Maeve on the Red Carpet (20 page)

The kids giggled, but Artemia, who was walking toward us, wasn’t pleased. Unfortunately, Mickey’s joke wasn’t the problem. “Maeve, where have you been?” she asked, folding her arms. “You know how important it is to be punctual for your shoot. This is the last day of filming, and everyone else has been waiting here in the park …” Artemia tapped her foot. “Do you have something you’d like to say?”

I felt my cheeks burn. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful or anything. This Maddie situation was just really getting to me. I cleared my throat and said as graciously as I could, “I’m very sorry, everyone. It won’t happen again.”

“Okay, we’ve lost enough time. Let’s get started. Places!” Artemia ordered.

Rebeccah and Mickey, as Nanny Nuna and the Evil Assistant, hustled over to their marks behind trees.

I took my place on top of the hill, right next to Maddie and David. “Sorry, guys,” I mumbled. “I guess I blew it.”

“Don’t sweat it, Maeve. Artemia’s been in General mode all day,” David told me.

“Last day of filming is always the worst. It’s like crunch time panic,” Apollo agreed. “Everyone goes kind of nutty … even the director of
Kung Fu Crazy
.”

I turned to Maddie and offered a smile. Maddie glared at me so hard I was afraid daggers might come out of her eyes. “Well, well, well. Look who it is … the best thing that ever happened to this movie.”

My stomach flipped.

“Maddie, are all the props where they need to be?”
Artemia shouted from across the path. “Parasols in place?”

“Of course, Artemia,” Maddie yelled. “They’ve been exactly where they need to be for ages. Unlike certain
maids
.” Maddie looked at me like I was mold on cheese. I felt very grateful that my BFFs were Katani, Charlotte, Avery, and Isabel. They never made me feel like cheese mold. I hate feeling like cheese mold.

“And ACTION!” Apollo clicked the black-and-white scene board and the cameras started rolling.

Maddie ran down the hill, stumbling in her sparkling ball gown. Just as planned, Nanny Nuna and the Evil Assistant popped out from behind the trees with their colorful umbrellas outstretched. “I knew it!” Nannie Nuna cried. “She IS the real Princess Sophia!”

“I can’t believe we ever confused her with that weird little maid in her tacky imitations!” cried Mickey, the Evil Assistant. “They were so obviously designer knockoffs.”

I almost shouted, “Sufoo is not tacky!” I was becoming quite fond of Sufoo. She had spunk, that little maid.

“Now is the perfect chance to kidnap Princess Sophia for good!” Nanny Nuna tossed her umbrella in the air like a baton, caught it, and jabbed the air. “En garde! Let the games begin!” she shouted and then promptly fell backward and rolled down the hill. Artemia yelled cut as everyone on the crew laughed. I felt bad for Rebeccah, but a whirling twirling Princess Leia clone with a Mary Poppins parasol was actually a pretty funny sight. Artemia thought it was so cool that she decided to keep it in the film.

Finally it was Maddie’s/Princess Sophia’s turn. She let
out a blood-curdling shriek and fainted right in the middle of the park. I had to give Maddiecakes credit—she was superb at fainting. She looked like a real damsel in distress.

Nanny Nuna and the Evil Assistant ran out, picked Maddie up by her arms, and dragged her away. That was my cue.

“Not so fast, Nuna!” I hollered.

“Drop the lady!” David/Grego commanded. He picked up his green umbrella from behind a bench. “Or else.”

“Hah!” the Evil Assistant replied. “Or else what? You’re just a reporter. You don’t stand a chance.”

“That’s what you think!” I shouted and charged down the hill, straight toward the bush where my pink umbrella was stashed. I reached down into the bush and groped for the umbrella handle, but strangely, there was nothing plasticky to be found. Finally, I felt something smooth. I grabbed and yanked with all my might. Instead of pulling out my trusty pink parasol, I found myself tugging at a sticky plant root. “Eeek” I yelled as my feet went out from under me and the bush snapped back like a boomerang.

“CUT!” shouted Artemia. “Maeve, WHAT are you doing?”

I pushed myself off the ground and tried to pick the leaves out of my curls. “This can’t be right. My umbrella …” I walked around the entire bush. “It’s not here …”

Maddie re-awakened from her faint, pointed at me and laughed. “Silly, forgetful little Maeve. I JUST told you. Artemia wanted your umbrella in
that bush
over there
. The one closer to Nanny Nuna. It makes for better choreography.”

