Drama Queen Read online

  I felt my jaw drop. He’d been fine until I’d mentioned the kiss. Surely he couldn’t be…JEALOUS?

  “But the story doesn’t work if Tallulah doesn’t kiss Bugsy,” I explained. “Blousey has to see it and get angry with him. So – uh – I have to do it somehow. I’m just not sure how at the moment.”

  He glanced away. “If you have to do it, you have to do it, I guess. It was only an idea.”

  As the silence got more and more awkward, I shut the script. “I should probably get going.”

  Without looking at me, Nathan nodded. “Okay. Let me just pay.”

  I pulled out my purse, not sure if I’d done something wrong, but he waved it away. “No, I’ll get this one.”

  “Only if you let me pay next time,” I said, smiling, but he didn’t smile back and a cold feeling squirmed in my tummy that had nothing to do with ice cream.

  Judging from the look on Nathan’s face, I wasn’t sure there would be a next time.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Molly messaged me later that evening.

  Shen is home from hospital. Wanna go and see her? Mxx

  To be honest, I wasn’t sure I did. Ordinarily I’d have been over there like a shot but this is not an ordinary situation. What if Shenice is upset because she thinks I’ve broken the BFF CODE by playing Tallulah? Between Nathan, my nerves and Shenice, I am starting to think I should have said no to Miss Skelly.

  “Go and see her,” Mum told me, when I asked her what to do. “Just be sensitive. She’s bound to be disappointed. Imagine how you’d feel if you had got the part you wanted, only to have it snatched away.”

  When she put it like that I could see her point. If I was in Shenice’s shoes, I’d have felt like crying for the rest of my life. Rummaging in the snack cupboard, I found a big bar of Dairy Milk. We were going to need chocolate to get through this.

  Shen looked less than happy to see me when we arrived. She hardly even spoke to me for the first ten minutes. I felt like crying.

  “Okay,” Molly said, once the conversation dried up for the third time. “The atmosphere in here is terrible. Shen, I know you’re upset but there’s no need to take it out on Cassie. She’s just trying to help.”

  Shenice pressed her lips together. “I know.”

  “This is hard for me too, Shenice,” I burst out. “I never wanted to take Tallulah away from you.”

  Shen looked away. “But you did, no matter how it happened.”

  I took a deep breath. “Is it because I have to kiss Harry? Honestly, Shen, it’s not like I want to.”

  Suddenly, Shenice looked tired. She closed her eyes and I knew she was trying not to cry. “I think you ought to go now.”

  I looked at her in despair. I started to say something, but Molly shook her head.

  “Okay. Maybe we’ll see you after the show,” she said gently.

  Shenice didn’t answer. An alarm bell rang in the back of my head. “You are coming to see it, aren’t you?”

  The silence stretched and stretched.

  “I don’t know,” Shenice said in a small voice. “I don’t think I can bear to.”

  Molly and I didn’t say much on the way home – we were both too upset. For Shenice not to come and see us was unthinkable. But there wasn’t anything we could do to make her. We’d just have to hope she understood that none of this was my fault.

  I had a dream last night that Joshua and Ethel had got hold of my feather boa and were crawling around the living room in it, pretending to be chickens. I woke up in a cold sweat, thinking it was real, before I remembered my costume was hanging in the dressing room and drifted back to sleep. Then I dreamed that Nick was shouting at me because I wouldn’t kiss Harry and I pretended he was Rolo to get through it. When I opened my eyes, Rolo had his paws on my pillow and his nose in my eyeball. Honestly, I will be glad when tonight is over.

  Rehearsals went a bit better than the day before. The set was finished and it looked amazing – I could almost believe I was in Fat Sam’s. This time, I only stood in the wrong place a few times and hardly missed a single cue. There was this one big empty silence and Molly stared at me so hard I thought her eyes would pop out, before I realized it was me and gabbled out my line.

  But I still couldn’t bring myself to kiss Harry, especially when I knew how unhappy it was making Shenice and Nathan, not even in costume for the dress rehearsal. Nick’s shoulders slumped in defeat. “Can you blow him a kiss, Cassidy? Would that be easier?”

