I never thought this would happen to me. I mean, good things never happen to me. They just don't! If they did, I would be living it up in a huge amazing mansion with my parents and my best friend Rachel, sitting by the 50 metre pool under the golden sun, and sipping fancy drinks all day. But no – I'm living in a small flat with my dad, I see my mum once a month, and the only time I see Rachel is at school. I have to be back as soon as school finishes (except when I have music practice) because my dad is a control freak. I don't know why he got custody of me instead of my mum.
Anyway, I am walking into my 2nd period class when I feel my phone vibrate. I quickly duck into the toilets and pull out my phone.
"Hello?" I say.
"Emma?" my dad says. My eyes widen in shock.
"Dad! You're not supposed to call me while I'm in school!"
"I know, I know. But I have such good news!"
I sigh. The last time my dad had 'good news' was when his subscription of Audio + Visual Monthly magazine was confirmed.
"What is it, dad?"
"Well…you know the TV show Some Girls? The one you are always watching?"
"Yes? What about it?"
"Well, they are filming a new series this year and…I am the new sound manager!"
I gasp in shock. This can't be true, it'll be one of his practical jokes.
"Seriously, dad?"
"Yes, but that's not the best part – since you are sixteen, they agreed to try you out for my assistant!"
My mouth drops open in shock. Me…on the real set of an actual TV programme!"
"Oh my God, seriously dad?"
"Yes, seriously!"
"I just…wow, I can't take this. Oh my God, Dad, I can't believe this! When do we start?"
I can hear my dad suck in a breath.
"That's the thing, Emma…we start today!"
My mouth hangs down even wider.
"What d'you mean today? Like, right now?"
"Yes! They film every Wednesday and Friday, at 10:00 am till about 4:00, sometimes later."
I check my watch. Half past nine – only half an hour.
"So, do I get time off school?"
"Yes, I've arranged it with the school, you'll just have to bring some homework on set so you can keep up."
"That's…manageable," I agree. "So, when are we going?"
"Now! Come to reception, I've got your boots, leggings, skirt and top, you can get changed and then we'll get to the set."
"Ok! Bye!"
I quickly terminate the call and bolt out of the toilets, straight down the stairs and hurtle in reception where my dad is waiting.
"Right, Emma, are you ready?" he asks, his eyes glistening.
"Yes! Oh my God, yes!"
"Right, here are your clothes, run into the toilet and get changed quickly!" he thrusts me my clothes, and I am relieved to find that they go well together.
"Emma, you can change in the teacher's toilet across the hall," the receptionist Mrs Smith says, smiling at me.
"Thanks," I say, and I dart across the hall into the toilet. I get changed quick as a flash and run back into reception. "Let's go!"
My dad grins at me and holds open the door.
"Good luck!" Mrs Smith calls, before answering a call.
Me and dad speed walk to our car, click our seatbelts and we start driving. Wow. I am still in shock. This is actually happening to me!
"So, have you bragged to any of your friends yet?" dad asks as we pull out onto the main road.
"No, dad, not yet," I say, but as soon as the words are out of my mouth my phones vibrates. I pick it up and see it is Rachel, my best friend.
"Rachel?"
"Emma!" she says. "Where are you? Biology started 10 minutes ago!"
"Rachel, oh my God you won't believe it!"
"What? What is it?" she asks, intrigued.
"You know Some Girls?"
"The TV show?"
"Yeah – me and my dad have both got jobs on it starting in half an hour!"
There is silence, and I know she is standing there with her eyes popping out of her skull.
"No…way!"
"Yes way!"
"Oh my God!" we both squeal together.
"Wait!" she says and I fall silent. "If you're going to work on that show…that means you will get to meet Jassa!"
I sit there, shocked. I had not thought of this until Rachel said his name. Jassa (who played the character Rocky) was my celebrity crush – I fell for him as soon as I first saw him on TV, and from then, I was in love. Until this moment I never thought I would actually meet him…
"Jassa?"
"Yep!" said Rachel, triumph in her voice. "I'm so happy for you!"
"Yeah…" I replied, too dazed for words. I suddenly heard Rachel gasp.
