Star of the Show (5 page)

“I do not know,” Storm yapped suspiciously.

Tessa saw that the older girl was lying on her bed on her tummy. She was reading a thick book with a familiar green cover. “That's Fay's diary! You shouldn't be reading it!” Tessa exclaimed.

Kelly looked up guiltily. “Oh, it's only you,” she said.

“Put it back in the drawer right now!” Tessa demanded.

“Or what,” Kelly sneered. “I've got a right to read stuff she's written about me, don't I? I know she's jealous of me because I've got more lines to say and Donny likes me better than you or Fay, I can tell.”

Tessa lunged forward and tried to grab the diary, but Kelly held it out of her reach. “Stop reading it. It's private,” Tessa said, kneeling on the bed.

Kelly ignored her. “Listen to this,” she began, reading aloud. “It's hard to keep up with the others. I always take forever to learn my lines. Everyone else seems to know what to do, but I have to keep asking. They're all better than me at acting.” She sniggered. “How funny is that?”

“Give me that diary,” Tessa said through clenched teeth.

Kelly sat up. “Have the stupid thing. It's boring anyway. She hasn't written a single word about me. Catch!” she said, throwing the diary across the room.

It crashed to the floor with a thud and landed heavily on one corner. The cover bent and twisted and some pages fell out.

“Oops!” Kelly said. “I'm out of here. See you!” She ran out and Tessa heard footsteps hurrying down the stairs.

Tessa bent down to pick up the diary. “Look at the condition of it now! Fay's going to be so upset.”

“I will help you fix it,” Storm offered.

Tessa felt another warm tingling feeling trickle down her spine as Storm's rusty-colored fur lit up with bright gold sparks and his floppy ears glittered with power. A fountain of golden light arched toward the book in Tessa's hands.

Tiny gold sparks like busy worker bees zizzed all over the diary, which squirmed in Tessa's hands as Storm's magic went to work.

Suddenly, Tessa heard footsteps again on the stairs. “Tessa, are you in there?” called a voice. “They've got ping-pong. Do you want to play a game?”

“Oh, no! It's Fay!” Tessa whispered desperately.

Chapter SIX

The sparks in Storm's fur instantly went out. Tessa looked down at the diary. It looked worse than before. The cover was all lumps and bumps, one corner was badly dented, and even more pages were hanging out.

“I did not have time to finish my magic with Fay so close,” Storm woofed apologetically.

Tessa quickly put the diary behind her back as Fay walked in.

“Hi. I've been looking for—” Fay broke off, looking puzzled, and her smile faded. “What do you have behind your back?”

Tessa gulped. She knew that Fay would be deeply upset if she found out that Kelly had been reading her private thoughts. She slowly brought her hands forward. “I . . . um . . . just came in and found this lying on the bed. I was going to put it back in your drawer, but I dropped it and the cover got a little messed up. Sorry,” she finished lamely.

Fay frowned. “I
never
leave my diary on my bed.”

“Maybe you forgot this time?” Tessa suggested.

Fay's face darkened. “No, I didn't. Have you been reading it?” she said in a trembling voice. “Don't try and pretend you weren't. I bet you thought my scribbles were so pathetic that you kicked my poor diary all around the room and then jumped on it or something!”

“I didn't. I would never do that!” Tessa exclaimed.

“Looks like it, doesn't it?” Fay snatched her diary and then stood there hugging it to her chest and stroking it. “I thought you liked me, but you were only pretending. I thought you were different, Tessa.”

Tessa felt terrible, even though none of this was her fault. She knew that Fay wouldn't believe anything she said now, but she still had to try. “I
do
like you, Fay. And I didn't read your diary. Honest. Cross my heart and hope to die!”

But Fay wasn't listening anymore. She threw herself onto her bed, buried her face in her pillow, and curled up with both arms wrapped around the diary.

Sighing heavily, Tessa trudged toward the bathroom.

