The It Girl in Rome

by Katy Birchall

  * * *

  Hi, you have reached Nick Huntley’s phone. Please leave your name, number, and any message and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you.

  *BEEP*

  “Nick, it’s Rebecca again. Stanley is not picking up his phone. I had better get on the phone to Colin immediately. Looks like quite a few of my acquaintances need hearing aids. . . .”

  * * *

  Hi, you have reached Nick Huntley’s phone. Please leave your name, number, and any message and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you.

  *BEEP*

  “You’ll never believe what the aquarium has done now. When I phoned them to say that I, Helena Montaine, was most displeased with one of their staff members and could I have the name of their manager, the man on the end of the phone laughed and then said that the manager’s name was Mr. Not-an-idiot and then he hung up AGAIN. I hope you’re going to do something about this, Nicholas—for example, write a very bad review of that aquarium in one of the magazines you work for. That will show them!”

  * * *

  Hi, you have reached Nick Huntley’s phone. Please leave your name, number, and any message and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you.

  *BEEP*

  “Hey, Dad, it’s me. Why aren’t you picking up your phone? You know, I have been thinking recently you may be a bit deaf these days, but I didn’t say anything because I know you’re sensitive about being old and everything. Jess has let me borrow her phone to tell you that we’re going to go speak to Tom Kyzer because he’s here in Rome! You never know, Marianne might be hiding around here somewhere. Anyway, I better go because I’m on a fire escape and need both hands to climb down the next bit. Bye!”

  From: nicholas.huntley@bounce-mail.co.uk

  To: helena@montaines.co.uk;

  Cc: anna_huntley@zingmail.co.uk;

  rebecca.blythe@bounce-mail.co.uk;

  Subject: Voice mails

  Well, this has made my day.

  Rebecca—NO, I do not think that Marianne is hiding behind one of the pillars of Stonehenge. I can only imagine that your head got pecked so many times during the six months you spent in South Africa looking after ostriches that you are getting confused with what is normal and what is not.

  Helena—leave the poor aquarium people alone. Didn’t you hear the man? He has a cuttlefish emergency on his hands!

  Anna—I don’t even want to know why you’re on a fire escape at the moment. Get. Down.

  I imagine that what Marianne really needs is her space, so all three of you need to stop this ridiculous plotting and let her come to us when she’s ready.

  Do you know what I was just thinking? Dog is the only member of my family who hasn’t lost their mind today.

  And considering he ate a fork earlier, I think that says a lot about all of you.

  Nicholas/Dad x

  PS I am now going to pour myself a large whiskey and won’t be picking up the phone for the rest of the day. Blame that on my hearing if you wish. It is nice to have an excuse.

  16.

  THE FIRE ESCAPE WAS ALL part of Brendan’s self-titled Genius Plan.

  “I used it the other day,” he mentioned casually when we were all gathered in my room to hear how he planned on getting us out. “You can just climb right on down.”

  “Why can’t we just quietly sneak out the front door?” Jess asked.

  “Too risky. The teachers sit in the lounge reading and doing other boring stuff and they have a perfect view of the reception area. Plus I know for a fact that the hotel staff have been instructed to inform teachers if they see any students leave the building and to question said students before they go out.” He shrugged. “I guess they’re used to people trying to sneak out on school trips.”

  “How do you know all this?” Stephanie asked him, her eyes peeking out below her bangs, wide with awe.

  “I was chatting to the lady behind the reception desk,” he grinned. “I asked her out for a slice of pizza.”

  “Oh yeah?” James laughed. “How well did that go down?”

  “She had already eaten.”

  “Sure.” Jess rolled her eyes.

  I was going to ask why he would do that when he’s meant to be dating Sophie, but I didn’t want to annoy him while he was doing me a favor. Plus Sophie didn’t seem like she was all that enamored with him these days.

  “I still don’t understand why you want to help us,” said Jess.

  “For the same reason James does . . .” Brendan shrugged. James snapped his head up looking at Brendan intently as everyone else waited for James to explain.

