Olivia and the Great Escape (15 page)

Chapter Thirty-Four

The
Dream
rehearsal had gone well, despite Olivia not turning up. Everyone had waited for a short while to see if she would arrive. When she hadn’t appeared ten minutes after the start time, Kylie had been drafted in to play Hermia instead.

Tom was worried about Olivia, but he couldn’t help losing himself as the play unfolded. He watched Connor’s Lysander swear his love for Georgia’s Helena:

The scene had continued as Alex’s Demetrius awoke from Puck’s enchantment and, as if seeing Helena for the very first time, cried:

Tom had found himself leaning forward as Alex continued the speech. The way he spoke the words and the way he held Georgia in his gaze, seemed far more than acting. It was almost as if he’d been expressing what he really felt.

After the rehearsal, Alex and Georgia met in a café far enough away from Campion’s that there was no risk of running into any other Swans. A TV fixed on the wall was tuned to a twenty-four-hour news channel. The station was running a long story about Jack and how he had been exposed as a cheat. The reporter expressed shock at Jack’s refusal to admit his guilt and marvelled at his nerve in continuing the stunt.

Ethan Rees from Viktor’s team was saying that Jack should do the decent thing: give up
and admit that the best man had won. A live camera zoomed in on Jack, crouching miserably on the wire.

“It’s so awful,” sighed Georgia. “Jack is destroyed and he’s such a nice man.”

“Let’s go,” said Alex suddenly. “I can’t bear to watch it.”

“Me, neither,” said Georgia. “I just hope Livy can prove that the films are forged. It’s such a scummy thing to do.”

Alex looked pained. “Listen, Georgie, I’m sorry, but I’ve got to go. I need to talk to my dad. He texted me earlier to say he was near here, visiting his half-sister, Matty. But she’ll have gone to work by now and I want to catch up with him. I’ll call you later.”

Olivia gave Kasha’s behind a huge shove and he shot through the window of the ladies’ at the Cavendish Hall. Olivia clambered in behind him, and handed him his jeans and T-shirt from her rucksack.

“Here,” she said shortly, “you change into these while I go and find Aeysha.” She just hoped all this effort hadn’t been in vain. She ran into the dressing room where she’d left her
friend and found Aeysha pacing up and down, nervously.

“Am I in time?” demanded Olivia.

“Depends what you want to be in time for. My execution?” said Aeysha, gloomily. “The last person is singing now. But it’s no good, Livy, the courier came with a copy of Kasha’s album and the judges listened to it during the interval and they’ve decided that I’m definitely a cheat. Two of them thought that the songs had similarities but were still quite different from each other, but Lucie Groves was having none of it. They’ve told me that when the result is announced I’ll be disqualified.” Aeysha burst into tears. “I feel so ashamed.”

Olivia put her arms around her. “You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of, Aeysha. It’s Kasha who stole your song.”

“Well, he did and he didn’t,” said Aeysha. “He certainly borrowed from it, but he didn’t steal it. He turned it into something else. He made it his. I’ve heard it. It is actually rather brilliant.” She paused. “Did you find him?”

“Yes,” said Olivia, “he’s in the ladies’ changing out of his dress.”

Aeysha goggled. “Dress?”

“Don’t ask,” said Olivia. “I’ll explain later. Come on.”

She took Aeysha by the hand and they went out into the corridor, where they found Kasha. When he saw Aeysha, he looked as if he was going to burst into tears.

“Aeysh, I’m so sorry,” he said, with a quiver in his voice.

“It’s too late to be sorry,” said Olivia sharply. “Aeysha’s reputation is in tatters. Only you can fix things by going out there and telling the judges the truth.”

Kasha swallowed hard. “OK,” he said. “I’ll do it.”

“We’ll be with you,” said Olivia. “Every step of the way.”

Olivia, Aeysha and Kasha stood at the side of the stage hidden behind the curtain. The judges were standing at the front of the stage. They had been giving brief summing up notes on each of the songs.

“And that completes the line-up. We have had to disqualify Aeysha Aziz, because of the similarity her song has to a forthcoming single from Kasha Kasparian,” said the judge. “So,” he continued, “to the winners—”

“Stop!” Kasha walked on to the stage, followed by Aeysha and Olivia who were holding hands. A buzz went around the hall as people recognised the young pop star.

A look of horror flashed across Lucie Groves’ face. “Kasha,” she said warningly. “What on earth are you doing here?” She walked over to him and hissed in his ear. “I’d strongly advise you to keep your mouth shut.”

“No, I won’t keep my mouth shut,” said Kasha, loudly. “Aeysha is being accused of being a cheat and she’s not. She’s a really talented songwriter and the song you heard today is the song she wrote in the songwriting workshop that I ran at the Swan.”

“And it’s all her own work?” chipped in one of the judges.

Kasha paused. “I just made a few suggestions that she took on board, but for all I know she might have worked on it since.”

Aeysha nodded.

“So the question is,” asked the judge, “how did something so similar end up on your album?”

Lucie Groves began to look even more worried. She didn’t liked the way this was
going. She shot another warning look at Kasha.

“I … I was having difficulty writing the last song for the album so I—”

“I gave it to him,” chipped in Aeysha, quickly. “I gave it to him to do what he wanted with. It was a gift from me to him.”

“So the song belongs to Kasha?” asked the judge. “But it was written by you?”

“Yes,” said Aeysha. “Except for the bit he helped me with. That bit we wrote together.”

The judge turned to Kasha. “Is what Aeysha is saying correct?”

