the head. She whirled around and caught Henry making goofy faces at the camera from behind the chair.

  Heidi held up her book as if she were going to bonk her little brother.

  “Beat it!” she shouted.

  Henry screamed and ran. And after that, Heidi tried and tried and tried again, but she couldn’t get the video right. Soon Lucy and Bruce had to go home. They hadn’t even gotten one good take—just a bunch of bloopers! Mom grabbed the camera.

  “I’ll take it from here,” she said.

  As the night went on, Mom and Heidi worked on the video for two more hours. Finally they made a good version, except for one teensy thing. . . . Heidi was holding her book upside down at the end.

  “I’m sure no one will notice,” Mom said with a yawn.

  Heidi folded her arms. “Mom, how can you NOT notice? The picture on the cover is UPSIDE DOWN.”

  Heidi really wanted to fix her video, but it was already time for bed. Even Mom was falling asleep.

  LIGHTS! CAMERA! AWESOME!

  Heidi brushed her teeth and looked in the bathroom mirror. She held her toothbrush up like a microphone.

  “Hello, I’m Heidi Heckelbeck, and I’m reporting today from my house, speaking with a girl who is a real professional video messer-upper.”

  Then Heidi saw dried toothpaste in the corners of her mouth.

  “Merg! There is NO WAY I’m going to let my whole class see me mess up in that video,” she announced. “Melanie would never stop making fun of me.”

  Heidi marched into her room and grabbed her Book of Spells from under the bed.

  There has to be a spell in here somewhere that can help me, she thought. Heidi flipped through the pages and found a spell to make you glamorous and a spell to make you a good writer. Then she landed on the perfect spell called Lights! Camera! Awesome!

  Lights! Camera! Awesome!

  Do you flub things when you try to make a video? Maybe you get tongue-tied and forget your lines. Do you ever fumble with your props? Or perhaps a video-gremlin tries to distract you? If you’d like to make a flawless video, then this is the spell for you!

  Ingredients:

  1 pair of movie-star sunglasses

  1 cup of milk

  2 tablespoons of spicy hot sauce

  A dash of glitter stars

  Mix the ingredients together in a bowl. Hold your Witches of Westwick medallion in one hand, and hold the other hand over the mix. Chant the following spell:

  LIGHTS ARE ON!

  HOLDING STEADY!

  MAKE MY VIDEO CAMERA-READY!

  Heidi gathered the ingredients, dumped them into a bowl, and stirred everything together. Holding her medallion in one hand, she put her other one over the mix. Then she chanted the spell.

  No sooner had she finished than a feeling of confidence swept over her. Heidi ran downstairs and asked her mother if she could try to make one more video.

  Mom sighed, but Heidi pleaded until her mother couldn’t say no.

  “Okay, okay,” Mom agreed. “But this is the very last time!”

  And it was the very last time, because Heidi knew this take would be magical!

  THE STARS ARE OUT TONIGHT!

  Finally it was presentation day! Heidi filed into the auditorium with her classmates. She couldn’t wait to see her video on the big screen. Being a star might not be so bad after all, she thought. Then Principal Pennypacker announced the order of the videos.

  Lucy was up first. The lights dimmed. Everyone watched her jog across the screen in her soccer outfit.

  “Hi, my name is Lucy Lancaster, and I’m, um, here to talk about, um, um, um Brewster sports!” she said, picking up her ball and facing the camera. “Here at Brewster, we, um, like to play all kinds of, um, sports.” Her video showed kids playing foursquare, swinging on the monkey bars, and playing soccer and basketball. The theme song from Rocky played in the background.

  Heidi squeezed Lucy’s arm when it was over. “That was really good!” she whispered—even though she thought Lucy said “um” a lot.

  After a few other videos it was Bruce’s turn. He filmed his video in the science lab and wore his lab coat and safety glasses.

  “Hi there, I’m Bruce Bickerson, and today I am going to teach you how to make homemade root beer.” Bruce began to pour water into a large pot. Some of the water spilled all over. Then he tore open the packet of root beer flavoring and dropped the packet on the floor. When the root beer was finally finished, he poured it into the bottles, and it dripped down the sides. His video was messy, but it was also a lot of fun.

  Heidi turned to Bruce, who was sitting on the other side of her.

  “That was really cool,” she said—even though Bruce had acted a little nervous and clumsy.

  Stanley was up next. He sat at a lunch table and talked about cafeteria food in his video. He ate both breakfast and lunch every day for a week, but on film, it looked like he was just eating one meal after another.

  “Super-awesome pancakes!” Munch! Munch! Munch! “Mysterious meatballs!” Chomp! Chomp! Chomp! “Crunchy corndogs!” Munch! Crunch! Munch!

  Stanley talked with his mouth full and spewed food everywhere. The class laughed and whistled because Stanley looked like a P-I-G.

  Then Melanie made her splash on the big screen. She talked about the lights at school.

  “Fluorescent lights make people look terrible,” Melanie began. “So I suggest we remove Brewster’s harsh white lights and replace them with softer ones. This will make students more alert, and best of all—it’ll make them look FABULOUS!”

  Then Melanie showed an example of good lighting. “See how the lights in my bedroom make my hair look shiny and my skin look flawless?”

  She posed this way and that. “Let’s rethink the lights at school so everyone could look as good as me! TTFN!” And Melanie waved good-bye.

  The class erupted into claps and cheers. Even Heidi thought Melanie’s video was amazing. She was easy to understand and totally charming—though she talked about herself a little
too much, but that was just Melanie being Melanie.

  Then it was time. Heidi grabbed her armrests, sat up, and stared at the screen. Her video was about to start.

  Now it’s MY turn! she said to herself.

  A REAL SUPERSTAR

  The students fell silent as Heidi’s charmed video began.

  “Oh, hi there, I’m Heidi,” she said in her casual, under-the-spell voice. “And you caught me in the middle of a great book.” She set the book on the table next to her.

  “I love to read books everywhere!” she went on. “Like in this comfy chair, or under my covers with a flashlight, or even way up in a tree fort.” Heidi’s video showed clips of all the places she liked to read.

  “The only problem is, I’ve read everything in the school library. But I have an idea for our library to get new books.”

  Heidi paused and looked at the camera for a moment. “If every student gave the library one book on their birthday, then think how many new books our library would have by the end of the year. So join me in helping make our school a better place, where we can all read happily ever after.”

  As the screen went dark, everyone cheered for Heidi—even Melanie. Then the students voted for the video they liked best.