Ivy peered out from behind the school doors. Other students shot her curious glances as they left school for the day.
Phase one of Operation Escape was under way. Jackson, still in his hoodie, and Sophia, looking gorgeous, were hurrying down the steps, deep in conversation.
‘This itches,’ Brendan complained from his place behind Ivy. She looked round; he was scratching under his wig.
‘You’re stepping on my foot!’ hissed Camilla.
‘Sshh!’ Ivy said.
Ivy turned back to watch the scene outside the school building. As Jackson and Sophia arrived at the bottom of the steps, Ivy could see the paparazzi gathered at the end of the path.
One of them had the same jacket with the red streak as the guy who had been stalking them at Aunt Rebecca’s ranch.
The photographers started elbowing each other and whispering, as they caught a peek of Jackson’s famous face from beneath his hood. Ivy could almost see the rumour travelling through the crowd! Then Jackson threw the hood back so they could really see who he was.
‘Is that the actress?’ one shouted and they all started snapping away, just as Ivy had hoped.
Jackson pretended to try and shield Sophia from the cameras, and she squealed and hid behind her bag.
Bingo! ‘They’re playing it perfectly,’ Ivy murmured. The two of them dashed through the crowd of photographers, with several in pursuit as they headed towards the Meat and Greet.
There were soon only five paps left hanging around, including Mr Red Jacket.
‘Cue two!’ Ivy whispered and waved Olivia and Camilla into place.
Olivia gave Ivy a quick hug. ‘Thanks for going to all this trouble.’ She smiled at Brendan. ‘You get a special gold star.’
‘Thanks,’ he replied. ‘This is a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence, and any and all material rewards will be gratefully accepted.’
Olivia gave a little wave as she and Camilla headed down the steps.
‘Good luck,’ Ivy whispered.
‘It’s Olivia!’ one of the photographers shouted.
Olivia paused at the bottom of the steps and waved – just as they’d agreed. Then she hooked her arm through Camilla’s and cooed at the cameras. ‘This is my friend Venetia,’ she declared.
‘Is she off that TV show, Blue Moon Rising?’ Mr Red Jacket shouted.
Camilla didn’t say anything, just pretended to hide behind her hands when they started taking photos. Then Olivia and Camilla dashed in the opposite direction to Jackson, towards the mall. The group of five paparazzi followed them, trying to get a good shot of Olivia with her famous-looking friend.
‘Our turn,’ Ivy said to Brendan.
She stepped away from the door and they hurried through the hallway to the back entrance. When they were passing a set of lockers, a sixth grader stopped and stared at Brendan.
‘I’m testing out Halloween costumes,’ Brendan explained. ‘What do you think?’
The sixth grader just blinked.
‘Pretty scary, huh?’ Brendan grinned and Ivy grabbed his arm.
‘You only have to fool them for a couple of minutes,’ Ivy reminded him. They were going to head to the mall and prepare for the Great Switcheroo.
They rushed along and pushed through the glass doors at the back, then darted around the side of the building. All of the photographers were gone, as planned, so Ivy and Brendan headed for their rendezvous point at the mall.
The only thing that couldn’t happen was two Olivias being seen together or the game would be up.
‘It’s hard to run in a skirt,’ Brendan commented as they dashed along the road, getting more than a few intrigued glances from the people they passed on the sidewalk.
‘We’re almost there,’ Ivy replied, as the east entrance to the mall came into sight.
They hurried past the stores to the food court. Despite the absurdity of having to do it, Ivy couldn’t help enjoying the chaos just a little.
Up ahead, she spotted the real Olivia and Camilla sprinting towards the bathroom with all five photographers still after them. She couldn’t see Jackson and Sophia yet, but she was sure they were on their way.
Ivy and Brendan crouched behind a palm tree at the front of the food court and waited.
The paps lurked near the bathroom, waiting for any sign of Olivia and her mysterious friend.
There was a commotion from near the stationery store. It was Jackson and Sophia, with five more paparazzi in tow!
Sophia shouted in a fake British accent, ‘These people are invading my privacy!’
‘They won’t leave us alone!’ called Jackson.
The photographers that had been chasing Olivia and Camilla whirled around to capture whatever was happening.
The shoppers all turned to stare.
‘Help us!’ Jackson cried to a burly man with a bag from the Sewing Store.
He took one look at the mega-famous movie star and turned on the paparazzi, crossing his arms like an angry genie and blocking their path. Two paps got in a tangle, trying to run around him and a third got attacked by an old lady in a purple dress wielding her handbag.
‘It’s working!’ Ivy whispered to Brendan.
‘Wish I was out there with that lady,’ Brendan replied, grinning.
A gaggle of young girls shrieked when they saw Jackson and rushed over, trampling past the fourth pap. He had no chance of a photo now. There was only one left.
He seemed intent on staying in pursuit of Sophia and Jackson, who were almost at the bathroom. Then, a group of parents with toddlers walked past on their way to a coffee shop, sweeping him away.
‘Get out of the way!’ Ivy heard him cry. ‘I almost had an exclusive there!’