Starring Meg

by Mac a'Bháird, Natasha;

  The other Star Club girls and I looked at each other in delight. I couldn’t believe it – we’d actually been picked! Led by Miss Brennan, the rest of the class started clapping. Tracey kept her hands firmly in her lap, and I saw her whisper something to Jamie. But I was much too excited to worry about what Tracey thought.

  * * *

  That afternoon we were all a bit hyper when we met up at Hannah’s house for our rehearsal. Hannah had a hard time getting us to concentrate.

  ‘I can’t believe it,’ Ruby said, bouncing up and down. ‘We’ve only been rehearsing for a couple of weeks!’

  ‘We’re naturals, that’s why,’ Laura said. ‘Miss Brennan can recognise talent when she sees it!’

  ‘Talent is one thing, but we definitely need more rehearsals,’ Hannah said firmly. ‘It’s a huge responsibility representing the class! We’d better get stuck in.’

  Unfortunately though, the rehearsal didn’t go as well as the previous one. Ruby was too stiff in the role of Cindy – she complained that she felt too self-conscious. The stepsister lines didn’t seem as funny as they had last time. And Laura was great at Auntie Faye, but she just wasn’t convincing enough as Disco Boy – or Cameron as we were now calling him, after much debate.

  ‘You know what would really help?’ I said suddenly. ‘If we could watch the movie. You know, the one with Lily James as Cinderella.’

  ‘Oh, I love that one!’ Ruby said. ‘The costumes are fabulous!’

  ‘I wonder if it’s on Netflix,’ Laura said.

  ‘I’ve got the DVD,’ I said. ‘I can ask Mum if you can all come over and watch it. How about Friday? We could have our rehearsal at my house and watch the movie after.’

  ‘That sounds great!’ Hannah said. ‘I’ve never seen it, I’d love to.’

  ‘I’ll ask Mum later,’ I promised.

  After dinner, over chocolate chip cookie ice cream, I told Mum the trouble we were having with our rehearsal and how I thought watching the film might help.

  ‘That’s a great idea,’ Mum said. ‘You can always learn so much from watching other actresses. When were you thinking of inviting the girls over?’

  ‘Well, it’s my turn to host our rehearsal on Friday,’ I said. ‘Could we maybe ask them to stay for pizza after the rehearsal and then watch the film?’

  ‘I’ve got an even better idea,’ Mum exclaimed. ‘Why don’t you invite them for a sleepover? You can have the whole evening together then, and watch the film in your pyjamas.’

  Wow – this had gone even better than I could have hoped. ‘Oh Mum, could we really? That would be brilliant!’

  ‘Of course!’ Mum said. ‘It’s a perfect opportunity. Just as long as you promise you will get SOME sleep! I don’t want three mothers on the phone to me on Saturday saying they’re dealing with exhausted children who were awake all night! Not to mention me and the state I’d be in if I didn’t get my beauty sleep!’

  I laughed. ‘Don’t worry, Mum, I promise we’ll get some sleep. A couple of hours anyway, once we finish telling ghost stories.’

  Mum pretended to faint with horror. ‘Well, I’ll definitely be staying well away from those! I never did like ghost stories. They’re all very well in the daylight – but at night, with the house dark and strange noises …’ She shuddered, then, the moment over, got up and started clearing our plates.

  I couldn’t wait to tell the girls about the sleepover plan. Then I realised that I didn’t need to wait to tell Hannah at least. I ran out to the back garden and through the ‘secret passage’.

  Hannah was in the family room reading to Maisie. I knocked on the window and she looked up, smiling when she saw me. Maisie opened the window, looking less happy to see me. She fixed me with her famous ‘Maisie stare’, which despite her tiny size and cute blonde plaits is completely petrifying.

  ‘Hannah’s in the middle of reading me a book,’ she informed me. ‘So don’t be too long, OK?’

  ‘Maisie, don’t be rude,’ Hannah scolded, coming over to the window too.

  ‘I won’t be long, I just have to tell Hannah something quickly,’ I promised Maisie. ‘What book are you reading?’

  ‘Cinderella,’ Maisie said, showing me the cover. ‘It’s my favourite favourite.’

  ‘Maisie is really looking forward to watching our Cinderella show, aren’t you Maisie?’ Hannah said, stressing the word ‘watching’.

