Brave New Girl (17 page)

“OK.” Arthur nodded. “But she scares me.” He pointed inside to Nene.

“Yeah,” I said, “you and me both.”

Jamie showed me the film of Arthur, and somehow, through the plate-glass with the light behind him, Arthur looked completely angelic, like a curly-haired spirit, or a sprite.

“Oh My God!” I said. “Ariel!”

“What?” Jamie and Sasha said together.

“Wait here. Dad, can you get these two a coffee, and an ice cream for Art? I just got to do something.”

I ran down the street to the party shop on the corner of Dalston Lane and bought the boysiest pair of fairy wings they had. They were white and silver, and I wondered how I was going to make Arthur wear them, given that he would have finished the ice cream by the time I got back to the café.

“Arthur,” I said, out of breath. “Put these on.”

He gave me a look.

“Wear these, and I'll make Keith put you in the film,” I said. I had my fingers crossed behind my back. Keith might not even talk to me again.

Arthur put his head on one side. “Will it be like Kutest Kiddie?”

“No, nothing like that,” I said. “A million times
better than that. And if Keith wins you might get to be on the big screen at the Rio. Ten foot tall!”

This was true. But it did rather depend on Keith talking to me again, and then liking what we were doing, and finally, winning.

“Like Godzilla!” Arthur said and put on the wings there and then.

I made him stand outside and put his hands flat on the glass and look in. He looked like a child ghost, fuzzy and unreal.

Keith would love it.

Jamie let me film it while he and Sasha had another coffee, and gazed into each other's eyes. I wished Keith was here to see this. I would have phoned him if he hadn't been sitting in a hall in Soho talking Chinese.

Nene was humphing at me all the time, and I was glad we were nearly done.

“Thanks, Dad.” I hugged him just before we left.

“No problem, Babes.” He ruffled my hair. “Come back soon. You too, Sasha.”

“Goodbye, Mo,” Sasha said to my dad. Then she turned to Nene, hands on hips. “You know, you think we don't get what you're saying all the time? Well, we may not get the words, Mrs Ali, but your tone is crystal
clear. And you know what? Now I'm not working here, I can safely say you are the rudest old lady I have ever met! You don't deserve a granddaughter like my sister, Mrs Ali.” Sasha took Jamie's arm and walked out.

My mouth must have been flapping open, I was so stunned. I'd so always wanted to say that.

Nene erupted in a volcano of what I bet was classic Turkish swearing.

“Ohmigod! Sasha!” I put my hand over my mouth to hide my smile, and ran out after them. “She always thought we were the family from hell. Now I bet she's sure of it.”

“That woman!” Sasha said. “She slags you off something rotten when you're not around, and I bet she was doing it just now, in Turkish. All those sly little looks. You deserve better. I'm not having someone bad-mouth my sister, even if I can't understand what she's saying.”

I hugged Sasha hard. It felt so good to have a sister again.

We got to the estate and filmed a bit more, with me and with Arthur as Ariel, leading me through the concrete and out to the canal. As we walked along the
towpath, we could see the stadium, and Jamie said how he and his football team were doing a display in there, and how much he was looking forward to it.

“Have you been inside yet?” I said.

“Nah... it's not been open to the public,” he said.

“Denny's in there today,” Arthur said. “He's in there with Mum.”

“Do you think we could get in?” I said. “If we could film me in the dress, and Arthur in his wings inside the site, Keith would be so impressed....”

“Would he like that?” Arthur said.

“Yeah, I think he would.”

“Well, come on.” Arthur pulled on my arm. “Let's have a look then.”

The main entrance was so wide you could have driven two lorries through it sideways. The ‘Avenue of Champions', Jamie said the school coach had called it, planted with spindly, brand-new trees. But there was a gate, or not so much a gate but one of those poles that comes down, and a guard in a box.

It was obvious he wasn't going to let anyone through.

Sasha did her best. “It's my brother, he's singing in the rehearsal.” She looked at her watch. “We were supposed to meet him inside.” She had her worried face on.

The guard wasn't having it. “Sorry, love. Passes only.”

Sasha stuck her bottom lip out so far you could have used it as a bookshelf for really heavy books. “Please?”

The guard turned away and went back inside his box. Sasha shrugged.

Arthur was hanging on the pole, still wearing his wings.

“Film that, Jamie,” I said.

The guard noticed his pole wobbling, and then noticed Jamie filming, and was suddenly out again. “No filming on site.”

“It's only a phone.”

“And you!” He was shouting at Arthur. “Stop that, now!”

The guard started walking towards Arthur, and Arthur jumped down off the pole and ran. Straight down the Avenue of Champions towards the stadium.

“Arthur!” I said.

“Go after him!” Jamie whispered. “Go on!”

The guard was talking into his radio and Arthur was disappearing away down the main road. I ducked under the pole and legged it after him, and caught hold of him just in time.

“Arthur! What are you doing? They could have tazers or anything!”

I could see a sort of golf buggy thing with guards heading towards us so I pulled Arthur along and ran back towards the entrance and under the pole. Then Jamie scooped Arthur up and we didn't stop running until we'd made it over the little bridge across the canal and back into the estate.