"Oh no, I can hear Mrs Johnson. I'd better go – text or call me later with updates!"
"I will," I assure her, before ending the call. I am still dazed.
"Ooh, who's Jassa?" my dad asks, his voice teasing. "Is he the one you have a crush on?"
"Shut up, Dad!"
"Don't worry, I won't embarrass you if I see you two talking. Just make sure he knows you're not a girl that messes around."
"What are you on about, Dad?"
"Emma, you are a very pretty girl. I'm sure the moment he claps his eyes on you he will want you in a bed with him in five minutes straight…"
"DAD!" I protested, mock punching him.
"Ok! Ok," he says.
I fall asleep soon after that, tired from the excitement. I have a little dream of arriving on set and Jassa swooping me up in his arms, kissing me passionately…
"Emma? Wake up, sweetie! We're here!"
My eyes fly open, and it's true! We have arrived on set! As I peer out the window, I see cameras, microphones, and even the actors themselves! I peer all around for Jassa, but there is no sign of him.
"Oh, Dad! We are really here!"
"Yes, we are! Now, come on, we're not just here to sight see! We have a job to do."
I jump out the car and help dad bring out his equipment that is stashed in the back of the car. A jolly man with a beard comes over to us.
"Hello, there!" he says, grinning at us. "I'm Adam, the director. Hello, Dean," he says to my dad, shaking his hand. "And this must be Emma! Good. Now, you're just in time – we are about to shoot the first scene. You can set up over there and we'll start!"
"Thanks," says dad, and we walk in the direction Adam pointed us in and stop in front of a group of about 5 people.
"Hi," my dad says. "I'm Dean, the new sound manager, and this is Emma my assistant. Is this where we set up?"
"Hi there, Dean," says a woman, wrapped up in a woolly scarf. "Hi there, Emma. I'm Carol. Yep, you set up right here."
I stand here a little awkwardly while Dad sets up his equipment with the set and chats with his new co-workers. Carol smiles at me.
"Hey Emma, why don't you go and get you and your dad some coffee to perk you up?" she jerks her finger at the group of people dad is talking to. "This lot can be a bit boring sometimes."
"Sure," I say, smiling back. I look around for a little vending machine. "Um, where is…"
"Go to that little tent over to the right," Carol says, guessing my question. She digs her hand into her jean pocket and pulls out a pound coin. She hands it to me. "First round's on me."
I smile and she pats me on the shoulder with her gloved hands. I make my way to the tent she pointed at, weaving through people until I am standing in a queue for hot drinks. Mercifully, the line is short so I am soon one away from getting my drinks. I order a cup of coffee and a cup of tea and pay my pound, the plastic cups carefully clasped in my hands.
I am so focused on the drinks that I don't notice a tall boy in front of me. I collide into him and we both end up entangled on the hard floor.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" I say, trying to stand. I look around and see my left hand is clutching a cup of coffee but my right hand is empty, my tea spilt on the floor.
"No, I'm sorry. Didn't look where I was going," the boy says, shaking his head. He sees my drink on the floor. "Let me get you another drink."
"No, it's fine," I insist, managing to untangle myself and stand up. The boy stands up too. It is only now I can focus on who he is, and I nearly faint. It's JASSA!
I look at him, staring into his deep, intense brown eyes. And those eyes are staring straight into mine. I swallow.
"Sorry," I say sheepishly He suddenly grins, taking me off guard.
"No need, it was my fault," he says. "Are you new?"
"Yeah I'm new," I reply. "Today." His grins lights up.
"So what's your name?" he asks.
"Emma."
"Jassa," he says, holding out his hand. Oh, I know who you are. I don't dare say it out loud.
"So, how old are you?"
"16."
"No way! You don't look it."
"What, you mean I look really young?" I ask. I hope he doesn't say yes.
"No, no! I thought you was older, that's all."
I smile and look away. I am actually standing here talking to Jassa! I can't believe it.
When I look back however, he is gone. I suddenly panic. Have I imagined the whole thing? Have I just been standing here like a gormless idiot pretending it had all happened? I wouldn't be able to bear it.
