I skulked home with the dress. Mum was at work, but I had to sneak past Dad. He was in the living room, singing along to some old CD, but I don’t think he even noticed I was home.
I didn’t see Crystal at all the following week. I called her a few times but she said she was too busy making jewellery or sorting things out for the wedding to meet up. I kept on at her to tell Mum and Dad she was getting married, but she wouldn’t budge. It was a total nightmare. I had the stiff, itchy dress stuffed at the back of my wardrobe and the invitation to the wedding hidden under my mattress – but I knew there was no way on earth that I’d be able to go without telling Mum and Dad first. And what about Sophia Malone and helping out at her wedding? I couldn’t exactly cut myself in half.
Nothing had changed much with Ellie either. We still weren’t talking and she was still hanging out with Eddie and his mates. Sometimes I’d catch her looking at me during a lesson or at lunchtime, and a couple of times I nearly went over to try and patch things up – but after what Crystal said about Ellie not believing me, I couldn’t quite bring myself to do it.
Phoebe and Polly were desperate to help. They kept coming up with new ways of getting us back together, but it was hopeless. I never realized Ellie could be so stubborn – or maybe Eddie was just filling her head with terrible lies, even though he didn’t actually know the first thing about me.
“Why don’t we ask her to come to the school fireworks next week?” Phoebe suggested the next Saturday during break at drama. “It might be different if we weren’t at school or Star Makers. She might kind of forget she was angry with you…” I looked across at Ellie. She was on the other side of the hall with Neesha, even though Polly had asked them to sit with us. I shook my head. “It wouldn’t make the slightest difference. She wouldn’t care if we were in Outer Mongolia, she still wouldn’t talk to me.”
“Well there must be something we can do.” Phoebe sighed. “You haven’t been yourself at all since the row.”
“What, you mean she’s been so much nicer!” said Monty B, munching his way through a second packet of cheese-and-onion crisps.
“Who asked you?” I snapped.
“Phew, that’s better,” he said. “Back to normal. Anyway, if you really want to turn Ellie against Eddie, why don’t you tell her that he’s a crazed axe-murderer and he’s just been released from prison?”
“I actually know something about Eddie already,” I said, leaning in to whisper. “But I can’t say what it is and I’m not going to tell Ellie either.”
They all stopped eating and stared at me.
“Come on, Sam,” breathed Phoebe. “What do you know?”
“He’s not married is he?” said Monty B.
“Married?” I spluttered, nearly choking on my drink. “He’s fourteen years old!”
“What is it then? And how did you find out?”
“You haven’t been stalking them have you?” said Polly.
I almost laughed. “Of course not, but I can’t tell you because I have to tell Ellie first, and I can’t tell Ellie because she won’t believe me.”
“Well, why don’t you tell me and I’ll tell her?” said Monty B. “I won’t even mention your name.”
“What are you lot up to?” said Mandy, coming over. “You look like you’re cooking up some evil plan, the way you’re huddled up with your heads together!”
“We’re just discussing the show,” said Monty B. “It’s nothing sinister, Mandy. Trust me.”
“It’s funny you should say that because we’re going to be doing some trust games straight after break.”
“What do you mean?” I said, my heart missing a beat. “Not those awful ones where you have to fall into people’s arms and stuff?”
“Yes, something like that,” said Mandy. “But don’t look so worried, Sam. Trust games are really important for building a sense of closeness and support in the group. I know The Phantom Face is about a group of people who don’t trust each other, but if you guys don’t feel really close when you’re performing, the show won’t be nearly as good as I know it could be.” She looked right at me. “Trust me, Sam! It’ll be fun.”
Oh yes, it would be great fun! Closing my eyes and falling back into Adam’s arms – or even worse, Ellie’s! The way things were going at the moment, she’d probably drop me straight onto the floor.
