Star Style

by Sienna Mercer

  They pulled into a long parking space, designed just for limos.

  Frank opened the door and helped them step out. ‘Mr Harker will meet you in about half an hour, over on Lot 3.’ He handed them a map of the huge complex. ‘But until then, you can go anywhere you like.’ He gave them two laminated passes with VIP written in big red letters.

  Ivy kept scanning the crowd for any sign of James, Joe or John from the Killer Bees.

  The map showed various studios and had little notes on their history.

  ‘Ooh, that’s where Wacky Walrus was made!’ Ivy declared. ‘I loved that show when I was little.’

  Olivia laughed. ‘Me too! Wa-cky Wal-rus likes to dance and sing . . .’

  Ivy joined in for the second line, ‘Wa-cky Wal-rus, he’s the walrus king!’

  Ivy squinted in the sun. ‘I’m glad Lillian lent me her sun block. It’s so hot!’

  The sisters wandered across the sunny lot to the door marked VIP ONLY.

  ‘Oooh.’ Ivy played with the VIP pass around her neck, waving it in the air even though there was no one there to see it. ‘VIP, that’s me!’ she said and Olivia giggled.

  Her sister stuck her nose in the air. ‘I’m very important, let me through!’

  ‘Hey you!’ shouted someone. ‘You can’t go in there!’

  Olivia and Ivy swivelled around, their VIP badges swinging from their cords.

  It was a bald security man, and he did not look amused, but as soon as he saw their passes, he stopped. ‘My apologies, ladies,’ he said, backing off. ‘Guests of Mr Harker are welcome anywhere.’

  ‘Uh, thanks,’ Ivy said. It was funny when they were pretending, but people bowing and scraping like that really made her uncomfortable.

  Olivia pushed open the door to Studio 6 and Ivy followed her inside. The motion-sensor lights flickered on when they walked in to reveal a huge open space with wires snaking across the floor and random props everywhere.

  ‘Look!’ Olivia said, her voice echoing oddly in the emptiness.

  She had found a display of Wacky Walrus merchandise and photographs behind the scenery. Olivia picked up one of the soft-toy versions of Wacky Walrus and made it dance through the air.

  ‘Wa-cky Wal-rus,’ she sang and Ivy joined in.

  They started skipping around the studio, shouting the song louder and louder.

  Olivia made Wacky Walrus sit on one of the tall, expensive-looking cameras and Ivy goofed around with a big soft-toy fish, making it swim up to Wacky and almost get eaten.

  ‘You can’t catch me, Mr Walrus King!’ Ivy shouted, making the fish swim away.

  Olivia shouted. ‘Mm, tasty fish!’ and chased Ivy over on to the stage area, which had a piano and big quilts hanging up on a laundry line.

  ‘This totally reminds me of The Parent Trap!’ Olivia said.

  ‘Let’s get together . . .’ Ivy started, knowing she was off-key but not caring.

  ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah!’ finished Olivia.

  Ivy used the fish to play a little air guitar and hopped around the stage, but her foot caught on one of the cables on the floor and she lurched right towards a camera.

  Olivia lunged, trying to stop Ivy crashing into it. But it was too late. All Ivy could do was twist at the very last second so that she landed on the fish, rather than on the camera.

  ‘Are you OK?’ Olivia asked as she helped Ivy get up.

  Ivy nodded, relieved that she didn’t break anything – especially the equipment. She straightened her black wrap-around skirt, the good mood disappearing. ‘See?’ she said, wishing she was anywhere but here. ‘Me anywhere near a camera is a disaster waiting to happen.’

  Chapter Eight

  ‘Girls?’ called Mr Vega.

  Olivia hadn’t heard the door opening, but she turned to see Mr Vega, Lillian and Mr Harker walking into the studio.

  ‘We’re over here!’ she called.

  ‘But how did you know where we were?’ Ivy asked as they drew near.

  Harker pushed his wild hair out of his face. ‘Big Kev said that he’d seen you coming in here.’

  The name definitely suited him, Olivia thought, putting Wacky Walrus carefully back in his place on the display.

  ‘Everything is gravy for this summer’s filming,’ said Harker. ‘You two will be my leading ladies, and Lillian will chaperone, as well as acting as assistant director.’

  ‘And I’ll be on set as much as possible,’ said Mr Vega, smiling at Lillian.

