Maya's Secret (8 page)

“How did it look?” Izzy asked Maya and Poppy anxiously.

“Brilliant – except we’ve still got two songs left from the girls’ bit. Either they need to walk slower, or we’d better cut some out.”

“I wouldn’t cut any,” Emily called. “They’ve got to change, remember. I bet there might be some places where we’re slow going on.”

“When do we get to see the clothes?” Lucy asked.

“Not until the day before,” Maya told her. “Tara, from the shop, she’s going to bring them for the rehearsal after school on the Monday. We’ll check everything fits, and you can practise changing. That’s going to be in the staffroom, and Mrs Angel says we can have the display screens to go between the staff room and the end of the catwalk, like a backstage area. That all gets set up on Monday afternoon, and then Tuesday afternoon there’s the final rehearsal.
Oh, and don’t forget to buy tickets,” Maya reminded them.

“But we get free tickets, don’t we?” Ali demanded.

“You don’t need a ticket, you’re in it,” Maya pointed out.

“For our parents!” Ali snapped back. “Performers get free tickets.”

“No.” Maya rolled her eyes sideways at Emily and Poppy and Izzy, in a “help me!” look.

“Since when?” Emily asked. “We don’t for school plays. And this is for charity. You need to buy tickets.”

Ali heaved a massive sigh. “I don’t know why I’m bothering,” she muttered. But it was obvious she wasn’t going to walk out. She’d enjoyed prancing down the catwalk too much.

“We really need to sell some more tickets,” Emily muttered, as they walked back to the classroom to bolt down their lunch before the end of the break.

“I know. I’m doing my best,” Maya said apologetically.

“It’s just going to look so stupid with hardly anyone there!” Emily scowled.

“Emily! I can’t exactly drag people off the street, you know!”

“Hey, calm down.” Poppy put a hand on Maya’s arm.

“
She
can calm down! I’m doing my best.” Maya felt like crying. They were all working so hard – she had been up till eleven last night, working on the presentation, after she’d told Anna she was going to bed. Why did Emily have to have a go at her?

“Well, maybe that’s just not good enough!” Emily snapped. “I’ve had two extra rehearsals for the dance group this week. I was finishing my homework on the bus this morning.”

“I know you were, I told you all the answers!” Maya cried furiously.

Emily humphed, but it was true. “If it was in the paper, we’d have sold lots of tickets,” she muttered accusingly.

“I emailed them twice, and I phoned,” Maya hissed. “What am I supposed to do?”

“She’s doing her best,” Izzy began, but Maya was feeling so upset now that Izzy didn’t really sound as though she meant it.

“Fine,” she spat. “You do it! This was my idea in the first place, don’t you think I want it to work?” She stormed off back to the classroom, but she didn’t bother getting her lunch, just stashed her iPod
in her locker, and shot out to the corridor, barging past Emily and the others coming in. Then she hid in the girls’ loos until the end of lunch, trying to cry without making herself look like she had. It hadn’t worked very well, she realised gloomily, as the bell went and she checked herself in the mirror on the way back to class.

Emily, Poppy and Izzy were huddled up muttering to each other as she walked in. Poppy smiled at her worriedly, and tried to say something, but Maya didn’t feel like smiling back. She stalked in, and sat down as far round the table from them as she could. And she didn’t talk to them all afternoon, ignoring the whispers and mutterings she could hear from the other side of the table.

Maya wasn’t sure what she was actually going to do, and an afternoon of science didn’t really help her decide. Was she walking out on the fashion show? She didn’t want to. It had been her idea in the first place! But if the others thought she wasn’t doing her bit, she certainly wasn’t going to beg them to let her back into the gang.

I won’t
… she thought to herself angrily, as she marched out to get on the bus.
Why should I?
But she could feel the anger slipping away already.
She wished she hadn’t lost her temper with Emily so easily. It was because she was tired, and worried too, and Emily had just made her feel worse.

