Rising Star

Table of Contents

 

 

Glamour! Talent! Stardom! Fame and fortune could be one step away for the kids of Fame School! All the students at Rockley Park, a school for the pop culture performing arts, are talented, but they still have to work hard. Being a star—and a kid—isn't easy. They have to keep up their grades, learn about the professional side of the music business, improve their talent,
and
get along with their classmates. Things don't always go as planned, but one thing's certain, this group of friends will do their best to sing, dance, and jam their way to the top!

Mr. Player folded his arms and leaned against the piano. “Getting your voice in shape is far more important than thinking of performing,” he said. “There will be other concerts . . . when you've learned to use your voice properly.”

Chloe stared at him in horror. “But I
have
to do the concert,” she told him. “I can't possibly miss it!”

“Listen to me,” he said. “You have the potential to be an excellent singer, but you'll only make trouble for yourself if you try to perform now. Get your technique right first;
then
you can sing in concerts. Now, don't let me hear any more about it.”

Chloe stumbled through the rest of her lesson in a daze. Not sing at the concert? She
had
to sing.
Everyone
was performing. She'd die of shame if Mr. Player wouldn't allow her to take part. She could imagine what Tara would say. And what about those precious Rising Stars points?

Thanks to John Acock, Natalie Powers,
Seb, Ben, Joss and George of Stitch and
Yellow Shark Studios in Cheltenham.

For my daughter Rebecca, with much love

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Registered Offices: Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

 

First published in Great Britain by Usborne Publishing Ltd., 2005

Published by Puffin Books, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 2007

 

Copyright © Cindy Jefferies, 2005

All rights reserved

 

CIP Data is available.

 

eISBN : 978-1-101-11884-9

 

 

 

The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.

 

This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real.

Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

The limousine swished past the wrought-iron gates and up the drive. It drew to a halt with a crunch of gravel outside the impressive front entrance. Chloe got out to the cheers of her fans, who had waited all day to see their favorite pop star.

Well, it was a nice thought. But today's reality wasn't quite as exciting as Chloe's daydream. There
were
plenty of cool cars arriving at Rockley Park School, but Chloe's family owned a rather old sedan with a cracked bumper, not a limousine. Never mind. One day the dream might come true. After all, this was only Chloe's first day at her new school. Winning a scholarship to this very special place
might
be the first step to pop stardom. Because, as well as all the usual lessons, this school taught everything that a singer needed to know!

Rockley Park was a school for aspiring pop stars, songwriters, and musicians. It was full of students who were really talented and determined to get to the top. Here, Chloe would get all the voice training she needed, as well as learning how to dance, record her own songs, and all the technical stuff she would need for a career in the music industry.

Chloe peered out of the car. Her dad had followed the signs and pulled up outside a new building at the back of beautiful old Rockley Park House. This was Paddock House, where all the seventh- and eighth-grade girls slept. A long row of windows looked out over the parking lot and the fields beyond. One of those windows might be Chloe's room....

“Well,” said Mom. “We're here.” Chloe's little brother, Ben, had been asleep, but as Chloe opened the door and scrambled out, he woke up.

“Me, too,” he demanded, and Chloe leaned in to undo his seat belt.

“Don't let him run off,” Mom warned. “You know what he's like.” But Ben was still too sleepy to run anywhere. He stuck his thumb in his mouth and watched some people nearby unloading a large trunk from the back of a four-wheel-drive. Chloe wished she could have a trunk, but they were far too expensive—her family just couldn't afford one. Dad leaned over and took out the shabby suitcase they'd packed Chloe's belongings in. Chloe grabbed two full plastic bags, and Mom picked up Ben.

Chloe had been waiting impatiently for this day ever since she'd found out that she'd won a scholarship. But now that she'd arrived, she had mixed feelings. Thank goodness Danny James, a drummer from her old school, had won a place as well. At least there would be
one
face here she would recognize.

“Excited?” asked Dad. Chloe nodded, but it certainly wasn't just excitement she was feeling. There was a whole cloud of butterflies fluttering about in her stomach and a lot of unanswered questions in her head. Would she be homesick? Would she be able to make friends? Would she find the schoolwork too difficult? Most important of all, was she a good enough singer to make it to the top?

A woman with dark, curly hair was at the front door.

“Welcome to Paddock House,” she said, shaking hands with Chloe and her parents. “You are ...?” she asked Chloe cheerfully.

“Chloe Tompkins.”

“Right, Chloe. I'm Mrs. Pinto, your housemother. Any problems or worries, you come to me, and if you don't want to do that, Mrs. O'Flannery over in the health center will help you out.” She checked the list she was holding. “Now, your room is on the first floor, at the end of the corridor. There will be four of you in there, all seventh graders, of course. Come along. I'll show you the way.”

Chloe's family all traipsed along behind Mrs. Pinto.

It was chaotic in the house. There were lots of fire doors that were stiff to open, and the stairs and hallways were full of other girls and their parents, all loaded with belongings, trying to squeeze past one another. You could tell the new girls easily. They were the ones that looked lost, with harassed parents attached. The older girls were much more lively. They greeted one another with squeals of delight and got in the way of everyone else by hugging one another enthusiastically.

“
Do
move out of the way, girls,” Mrs. Pinto told a group of four chattering together excitedly. “Go and get some tea if you've unpacked. You can catch up with all your news in the dining room.”

Eventually, Mrs. Pinto opened yet another door and stood aside to let Chloe and her family in.

“Here you are,” she said. “It looks as if the two beds by the window have already been taken, so choose which one you'd like on the other side and get settled in. Refreshments are in the dining room in the main house when you're ready. I usually suggest that parents say good-bye here,” she said to Chloe's mom. “Do come into the kitchen downstairs for a cup of tea with the rest of the parents, though, before you head for home. It's on the right by the front door.”

“Do you want us to help you unpack?” asked Chloe's mom once Mrs. Pinto had gone.

“No, thanks,” said Chloe.

Dad could see how she felt. “Come on,” he said to his wife, who was hovering around, looking helpless. “Chloe needs to get settled. I expect her new roommates will be back soon. Hey! Don't do that,” he added, going over to Ben. Chloe's little brother was jumping up and down on one of the beds by the window. “That belongs to some other famous pop star.”

“Dad! No one here will be famous for years and years,” Chloe said.

They all hugged one another, and Mom kept telling Chloe to be sure to ask if she needed help, to eat sensibly, to put her clothes away neatly... until Dad practically had to
drag
her out.

“Bye!” she said again at the door. “Don't lose that cell phone, okay? Call us tomorrow so we know how you're doing and we'll see you in three weeks. Take care, now!”

Then they were gone.

Chloe went to look out of the window. There were sheep in a nearby field, and some crows were cawing in a group of tall trees. It was a very different view from the one at home, which was all houses and small gardens. She went and sat down on one of the available beds, the one farthest from the door, and swung her legs, trying to work out how she felt. A bit of her wished she was in the car with her family, going back home, but mostly she was thinking about her new life. She had a fantastic chance now, and she couldn't wait to start her singing lessons, but first of all, she had to meet her roommates.