  “It’s fun to break the rules,” Brendan finished, laughing and answering for him.

  I sighed, feeling strangely disappointed without knowing quite why. Maybe Connor had been right about the pair of them.

  “Okay, so we just go down the fire escape. Easy.” Danny nodded.

  “Slight snag is the big window in the lounge.” Brendan explained. “The fire escape goes right past it and if anyone sees the lot of you climbing down outside, game over. That’s where I come in.”

  “What’s your plan?” I asked.

  The plan, Brendan informed us, was simple and yet effective, requiring minimal effort but maximum results:

  1. Brendan sneaks us to the fire escape without anyone seeing

  2. We climb down the fire escape.

  3. We stop before the lounge window.

  4. Brendan and Sophie stage a huge, explosive fight in the reception area—

  “Wait a minute!” I interrupted. “What was that last point?”

  “Myself and Sophie stage a huge fight in the reception area and then—”

  “Sophie?” Jess gaped. “There is no way you are getting Sophie involved in this.”

  “I need her to help.” Brendan shrugged. “It’s realistic that I get in a fight with Sophie.”

  “I reckon that makes sense.” James nodded.

  “No way!” Jess shrieked. “Brendan was one thing—no offense, Brendan,” she added, but he didn’t look too bothered. “But Sophie Parker? We can’t trust Sophie Parker. She HATES us. She will tell everyone! She’d love to see us get in trouble! Plus you’ll never get her to agree. She said categorically at the beginning of the trip that she would never want to be on the same team as us.”

  “Jess might be right,” Danny said, his forehead furrowed in concern. “We shouldn’t get Sophie involved in this.”

  “Oh, please,” came a snide voice as my bedroom door swung open and Sophie strode in, slamming and locking it behind her. “I already know about the whole thing. Oh, and by the way, you should keep your voices down. It’s lucky no one is listening in the corridor.”

  She came to stand next to Brendan, victoriously observing all our shocked faces.

  “Stop freaking out,” Sophie sighed, rearranging her mini skirt and smoothing her hair. “I’m happy to help.”

  “You are happy to help us?” I asked.

  “Yes,” she replied, beginning to look bored by the situation already. “But if I’m going to help you sneak out, then I want something in return.”

  “This is REALLY not good,” Jess cried, burying her head in her hands.

  “What?” I asked dubiously.

  “An invite.” She focused her eyes determinedly on me. “To the wedding. Your dad’s wedding.”

  “What?”

  She reached for her lip gloss and began to apply it as she spoke. “I want an invite to your dad’s wedding. Don’t worry about the ceremony. But I want to be at the reception. The big party. That is, if the wedding still takes place, which according to the Daily Post is pretty unlikely,” she added.

  “I can’t get you an invite to their wedding? Are you CRAZY?”

  She popped the lid back on her lip gloss. “If you want my help, I’m going to have to insist on it.”

  I ran my fingers through my hair, glancing at Jess, who was shaking her head in disbelief. James, admittedly, also
looked pained at the situation. “I can try to get you into the reception. I don’t know why you of all people would want to go to my dad’s wedding.”

  “It’s the most exclusive event of the year. I heard that Leonardo DiCaprio is invited. I want to be there.” She said. “Duh. So, do we have a deal?”

  Brendan grinned. “We really can’t do it without her.”

  I looked at James, who shrugged.

  I sighed. “Yeah. We have a deal.”

  “Now that we’ve got that sorted,” Brendan continued as Sophie smiled smugly, “I will continue with my plan.”

  1. Brendan sneaks us to the fire escape without anyone seeing.

  2. We climb down the fire escape.

  3. We stop before the lounge window.

  4. Brendan and Sophie stage a huge, explosive fight in the reception area.

  5. The teachers intervene.

  6. We quickly make our way past the window and safely on to the road.

  7. Brendan and Sophie wait until we’re no longer visible before staging a makeup.

  8. The teachers go back to their reading.

  9. Brendan is hailed as king of the world.

  10. (“More like king of the doofuses” in Jess’s opinion.)