Emily didn’t sit with her on the bus – of course she didn’t. Maya watched her walk up the aisle and hesitate for just a second, but then she flounced past and sat on her own. Maya spent the whole journey home with her nose pressed against the window so that no one could see she was crying again.

She opened the front door, and slung her bag on to the floor wearily. Then she realised that the hallway was full of luggage. Of course! Mum and Dad were home!

She’d only just made the connection when her mum hurtled out of the kitchen and hugged her. It was so nice that Maya started crying all over again.

“Maya! What’s the matter, sweetie?” Her mum held her at arms’ length, looking at her worriedly. “Did you miss us?”

“No … I mean, yes. But that’s not why I’m crying,” Maya sniffed.

“Tell me.” Her mum sat down on the stairs, and pulled Maya down next to her.

Maya sighed. There was such a lot to explain. She’d spoken to her mum on Skype a few times, and
texted her, but she hadn’t told her about the fashion show. Maya wasn’t sure why, although their calls had always been pretty short because Mum was working. Dad had started thinking about some new lyrics while he was out there, and Maya got the feeling he wasn’t listening that hard when they’d talked. And she’d wanted to save it as a surprise. Some surprise. Large tears ran down her nose.

“The project – remember we talked about it?”

“Fairtrade?”

“Uh-huh. We’re doing a fashion show, at school. Two weeks from now, on Tuesday night.”

“A fashion show?” Her mum sounded confused. “But … how?”

“I asked Tara, from the Daisy shop, if she’d do it with us. We went to see what it was like, and I thought of the show while we were there. We’re raising money to help build a school in Bangladesh.”

“But Maya, that’s amazing!”

Maya sighed. “It is, isn’t it? Except I’ve messed it all up. No one’s coming. We’ve just about sold enough tickets to pay the caretaker to open up the school, but the hall’s going to be almost empty. It’ll look so stupid. Ali and the others will never let us forget it, and Emily and Poppy and Izzy hate me!”

“OK, slow down.” Her mum was frowning. “Forget Ali, I can’t stand that girl and I’ve never even met her. Why do Emily and the others hate you?”

“I’m in charge of publicity. Me and Poppy, but Poppy drew the poster and everything. I’m supposed to get us in the paper, and they won’t email me back.”

“Typical,” her mum muttered. “Local papers are always like that. But that’s not your fault, Maya.”

“Emily had a go at me about it. She sort of said it was…”

“How sort of?” Her mum hugged her tighter.

“I suppose I went off on one a bit…” Maya admitted. “But she was being mean. She does that, though…”

“Uh-huh. But you still like her.”

Maya’s bag beeped, and she reached down to grab her phone, frowning at the strange number.

Maya laughed, feeling suddenly shaky with relief. Emily didn’t hate her after all.

“Is that from Emily?”

“She says she’s sorry.” Maya leaned against her
mum’s shoulder. She was so tired her bones felt wobbly. “I’ll text her back in a minute.” She keyed the message in, her fingers shaking a bit from relief.

“That doesn’t actually solve your problem, though,” her mum said thoughtfully.

“You really know how to cheer me up…” Maya whispered. But it was true. Even if she and Emily were friends again, they still had an awful lot of tickets to sell.

“You know I said I’d love to help with your project?” her mum asked quietly.

“Mmm?”

“Well, there is one way we could get some publicity pretty easily.”

Maya blinked at her. And then she realised what her mum was talking about. India Kell just had to say that she was supporting their little fashion show, and it would definitely get in the local paper. It would probably be on the front page.

“Oh… Would you do that?”

“Of course I would, if you want me to. I’d love to, Maya, I think it’s brilliant, what you’re doing. It
would be such a shame if more people didn’t get to hear about it.” She was silent for a minute. “But it’s just what you didn’t want.”

Maya nodded. “I know. It wasn’t going to work for much longer, though. I hate not being able to talk about you to my friends. And I really want to be able to have them round.”

