Ivy thought about it and pushed her hair out of her face. “What I need to do is come up with a killer quote that is also completely misleading.”
“Hey, that’s all Serena Star does every day,” Sophia said with an encouraging smile. “And you’re much smarter than she is.”
At that very moment, Serena Star rushed past with her cameraman in tow. “Didn’t the actor Hank Hogart call his wife a bloodsucker after their divorce?” the girls heard her say. “Maybe there’s a connection there!”
Sophia and Ivy looked at each other and then burst out laughing as they pushed through the cafeteria doors.
As she walked into media studies class, Olivia was having a hard time not imagining an angry mob storming into school and carrying off her sister for the WowTV cameras. She absentmindedly took her seat beside Camilla as the bell rang.
In strolled Mr. Colton wearing dark sunglasses and his trademark short-sleeved Hawaiian shirt. “Good afternoon, media moguls!” he sang, dramatically throwing his old leather briefcase onto his desk. “Judging from all the TV cameras around here, I’d say it’s quite a day for media studies at Franklin Grove.”
He scanned the class until his eyes rested over Olivia’s shoulder.
“Mr. Stephens, it’s clear from your little performance at the cemetery that last month’s journalism segment made quite an impression on you.” Olivia and Camilla both turned around to see Garrick sitting with the other Beasts at the table behind them, an ear-to-ear grin above his Interna 3 T-shirt. “Maybe next time, you’ll actually complete the assignment on time,” Mr. Colton finished with his eyebrows raised.
Ouch, thought Olivia. She couldn’t help feeling pleased as the smile fell right off Garrick’s face.
Mr. Colton dug into his briefcase and held up a sheaf of papers. “Drum roll, please!”
Everyone started drumming on their desks with their fingertips. The thrumming got louder and louder, until Olivia and Camilla were slapping the table they shared with their hands.
“Introducing . . .” Mr. Colton shouted over the din, “the Film Assignment!” He held the papers over his head in a disco pose.
Everybody laughed.
“Your mission, should you choose to accept it,” Mr. Colton said, darting around the room and passing an assignment sheet to each student, “is to produce, film, and edit a five-minute documentary.
“You can pick any topic you choose, as long as it’s appropriate. That means,” he said, looking fierce, “no footage of me dancing and singing ‘Do the Dudley’ from my 1989 appearance on Star Search.”
After Mr. Colton had explained the process for reserving cameras and time in the school’s editing suite, he said, “I know everyone’s anxious to get started, so why don’t you take a few minutes to talk in your groups about possible topics?”
Camilla turned to Olivia. “So, what should we do?” she asked excitedly.
Olivia thought of Charlotte on the front steps this morning, directing her to talk about what it was like to be a new student in Franklin Grove. “What about a documentary that shows what it’s like to move to Franklin Grove?” Olivia suggested. “It could be an introduction to the town and what it’s really like.” Not what it’s really like, she thought, but close enough to fool people like Serena Star.
Camilla frowned. “I think Serena Star has the truth-about-Franklin-Grove angle covered right now.”
Olivia realized Camilla was right. It wasn’t a very fun idea for a school project, anyhow: it was sort of like trying to make the most boring film possible about Franklin Grove.
“I know!” Camilla said. “I’ve always wanted to do something about alien life-forms. We could show organisms from all different star systems.”
“That sounds cool,” Olivia said, nodding. Then she sighed. “But do you think our budget’s big enough to cover shipping and handling of alien organisms?”
Camilla blushed. “I guess alien life-forms are reasonably hard to find.”
There was snickering behind them, and Olivia heard Garrick say, “That’s killer!”
Olivia had really had enough of Garrick Stephens for one day—after all, he was the one that had started all the trouble with Serena Star in the first place. She spun around. “Can you goons keep it down, please?”
The Beasts hooted. “You’re just jealous because we have the best idea,” leered Garrick.
Camilla turned around, too. “I think it’s fair to say we’ve all seen enough of you in front of the camera, Garrick,” she said coolly.
“Picture it,” Garrick said, putting his thumbs and forefingers together to form a square viewfinder. “A documentary that shows how violence is an important part of the modern middle school experience. We’re going to film the football games and call it ‘Cheers for Fears’!”
“Yeah!” All the Beasts guffawed, high-fiving each other. Olivia glared at them.
“Hey,” Garrick said, his eyes suddenly lighting up. “You’re a cheerleader, aren’t you, Olivia? Want to star in my movie? Now that I’m famous, I’ve got connections.”