The Hollywood Effect (11 page)

“Or something, uh huh.”
 

I rolled my eyes, slightly annoyed that she couldn’t see me.
 

“So you think I should go?” I said after a moment.
 

“Of course I do, you silly goose. It will be an amazing experience.”
 

“Yeah, I’m just imagining the grief I’ll get from my Year Eight’s…”
 

“Nah, they’ll think it’s super cool.”
 

“I don’t think saying ‘super cool’ is super cool anymore, Melly.”
 

I could almost feel her poke her tongue out at me all the way from Melbourne.
 

“Whatever. Anyway. You’re going, right?”

I sighed. “I guess...”
 

“Geez, give me his number. I’ll go in your place!”
 

I laughed. “You’re right, I’m being silly. I’ll book the tickets soon and let him know.”

“Good girl.”
 

“Thanks for the pep talk. How are things with you?” I belatedly asked.
 

“Oh, yeah fine. The usual. Hey, sorry hun, Ben just got home. I gotta go. I’ll talk to you later!”
 

We hung up and I re-opened the booking site. I looked at the calendar again and decided to go for just a week, instead of the entire two weeks I had off. I had a bunch of school work I needed to get done over the holidays, and that would still give me time to do a few things in Melbourne.
 
It felt like a long way to go for just a week though. A fourteen hour flight, plus the three hour drive to the airport.
 

I opened up my email again and started writing a reply to Liam, mulling over what to say about the Holly news. Keep it simple, I decided.
 

From:
Jen Pike

To:
Liam B

Hey Burnsy,
 

Nice to hear from you, although I’m sorry to hear about things with Holly not working out.
 

I’d love to come over for your premiere. I just need to know the date, and I’ll book the tickets! I think I’ll just come for 7 or 8 days instead of the whole two weeks - there are a few things I need to get done over the holidays here, but I’m really looking forward to coming!
 

Things here are pretty quiet. It was the school play the other night. Some rising talent, but nowhere near as good as the old Burns days ;-) I do wish they’d break away from musicals some years though. The school’s too small to hope to always have a full cast of strong singers! Some of them were rather painful, to be honest, but props to them for having a go.
 

Okay, I’m just rambling to avoid marking a pile of English essays I promised my kids I’d get back to them yesterday.
 

Ciao.
 

-Jen
 

I didn’t have to wait very long for a reply. My computer beeped just as I opened up the first essay and uncapped my red pen. Rather grateful, I put the pen down.
 

From:
L B
 

To:
Jen Pike
 

That’s awesome, I’m super stoked you are coming! Premiere is on the 27
th
of September. Send me your passport details and I’ll book the tix for you. :-)
 

- L
 

I went back to my calendar and then the airline page. I wasn’t entirely sure why I was so resistant to Liam paying for my tickets. He certainly had a lot more disposable income than I did, but I was also enjoying actually having some money in the bank after years of student level poverty. A return ticket to Los Angeles wouldn’t break the bank, and I didn’t want anyone thinking that I was taking advantage of my friendship with Liam. I could take care of myself.
 

From:
Jen Pike

To:
Liam B

All good, Burnsy! I booked the tickets! I get in at 6:35am on the 24
th
. Sorry it’s so early! I hope you can pick me up! Or, if it’s too early I can always catch a taxi. Anyway. Flying with Qantas. I’ll send you through the flight details.
 

Excited.
 

-Jen
 

I didn’t have to wait long for a reply.
 

From:
L B
 

To:
Jen Pike
 

Hey! I said I’d pay for your tickets! Man, eaaaarly. It’s all right though, I’ll come and pick you up. Send me your bank details please, I’ll forward you the money for the tickets. Let me do this, no point me having all this extra money lying around if I can’t treat my friend who is coming across the world just for me.
 

-L
 

I quickly hit reply and typed back.
 

From:
Jen Pike
 

To:
Liam Burns
 

Invest your money wisely, my friend. Who knows, this movie may be a total flop and you will be blacklisted from Hollywood and not make another cent :P
 

Seriously though, it’s fine. I’m a working professional, I can afford my own plane ticket. If it was this time last year, I would probably have taken you up on it…
 

See you in a couple of weeks!
 

I closed my laptop with a strangely satisfied smirk and pulled the pile of essays towards me. Might as well get the damn things out of the way. I should have been a maths teacher instead of an English/Humanities teacher… so much easier to mark maths tests, rather than read twenty language analysis essays!
 

Reconciliation?

Liam and Holly were spotted together at a Los Felis cafe over the weekend. According to our sources who were lucky enough to be in the cafe at the same time, the two seemed to be on good terms and friendly even. Is this the beginning of a reconciliation? We can’t tell for sure yet. Liam has spotted out and about with a bevy of beautiful women over the past month, presumably drowning his sorrows, while Holly was spotted in Paris last week looking very comfortable with an as yet unidentified tall dark and handsome man (she sure does have a type, doesn’t she?!) We’ll keep you updated on any developments. We’re still Team Holly + Liam here!
 

The last two weeks of term flew by in a whirl of paperwork, figuring out how the interim reports worked, and parent-teacher interviews. I’d been quietly nervous about the parent teacher interviews; they were they first ones I had to do alone, without a mentor sitting next to me. Of course, only the good students’ parents actually turned up, and the parents who I actually wanted to talk to stayed away. After the first interview, where I could feel my damn face burning up, I got the hang of it and was pretty sure I stopped looking like a glowing tomato and sounding like a quivering imposter.
 

“How’s it going?” Jacinta, one of the other young teachers, asked as she perched herself on the corner of my table. We had a scheduled twenty minute break for a bite to eat.
 

“Oh, yeah, not too bad. I’ve only had about eight parents turn up so far though.”
 

