‘What’s wrong?’ Ivy rushed towards her. Sophia and Brendan crowded round, too.
Ivy squeezed her sister in a tight hug.
‘It’s bad,’ Olivia told them. ‘The writers are on strike and there’ll be no new movie shoots and no new television episodes until it’s over.’ She wanted to flop to the floor.
Ivy’s grip tightened so much that Olivia felt her eyes bugging. She could hardly breathe, her sister was hugging so hard.
‘Ivy!’ she yelped.
‘Does this mean there won’t be any new episodes of Shadowtown?’ Ivy asked through gritted teeth. Shadowtown was a show about vampire teens, and Ivy’s new guilty pleasure. She never missed an episode. ‘How will I survive?’ She pulled away from Olivia.
‘Too bad,’ said Brendan, but even Olivia could tell he didn’t mean it. Ivy and Sophia both turned on him.
‘What?’
He held up his hands in surrender. ‘Personally, I think the show sucks. And not in a good way.’
This time Ivy did manage a death stare, and it was aimed straight at Brendan. ‘How could you say that about Shadowtown? It’s only the best show ever. This is the end of the world.’ She pressed the back of her hand to her forehead and acted as though she would faint.
‘For you?’ Olivia interrupted. ‘My film is postponed!’ Not even Olivia could maintain a perky cheerleader image in the face of news this bad. ‘Jackson can’t come back from his promotional tour and summer holidays start today. What am I going to do? I was planning on being so busy learning my lines that I wouldn’t notice he was missing.’
Ivy twirled a loose strand of her hair. ‘You could get a hobby?’ she suggested.
Olivia drew a sharp breath. ‘That’s it! You’re a genius, Ivy. Hold on one second.’
‘Where are you going?’ called Ivy, as Olivia dashed back down the corridor.
‘I won’t be long. Don’t worry. I’ll meet you at the gate!’ She skidded around a corner and nearly collided with Jenny, who was shuffling along with her binders clasped against her chest. ‘Hey!’ Olivia panted. ‘I was looking for you.’
Jenny shifted the enormous folders in her arms. ‘You were?’
‘Yes. Do you still want me to help out?’
‘Oh my goodness!’ Jenny’s words came out in a rush. ‘Absolutely!’ She dumped the biggest binders on Olivia, who stumbled under the weight. ‘The first committee meeting is on Sunday.’ Jenny patted Olivia’s arm. ‘That should give you plenty of time to look those over. OK?’ Olivia opened her mouth, but Jenny didn’t wait to hear what she had to say. ‘Great, thank you!’
Olivia could barely hold the binder, it was so enormous. She felt herself start to tip, and before she could stop herself, she staggered on to a chair on one side of the corridor. She blinked. Jenny couldn’t get away from all that paperwork fast enough. She must have really not wanted to organise the dance. But, wait! Was that the sound of Jenny’s heels clacking on the floor? She must be coming back to help.
‘Oh, um, I nearly forgot.’ Jenny peered down at Olivia. ‘You’ll need this, too.’ She balanced a clipboard on top of Olivia’s pile. ‘See you Sunday!’
How utterly great. Olivia tried to stand back up, struggling to manage the tower of paperwork. The files slid from her grasp and white sheets spilled across the floor.
‘Stay there. That’s perfect!’
Huh? Olivia looked up to see a video-camera lens in front of her nose. ‘Charlotte, what are you doing?’
‘That’s great, but maybe look even more overwhelmed.’ Charlotte continued filming Olivia from various angles before moving the camera to take in the mess on the floor. ‘I’m so pleased you’re organising this thing. I’m going to need interviews and access to behind-the-scenes footage. Got it?’
‘For what?’
‘For my yearbook film, silly. It’s going to capture Franklin Grove School in all its glory! The good and the bad. And this –’ Charlotte swooshed her hand towards the paperwork spilled on the floor – ‘is definitely the bad.’
‘Charlotte?’ Olivia asked, sighing.
Charlotte adjusted the lens on the camera, squinting as she focused on her shots. ‘Yeah?’
‘How about helping me clear this up?’
Charlotte’s head snapped up. ‘Oh! Yeah, of course!’ She stooped to lift a binder. ‘Sorry about that.’