Olivia managed a smile as even more lights turned on her.
‘You look great!’ Amy whispered and then clicked away on her high black heels.
Olivia had chosen a three-quarter sleeve, light pink dress with a short white sweater over it. The sweater was a little more girly than Olivia would normally go for, but she was trying to get into Carmina’s character.
The classroom door opened. ‘You must be Olivia!’ said a darkly handsome man with perfect white teeth. It was Chuck Talbot, the famous TV host from Inside Hollywood. He sat down across from her and put a note card on the little glass table between them.
The butterflies were doing round-offs in her stomach. This is it! Olivia thought.
‘What a story you’ve got, young lady,’ Chuck said. ‘Being plucked from the street to star in one of the biggest movies ever! You are going to be an inspiration to millions of girls.’ Chuck smiled.
Olivia beamed.
‘We’re rolling in ten seconds.’ A silence fell over the classroom. ‘Three . . . two . . . one . . .’
‘Hi, I’m Chuck Talbot and today I have with me Olivia Abbott, a Hollywood rags-to-riches story that most people only dream about.’
Not exactly rags to riches, Olivia thought, but she kept the smile on her face.
‘Tell me about how you came to be chosen for the most eligible role around, as Carmina of Eternal Sunset?’ Chuck looked at her expectantly.
‘Well,’ Olivia began, ‘my first film was The Groves –’
‘With the ever dreamy Jackson Caulfield,’ interrupted Chuck.
Olivia caught sight of Amy looking tense in the corner. She decided to steer the conversation away from her boyfriend. ‘That’s right. And when the Carmina role came up, they thought I might be a good fit.’
‘The perfect fit, more like!’ said Chuck enthusiastically. ‘Tell me about this!’
He turned to the TV screen and Olivia saw a huge shot of herself posing at the premiere in Spencer’s altered dress.
‘All we know is that a friend designed it for you.’ Chuck made air quotes when he said ‘friend’.
Olivia grinned. Now was as good a time as any to give Spencer the exposure he deserved. ‘Everyone knows the amazing Spencer Johnson, make-up artist extraordinaire.’
Chuck nodded eagerly.
‘Well, all I can say is that his talents are boundless!’ Olivia said.
Chuck turned to the camera. ‘You heard it here first, folks! An exclusive reveal of the brains behind Olivia’s trend-setting red-carpet look!’
Olivia smiled to herself, wondering if that meant everyone would want to be spilling coffee on their evening wear.
She noticed Amy giving her a thumbs-up from behind the cameras.
‘Now, Olivia.’ Chuck leaned closer. ‘The question everyone wants to know is . . . who is the mystery actress who will be playing Belinda opposite you? I hear the paparazzi have been close on your heels, trying to photograph you with anyone who might be a fellow actress.’
Olivia took a deep breath. ‘My lips are sealed.’
‘But you know who it is?’ Chuck insisted.
Olivia wondered if now was the time to push the panic button. ‘I’m afraid that’s one exclusive that I can’t give you just yet.’
‘Yet?’ Chuck was practically drooling.
Olivia didn’t want to make any promises that she couldn’t keep. ‘It’s all hush hush right now, but I’ll see what I can do about telling you first.’
‘A true star.’ Chuck looked like he’d just been given an award. ‘What’s been the hardest thing about rocketing to fame?’
Olivia frowned. She didn’t want to seem ungrateful. She was enjoying almost everything, but there was one thing. ‘The photographers are very insistent.’
Chuck grinned. ‘That’s a mild way of putting it.’
Olivia shrugged. ‘I know everyone has a job to do, but they seem to step over the line.’
Chuck turned to the camera. ‘You paparazzi, you hear that? You leave my lovely friend Olivia alone!’
Olivia laughed. ‘That’s right. I’ll tell them Chuck said so.’
‘Yes, I did!’ he declared. ‘It was lovely to meet you, Olivia, and I’ll see you back on that sofa soon to spill all the beans about the mystery actress.’
‘CUT!’ shouted Headset Lady.
‘That was great,’ Chuck said. ‘You’re a natural.’
Olivia was relieved and proud of herself at the same time. She hadn’t slipped up on anything and Chuck actually seemed to like her. This was how she was hoping this movie stuff would turn out to be.
Amy hurried over, clapping. ‘You did great, sweetie!’
‘Chuck,’ said Headset Lady, ‘it’s time for the skateboarding kitten intro.’
Chuck waved goodbye, and Olivia walked out of the classroom feeling exhilarated.
‘Good stuff,’ said Headset Lady, as she passed.
Olivia had just survived her first big interview!
‘Can we suspend the no-biting-humans rule just for this week?’ Sophia whispered, making sure no one else in the busy school cafeteria but Ivy and Brendan could hear. ‘They are driving me crazy!’
Ivy had thought no one could be as angry as she was about the photographers that were camped out all over town. Since yesterday’s interview, there were even more of them. Some of them were peering in the cafeteria windows right at this moment. If Sophia was talking about reverting to the old vampire ways, she must be outraged.
The one paparazzo on the motorcycle at Aunt Rebecca’s had multiplied into a swarm that never let up. They were desperate for a photo of the mystery actress, but there was every danger they’d also catch Jackson and Olivia together.
‘I’m the Franklin Grove correspondent!’ Sophia complained. ‘All of these brutes are stealing my exclusivity!’
‘On the bright side, you are the only one that could get close enough to get a shot of that ketchup on Ivy’s cheek,’ Brendan said, pointing to the left side of her mouth.
‘Wha–!’ Ivy grabbed a napkin and wiped her face.
They all chuckled.
‘It would be just my luck that a photo with ketchup smeared all over my face would be the one that exposes me to the whole world.’ Ivy was feeling more and more panicky at the pressure that was building in the lead-up to whatever announcement Harker had planned.