The first game was bad enough. It was called Blindfold Find and basically we had to stand in a space in the hall with our eyes closed while Mandy called out a load of instructions, like, “Find someone with the same length hair as you,” or, “Find someone with a nose like yours.” Everyone was in hysterics as they stumbled about, running their hands through people’s hair or grabbing hold of their noses to see what shape they were. At one point someone came over and placed a hand on my head. I knew it was Ellie straight away; I could just tell. I opened my eyes a tiny bit to peek and she opened hers at the same time. “No cheating!” Mandy called from the front. “Keep your eyes closed tight!”
“Talking of cheating,” I nearly said to Ellie, but she’d moved away and it was too late.
The second game was called Still Pond and it was even worse. One person was blindfolded while everyone else moved around the room, and then when Mandy called out “Still Pond” we had to freeze. The blindfolded person then had to feel around for someone and try to guess who they were by touching them.
Neesha was first to be blindfolded. When Mandy called out “Still Pond” she shuffled over to Monty B and then said his name without laying a hand on him.
“Hey! How did you know it was me?” he said.
“Oh my God, yeah, from your cheese-and-onion breath! It’s minging! Ever heard of sucking on a mint?”
“Oh, that’s charming,” said Monty B. “You don’t smell so great yourself!”
Mandy was trying not to laugh. “Come on, guys, we’re supposed to be bonding, not hurling insults at each other.”
Adam asked to go next. As soon as he was blindfolded I darted off to the furthest end of the hall, desperate to stay out of his way – but it was like we were both wearing super-strength magnets or something. When Mandy shouted “Still Pond”, he lurched straight towards me, passing at least fifteen other people on the way.
He reached out and his hand brushed my left shoulder. I stopped breathing and took a silent but massive step to my right. “Hey, where are you?” he said, waving his arms about. “Stop moving!” He found me again and had a hand on each side of my face when Arthur walked in. It was like a miracle. I never thought I’d be so pleased to see him!
“Oh, this looks like fun, Mandy,” he boomed. “Perhaps I could have a turn?”
“Erm…perhaps not,” said Mandy. “We’re just about to go onto the next game, you see.” She whipped the blindfold off Adam. “Come and make a circle everyone.”
We wandered into the middle to make a circle while Mandy chatted to Arthur. It was something quite boring about locking up at the end of the session, but she was obviously dead scared he was going to declare his undying love for her every time he made an appearance.
When we went downstairs at the end of the session, Eddie was waiting for Ellie, his cap pulled down even further over his eyes than usual. It was weird but he barely said hello or even looked at her as they sloped out of the car park together. Ellie didn’t look happy at all but she went off with him anyway.
I had planned to go back to Phoebe’s for the afternoon and practise some scenes, but Crystal was waiting for me on the other side of the road. She was hopping from foot to foot, and I could see she was totally hyped up about something. It was so typical of her to disappear for days on end and then turn up like this, out of the blue.
“Remember I said Tyler and the Garlic Pickers were waiting for some BIG news,” she said, practically dragging me off down the road. “Well, they’re meeting with their agent right now, like this second, and Tyler’s going to text me as soon as he knows. It’s the big break they’ve been waiting for, I’m sure of
it.”
We wandered down to the park and sat in our usual place on the swings. I told her about drama and how Ellie was still ignoring me, but I could tell she wasn’t really listening.
“Earth to Crystal,” I said, waving my hand in front of her face.
“Sorry, Sam,” she said. “I can’t stop thinking about the meeting. Tyler’s going to ring me any minute.”
“But what about the wedding? When are you going to tell Mum and Dad?” I knew she was sick of hearing it but I couldn’t help myself. I was so sick of keeping it a secret. Crystal fiddled around with her phone, staring at the screen as if she could somehow force it to ring.
“Look, Crystal – if you don’t tell Mum and Dad about the wedding then I’m not coming either.”
Crystal didn’t say anything for a long time.
“I don’t care,” she said in the end. Her voice was shaking. “Tyler’s my family now.”
“Don’t say that!” I gasped, grabbing her swing. “I know you don’t mean that. I’m your family, and Mum and Dad. If you didn’t care, you wouldn’t be so upset. I know you’re hurt, Crystal, but we all miss you so much – not just me – all of us.”