My mouth hung open in shock. Maddie NEVER TOLD ME about the prop change. I looked at Artemia with desperation. Surely there had to be some mistake.

“I did tell Maddie to switch bushes.” Artemia crossed her arms. “Maeve, let’s get going now.”

“But—” I felt horrible. I could tell she was annoyed.

“No excuses. Now we’re just going to have to take it from the top. And Maeve … try to be more professional.”

I glared at Maddie and trudged back up the hill. “It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know,” David said sweetly.

“Try telling Artemia that,” I sighed. “And to think … before this she thought I was good!”

David rolled his eyes. “Maeve, you
are
good. Artemia knows that. See … look.”

Apollo Aaron had put down his camera and was giving me two thumbs up. As the cameraman he was very good at hand signals. He pointed to Artemia and waved his hand. I knew what that meant: “Forget about it.” Then he slowly rotated his finger around the side of his head—the universal sign for “cuckoo, cuckoo.”

David grinned. “One little slip-up doesn’t mean you don’t rock, MKT. Now let’s finish making this movie.”

And when Artemia yelled ACTION, that’s exactly what we did.

Here we are. Home sweet home … right, Maeve?” Mom joked. We were pulling into the Von Krupcakes’ driveway for what I hoped would be the last time.

“It’s not as sweet as it looks.” I mumbled. I was glad my mom didn’t hear me. She hated when I made catty remarks, but I’d had just about enough of Maddie Von Krupcake and her mansion, and her way too sweet (even for
me
) Krupcakes.

The driveway was crowded with cars full of parents and kids. All my friends from camp were taking pictures in front of the Maddiecake fountain. They seemed to be having a lot of fun as they huddled together saying cheese for the cameras. Mom parked and she and Sam eagerly hopped out. I sat in the back seat of the car and took a deep breath.

“Maeve, come on. It’s freeeeezing out, and I want to see the mansion!” Sam shouted. “Wow! Check out that gargoyle on the top.”

I almost said, “It’s a warning—keep away—danger within.” But I didn’t. I held up a finger. “I’ll be there in a sec.”

Mom blew me a kiss and she and Sam disappeared into the crowd.

“Okay. Deep yoga breath,” I whispered out loud. “This is going to be fun. Parties are always fun. You’re Maeve Kaplan-Taylor, the queen of parties.” But no matter how many times I reminded myself, I was still too freaked to get out of the car. After everything that happened between me and Maddie, going back to her ginormous house just didn’t feel right … even if I was technically invited.
Maybe I can just stay in the car until this whole wrap party thing is over
, I thought. Then I shook my head. S
nap out of it, Maeve! This attitude is soooo not you!

Suddenly, a gloved hand tapped on my window, startling me so much I jumped in my seat. “Hey, Sufoo. You don’t expect me to go in there without my weird little kung fu fighting compadre?”

It was David. And even though his glove was wooly red instead of crisp white … I couldn’t have asked for a nicer, nobler escort. He opened the car and held out his arm. “After you, me lady,” he said with a bow.

I curtsied. “Why, thank you, fine sir.”

David put his hand on his hip, and I looped my arm into his. In perfect step, we walked to the grand front door
of the mansion. It was so nice to have a drama buddy.

Then on the steps, I started feeling a little queasy again. I was afraid that Maddie would open the door and slam it right back in my face. “Wait …” I begged. But it was too late. The wooly red finger was already pressing on the bell. “Oh no …” I groaned. Of course, I should have known better than to assume Maddie would actually open the door of her house herself.

“Miss Maeve!” It was that handsome Kenneth! “What a pleasure it is to see you again.” He took my hand and properly shook it. “And who is this dashing young man?”

I beamed proudly at David. His glasses made him look particularly intelligent today, I thought. “This is David Dell. He played Grego, the romantic lead in our movie.”

“Very nice to meet you, David. I’m Kenneth, Mr. Von Krupcake’s
personal assistant
.” David looked at me and I curtsied again. (True confession—I was
loving
the whole curtseying thing!) “And Maeve, welcome back. It’s a rare treat for me to see such a delightful friend of Maddie’s return to the house. Actually …” Kenneth said, scratching his chin, “it’s a rare treat for any of Maddie’s friends to return to the house ever. Oh well. Enjoy the party.”

David and I locked eyes. “Now why doesn’t that surprise me …” David whispered.

