Super Star

by Cathy Hopkins

  ‘Sack you? I meant to have Connor along as well as you, not instead of. He said you were friends? He could help us with the queues as well as be the official tour photographer. He looks a nice young man, but I wouldn’t want to employ someone if you’re not OK with it too. I want Team Harper to be a happy team.’

  The penny finally dropped. ‘A . . . As well as?’ I stuttered, then grinned. ‘Hey, yeah.’

  ‘So what do you think?’ I asked Connor after I explained Stephanie’s proposition.

  ‘Wow. Unexpected,’ he said. ‘But then that’s what my horoscope said for this week.’ He grinned. ‘I read Stephanie’s online forecast this morning.’

  ‘What sign are you?’ I asked.

  ‘Taurus, the bull,’ he said. ‘We’re supposed to be stubborn, loyal, hedonistic – because we’re ruled by Venus, the planet of love and beauty. What are you?’

  ‘Sagittarian. Half man, half horse,’ I said and made a neighing noise.

  Connor cracked up. ‘Seriously. I don’t know much about star signs but I read a bit last night online after your text. It’s interesting. So what’s your sign supposed to be like?’

  ‘Sporty, which I am.’

  ‘Which sport?’

  ‘Swimming. I was on the school team last year and even won the championship, though lately with exams and stuff, I’ve hardly been near a swimming pool. Er, Sagittarius is a fire sign, so energetic. Can be clumsy. Say what we think even if it’s inappropriate sometimes.’

  ‘I like that,’ said Connor. ‘I like to know where I am with people. I can’t be doing with people that have secrets and you have to prise what they’re feeling out of them. My girlfriend, Naomi – I mean ex-girlfriend – was like that.’

  I was about to ask more about his ex when Stephanie came over to join us. ‘So have you decided if you’re going to be part of our team, Connor?’

  ‘It would be an honour, Ms Harper,’ he said. ‘Just one small problem.’

  ‘And what’s that?’ asked Stephanie.

  Connor looked down at Raffy.

  ‘Ah,’ said Stephanie. ‘Can’t you get someone to look after him?’

  ‘Not all the time.’

  Stephanie thought for a moment. ‘Then bring him where you can. I love dogs. I have two back home and I miss them so much. It will be lovely to have some canine company.’

  I burst out laughing. ‘Bethany’s going to love this,’ I said. ‘First a schoolgirl and now a dog on the team.’

  ‘And the dog’s master,’ said Connor.

  ‘My book tour,’ said Stephanie. ‘My entourage. Some people like to take a masseuse and a chef out on the road with them. I like to take a dog and two teenagers. I told you I’m an Aquarian. We always like to do things differently.’

  Connor glanced at the schedule I’d handed him earlier and looked worried. ‘It’s a flight to Edinburgh later in the week. I couldn’t bring Raffy there,’ he said.

  ‘No problem,’ Stephanie said. ‘Jess and I can do that one on our own, but most of the places on the tour will be journeys by car or train. So are you in?’

  ‘I’ve just got to make a call,’ said Connor. Stephanie nodded that he should go ahead so he took Raffy outside. I could see him talking to someone through the store window. Spending time on tour with Connor would be a great way to get to know him without having to commit to anything or feeling that I was getting into something too soon after JJ. Perfect. I didn’t have to wait long to find out. He returned five minutes later with a grin on his face.

  ‘I’m in,’ he said and high-fived Stephanie and then me.

  ‘Team Harper. It’s a goer,’ said Stephanie.

  Before I went to sleep later that night, I sat at my computer to send my update to Bethany. I remembered what Stephanie had said earlier in the day about always putting a positive spin on things and chuckled to myself as I wrote. A hugely successful day. We sold over three hundred books. A very enthusiastic crowd came to meet Stephanie.

  Very enthusiastic? The PR way of describing a mob, I thought.

  Bethany must have been at her desk because she replied straightaway. Yes. I heard it was a good day. Stephanie has been in touch. Apparently two new team members, Connor and Raffy? Can you please explain who Raffy is and what experience he has had? Stephanie was a little vague.

