Maeve on the Red Carpet (4 page)

Gee, Maeve, we always knew we’d see your
name
in lights … but this is
craazzy
! What’s going on?”

“Huh?” I popped up from the nest of wires I was untangling in the back corner of the Movie House and tripped right away. “Oof,” I moaned, rubbing my knee. I looked up to see Avery gazing over at me with a puzzled look on her face. Behind her were my three other very best friends in the world—Katani, Isabel, and Charlotte. I felt my face break into a huge smile—I couldn’t help it! Even though tomorrow all my friends would be leaving for their winter vacations and I’d be left here in Boston, totally and utterly BSG-less … I had film camp. If I didn’t have Princess Maddiecake and film camp to look forward to, it would be the worst week of my life…. or one of the worst. Well, maybe not that bad, but staying at home
with no friends would have been really depressing. Now my entire life had changed into a wonderful dream. I was going to be good friends with Princess Maddiecake … and be a star.

“Thanks for stopping by, guys!” I cried and reached out for a huge group hug. Isabel and Avery leaned in right away. Since Avery was a soccer superstar and Izzy loved her art, both of them were usually wearing something with grass stains or paint smears. Katani and Charlotte hung back though.

“Uh, Maeve, no offense, but this white jacket is sort of making its runway debut today and you’re kind of … well …” Katani smiled apologetically.

Charlotte—who was wearing a light blue coat and looked particularly cute—put her hand over her mouth and giggled. “Absolutely filthy!” she said, turning pink. “Sorry, but I’ve never seen you quite so un-Maeve-like.”

I blew a curl out of my eyes because my hands were way too dirty to touch my face (Mom always says not to if I want beautiful skin). I waved my arm in the air and did a half-spin. “Well you’ve never seen me totally inspired to clean! Can you believe this place?”

The girls took a long look around. The Movie House was nearing the end of its major sprucing-up project … but it definitely had a long way to go. Everything was covered with dust, and the new decorations were still in boxes. The New York Film Academy people were marching in with tons of equipment and leaving it around in random places. Personally, I wasn’t sure how we were going
to get everything in shape for camp on Monday, but Dad assured me that Mr. Von Krupcake knew exactly what he was doing.

“I’m excited to see what it looks like when we get back,” Iz said sweetly.

“Me too!” added Katani. “I just love a good makeover.” Her eyes sparkled.

“Same here!” I sighed. I was so exhausted I collapsed into one of the chairs in the auditorium. It was pretty dirty, but I was too, so I didn’t even care.

At that moment the doors to the theater burst open, and in walked my dad followed by a round man in a pinstriped suit and a fedora hat with a dark red feather. I gasped and covered my mouth. Crown or no crown, I recognized him right away—it was Mr. Von Krupcake, the Krupcake King himself. I jabbed Avery to whisper this information quickly, but there was no time. Dad was so excited he was practically sprinting down the aisle, and chubby Mr. Von Krupcake was huffing and puffing to keep up.

“What do you think?” Dad asked.

“Amazing! This is a vast improvement from before,” the Krupcake King declared, dabbing his sweaty brow with a hanky. “Ross, I am pleased as punch. The Movie House is turning out splendidly. And I feel like I had something to do with it.”

“Uh … well, you did.”

The man began laughing in a way that reminded me of jolly Old King Cole. He grabbed his belly, and the tip of
his nose and both cheeks turned bright red. “I know. Supporting a great cause like the arts is so rewarding.”

“He looks like he’s a big fan of his own Krupcakes,” murmured Avery. I gave her a nudge. No matter how funny he looked, Mr. Von Krupcake had done a lot for the Movie House. It wouldn’t be nice to upset him.

“I still can’t thank you enough.” Dad ran a hand nervously through his curly, dark hair, then noticed us standing in the front corner of the theater. “Oh, and here are some very special VIPs I’d like you to meet.” Dad led Mr. Von Krupcake down the aisle.

“Hello!” I said with a cheerful wave. I couldn’t believe that we were actually getting to meet the Krupcake King. He looked a lot sillier on TV with his gigantic crown than in person.

“You are a dear!” Mr. Von Krupcake said and turned quickly back to Dad. “Wherever did you find such spirited youths to volunteer on such short notice?”

“Mr. Von Krupcake, I’d like you to meet my daughter, Maeve, and her best friends, Katani, Isabel, Charlotte, and Avery.”

