Maeve on the Red Carpet (15 page)

“Oh my gosh, that’s it!” I cried. “The bad guys—they can be kidnappers.”

“Oooh, good one,” Lizzie agreed. “Kidnappers who are double-crossers. They seem like they’re on the king’s side, but they’re really not.”

As soon as Lizzie said “king” one picture immediately popped into my head: the Krupcake King. Then things really started ticking.

“What if the personal assistant is one of the bad guys?” I suggested. I did love that dear Kenneth, but the idea of a double-crosser personal assistant was just too good to be true!

“And the nanny!” Apollo added.

“The nanny?” Lizzie looked shocked.

Apollo shrugged. “There was this one nanny I had when I was little who was grouchy all the time, and her breath always smelled like tuna. It was the worst.”

“I think her name should be Nanny Nuna,” I suggested. “It has a funny ring to it.”

Apollo laughed. “Nanny Nuna. I like that.”

Dad came out of the ice cream store looking sticky and full. “How’s the brainstorming?” he asked as he beeped open the car.

“Nanny Nuna smells like tuna,” Sam told him.

“Sam,” I warned, not wanting Dad to think that all we were doing was goofing off. Dad just seemed glad that we were having fun though. “Time for the next stop,” he said as we piled into the car. “Beacon Street.”

“We’re going back already?” Apollo looked seriously
disappointed, but the rest of us Bostonians knew better.

“No, silly. Beacon Street goes aaaaaaall the way into Boston. See?” I said, pointing to a street sign. Beacon Street in Boston was one gorgeous brownstone after another … leading right up to Beacon Hill. I trembled a little—out of fright—thinking how close we were getting to Maddie’s mansion.

“Hey, there’s the
Taj
!” Apollo cried, pointing to the blue regal-looking sign out the window. “That used to be the world-famous Ritz—right?”

“Well, the Boston Ritz-Carlton was the first one ever,” Sam stated smugly. “It opened in 1927 and all the kings and queens and movie stars stayed there. And guess what? Back then rooms only cost fifteen dollars!”

I turned around and stared doubtfully at my little brother. “How on earth do you know that, Sam?”

Sam smiled. “I know
everything
.”

Dad rolled his eyes. “I told him about it this morning.”

“Wait a minute, that’s it!” Lizzie cried suddenly. “Princess Sophia and her loyal maid Sufoo are staying at the Taj hotel in Boston—they’re on a royal peace trip representing the country of Tazmundo. And the movie starts out showing how glamorous Sophia’s life is … but Sophia is completely bored and miserable doing everything she’s supposed to do.”

I gave Lizzie a proud look. “Hey … have you seen the original
Roman Holiday
?” I asked. I didn’t really know anyone else my own age that was so passionate about old movies. In fact, most of my favorite movies were ones that
my friends (including the BSG) had never even heard of.

Lizzie smiled and tossed her long, silky hair over her shoulder. “Please, Maeve. I’m a total movie freak. All my friends think I have the weirdest taste, but I say they have no appreciation for the classics.”

My mouth dropped open. Now I was really happy that I was in film camp … brainstorming ideas for a movie, meeting other people who were as movie crazed as me … what could be better?

I closed my eyes. “I can see it now. Sophia and Sufoo—the beautiful princess and her redheaded maid …” I glanced at Lizzie and Apollo and the three of us burst out laughing. “So they’re in their gorgeous suite at the Taj, and when Sophia is in the shower—”

“Bubble bath!” Apollo corrected. “A princess would be taking a bubble bath.” We stared at him. “What? I grew up in Beverly Hills,” he said with a shy shrug.

I grinned and went on. “Obviously I meant bubble bath. And Sufoo overhears the assistant and Nanny Nuna in the connecting room talking about kidnapping Sophia and using her to take over the kingdom of Tazmundo.”

“Yeah …” Lizzie breathed, sensing my excitement.

“Sufoo has to convince Sophia that she’s bored with being a princess, to get her out of the hotel and away from the evil-doers …” I said “evil-doers” in a creepy, mysterious voice to really get my point across.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Dad said, “but I wanted Apollo to see the Boston Common … right over there.”

“Huh.” Apollo looked kind of bored as he stared out
the car window. “I can see why they call it ‘common.’”

I snapped my head around again and glared at Apollo … not too mad, but mad enough for him to know not to call the Common common. “I’ll have you know, Apollo Aaron, that this just so happens to be the home of the famous swan boats. Ever heard of ’em? Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

Apollo’s mouth hung open for a moment and then he offered, “Okay, but in the winter, no offense, Maeve, the Common just looks like a big fenced-in park.”