  Miserably, I nodded. Everyone was depending on me and yet all I could do when I looked at Harry was freeze, especially now I could feel Nathan’s eyes boring into me from the wings.

  “I don’t bite,” Harry said, once we were both offstage.

  “No, but Shenice might,” I muttered.

  We had a two-hour break before we were due back at the theatre for the performance. I went to Molly’s for tea and afterwards we warmed up our voices with a round of Singstar. Molly won – she always does – but I like to think I’ve got a bit better, even if Miss Skelly does think my singing needs work.

  By the time we got back into the dressing room, my nerves were strung tighter than Liam’s guitar. As I got closer to my chair, I saw a box wrapped with a green ribbon.

  “Ooh, you’ve got a good-luck present!” Molly exclaimed. “Who’s it from?”

  “My parents, probably,” I said, tugging the ribbon off.

  Inside the box was the cutest little grey kitten cuddly toy. It had green eyes and a little bell around its neck – I loved it. There was no label or any kind of message attached but I decided it must have come from Mum and Dad.

  “Aw!” Molly said. “Your parents are so sweet. Mine didn’t get me anything.”

  I supposed Molly’s family was used to her performing so maybe it wasn’t such a big deal to them.

  “Her name is Tallulah,” I decided, setting the kitten in front of my mirror and hoping she’d bring me luck.

  There was a knock at the dressing-room door.

  “Into the green room, everyone,” the musical director called. “Time for vocal warm-ups.”

  We hurried out to join everyone and my stomach started to squirm. Vocal warm-ups meant it was half an hour until curtain up. I tried not to worry about what was going to happen next and concentrated on the tongue-twisters and scales we had to sing. Once we were finished, Nick stepped forwards.

  “I’m not going to say too much but I wanted to wish you the very best of luck for the performance. Take deep breaths, give it everything but don’t forget to have fun.”

  He fired a reassuring smile around the room and then Miss Skelly took centre stage.

  “The smell of the greasepaint…the roar of the crowd…there’s nothing quite like it,” she began, strolling up and down with her cane clattering the floor as she moved. “Every time you step out in front of an audience, you learn something new about yourself as a performer. Each performance is a journey and, as in life, some are easier than others. But for every single one of you, tonight is a test of your talent and determination. I don’t wish to worry you but my agent is in the audience and he is looking for the stars of tomorrow. So smile, never look down and, most importantly, PEE OH OH.”

  It was almost too much for Molly and me – I actually had to bite my finger to stop myself snorting out loud. But Miss Skelly wasn’t finished. “Now, pick up your PEE EM AIEES and get out there and shine.” She flourished her hand and her eyes glittered in triumph. “It’s show time!”

  The room erupted into clapping and whooping. I glanced sideways at Molly and saw she was trying not to giggle. Someone should offer Miss Skelly her own reality TV show – she’d be amazing.

  The speaker over the door crackled. “Act One beginners onstage.”

  “That’s me,” Molly said and stood up. I gave her a quick hug and wished her luck before she vanished through the door leading backstage.

  Miss Skelly appeared in the door frame. “Cassidy, do you have a moment?”

&n
bsp; Oh no – what now? Was she going to tell me off for not kissing Harry? “Um…yes?”

  She sat beside me and leaned closer. “You seem to have some problems with Harry.”

  “Yes, I—” I began to explain but she cut me off.

  “We don’t have time for explanations,” she said. “I had hoped this would not be necessary but I am going to share with you a trick I have used many times in my career. It is a closely guarded show-business secret. Can I trust you to tell no one?”

  My heart started to thud. “Yes, Miss Skelly.”

  “Good,” she whispered. “There have been times in my youth when I was required to kiss someone I did not wish to kiss, for reasons we will not go into. As you must know by now, the stage relies on trickery to cast its spell – everything about acting is an illusion, magic that the audience believes. But you are not Tallulah, Harry is not Bugsy and no one really gets shot. And so, in an emergency, we can use an illusion to make it seem as though a kiss has happened.”

  “But Nick said—” I tried again.

