Sam in the Spotlight (4 page)

We were just about to leave when Arthur turned up. He's the man who rents Mandy the hall and we all think he's a bit bonkers – including Mandy. In the first term he accidentally sold all our costumes at the annual church jumble sale, and last term he misprinted the programmes for our show so that they said
Trash
instead of
Crash.
He acts in a group himself, called
The Players,
and he's always popping in to see what we're doing. Mandy says it's because he really loves acting, but personally I think it's because he secretly loves
her.

“Oh, hello there, Mandy. I do hope all is forgiven,” he said, slinking into the room as if he half expected to be pelted with eggs or something. “Let bygones be bygones – that's what I always say.”

“Is it now?” said Mandy through gritted teeth. She wasn't going to forget about the programme fiasco that easily. “How about bye-
byes
, Arthur, rather than by
gones
?”

“Oh yes! Haha! Very funny. Bye-
byes
,” he spluttered, a load of biscuit crumbs spraying out from his beard. “Bye-
byes
rather than by
gones
. Oh yes! I get it! Ahem. Well I can see you're busy. So glad we've been able to put the little matter of the programmes behind us and resume our special friendship. Marvellous.”

“Bye-
bye
,” said Mandy as Arthur spun round and swept out of the room.

I looked around for Ellie, expecting her to be collapsed on the floor laughing, but she was too busy looking into a little mirror and putting on her lipgloss.

“Eddie's meeting me again today,” she said as we were walking down the stairs at the end of the session. “Are you sure you won't come with us this time? I really want you to get to know him. We can all be friends together, you know.”

“Sorry, Ellie, I've got plans,” I said airily. “You wouldn't believe how busy my Saturday afternoons are these days.”

I trailed to the bus stop, thinking about Ellie and Eddie. It was so weird to see her going out with someone – like she'd been doing it all her life. I might be confident about acting but when it came to boys I didn't seem to have the first clue. I was dying for Adam to fancy me, but if he actually asked me out I'd probably run a mile in the opposite direction.

I got off the bus and walked home as slowly as I could. I knew the house would be empty. No loud music. No Crystal gabbing away to all her friends and making a huge mess. Everyone's always saying I'm the biggest loudmouth – desperate to be the centre of attention – but I had to be loud just to compete with Crystal.

I let myself in and listened for a second, but there wasn't a sound. Of course there wasn't. Crystal was gone and the sooner I got used to it the better.

I was just about to go upstairs when I noticed there was a letter for me lying on the mat by the door. It was quite big and it looked kind of official, like the sort of letters they send from school or from the bank.

I sat down on the bottom of the stairs and tore along the top of the envelope. There was a beautiful card inside. It was an invitation, printed on that special sort of paper that people make themselves. The kind that's so fragile it feels as if it might crumble in your hands. The words were small and delicate and there were twirls and swirls all the way around the edges.

My heart started to race. I couldn't believe it. I hugged the card to my chest, shaking.

It was an invitation to a wedding.

Crystal's wedding.

No way
no way
NO WAY. Crystal getting married? It was crazy. I couldn't believe it. Not Crystal. Crystal was wild. Crystal did whatever she wanted. Getting married was what grown-ups did and Crystal had always turned her nose up at anything to do with growing up.
LIFE IS FOR LIVING,
she used to shout at Mum – and she was out living hers practically every night of the week. At parties and concerts, hanging out with her mates. And now Crystal was getting
married?

I held the invitation out in front of me and read it again.

I'd only met Tyler a few times before Crystal moved out. He was quite a bit older than her usual boyfriends and Mum was so against the whole relationship that he hardly ever came round. He wrote music and played in a band called The Garlic Pickers. Crystal used to go along to all their gigs, desperate for him to notice her. And of course he did.
Everyone
noticed Crystal. But
getting married?

I was still sitting there in a state of total shock when I heard Mum's car pull up in the drive. I tried to slip the invitation back into the envelope but there was something else in there. It was a small note scribbled in Crystal's tiny handwriting.

I carried the invitation around with me all week. I didn't dare leave it anywhere, in case Mum or Dad got their hands on it. I really wanted to tell them – it felt like such a big secret to keep – but I had to keep my mouth shut, at least until I'd spoken to Crystal myself. It was a nightmare pretending everything was normal, but at least I knew she was okay.

Ellie noticed that something was up straight away. “Is anyone there?” she said first thing on Monday, waving her hand in front of my face. “I've just spent the last ten minutes telling you about how Eddie and Adam go to the same school and you haven't been listening to a word. What's wrong?”

“I know what's wrong,” said Polly, teasing. “She's working out how to convince Mandy to give her the biggest part in the show, right, Sam?”

I did want a big part in the show but that was the last thing on my mind right that second. I was dying to tell Ellie about the wedding – I've always told her everything – but I wasn't allowed. I wasn't allowed to tell Ellie, or Mum and Dad, or Aunty Mags, or
anyone.
How on earth was I supposed to keep something
this
BIG a secret?