Storm padded in after her and she closed the door behind him. “I am sorry. I have made things worse,” he woofed sadly.

Tessa pet his silky head. “You were only trying to help. Besides, this is all Kelly's fault.”

Tessa emptied a soap dish and washed it out before pouring water into it for Storm. “And just when I thought I was starting to get along with Fay,” she murmured as she watched the tiny puppy lapping thirstily.

 

The following day it was classes again and then hours spent in costume and makeup before filming another scene with Donny. This time it was inside Harpford Manor's great hall.

It was a long scene and Tessa had a lot of lines to say. The director was very demanding and bossed everyone around but seemed satisfied with the way things went.

When he called for a coffee break, Tessa decided that she'd go and sit with Fay to try again to make things right. She passed Kelly, who was sitting munching on a bag of chips.

“I wouldn't bother looking for Fay if I were you,” Kelly said. “She's gone off somewhere by herself. I bet she's writing more stuff in her stupid diary.”

“Get lost, Kelly!” Tessa said angrily, having to make a huge effort not to say something even worse. “Grrr. Why does that girl have to be so mean?” she complained to Storm.

There wasn't enough time to go looking for Fay, so Tessa got a cold drink and then sat down with Storm. “Fay probably hates me now. I bet she'll never speak to me again,” she said to him.

“I do not think that anyone could hate you,” Storm woofed, patting her leg with one soft little rusty paw.

“Thanks, Storm.” As Tessa reached down and took hold of the loyal pup's paw, she felt herself starting to calm down. An idea popped into her head. “Why don't we walk across the field to the village later? Maybe it will have a store that sells diaries. I can buy Fay a new one!”

Storm nodded. “I think Fay would like that.”

“She'll probably think I'm just trying to make up with her because I've got a guilty conscience,” Tessa guessed. “But at least it might make her feel a little better.”

“You have a very kind heart, Tessa,” Storm yapped, wagging his tail.

“Try telling Fay that!” Tessa sighed.

The call came for filming to begin again and the actors started moving toward the set. Tessa gave Storm a quick pat and went back to work, feeling a little better about everything.

 

“I was proud of you all today,” Judith said to them later as they all ate dinner together. “The director was even more demanding than usual. But you just did as he asked.”

Tessa was feeling really full. She'd asked for another big meal, so that she could share it with Storm. But it was difficult to slip food under the table to him, with everyone talking to her, and she'd had to eat most of it herself.

“I wish we got to see more of Donny,” Kelly commented wistfully. “I'm his number-one fan, but I haven't even had a chance to ask him for his autograph.”

“He's known to be a private person when he's not working,” Judith said.

Fay was picking at her baked potato and salad. After only eating a little, she asked to be excused and left the table.

“Is Fay all right?” Judith asked. “She's very quiet.”

“She's always like that,” Kelly piped up. “She's probably just trying to seem interesting and mysterious, like Donny.”

“I think she's still upset because her diary got damaged,” Tessa said, giving Kelly a hard look. She was pleased to see that Kelly looked a little ashamed.

“What's that about a diary?” Judith said.

“Oh, the cover got a little bent, but it's nothing really,” Kelly said. She lowered her voice. “Some people can't take a joke.”

Tessa stood up before she said something really rude. She wanted to walk over to the village. “I think I'll go and get some exercise,” she said to Judith as she left the table. “But first I'll get some ham sandwiches for a snack later.”
At least Storm will have some dinner
, she thought.

“My goodness. Where do you put it all?” Judith said, smiling.

“I've always had a big appetite,” Tessa said hastily, moving toward the counter.

She took the sandwiches and headed outside with Storm. He scampered after her, his nose twitching at the smell of the ham sandwiches. Once they were by themselves, Tessa broke them into small pieces for him.

Storm chomped them up and then licked his chops. “Delicious!”

“Ready for an extra-long walk now? As if I need to ask!” Tessa said, grinning.