Budding Star Read Free Page B

girl was wearing an old-fashioned silk petticoat down to her ankles, little beaded slippers and a fringy silk shawl. Even the boys were dressed up in vintage gear. One wore what looked like a World War Two flying jacket. Another extremely good-looking angel boy had draped himself in one of those v. dramatic long coats I associate with vampires on TV. His name was something like “Indigo”.
    I love that arty boho look, don’t get me wrong. It was the kids who got right up my nose. They ignored me for ages, showing off tediously amongst themselves about some play they were involved in.
    At last the vampire-coat boy deigned to notice me. “I don’t think I saw you on Soul-Retrieval for Beginners, did I?” He had one of those plumy voices like he rather fancied himself as an actor.
    I attempted a smile. “Actually this is the first one I’ve been to.”
    “Residential are usually for intermediate students,” he said in a disapproving tone.
    Thanks for nothing, Fern .
    “They really just asked me to make up the numbers,” I explained.
    “Well, so long as you can keep up,” he said in a doubtful voice.
    “We’re SO lucky to get Jessica,” gushed a girl wearing what looked like a milkmaid’s smock. “What she doesn’t know about DS and SR just isn’t worth knowing.”
    The boy in the flying jacket threw me a pitying look. “DS is—”
    “I DO know about Dark Studies, thanks,” I said quickly.
    They all exchanged glances, like, “Woo, has she got a chip!”
    I slid down in my seat. This was going to be a really long weekend.
    The bus turned off the main road and went bumping down a track. After a few minutes of jolting along in the ruts, periodically banging our heads on the roof, we came to a rambling country house.
    Fern had told me that Rose Hall is used purely for soul-retrieval courses. Maybe that explains its truly amazing atmosphere. It feels like, aeons and aeons ago, someone struck a heavenly tuning fork and that same pure, lovely vibe is still chiming on and on.
    We all went to freshen up after the journey (we didn’t have to share rooms, thank goodness), then came back down to dinner. I got a bit lost actually. That house is a total maze.
    A delicious buffet had been left out for us. There must have been staff behind the scenes, preparing our food and keeping everything pristine, but we never saw them. It felt a bit like being looked after by friendly, but very shy, elves!
    We were still eating when Reuben rolled up, lugging his ancient rucksack. A few days of living in the open had turned his skin to a warm gold, the colour of cinnamon toast. I was so relieved to see him I just threw my arms around him.
    He solemnly presented me with an enormous tropical flower. “It’s a bit stinky,” he said apologetically. “You don’t notice it in the rain forest.”
    It was extremely stinky, but the gesture touched me more than I could say.
    “Thanks, Sweetpea.”
    “Did you get my message?” he asked in a low voice.
    I was still gazing at the flower. It was beautiful just so long as you didn’t inhale.
    “Yeah, v. impressive transmitting skills,” I whispered. “But how did you know ?”
    “I was sitting in a tree, watching the sun come up over a water hole, and I just got the feeling you were having a rough time,” he explained.
    “Only my most humiliating moment ever,” I told him, careful to keep my voice down. “I lost it totally.”
    Indigo seemed to be miffed at not being the centre of attention. He read out the message on Reub’s T-shirt in his actor’s voice. “We all know love is the answer,” he said with an annoying smirk. “But what, exactly, is the question?”
    Reuben gave him the mischievous smile that lets you see what he must have been like as a little angel kid. “Doesn’t matter, mate. The answer’s always the same.”
    “You might want to grab some of this food before it disappears,” I suggested hastily.
    The instant Reuben went off to fill his plate, the