Fame

  NASEN House, 4/5 Amber Business Village, Amber Close, Amington, Tamworth, Staffordshire, B77 4RP

  Rising Stars UK Ltd.

  7 Hatchers Mews, Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3GS

  www.risingstars-uk.com

  Text and design © Rising Stars UK Ltd.

  The right of Helen Chapman to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act, 1988.

  Published 2011

  Cover design: Burville-Riley Partnership

  Illustrations: Bill Greenhead for Illustration Ltd. / iStock

  Text design and typesetting: Geoff Rayner

  Publisher: Gill Budgell

  Publishing manager: Sasha Morton

  Editorial consultants: Lorraine Petersen and Dee Reid

  Editorial: Jane Wood

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of Rising Stars Ltd.

  British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data. A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.

  ISBN: 978-1-84680-980-4

  Printed in the UK by Bookmarque CPI

  Meet the Gang-Stars!

  Character profiles

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Glossary

  Quiz

  Quiz answers

  About the author

  Name:

  Zeke

  Special skill

  Street dancing and rapping

  Good at:

  Surviving

  Not so good at:

  Doing things the easy way

  Other info:

  The boys think he’s cool. The girls think he’s cute! He gets a grant to go to ASH – but just don’t call him a charity kid. He knows how to look out for himself, so watch out!

  Name:

  Aaron

  Special skill

  Martial arts; dancing in a martial arts style

  Good at:

  Making excuses; being second-best

  Not so good at:

  Being the very best at anything that they teach at ASH.

  Other info:

  More of a martial artist than a performing artist. He and his cousin Callum are really close – but maybe not for ever …

  Zeke Porter was on his way to All Star High. He was really excited, but trying not to show it. When he was inside the building he looked for his friend, Aaron Farmer. Zeke didn’t want to text Aaron. He wanted to see the look on Aaron’s face when he told him the news. The news that could make them both television stars.

  Zeke finally found Aaron drinking at the water fountain.

  ‘Look at this,’ he said in an excited voice. He held out his phone. The text message on the screen read:

  Aaron turned his phone on. He had the same text message.

  ‘Can you believe it?’ asked Zeke. ‘We could be famous. TV dance shows are watched by millions of people.’

  ‘It’s amazing,’ said Aaron. ‘But how did they get our phone numbers?’

  ‘Who cares?’ replied Zeke. ‘This audition is our big chance to be famous!’

  ‘Do you think any of the other Gang-Star dancers got the text message?’ asked Aaron.

  ‘I guess so,’ said Zeke.

  Both Aaron and Zeke were members of the Gang-Stars. The Gang-Stars always helped each other. They had first met at an under-12s Music Club. It was so great to meet up again at high school that they started a gang.

  The school bell rang loudly. It was time for classes to start for the day.

  ‘We won’t have much time to practise,’ said Aaron.

  ‘Yes, we will,’ said Zeke. ‘We can practise in morning break and at lunchtime. See you later!’

  Zeke and Aaron met up again at first break.

  ‘Are we going to dance solo or as a pair?’ asked Aaron.

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Zeke. ‘First we need a place to practise. Then we can try out different dance steps and see what looks good.’

  Most of the classrooms were locked during break and the rooms that weren’t locked didn’t have any space to dance in.

  ‘Hey, look!’ said Zeke. There was a notice stuck to the door of the gym.

  ‘That’s odd,’ said Aaron. ‘The gym is usually locked.’

  ‘Who cares?’ said Zeke. ‘Come on, let’s use it.’

  The gym was the perfect place to practise their dance steps. It had a wooden floor and plenty of space. Aaron loved to dance and he loved martial arts. His plan for the audition

  was to mix kick-boxing with modern dance. Zeke was a street dancer. His plan for the audition was to mix hip hop moves with techno music.

  Zeke started to dance. He pounded his feet on the floor before doing a back flip. ‘What do you think of this?’ he asked Aaron.

  But he didn’t get an answer from Aaron. Instead he heard the voice of their dance teacher.