“Oh my … so which of you is Maeve, the aspiring ack-
tour
?” he asked, pronouncing “actor” with a dramatic the-atrical accent. Mr. Von Krupcake searched our faces and then smiled. “Yes, of course. This one. Why I could tell by the way you carry yourself, my dear. I’m a very good judge of character.” Mr. Von Krupcake rested a hand on Charlotte’s head.

The girls and I exchanged looks that made it hard not
to laugh. Charlotte was the shyest BSG by far. She sometimes liked to do magic shows, but when it came to acting, Charlotte was a total shrinking violet.

“I, I don’t really act,” Charlotte confessed.

The Krupcake King wasn’t buying this explanation. “But you look so … so … like my own little Maddie,” he sputtered, then said to Dad, “My Maddie’s always ready for her closeup.”

Charlotte shook her head. “Nope. I’m only dressed up because I’m on my way to dinner with my dad and Miss Pierce,” she explained. “It’s a little going away party before our trip to Montreal. And a thank-you to Miss Pierce for watching Marty.” Miss Pierce was Charlotte’s sweet old landlady, and Marty was the BSG’s very-much-loved dog. We found Marty together—the poor little dude was an orphan, but he now lived with Charlotte. When Charlotte and her dad went away, Miss Pierce was more than happy to take care of Marty … and she could almost always count on one of the BSG dropping by to say hi. Except this time everyone was going away too. Well, everyone except me.

“I’m the ack-
tour
,” I informed Mr. Von Krupcake as I tucked a frizzed-out curl behind my ear.

Mr. Von Krupcake’s eyes widened. He looked like he was having a hard time believing that I was the drama queen. Then I caught a glimpse of myself in a prop mirror that was resting near the stage. Yikes! No wonder he couldn’t believe it … I did not look anything like my usual glamorous self at all.

“I think I told you my daughter is going to be attending the camp,” Dad added.

“Maeve, a pleasure. Of course you are the ack-
tour
. Your eyes have the gleam of one who has been bitten by the movie bug. And my, aren’t you the little worker bee.”

I exhaled and smiled, relieved that the universe was finally falling back into place. “I’m just so excited about film camp!”

Mr. Von Krupcake turned to Dad. “Oh, Ross, she’s just precious. I can’t wait until she meets my Maddie. Why, the two of them are really going to hit it off!”

“I can’t wait!” I exclaimed, my face flushing with excitement. Imagine—me being best friends with the famous Krupcake Pastry Princess! I wondered what she’d be like.
Would we get to ride around Boston in the Krupcakes’ stretch limo? Would we go to fancy galas? Would we
—

Suddenly my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Avery coughing. Oh my goodness, I’d been so caught up with my Madeline Von Krupcake daydream that I totally forgot that my BSG BFFs were standing right there.
Make new friends, but keep the old
… I think that’s how the expression went.

I looked at each of my friends and gave them a warm smile. “I’m really going to miss you guys,” I assured them all. Film camp or no film camp, the BSG were my best forever friends.

Dad clapped his hands and switched directions. “Okay, so moving right along. Would you like to see backstage, Mr.… Walter?”

“It’s just glorious, Walter!” sang a woman’s voice. The Beacon Street Girls and I whipped our heads around to see who was speaking.

“There you are, my dear girl!” Mr. Von Krupcake boomed and ran to the stage. “Ross, it is my pleasure to introduce you to the one and only Artemia Aaron—film director extraordinaire.”

Dad and I stared at each other. If we were cartoon characters, this would have been the part when our eyeballs bugged out of our heads and our tongues unrolled out of our mouths and hit the floor.

Standing in the center of the stage was none other than Artemia Aaron, the famous film director herself! There were butterflies in my stomach big-time! Avery and I looked at each other and squeezed our hands together. We both had been Artemia Aaron fans ever since we could remember. Her movie
Kung Fu Crazy
came out last fall, and it was the coolest! Seriously, it had everything from hip hop dancing, to amazing costumes, to hardcore kung fu moves … the kind where they do kung fu upside down on the ceiling. After
Kung Fu Crazy
stopped playing at the Movie House, Dad gave me the poster to put in my room. I considered it
inspirational
!

“I absolutely adore this theater, Walter!” Artemia announced. “You were right. This is going to be the perfect project for me.”

Dad gulped. “Project?”

Artemia folded her arms and nodded. “Project. I’m working for the camp. I’ve signed on to direct this session!”

Dad gulped again. “Camp director?”