I look down. The tea is still spilt on the floor. When I look back up Jassa is in front of me with a fresh cup of tea.
"Oh, you didn't have to do that," I say. He hands it to me.
"Hey, no worries," he says. "Looks like you need it anyway." He puts his hand against my cheek. "You're freezing!" When he pulls his hand away I can feel my cheeks flooding with colour.
"Yeah, well, I can't help it if the weather has a grudge on me." He cracks up laughing.
"Yeah, exactly! Ah, you crack me up, Em."
Em! He has a nickname for me!
"Emma!"
That's not Jassa saying my name.
"Emma! Come on, you're needed!" Carol's voice breaks my train of thought.
"Coming Carol!" I call back, drooping. I don't want to leave. I smile regretfully at Jassa. "Gotta go."
Unbelievably, Jassa seems sad that I have to go.
"Ok. Talk to me later, yeah? You seem like a cool girl." I nod at him, fizzing inside at his compliment. He turns to walk away, stopping to talk to a member of crew. He looks back at me and winks.
Oh. My. God.
Did that just happen?
I walk back to dad's spot in a daze.
"What took you so long?" Dad asks me as I hand him his coffee.
"Oh, I was just… talking," I say, still fizzing inside from the conversation between me and Jassa. Dad raises his eyebrows at me.
"Talking with who?" he asks, sipping his drink, his idea of nonchalant.
"Just… people," I say, trying to keep the conversation light.
Dad shakes his head, and he scans the area around us. I look too, and see Jassa only a few metres away! Hopefully dad won't notice him…
Nope. Jassa just looked over at me and winked! Dad notices and looks at me, his eyes popping.
"Him?" he asks, although he already knows the answer.
"Dad…" I say, warning him.
"No, it's cool." I start to feel relieved, but then he realises who he is.
"Is that the Jassa guy you were talking about with Rachel in the car?"
"Yes, it is. Dad, please don't…"
"No worries, I won't embarrass you," he says, but he's my dad. I don't know if I can trust him with something as big as this. He nudges closer to me so he can whisper in my ear. "I think he likes you!"
"Shut up!" I whisper back, going over to the sound booth. The director claps the board and all goes quiet. I see the four main girls lined up to start the scene.
"And…ACTION!" Adam the director calls, and they go into action. I focus on the booth in front of me and helping set the right sound levels. All is going well when…
Ring! Ring! Ring!
Someone's phone goes off. Right in the middle of the scene! I can't feel my phone vibrate, so it's not mine (for once). So whose is it?
I see the girls, and one of them quickly improvises, pretending it is her phone. When the ringing stops, the scene continues before Adam shouting "CUT!"
A small babble of talk breaks out, before Adam silences everyone by calling,
"Whoever's phone that was can the person responsible turn it off! Thank you!"
We all shake our heads and reset for another take. Eventually, after a lot of shooting and redoing scenes, Adam is happy and announces it is time for lunch. We all happily agree and make our way to the food tent. I buy me and dad a small cup of soup with some bread and another drink. This is a bit bare, but luckily dad has some chocolate bars in the car.
I make my way back over to dad and we settle down to eat.
"So, who do you like the work?" dad asks me.
"Yeah, I really like it. I could get used to this," I say, sipping my soup. It warms me up wonderfully.
As I am eating, dad makes a hasty excuse and leaves me. A few seconds later I find out why. I hand taps me on the shoulder so I turn round. I nearly pass out on the muddy floor. It's Jassa!
"Hey, Emma," he says, grinning. I manage to smile back, even though on the inside I am paralyzed with shock.
"Hey, Jassa," I reply. "You alright?"
"Yeah, I'm good, I'm good," he says, pulling up a chair and sitting next to me. My heart starts pounding under my shirt. He looks at me with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "So, you enjoying it here on set?"
"Yeah, when I'm not accidently running into people, it's a lot of fun," I say, nibbling on my chocolate bar.
"Don't worry about it," he says. I break off a piece of chocolate and offer it to him.
"Thanks," he says, smiling. "So
