Spurt (19 page)

Jack coughed nervously. He didn’t have any policies, as such. There hadn’t been time. Delilah had swung into action as soon as Jack had pitched the idea to her, pulling strings and making deals to get Jack named Mayor for a Week ahead of all the
real
candidates.

The camera was still rolling. He never knew a black chunk of plastic and glass could look so
expectant
. He was going to have to improvise – in a way he hadn’t had to do since
Bigwigs
. And it had to be convincing enough to show everyone he had what it took to be on the Bigwigs Board.

‘Totally,’ he said. ‘I mean … I think the environment’s super important too. I look forward to discussing the issues with Miss Dink-Dawson over the coming week.’ Jack caught Vivi’s eye and held it. He tried to convey an ‘I’m sorry, I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t have to’ look to her.

The look she gave him back was even worse than the stare of the camera lens.

A buffet had been set up in one corner of the room. Jack did his best to avoid Vivi and the others as he navigated the small crowd in search of a paper cup of weak orange cordial.

Yes, technically he’d cheated. Worse, he’d got someone else to do the actual cheating for him. But he
had
suggested that Vivi could be his deputy. Surely that had to count for something.

He could hear Delilah giving a spiel to the newspaper reporter. ‘Yes, we’ve had a
very
warm welcome from everyone in Upland, and we’re really looking forward to filming Jack’s big moment as stand-in mayor at the balloon festival. It will show our viewers what a Bigwig can become. And it will show off Upland to the rest of the country. Everyone tuning in for the season-opening reunion special – airing on Network Twelve in two weeks, write that down – will see first-hand what a remarkable place Upland really is.’

The reporter thanked Delilah and went off in search of sustenance at the buffet, where her photographer was already munching on his fourth sushi roll.

‘You’re pretty good at all this PR stuff,’ said Jack.

‘That’s five years at the country’s top drama school for you,’ muttered Delilah. ‘Listen, do you think you can round up your friends for me? We need to get some vision of Jack Sprigley’s new crew.’

It was Delilah’s idea to get Jack’s friends to design the hot-air balloon Jack was going to fly in for the opening night race. Delilah had found a manufacturer who could sew and deliver a balloon at short notice. They’d sent her a template, and Delilah had paid for a 3D-modelling program for Darylyn’s laptop.

Jack had recommended bringing Philo on board for his design skills, though Jack didn’t elaborate on how he’d discovered them. He figured it would be a good way to keep Philo occupied for the next week, so he didn’t come up with any more surprise ‘gifts’ for Jack. Plus, it made the team just big enough that there was no room for Oliver Sampson to shoulder his way in.

Jack sidled over to the buffet, where Reese, Darylyn and Philo were comparing notes on the platter of cupcakes. Vivi was at the other end of the buffet, deep in conversation with the mayor.

‘Um, guys? Delilah wants the gang together for the cameras.’

Reese and Darylyn exchanged glances. ‘The gang,’ Reese silently mouthed. Still, they filed over obediently to where Delilah and her crew were standing. Jack grabbed Philo’s elbow as he followed after them.

‘Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask. What was this thing you left in my bachelor pad?’ he whispered.

Philo looked blankly back at him. ‘I didn’t leave anything in your bachelor pad.’

‘Are you sure? Mum said you came over and left something in the bungalow.’

Philo shook his head. ‘I … definitely did not leave anything in the bungalow …’

Jack was relieved. He figured his first instinct was right: Philo had spaced out and completely forgotten to leave behind whatever it was he’d brought over.

Delilah hustled Philo, Darylyn and Reese in front of the camera. ‘Okay, so imagine we have a voice over here saying something about – Philo, was it? – Philo being Mr Designer Guy, and Darylyn being the 3D whizz, and Reese –’ She paused. ‘What’s Reese’s job?’

Reese scowled. ‘Moral support.’

Delilah nodded. ‘Great. Let’s get some vision of you three singing the praises of your glorious leader.’

Reese and Darylyn stared at each other. ‘Jack’s not our leader,’ said Darylyn, direct to camera.

Reese shot Jack a look. ‘We just hang out.’

Yeah
, thought Jack.
When you remember to. When you’re not too busy having girlfriends and getting pimples and pubes.

Philo’s face lit up. ‘I can tell you something about Jack! Something very few people know!’

Jack’s blood froze. He tried to get Philo’s attention, but it was too late.

‘Jack was once a contestant on a reality show! On TV! It was called
Bigwigs
.’

Delilah looked alarmed. ‘You do know that
we’re
from
Bigwigs
?’ She gestured back at the cameraman and sound guy. ‘You do realise we’re filming for
Bigwigs
right now?’

‘I don’t think it’s a very good idea calling your show
Bigwigs
, just quietly.’ Philo mimed holding a phone to his ear. ‘Hello, is this the copycat police? I want to report a copycat.’ He paused. ‘Yes, I’ll hold.’

Delilah went from looking alarmed to looking dumb-founded. Jack was beginning to question his judgement in putting Philo on the team.

‘O-okay …’ said Delilah. ‘I better get these guys working on their masterpiece. But first –’ She touched Jack’s shoulder and leant in close. ‘Can I have a word? I just remembered something.’

Todd and Brett started packing up their equipment, leaving Darylyn, Philo and Reese standing around looking slightly lost. Jack let himself be led away by Delilah.

‘What is it?’ he asked.