  “Never mind what Nick has said,” Miss Skelly snapped. “Blowing Bugsy a kiss is not sufficient. You must kiss him. Now, darling, listen very carefully. I am going to tell you what to do…”

  I sat in silence for a few minutes after Miss Skelly had gone. Sucking in a long slow breath, I counted to ten before letting it out. Miss Skelly was right, Tallulah did have to kiss Bugsy. Sitting out there in the audience were my parents, my brother and 200 other people, who’d paid to see a performance and be transported back to 1920s New York. Miss Skelly’s trick HAD to work.

  My phone beeped. I picked it up, expecting a message from my mum, but Shenice’s name flashed up. With shaking fingers, I opened it.

  Good luck, Cassie! I’d say break a leg but I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. Can’t wait to see your Tallulah. S xx

  I grinned. Shenice was here – she’d come! And thanks to Miss Skelly, I had the perfect way to put her jealousy over Harry to rest. Picking up a ruby-red lipstick, I plastered on a thick layer and made my way to the wings.

  The speaker crackled again as the music started to play. I listened as Harry spoke his first few lines and then we were off. The opening scene flew by – the audience laughed as one of Fat Sam’s gang got splurged by Dandy Dan’s hoodlums. Then suddenly, I didn’t want to be backstage. I wanted to be in the wings, soaking up the atmosphere, hearing the audience laugh for real.

  The stage lights were hot; I could feel them from where I stood tucked away behind a curtain at the side of the stage. The song “Bugsy Malone” played and then Harry was onstage, telling the audience his story. I wasn’t on my own now; the rest of the cast had joined me, ready to perform the big show-stopping number – “Fat Sam’s Grand Slam”. The lights went down, the stagehands changed the set and we all hurried into our places around the tables and chairs of the glammed-up speakeasy. Peering into the audience, I searched for my family. As the music started, the lights went up and I plastered a sultry smile on my lips. For the next hour, I wasn’t Cassidy Bond – I was Tallulah and nothing and nobody would get in my way.

  The dance went pretty well, although I’m sure Miss Skelly noticed when the flapper girls ended up facing the back of the stage instead of the front.

  Once the song was over, we cleared the stage and let Fat Sam harass his hoodlums. Then Molly began wisecracking with Harry, both of them perfectly in character as Blousey and Bugsy, becoming someone else before my very eyes. It was amazing – never mind the audience buying into the magic, I was starting to fall under its spell too.

  The next few scenes zipped by and everything seemed to speed up until it was time – the moment I’d been dreading – the kissing scene. Summoning up Miss Skelly’s advice, I put on my best scarlet-lipped Tallulah smile and strutted onstage to Harry.

  Even as I delivered my lines I was worrying about what was coming next. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Molly walk on from stage left and I knew I’d run out of time. For a second, I hesitated, frozen under the lights and then something Alex had said flashed into my mind, about how no one knew what they were doing and everyone was just faking it. Wasn’t that exactly what Miss Skelly had meant? Everything about performing was fake. The trick was convincing everyone else it was real.

  Leaning towards Harry, I placed my hands either side of his head and pulled him towards me. But instead of planting my lips on his forehead, I slid my thumb across at the last second and kissed that instead. A second later, Molly stamped into Harry’s line of vision and he pulled away, his face shocked.

  “Blousey!” he cried, jumping up to chase after Molly.

  I’d done it! Okay, I hadn’t actually kissed Harry but it had looked authentic and the audience had no idea we’d fooled them. The thumb trick Miss Skelly had told me about had worked!

  I sashayed offstage, leaving Molly to sing the first of Blousey’s solos, a love song called “I’m Feeling Fine”. I listened from the wings, amazed all over again at how fantastic she was, even though Fat Sam cut her off early. Surely Miss Skelly’s agent would be impressed? I know I’m her BFF, but anyone could see Molly was a star waiting to go supernova.

  During the interval we all compared notes. Molly was desperate to know how I’d managed the kiss with Harry but I was under strict instructions from Miss Skelly and my lips were sealed. All I had to do now was get through Tallulah’s big number – I’d been so worried about the kiss that I hadn’t really had time to think about how it would feel to sing solo. But now that I had to do it, I was suddenly anxious. I was opening Act Two – what if I messed this up instead of the kiss?