“They’re good enough friends that you don’t mind them knowing, then?”

“I think so. Even Izzy, and I’ve only really known her a couple of weeks.” Maya slumped forward, leaning her chin on her arms. “It isn’t just them, though. It would mean everybody knows.”

Her mum sighed. “I know. But it’s your friends that matter, Maya. The important thing is that you know your friends won’t change when you tell them the truth.”

Maya sniffed. “We might sell out of tickets,” she muttered.

“If you don’t, I’ll be having words with my agent. So… Yes? I can go and phone her office now if you like. Get a publicist on to it.”

“OK.” Maya sat up slowly. “I’d better tell the others tomorrow.”

EIGHT

Emily climbed on to the bus looking a bit nervous, and she hesitated next to Maya’s seat, as if she wasn’t sure it was OK to sit down.

Maya patted it. “Come on.”

“So you’re still talking to me, then?” Emily muttered.

“If you’re talking to me…”

“I was being really unfair. I sort of knew it anyway, and then Poppy called me last night. She said you’d been doing loads of work, and I shouldn’t have gone on at you. Anyway, I’m really sorry. And I know it was all your idea. You can’t give up on it, Maya, it’s special.”

“I know. I don’t want to. I think I’ve sorted out the problem with the tickets, too.” Maya smiled, and then sighed.

“How?” Emily asked excitedly. “Did you get an
answer out of the local paper? Are they going to put it in?”

“Yeah. Kind of. Do you mind if I wait till we get to school and tell you all in one go? It’s a bit difficult to explain.”

Emily nodded slowly, and there was an uncomfortable silence for a couple of minutes. “How’s the dancing going?” Maya asked at last.

“It’s good,” Emily muttered. “Lily and Maisie, you know, the twins in Year Five? They do a ballet duet together, they said did we want them to do it at the show. I said probably. Was that all right?”

“Sounds good to me.” Maya twirled her hair round her fingers nervously. She really hoped her friends weren’t going to be too weird about her news. She felt odd chatting with Emily the rest of the way to school – they both seemed to be trying too hard, and there were great big gaps, and then they’d both try to talk at once. It was as though they’d forgotten how to talk to each other properly.

They hurried off the bus, and Maya hated feeling relieved.

“So, do you want to find Poppy and Izzy then?” Emily asked uncomfortably.

“Mm. Sorry, Emily. I know I’m being weird.”

Emily shrugged, but Maya suspected her feelings were hurt, and she sighed miserably. This was going to be a disaster.

“You’re talking to each other then?” Poppy asked, smiling with relief, as she and Izzy saw them coming.

“Um, yes.”
Or trying to
, anyway, Maya added silently to herself.

“Maya wants to tell us all something,” Emily muttered. She was obviously trying not to sound grumpy, and Maya grinned at her gratefully.

Maya perched on the railings outside the main door, and looked round at the others, all staring at her. “I think I’ve sorted the publicity out. I mean, we’re going to get lots of it.”

“Really? That’s amazing!” Poppy beamed at her. “How?”

Maya was silent for a moment, eyeing her shoes. Eventually she dragged her eyes up again. “My mum got her agent to call the paper. And the local TV news as well.”

“Her
agent
?” Emily repeated.

“Well, her publicist, I think.”

“What’s that?” Poppy whispered to Emily, but not quietly enough.

“It’s someone who makes sure Mum’s in the news
enough. And for the right things.”

“Is your mum an actress?” Izzy asked, frowning.

Poppy nodded as she finally understood. “Is this why you never talk about her?”

“Sort of. But she’s not actually an actress, she’s a singer.” Maya took a deep breath. “She doesn’t use my dad’s name, and I do, so her surname isn’t Knight like me. She’s India Kell.”

All three of them stared at her.

“You might not have heard of her,” Maya added uncertainly. “She’s a singer…”

“Of course we’ve heard of her!” Emily snapped. “Your mum’s India Kell? Really? Maya, if you’re having us on, I’m going to kill you.”