  Maisie shrugged. ‘I’ll watch it,’ she said, ‘but I think it would be much more interesting if you had some animals in it. I was a very fantastic dog in my birthday show.’

  ‘Of course you were,’ I told her solemnly. ‘It’s just a pity we don’t need any animals this time. But when we do you’ll be the first person we call.’

  Maisie studied my face, as if deciding whether I meant it. After a minute she seemed to make up her mind that I did, so she nodded and said, ‘OK then. I can be all sorts of things, you know. Not just dogs. Maybe you could have a rabbit next time. I would be a very fantastic rabbit.’ Not waiting for an answer, she started singing a song about a rabbit to herself and went back to flicking through her book. Hannah gave me a grateful smile.

  ‘I won’t stay long,’ I said to her. ‘I just had to tell you the exciting news. I asked Mum about the movie night and she said we can make it a sleepover!’

  ‘Oh wow!’ Hannah squealed. ‘I’ve never been on a sleepover. Well, apart from at Granny’s house I mean, but that doesn’t count!’

  ‘Will your mum let you come?’ I asked, suddenly anxious.

  ‘Oh, I’m sure she will, especially when it’s only next door,’ Hannah said. ‘Oh my God, this is so exciting!’

  ‘I know! I can’t wait! OK, I’d better let you guys get back to your book. Let me know what your mum says, OK?’

  I headed back home, my head buzzing with plans for Friday. We could all watch the movie tucked up in sleeping bags on the sitting room floor. We’d have popcorn and hot chocolate with marshmallows. We could paint each other’s nails and put on temporary tattoos. It was going to be so much fun!

  I couldn’t wait for Friday to come – it was so exciting to think of our first Star Club sleepover! I had everything planned. We’d have our rehearsal first, then we’d decorate our own pizzas for dinner. After that we could paint our nails and go through the dressing-up box, trying things on to see what we had that could work for our show (and maybe Mum’s wardrobe too, if she’d let us.) When it got late, we’d snuggle down in our sleeping bags in the sitting room and watch Cinderella.

  Mum was almost as excited as me. She came home from work one day with a huge shopping bag, and she made me close my eyes and hold out my hands while she took out what she’d bought. I felt soft material being draped over my arms.

  ‘OK, you can open your eyes!’ Mum said.

  I looked down to see that I was holding a pair of silky pyjamas, covered in pink and purple stars. ‘Oh Mum, they’re beautiful!’

  ‘I got a pair for each of you,’ Mum said, holding the bag open to show me. ‘They can be your special Star Club sleepover pyjamas.’

  ‘I love them,’ I told her, giving her a hug.

  Mum’s eyes filled with tears. Sometimes she gets so emotional over the smallest things. ‘I’m so glad, darling. I just want you to have a wonderful time with your friends!’

  When Friday finally came I rushed home from school, not waiting to walk with Hannah and Ruby for once. I only had a few hours to get everything ready!

  Mum had done a lovely job in decorating our house over the summer, even though it’s rented. We had lovely fluffy cushions in the sitting room, soft curtains in a deep wine colour that gave the room a cosy feel, and she always kept the cut crystal glasses filled with fresh lilies. It was a beautiful grown-up room, but I wanted to give it a personal touch for the sleepover.

  Quickly I set to work. First I hung bunting across the curtain rail – gorgeous patchwork patterns that Sadie had used one time for a garden party. I hung strings of pink fairy lights across the
fireplace and twined another set around the bookshelves. I blew up balloons and strung them together in bunches to give the room a party feel. Finally I took all the candles I could find and arranged them on the mantelpiece, bookshelves and side tables. I’d have to promise Mum that I’d keep an eye on them, but I was sure she wouldn’t mind when she saw how lovely and cosy I’d made the place look.

  Mum exclaimed in delight when she came home from work and saw what I’d done. ‘Oh Meg darling, you’ve done a fabulous job! Such lovely little touches. If you change your mind about being an actress you could have a wonderful career as a set designer!’

  ‘I won’t change my mind,’ I told her, laughing, ‘but this is quite fun too!’

  ‘Oh, but candles?’ Mum said, frowning slightly as she saw my arrangements.

  ‘We’ll be super careful,’ I said quickly. ‘I’ll only light them when we’re watching the film. I’ll blow them out before we start any pillow fights or anything!’

