Kenny snorted, pretending not to be interested.
“I wonder if he’ll be just as gorgeous in real life?” Lyndz said hopefully.
Remember I told you that there was something else we were really excited about, apart from our sleepover that night? Well, we were actually going to see Brad in the flesh! No, really! I nearly died when I read in the local newspaper a few months ago that he was coming to Leicester to appear in the panto Aladdin. Leicester’s the nearest big city to Cuddington, the village where we all live, so I pestered my mum and dad for ages to take us all to see him. They finally agreed, although I had to promise to do the vacuuming for a week. We were going to the panto near the end of the Christmas holidays before we went back to school, and we could hardly wait.
“So who do you think Rick’s going to choose?” Fliss asked as the programme started.
At the moment Rick was in love with two different girls, and we were dying to know which one he was going to go out with.
“Charlene,” said Kenny immediately.
“No, Melanie,” Fliss argued.
“Melanie’s too girly,” Kenny retorted. That was just why Fliss liked her!
“Well, Charlene’s too much of a tomboy,” Fliss pointed out. “And anyway, she’s still in love with Tony.”
“I thought Charlene didn’t like Tony any more after she found out he swindled Mr and Mrs Williams out of all that money,” I objected.
“That wasn’t Tony’s fault,” Lyndz reminded me, “Luke set him up.”
“I thought Luke fancied Melanie anyway,” Kenny put in.
“No, Luke fancies Noelene,” I interrupted her, “only he doesn’t know that Noelene’s secretly married to Andrew.”
“Ssh, we’re missing it!” Fliss wailed as Rick began to have a row with Melanie about Charlene.
The rest of the programme wasn’t that good (because those were the bits Brad Martin wasn’t in), but Luke asked Noelene out and Andrew hit him, which was quite exciting. Then at the end of the programme, Rick had a row with Charlene about Melanie, and he went out on his surfboard on his own. He fell off and hit his head and the programme finished with him lying unconscious on the beach.
“Oh no!” Fliss gasped, looking worried. “I hope he’s OK.”
“Yeah, bound to be,” Kenny said. “He looked OK when I saw him in the newspaper last week, opening that new supermarket in Leicester!”
Fliss gave her a shove. “I mean, I hope they don’t kill him off in the programme!”
“There’d be a riot if they did!” Lyndz said.
“I wish I could’ve gone to see Brad opening that supermarket,” I grumbled. “But my mum wouldn’t let me have the day off school. Typical!”
My mum and dad are both lawyers, which is a real pain. Have you ever tried winning an argument against two lawyers?
“Brad must be staying in Leicester while he’s doing the panto,” Lyndz said hopefully. “Maybe we’ll see him while we’re out shopping with our parents or something.”
That’s Lyndz all over – she always looks on the bright side!
“Some chance!” Kenny scoffed. “Leicester’s huge! Tell you what though…” she grinned at us. “Maybe we’ll be able to go backstage and get his autograph after we’ve been to the panto!”
We all got pretty excited then!
“Do you think we’ll be allowed?” Fliss gasped.
Kenny shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. But I’ll think of a wicked plan to get us in, don’t worry!”
Fliss, Lyndz and I were worrying already. Kenny’s plans aren’t exactly foolproof – or even legal, half the time.
“Where on earth has Rosie got to?” Lyndz asked.
“Maybe I’d better give her a call,” Fliss suggested, but right then the doorbell rang.
“About time too!” Kenny moaned as Fliss went to answer it. “We can’t have a proper sleepover with one person missing!”
Next moment we heard Rosie apologising breathlessly in the hall.
“Sorry, Fliss! Mum’s car broke down, and we had to wait for the AA to come and you’ll never guess what happened—OW!”
There was a loud crash, and Lyndz, Kenny and me rushed out into the hall to see what was going on. Rosie was sprawled on the hall carpet, while Fliss was in stitches.
“She tripped over the rug!” Fliss spluttered helplessly.
“Felicity!” Mrs Proudlove hurried out of the kitchen. “Don’t just stand there laughing, help Rosie up!”
Fliss hauled Rosie to her feet, while the rest of us stood around trying not to snigger.
“You’ll never guess what happened—” Rosie began again.
“So tell us!” I said as we went into the living room. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting anything that exciting. Rosie gets wound up over nothing at all sometimes. “You look like you’re about to burst!”
“Yeah, you’re as red as a ripe tomato!” Kenny told her helpfully, but Rosie wasn’t listening. She looked round at us all, her eyes wide.
“I saw Brad Martini!” she announced. “Right here in Cuddington!”
No-one said anything at first, not even Kenny. But I guessed that the others were thinking exactly the same thing as me – that Rosie had gone completely nuts!
Meanwhile Rosie was frowning at us.
“Didn’t you hear me?” she began. “I said—”
“Oh, we heard what you said all right,” Kenny interrupted her. “We just don’t believe it, that’s all!”
“Yeah, nice try, Rosie,” I added. “You really had us going there – for about two seconds!”
Rosie turned red. “I’m not winding you up,” she snapped. “I really did see Brad Martin!”
“So what did you do? Ask him where his surfboard was?” Fliss asked sarcastically.
“Oh, give up, Rosie!” Kenny snorted. “Nobody believes you!”
“You must’ve made a mistake,” Lyndz said kindly.
Rosie looked absolutely furious, and that was what made me stop and think. I mean, Rosie likes the odd wind-up, but she’d never tried to pull anything like this before.
“OK, Rosie, tell us exactly what happened,” I said, glaring at Kenny and the others to make sure they got the message. Kenny rolled her eyes as if to say You’re as barmy as she is! But she didn’t say anything out loud.
“Well, Mum’s car broke down in Riverside Avenue,” Rosie explained, “and she went to the phonebox to call the AA. I was sitting in the car, and I saw Brad go past—”
Kenny couldn’t keep quiet any longer. “Oh, pull the other one – it’s got ten million bells on it!” she exclaimed.
“Are you sure it was Brad, Rosie?” I asked. “It could have been someone who looked like him.”
“No, it was him,” Rosie replied immediately, “I know it was!”
She