“But, it would be the perfect place for the first kung fu fight of the movie, don’t you think?” mused Lizzie.

“Should I pull over?” Dad asked.

I looked back at the kids and imagined trying to do jump kicks in the park in the middle of a cold, winter day. “I vote no. Too cold!”

The others nodded. “I want to see more Boston!” Apollo burst out.

“See more Boston! See more Boston!” Sam started chanting and pumping his fist in the air.

Before I knew what was happening, we were all in sync with Sam, shouting, “See more Boston!” as loud as we could. Dad didn’t mind one bit though.
If he didn’t own the Movie House, he would’ve been a truly fabulous tour guide
, Maeve thought.

Dad led us on a crazy drive, one that made the tiny city of Boston seem like the most exciting place in the world. He looped all around the expressway and over the brand new Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge (isn’t that name
fantastic?). And the whole way all any of us could do was spill out ideas for
Boston Holiday
like … like … a big gushing idea fountain.

We drove past Fenway Park and Apollo had the hilarious thought that Princess Sophia could catch a fly ball in the middle of a Red Sox game while Sufoo fends off Nanny Nuna and the assistant, who are disguised as crazed Red Sox fans. Lizzie and I loved that one. Dad bought us a baseball so we could act it out a little. I insisted on being Princess Sophia. Then when Apollo threw me the ball, I got scared at how fast it was going and instead of catching it, dove to the side and covered my head. Avery would’ve flipped if she’d seen me.

“Stick to the red carpet and stay far, far away from the Green Monster,” Sam advised from behind the camera.

“Thanks,” I responded with a tone of sarcasm. I did not enjoy being taped at my most un-glamorous.

Then when we were walking in Faneuil Hall—a historic tourist spot with shops and restaurants—a big pink tank drove by and started
quacking
at us. Of course, Dad, Sam, Lizzie, and I knew what was up right away, but Apollo looked totally freaked out. “Whoa, why are all those people quacking at me? Do I have, like, feathers stuck on my coat or something?” He spun around and started batting at the back of his jacket in a furious motion, making me and Sam burst into an uncontrollable fit of Kaplan-Taylor hysterical laughter.

“Stop, stop,” I gasped, panting for air. “Apollo, those are the Duck Tours! They always quack at the people on
the sidewalk … it’s part of the fun!” I said as though it made all the sense in the world. People quacking and honking from a brightly colored tank was totally normal, right?

“Hey, imagine how funny it would be if Princess Sophia traded in her tiara for a Duck Tour hat and was all into the Duck Tour, quacking and stuff, while Sufoo was dealing with the bad guys hanging off the back of the tank?” I suggested with a little bit of a devilish grin. I demonstrated doing some kung fu chops off the sidewalk, but had a momentary lapse of gracefulness and fell rightsmack on my bum.

I looked up to see Sam’s horrid camera very close to my blushing face. “Nice one, Sufoo,” Sam jeered.

“Hey, watch it, paparazzi boy,” I warned. “And that’s Princess Sophia to you, thank you very much.”

Apollo, in a very gentleman-like way, bent down and helped me get to my feet. (True confession—I just melt when boys are chivalrous—that means gracious as a Knight of the Round Table. I think it’s terribly romantic.) Of course then Apollo popped the mood by saying, “Dude, if we
don’t
put the Duck Tours into
Boston Holiday
it would be a big mistake.”

“Huge,” I agreed.

“Mammoth,” Lizzie added. Was she a word nerd
and
a movie nerd? No wonder I liked this girl!

“There’s one more place we need to see, I think,” Dad remarked, leading us back to the car.

“Aw, really? But I’m hungry,” Sam griped, “and my
shoulder is killing me.” No wonder Sam’s shoulder was hurting—he’d been in paparazzi mode 24/7!

“Then stop videotaping me and all my embarrassing moments!” I demanded with my hands on my hips.

Sam turned on the video and pointed it at me. “Hey, it’s not my fault you’re embarrassing.”

I fumed for a few seconds but decided I’d had enough of fighting with Sam. I was actually having too much fun. “Where are we going Dad?” I was dying to know.

“It’s a surprise,” Dad replied.

“Ooh, surprises are the
greatest
,” Lizzie cried, giddy with excitement.

“Not me,” Sam blurted. “I want to know NOW!”

