Star Style (11 page)

One of them had the same jacket with the red streak as the guy who had been stalking them at Aunt Rebecca’s ranch.

The photographers started elbowing each other and whispering, as they caught a peek of Jackson’s famous face from beneath his hood. Ivy could almost
see
the rumour travelling through the crowd! Then Jackson threw the hood back so they could really see who he was.

‘Is that the actress?’ one shouted and they all started snapping away, just as Ivy had hoped.

Jackson pretended to try and shield Sophia from the cameras, and she squealed and hid behind her bag.

Bingo! ‘They’re playing it perfectly,’ Ivy murmured. The two of them dashed through the crowd of photographers, with several in pursuit as they headed towards the Meat and Greet.

There were soon only five paps left hanging around, including Mr Red Jacket.

‘Cue two!’ Ivy whispered and waved Olivia and Camilla into place.

Olivia gave Ivy a quick hug. ‘Thanks for going to all this trouble.’ She smiled at Brendan. ‘You get a special gold star.’

‘Thanks,’ he replied. ‘This is a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence, and any and all material rewards will be gratefully accepted.’

Olivia gave a little wave as she and Camilla headed down the steps.

‘Good luck,’ Ivy whispered.

‘It’s Olivia!’ one of the photographers shouted.

Olivia paused at the bottom of the steps and waved – just as they’d agreed. Then she hooked her arm through Camilla’s and cooed at the cameras. ‘This is my friend Venetia,’ she declared.

‘Is she off that TV show,
Blue Moon Rising
?’ Mr Red Jacket shouted.

Camilla didn’t say anything, just pretended to hide behind her hands when they started taking photos. Then Olivia and Camilla dashed in the opposite direction to Jackson, towards the mall. The group of five paparazzi followed them, trying to get a good shot of Olivia with her famous-looking friend.

‘Our turn,’ Ivy said to Brendan.

She stepped away from the door and they hurried through the hallway to the back entrance. When they were passing a set of lockers, a sixth grader stopped and stared at Brendan.

‘I’m testing out Halloween costumes,’ Brendan explained. ‘What do you think?’

The sixth grader just blinked.

‘Pretty scary, huh?’ Brendan grinned and Ivy grabbed his arm.

‘You only have to fool them for a couple of minutes,’ Ivy reminded him. They were going to head to the mall and prepare for the Great Switcheroo.

They rushed along and pushed through the glass doors at the back, then darted around the side of the building. All of the photographers were gone, as planned, so Ivy and Brendan headed for their rendezvous point at the mall.

The only thing that couldn’t happen was two Olivias being seen together or the game would be up.

‘It’s hard to run in a skirt,’ Brendan commented as they dashed along the road, getting more than
a few intrigued glances from the people they passed on the sidewalk.

‘We’re almost there,’ Ivy replied, as the east entrance to the mall came into sight.

They hurried past the stores to the food court. Despite the absurdity of having to do it, Ivy couldn’t help enjoying the chaos just a little.

Up ahead, she spotted the real Olivia and Camilla sprinting towards the bathroom with all five photographers still after them. She couldn’t see Jackson and Sophia yet, but she was sure they were on their way.

Ivy and Brendan crouched behind a palm tree at the front of the food court and waited.

The paps lurked near the bathroom, waiting for any sign of Olivia and her mysterious friend.

There was a commotion from near the stationery store. It was Jackson and Sophia, with five more paparazzi in tow!

Sophia shouted in a fake British accent, ‘These people are invading my privacy!’

‘They won’t leave us alone!’ called Jackson.

The photographers that had been chasing Olivia and Camilla whirled around to capture whatever was happening.

The shoppers all turned to stare.

‘Help us!’ Jackson cried to a burly man with a bag from the Sewing Store.

He took one look at the mega-famous movie star and turned on the paparazzi, crossing his arms like an angry genie and blocking their path. Two paps got in a tangle, trying to run around him and a third got attacked by an old lady in a purple dress wielding her handbag.

‘It’s working!’ Ivy whispered to Brendan.