She looked away, her eyes filling with tears.
“Look, I don’t know what Mum said to you that night but if you get married without telling her it’s like you’re cutting her right out of your life!”
Crystal jumped off the swing. “You mean the way she wanted to cut me right out of hers!”
“What do you mean?”
She started to walk off, calling over her shoulder, “Why don’t you ask her, Sam?” She stopped walking for a second and turned back towards me. She was crying now. Big fat tears running down her face. “If you want to know why Mum and I aren’t talking, why don’t you just ask her?”
I had every intention of asking Mum the second I got home – and this time I was determined to get an answer – but with all the drama of seeing Crystal, I’d somehow forgotten that today was the day Dad was whisking Mum off to Paris for their anniversary. I arrived home to find them both upstairs packing.
Dad was singing some song about the Mona Lisa while Mum held up one dress after the other, trying to decide what to take. “You’d better get sorted for going to Aunty Mags’s,” she said as I walked into their room. “Don’t forget to take all your school stuff and your uniform and lots of clean knickers—”
“Mum! I’m not a baby!”
“I know but—”
“Rosy, stop fussing,” said Dad. “I mean, talk about the Mona Lisa – it’s more like the Mona Rosa!”
“Hey you!” Mum pretended to slap Dad and they fell back on the bed, giggling.
I left them to it. They were so excited about Paris there was no way I could start asking questions about Crystal and the night of her birthday now. I tried to convince myself that everything would be okay in the end, although it was difficult to imagine Mum and Crystal making up in time for the wedding. And even if they did, Crystal was getting married on the same day as Sophia Malone, which meant that at some point Mum was going to have to choose between her own daughter’s wedding and the biggest job of her life.
I loved being at Aunty Mags’s house. It was like being on holiday myself. I didn’t speak to Crystal at all and, with Mum and Dad away, I decided to try and push it all to the back of my mind until they came home. It was less than a month till the wedding, but it wasn’t like I could do anything about it.
On Friday night, Aunty Mags’s best friend Stevie came over for a takeaway. Aunty Mags and Stevie have been best friends for years. I think they used to go out with each other, but that was way before I was born. Stevie hadn’t met Riley yet, but he was totally smitten from the second he walked in.
“I don’t believe it, Mags – he’s just like Kasper!” he cried, scooping Riley up in his arms. Riley squirmed about, desperate to plant as many kisses on Stevie’s face as he could.
“Who’s Kasper?” I asked, laughing at Riley.
“What?” Aunty Mags looked at me, shocked. “Kasper was your dad’s dog, Sam, he must’ve told you. He got him for his tenth birthday. They were totally inseparable for years.”
“He’s never mentioned it,” I said. “Mum’s a real cat person so we’ve never even talked about getting a dog.”
“I’ll dig out some old photos later,” said Aunty Mags. “I’m sure I’ve got some upstairs.”
It was such a funny evening, the best I’d had in ages. Stevie had me in stitches, telling me stories about Aunty Mags and Dad when they were teenagers. “I had a terrible crush on Mags,” he said, winking at Aunty Mags. “That’s why I used to hang around with your dad all the time.”
“So you mean you were Dad’s friend first?”
“That’s right,” said Stevie, “but like I said, I only used to come over so I could see Mags.”
Aunty Mags laughed. “It was Kasper you loved. You used to take him out for walks and pretend he was your dog, remember?”
“I remember him getting hold of my new drumsticks. He chewed them to pieces!”
“Riley’s a horror for chewing as well,” moaned Aunty Mags. “I mean look at the state of this room…”
She stopped talking suddenly and leaped up as Riley came bounding through the door with my new bra trailing out of his mouth. “Oh no!” I shouted, leaping up as well.
“Riley Lester!” said Stevie in a very stern voice. “Drop!”
Riley looked up at Stevie with his huge brown eyes and for a second I thought he was going to obey, but just then the takeaway arrived and he bounded out again, my new, half-chewed bra flying out behind him.
