And then I pictured … everyone else in the world also watching it.

I dropped Grace’s hand. And ran. No idea where but I had to get away. Far, far away.

The yells from Mum and Dad blurred into the shouts of the crowd as I sprinted past a line of staff wearing gingerbread outfits. I had to get off this stupid carpet!

I didn’t care if I was grounded for life and had to share a room with Billy for eternity! She’d probably be travelling the world doing competitive reindeer jumping anyway.

I had to get out of here!

But the stupid carpet was stretching on and on! I ran even faster. Head down, hoodie up. Past the step and repeat interview area. Past the cameras.

Past the celebs no one recognized hanging around hoping to get interviewed.

Past the crowds leaning over the barriers, waving posters and cheering.

Where was the end?!

I turned the corner (who knew red carpets could have corners?). Phew! There were the cinema doors.

But no. Oh no! There was Dermot Crown – an influencer with millions of followers, who posted funny edits of celebrity fails. There was no WAY I could sprint past him. It could be a fate worse than Elf Girl! There was nothing for it. With a final burst of speed, I swung off the carpet and raced into the doorway of the giant gingerbread house.

But instead of it being empty, it was packed.

OOF.

I ran slap-bang into a guy wearing a Sleigh Another Day sweater.

“Are you here for the Maeve meet and greet?” He hugged me. “Maevenators rule! Or are you a Maeseph like me?” I just stared at him. “If I saw Maeve and Joseph together today. Like together together. CAN YOU IMAGINE?” He fanned his face. “S-actual-woooon.” I swallowed, trying to catch my breath. “Can you hold this while I fix my hair?” What. Was. Happening?! He thrust the handle of a sign into my hand. “Don’t want to meet Queen Maeve with this hedge on my head.” Was that a bark? And his hair looked fine. Great actually. AND WHAT WAS HAPPENING? “Do you think she’ll pose for photos…” But he didn’t finish because he broke into a scream. “SHE’S HERE!!!!!!!”

“No cameras!” a gruff security guard shouted as the crowd pushed forward. But I was facing the wrong way. And clinging on to a sign. And losing grip on reality?! My feet hardly touching the floor, I got swept backwards.

But then I saw it. A side door out of the house and into the cinema, next to where a stressed-looking person clutching an iPad was hanging on to Stormy’s dogs. If I could squeeze through the crowd, I could slip out and into the safety of the cinema. Finally! A glimmer of hope! Keeping my head down I pushed through the cheering fans, using the massive sign to part them. It worked!

I made my way out into cinema. With no cameras. No fuss. No drama.

Or … not.

What actually happened was, as I pushed through the crowd, something bashed at my pocket, making me spin round … to discover one of Stormy’s dogs jumping up at me, growling, its jaw clamped on to my pocket. It was trying to get one of Billy’s leftover sausage rolls! Which would have been OK if the other dogs hadn’t joined in – and so, instead of running out the door, I tripped forward in a tangled mess of diamanté leads. In a desperate attempt not to cement my place in history as “girl who murdered Stormy’s dogs by staking it through the head with a giant wooden sign”, I jabbed the sign forward in front of me to stop me falling.

But it didn’t hit the floor.

No, it hit the floor after slicing its way through something long and green coming out of the door.

The whole place fell silent. Until a piercing noise shattered it.

“MAAAEEEEVVVEEEE!”

CHAPTER

4

Good news: I hadn’t killed one of Stormy’s dogs. Absolutely terrible news: I had slashed Maeve’s dress. Maeve Murphy.

Star of the film. Formerly in a body-hugging dress with a train. Now in two long bits of dangling skirt. One bit firmly skewered under my sign.

I froze. Maeve froze.

Sadly, the Maevenators very much un-froze, and surged towards me. The way they were waving their giant candy canes told me I had 0.06 seconds before I got bludgeoned to death with bits of gingerbread house.

There was only one thing for it … flee! I dropped the sign, shook off Stormy’s dog, and with a yell of “sorrrrrry!” ran towards the door as if my life depended on it.

It probably did.

I sprinted into the cinema and slammed the door behind me. Where could I hide?! I raced down a short corridor, then another, desperate to put distance between me and what had happened.

What had happened?!

Had I really ruined Maeve’s dress?

Please tell me I hadn’t ruined the premiere too?! Yup, now my running was world record speed. Thank goodness my hoodie had been up. Please let no one have recognized me.

Checking no one was following me, I slumped against a wall and opened my phone. Phew. Nothing from Grace other than asking where I was. This was a good sign. If this had made the news, Grace would be the first one to know.

“Goody bag?” A man thrust a small paper bag into my hands, ignoring what a sweaty, shell-shocked panting mess I was. “Don’t forget to rate and review the film! Five stars is what we want.”

There was no time to reply – security guards were behind him. My blood ran cold. Were they coming for me? I turned my back and pretended to be on a very important – and sudden – phone call. “I SAID BICHON FRISES NOT CAVAPOOS!!! DO YOU NOT HAVE EYES?!” a lady’s voice screamed. “AND RED M&MS. NOT PURPLE. I’M NOT A MONSTER! AND YES I KNOW THEY DON’T MAKE PURPLE ONES, THAT’S WHY YOU HAVE TO ORDER AHEAD!!” A ball of bright pink feathers, a Stormy in the middle of them, whooshed into the corridor. “HOW AM I MEANT TO WORK UNDER THESE CONDITIONS?!”

But that distraction was just what I needed, and as Stormy started ranting about “the smell of ice giving her migraines”, I slipped away to somewhere even safer. The loos. Hallelujah! They were empty. Time to try and process the last five minutes.

I leant over the sink and stared at my reflection in the mirror.

I was a total mess.

And on the other side of this door were the world’s most glamorous celebrities – and my family on the loose.

And Maeve in a ripped dress.

How had I really thought I could get through this and stay invisible?

Eurgh. I splashed cold water on my face, checked the loo seat was down and collapsed on to it.

But my phone was vibrating.

Grace: Just got inside. WHERE ARE YOU????

And then again:

Mum: You missed out on a lovely interview! Meet us by the pickle abs mix please XXX