‘Wish I was out there with that lady,’ Brendan replied, grinning.

A gaggle of young girls shrieked when they saw Jackson and rushed over, trampling past the fourth pap. He had no chance of a photo now. There was only one left.

He seemed intent on staying in pursuit of Sophia and Jackson, who were almost at the bathroom. Then, a group of parents with toddlers walked past on their way to a coffee shop, sweeping him away.

‘Get out of the way!’ Ivy heard him cry. ‘I almost had an exclusive there!’

The five photographers near the bathroom were laughing at their colleagues, and still snapping away.

‘What’s going on here?’ demanded an overweight man in a bright orange uniform. ‘We don’t want your sort in here!’ It was the manager of the Hummus Are Us deli in the food court.

‘We have the right to be here!’ shouted a pap wearing a green sweater.

As they argued, Sophia and Jackson just had time to duck into the bathroom.

‘Showtime,’ said Ivy.

I may not be an actress
, Ivy thought,
but if I have to, I can put on a performance
.

She shouted across to where the confused photographers were untangling themselves from the crowd.

‘Hey, paps!’ she shouted. ‘That should teach you!’ Then she turned on her heel and ran.

Ivy was hoping that the photographers would be convinced that Olivia had escaped and chase her and Brendan across the food court to catch up.

‘Hey!’ shouted Green Sweater. ‘There they go!’

One glance over her shoulder, and Ivy could see the photographers following.

She and Brendan ran back the way they had
come, dodging a family of five, a delivery of beads to the bead shop, and the chocolate kiosk. When Ivy looked back she saw that Olivia’s five paps had been joined by Jackson’s five and now, as they headed out the east entrance to the mall, all ten photographers were in pursuit.

Exhilarated, Ivy shared a grin with Brendan. They were just turning a corner, out of sight of the paps. ‘Race ya!’ she said to her boyfriend, then put on a burst of vampire speed. Her powerful muscles worked overtime, going at least twice as fast as a human’s.

Brendan was surprised, but then boosted his own speed and soon they were practically flying down the street towards the final battleground.

Two blocks later, Ivy checked behind her to see the paps only just turning the corner. She made sure they saw her, and ducked into Patsy’s Pastry Shop, a cosy little store filled with wonderful
baking smells, cupcakes with four-inch-high icing and fresh croissants.

‘Yummy,’ said Ivy. But she wasn’t here for a leisurely hot chocolate. ‘Two ham-and-cheese croissants, please, Patsy,’ she said, not even out of breath from the run.

Any moment now the photographers were going to catch up.

Patsy Lovett, a large woman with big blonde hair, raised one eyebrow at the sight of Brendan’s now straggly blonde wig, but she served up the croissants and handed them over.

Just as Brendan and Ivy were settling down, the paparazzi caught sight of them in the shop window. Mr Red Jacket shouted, ‘There!’ and pointed, which made Patsy frown.

They gathered at the window, shoving each other aside to get the first shot of ‘Olivia’ and the mystery actress.

‘Hey!’ Patsy shouted.

She grabbed her rolling pin. Ivy already knew that Franklin Grove’s baker didn’t like anyone – anyone! – messing with her business.

Just as Ivy had hoped, Patsy stormed out of the shop and let loose on the stalkers. ‘What do you think you’re doing? You’ll drive away my customers!’

‘This is public property,’ one pap shouted back.

‘If you don’t get away from my shop, I’ll make room for those cameras in my oven.’ Patsy looked like she meant it.

All but Mr Red Jacket scattered.

‘I’m not doing anything illegal,’ he protested.

Patsy advanced on him like she was stalking a mouse in her kitchen. ‘But I might.’

Ivy saw the fear spread over his face and wanted to do one of Olivia’s cheers.
P-A-T-S-Y ! Patsy scares the mean paps guy!

Patsy got right in his face, lifted one large finger and smudged flour on his nose. The pap yelped and scurried away.

Patsy came back in, dusting her hands off.

‘Took care of that.’

‘Thanks,’ Ivy told her.