Delilah crossed her arms. ‘This girlfriend of yours, the one you mentioned the first day of filming. Nats. We haven’t seen her. We haven’t got any vision of her. She should really be with you when you open the balloon festival.’

‘Oh,’ said Jack. ‘Um. Well –’

‘Be straight with me, Jack. She doesn’t exist, does she?’

‘Of course she exists!’ said Jack.

This, at least, was technically true. Nats
did
exist. Just not in a being-the-girlfriend-of-Jack-Sprigley sense.

Delilah stared at him for a moment. ‘I’m not judging you. I just want to know: is this is another thing I need to “make happen”? Because I’m going to be flat out between now and the weekend, getting the plans for these two balloons to the seamstresses –’

‘
Two
balloons?’

Delilah looked temporarily lost for words. ‘It’s just … insurance. In case the first one doesn’t work out.’ She looked Jack in the eye. ‘So we’re solid on the Nats thing? There’s nothing I need to do?’

Jack wondered if Delilah really
could
find a way to fix him up with Nats. She’d already proved she had the power to change reality. Jack clicked his fingers, Delilah transported him to a firing range, summoned up a fishing boat, pulled the strings to make him Mayor for a Week. It just fell into his lap, without him even having to do anything. He was starting to wonder if that was a good thing.

‘No,’ he said. ‘It’s all good. It’s all sorted.’

From the way Delilah was looking at him, Jack got the feeling she didn’t totally buy it.

‘Okay,’ she said reluctantly. ‘I just don’t want any nasty surprises on the night.’

‘There won’t be any surprises,’ promised Jack.

He glanced across the room at Vivi.

There’d been enough of those already.

‘And this,’ said Mayor Perry-Moore, ‘is my office.’

Jack and Vivi stood in the carpeted corridor outside the mayor’s chambers. Jack had shrugged away the mayoral robes as soon as the swearing-in ceremony was over. They were now being carried by the woman from the council who’d spoken at the school, as the mayor gave Jack and Vivi a tour of the council offices where they’d be spending most of the next week.

As far as Jack knew, Delilah was off filming Darylyn and Philo and Reese in the computer lab at school, where they were busy designing Jack’s balloon for the festival. He hoped she was going to be back to get plenty of vision of him in junior mayor mode. The producers needed to see him looking powerful and important if he was going to stand a chance of being voted onto the Bigwigs Board.

Mayor Perry-Moore was about to show Jack and Vivi through to his office when one of his phones buzzed. It was the third text in as many minutes. And just like the other times, it wasn’t the slim BlackBerry in his left jacket pocket that was buzzing; it was the cheap, basic-looking phone he kept in the other pocket.

‘Sorry,’ he said, a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth as he read the text. ‘Just got to answer this.’

With that, the mayor disappeared into his office, the door swinging not-quite-closed behind him.

‘He might be in there a while,’ said the woman from the council. ‘Can I get anything for either of you? A glass of water?’

Jack shook his head. Vivi asked for a mineral water. ‘Apple and guava would be great.’

‘I’m not sure we –’

‘Hmmm,’ said Vivi, frowning with junior deputy mayoral disappointment.

The woman smiled a tight smile. ‘I’ll see what I can do.’

Once the woman was gone, Vivi turned on Jack and stood there glaring at him, arms crossed over her chest. ‘I didn’t say this before, because I didn’t want to embarrass you in front of everyone. But now we’re alone, I’m going to call you out for the selfish, self-serving backstabber that you are.’

Jack raised his eyebrows. ‘Okay, that’s kind of harsh …’

‘It’s not harsh at all. I was about to do something really cool with this Mayor for a Week thing, and you stole it from me.’ She glanced towards the half-shut door to the mayor’s office, then leant over to Jack. ‘You don’t even deserve it,’ she hissed. ‘You just got it because you cheated.’

‘First of all,’ said Jack, lowering his voice, ‘Mayor for a Week is not even
that
cool.’

‘True,’ conceded Vivi. ‘But it was
my
not-that-cool thing.’

‘Second,’ Jack continued, undeterred, ‘you can’t say I
stole
it. It’s not like you knew for sure you were going to get it.’

‘You’re right, Jack. It’s really unlikely I was going to win. I mean, they only went and made me deputy when they couldn’t make me mayor. Upland doesn’t even have an
actual
deputy mayor. Think about
that
for a second – I’m a junior version of something that doesn’t even exist!’

‘Sure, and you’re the only person in the world who’s ever had to put up with being in second place,’ Jack muttered.

Vivi frowned. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

Jack ignored the question. ‘And you’re wrong about me not deserving it, anyway. I was on
Bigwigs
, remember? I’ve done this kind of thing before. That’s
real world
experience, right there.’

‘Reality TV is
not
the real world, Jack.’

‘It’s more real than writing an essay,’ he snapped back. ‘And while we’re on the topic of betrayals, let’s talk about you and Reese and Darylyn, shall we? I spent the whole holidays not knowing if we were even
friends
or not. You guys
ditched
me. I get that Reese and Darylyn were probably busy “getting to know each other” – and, yes, I mean that in a totally disgusting way. And now it’s pretty obvious that you and Sampson were doing the same thing.’ He swayed his pelvis in a vague attempt to simulate whatever it was he imagined Vivi and Sampson had been doing all holidays. Which, judging by his impression, was a cross between practising the samba and playing the party game of passing oranges to each other with their knees.