Olivia Plays Her Part (4 page)

‘I’m sorry, Olivia,’ she said. ‘I know how much you wanted to play Dorothy, but Lily was a better fit for the part, and I needed your skills elsewhere.’

‘My skills?’ Olivia was confused.

‘Yes,’ said Miss Hibbert. ‘Mrs Mitchell told me how fantastic you’ve been at organising the book club. I’ve also noticed how focused you are on attention to detail and problemsolving. Those qualities are very important for a Backstage Manager.’

‘Really?’ asked Olivia, feeling quite thrilled all of a sudden. ‘Mrs Mitchell said that?’

‘Yes, she did,’ said Miss Hibbert. ‘I know I could have given you a small role in the show, but I need you as Backstage Manager. With your performance experience and your super-organised skills, I couldn’t think of anyone else who would do it as well as you.’

Super organised!
Olivia thought
. That’s what Maddie called me!

‘My mum used to work backstage in her university shows,’ Olivia said proudly. ‘She said it’s heaps of fun.’

‘It’s the best!’ Miss Hibbert said. ‘Running around in the dark and keeping the show on track is a huge buzz. You wait and see.’

Olivia had to admit that the more she thought about it, the better it was starting to sound. But she had one more question for Miss Hibbert.

‘Miss Hibbert,’ she said softly, ‘did you think my audition for Dorothy was okay?’

‘It was more than okay, Olivia,’ Miss Hibbert said. ‘You just need to work a bit more on your acting before you’re ready for a lead role. Gymnastics routines and acting are very different types of performance. Didn’t it feel different the other day?’

Olivia thought hard. Miss Hibbert was right. In gymnastics she was always so focused on what her body was doing and how poised she was. But with the audition she’d had to concentrate on remembering lines, singing and pretending to be someone else. The audition
had
felt different from a gymnastics performance.

‘There’s always next year’s show,’ Miss Hibbert said. ‘We’ll be doing
Alice in Wonderland
and there are lots of great roles in that.’

‘Thanks, Miss Hibbert,’ said Olivia. ‘But maybe I should stick to gymnastics and backstage work.’

‘I hope you don’t give up on auditioning for shows, Olivia!’ Miss Hibbert said. ‘With a few classes under your belt I think you’d make a wonderful actor. I run acting classes on Saturday mornings. I’d love you to join. I know you’d be a fast learner.’

Olivia felt so happy she thought she might burst.

‘Thank you, Miss Hibbert,’ she said with a huge smile on her face. ‘And I’m really looking forward to working on the show. It’s going to be fun!’

‘Excellent!’ said Miss Hibbert. ‘But of course, the big question right now is … which ice-cream should we pick? I’ve got my eye on a big tub of choc-mint. It’s my favourite.’

And suddenly Olivia liked Miss Hibbert even more than she had before.

‘Will you still quit?’ asked Kate.

‘No way!’ Olivia said, scooping up a huge spoonful of choc-mint ice-cream. ‘The show needs me and I can’t let Miss Hibbert down.’

The girls were sprawled out on Abbey’s lounge-room floor eating ice-cream. Olivia had told them about her conversation with Miss Hibbert and she was feeling so much better. All of her fears and worries about working backstage had disappeared into thin air. Olivia was actually excited about being Backstage Manager now.

‘You’ll be awesome,’ said Kate. ‘If you liked organising the book club, you’ll love organising a whole backstage area. I’m so jealous!’

‘Those acting classes sound like fun, too,’ said Emma. ‘Are you going to do them every week?’

‘Maybe,’ said Olivia. ‘But only if it doesn’t interfere too much with gymnastics training. I’m always going to be more of a gymnast than an actor.’

‘Best gymnast in the world,’ shouted Abbey.

‘Yeah,’ said Matilda. ‘We’ll be cheering you on at the Olympics in a few years.’

Olivia grinned. They were right. Gymnastics was her first love and always would be. But Olivia had also learned that just because you’re good at one thing doesn’t mean you can’t be good at another. She would definitely audition for next year’s show. She could already see herself as a totally cool Cheshire Cat!

Olivia wanted to try lots of different things now, and to do the best job she could at all of them. The first new challenge on her list was backstage managing, and she was determined to be the best one Davey’s Bay had ever seen!

I’ll be like a Wizard of Oz myself,
Olivia thought with a smile.
Working behind the curtain and pulling all the strings.

‘What are you thinking about?’ asked Maddie.

‘I’m thinking about what an awesome time we’re going to have bumping into each other backstage in the dark!’ said Olivia. ‘And the rest of you had better learn your lines because one of my jobs is to make sure they’re all right!’

‘Oh no,’ groaned Abbey. ‘I didn’t think about all the lines I’d have to learn. What have I got myself into?’

The girls laughed as Abbey shook her head in mock dismay.

‘Hey, come on, guys,’ Matilda said, jumping up. ‘It’s time for the milk challenge. I’m going to try six straws!’

‘Noooo,’ groaned Kate. ‘Not the milk challenge! I just ate two bowls of ice-cream!’

Matilda began pulling Kate up off the floor and Olivia squealed with laughter along with the others.

Things don’t always turn out the way you expect
, she thought,
but it’s up to you to be the best you can be, no matter what the challenge.

And Olivia knew that she could be the best she could be, and face any challenge that came her way, as long as she had the Forever Clover girls by her side!

Olivia Plays Her Part
published in 2014
by Chirpy Bird, an imprint of Hardie Grant Egmont
Ground Floor, Building 1, 658 Church Street
Richmond, Victoria 3121, Australia
www.hardiegrantegmont.com.au

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A CiP record for this title is available from the National Library of Australia.

eISBN: 9781743581957

Text and illustrations copyright © 2014 Forever Clover Pty Ltd
Design copyright © Hardie Grant Egmont

Illustrations by Elizabeth Botté
Design by Julie Thompson
Text design by Ektavo

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www.foreverclover.com.au

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