  I bet she was, I thought. Now. How am I going to put a PR spin on the fact that the new team member is a dog?

  I emailed back. Raffy has lots of experience in security. He is loyal and often described as the perfect travel companion. He will keep Stephanie safe.

  Maybe when the tour was over, I’d send her a photo of Raffy – or even Skype her when Connor and Raffy were with me so we could introduce him and see her reaction. She’d probably have a fit.

  Happiness is:

  A job well done.

  Learning new skills.

  Surprise new friendships.

  No communication from Keira.

  Who am I?

  Changing. Last week a cleaner. This week a celebrity’s PA.

  13

  On the Road

  The next day, Team Harper went to a library in North London where one of the local bookshops was supplying the books to be sold and a local radio station was coming to interview Stephanie. Connor met us there and brought his camera ready to photograph Stephanie with her fans. Outside, it was pouring with rain again so we raced from the car into the Victorian building. A middle-aged librarian with short black hair looked up from her computer at the desk to the right of the door. Her colour flushed red when she saw Raffy. She stood up and pointed at the door. ‘Out,’ she ordered. ‘This is a LIBRARY! No dogs.’

  Stephanie nodded at Connor and he and Raffy left immediately.

  ‘Can I help you?’ asked the lady, though she gave us a look as if to say that help was the last thing she wanted to do.

  I told her who Stephanie was and why we were there. ‘You are expecting us, aren’t you? Ms Harper is scheduled to do a short talk, an interview and a signing.’

  The librarian looked very harassed. ‘Yes. No,’ she said and pointed to a room at the back. ‘Lesley was supposed to be in charge of this but she’s not here. The bookshop people have already arrived, everything is being set up back there. Like I said, it was Lesley who organised it, so I don’t know much about what’s going on.’

  ‘Will Lesley be here later?’ asked Stephanie.

  ‘She’s on maternity leave,’ said the lady and she stabbed her forefinger in the direction of a door at the back of the library. ‘You go back there.’

  As we made our way over, I looked for any signs of advertising but there wasn’t a poster or leaflet about Stephanie’s visit in sight.

  Once inside the back room, a sweet young girl with frizzy ginger hair came forward. ‘Ms Harper, I’m Izzie from the local bookshop. I’m so pleased to meet you,’ she said and indicated a few rows of chairs she’d put out. ‘I wasn’t sure how many seats we’d need.’

  ‘Hundreds if yesterday was anything to go by,’ I said and looked round to see stacks of chairs at the back. ‘I can help you put chairs out.’

  Stephanie shook her head and put her hand on my arm. ‘No. I’ve got a bad feeling about this. If there’s no sign of anyone so far, I doubt if it’s going to be a big turn-out, especially in this rain.’

  ‘Do you know when the person from the radio station’s coming?’ I asked Izzie.

  Izzie shook her head, shrugged and pointed at a table piled high with Stephanie’s books. ‘We just brought the books. The library was supposed to be in charge of everything else – the advertising and so on – but with Lesley away, it seems it’s been overlooked. Um . . . I’ll be over there if you need me.’ And with that, she made a hasty retreat.

  After sitting at the signing table for about ten minutes, Stephanie nudged me and looked at the door. ‘Do you think we dare ask Ms Grump out there for a cup of coffee?’

  I glanced at Izzie who was at the table with books and was busy texting. ‘I
’ll go and find out,’ I said.

  I made my way back to the librarian in the main area. ‘Excuse me, is there a café or kitchen anywhere nearby where I can get Ms Harper a drink?’

  The lady looked annoyed. ‘A drink? There’s a small kitchen around the back. I suppose you can help yourself.’

  ‘And we were wondering how many people to expect. Was the event advertised?’

  ‘I told you, Lesley should have done it, I can’t be expected to do her job as well as my own.’

  ‘And you don’t happen to know anything about the radio interview, do you?’

  ‘I don’t. It’s Lesley’s domain,’ she said, then ran her fingers through her hair, sighed in an exasperated way and slumped back over her computer like she had all the cares of the world on her shoulders.