  “And you guys go talk to Tom Kyzer, who will hopefully have his shirt off at the time,” Sophie concluded, distracted by moisturizing her new tan lines. “Don’t worry about it—it’s a foolproof plan.”

  “I never thought I’d say this,” Jess sighed, lying back across the bed and covering her face in her hands, “but I really hope Sophie is right.”

  * * *

  Later that evening, we sat huddled on the steel-grated platform of the fire escape from which a set of steps spiraled down to the ground.

  “Is it safe?” Stephanie asked anxiously. “It doesn’t feel very stable.”

  “It should hold. Granted there was only one of me and there’s five of you, but, hey, let’s see what happens. . . . Right,” Brendan whispered, rubbing his hands together as Stephanie peered down the steps, and Danny moved protectively in front of her, “it’s showtime. I’ll go get Sophie. You guys should be able to hear us through the window, but you’ll definitely be able to see the teachers get up to sort us out if you angle yourself on the steps right. Just make sure you don’t get seen.”

  Brendan gave us a thumbs-up, high-fived James, and then slammed the fire exit shut.

  “No going back now.” I gulped.

  “Come on, then.” James grinned, ruffling my hair and making his way down the steps. We all followed, gripping onto the cold, steel rail and hurrying down the side of the hotel in a single-file line. James stopped just as we stood above the lounge window and held up his hand to bring us all to a halt.

  “I can see Mr. Kenton reading his book. Brendan should be there any minute now,” he whispered. I was standing so close to James that my chin was almost touching his back, while Jess was leaning forward behind me with both her hands on my shoulders, gripping them nervously.

  Suddenly we heard a loud crash, making Stephanie gasp and my breath catch in my throat. There was an explosion of shouting and I heard the shrill shriek of Sophie’s voice piercing through the bustle of stern, raised voices.

  “Go! Go! Go!” James signaled, rushing down the steps. We hurried down and soon enough we were all past the window, onto the street, and around the corner out of sight.

  “What was that bang?” Jess asked, as she unzipped my backpack and got out the map.

  “They must have broken something for added effect,” James chuckled.

  “Annoyingly, Sophie played that very well,” Jess muttered. She turned to me with a sympathetic smile. “I don’t know how you’re going to explain to Helena that you’re bringing your school enemy as a date to her wedding.”

  I grimaced, wondering whether I could persuade Sophie to sneak into the wedding via a back entrance the same way we were doing tonight. I doubted it.

  “Right, this way,” Danny instructed, shoving the map in his pocket and helpfully distracting me. “We need to hurry if we’re going to make it before the concert starts.”

  We set off down the cobbled streets in the evening warmth, none of us really saying much because if the others were feeling anything like I was then we were all concentrating on controlling our nerves. I hadn’t really planned what I was going to say when I got there; I was sort of hoping that I might just see Marianne wandering around and be able to pounce on her.

  “You okay?” James asked as we eventually approached the stadium. “You look pale.”

  “It’s just . . . I never normally do stuff like this.” I confessed, swallowing the lump in my throat. “It’s a bit out of character for me.”

  “Really?” James looked surprised. “I don’t think so.”

  It was my turn to look surprised.

  “Being there for your friends and family in their times of need? That sounds very much like you,” he explained simply.

  “I was talking about deliberately breaking the rules.”

  “Yeah, well, maybe it’s a new side to your character.” He smiled. “No one stays the same forever. I think it suits you.”

  “Hey, rule breaker,” Jess said gently, nudging me for attention. “It looks like Tom Kyzer has a big fan base here in Italy.” She nodded in the direction of the long line of On the Rox supporters ahead of us, many of them wearing T-shirts with Tom’s face emblazoned across the front.

  “That looks like the stage door. You see it?” James gestured toward a thin door at the side of the building where a large man was standing in black clothing with a radio in his ear. He was talking to a teenage boy with headphones around his neck, who I presumed must have been one of the sound guys.