  ‘You boys shouldn’t be in here,’ said Miss Walker.

  Zeke and Aaron stopped dancing.

  ‘It’s okay,’ said Zeke. ‘There’s a notice on the door saying the gym can be used as a rehearsal room just for today.’

  ‘I didn’t see any notice on the door,’ said Miss Walker.

  ‘I’ll show you,’ said Aaron.

  They all went to look at the door but the notice was gone.

  ‘It was there,’ said Zeke and Aaron together.

  Miss Walker put her hands on her hips. ‘I won’t give you a detention,’ she said. ‘Instead you’ll help me. Go to the store room and get out twenty chairs. Set them up in the courtyard for a meeting.’

  Zeke and Aaron quickly set up the chairs. Then they walked out of the courtyard to a small area of grass. Aaron practised his martial arts dance steps. Zeke practised his back flips and landing without wobbling.

  Once again they were stopped by Miss Walker.

  ‘Why are you boys dancing?’ she asked. ‘I told you to set up the chairs.’

  ‘We did,’ said Zeke.

  ‘I’ll show you,’ said Aaron.

  Miss Walker followed them to the courtyard but the chairs had gone!

  ‘We did set them up,’ said Zeke. ‘We really did!’

  Miss Walker was not happy. ‘This is your last chance,’ she said. ‘If you don’t behave I won’t let you try out for Dance Dance Dance later. Now set up the chairs, please.’

  Aaron and Zeke set up the chairs again. This time they stayed in the courtyard. Now no one could take the chairs away without them seeing.

  ‘I think someone wants us to get into trouble,’ said Zeke.

  ‘But why?’ asked Aaron.

  ‘Because if we don’t audition, then they will have less competition,’ said Zeke.

  ‘I think a teacher put them away,’ said Aaron.

  ‘I think you’re wrong. It’s someone who doesn’t want us to get on TV’ said Zeke. ‘But who?’

  Once again the bell rang loudly and it was time to get back to class. The boys had to leave the courtyard. What if the chairs disappeared again? This time they were in luck. They met Miss Walker in the hall and told her the chairs were done. All she said was, ‘Hurry up now, or you’ll be late for class.’

  During their lunch break Aaron and Zeke practised their dancing in the school car park.

  ‘No one will see us here,’ said Zeke.

  He was wrong. Miss Walker saw them.

  ‘Boys,’ she said, ‘you look scruffy. It just won’t do if you want to look good on camera at the audition. I’ll make an appointment for you after school at the hair and make-up class. They need students to practise on, and you two n
eed tidying up.’

  Zeke was not happy. ‘No-one is touching my hair,’ he said. ‘It’s taken me years to get it like this.’

  Aaron wasn’t happy either. ‘Makeup!’ he said. ‘No way. What if our mates see us?’

  ‘Everyone on TV has to wear make-up because of the bright lights,’ said Miss Walker. ‘You’ll have to get used to that if you are going to be famous TV stars.’

  ‘We might have to get used to it, but we’re not going to like it!’ said Zeke.

  After classes had ended Aaron and Zeke met up at the bike shed. All Star

  High had bikes and cycle helmets that teachers and students could borrow to get to classrooms that were on the other side of town, like the make-up class.

  ‘This is a waste of time,’ said Aaron. ‘We should be practising our moves, not getting our hair done!’

  ‘But maybe if we look good and dance well too, we’ll get chosen to be on TV,’ said Zeke.

  Aaron took a while to answer. ‘We need to dance together then,’ he said. ‘It would look better if we start and finish with the same steps but the middle bit will be different.’

  ‘Yeah, that makes sense,’ said Zeke. ‘That’s when I’ll do my hip hop techno street dance.’

  ‘And when I’ll do my martial arts modern dance,’ said Aaron.

  ‘Great,’ said Zeke. ‘No other dancers can do what we can do. We’re going to rock!’

  The boys put on their cycle helmets and got on the bikes. They rode out of the front gate at All Star High and started their wobbly ride across town. But they didn’t see something strange. A van was following them …

  The hair and make-up classroom was easy to find. The boys parked their bikes and went inside.