“I’m not. Look.” Maya had thought of this, and she’d taken a photo on her phone that morning, of her and her mum in the kitchen.

“Wow… That really is her. And you…” Poppy murmured.

“Why didn’t you say?” Emily did sound hurt, Maya realised, which was just what she’d been worried about. She took a deep breath.

“Because that’s why I left my old school. I had one really brilliant friend, Macey – and I’m going to get her to come to the show – but all the others, they went
on and on about my mum the whole time. It was like
she
was the thing that mattered, not what I was like at all. I got really sick of it, and I begged Mum and Dad to let me move, so I could just be me.”

“You’ve been lying to us all this time.” Emily sounded indignant, but also intrigued.

“I tried not to. But it was horrible, not being able to have you all over to my house. Especially after you invited me to yours, Poppy. I felt really mean.”

Emily giggled. “We just thought you had a deep, dark secret. Like me. Except Toby and James and Sukie aren’t that secret, unfortunately…”

“Well, I sort of did,” Maya agreed.

“What did your mum’s … publicist say to the paper?” Izzy asked. “And did you really mean it about the TV news?”

“Uh-huh. She told them that Mum was supporting a Fairtrade fashion show, organised by children at a local school. She didn’t exactly say it was because I was doing it, but they’ll probably work it out. They were really keen, they said they’d put something in this week’s paper to say it’s happening, and then a big article afterwards too. Oh and Cara, she’s the publicist, she called Mum this morning and said she was working on getting it on the radio as well. That
would be good, because they’d advertise it on the day, I think. The TV news won’t be much good for getting people to come.”

“Yeah, we should tell them we’re not interested.” Emily giggled.

Izzy snorted with laughter, and then Poppy and Maya caught it too. They couldn’t stop laughing, even when the bell went. They were sitting waiting for Mr Finlay to do the register, sniggering every so often. If they stopped, it only took Emily muttering, “Not interested,” and they all started off again.

Mr Finlay looked at them a couple of times, and Miss Grace was definitely glaring, but they couldn’t help themselves.

“That table over there needs to – yes, Mrs Brooker?” Mr Finlay glanced up as the classroom door opened, and the school secretary hurried in. She looked quite flustered, and she kept glancing over at Maya and the others.

“What have we done?” Poppy murmured.

“
Maya?
” Emily nudged her.

“Ummm… It might be something to do with Mum.” Maya shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Maya, Emily, Poppy and Izzy, can you go with Mrs Brooker, please?” Mr Finlay called. “And try
and make it quick, girls!” But he was grinning.

“Mrs Brooker, what’s happening?” Maya called after her, as she hurried back down the corridor.

“I’ve got a man from the local paper in the office, and I’ve already had someone from the radio, and the BBC on the phone. What have you girls been
doing?”

“Can I go and brush my hair?” Poppy wailed. “Does he want to take photos?”

Emily sighed. “It would be the day I’ve got this dress on, it’s way too tight. Oh well.”

“You all look lovely. Come on, he says he’s got to go and see a giant fish afterwards or something, so he’s in a hurry. I’ve already called all your parents to ask if you can be in the paper. Well, not yours, Maya, obviously.”

Maya was about to ask why not, when they got to the office and she saw her mum leaning against the wall by the door, chatting to the man from the paper. Maya saw her smile at a girl Maya knew from Year Four. She’d obviously arrived late, and was waiting for Mrs Brooker to sign her in. The girl was standing in reception staring at Maya’s mum, her mouth open in astonishment, as though she wasn’t sure she was real.

“Oh, Olivia, you had a doctor’s appointment, didn’t you? Go on into your class then.” Mrs Brooker shooed her down the corridor.

“Look who that is!” Olivia muttered to Maya and the others as she went past, and she turned back about six times before she reluctantly disappeared round the corner.

Maya’s mum looked at her daughter uncertainly, as if she wasn’t sure she was allowed to say anything.

