‘Where are your set passes?’ said a pale, thin woman with frizzy black hair poking out from underneath a pair of over-sized headphones.
Ivy and Sophia stood guilty and silent. It was fun while it lasted, Ivy thought.
‘You aren’t supposed to be here, are you?’ the woman asked in a thick New York accent.
Ivy shook her head.
‘I don’t know why we don’t make maps for reception to give out. Honestly!’
‘Huh?’ said Sophia.
But Ivy nodded cautiously. Maybe we aren’t going to get completely staked, she thought.
The woman looked them both over. ‘Hmmm. Yes, I can see why they picked you two – the alternative style, the nice faces. Good.’
Ivy looked at Sophia, who seemed just as confused.
‘I’m Lillian, the second assistant director.’ She checked her watch. ‘Come with me and I’ll get you to the extras trailer.’
The extras trailer? Ivy thought.
Lillian started to walk away.
‘Does this mean we’re going to be in the movie?’ Ivy asked Sophia.
‘I think so!’ Sophia almost skipped after the woman and Ivy hurried to keep up.
Ivy normally hated the spotlight, but this wasn’t centre stage. She was only going to be in the background. Killer!
‘Get your rears in gear, ladies,’ Lillian said. ‘We’ve got to get you ready for blocking the first set-up.’
Ivy had no idea what she was talking about, but Sophia whispered, ‘That means planning out how the actors will move in a scene.’
‘Thank darkness you’re here to translate,’ Ivy said.
They marched up to a big trailer labelled ‘Background Artists’ and Lillian handed over two location passes, then thumped on the door.
‘Two more for ya, Spencer!’
A man with closely shaved dark hair and stubble opened the door. His blue silk shirt was unbuttoned half way down his chest and he was wearing heeled leather shoes. He put one hand on his hip and looked the girls up and down. He gasped and put the other hand to his forehead. ‘Oh my goodness. What am I going to do with you two?’ He had a slight lisp and spoke really quickly. ‘You simply must get in here right away.’
He turned on his heel and disappeared inside. Lillian hurried off before Ivy could thank her.
They stepped tentatively into the trailer to see about a dozen people their age getting their hair and make-up done.
‘Wait there,’ Spencer commanded, pointing to two black leather chairs in front of brightly lit mirrors. He flitted away to the other side of the trailer to rummage through a tall organiser, muttering to himself.
‘This utterly sucks!’ Ivy declared, leaning back in the comfy chair. Today could not be going any better.
I hope Olivia’s having as much fun as me, Ivy thought.
‘Is this your first time?’ asked a boy in layered T-shirts next to her.
Ivy nodded.
Spencer came back with a tray of tubes, jars and brushes. He put a finger to his lips and cocked his head on one side, considering. Ivy felt her cheeks start to blush under the scrutiny. Then he clapped his hands together, as though he’d come to a decision.
‘Now, we’re not going to do much to your hair – long and luxurious, well done, sweetie.’ Ivy smiled. ‘But we are going to have to brighten the skin tone for both of you. And I was thinking a teased up-do for you,’ he said to Sophia. She gave him a shaky smile.
He snapped his fingers and a hairdresser stepped forward and started to work on Sophia. Then Spencer whipped out a cleanser. Ivy couldn’t believe she was getting pampered by a professional movie-set make-up artist.
Spencer grabbed for a Mister Smoothie pink and yellow cup from the ledge in front of the mirror and took a big slurp.
‘What flavour did you get?’ Ivy asked as he worked.
‘Ooh,’ Spencer said. ‘I heard the Twist and Shout was a sight to see, so I just had to go for that one!’
Ivy cracked up. ‘My dad ordered that yesterday.’
Spencer’s eyes widened. ‘Your dad? Ha!’ Spencer started doing a fabulous hip twist. ‘Us older men love to dance! Once the rest of the crew heard about the little show, they’ve been ordering them all day. LOVE it!’ Spencer did a triple-zigzag finger snap.
Ivy felt a twinge of pity for the Mister Smoothie staff.
‘You are truly beautiful,’ he said to Ivy, gently wiping a cleansing pad across her brow. ‘Your friend, too. But you are both so pale. This foundation isn’t going to be enough. Lucky for us, we have enough fake tan on set for the star of the show to last through the sequel!’
Something niggled at the back of Ivy’s mind. Lots of fake tan?
‘Georgie!’ Spencer called and a young girl with teased up-hair in a flowing crushed velvet dress came over. ‘Can you go get me a couple cans of the Santa Monica, please?’
As Georgie scurried off, Ivy felt a sense of dread rising. Santa Monica was the fake tan of choice for the vampire community.
‘For the star?’ Ivy squeaked out.
Spencer nodded. ‘The contract rider demanded at least three cases of the top range of Santa Monica spray tan.’
Ivy felt her stomach churn. She thought of Jackson’s peachy complexion – if he was human and put on that spray tan, he’d look like an orange. But he didn’t; he looked completely normal. Completely human. Which meant that without fake tan his skin must be really, really pale. Could Jackson be . . .
‘A vampire,’ Ivy whispered.
‘Pardon?’ Spencer asked, his pad of cleanser freezing in mid-air.