Sequins, Secrets, and Silver Linings (20 page)

It’s a strange effect of our busyness, but as we all cram the last few weeks of school in between more important
stuff, we seem to get better at it. Florence hasn’t had a despairing note from Crow’s teacher for ages. Edie’s mid-semester report says her work is “more thoughtful and mature” than before, when it was merely perfect. My essay on
Jane Eyre
(written between a catwalk choreography plan and several begging letters for props and fabric) comes second only to Jenny’s. Her “insight into the growing relationship between Jane and Mr. Rochester” is said to be “particularly perceptive.” Can’t imagine why. Our Eng Lit teacher’s very impressed with our diligent approach.

Soon after, though, Jenny’s diligent approach goes out the window.

It’s the announcement of the Golden Globe nominations. As soon as she gets the call from her agent, we cluster around to hear the news.
Kid Code
is near the top of the list, with five. If there was an award for Best Performance by a Pair of Laser-Green Eyes, it would be six.

That evening, there’s a birthday party to go to. Jenny corners me the second I arrive, while I’m busy taking off my jacket, and half whispers, half shouts.

“He’s invited me to the Globes!”

“Who? Joe?”

She grins like the Cheshire Cat.

“But you’re going anyway.” I’m confused.

“No, dummy, AS HIS DATE. He says Lila can’t make it. His mum’s been a million times. He wanted to know if I’d mind standing beside him for photos and stuff.”

I dump my jacket on top of the pile. I usually wear my pink fake polar bear fur one to these things. It’s the only way to find it afterward.

“Date? Was it code?” I’m still confused.

“You tell me.”

Her grin says she knows the answer.

“So let me get this straight. You’re going to be standing on the red carpet. Next to THE NEW TEENAGE GOD OF HOTNESS. As his DATE?”

“Shhhh. Don’t tell anyone.” Giggle. “And there’s something else.”

“What? Brad Pitt wants to adopt you?”

“Not quite. Chanel. Is. Offering. Me. A. Dress. I’m going along to choose one next week.”

I sit on the coat pile, hard. It collapses onto the floor. As do I.

Several Wite-Out words from the Converses suggest themselves, in multiple languages.

After a deep breath, I try it again.

“OK. You’re going with Joe Yule. As his date. IN CHANEL.”

Even saying it out loud, it still doesn’t sound right.

Two new arrivals come into the room, see me on the coats on the floor, give me a filthy look, and chuck their outerwear at me. Jenny, fashion plate and date to the stars, is kind enough to help me tidy it all up.

“We have to tell Edie,” I say eventually. “I can’t keep this to myself.”

“Go ahead.” Jenny grins. “I mean, Joe will be telling his fans and … people.”

She looks as if she’s about to levitate with happiness.

Edie arrives late to the party. Chess tournament final. I spot her in the crowd and tell her. Like me, she takes a while to process the news. Even then, she looks totally unconvinced.

“I’m sorry. I love Jenny as much as you do, but, you know, she’s Jenny and Joe’s a movie star. He’s got the pick of practically anyone in the world. And he’s got a girlfriend.”

As soon as I get home, I look up the last Chanel autumn/winter collection on Style.com. It’s very beautiful, of course. All grays and silvers and black. Fabulous proportions. Totally elegant. Very
My Fair Lady
.

I can’t imagine Jenny in any of it, but my brain is probably still clouded by the cherry tomato and the yellow pantsuit.

While I’m on my laptop, I google Joe again for clues. The Internet is suddenly full of stories about the breakup of Joe and Lila Riley:

L
ILA IN
T
EARS AS
F
RIENDS
C
ALL TO
C
OMFORT
H
ER

J
OE
D
ROOL
D
ECLARES
“I
T’S
O
VER
!”

L
ILA SAYS,
“I’
M THE
O
NE
W
HO
C
ALLED
I
T
O
FF!”

I read past the headlines:

“Who’s the stunning costar they say has caught the attention of Hollywood’s top heartthrob? Rumor has it that the teenage hottie has fallen hook, line, and sinker for a secret sexpot he met on set.”

“‘There was no one else,’ announces a spokesman for Lila. ‘Due to work commitments, the two have decided to give each other space. They won’t be commenting further on this personal matter, and ask that the press respect their privacy.’”

In my dream that night, Jenny
is
a cherry tomato, and Karl Lagerfeld is walking up the red carpet with her. He waves his fan around and accidentally squashes her. Edie’s posing for photographers with her arm around Joe Yule, who’s dressed as a knight on a chessboard. I’m frantically telling everyone that they’re not supposed to be there.

I’m so glad when I wake up.