I giggled. “Shh!” I guess I wasn’t the only victim. Suddenly, I felt a little better. There was a whole group of us out there who had been Maddie-slammed. Maybe I should start a support group. I could call it Victims of Maddie United.

The mansion was swarming with kids and parents. Everyone was all dressed up—the girls in pretty dresses and the boys in suits and ties.
What is it about wearing suits that always makes boys look ten times handsomer than usual?
I wondered. I smoothed down my own rose velvet dress with the satin trim. I had been so proud of that dress when my mom and I first bought it. But after I’d seen Maddie’s closet full of designer duds, I wondered if maybe the dress was a little babyish or something. Just as I was about to lose my courage again, David whispered, “Your dress is pretty.” Thank
goodness
there were still knights in shining armor left in this world.

David and I walked down a long hallway filled with photographs of the Von Krupcakes posing with celebrities. “Look, there’s Maddie with the Queen of England!” David gasped, pointing at one. “She’s riding through the streets of London … wow.”

“If you think this is something, you should see her bedroom,” I told David.

David raised his eyebrows. “Whoa! You’ve seen Maddie’s bedroom?”

I made an embarrassed face. “Um … Maddie and I kinda sorta used to be friends, in the beginning of camp … remember?”

David covered his mouth. “Whoa … I almost
forgot
about the famous M&M. It seems so long ago.”

I thought about that. It did seem like ages ago since my brain had been hijacked by the super-fabulous Maddie Von Krupcake express.

When we reached the end of the hallway, David stopped at the very last picture. It was a tiny one with a worn-out gold frame. “Maeve … is it just my imagination, or is that …
Apollo
?”

I leaned in to get a closer look.
It sure looks like little Apollo Aaron
, I thought.
In fact, if I had to guess
…

“Hey, that is me!” Apollo was standing behind us holding a cup of fruit punch. In his black suit and purple tie, he looked like a real, live movie star. I started to feel a little shaky and hoped I wasn’t coming down with another Maeve-crush. Talk about bad timing! “That was taken at the premiere of
Home Unsupervised
. Boy, am I glad that’s over with!” Apollo laughed.

“Boy, do I wish I were you.” I sighed. “I mean me, but my own age, and starring in a real Hollywood movie. I mean … oh …” I knew I was blushing.

“It’s cool, Maeve. You’ll get there someday.” Apollo’s eyes twinkled. “Maybe even sooner than you think!”

“I have a question. Who’s that girl standing next to you, Apollo?” asked David Dell. The three of us leaned in to get a closer look at girl in the photo. She looked sort of familiar. There was something about that frizzy brown hair and those leopard tights …

“Hey, I know who that is!” I announced, suddenly remembering. “That’s Maddie’s cousin. She didn’t tell me her name.”

“Cousin?” Apollo choked. “Cousin? Who told you that’s Maddie’s cousin?”

I shrugged. “Maddie did …”

Apollo started to laugh so hard fruit punch shot right out of his nose. (So much for my crush … that was a close call.) “That’s not Maddie’s cousin! That’s MADDIE!”

David and I gasped. “NO WAY!”

Apollo nodded. “Way. That was before the Maddiecake commercials. She looked a lot different back then, huh?”

I blinked. Could it be true? “But … but … she said …”

“I told you Maddie wasn’t totally honest.”

David rubbed his eyes. “But how is that even possible?” He seemed absolutely astonished.

I knew it was my job to explain this one. I gently rested my hand on his shoulder. “David, never underestimate the power of a makeover.” I examined the picture again. “And the power of braces and a straightening iron.”

“Want to hear the weirdest part of all?” Apollo asked. “Back then, Maddie and I were friends. Good friends. Seriously, we had a lot of fun together. We went surfing and …” he paused. “She liked to collect bugs.” My eyes almost popped out of my head. Maddiecakes liked to collect bugs? That made no sense at all.

“But,” Apollo continued, “when she changed on the outside, something changed on the inside too. She was still nice enough to me and all … but it was just kind of … fake.”

“She turned into an ice princess,” David observed.

“Exactly!” exclaimed Apollo.

“No, seriously, she turned into an ice princess. Look!”
David pointed to the center of the ballroom in front of us. My mouth hung open in shock as we watched Kenneth and Mr. Von Krupcake wheel in an enormous ice sculpture of Maddie dressed as Princess Sophia. A sparkling icy crown adorned her head. In one of her hands was a shimmering parasol, and in the other—a Maddiecake. The three of us couldn’t contain it anymore and burst into laughter.