I kept expecting Crystal to turn up at school. I rushed out every day, but the week passed and she didn't show. By the time Saturday came round, I was beginning to wonder if I'd dreamed the whole thing or if the invitation was just a wind-up. Until I actually heard Crystal say the words herself, it just wouldn't seem real. And then, just when I thought things couldn't get any more stressful, Mum dropped
THE SECOND BOMBSHELL OF THE WEEK.

We were having breakfast on Saturday morning and she started going on about school. It was the usual thing: “
You're not working hard enough…blah…your grades are slipping…blah…your A-tti-tude is all wrong…blah blah…
”

I was sitting there totally switched off – deep in my own thoughts about Crystal's wedding and how Mum and Dad were going to flip when they found out – when she suddenly mentioned something about Saturday mornings. My head snapped up.

“What did you say?”

Mum sighed and rolled her eyes. “What is it about my family? Why don't any of you listen to me? I was just saying that I've found this fantastic tutor, Mrs. Raja, but she's only available on Saturday mornings.”

“Never mind,” I said. “It's not like you'd expect me to give up drama to have extra maths lessons or something.”

Mum coughed and looked down at her coffee. There was a long silence.

“Hang on a minute. You have got to be joking. I am not giving up Star Makers – not for anything and certainly not for some stupid
tutor!
”

“Calm down, Sam. For goodness' sake! I know you love acting, but at the end of the day it's just a
hobby.
I've been telling you for weeks that you've got to start taking your schoolwork more seriously.”

“I
am
taking it seriously! What else do you want me to do? I'm in the top set for nearly all my subjects and I'm not behind with any of my coursework. This isn't about me at all, is it? Just because Crystal didn't go to uni, you've decided to ruin
my
life instead.” I leaped up and ran towards the door. “Stop trying to control me!” I yelled. “You can't arrange my life like you arrange one of your bouquets at the shop. I'm a
person,
Mum! Not a flower!”

I stormed out of the room and upstairs.

“Oh, stop being so dramatic, Sam,” Mum called after me. “I know you're not a flower!”

She followed me up and sat on the edge of my bed, twisting my covers round and round her finger. “Look, Sam, I don't want to fight with you all the time. I had enough of that with your sister. I haven't even made any arrangements for the tutor to come – it was just something I was discussing with Dad. And I'm not going to stop you going to Star Makers, not this term, but… look…I really don't want you taking on too much there…”

“But
Mum!
”

“I mean it, Sam. You need to focus on your schoolwork and you know what will happen if you take on a main role. You'll have loads of lines to learn and your homework will slip and you'll be too distracted to concentrate at school. I know it seems harsh, but it is for your own good.”

“But I've told Mandy I want to be Laura and it
is
the biggest part. I have to take on the big roles if I'm going to be a proper actress. That's all I care about. You know I've always wanted to be on the stage.”

Mum sighed, biting the inside of her cheek. “I know, Sam, and I do understand, but your education is so much more important. I had to give up my place at university and I've
always
regretted it. And look at your sister. You do realize she could have been at university
right now,
making something of herself. But she's given it all up to sell…
jewellery.
”

She spat out the word “jewellery” as if she'd just eaten a mouthful of maggots. Crystal makes the most beautiful crystal jewellery – delicate silver necklaces and bracelets decorated with different coloured sparkly stones. She designs them all herself with these funky patterns and really unusual shapes, but as far as Mum's concerned it's just not a “proper” career.

I gave up arguing after that. There was nothing I could say or do which would make her realize how serious I was about being an actress – but I wasn't about to give up on my dreams just because Crystal had left home and turned everything upside down.

As soon as I got to drama later that morning, I started to feel better. Everyone was already in a circle and Mandy was busy handing round the scripts. I glanced across at Adam. He was sitting with Catharine and they were laughing about something. We used to muck about and have a laugh all the time last term – but I can't imagine even
talking
to him now without saying something completely stupid.

“Come and sit over here,” Ellie called out to me. “I saved a space for you.”

Mandy handed me a script and I sat down by Ellie. I didn't want to think about Crystal's wedding or Mum and all her stupid rules – I just wanted to get on with the auditions.

“Have a good look through,” Mandy was saying, “and then we'll get into groups and act out some of the scenes. If you're trying out for Laura or Ben, stay in the pairs you were in last week but join up with some other people to do your scenes. It's not really an audition, but I do need to take one more look at the Laura and Ben couples.”

“What are you doing later?” I asked Ellie. “My mum's doing my head in and it would be great if I could hang out at yours for a bit.”

“Oh, I'm sorry, Sam. I'm meeting Eddie again after drama.” She blushed a bit. “But I really wish you'd come with us this time. What's up with your mum, anyway?”

“She thinks I'm about to fail every subject at school and she's found some Saturday morning tutor for me. It's a total nightmare.”

“I had to have a tutor in Year Six. It's not that bad.”

“Yes but, Ellie…
Saturday mornings!
” I said, not sure Ellie was getting how serious this was.

“Any idea who you'd like to try out for, Ellie?” said Mandy, coming over.