Chapter Five
‘I can’t say I think much of this little ambush,’ Chloe said, folding her arms across her chest, before instantly unfolding them to take two cocktails in a mini cauldron from a passing tray and handing one to me. ‘Words will be had on your behalf.’
‘It’s fine, and I think the more fuss we make, the worse it’ll get. Let’s just play it cool. Maybe someone did just forget to tell us.’ I shrugged, knowing full well that was wishful thinking.
Chloe let out a sceptical snort, and we were saved from any more chat about Darcy by the appearance of Courtney Williams, one of the Wonderwick supporting cast who joined the franchise two movies ago to great chatter, not all of it good.
‘Well, aren’t you looking absolutely radiant?’ Chloe said, drawing her into a hug before I did the same.
‘More like luminous!’ I added. Courtney beamed at me, running a hand over her hair, newly shaved short and dyed a fluorescent yellow-green that contrasted deliciously against her dark skin.
‘I take creative inspiration wherever I find it and this summer I felt captivated by the unique shade of a tennis ball,’ she said, twirling on the spot. Her gold lamé suit and bright white sneakers gave her even more of a sense of being a beautiful beacon in the dark of the party.
‘Oh yes, I saw you were at the US Open! Was New York fun?’
‘It was crazy, I still can’t believe this is my life! It’s like . . . a few years ago I was a teenager with no money and now people can’t stop throwing free shit at me! Me? Courtney Williams? In New York? Watching tennis? On someone else’s dime? Get real!’
‘It’s funny to remember that we all used to have normal lives, isn’t it?’
Wonderwick changed everything for us as teens, absolutely everything. One day we were vaguely normal, maybe some of us had been in a couple of commercials or done a bit of theatre, but no one you’d recognise on the street. And then that part of our lives was over, and we were . . . famous people.
‘Well,’ Courtney smirked, ‘not all of us.’ It didn’t take a genius to figure out who she’s talking about. No one loathed Josh quite like I did.
‘Speaking of which, has anyone spotted our favourite nepo baby or is he still in LA?’ I asked, casually.
‘I think he’s around here somewhere.’ Courtney craned her neck. ‘I’m sure I saw him in a dark corner with a model.’
‘A likely place for him to be,’ Chloe muttered.
‘Can’t believe the gang’s all back together next week!’ Courtney was bouncy with excitement. ‘And you’ve got some smooching to do!’
‘Oh, don’t! I’m trying not to think about it!’
‘They want to make it spicy!’ Chloe said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
‘Can you both shut up about the kiss! I’m trying to think about it as little as possible!’ I said, a now familiar sense of dread pooling in my stomach.
Just then, we were approached by a tween girl who was being physically steered toward us by her mum.
‘Hi, girls, I’m so sorry to disturb you but Jess wanted to ask if she could get a quick selfie.
She was too shy to ask you herself.’ Even through the dim light I could tell the girl’s cheeks were beetroot red with embarrassment but I didn’t doubt that she really wanted a selfie with us.
She was wearing an enamel pin on her jacket that said ‘TREETOP LIbrARIAN’ with a stack of books, in reference to the iconic Great Archive from the treetop world, my personal favourite of all the Wonderwick sets and the inspiration behind reams of fan art.
A library built into the hollow trunk of an ancient, towering tree, lined with bark-bound books and scrolls but also reading platforms carved into the inner branches, it was a bookworm’s idea of absolute heaven (and a place I occasionally liked to hang out on set, much to the displeasure of the set builders and prop department).
‘Of course, that’s OK with me if that’s OK with you, Courtney?’
‘I’d love to!’
‘Linderley and Clover are my favourites,’ Jess managed to choke out.
‘Especially Clover . . . I can’t wait to see the scene in the next film where you almost lose Alder in the sinking sand.
That’s my favourite scene in the book, even though I’ve read it a million times I’m always scared it’s going to end differently. ’
‘But it’s so horrible! I don’t know how I’m going to get through it, Jess!’ Courtney grasped onto her shoulders with great enthusiasm. She always seemed to have such an easy way with fans, and they loved her in return.