Jacinta shrugged. “Yeah, that sounds about right.” This was her second year at the school. Fourth set of parent-teacher interviews.
 

“And so far it’s only been the kids who are doing well and have no behavioural issues.”
 

Jacinta laughed. “Yeah, well. Again, sounds about right. Come on, let’s grab some sandwiches before Graham takes all the good ones.”
 

I pushed my chair back with a groan and followed her into the staffroom. A variety of finger foods were laid out over the main table, and sure enough, Graham, the woodwork teacher, was hovering over the sandwiches, picking out the best looking ones. I followed Jacinta’s lead and picked up a plate and grabbed a few of the tastier looking items. Nourishment gathered, we positioned ourselves in the corner of the room, in a couple of the comfy chairs.
 

“So, any plans for the holidays?” Jacinta asked around a mouthful of tomato and ham sandwich.
 

“Yeah, actually. For once. Have a few things to do in Melbourne, and then I’m going to Los Angeles for a week and a bit.”
 

“That sounds awesome! What are you going to do over there?”
 

I hesitated, and then wondered why. It was no secret.
 

“Liam invited me to go to his movie premiere with him. I thought it sounded like too good of an experience to pass up.”

“Oh. My. God. Are you serious?” Jacinta almost choked on her mouthful. I patted her on the back.
 

“Yeah,” I half laughed. “A bit crazy for a history teacher from Tarang, but there you have it.”
 

“That is fucking awesome, dude. Wow. You have my holidays completely beat.”
 

“What are you doing?” I asked, trying to be polite. I’d never quite mastered the art of polite small talk, even with friends.
 

Jacinta waved her hand dismissively. “Nothing, really. Just going up to Queensland to visit my grandparents for a few days. I’ve got a few Year 12 holiday classes to run, so I can’t be away for too long… but whatever, a real Hollywood premiere? Really?”
 

I laughed. “Yeah, really. I guess?”
 

Jacinta laughed and shook her head. “You’re full of surprises Ms Pike.” She took another bite of her sandwich, chewing slowly. “But what about his fiancé?” she asked. A frown filled her face.
 

“Oh. Uh. Yeah…”
 

“What? Spit it out.”
 

I hesitated again, chewing the inside of my cheek. I really didn’t want to gossip about my famous friend, but it had already surfaced online and I assumed, in the magazines. I was kind of surprised she didn’t already know.
 

“They broke up again, didn’t they? I’ve been so out of the loop. My internets not working at home,” Jacinta said quickly, before I had a chance to formulate a reply.
 

I nodded silently. “You didn’t hear anything from me, and before you ask, I’m not telling you any details.”
 

Jacinta mock-scowled at me. “You’re no fun. Did she cheat again? Or,” she smirked at me. “Did he finally declare his long simmering passions for a certain old friend from back home?”
 

I punched her lightly on the arm.
 

“Of course not. We’re just friends.”

“Uh huh.”
 

“Why does no one ever believe me?”
 

“Because. You’re as transparent as that window over there.” I looked at the dirty window Jacinta gestured to, that I swore hadn’t been washed since I was a student at the school. “Okay, bad example. But, c’mon. You kind of just… light up… whenever he’s mentioned.”
 

“I do?”
 

Jacinta nodded.
 

“Crap,” I muttered, then looked down at my watch. “Double crap. Times up, back to the trenches.”
 

The next day was the last day of term. The kids were silly, I was silly. We ended up playing Pictionary in Year 8 History, and I made an epic trivia game for my Year 9 and 10 English classes. They broke my heart when none of them knew how many wives Henry VIII had, and even more so when they all declared that knowing that K2 was the second highest mountain in the world
 
was completely useless knowledge. “Ah, except for when you do trivia quizzes!” I retorted. Half of them rolled their eyes at me. A few of them actually groaned.
 

I joined the rest of the staff for the traditional end of term drinks, although made sure not to have
too
much fun. I needed to be productive the next day, not spend it lying on the couch feeling sorry for myself. I’d written myself a list of all the things I needed to get done before heading off to Melbourne, and then Los Angeles. I definitely didn’t get into teaching for the paperwork…
 

A few surprisingly productive days later, my bags were packed and I was on my way to Melbourne. The plan was to crash at Sammy’s for a couple of days and then lend her my car while I was gone, on the caveat that she dropped me off at the airport.
 

“Good to see you, darling.” Sammy greeted me with a kiss on the cheek after I knocked on her front door.
 

“You too, thanks for having me.” I followed her down the narrow hallway. Sammy was lucky; her parents had wisely invested in a terrace house in Brunswick back in the Eighties. Now Sammy got to live there virtually rent free and charge her housemates rent. My parents just owned a bush block out in the middle of nowhere. Not quite the same. Good for camping on though, as long as you avoided the snakes, cow poo and flock of feral roosters. Dad had gone soft in his older age and stopped chopping the heads of any excess roosters that the backyard chickens hatched. One memorable batch had five roosters out of the five chickens that had hatched. Mum had said he needed to butcher them, they were driving her and the other hens insane. Instead of getting out the old butchering cone, Dad had taken them out to the bush block and let them roam free. The foxes probably got a few of them, but Dad figured they had a better chance out there than the certainty of getting their heads chopped off if they stayed in town.
 
Mum had shaken her head fondly at him, and lamented the lack of roast chicken for dinner.
 

“You can sleep in Erin’s old room. She moved out last week, and thoughtfully left her bed behind,” Sammy said.
 

“That’s nice of her. Where did she go?” I asked as Sammy opened up the third doorway and ushered me in. I vaguely remembered Erin from a few classes at university. She was a rather short, quirky girl, who I remember feeling intimidated by when she said she had a Ph.D in philosophy. She’d been able to drink most of us under the table at the pub, belying her petite size.