  ‘So we just need to finish the paperwork.’ Harker grinned. ‘And you’ll both be hugely famous!’

  Olivia watched her sister. Ivy had a grimace on her face. She’s only doing it to help me, Olivia knew. And it’s too much to ask.

  ‘Actually,’ Olivia said, struggling not to cry. ‘I don’t think we’re going to be able to do it after all.’ This felt like her greatest acting challenge yet – not to crumple in front of this hotshot producer.

  Harker’s face fell and Mr Vega looked baffled.

  ‘What are you talking about, man?’ Harker said. ‘It’s all fixed.’

  Mr Vega put his back to Harker and asked the girls quietly. ‘What’s going on? Should we leave?’

  ‘Olivia –’ Ivy started, but Olivia didn’t want to stop.

  ‘No, it’s fine,’ Olivia said to both of them. ‘Mr Harker, thank you for flying us all out here. I would totally love to be in your movie, but my sister?’ Olivia grabbed Ivy’s hand. ‘My sister would very much like not to be in your movie.’

  ‘Not to?’ Harker said, like she was speaking a different language.

  ‘Not to,’ Ivy confirmed. ‘Olivia is the actress – I’m a behind-the-scenes kind of girl.’

  There was a moment of silence. ‘This is so not cool, man. SO not cool,’ Harker murmured, shaking his head.

  Deep down, Olivia had known that this moment would come. It had all been too good to be true. ‘I’m sorry to put you through this trouble.’

  ‘I thought you girls were on the same wavelength as me.’ Harker was pacing up and down, running his hand through his hair. ‘I’ve got a lot of money riding on this. And you were so good in that Inside Hollywood interview . . .’

  Harker seemed genuinely disappointed.

  Olivia sighed. It just wasn’t meant to be, she thought.

  ‘Well, we’re not going to force Ivy into doing something she doesn’t want to do,’ said Mr Vega. ‘Come on, girls.’ He started walking to the door.

  ‘Nobody’s forcing anyone –’ Harker replied and Olivia felt the tension rise.

  ‘Wait a minute,’ Ivy said, stopping everyone. ‘Let’s get together!’

  ‘Huh?’ said Harker.

  ‘What do you mean, Ivy?’ asked Lillian softly.

  ‘I mean, that song from The Parent Trap!’ Ivy said. ‘The actress in that movie wasn’t a twin. She acted both sisters’ parts.’

  Olivia wasn’t sure what Ivy was getting at.

  ‘Why can’t Olivia play both parts?’ Ivy said to Harker. ‘You’ve already seen her do goth in The Groves, and everyone knows that she’s perfect for Carmina. Think what a great selling point that will be! One actress, two roles!’

  Harker narrowed his eyes and looked at Olivia. ‘Can you be a green-screen queen?’

  ‘What does that mean?’ Mr Vega asked.

  ‘She’d have to act with herself,’ Lillian explained, ‘filming half of the conversations in front of a green screen, so they could edit it to look like she was talking to herself.’

  ‘I really want to try,’ Olivia said, feeling a flash of hope.

  ‘Dude,’ said Harker. ‘This could work. It could be my new promotional twist. All those rumours about a second actress . . . we’d trip them out!’

  Ivy made her fish do a little happy dance and Olivia wanted to join in.

  ‘We’ll set up some test screenings for tomorrow,’ Harker said. ‘But I’m jazzed, baby!’

  He shook Mr Vega’s hand, and then Ivy’s. Then he pointed at Olivia. ‘You go and be
a star tonight at the awards. Did I tell you? You’re up for the Bright New Star of this year. You just concentrate on that. We’ll seal the deal tomorrow.’

  Then it hit her – not only had she not lost the part, she’d won a second part, and she only had four hours to get ready for the biggest night of her life!

  Ivy was seeing stars. She was sitting in a luxurious green room filled with celebrities.

  ‘I can’t believe it!’ she whispered to Olivia.

  She was less than ten feet away from James, Joe and John from the Killer Bees. Joe was twirling his drumsticks in the air and John had a tiny button on his t-shirt that said, ‘Buzz off’. It was almost impossible to keep her cool. She’d been texting brags to Brendan ever since the band had walked in.

  Today had ended up being a really good day, against all odds.