  ‘Hello, boys,’ said Kate, the student hairdresser. ‘Miss Walker has told me you need make-up and hair for a TV audition. Come and sit by the basins. Meg and I will wash and shampoo your hair.’

  Zeke relaxed a bit. His hair would just be clean and neat for the audition. In a few days he would be back to looking as he always did. Or so he thought.

  Zeke and Aaron took off the cycle helmets and sat down. They tipped their heads back into the basins and started to relax. The water was warm and the girls were quick at putting on the shampoo and rinsing it off again. Soon they were sitting up with their hair wrapped up in towels. Meg led them over to some seats in front of mirrors.

  ‘Now before we dry your hair, let’s have a look at those fingernails,’ said Meg. ‘Ooh, Kate, look! They’re in a such a mess. We can’t let you boys out of here with nails like this. You just sit here and let us make your nails look amazing!’

  ‘Err, no, it’s all right thanks …’ started Aaron. It was no good. Meg and Kate wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. They were already sitting next to the boys, filing and trimming their nails.

  Zeke was really grumpy and moaned to Aaron, ‘Oh man, this is like being a girl! I am so glad no-one can see us like this.’

  ‘Too right,’ said Aaron. ‘But my hands do feel nice and soft now.’

  ‘Loser!’ grumbled Zeke. ‘Erm, we still have to go and practise before the audition. Have you nearly finished?’

  ‘Yes, just the make-up and hair drying to go!’ said Kate. She and Meg rubbed cream on to their faces and used a brush to dab powder on to their cheeks. Both boys were trying not to jump out of their chairs and run back to school. Their faces felt thick with heavy make-up and they looked bright orange.

  ‘Are you sure this is what people wear on TV?’ said Aaron. ‘I look like a freak!’

  ‘Oh, yes,’ said Meg. ‘The TV lights are very bright. You have to have lots of colour and powder on your face or you’ll look too pale or too shiny. We’ll just dry your hair and then you’ll be ready for your audition.’

  ‘I guess they know what they’re doing …’ said Aaron to Zeke as Kate and Meg pulled the towels off their heads.

  Both girls gave a scream. ‘Oh no!’ they cried out.

  ‘This is so bad,’ Kate said.

  Aaron turned his head and looked at Zeke. Zeke turned his head and looked at Aaron. A look of horror spread across their faces.

  ‘Our hair is pink!’ cried out Zeke.

  ‘Wash it out,’ said Aaron. ‘Now.’

  ‘Err … we can’t wash it out,’ said Meg. ‘That’s pink dye. There must have been a mix-up. Someone must have put bright pink dye in the wrong bottle.’

  Kate held up the bottle. It had ‘Shampoo’ written on the label.

  ‘I’m so sorry. I thought we were using shampoo, not dye. But after a blow dry it won’t look as bad.’

  Kate was right. It didn’t look as bad but it still looked terrible. The two boys looked like clowns wearing pink wigs.

  ‘We can fix it,’ said Meg. ‘We can put a dark dye on your hair to cover the pink, but it would take few hours.’

  ‘But we have to get back to school in time for the audition,’ grumbled Aaron. ‘There’s no time to fix this now. Thanks for nothing.’

  They stormed out of the classroom.

  ‘We look so stupid,’ said Zeke.

  ‘I know,’ said Aaron. ‘But the cycle helmets will hide most of our hair.’

  ‘But what about when we get back to school and have to take the helmets off?’ said Zeke.

  ‘Maybe we can say pink hair is part of our act,’ said Aaron.

  Once they were outside they put on the cycle helmets. Aaron looked up the road. Zeke looked down the road. They both looked across the road. There was one white van, but the bikes had gone.

  ‘What do we do? Call the police?” said Zeke.

  ‘No. We’re running out of time,’ said Aaron.

  ‘I know,’ said Zeke, looking at his watch. ‘The auditions start in thirty minutes.’

  ‘The bus isn’t due for an hour,’ said Aaron, ‘so that’s out.’

