A large crowd of kids gathered to watch as she continued. “I can’t say much because this is a personal matter. But I feel SO sorry for her. Especially since she’s in this messy LOVE triangle with a member of her band. He’s secretly crushing on another girl who’s WAY out of Nikki’s league. And Nikki’s insanely jealous. Sorry, that’s all I can reveal at this time.”
The director’s eyes lit up. “Now, THIS is the stuff we’ve been waiting for. Conflict between band members! Turmoil! Heartbreak! Intrigue! Get a close-up of her, Steve! And and keep the camera rolling.”
The camera guy quickly zoomed in on MacKenzie’s face for dramatic effect. She batted her eyes all innocentlike and then took out her Raging Revenge Red lip gloss and applied, like, seven layers.
“Go ahead and vent, sweetie! You’ll feel so much better! You obviously really care about your friend Nikki,” the director said, egging her on. “Now, what can you tell us about this other band member?”
MacKenzie sighed deeply and then dabbed at phony tears to heighten the drama.
“Well, I’m not one to spread gossip, but he and Nikki are in this on-again, off-again relationship. OMG, it’s SO dysfunctional! All they do is argue, and Nikki is fed up. I have a really bad feeling she’s going to dump him tomorrow. Or he’ll dump HER as soon as he sees all of this dirt aired on TV! It’s going to be AWFUL! Awfully JUICY!”
I could NOT believe that girl was LYING on camera like that! Has she no SHAME?!! OMG!! I had to restrain myself from walking over and wiping that little smirk off of her!
MacKenzie stared into the camera, pretending to be distraught. “I’m warning you! Soon you’re going to be up to your eyeballs in drama. I’m concerned it could damage Nikki’s music career and be extremely mortifying for BRANDON.”
Then she placed her hand over her mouth in mock dismay. “OOPS! Did I just reveal his NAME?! I’ve already said way too much! And as a friend, I feel it’s important to respect their privacy. Sorry!”
“Actually, your observations have been very insightful!” the director gushed. “The ratings for this episode are going to be through the roof! It just might win me an Emmy Award!”
MacKenzie smiled, batted her eyelashes, and twirled her hair around and around and around. She was obviously trying to hypnotize the director into doing her evil bidding. I KNEW what she wanted.
“Well, I think you deserve an award! So how about a TV show about ME and my VERY fabulous life? I’m a SUPERtalented dancer and fashion designer, and my aunt Clarissa owns the—”
But the director totally ignored her blabbery. “Okay, guys, listen up! Tomorrow we keep a camera on Nikki every minute of the day. Don’t let her out of your sight, understand? And we’ll need a second camera to follow that Brandon kid around. Somebody get me a copy of his class schedule!”
Suddenly I felt SICK to my stomach.
Right now I’m hiding out in the library, writing all of this in my diary. Thank goodness I’ll be leaving school for a dentist appointment in fifteen minutes. I’m still in shock that MacKenzie would actually do something so VILE!
I have no choice but to try to warn Brandon! Before it’s too late!! !!
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26
I don’t know if I’ll EVER recover from MacKenzie’s outrageous little stunt. For her to portray Brandon as some heartless dude in a crazy, drama-filled love-triangle with me and MacKenzie was just AWFUL!
My plan was to avoid the TV crew the entire day, then ditch them and secretly meet up with Brandon after school. However, I STILL needed to WARN him! Although, with all of the gossip going around, there was a good chance he’d already heard that the TV crew was planning to hunt him down like an animal. Poor guy !
Before going to class, I decided to stop by my locker and grab ALL my books. I knew the FIRST place they were going to look for me was at my locker, so it was the LAST place I wanted to be.
I hid out in the janitor’s closet until the halls were completely empty. Then I practically tiptoed to my locker. My plan was going really well until . . .
Oh, CRUD!! Suddenly I was surrounded! I’d been CAPTURED! Like a frightened little MOUSE in the deadly grip of a steel TRAP! However, unlike the mouse, I unfortunately didn’t have the option of chewing off my own leg to escape ! Sorry, but I was desperate.
“Hi, Nikki! You’re on camera!” my director said. “Today we’re using cue cards to help you tell your story. Just read them and make us feel your pain. Okay?”
“We’re using cue cards?” I glanced at the one an assistant was holding up and read it out loud. “It’s finally over between Brandon and me . . . ?! What?!”
Okay, this was getting out of control. “Actually, that’s not true. Um, can we turn off the camera for a minute? There’s no way I can say that!”
“Well, you just did! And with a little editing, it’ll be perfect. Keep up the good work!” my director said happily.
OMG! I was SO ticked off! It was quite obvious that calm reasoning was not going to get me very far with these people. I decided it would be smarter to just pretend to cooperate. It had worked like a charm on Saturday. My biggest regret was that I HADN’T brought my red paint to school with me today. Then I could have TERRORIZED the TV crew with the Chicken Pox Apocalypse, Part 2 !
“So, when are you going to dump that guy Brandon?” the director asked. “I was thinking we could do a wide-angle shot and add some emo music to help set the mood. This breakup is going to be AMAZING! No offense. . . .”
“Um, actually, I have class right now! But we can meet right here at my locker afterward,” I lied.
“Sounds good! We’ll be waiting,” the director said, and gave me a thumbs-up.
My mind was racing as I trudged off to class. It was almost impossible to concentrate on the lesson, and each minute seemed like an hour. But as soon as the bell rang, I rushed into the hall in search of Brandon. I had to warn him. I just hoped it wasn’t too late.
I collapsed against a wall, out of breath, and checked for signs of the TV crew. They were probably STILL waiting for me at my locker.
I peeked around the corner and spotted Brandon just as he was leaving his locker. I couldn’t help but notice that he looked kind of down. . . .
I felt another pang of guilt for being such a cruddy, inconsiderate friend.
“Brandon!” I yelled, and waved to get his attention. “Do you have a minute?”
He turned around, gave me a half smile, and shrugged. “Hi, Nikki. I have a math test next period. But I can spare a minute. What’s up?”
“Actually, I owe you an apology for . . . um, everything! I know your project is SUPERimportant, and I want to help you try to win that scholarship money.”
“Nikki, your schedule is wicked crazy. So I understand if you don’t have the time to—”
“No, Brandon, there’s no excuse for what I did. I’m truly sorry! And I really mean it. My dance practices have been canceled this week, so I have some extra time. I thought we could meet in the library to work on your project after school today and then hang out at Fuzzy Friends!”
He gave me a big smile and brushed his shaggy bangs out of his eyes. “That’s cool! I really appreciate you wanting to help out with my project. I’m lucky to have a friend like you.”
Try UNLUCKY! I looked over his shoulder and saw the camera crew marching down the hall. I didn’t want them to see Brandon. And I definitely didn’t want Brandon to see those crazy cue cards! I had to finish talking and get out of there. FAST!
“Thanks, Brandon, but please try to avoid the camera crew, because MacKenzie told them a bunch of lies and now they’re looking for you good luck on your math test I’ll talk to you later bye!”
Brandon looked totally confused. “What’d you just say? Wait! What about my project? And are we still meeting at Fuzzy Friends after—”
I left Brandon standing there. I blew past the camera crew, and they followed me just as I had planned. I cut through the cafeteria and ducked into the girls’ bathroom near the gym. I dived into a stall and locked the door as my heart raced! But there was no getting away from that darn camera and the wacky cue cards. . . .