  First, when they’d arrived, Ivy managed to convince Olivia that she really didn’t need to walk down the red carpet with her. Jackson had arrived at the show early to prepare for hosting, so Olivia had walked down the red carpet – the skirt of her gorgeous, full-length turquoise dress intact – with Mr Vega and Lillian.

  Ivy had snuck behind the crowds to a roped-off area by the entrance. This was for people who didn’t want to face the cameras. She flashed her badge and was let into the building, with just enough time to glance down the carpet to Olivia. Her twin had been turning in her silver heels, looking just like a model. She’d had her hair pinned up in an elegant bun with chandelier earrings and all the photographers had been desperate to get her picture.

  By contrast, people could easily have mistaken Ivy for backstage crew. She was wearing a black T-shirt that said Black Hole and black cargo pants.

  After they’d met in the lobby, Ivy and Olivia had been shown to the backstage area while the adults headed for the audience. They’d passed a dozen B-list celebs, including the tanned guy from Shop Hopping and the dog-training lady from Barking Mad.

  Now, in the green room, Ivy was perched next to her sister on a black leather sofa with snacks and drinks spread out all over the glass coffee table in front of them. Ivy couldn’t stop watching her favourite band.

  James looked up and smiled at her.

  ‘Oh, my goodness. James just looked at me!’ Ivy scrunched her toes up in excitement. ‘Was that a smile? Did he just smile at me?’

  ‘Calm down!’ Olivia whispered. ‘What happened to unimpressed, goth Ivy?’

  ‘Well,’ Ivy replied, ‘she’s staring at the most goth-tastic band alive. It would only be right and proper to get a little weak at the knees.’

  Then a group of VIP fans came in, waving autograph books, blocking her view.

  ‘Would it be unprofessional if I throw things at them until they move?’ Ivy asked innocently.

  ‘Don’t you dare,’ Olivia replied. ‘I’m nervous enough as it is!’

  There were three awards before Olivia was supposed to be ready in case she won the Bright New Star award.

  ‘Whether or not I win, I have to make sure I keep smiling because the cameras will all be on me,’ Olivia said. ‘And then if I win, I have to make a speech and introduce the winner of the Brightest Star award!’

  ‘You’ll do great . . . especially with Jackson right up there next to you.’

  Olivia smiled.

  ‘Olivia Abbott?’ called an officious-looking woman with a clipboard.

  Olivia took a deep breath and stood up.

  The woman nodded. ‘We need you in the wings by camera six until it’s almost time for the nominations to be announced.’

  Ivy gave Olivia a hug. ‘You are the brightest new star, no matter what. Don’t forget, you’ve got something they don’t have.’

  ‘You mean the Eternal Sunset role?’ Olivia said.

  ‘No . . . me!’ Ivy grinned.

  Olivia laughed. ‘You are the best.’ She waved and clicked away in her silver heels.

  Ivy looked around the green room. The Killer Bees had disappeared, maybe to get ready to present an award, but Ivy caught sight of Jessica Phelps – wearing a blue dress with Olivia’s shark-bite skirt – surrounded by a gaggle of admirers.

  Ivy growled under her breath. She knew Jessica was up for the Brightest Star award, and it was almost inevitable that she would get it.

  A man with a slicked-back ponytail, all clad in black, bustled through the green room crowd and whispered in Jessica’s ear, pressing a small package into her hands.

  Jessica’s eyes lit up and she dismissed her hangers-on. Ivy’s spidey-sense tingled. She’s up to something.

  Jessica slipped through the crowd, flashing smiles left and right. Ivy stood up and discreetly followed as closely as she dared.

  She had to duck under a catwalk model shaking out her hair and around a dance group bopping in unison despite there not being any music.

  Jessica left the green room and made a bee-line for a bank of monitors and video equipment, where four engineers were busily pushing buttons and shouting cues to each other.

  She sidled up to one and caught his attention. Ivy couldn’t hear what Jessica was saying, but she could see that the diva was laying on all her charms. The engineer was pushing his glasses back up his nose and leaning closer and closer.

  Jessica stood on her tiptoes to whisper into his ear, deliberately putting her hand on his arm.

  He seemed to resist her suggestion for a minute but then she took out a pen and wrote something on his hand – probably her phone number. He nodded and Jessica pressed the packet the ponytail man had given her into his hand. The engineer nodded again and Jessica strutted off.