Later on that night I was in bed reading when Aunty Mags came in with some old photos of Kasper. Stevie was right – he looked exactly like Riley, only much bigger.
“I found something else at the back of the cupboard,” said Aunty Mags. “I haven’t looked at this for a while.” She handed me an ancient scrapbook stuffed full of newspaper cuttings. “Remember when we talked in the park that time? Well, he’ll probably kill me for showing you, but I think you should know what your old dad used to get up to.” She gave me a kiss and left me to it.
The newspaper cuttings were all about a local band called Stevie and the Stingrays. I could see straight away that Dad was in the band and so was Stevie. Dad was holding a guitar. He looked cool and trendy and very, very young. My Dad In A Band. How had he kept something as big as that hidden for so many years?
I pored over the cuttings, reading every word. Stevie and the Stingrays had played in pubs and clubs all over the country. They’d got rave reviews for practically all their gigs. Stevie and the Stingrays…a band who show that they know how to craft a catchy tune… We can pin our local pride on these four lads…the vocals are crisp, the guitar is understated yet inspired…an energetic crash of noise… Stevie and the Stingrays are on the cusp of something special…a local band to be proud of…
Most of the cuttings were from nineteen years ago. A year before Crystal was born. Dad must’ve dropped out of the band when Mum got pregnant. That’s what Aunty Mags meant when she said Dad had to give up his dreams too. I wondered if that was the end of Stevie and the Stingrays, or if they’d found someone to replace Dad.
My head was swimming. Mum must have known Dad when he was in the band. So that meant she fell in love with a musician, just like Crystal! How could one family have so many secrets? I closed the scrapbook and lay back on my bed, staring at the ceiling. As soon as Mum and Dad got back I was going to tell them everything, and I wanted a whole load of answers from them as well.
When I got to drama on Saturday, Julian was in the car park with Mandy, unloading some equipment from his van. Polly arrived at the same time and we helped them carry everything upstairs.
“Goodness me. What’s all this?” said Arthur, peering out of his office as we hauled everything up.
“Oh hello, Arthur. You know my boyfriend Julian, don’t you?” said Mandy, emphasizing the word “boyfriend�
� just to make sure he got the message. Mandy actually met Julian through Arthur when he turned up to build the set for one of Arthur’s plays on the same day as our dress rehearsal!
“Yes of course!” boomed Arthur, tugging at his beard. “Julian and I go way back. Do let me know if you need any help.”
It took about three trips to get everything up. There was a drum set and a synthesizer and all sorts of lighting equipment.
“This looks wicked!” said Sandeep, hobbling over on his crutches.
“Great,” said Mandy, “because your new role from now on is assistant stage technician. How does that sound?”
“It sounds brilliant. Something useful to do at last.”
We all crowded round Julian as he set up his instruments.
“Have you composed the detective music yet?” said Monty B. “I’ll need something dignified but catchy.”
“What character are you playing then?” asked Julian, grinning.
“I’m Detective Biscuit,” said Monty B, “but I’m not your common Jammy Dodger. I’ve got a bit more class than that – like a nice chocolate digestive or a—”
“Class!” snorted Neesha. “More like farce if you ask me.” She made a face at Ellie and they both cracked up.
“Oh, you’re funny,” said Monty B and stuck his tongue out at them, blowing a raspberry.
“Thank you,” said Neesha. “I rest my case.”
When Julian was ready, he got us all up onstage to sing the opening number. He wanted to record us singing so he could work out where the sound effects and backing music needed to fit in. He’d also set up a special screen called a shark-tooth scrim, and every time Adam and I saw the phantom face at the window, he was going to project this really creepy image of an old-fashioned looking girl in a long white nightie.
“Oh, she looks just like you, Phoebe!” cried Sara, when Julian showed us the image. “You know, in your white nightie with the pretty ruffles round the collar.”
“Shut up!” hissed Phoebe.
“Okay! Keep your frilly knickers on,” said Sara, and Phoebe slapped her across the head.
Sam in the Spotlight Page 9