‘You can do it,’ Jess laughed, coming out of her shell a little. ‘And Linderley,’ she said, turning to me, ‘I mean . . . um, Emily, I can’t wait to see the big kiss with you and Josh Sacco!’
‘It’s gonna be steamy!’ Courtney interjected before I could say anything.
‘Argh!’ I covered my face with my hands, playing up my embarrassment but only a little bit, because the embarrassment was real. ‘I’m glad you guys are looking forward to it!’
Jess’s mum held her phone up to take the photo.
‘Everyone say “Wonderwick!”’ Chloe instructed us, and we all said it in cheesy unison before breaking into a giggle.
‘Is the photo OK?’ I asked Jess’s mum, who showed the screen to Jess for approval.
‘I can’t believe I got a photo with Linderley and Clover! Sorry, I mean Emily and Courtney! Thank you so much! You guys are the best! And Courtney, I’m sorry about all that . . . you know . . .’
Courtney swallowed and nodded. ‘I know. Thanks, Jess. It was nice to meet you.’
When they’d disappeared back into the crowd, Courtney let out a sigh. ‘I’m glad there are more good people than bad in the world. It’s nice to remember it sometimes.’
I wanted to squeeze her hand or give her some reassuring gesture but it just felt too intimate, so I said, ‘I think you were really brave for getting through all of that.’ All of that was the absolutely mad online backlash to a Black actress being cast as Clover.
It didn’t even matter that she’s white in the book!
But a vocal minority of the Wonderwick ‘fans’ (I hate to even call them that) decided it was a betrayal of the original books and that the film was trying to ‘pander to the woke agenda’.
Cue review bombing, online abuse, the classic racist fandom playbook, and Courtney was on the receiving end of it, aged seventeen.
Courtney chuckled, bitterly. ‘What was the alternative? Quit the films? Die? I get through this shit because I have to get through it.’ She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye.
‘But, yeah, thank you, mate. Anyway, now I’ve done my community service and taken one or more selfies with a fan, I’m going to slide off home, get an early night and rest before the proper work starts. ’
Once we’d said our goodbyes, it was just me and Chloe again.
Courtney was seemingly the only person who had left the party and people were still continuing to arrive.
The room felt almost too full, and as if the music had got even louder.
Maybe Courtney had the right idea after all.
‘You know you don’t need to babysit me, right, if you want to get back to chatting up Blake Shaw? ’ I told Chloe.
‘Well . . . he does seem to be making eyes at me across the room,’ she said, her voice light with glee. I turned to see where he was standing and in exchange, Chloe whacked me with the back of her hand. ‘Oh my God, Emily, don’t be so obvious! We’ve got to play it cool!’
‘Sorry!’ I grimaced. ‘I just can’t believe how easy this is for you!
It’s like you wanted to meet him, you met him, and now he can’t take his eyes off you!
’ It sounded so simple when I said it, but romance had never felt that straightforward for me.
I found it hard to trust people’s intentions.
I’d had a few little relationships with boys over the years, tentative, fumbling things with other actors, but no one had really captured my attention.
No one really felt special enough to distract me from work.
When you’re famous, relationships are never just you and the other person.
‘Are you sure you’ll be all right on your own?’ Chloe asked.
‘Of course, I’m a big girl. Consider yourself off-duty for the rest of the evening. Fly free, little butterfly,’ I said, shooing her off in his direction
‘I’ll see you soon, though?’ She glanced at me over her shoulder, already making her way towards her target. She was so confident! I wished she could bottle it and sell it to me. ‘Let me know how the shoot goes! I’m always at the end of the phone if you need anything!’
I was alone again, but now everything felt too hot, too close, too loud.
I needed a breather, just a little bit of fresh air and no one to talk to, no worries that I’m boring or disappointing or stuck-up or not as exciting as Darcy or as fun as Courtney or keeping Chloe from getting with her crush.
I could treat myself to a little alone time, couldn’t I?