Mum and Denny were already back, sitting in the front room eating pizza in front of the telly.

“There's some for you in the oven,” Mum said. “Denny was fab, weren't you, love? And the stadium! You should've been there! Anyway,” she went on, wiping her fingers on a bit of kitchen roll. “What have you lot been up to? You look like you've escaped from the circus!”

All four of us were red in the face from running and laughing, I was wearing the grey spangly dress over my school trousers, and Arthur had on a pair of white and silver wings.

I turned my phone back on after we'd eaten the pizza. I'd had it turned off most of the day because of the filming. There were about a million messages and texts, all from Keith. I read the first one. SRY, it said. The second one said, REALLY SRY.
The third one, FOUND MMRY STK SRY AGN.

The tenth one said, TALK TO ME PLS!!!!!

I was so happy I almost pressed redial right away. But then I had a much better idea.

I downloaded what we'd filmed on Jamie's phone, and sent it to Keith on the computer, and then went straight round.

He was sitting on the wall outside his shop, waiting.

“Did you see it?” I said. “Have you seen it?”

“The memory stick? I'm really sorry. It was in the bag all the time. I am an idiot.”

“Yes,” I said. “So is the film all there? Everything, the stuff in the Cave?”

Keith nodded. He put out his hand for me to shake, but I bent down and hugged him until he almost choked.

“You're OK? You're not mad with me?” Keith said. “Only I felt so down last night, and then this morning when I emptied my bag... I should never have blamed you.”

“No,” I said. “But it's OK now. We're OK.”

“Yeah,” Keith said. “We are.” He smiled and pushed his glasses up his nose and I hugged him again.

I was fizzing with excitement. “But have you seen what we did today? I sent it to you. I think you'll like it.
We shot it on Jamie Kendrick's phone and Arthur's Ariel and everything!”

He was smiling as much as me.

The day flashed by inside my head. Sasha, Arthur, Keith. I felt so lucky.

It was only the second week of the summer term, but the Year Elevens had had their Leavers' Prom and left school for study leave before their exams. It seemed like such a long time had passed, although I still shuddered if I thought about me in the
Paradise Supermarket
yelling ‘slug-brain' at Luke Beckford.

Sasha was still going out with Jamie, and happier than ever. She'd even got a new job in the cinema tearing the tickets. Denny's head wasn't getting any bigger, because now the opening ceremony was coming closer he was getting seriously jittery. Mum had sorted her shifts so she did more ‘earlies' and we'd already had two brilliant picnics, one in Greenwich Park with Jamie and Keith along too.

Me and Keith were cool. I was so relieved I hadn't lost the oldest mate I had. And even though he found
the memory stick, he still used some of the phone-filmed stuff because it looked so good. He loved Arthur as Ariel too, said it was a brilliant idea. Said he told me I always had good ideas.

Keith had done all the editing and sent it off, and a letter had just come saying he was on the shortlist. Our film was on the shortlist!

Everyone who saw it liked it, Miss Tunks included. She said Keith was fantastic and I was ‘very convincing'. I heard her talking in the corridor to the head of English – Mr Josephs – and she said she thought Keith could win! I hadn't told him that yet, though, in case his head swelled up so big he wouldn't be able to walk through any doors.

Just for the record, I was one hundred per cent sure he would win, and so was Sasha.

Arthur had decided he was a star and persuaded Mum to let him go to Drama class at the Arcola. He went to the tiny class. I got into the senior class. I was babysitting for Sherifa once a week and paying for me and Arthur together (there was a reduction for more than one family member). Drama class was one of the best decisions I ever made. It was really good fun. I loved it.

Me and Keith had started another film, this time
with talking. There were two of my mates from Drama class in it with me, Jade and Becky, and I was trying not to get too excited about it.

So, me and Keith were sitting in the dinner hall and he was talking about how he needed to get the school camera over the weekend. We were just about to go when Miss Tunks came past. I almost got up too quickly and missed her tray by millimetres.

“Seren Campbell Ali!”

“Sorry, Miss Tunks,” I said, going pink.

“Miss Tunks,” Keith said. “About the camera....”

“Fine, fine.” She waved a hand. “I'll be in the Drama office just before lessons start this afternoon. Oh, and Seren,” she said, looking at me. “I've got something you might be interested in.”

“Me?” I said. I couldn't think that I'd done anything wrong.

Miss Tunks rolled her eyes. “Yes, you! Honestly, Keith, sometimes I think your friend is scared of me or something.”

Me and Keith looked at each other.

“It's about the National Youth Theatre,” Miss Tunks said. “It would be a very good thing for you. Who knows where it could take you?”

“Me? I thought you thought I was rubbish!” I said.
I wasn't sure if I had just thought the words, but then I realised I must have said them out loud, from the way Miss Tunks sighed and looked at me.

“No, Seren, you are very talented. Really. I think you should audition.”

“Yes, Miss Tunks,” Keith said, nodding and smiling at the same time. “I think she should too.”