“Me too,” I admitted. Sam and I were having one of those moments where it was obvious how we were related … absolutely no patience whatsoever.

Dad shook his head and continued to drive through the busy Boston traffic. I think he enjoyed torturing his kids, or at least teasing us a little.

Apollo turned his Dodgers hat backward and shrugged. “It’s all new to me.” He seemed very relaxed. I wondered if it was his laid-back California attitude coming out.

“See, Maeve and Sam. You gotta be more like Apollo. Go with the flow, dude,” Dad uttered in a fake-surfer voice. “How am I doing, Apollo?”

Lizzie giggled as Sam shook his head and I buried mine in my hands. But Apollo made a fist and held it up for Dad to tap. “Right on, dude,” Apollo said with an approving nod.

“Whoa, dude, what do you know? We’re already here,” Dad announced in the same goofy way. I was about to die of embarrassment. Then it occurred to me where Dad had taken us, and all at once I forgave him for all his strange dad behavior.

“Chinatown!” I breathed and gazed up at the green shelled rooftop of the tall gate, decorated with gold Chinese characters. “Dad, you are a complete genius!”

“I know,” he answered. “I figured a little kung fu inspiration couldn’t hurt. Along with … moo shu pork and scallion pancakes?”

“Mr. Taylor, you’re the man!” Apollo exclaimed.

“Yeah, Dad, you’re the man!” Sam echoed.

As we strolled through the streets of Chinatown, I was completely wowed by the store windows. I loved how all the outfits were such vibrant shades of color and embroidered with gold. “Probably at the end of the movie Sufoo should get a cool kung fu costume,” I thought out loud, then added. “A discount one, of course.”

The rich smells of Chinese food cooking in fryers wafted up from a little basement restaurant—The Dragon Hop. “This has the best egg drop soup in the city,” Dad explained.

As we sat down at a table and started to read our Chinese horoscopes, Lizzie looked like a light bulb had suddenly blinked on over her head. She got out her notebook and started scribbling.

“What?” I asked.

She continued scribbling and scrawling until finally
she dropped the pencil and collapsed back in her seat. “Okay, I’ve got it. Sufoo lives in Chinatown and is trying to be a clothing designer. But her day job is being a maid at the Taj, where she picks up on the styles of the rich and famous.” Lizzie spoke quietly even though we were the only guests in the dimly lit restaurant. It felt very official that way.

“I really like where you’re going with this, Lizzie,” Apollo encouraged.

“So she’s putting mints on the pillow in the hotel when she overhears the nanny plotting with the evil assistant. Turns out they know kung fu and have been secretly training in Boston for months! But here’s the catch—Sufoo has been training too.”

“With her gorgeous kung fu instructor!” I added.

“Exactly!” Lizzie answered with a wide smile.

“Name?” Apollo asked.

I tapped my chin. “Well, in the movie he was played by Gregory Peck, so how about …” I waved my hand in the air and said dramatically, “Grego.”

“Grego … I like it,” Apollo decided. “Short, sweet, and simple.”

“So Sufoo brings Grego with her and pretends he is a reporter, when really he’s there to protect the princess. But then he ends up falling in love with her, and Sufoo saves the day! What do you think?”

Just then, the waiter came over with a three-tiered pu-pu platter. I grabbed an egg roll and took a bite. “I love it,” I started to say, but then realized how hot the food was
and had to spit it out into my napkin. Ick! Definitely not my best Princess Sophia moment. And even worse—Sam had the camera rolling again.

“Can you
not
?” I begged. “How am I ever going to be the princess, if all the tape shows is me acting like a total slob?”

“You know,” Apollo began, digging into a chicken finger, “I think Sufoo is a way cooler part than the princess.”

I gave him a look. “Puh-leease.”

“No really,” Apollo insisted. “Think about it—you’d get to fight, and wear cool costumes, and be the hero in the end. Plus it would be, like, totally hilarious.”

Lizzie nodded. “If I was good at acting, I’d definitely want the Sufoo part. It’s so original!”

“But Sufoo doesn’t get to fall in love,” I pointed out. “Not very romantic.”

“Blah!” Sam frowned. “Romance is gross, dude.” He looked up at Apollo, probably hoping that Apollo would agree.

Apollo put his fist out and tapped Sam’s. “Gross for kids.” He laughed and then looked back at me, suddenly seeming very serious. “Maeve, if you want to have fun, you should really think about trying out for Sufoo.”

“No one could do it like you,” Lizzie added.