Free Star of the Show by Sue Bentley Page A

understanding when I called to say we’d be arriving late,” she said.
    Judith smiled. “No problem. Delays at airports are a fact of life these days.” She turned to Tessa. “Let’s go inside. Kelly and Fay arrived earlier. They’re having dinner. I’ll introduce you.”
    â€œOkay.” Tessa smiled at Judith who seemed really nice. She felt herself starting to relax. She turned to her mom. “I’m fine. You don’t have to stay with me.”
    â€œSure? All right then, sweetie. I’ll get going.” Mrs. Churchill kissed her daughter on the cheek. “See you next week. And don’t forget to call.”
    â€œYou bet! Give my love to Dad when you get back to the yacht. Bye!” Tessa said. She waited until her mom drove off and then followed Judith into the house.
    They went through a maze of hallways until they reached a very large room. It had paneling on the walls and a high domed ceiling, which was painted with clouds and angels. Expensive-looking paintings of very serious people were hung all around.
    A self-service counter with hot and cold food had been set up along one wall and there were neat rows of tables and chairs. The room buzzed with voices and laughter.
    â€œThis is where you’ll have all your meals. Catering is 24/7, so you can get a hot drink or food whenever you want it,” Judith explained. She led Tessa over to two girls who were sitting at a table by themselves. “These are your young costars, Kelly Lucas and Fay Hinson. Kelly, Fay, this is Tessa Churchill.”

    â€œHi,” Tessa said, smiling.
    Fay and Kelly smiled back.
    â€œI’ll leave you all to get to know one another. I’ve got a few things to do, so I’ll come back in a bit and see if you need anything,” Judith said to Tessa.
    â€œOkay, thanks,” Tessa said, smiling at the two girls as Judith moved away.
    Kelly’s friendly expression suddenly changed. “So you’re the kid with rich parents. I bet you loved keeping everyone waiting, so you could get all the attention when you finally arrived!” She looked about twelve years old, two years older than Tessa, and had a thin face and short dark hair.
    Tessa felt her face turning red. At her first acting school, she was bullied because she had rich parents, so now she kept quiet about it. Kelly must have listened to Judith on the phone to her mom and heard about the trip on the family yacht, which Tessa was cutting short to work on this film.
    Tessa took a deep breath to calm her nerves before answering.“Let’s get something straight, Kelly. Acting is all that matters to me and I just want to do my best, just like you. So leave my mom and dad out of it. Okay?” she said.
    Kelly looked surprised and even a little impressed. She looked like she was going to say something else and then she shrugged. “Whatever,” she said, getting up and wandering over to the service counter.
    Tessa looked at Fay, hoping that the other girl might be easier to get along with. “Which acting school do you come from?” she asked her.
    â€œAshton School of Drama,” Fay murmured without looking up. She was stirring her plate of pasta around with a fork and seemed to be in a world of her own.
    Tessa tried again. “Have you seen Donny Jenton yet?”
    â€œNo. Someone said they’d seen his little pug dog, Lady. So he’s here. But there’s tons of security around him. We’ll probably only get to meet Donny when we’re acting in a scene with him,” Fay said gloomily. She pushed her plate away and slouched forward to rest her chin on her elbows.

    Tessa felt her spirits sinking. Fay definitely didn’t seem any more bothered than Kelly was about making friends with her.
    A wave of loneliness rose in Tessa as she wished that she’d asked her mom to stay a little longer. But she pushed back her shoulders and resolved to make the best of