“Yes, Ross. Artemia and I have been dear friends since college. When I heard that she was taking some time off from L.A. and wanted a chance to see Boston, I knew this camp would be the perfect winter
project
for her. You know … a break from all that glitter and glamour. Of course the New York Film Academy was thrilled to have the director of
Kung Fu Crazy
. It was destiny!”

“I was the thrilled one, Mr. Taylor,” she said to Dad. “This will finally give me the chance to spend some time with my son. He needs a break from Hollywood more than I do!” I glanced at the BSG. Artemia’s son was Apollo Aaron, the famous child star. He was only a cute little nine-year-old in his biggest hit,
Home Unsupervised
. Apollo plays a little kid whose family accidentally leaves him in a big mansion alone when they go on vacation to Nepal. It was a really cool movie.

“He’s going to love getting a chance to work on a film behind the scenes!” Artemia added, inspecting the theater with sparkling eyes. The picture she saw was something wonderful—I could tell. It was what we creative types called “vision.”

Mr. Von Krupcake began chortling. (I love that word! My friend Charlotte, who is a major word nerd, used it once, and I made sure to make a note of it.) “So you’ve definitely signed on for this session?” he asked.

Artemia nodded enthusiastically. “Oh, yes, Walter, I’m
honored
to direct the camp.”

Mr. Von Krupcake winked at Dad. “Well now, I think we’re going to have a real success here.”

Dad rubbed his temples and looked around the theater at the piles of lights, broken floorboards, and dusty, old props. “I think it’s going to be amazing to have Artemia’s expertise, but I have to admit, Walter, I’m a little worried about this Movie House. There’s still a lot of work to be done.”

Mr. Von Krupcake chuckled. “Don’t worry about a thing, Ross. I told you, it’s my pleasure to help out. Why, I’ve been coming to this theater since I was just a small boy.”

I glanced at Avery, who covered her mouth. We both couldn’t imagine Mr. Von Krupcake as ever being small …

“It’s all very generous of you, Walter. I just feel a little funny accepting such … generosity,” Dad confessed.

“Pish posh. Not another word.” Mr. Von Krupcake put his arm around Dad’s shoulder. “Trust me, Ross. This place is going to sparkle … Von Krupcake style. And I don’t want to hear another word about it. Deal?”

Dad’s face broke into a smile. He grabbed Mr. Von Krupcake’s hand and shook it. “Deal.” He got so excited, he did the same thing to Artemia! Poor Artemia probably wasn’t used to this kind of “regular person” behavior (sooo un-Hollywood), because she looked shocked for a second. Then she started to laugh. I loooooved her laugh—it sounded like bells!

“Welcome to Boston, Ms. Aaron,” Dad gasped. (I think he was kind of star-struck!) “I’m honored to have you here at the Movie House.”

“And me too!” I added.

“Oh, this is my daughter, Maeve.”

I stepped forward and held out my hand. But how embarrassing was this? My hand was actually shaking! I meant to tell her that I was going to be in the camp … AND that I was going to be an actress … but instead all that came out was “I loved
Kung Fu Crazy
!” Oops. Guess I was a little star-struck too.

But Artemia was Hollywood cool—one hundred percent. “Thank you so much. Your support means so much to me,” she answered. Wow. For someone so glamorous she sure was nice! I adored her outfit too—from her big designer glasses to her white wool coat to her high-heeled black leather boots. Artemia’s hair was dark red (another talented redhead!) and super-sleek in a chin-length bob. Too bad I could never get
mine
to look so chic. I could tell Katani, Ms. Fashionista, was totally impressed.

I opened my mouth to ask her a more mature question. Something that would show her a true future-starlet destined for big things, and not just another fan. But then Mr. Von Krupcake opened
his
mouth first.

“Now, Ross, how about we go somewhere and talk details,” Mr. Von Krupcake said, squeezing Dad’s shoulder.

Katani leaned over and whispered in my ear, “In the business world, ‘details’ means moo-lah!” Kgirl was totally the business-savvy BSG. She was going to be CEO of her very own fashion empire one day—we all just knew it.

Mr. Von Krupcake threw one arm over Artemia’s shoulder and the other over my dad’s. “I’ll book my usual
table at the Four Seasons,” he said in a this-is-final type of voice and steered Dad and Artemia down the aisle.

“Sounds good!” I heard Dad say. As he was being escorted out by the very-round Krupcake King, Dad turned, looked over his shoulder, and gave me a goofy smile with a thumbs-up. “Lunch at the Four Seasons!” he mouthed, looking completely ecstatic.