  ‘Oh, all right then. I trust you.’ Mum kissed the top of my head.

  Just then the doorbell rang. Mum squealed as if she was a schoolgirl being caught out of place by the principal.

  ‘They’re here! I’d better get started on those pizzas!’

  She dashed off to the kitchen, leaving me to open the door.

  Laura, Ruby and Hannah were all standing on the doorstep carrying their overnight bags, looking as excited as I felt. We hugged each other as if we hadn’t seen each other in three months instead of three hours.

  ‘Come on in!’ I told them. ‘I’m so glad you’re here! We’re going to have pizza for dinner and then we can watch the film later.’

  The girls crowded into the hall, all talking at the same time.

  ‘Pizza, my favourite …’

  ‘I can’t wait to see the film …’

  ‘This is so exciting, my first ever sleepover!’

  ‘Look, I brought some nail stickers, we can do our nails later …’

  I showed them where to leave their bags in the sitting room, then we went out to the garden for what might be our last outdoor rehearsal of the season.

  It wasn’t exactly our most productive rehearsal ever – we were a bit too hyper to concentrate – but not even Hannah seemed to care. When Mum called us in to choose toppings for our pizza we decided we’d had enough rehearsing for one day. I made my pizza into a face, giving it pepperoni eyes, a cherry tomato nose, a green pepper smile, sweetcorn freckles and mozzarella hair. Laura saw my pizza and started doing the same thing, only her eyes were made of mushrooms as she’s a vegetarian. Ruby covered her pizza with as many different toppings as she could fit, and Hannah picked the only two toppings she likes – sweetcorn and peppers – and spread them evenly over her pizza.

  While we were waiting for the pizzas to cook, I poured everyone some juice and we set the table. Mum hovered in the background, keeping an eye on the pizzas, but not interfering. She’d promised that once dinner was over she was going to go upstairs and stay out of our way. She planned to have a long hot bubble bath and then go to bed with her book. ‘I wouldn’t dream of cramping your style, darling,’ she’d told me.

  The pizzas were delicious. Ruby swore she couldn’t eat another mouthful, but when I said we could make our own ice cream sundaes for dessert she suddenly found she had a bit of room left after all. We made them with three different types of ice cream and topped them with sprinkles and chocolate sauce. Afterwards we painted each other’s nails and stuck on the sparkly nail stickers that Ruby had brought.

  ‘How about we watch the film now?’ I said at last, when everyone’s nails were as fabulous as they could possibly be.

  ‘Let’s get into our pyjamas first,’ Laura said.

  ‘Oh, I have a surprise for you!’ I told them. ‘Look under your pillows.’

  I had put pillows out for everyone and left them on top of their sleeping bags. The girls did what I said and there were more squeals of excitement when they found their starry pyjamas. Mum popped in to see what all the noise was about, and was delighted to see how well her presents had gone down.

  ‘Oh, thank you, Cordelia, these are amazing!’ Ruby said. ‘Real Star Club pyjamas!’

  ‘You’re welcome, darlings,’ Mum said, beaming around at everyone. ‘Well, I’m off to have a nice long soak in the bath. Be good and try not to burn the house down, won’t you?’

  Once we had all changed into our pyjamas, and Laura had taken a selfie of the four of us on her phone, we got into our sleeping bags and I put the DVD on. I love Cinderella so much – it is just the most gorgeous film, with brilliant acting and a real magical feel, and it’s pretty funny too.

  It took us ages to watch the film because we kept wanting to pause or rewind so we could study an actor’s expression or write down a line that might work in our show. Mum was right – you could learn so much from watching other actors. Hannah and I especially enjoyed watching the two ugly stepsisters, who were mean and cruel and funny all at once.

  Ruby started yawning almost the second the film was over.

  ‘Ruby, you can’t be sleepy yet!’ Laura told her. ‘The night’s only getting started.’

  ‘I’m not sleepy,’ Ruby said, stifling another yawn. ‘I was just – stretching my jaw.’

  ‘What should we do now?’ I asked.

  ‘Let’s play “Would You Rather?”’ Laura said at once.

  ‘Oooh, yes!’ Ruby and Hannah said.

  ‘How do you play that?’ I asked, once again conscious of the fact that everyone seemed to know some ordinary childhood thing that I didn’t.