“Hey, Mum.” Maya smiled at her.

The man from the paper glanced from Maya to her mum and back again, and muttered, “Wow.” And then, “I didn’t realise your daughter was at this school.”

“We’ve been keeping it quiet, for Maya’s sake,” her mum explained. “But when she and her friends came up with the fashion-show idea, and their Fairtrade uniform campaign, we decided to make use of some publicity, since it’s such an amazing cause. They were having trouble getting a response from your paper,” she added, very sweetly.

“Oh … really?” He looked slightly embarrassed. “We
are
very busy.”

“So where would you like to take the photos?” Maya’s mum asked helpfully. “Perhaps in front of the
poster for the show?”

The photographer nodded – Maya had a feeling he was just doing what he was told now – and posed them round the poster. He did have a go at suggesting one of just Maya and her mum, but stopped when he got glared at.

“And now you’d like the girls to tell you about the show,” Maya’s mum told him firmly, and Maya tried not to laugh. She didn’t see her mum in full superstar mode very often – it was amazing the way people just nodded and did as she said.

“We can email it to you if you like,” Maya suggested. “All the details.”

“Er, yes. Thanks.”

“I’m really sorry,” Maya’s mum told Mrs Brooker, when he’d gone. “I thought they’d arranged it all with you, when they asked if I’d come over here. I didn’t realise he was just turning up!”

“Oh, it doesn’t matter.” Mrs Brooker looked more flustered than ever, and Maya realised that her mum made the school secretary nervous. She smiled secretively at her feet. Mrs Brooker was usually so scary – it was funny seeing her in a flap.

They had caught the local paper on just the right day
– it came out a couple of days later, on the Friday.

“Just ready for everyone to read it over the weekend, and ring up for their tickets on Monday morning,” Izzy said happily. She’d got her dad to stop at the newsagents that morning, and she’d brought two copies to school. She and Poppy had raced over to Maya and Emily, waving them at their friends as they got off the school bus.

“Did they get all the details right?” Maya asked anxiously. They were on the front page, which was great, but it was no good if they’d put the wrong date, or anything like that.

“No, it’s all fine, I checked,” Izzy said. “And they put in about it all being in aid of building a school in Bangladesh.” She giggled. “Actually I think they nicked some of it straight from what you wrote, Maya.”

“Not this bit,” Maya muttered, reading what the article said about her and her mum.
Maya Knight, 10, shares her mother’s famous looks, with waist-length red hair.
“I’m cutting it off…”
Maya and her friends are also campaigning for Park Road School to change to a Fairtrade school uniform, after a school project helped them to discover the shocking truth behind many of the items we wear.
“Ooh, they must have rung up Mr Finlay,” Maya muttered.
The girls’ teacher, Paul Finlay, told
The Post,
‘The class were shocked by the images of child workers. It’s great that the project has given them such enthusiasm for helping children like themselves.’ ”

“No one’s said anything to you about it?” Maya asked Poppy and Izzy uncomfortably. “About – you know – my mum?”

“No. But I think Ali’s seen it. She keeps looking at you.” Poppy moved closer to Maya, protectively. “She does
not
look happy.”

“I haven’t done anything to her…” Maya murmured, glancing behind her. Poppy was right. Ali was glaring at them.

“You know what she’s like, she can take offence at anything,” Emily said, shaking her head.

Maya, Izzy and Poppy looked at her meaningfully, and Emily scowled. “What? I’m not that bad. Not as bad as Ali, come on! That’s so unfair!” She went pink, and added, “OK. Sorry.”

Maya hugged her. “You can have a go at Ali when she storms over here and accuses me of making it all up. I bet she will.”

Actually, she waited until they were in class. By that time the news had spread around, and quite a few people were gathered around Maya, asking about
her mum and why she hadn’t told anyone before.

“It’s really sad when people are so boring they have to go on and on about their parents,” Ali said loudly, and Maya sighed.