Brendan pulled off the wig. ‘I don’t think I’ll be wearing this again any time soon.’

Moments later, Ivy saw Olivia, Camilla, Jackson and Sophia poking their heads around the real-estate office across the street. When they saw the coast was clear, they scurried inside the pastry shop. There wasn’t a photographer in sight.

‘It worked!’ said Olivia, still a little out of breath.

‘Thanks, everyone,’ Ivy said, triumphant. ‘Mission accomplished.’

A
fter a round of Patsy’s croissants, Olivia, Ivy, Camilla, Jackson, Brendan and Sophia headed to the Meat and Greet for celebratory milkshakes.

‘That’s definitely my exercise for the day,’ Olivia said. ‘I’ve earned a milkshake.’

Jackson smiled at her, making Olivia’s heart pound as hard as when she’d been running from the paps. ‘That was so much fun,’ he said. ‘I’d do the whole thing again!’

Ivy groaned. ‘I hope that won’t be necessary.’

Olivia bit her lip. They still hadn’t figured out
how to fix this whole Harker mess. The longer Harker built up speculation about the other actress and waited to announce that they were twins, the more chances they had of being exposed.

‘We may have escaped this time,’ Olivia said, ‘but they aren’t going to stay away for long.’

Out of the corner of her eye, Olivia saw Charlotte sitting two booths away with someone, but Olivia couldn’t see who. They were facing the other way.

Then Olivia heard a familiar voice coming from the booth. It was Jessica. ‘You totally failed,’ she was saying in a cold voice. ‘You didn’t get a single picture of the two of them and the paparazzi are furious for being given a false lead. They’ve given up and gone home! This is a disaster.’

Olivia nudged Ivy so that her sister would hear the conversation as well.

‘If you weren’t such an airhead, losing the camera, this would have all worked!’

Olivia couldn’t believe that sharp-tongued Charlotte was taking all of this abuse without a single comeback.

‘Without a photograph, I can’t do anything. Not without risking my reputation – I need proof! You are a disgrace to all cheer captains everywhere,’ Jessica declared, standing up. ‘You are totally not cool enough to hang out with me.’ Then she tossed her hair and marched off, leaving Charlotte looking miserable, shooting a disgusted look at Olivia as she went.

‘Serves her right,’ Ivy grumbled, but Olivia felt bad. Charlotte was the captain of her squad, after all. Olivia was just about to go over to Charlotte’s booth to see if she was OK when someone burst through the doors of the Meat and Greet.

Olivia jumped, thinking that the paparazzi had
tracked them down. But it was Amy Teller, for once without a phone or a cup of coffee in her hand, looking like she’d just won a million dollars.

She rushed over to their booth. ‘We’re going home!’ she declared.

Everyone around the table stared at her.

‘To Hollywood!’ she cried. ‘I’ve been looking everywhere for you.’

‘For me?’ asked Jackson.

‘No, for my-new-favourite-client Olivia!’ Amy beamed, gently pushing him out of the way.

Olivia gulped. Amy could be a little intense with her enthusiasm sometimes. ‘Why me?’ she asked.

‘Because, you . . . and your sister . . .’ Amy cast a quick glance over at Ivy and then did a double-take when she realised that it looked like there were two Olivias sitting at the table. ‘Because the two of you will be flying out to Hollywood on Harker’s private jet for the
Bright Stars
awards
ceremony on Saturday! He wants you both to be there; he’s finally going to break the news of your roles in his new film!’

‘Wow,’ said Camilla.

‘So cool,’ breathed Sophia.

Olivia couldn’t stop the grin. ‘A private jet?’

‘Break the news?’ Ivy echoed. Olivia could tell she had mixed feelings about the announcement. At least they wouldn’t have to worry about being exposed as twins, but it meant that she would be committed to the movie.

‘Your dad will be there, and Lillian is hitching a ride as well,’ Amy explained. ‘And what about me, you ask? Well,’ she paused for dramatic effect. ‘I will be stepping off the plane and going
straight
to a coffee shop. I can hardly wait!’