  Ivy ducked behind a spare podium and watched the engineer open the packet to find a DVD inside. Jessica had passed him something to play during the awards.

  On a nearby monitor, Ivy saw that they were just announcing a tribute to their host, Jackson Caulfield. Ivy narrowed her eyes. Something bad was about to happen. She had to find Olivia.

  ‘Pardon me,’ Ivy asked a runner. ‘Where is camera six?’

  ‘On the other side.’ He pointed and Ivy ran as fast as her chunky books would take her.

  Olivia had a great view of the stage. Jackson was smiling, cracking little jokes and being his usual charming self.

  She was so proud to be his girlfriend. She just wished she didn’t have to hide it any more.

  ‘He’s doing great,’ Amy whispered. She was wearing a gold cowl-neck dress, with her red hair loose over her shoulders.

  ‘He is,’ Olivia agreed.

  ‘And now . . .’ an announcer’s voice boomed over the auditorium speakers, ‘a tribute to our wonderful host, Jackson Caulfield!’

  The audience went wild and there was a close-up of Jackson at the hosting podium smiling and turning to watch the huge screens behind him.

  Instead of Jackson’s face, Jessica’s face filled the screen.

  ‘What’s this?’ Amy said. ‘This isn’t what we approved!’ Amy whirled around to the nearest stage hand. ‘Who put on this video?’

  Olivia watched as Jessica’s image filled the screen. ‘Hi, Jackson, sweetie!’ She blew a kiss at the camera. ‘I couldn’t let them do any old boring tribute – and we’ve gotten so close . . .’ she paused for emphasis and Olivia wanted to throw something at the screen, ‘that I wanted to do something a little special to say thank you for making filming The Groves so much fun.’

  Olivia glanced over at Jackson at the podium and he looked confused. He caught her eye in the wings and gave a helpless shrug.

  Photographs started flashing up on the screen of Jackson and Jessica filming scenes at the Meat and Greet, picnicking in a park and holding hands by a lake. It looked to Olivia more like it was a tribute to them as a couple.

  ‘Don’t worry, girls,’ Jessica’s voice came over the images. ‘I’m not taking credit for taming America’s most eligible bachelor . . . because someone called Olivia beat me to it!’

  Amy gasped and Olivia felt her stomach twist. She had to take a deep breath to stop from retching. J
ackson’s mouth was set in a grim line, steeling himself for whatever was coming next.

  Then a video clip started of someone clearly filming through a bush. It was Aunt Rebecca’s ranch. On the huge screen for everyone to see, Jackson got out of the Daniels’ van, rushed over to Olivia, scooped her up and gave her a big kiss.

  And, just like that, the secret was out.

  Olivia had wanted the world to know, but she didn’t want Jackson’s fans to find out like this – especially right before she had to face the cameras for the newcomer award.

  There was loud booing from the audience.

  ‘Who is that?’ one girl shouted.

  ‘Jackson stealer!’ called another.

  So much for being a star at the awards like Harker wanted, Olivia thought. I’m promotional poison!

  The film was still playing out behind her, and there was a glimpse of Ivy on the screen – the first time anyone had seen Ivy and Olivia together in a film.

  ‘They tried to keep that secret from us!’ someone cried out. Olivia couldn’t believe it. How many more things was she going to get attacked for?

  Just then, Ivy burst into the wings. ‘Olivia!’ she called.

  ‘What is going on?’ Amy raged at a stage manager.

  He looked terrified and shouted into his headset. ‘Commercial break! Go! Now!’

  Jackson, still in front of the audience, was forcing a smile but people were up out of their seats, the video had cut out part-way through and the whole event was in chaos.

  Olivia couldn’t face it any more. She dropped her bag on the nearest chair and fled.

  ‘Olivia!’ Ivy called, but Olivia couldn’t stop. She had to get away.

  Chapter Nine

  ‘Where is she?’ Jackson demanded, rushing over to the wings the instant the commercial break began.

  ‘I want somebody FIRED!’ Amy was shouting.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Ivy admitted. ‘But we’ll find her.’

  Ivy took off in the direction that Olivia went, desperately hoping that her sister hadn’t left the building. She wished there was something she could have done to prevent this mess.