Chuck nodded eagerly.
‘Well, all I can say is that his talents are boundless!’ Olivia said.
Chuck turned to the camera. ‘You heard it here first, folks! An exclusive reveal of the brains behind Olivia’s trend-setting red-carpet look!’
Olivia smiled to herself, wondering if that meant everyone would want to be spilling coffee on their evening wear.
She noticed Amy giving her a thumbs-up from behind the cameras.
‘Now, Olivia.’ Chuck leaned closer. ‘The question everyone wants to know is . . . who is the mystery actress who will be playing Belinda opposite you? I hear the paparazzi have been close on your heels, trying to photograph you with anyone who might be a fellow actress.’
Olivia took a deep breath. ‘My lips are sealed.’
‘But you know who it is?’ Chuck insisted.
Olivia wondered if now was the time to push the panic button. ‘I’m afraid that’s one exclusive that I can’t give you just yet.’
‘Yet?’ Chuck was practically drooling.
Olivia didn’t want to make any promises that she couldn’t keep. ‘It’s all hush hush right now, but I’ll see what I can do about telling you first.’
‘A true star.’ Chuck looked like he’d just been given an award. ‘What’s been the hardest thing about rocketing to fame?’
Olivia frowned. She didn’t want to seem ungrateful. She was enjoying almost everything, but there was one thing. ‘The photographers are very insistent.’
Chuck grinned. ‘That’s a mild way of putting it.’
Olivia shrugged. ‘I know everyone has a job to do, but they seem to step over the line.’
Chuck turned to the camera. ‘You paparazzi, you hear that? You leave my lovely friend Olivia alone!’
Olivia laughed. ‘That’s right. I’ll tell them Chuck said so.’
‘Yes, I did!’ he declared. ‘It was lovely to meet you, Olivia, and I’ll see you back on that sofa soon to spill all the beans about the mystery actress.’
‘CUT!’ shouted Headset Lady.
‘That was great,’ Chuck said. ‘You’re a natural.’
Olivia was relieved and proud of herself at the same time. She hadn’t slipped up on anything and Chuck actually seemed to like her. This was how she was hoping this movie stuff would turn out to be.
Amy hurried over, clapping. ‘You did great, sweetie!’
‘Chuck,’ said Headset Lady, ‘it’s time for the skateboarding kitten intro.’
Chuck waved goodbye, and Olivia walked out of the classroom feeling exhilarated.
‘Good stuff,’ said Headset Lady, as she passed.
Olivia had just survived her first big interview!
‘Can we suspend the no-biting-humans rule just for this week?’ Sophia whispered, making sure no one else in the busy school cafeteria but Ivy and Brendan could hear. ‘They are driving me crazy!’
Ivy had thought no one could be as angry as she was about the photographers that were camped out all over town. Since yesterday’s interview, there were even more of them. Some of them were peering in the cafeteria windows right at this moment. If Sophia was talking about reverting to the old vampire ways, she must be outraged.
The one paparazzo on the motorcycle at Aunt Rebecca’s had multiplied into a swarm that never let up. They were desperate for a photo of the mystery actress, but there was every danger they’d also catch Jackson and Olivia together.
‘I’m the Franklin Grove correspondent!’ Sophia complained. ‘All of these brutes are stealing my exclusivity!’