  And no Lesley to help her out, I thought as I found the kitchen. I pulled my printed schedule out of my bag and looked to see if the mysterious Lesley’s contact details were on there. They were so I quickly dialled her number. I got through to an answering machine so left a message explaining the situation. I tried Bethany’s number too, in case she could help, but that went through to voicemail as well. I thought about making some tea but there were several old wet teabags dumped on the surface and the whole place looked like it needed a good clean. Luckily there was a small bottle of water in the fridge so I took that and went back to find Stephanie.

  She stood up and came over to me. ‘I think we should move on,’ she whispered. ‘I’ve had one enquiry – and that was from an elderly gentlemen who thought I worked here and wanted to know where the history section was. I have a feeling he’s the only person we’re going to see today.’

  She went over to Izzie. ‘I’m so sorry there won’t be any sales, but I think it’s best that you don’t waste any more of your time here either.’ She turned back to me. ‘Come on, Jess. Team Harper are moving on.’

  As we went back through to the main section of the library, Ms Grump looked surprised when we told her we were leaving. ‘But what if the rain stops and someone turns up? What can I tell them? You can’t leave. What if someone makes the effort to come out?’

  Stephanie smiled sweetly. ‘Now why would they do that? How would they even know I was here when there are no posters up? Please give anyone my apologies, but tell them when it comes to effort, I came all the way from the States to meet them.’ She indicated that we should go.

  The librarian made a sort of snorting noise and gave Stephanie a very disapproving look. ‘Well! Some people.’

  When we got outside, we joined Connor and Raffy who were standing under an umbrella near the car. Stephanie let out a long breath. ‘She was some piece of work, hey? What a horrible atmosphere she created; it felt like quicksand in there, which is a shame because most libraries are full of atmosphere and great librarians who are more than eager to help. Let’s go and get a coffee and a cake,’ she said as the chauffeur got out of the car to open the door for her. ‘Nearest cake shop, please. My team and I need a sugar hit.’

  ‘Don’t you mind?’ I asked as I climbed into the car after her.

  Stephanie shrugged. ‘Some days I do but I could have predicted something like this would happen on a day when Mercury has gone retrograde.’

  ‘What does that mean?’ asked Connor as Raffy and he got into the front seat and the car pulled away. ‘Mercury retrograde?’

  ‘Mercury is the planet of communication,’ Stephanie replied. ‘When it goes retrograde, all sorts of mix-ups happen – miscommunications, that sort of thing.’

  ‘I hope it’s not still retrograde when my GCSE results come out,’ I said.

  ‘When’s that?’ asked Stephanie.

  ‘August twenty-second.’

  ‘It will be moving forward again by then so no communications mix-ups,’ said Stephanie. ‘Are you feeling anxious about them?’

  ‘I’m trying not to think about them.’

  ‘Very wise,’ said Stephanie. ‘People spend too much time worrying about things that never happen.’

  ‘Do things always go wrong on retrograde days?’ asked Connor.

  Stephanie nodded. ‘There’s usually something. Like today, I half expected this so I was prepared, although sometimes it can be a waste of my time and folk don’t appreciate that I’ve come a long way but . . .’ She shrugged. ‘That’s how it goes sometimes. You win some, you lose some. You just have to roll with the changes.’

  ‘Doesn’t it annoy you though?’ asked Connor.

  ‘It used to, and it definitely would if all the events were like that, but they’re not. Most of the people I meet have a real passion for books and reading. I look upon experiences like back there as a reality check, as if,’ she pointed up to the sky, ‘someone up there is saying, “Stephanie, you don’t get above yourself now.” You know the two mistakes you can make in life?’

  Connor and I shook our heads.

  ‘One is to think you’re special,’ said Stephanie. ‘The other is to think that you’re not.’

  I laughed. ‘I like that.’

  ‘I still remember the days when I was nobody and hadn’t two dimes to my name. I’m doing well now, but I know that fame is a fickle friend. One day you’re up. One day you’re down. One day you’re in, one day you’re out. One place I get treated as a celebrity, another day, someone like that lady back there looks at me as if to say, “Who do you think you are then?” And I have to ask myself the same question. Yeah, who do I think I am?’

