Sequins, Secrets, and Silver Linings (22 page)

The first time she’ll see him is at a party for the
Kid Code
stars and crew, the night before the big event. The party itself will be a big occasion, because Hollywood’s Sexiest Couple Alive will be there, along with some of
their A-list friends. Jenny knows she has to make an impact, so she’s packing the Dior cocktail dress that she wore on the Jonathan Ross show and that brought her such good luck. She’s spent hours working out how to perfect her makeup and she got Granny’s hairdresser to give her a new short haircut that reveals EVEN JENNY has cheekbones. I’m gutted.

We spend an afternoon in Selfridges, choosing perfume. She wants to be mysterious and subtle, but also stand out in a crowd. By the time we’ve driven four sales assistants to the point of madness with her demands, we both smell like an air-freshener disaster and settle for the one with the most attractive bottle.

I pack her off to the airport with a playlist of inspirational music, courtesy of Harry, and a promise to watch every red-carpet second of her in Chanel on cable. She’s so excited she can hardly speak.

“Think of me tomorrow night,” she says.

Tomorrow night is
Kid Code
party night. I promise I will. It’ll be hard not to. I make her promise to text me as soon as she gets back to her hotel and tell me how it went.

“Tomorrow night” in California is early morning in London. I leave my phone beside the bed. But when I
wake up, with light pouring through the window, there’s still no text. I wait all morning. No text. My mind runs though a thousand possibilities. Some are very inappropriate for a nearly fifteen-year-old. Some are dreadful. But the most likely explanation is that Jenny was having such a good time that she forgot.

Thank goodness for the Internet. I google the
Kid Code
party and wait to see what the gossip is. Does it, for example, include any interesting updates on the love life of a certain Mr. Yule?

It does. There’s even a picture of the stars and their dates, posing for the paparazzi.

In the foreground, Joe looks like he’s having the time of his life. Beside him is a girl beaming happily and posing in her designer dress.

JOE
Y
ULE
L
OOKING
S
MITTEN
B
ESIDE
H
IS
N
EW
S
QUEEZE,
R
ISING
S
TARLET
S
IGRID
S
ANTORINI
!

In the background, I can just about make out Jenny, in her Dior, looking as if she’s been hit by a bus.

Sigrid Santorini starred in a Spanish film last year that won Best Foreign Film at the Oscars. She is part Swedish, part Spanish, part Italian, and one hundred percent Californian. She is nineteen, very talented, and exceedingly beautiful, in a black-hair-red-lips sort of way. She’s been filming with Joe Yule in New Mexico and
her boyfriend is—or used to be—one of the producers. She makes Lila Riley look like Dora the Explorer. If this is the sort of thing Joe Yule likes, Jenny never stood a chance.

Still she doesn’t call me, or text me, or answer any of the texts I send her.

“I knew it,” said Edie when I tell her. “Oh, Nonie, you’re upset, too. D’you want me to come over?”

We watch the Golden Globes together. Joe wins Best Supporting Actor. Sigrid Santorini, sitting beside him and shimmering in off-the-shoulder Givenchy, looks suitably thrilled when he gets up to accept the award. Jenny, sitting nearby in her beautiful gray Chanel, looks like a ghost. We rewind to her red-carpet moment—which is gone in a flash—and she seems lost in all the pleats and feathers. She seems lost altogether. Even her hair seems to have downgraded its shade to a dull, muddy orange. There’s another brief image of her when
Kid Code’s
Best Picture nomination is announced. She doesn’t seem to care either way, and the camera moves on.

Still no text.

We have to wait until she comes home to hear the full story. When she tells it, her voice is lifeless. It’s as if
she’s talking about a girl she met once, a long time ago, and can’t remember very well.

“It was my fault,” she says. “You were right, Edie. The whole time.”

“But he asked you to go to the awards ceremony with him.”

“He explained about that at the party. Sigrid was still splitting up with her boyfriend. He wasn’t sure if she’d be able to come. And he knew it would look strange if he said he was going on his own, so it was easier to say he was going with me. After all, no one would ever imagine
we
were a couple. He knew I’d understand.”

“But you
didn’t
understand,” Edie says angrily.

I can tell she’s angry with Joe, not Jenny. It seems pretty clear that he quite liked having a younger girl go gooey over him when he wasn’t sure what was happening with Sigrid, and he knew exactly what he was doing.

“It’s not his fault,” Jenny says. It’s like she’s defending her father all over again. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I’m here. He’s there.”

“But what about your new movie? The Hawaii one.”

“I’m not doing it,” she says in her empty voice. “I was silly to even consider it. Of course I’d be awful.”

“No you wouldn’t!” I say loyally.

“Well …” Edie is less loyal, but more honest. “You
said you wanted more practice. More training. Sounds like a good idea to me.”

