Film Star by Rowan Coleman

everything and hear everything that was going on around me, but I felt separated from the real world as if I were floating alongside it rather than being part of it.
    We discussed it at length over lunch, all of us—Anne-Marie, Danny, Nydia and I, and even Menakshi, Jade and Michael Henderson, about how we might find out the news.
    â€œIf it’s bad news,” Anne-Marie said, “she’ll call us into her office. She’ll give us a speech on taking rejection on the chin and keeping our chins up. A lot of her speeches are about chins—have you noticed?”
    â€œBut if it’s good,” Menakshi said, “she might make an announcement to the whole school in a special assembly, like when Wade Jackson two years above us got that record contract.” Menakshi looked thoughtful. “Whatever happened to Wade Jackson?”
    â€œThe fickle finger of fame moved on,” Danny said,doing a passable impersonation of Sylvia Lighthouse delivering the catchphrase that seemed to be closest to her heart.
    Anne-Marie and I looked at each other.
    â€œBut if it’s bad news for both of us, it will definitely be in her office,” I said.
    â€œWhat if it’s only good news for one of you?” Nydia, who had been quiet until that moment, asked me. “What then?”
    â€œShe’ll call us into her office and tell us together,” Anne-Marie said before I could answer. “And there won’t be any hard feelings, will there, Ruby? I’ll be as happy if Ruby gets the part as if I do.”
    There were a few muttered “Yeah, rights”, groans and giggles at that.
    â€œI will!” Anne-Marie protested.
    â€œWell it might be neither of us,” I said simply. “Those other girls they saw this afternoon might be exactly what they were looking for.”
    I thought about what it would mean to get the part of Polly Harris in The Lost Treasure of King Arthur and my insides did a series of complicated Olympic-gold-medal-winning gymnastics. I took a breath and steadied my voice.
    â€œAnd anyway, if one of us does get it, it means really big changes. Going away from school and home forages. Getting an on-set tutor! It will all be really different. Maybe it would be better not to get it,” I said, feeling suddenly anxious.
    Nydia looked at me sharply.
    â€œYou don’t mean that,” she said darkly. I half-smiled.
    â€œI don’t suppose I do,” I said, “but it is a scary thought!” Normally Nydia would have caught my half-smile and stretched it into a full-sized one as she returned it to me. But this time she didn’t smile back at me.
    As everyone else filed back to class, I had fallen into step with Nydia, letting Anne-Marie and the others walk ahead.
    â€œNydia,” I said. “You’re cross with me.”
    â€œI’m not.” Nydia was terrible at lying.
    â€œYou so are,” I said reproachfully. “You didn’t call me to wish me good luck like you did Anne-Marie.”
    Nydia rolled her eyes.
    â€œBecause I know that you don’t need any luck,” she said sharply.
    I stopped walking.
    â€œWhat do you mean I don’t need any luck?” I asked her. Nydia stopped too and turned round to look at me.
    â€œWell,” she said, “you got called back. You got called back when you did the worst audition in the history ofthe world! Why? Because you are Ruby Parker. I don’t think you even had to audition really; I think they would have given you the part whatever. This whole thing was probably just one big publicity stunt for the film.”
    I stared at her and thought about what Art Dubrovnik had said to me that morning, and my heart sank. You’ve got history, Ruby, you’ve worked in TV. But then I remembered what else he had said.
    â€œI got called back because Imogene Grant liked my audition,” I said. “She said I had something about me that might be right for the