  They all practically fell over each other in their rush to explain it to me. Hannah talked the loudest so I ended up listening to her. ‘You have to make up two awful scenarios, and everyone else has to choose which one they’d prefer – and you HAVE to choose one! So for example, would you rather be eaten by a lion or drown in a pool of snot?’

  ‘Ewwww!’ I cried.

  ‘It’s a gross game,’ Laura said. ‘You just have to roll with it.’

  ‘It doesn’t HAVE to be gross!’ Ruby insisted. ‘Like some of them can be more like a mind-boggling dilemma. Like, would you rather go to Disneyland and only get to go on the Dumbo ride and have to stay on it for two whole weeks, or never go to Disneyland ever in your whole entire life?’

  ‘Oh no,’ I said. ‘I can’t believe you’re making me choose.’

  ‘Would you rather …’ Hannah said, ‘go into school in just your underwear, or have to kiss everyone in your class on the lips – including Miss Brennan?’

  ‘OK, I’ve got one,’ I said. ‘Would you rather your teacher turned into a hamster, or your hamster turned into a teacher?’

  ‘That’s easy,’ Ruby said. ‘I haven’t got a hamster, so I’d much rather Miss Brennan turned into one. Couldn’t you just picture her, running around in her little hamster wheel and nibbling on treats?’

  We all began laughing at this crazy image. Then Laura said, ‘OK, I’ve got another one. Would you rather eat a poisonous spider or your best friend’s eyeball?’

  ‘Laura! That’s so disgusting!’ Ruby said, throwing a stuffed elephant at her.

  Laura immediately threw a pink rabbit at Ruby, but it missed and hit me instead. Within seconds we were all flinging cuddly toys and cushions at each other, until we were laughing so hard we had to stop.

  Mum appeared at the door. Her hair was twisted into a bun on top of her head and she was wearing her favourite silver dressing gown. ‘Is everyone still alive in here?’

  ‘Yes thanks,’ I said, giggling.

  ‘Maybe it’s time for a quieter game,’ Mum said, eyeing the giant fluffy teddy bear which had somehow landed on top of the lampshade. ‘How about I bring you in some hot chocolate, and you can think about settling down for the night? It’s getting late.’

  ‘Hot chocolate would be lovely, thanks,’ said Hannah. ‘And we’ll calm down now, won’t we guys?’

  Hannah has the sort of reassuring manner grown
-ups love. Mum smiled at her. ‘Right, four hot chocolates coming up.’

  When she had gone, we quickly tidied the room, putting the cushions back on the couches and the teddies back on our sleeping bags. We straightened lampshades and throws, and I stood up on the couch to retrieve Hannah’s toothpaste, which had been flung right up on the top shelf of the bookcase. Mum came back to find a much calmer room and four girls sitting waiting for their hot chocolates.

  ‘OK, I’ve got an idea for a nice quiet game,’ Ruby said once we were sipping on our hot chocolates and Mum had gone. ‘We all have to tell each other a secret that we’ve never shared before.’

  ‘OK,’ Laura said, ‘but only if you go first.’

  ‘Fine,’ said Ruby, who had obviously thought this through. ‘My ballet teacher says if I keep practising really hard she is going to put me in for my next grade exam after Christmas. I wasn’t supposed to be doing it until the summer.’ Ruby looked shy but proud of herself, which wasn’t surprising.

  ‘That’s amazing, Ruby!’ I said. ‘Aren’t you already a year ahead of girls your age?’

  ‘Yes,’ Ruby said, glowing. ‘I’d be in with the fourteen- and fifteen-year-olds if I passed. Now you, Laura.’

  ‘OK … you know that boy Andrea likes – Greg?’

  We nodded. We’d heard all about Greg, who was on the basketball team in Andrea’s secondary school. Andrea doesn’t even like sport, but she had gone to every one of the team’s matches this term just to watch Greg.

  ‘Wellll,’ Laura went on, ‘I thought it was just a crush, I didn’t think Greg even knew who Andrea was. But then when I was cycling home from Hannah’s the other day I saw them in the park together – and they were kissing!’

  ‘Aaaaagh!’

  ‘Have you told her you saw them?’ I asked.

  ‘Not yet. I figured I’d wait and see if the information might prove valuable for some reason,’ Laura said with a grin. ‘OK, your turn, Hannah.’