She handed it to Ivy, with an expectant look, but Ivy couldn’t figure out why Lillian would think she wanted a grubby old shirt.
‘Wow, Lillian!’ Sophia said. ‘Thanks so much. Ivy is so excited, she’s speechless.’ Sophia nudged her hard. ‘And I know a little girl who’s going to be very jealous.’
Ivy realised that this was primo Jackson memorabilia. Bethany would be utterly thrilled. ‘Yeah, thanks!’
After all that, Ivy thought, I’m still not any closer to proving Jackson’s vamp-ness. And I’m running out of time.
‘I don’t know why any of these people are bothering,’ Charlotte said. ‘I’m the most qualified for the part; I’ve already acted with Jackson.’
Olivia bit her lip. That was totally rude, but she didn’t want to start an argument in line. It was just her luck to end up right behind Charlotte. ‘I think it’s exciting that everybody gets a chance,’ she said.
‘Humph.’ Charlotte rummaged through her bag, pulled out a compact mirror and started applying another layer of mascara.
Katie and Allison were waiting nearby, looking like they’d just come last in a race.
‘Aren’t you two going to sign up?’ Camilla asked them.
‘Of course not,’ Charlotte answered. ‘They’re going to be my cheerleaders.’
Katie offered a weak thumbs-up and Allison said, ‘Go, Charlotte!’ but she wasn’t smiling.
Olivia was so glad she wasn’t one of Charlotte’s closest friends – it didn’t seem like much fun.
‘And I’m your cheerleader,’ Camilla said to Olivia. ‘But I’m not any good at backflips.’
Olivia giggled and linked her arm in Camilla’s.
‘Next!’ shouted the receptionist sitting at the desk, making Charlotte jump and smudge her mascara under her eye.
‘Argh!’ Charlotte tried to wipe it away but it just smeared.
‘Next!’ the woman said even louder. Her hair was in a tight bun and she peered at Charlotte over her reading glasses. ‘You! Get over here.’
Charlotte stepped up, one hand covering her eye.
‘Name?’ the receptionist asked, fingers poised over the keyboard.
Charlotte handed over her extras pass, like it was a golden ticket.
The woman squinted at it. ‘Chartreuse Blown?’
Camilla chuckled.
‘What? No!’ Charlotte snatched the pass back, peered at the details and turned bright red. ‘It’s Charlotte. Charlotte Brown.’
The woman raised one eyebrow. ‘You sure, honey?’
Charlotte blinked furiously. ‘Don’t be ridiculous. I know my own name!’
The receptionist smirked and indicated a stack of folders. ‘Take one of those and move on.’ Charlotte took the top one, clutched it to her chest and stormed past Katie and Allison, who hurried after her.
‘Next!’ the woman shouted.
That meant Olivia.
Ivy didn’t want to push it too much with Lillian, but she had to find out the truth about her sister’s movie-star crush. She had a plan. She needed Lillian to show them where the food was.
When they had finished with the costumes, Ivy piped up. ‘Gosh, I’m starving.’
‘Well, we’re done here.’ Lillian grabbed three pairs of oversized Access sunglasses from their cubby hole, handed a pair each to Ivy and Sophia and said, ‘Let’s head over to Craft Service.’
All she needed to do was taste one of Jackson’s meals and she’d have the proof she needed. If there was any hint of blood, Ivy would be able to tell.
It was still cold outside the costume trailer but sunny, so Ivy was glad of the wicked shades.
‘Lillian! Lillian! What is to be done? Have you seen the actresses? Oh, non, non, non!’ How Philippe didn’t melt into a puddle of trauma, Ivy didn’t know.
‘Don’t worry.’ Lillian tried to calm him down but he was flapping like a black cape in the wind. ‘We’ll find someone.’ She mouthed, ‘See you later,’ to Ivy and Sophia and led Philippe away.
‘What are you up to?’ Sophia demanded the moment they were out of earshot.
‘I know how I can get proof of Jackson’s fanghood,’ Ivy said, pulling Sophia towards the big truck labelled ‘Craft Service'. ‘His mouth!’
‘You’re going to call up his dentist?’
‘No, I’m going to sneak into wherever they’re storing his meals,’ Ivy said. ‘I don’t know exactly where that is, but if it comes down to it, I will sit in the cafeteria and wait until he shows up, so I can know what he’s eating.’
Sophia sighed. ‘Well, it beats me streaking.’
Ivy hauled herself up into the craft truck and her heart sank. It was a big truck, but there were people everywhere. She guessed that without having anything to film, the crew was just being paid to eat. Every table was full and the line for food was really long.
So much for sneaking around without anyone noticing.
As the line moved slowly forward, it gave Ivy a chance to survey the scene. The rows of chefs were each tending to a different section of the food tables, serving things up on request. Behind them was a man in a smart suit, checking things off on his clipboard, talking to certain people in line and observing. Ivy decided he was the catering manager.
A trim, brown-haired girl, looking stylish and wearing a multi-stranded beaded necklace over a long, loose grey sweater and jeans, caught the manager’s attention. Ivy guessed she must be one of the supporting actresses. The manager flipped through his papers, turned to a stainless-steel fridge behind him and took out a tray filled with what looked like raw carrots and celery – and nothing else – and handed it to her.