  “That bouncer looks like he should be in the army,” Stephanie noted, taking in his height and muscles. “Do you really think this plan to get us in will work, James?” She bit her lip.

  “Yes,” James replied. “Jess, you have your camera, right?”

  “As instructed.” She grinned.

  “And, Anna, you have your big sunglasses?”

  “The biggest pair I own,” I said, handing my backpack to Jess and putting them on.

  “Perfect, you look like the It Girl you are,” James said, clapping his hands together. “Everyone ready to put those acting skills to use? Jess, you’re going to have to step it up and do even better than your best friend, Sophie. Her performance sounded pretty good back there.”

  “Please,” she snorted, getting her camera ready. “I ALWAYS do better than Sophie.”

  James winked at me, whispered, “Anna, time to start walking. Channel your inner Marianne,” and then gave Stephanie a sharp nod.

  Having received her signal, she opened her mouth and screamed so loudly that all the On the Rox fans whipped their heads around to look our way. “IT’S ANNA HUNTLEY!!” she cried, grabbing Danny’s arm and jumping up and down wildly. “IT’S ANNA HUNTLEY! TOM KYZER’S FRIEND!”

  Danny and James leaped into role, shouting and cheering along with Stephanie, asking me questions and begging for a photo. Jess held up her camera and started skipping around me as I walked, the flash going off every second.

  “Does anyone have a pen? I want her autograph!” Danny yelled toward the crowd of fans.

  Instantly, the On the Rox fans broke rank and ran over.

  I tried very hard not to (a) fall over or (b) feel intimidated as a huge group of screaming boys and girls sped toward us, pens and phones held out.

  With the Rox fans having formed an excited mob around me, James, Danny, and Stephanie closed in protectively, now switching roles and acting as my exclusive and official entourage. I played my part, keeping my head down to get to the door, but occasionally looking up to smile and wave at them just like Marianne always does. The commotion was enough to get the bouncer’s and the sound guy’s attention, and they watched with interest as the crowd of chaos approached them.

  “Excuse me,” James said to the doorman.
“Anna and her ‘people’ would like to come through.”

  The doorman looked suspiciously at James, holding up his hand firmly, but the crowd was getting more and more manic as stragglers on the road now joined to see if it was someone in the band, and the door got blocked.

  “Please.” I leaned in. “I’m Anna Huntley. I know Tom Kyzer, as I’m sure you’re aware. I was hoping to sneak in without getting noticed.” I smiled apologetically at the crowd. “Guess I should have known that die-hard fans of Tom Kyzer would recognize his friend!”

  The bouncer said something in Italian into a microphone clipped to his jacket, held his finger to his ear as something came through his radio, and then nodded. He opened the door and the sound guy ushered us in.

  The door slammed shut behind us. I heard James breathe a sigh of relief.

  “You want Mr. Kyzer dressing room?” the sound guy asked with a strong Italian accent.

  “If you would be so kind.” Jess smiled, batting her eyelashes at him and running her eyes, not so subtly I might add, across his tanned, chiseled face and long dark hair. I saw Danny roll his eyes as the sound guy beamed back at her and led us down the corridor, asking her a load of questions as we confidently followed him.

  After passing several security men and women dressed in black lined up along the corridor and greeting some of the stage managers, who stopped to shake my hand and tell me they were fans of the Iron Man incident, we were brought to a halt in front of a large purple door.

  “Here,” the sound guy said, before turning to Jess and holding out a small card for her to take. “My details.” He passed it to her and she practically melted into the floor. “Give me a call. I take you for espresso.”

  As he walked down the corridor with a wave back at Jess, she grabbed my arm and squealed. “FINALLY!” She gave a big, dreamy sigh. “Thanks, Anna. I knew you’d come in useful one day.”

  Danny huffed. “Come on. We’ve got a job to do.”

  “Are you ready?” James asked, a reassuring hand on my shoulder. I looked at the others who nodded back at me encouragingly. I took a deep breath and lifted my hand to the door.