Jenny nods. “I know it’s the right thing to do. I’ve told my agent not to look at any more movies. I’m not even sure why I’ve
got
an agent. I was just … silly. And it turns out he’d have been on location in Prague then, anyway, so I’d have looked pretty stupid.”

“At least you’ll never have to see him again,” Edie points out, searching for crumbs of comfort.

“Except at the BAFTAs, of course,” Jenny says. She half smiles at the awfulness of it. We don’t dare. “In four weeks. They’re here in London, so I have to go. He’s coming over with Sigrid. Because I’m such a great mate of his, he wants us to hang out together. He wants me to show her the sights.”

“
Seriously?
”

“Seriously.”

“What did you say?”

“I said yes. What else could I say? By the way, these are for you.”

She picks up a box and hands it to Edie.

“The latest Louboutins they gave me to go with the dress. Auction them for your Invisible Children.”

“Thanks.” Edie takes the box and opens it. A pair of stilettos are nestled inside, under a blanket of tissue
paper. The red soles are hardly worn and the uppers sparkle with diamanté. Cinderella shoes.

“Sure you don’t want to keep them?”

“What do you think?”

“I’ll make sure they go to a good home.”

Chapter 34

W
hen Jenny goes, Edie hangs around. I can tell she wants to talk to me about something, but I have to ask what it is.

“I was wondering …,” she says, “… would it be a good idea to name the school after Henry Lamogi? The one we’re trying to build? I was thinking about the Henry Lamogi Memorial School, but I wasn’t sure. I know I put my foot in it sometimes.”

“
Do
you?”

“You know I do.”

“I meant did
you
know. But it sounds like a nice idea. If Crow agrees, of course. No one’s told her yet, though, have they?”

Edie shakes her head.

“No. But Andy Elat has offered to fly the family over for the show. He wants them to see what she can do. And he wants Crow to be able to see Victoria again. She hasn’t seen her since she was a baby. So James can tell her …
you know … in person, about Henry. But don’t tell her about them coming. Andy wants it to be a surprise.”

I promise secrecy. I’m getting used to it.

The thought of James coming over gives me a shred of hope for Crow.

“So does that mean there’s a chance her dad’ll let her stay?”

Edie shakes her head again.

“Not really. Not from what he’s said.”

“But surely it helps that she’s got us? Looking after her?”

Edie looks embarrassed. “Well, not exactly. People have been telling him about my blog. I’m afraid he thinks you’re a bad influence.”

“Why?”

She gestures at me. I look down. Today I haven’t got any scary meetings, so I’m in lederhosen, customized Wellies, over-the-knee socks, and a frilly shirt. Gradually, it dawns on me.

“You mean he disapproves of me because of my
outfits
?”

She looks embarrassed.

“That’s all he knows about you. That, and the fact you keep introducing Crow to people who ‘distract her with their superficial affectations.’”

“Great. Thanks.”

Edie sees the look I give her and turns the color of the T-shirts. She also manages to remember something else so she can change the subject, quickly.

“They don’t want front-row seats, by the way. They want it to be a surprise, but they don’t want to give Crow a heart attack. They want to stand near the back somewhere.”

Small mercies. If that’s the case, they’ll be about the only people in London who do.

Chapter 35

C
row may not be news in the tabloids, but she’s news in the fashion press. It’s divided between the people who think she may be the next Galliano and the people who assume she’s just an overhyped tween with good connections and a better backstory, who’s bound to fall flat on her face when the collection turns out to be a disaster. For these reasons, both groups of people badly want tickets for the show. I get calls and e-mails all the time from people “just checking” that they’re on the list. I don’t have the heart to tell most of them they haven’t got a hope.

With less than six weeks to go, the mood board in the Battersea studio is starting to look ready. We’ve decided on gold eye shadow and dusty gold and silver blush for the models. We’ve got a good idea of the soft, romantic ringlets for the hair. Skye has found someone to make the tiaralike headdresses Crow wants. We’ve even chosen the tights.

All the toiles have been made and several of the dresses are starting to come together. Crow’s designed the invitations. And the art class at school are making the backdrop saying
LESS FASHION, MORE COMPASSION
. I hope the visiting fashionistas will find it ironic rather than positively offensive, but it’s too late now.

The studio is beautiful. It’s become the story of the “Twelve Dancing Princesses”—full of jewel-colored silks, frayed fabrics, scattered crystals, and tired volunteers. However, it’s also a crazy mess. There’s still loads to do, and we have to fit it in around math, English, and French, same as always.

In the center is the
pièce de résistance:
the showstopper dress that Crow’s going to use to wrap up the show. Lots of designers end with a wedding dress, but since Crow’s theme is dancing princesses, this is just the most perfect party dress for the most perfect girl.