  ‘I’ve been asking myself that question too,’ I told her. ‘We’re doing it as a project for school. Who am I?’

  ‘A constantly changing being,’ said Stephanie.

  I grinned back at her. ‘That’s exactly what I wrote in my journal.’

  ‘It’s all an evolution,’ Stephanie continued, ‘and just as you think you know who you are, something comes along to change that perception. Just go with the flow, that’s my motto, and try not to be too rigid about plans or how you want things to be or you’ll just get worn out.’ She smiled. ‘Go with the ride and try not to resist where it takes you.’

  Mum would have liked you, I thought. She’d often come out with stuff about life being a rollercoaster ride – up, down and round and round we go.

  In the afternoon, the rollercoaster took us up, up, up. A big crowd was outside the bookshop in South London and they started waving madly as we drew up. The driver turned in to the car park where we saw a small group of people waiting. When we got out of the car, we noticed that all of them were wearing T-shirts with Stephanie’s face on them.

  A young lady with spiky blonde hair came forward. She gestured to the group around her. ‘Welcome, Ms Harper. We’re huge fans of yours and we’ve volunteered to be your entourage for the day,’ she said. ‘We’ll escort you inside. I’m so thrilled to meet you.’

  Stephanie looked back at me and winked as she was taken inside the shop. The staff were warm and welcoming and one of them guided us to a table where there was a huge cake with all the symbols of the zodiac on top in pink icing and a bottle of pink champagne and glasses.

  ‘You made this for me?’ asked Stephanie, who looked touched by their efforts. ‘Who’s the chef?’

  The girl with spiky hair put up her hand and blushed.

  ‘Thank you so much, honey. I’m going to have me a big piece when we’re done here.’

  The girl flushed even pinker but looked really pleased.

  The session was a huge success with loads of books sold and a perfectly behaved queue.

  ‘I feel like a total hanger-on today. I’ve not had to do anything,’ Connor said as we sat at the side, stuffing our faces with cake and sneaking pieces to Raffy as Stephanie chatted happily with her fans.

  ‘No way,’ I said. ‘I’ve seen you taking your shots. With you along, we have a record of where we’ve been and who we’ve met.’

  ‘I wish I could have got a shot of the woman this morning before she ordered me out,’ he said. ‘That was one grumpy lady!’
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br />   He then did a brilliant impersonation of the lady at the library, which made me almost spit cake crumbs out. Not a good look when you’re trying to look cool, but Connor didn’t seem to mind. I think he enjoyed making me laugh and I got the impression that Stephanie liked having him along too. We really were Team Harper and when I emailed Bethany later that night, I could say truthfully that we were a happy team out on the road. I didn’t mention the grumpy lady and disaster in the morning. Instead, I concentrated on the success of the afternoon. In the car on the way home, Stephanie had told me that good PR meant highlighting the positive. I decided to apply that way of thinking to my life and Keira as well as my reports back to Bethany.

  Who am I?

  Someone who’s learning to roll with the changes. This week I have been part of Team Harper, last week I was a cleaner, the week before a babysitter, before that a schoolgirl, next week who knows? But those roles are not who I am. Who I am is the person who takes on those roles. (Oo-er, I’ve come over all deep.)

  14

  Keira’s Campaign Continues

  The next week was a blur of bookshops, booksellers and queues of Stephanie’s fans. We hit the motorway some of the time, another day we took the train and travelled up as far as the Midlands, Birmingham and Nottingham. A montage of snapshot images of the tour stayed in my head. Like standing on a train station platform which was warm one minute and then a wind whipped up, blowing Stephanie’s paper out of her hands, followed by a fast and furious downpour of hail. None of us had jackets on that were warm enough. Another day, our train was delayed and we all had to race up and down stairs and along platforms to catch our connection, which we made by seconds. Raffy thought it was a game and seemed to be enjoying it immensely. Part of the montage were moments with Connor. His easy smile, twinkling eyes and a few times when Stephanie was occupied elsewhere and it was just him and me, sharing a sandwich or cup of tea. Even though I’d only known him such a short time, I felt comfortable with him like I’d known him for ages.