To my horror, photos of me standing in the casino, shooting at the chandelier, made it into the papers. Daniel Kelly’s fall was such big news any part of the transaction made headlines. The account of exactly what I was doing there was understandably garbled; most made me out to be an FBI plant working undercover to expose the criminal dealings of the Kelly family. It made a good storyline but that didn’t wash at school where they knew me.
‘Hey, Sky!’ called Nelson, practically tackling me in the hallway. ‘What the heck were you doing in Las Vegas last weekend?’
The Benedicts and I had discussed what story would best explain my uncharacteristic behaviour. Nelson was the first person on whom I was to try out the tale.
‘Oh that?’ I gave an airy laugh. ‘Can you believe the papers? It was a stunt I was doing for a British TV programme—a reconstruction; they’re doing this feature on American gun crime. Bad timing on the producer’s part as we happened to be there at the same time as the hotel management got arrested. Some health and safety violation or something, my mum said.’
Nelson shook his head. ‘No, Sky baby, the Kellys are very bad guys—wanted for conspiracy to murder.’
‘Really?’ I opened my eyes wide.
Don’t overplay it. Zed came up behind. Nelson’s no fool. He’ll expect you to know about Kelly.
‘Well, wow. That’s very interesting,’ I said, toning the innocence down a notch. ‘I should’ve paid more attention.’
‘So you’re gonna be on TV?’ Nelson was off on another track.
‘Yeah. It’s a programme for kids, called … um … Blue Peter.’
‘Cool. Gun crime—sounds real cutting edge stuff.’
‘Absolutely.’ Use round-ended scissors and no one gets harmed.
‘Awesome. Let us know when they show it—make sure you get a copy.’
‘Will do.’
Nelson jogged away, stealing a kiss from Tina in passing. ‘Sky’s gonna be on British TV!’ he shouted. ‘She’s a stunt girl.’
Well, that was one way of spreading the story. Stunt girl? I rather liked that. Much better than nutty fruitcake who shot up a casino.
‘Come on, Sky, what are you daydreaming about?’ Zed asked, tugging me back into walking.
‘Oh, just stuff.’
‘You’d better snap out of it because we’ve got some serious rehearsing to do. Concert’s the day after tomorrow.’
‘Bummer. I forgot.’
‘It’s nothing. If you can operate as part of an FBI investigation, you should think nothing of a little concert to friends and family.’
Little concert? Huh, Mr Benedict, I’ll be having words with you later.
Zed’s little concert turned out to be a massive gig with everyone from the vicinity crammed into the school auditorium. The mood was festive. Sheena’s cheerleaders came sporting Father Christmas hats; the baseball team had opted for reindeer horns. Every instrument was bedecked with tinsel. The geeks had done themselves proud with an impressive video presentation of the year so far that played on the white screen over the stage. I was particularly embarrassed to see my goalkeeping debut got its own segment. It was a good save though. Parents mingled with each other, exchanging gossip and jokes. The Benedicts were out in force. I was thrilled to see Yves chatting to Zoe; she looked starry-eyed to be singled out for his attention. He was certainly making her day, proving that studious-looking guys also had some pretty cool moves. Sally and Simon were in deep conversation with Tina’s mother. When I approached, I heard them talking not about me—sigh of relief—but about Tina’s artistic talent.
My friend beckoned me over, flashing her newly painted silver nails for me to approve. Voluntarily excluding herself from singing for the sake of our eardrums, Tina was doing a fine job selling programmes.
‘Sally just offered to give you extra lessons free; she thinks very highly of you,’ I announced.
‘She does?’ Tina’s smile was a dazzling hundred watts. ‘Then you get this one free too then.’ She passed me a programme. ‘I see you’re playing a solo.’
‘If I don’t manage to make a run for it before Mr Keneally shoves me on stage.’
‘Don’t you dare! I’m counting on you. I’ve been promising everyone our stunt girl will be the star of the show.’
I wasn’t going to live that one down quickly. ‘I’ll give it my best shot.’
‘Ha-ha.’
I frowned. ‘What did I say?’
‘Best shot—stunt girl?’
‘Oh. I didn’t mean the pun.’ Just then the screen flashed up an image of me shooting the chandelier. ‘Where on earth did they get that?’
‘The internet’s a bitch,’ said Tina philosophically, before turning to bellow, ‘Dig deep, folks. All proceeds go to the Aspen convalescent home.’
I glanced down at the programme to find my name at the top of the bill. Surrounded by Vegas style lights of all things.
That was it—I was so out of here. Nelson and Tina had turned me into the main attraction. I bolted for the exit, only to run slap into Zed’s chest.
‘Going somewhere, Sky?’ he said with a knowing smile.
‘Home.’
‘Uh-huh. And that would be because …?’
I lowered my voice. ‘Everyone’s going to be looking at me!’
‘That’s kinda the idea when you perform.’ He steered me back behind stage.
‘Nothing you can say will make me go out there,’ I hissed as the audience took their seats.
‘Nothing?’ His mouth quirked into a smile.
‘Nothing.’ I dug in my heels.
He bent down to my face and whispered: ‘Chicken.’
I folded my arms. ‘Too right I am. Cluck-cluck.’
He laughed. ‘OK. How about I give you another of my special boarding lessons if you do this?’
The knot of panic loosened at the happy memory of our time on the slopes together. Zed always knew what I wanted—where I needed to go to feel safe. ‘Really?’
‘Yeah. I’ll even promise to do a double axel and a somersault.’
‘Triple.’
‘Triple?’
‘Triple axel. And there has to be hot chocolate.’
He feigned a frown. ‘Good grief, girl, you drive a hard bargain.’
‘With marshmallows. And kisses.’
‘Now you’re talking.’ He held out his palm. ‘Done.’
I couldn’t wait. Laughing, I took his hand and, before I could protest, he escorted me to the piano to the sound of applause from our friends.
‘Don’t worry,’ he whispered. ‘I won’t leave you—not ever.’
I sat down and opened up the first piece of music. My future looked very promising—and he was standing right beside me.