Chapter 31

W
e never listen to the World Service, but obviously a lot of other people do. Millions. The producer calls a few days after my broadcast to say they can’t believe how many calls and e-mails they’ve had from people who were touched by Crow’s story and want to help. Edie’s website is so overwhelmed, it crashes for a while (which you’d think would be annoying, but actually makes her even smugger than when she got a perfect score on her math final last year).

It’s not all about child soldiers, though. As each day goes by, more messages come in wishing Crow luck for London Fashion Week. Including the ones from Uganda. It turns out that here are just as many budding fashion designers in Kampala as there are in Kensington. Who knew?

As Crow becomes a bit of a celebrity, rumors about Henry Lamogi suddenly start springing up all over the place. People who work in the camps, or people who
know people who’ve been there, all seem to have an opinion. He’s still in the army. He’s dead. He’s wounded. He’s mute and he’s writing poetry in a camp near the border. He’s escaped to Kenya. He’s living in New York.

The news filters back to Edie via her site, but the experts she talks to keep telling her not to believe any of it. Rumors in war zones are dangerous things and totally unreliable. We have to ignore them all. And naturally, we don’t tell Crow. Even Edie doesn’t.

We don’t tell Jenny, either. And she doesn’t ask, because she’s got other things on her mind, which is understandable.

The week before Christmas, I meet up with her at the V&A, on the way home from her visit to Chanel. The café’s full of people resting their feet after some heavy Christmas shopping down the road in Knightsbridge. Harrods bags everywhere and hardly a place to sit. As usual, I’m early and she’s late.

“How did it go?” I ask as soon as I spot the Louis Vuitton scarf and the sunglasses.

She pauses to smile at the table of Japanese tourists who are grinning at her and mouthing “
Kid Code
” enthusiastically.

“It was a bit depressing, actually,” she says lightly,
de-scarfing herself. “I mean, I’m not typical model size. I didn’t exactly have the pick of the collection. We chose this one.”

She shows me a picture on her phone of a pale gray, knee-length confection with about a million pleats and scattered feathers. “But it’s going to take some serious adjusting. We could only just get it over my chest. And they had to unpick a bit to make it fit my hips. But I’m going on a major diet. And they’re giving me some new Louboutins. It’ll be fabulous.”

But she doesn’t really want to talk about the CHANEL DRESSES she’s just been trying on. She wants to talk about Joe and the rumors about the secret glamorous costar.

“See?” she says.

I’m starting to believe it. After all, Jenny was all over the papers a couple of months ago, looking gorgeous every time.

“And I’ve got a screen test tomorrow,” she continues happily. “For that Hawaii movie I told you about.”

“Screen test? Does that mean you’re going to California
now
?”

“No. Just here in Soho. They’re going to film me saying some of the lines. Lots of girls are auditioning. They want to test my screen chemistry with Toby Linehan.”

Toby Linehan was a Quidditch extra in the
Harry Potter
films. He’s not exactly Joe Yule, but she’s got quite enough chemistry going on there already.

“Who do you play?”

“Well …” She sounds a bit embarrassed. “It’s a girl who’s the cousin of this boy who can decipher ancient Greek messages. They have to race around the world looking for this lost city.”

It sounds as though they’ve taken the script of
Kid Code
, done a word search for
Egypt
, and swapped it for
Greece
.

“Great!” I lie. “Sounds fantastic.”

Later, I text Edie and we agree what a really bad idea it is and how she’ll probably live to regret it.

Chapter 32

W
ith the holidays underway, Crow’s spending a lot of time in her new studio, which is in an old school in Battersea, on the other side of the Thames. Basically, it could be Pablo Dodo’s warehouse in Hoxton, but transported to the southwest side of London. Inside, it’s just as plain and industrial, but obviously covered in much more attractive designs. And I have insisted on at least one comfortable chair.

In between dress designs, Edie’s persuaded Crow to have a look at the
LESS FASHION, MORE COMPASSION
logo. With a few flicks of her pen, she transforms the heart shape, making it up out of mini pictures of her dancing girls, all black and big-haired, like her, and having a seriously good time. We like to think it’s how the Invisible Children would be, if they had places to call home.

We all love it.

“We can put it on the programs, too,” I say. “And the goodie bags.”

I make a note in my book. I now carry a notebook around with me wherever I go, because it is INCREDIBLE how much stuff needs to be organized for Crow’s six minutes in the limelight, and every time one of us has a good idea, it needs to go somewhere. Mum is jokingly talking about getting me a BlackBerry for Christmas, but that would be too sad for words.

Thinking about it, though … it
would
be useful.