Time to go into Protective Girlfriend-mode! Let’s hope Jackson keeps up.
Olivia pinned a bright smile to her face. ‘Of course it’s the Jackson Caulfield,’ she said. ‘But he’s not live . . . This is a pre-recorded message. You can download it from the Jackson App. See?’ She tapped the screen. ‘It’s on pause now.’
‘Ooh. Let me see!’ The girl hurried up to lean over Olivia’s shoulder. ‘Ohhhh. He’s so handsome, isn’t he?’
‘Well . . .’ Olivia gave her boyfriend a sympathetic grimace. Jackson had to keep completely still to keep up her story of being ‘on pause’. Thank goodness he realised what was going on in time!
‘I love his movies.’ The girl sighed. ‘Do you remember the bouncy castle scene in Her Last Day?’
‘Um . . .’ Olivia remembered that scene very well, but she was starting to worry that Jackson would need to blink soon!
She stood up, starting to lower the phone. ‘Maybe . . .’
‘Hey, wait . . .’ The other girl’s hand shot out to catch Olivia’s wrist with an iron grip. ‘Don’t I know your face? Do we go to school together?’
‘I don’t think so,’ Olivia said. She was already backing away, but she tried to keep her voice polite.
The girl gasped and pointed at her triumphantly. ‘You’re Olivia Abbott!’
Uh-oh. For a while, Olivia had been the main target of hate for every Jackson-fan in the universe. But there was no use denying an obvious truth, so she only smiled weakly. ‘Mm-hmm.’
‘Oh, you were great in The Groves!’ The girl beamed at her. ‘I hope Eternal Sunset goes really well, too. Hey, could you sign my cellphone?’
‘Sure.’ Olivia felt the sudden tension flood out of her. Thank goodness Jackson’s fanbase isn’t fuelled by jealousy any more!
Unfortunately, in her moment of relief, she didn’t notice the girl crossing the short distance between them. ‘I’m Sara!’ the girl said, and grabbed Olivia’s hand again. ‘S-A-R-A. No “H”. But before you sign anything, could I see the rest of Jackson’s video message? Please?’
Oh, no! Olivia tried to back away, but Sara had her hand in an unbreakable hold, her eyes gleaming eagerly as her fingers tightened around Olivia’s hand. ‘I just need to see him for myself, actually talking to me.’
‘Oh . . . kay.’ Olivia sighed, cringing inwardly. At least I can give Jackson some prep-time, maybe. ‘All right,’ she said loudly, ‘you can see the rest of the message, but it was almost over, so it won’t last that long.’
Sara frowned. ‘Could you rewind it?’
‘Um . . .’ Olivia grinned tightly, searching for reasons. She’d improvised so much already, though, her mind had turned completely blank. I can’t think of a single reason why not, she realised. ‘OK,’ she said. ‘I’ll rewind it by running my thumb backward on the screen, like this . . .’
It was a good thing her boyfriend was a professional actor. As guilty as Olivia felt, she was also impressed – because as she mocked rewinding via her touch-screen, Jackson did an amazing job of ‘talking backwards’.
‘. . . kcab ew era neht . . .’
‘And here we go!’ Olivia said loudly, pulling her thumb away from the screen.
‘Ohhhh!’ Sara gasped with delight as Jackson flashed his famous grin.
‘Hi, Jackson fans,’ he said. ‘It’s great to see you. I hope you liked the last film, and I can tell you, you’ll like the new one even more. It’s . . .’
‘He’s so amazing!’ Sara moaned. She crowded in next to Olivia, almost shoving her aside. ‘It’s like he’s talking just to me!’
Olivia sighed and stepped back as Sara hogged the screen and Jackson delivered the rest of what sounded exactly like a movie star’s pre-recorded message.
Now there’s someone who’s really good at improv, Olivia thought. Secretly, she grinned to herself. Next time he’s in town, I will force him to give me some lessons!
Chapter Seven
The next afternoon, just an hour after school had ended, Ivy hurried up the steps to the Franklin Grove Museum.
Olivia trailed behind her. ‘I can’t believe I’m coming back here less than twenty-four hours after my first visit,’ she groaned.
‘Oh, come on. It’s not that bad, is it?’ Ivy hammered on the door. ‘Anyway, we’ll get out as soon as possible.’
Ivy’s eyes widened as the big oak door creaked open, revealing Albert the vampire handyman. Wow. That jogging outfit has even more paint stains than Olivia claimed!
Albert seemed pained as he looked between them. ‘The museum is not open to visitors today.’
‘We know.’ Ivy smiled. ‘Don’t worry. We’re just here to see, um . . .’ She winced, but remembered Olivia’s story. ‘. . . Chas?’
Despite herself, the name came out sounding like a question. Could anyone really call her father by that ridiculous nickname?
Apparently, they could.
‘Very well.’ Sighing heavily, Albert stepped aside. ‘Do you know your way?’
‘I do,’ Olivia said, moving forwards to take the lead as Albert disappeared off into a side room.
Ivy followed her twin through the dark, creepy halls of the old museum, until they were out of Albert’s vampire earshot. ‘I’ll make this up to you,’ she mumbled.
‘I know.’ Olivia gave her a faint smile, then sidestepped just in time to avoid a massive, dust-sheet covered figure. ‘OK, the main display room is just ahead.’