  I stood rooted to the floor beneath my spotlight as the opening bars played and realized with horror that my mind had gone blank. What was my opening line? When was my cue to start singing? Had the band played two bars of music or four? My stomach churned so hard that I thought I was going to be sick. I couldn’t do this. Somewhere out there in the audience was the girl who would have wowed everyone. I was a poor second place.

  Desperately, I looked for Shenice, hoping she’d forgive me for ruining her part. I found her by the door. But she didn’t look worried. Instead, she had the biggest smile on her face. She lifted one hand and gave me a thumbs up. She believed in me! She thought I could do it. I’d sing the song for her, I decided.

  There was a fractional pause in the music. I glanced down at the musical director and he smiled too. And without stopping to think about it any more, I opened my mouth and started to sing.

  I wobbled my way through the first line, and then through the second, keeping my eyes on Shenice the whole time. And then a miracle happened – Tallulah started to take over! By the time I’d finished, I was belting it out as though I really was a sassy chanteuse and shimmying around the stage like Fat Sam’s girl. When I’d finished, the audience cheered and I’m pretty sure I could hear Shen over everyone else.

  I hurried into the wings and bumped into Molly. She pulled me into a fierce hug. “Well done!”

  I grinned in the darkness. “Thanks. Your turn now.”

  By the time Molly had brought the house down with her second heartbreaking solo, the end of the show was in sight. I managed to avoid the worst of the foam in the big splurge-gun finale, but I could see out of the corner of my eye that Harry hadn’t been so lucky. The audience loved it though – as we did the final bows, I could see Mum and Dad on their feet, clapping and cheering. I spotted Shenice as well, propped up with her leg in plaster and she had the biggest smile on her face – PHEW! Once the curtain fell, I turned to Molly and hugged her. “We did it! We did it!”

  “You were ACES,” she said, beaming at me.

  “No, you were ACES!” I squealed. “Really really ACES!”

  Harry patted me on the shoulder. “Well done, Cassie. That was some smooch.”

  Molly grinned. “It was. Now spill the beans – how did you do it?”

  I summoned up a mysterious smile and gave her the thumbs up. “An old show-business tric
k Miss Skelly taught me. Sadly, I am sworn to secrecy.”

  Her eyes widened. “Really?”

  I leaned closer. “Okay. Maybe I’ll tell you later.”

  Molly grinned. “Got ya. Come on, let’s get out of these costumes.” She adopted a dramatic pose. “As Miss Skelly would say, our public awaits!”

  Chapter Fifteen

  I think I might have floated from the dressing room to the bar after the show, although it could have been the fumes from the industrial-strength make-up wipes that made me light-headed, rather than the buzz of performing. When I looked at Molly, she had this kind of glow about her, as though someone had lit a lantern inside her. Harry had it too, and one or two of the others. I didn’t feel like I was glowing. I was just glad I’d made it through without any major mistakes.

  The person I most wanted to see was Shenice. She was sitting with a glass of Coke, her broken leg sticking out in front of her and two crutches by her side.

  “Don’t get up,” I said, bending down to hug her.

  “You were great,” she said, hugging me back. “Awesome work.”

  “Pah,” I said, shrugging. “I got through it. You’d have been better.”

  She glanced at me sideways. “Oh, I don’t know. That kiss with Harry was pretty convincing.”

  I shook my head. “It was all a trick. We didn’t really kiss.”

  “Cass, it’s okay,” she said in a soothing tone. “Whatever you did, it rocked.”

  I studied her suspiciously. “I’m so glad you came. What changed your mind?”

  She smiled. “I had a visit from Harry and…I might have asked him about you. And, no offence, but he told me there was only one Tallulah he wanted to kiss!”

  My eyes widened as though it was the worst insult ever but inside I was laughing. “Huh, that’s rude.”

  “Isn’t it? But I wouldn’t have missed my best friends’ big moment anyway.” She held out a permanent marker. “Now, any chance of an autograph or are you too famous?”