  ‘We could get a taxi,’ Zeke suggested.

  Aaron shook his head. ‘I haven’t got any money.’

  ‘I haven’t got any money either,’ said Zeke.

  ‘It’s no good, we’re just going to have to run back to school,’ said Aaron.

  ‘If we run fast we will just make the audition in time,’ said Zeke. ‘Let’s go!’

  The boys ran as fast as they could back to All Star High. They got hotter and hotter and soon sweat was running down their faces as they ran. The sweat left streaks in their make-up and stung their eyes but they didn’t stop. At last they ran up the front steps of All Star High and down the hall towards the main Dance Studio. Zeke rubbed his eyes and looked at his watch. It was past 5 o’clock. The auditions must have started.

  ‘Nice hair, is it April Fool’s Day?’ called out a boy with spiky red hair who was putting jelly in his locker.

  ‘Who’s he?’ asked Zeke.

  ‘No idea. Let’s just get to the studio before anyone else sees us!’ said Aaron.

  At last they ran into the Dance Studio, gasping for breath, with sweat dripping from their wild pink hair, and streaks running through their thick make-up.

  Inside the studio something was wrong. There were no other students waiting to audition. The only people in there were Miss Walker, the Gang-Stars, a TV crew and a man with a microphone. And they were all staring at Aaron and Zeke.

  ‘What’s going on?’ asked Zeke. ‘Did we get the time wrong?’

  ‘They must have already finished,’ said Aaron, still gasping for breath.

  The man with the microphone came up to them.

  ‘Zeke and Aaron,’ he said. ‘SMILE! You’re on …’

  ‘TRICKED YOU!’ shouted the whole room of people.

  Zeke looked blank but Aaron said, ‘No way! Tricked You! is my favourite TV show! They set people up to do stupid things and use a hidden camera to film them.’

  ‘You mean this is all a joke? There is no dance show?’ asked Zeke. He was disappointed. He had really wanted to go on a TV dance show.

  ‘No, there is no dance show,’ said Miss Walker.‘ Tricked You! thought it woul
d be fun to do something at All Star High and your friends told me that you two could take a joke. The Tricked You! crew have been following you everywhere.’

  The rest of the gang were laughing and giving each other high fives. Zeke and Aaron had been tricked by them all day.

  ‘So that’s who gave you our phone numbers,’ said Aaron.

  ‘Yes. We sent you the text messages,’ said the man with the microphone. ‘And we’ve filmed everything that happened today. Your friends helped us to set up the tricks with the gym and the chairs and the hair and make-up, too. It was one of the best Tricked You! jokes we’ve ever done! So don’t worry, you’ll be on television after all.’

  ‘I guess being on Tricked You! isn’t all that bad,’ said Zeke. ‘It still gives us a chance to be on TV.’

  ‘It’s not the type of fame I was hoping for!’ said Aaron. ‘But it’s a start.’

  ‘Let’s get all of you on camera,’ said the man with the microphone. The gang all hugged, but stopped when they saw that Zeke and Aaron’s make-up had rubbed off on them.

  ‘Ewwww!’ wailed Jacki and Natalie.

  ‘Not so funny now, are you?’ said Zeke, as he and Aaron started to wipe the make-up on to their hands and grab them. The gang screamed as Zeke and Aaron started to chase them around the studio.

  ‘Now that’s what I call good TV,’ said Miss Walker.

  April Fool’s Day – 1st April, a day when people play practical jokes

  audition – a test performance to try to get a part in a show

  competition – ‘the competition’ are the people you need to beat in order to win something

  courtyard – an outdoor space enclosed by walls or buildings

  crew – the technical staff who record and make a TV programme or film

  detention – being kept in late after school as a punishment

  dye – colour that won’t come out

  martial arts – sports based on Asian combat skills

  scruffy – untidy

  solo – performing alone

  streaks – untidy marks or stripes of colour

  1 How did Zeke know about the TV show?

  2 Why did they think it would be okay to rehearse in the gym?