Kasha shot Aeysha a grateful look. “If Aeysha says so,” he said with a grin. “I wouldn’t like to contradict her.”

“I think we need to confer,” said the judge, looking at the others. “Kasha, how old are you?”

“Seventeen,” he replied.

The judges went into a little huddle, and then emerged smiling. The audience were completely gripped by the unfolding drama and a ripple of excitement went through the room as the chair of the judges stepped to the front of the stage.

“I’m now going to announce the winners of this year’s contest,” he said, grandly. “In third
place: St Philip’s School in Trowbridge for Year Eight’s collaboration, ‘Halcyon Blues’. In second place: Kate Hardcastle for ‘The Rain Song’. And,” here the judge paused for maximum effect, “in first place: Aeysha Aziz and Kasha Kasparian for their joint effort, ‘Untitled’!”

The audience went crazy, and Olivia jumped up and down with delight. Aeysha and Kasha stared at each other in amazement, before breaking into huge grins and hugging.

The judge seized Aeysha’s hand and started pumping it up and down. “Congratulations, my dear,” he said. “It is a remarkable piece of work.”

“Yes,” said Lucie Groves, through gritted teeth. “It is.”

“Lucie,” said Kasha, casually. “I suppose this means that Aeysha should get a writing credit on ‘Bruised’. And royalties.”

“A writing credit, yes,” snapped Lucie shortly. “Royalties, no. She said she gave you the song.” She paused as an idea popped into her head. “But, of course, she would get royalties on any songs you wrote together in the future. The two of you could be quite a partnership.”

Kasha grinned. “I’d like that.”

Aeysha beamed and they high-fived each
other, before Aeysha turned to Olivia and gave her a big hug. “Thank you, Livy,” she whispered. “You’re the best.”

As they made their way backstage, still buzzing with excitement, Lucie turned to Kasha. “How on earth did you get out of the hotel?” she asked.

“Transformation,” said Kasha, winking at Olivia. “It’s easy when you know how.”

“I’ll order a taxi to take you back,” said Lucie.

“Actually, no, Lucie,” said Kasha. “I want to go home, to my own place. Nobody will know, they’ll all think I’m still at the hotel.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” said Lucie, quickly. “Goodness knows what more trouble you’ll get into. I need to protect my investment…”

“I’m not an investment,” said Kasha, quietly. “I’m a human being, and one who has a good idea for a song buzzing around in his head.” There was something about the quiet authority in his voice that made Lucie realise Kasha wasn’t going to be pushed around any more.

“In that case, I’ll order you a taxi home,”
she said, with a bright smile.

“I’ll drop you two on the way,” said Kasha to Aeysha and Olivia.

“OK. But we need to make a detour. I’m not finished with you yet,” said Olivia.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Kasha got out of the taxi. He grinned at the girls. “I won’t be long. You wait there.”

“You
are
certain you know what she looks like?” said Olivia, anxiously. “You don’t want to look at her photo one more time?” She waved her phone at him.

“No, I’m cool,” said Kasha. “Tilda Soames’ face is etched on my brain. Besides I reckon she’ll be wearing a name tag if she’s on duty.”

Olivia crossed her fingers as Kasha disappeared through the hotel’s revolving doors. Aeysha sat back in the taxi, stroking the engraved cup that she and Kasha had been given as Young Songwriters of the Year.

“Do you really think the receptionist is
part of some kind of plot against Jack?” asked Aeysha.

Olivia shrugged. “It’s just a hunch. I’ve looked at the videos again and again, and there’s just something about the way she talks that doesn’t ring true to me. She’s just a little bit too eager.”

“But all the journalists would have checked out whether she has any connection with Viktor, wouldn’t they? What could Kasha find out that they couldn’t?”

“I don’t know,” said Olivia. “But when she was talking to the journalists she’d have had her guard up. It’s just that in the clip she mentioned Kasha, and it’s clear she’s got a soft spot for him. She might just let slip a crucial piece of information to him, something that will help us. And we sure do need help. Pablo and the team have been doing their best, but so far they haven’t come up with anything.”

Just then, Kasha appeared and got back into the taxi.

“Talkative lady,” he said, with a grin.

“Well, I hope that you can remember every single thing she said,” said Olivia. “However tiny.” She fished a notebook and pen out of her
rucksack and got ready to write.

It was Monday morning and Olivia, Tom, Aeysha and Georgia were all in the computer room before school. Each of them was working at a terminal.

Olivia gave a loud sigh and swung round on her chair. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing that connects Matilda Soames to Viktor Ivanov or Ethan Rees. We’re wasting our time. And the bell’s going to go soon.” She hit her head with the palm of her hand. “We must be missing something!”

“Maybe we need to look at it from another angle?” said Tom. “Instead of trying to prove that it’s all some kind of staged set up, maybe we should try and find the mole in the team?”

Olivia looked interested, so Tom continued. “Before the video story broke, we knew that somebody was passing information from Jack’s camp to Viktor’s. That’s how they stole a march over the firework display. So, if we could just find out who it was, maybe that would help us. After all, there’s only eight people in the team.”

“Let’s write down all the names!”
said Georgia excitedly. Olivia started a new document.

“Right,” said Tom. “Then we need to add Miss Swan, Eel and all of us. How many does that make?”

“Fifteen,” said Georgia, quick as a flash.

Tom leaned over Olivia’s shoulder and looked at the list of names. “I’m certain the answer lies in this list. One of those names is the link; if we can find out who it is, we might be a step closer to proving that the videos are faked.”