The Devil's in the Diva by Paul Ruditis

Author:Paul Ruditis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Published: 2007-09-02T04:00:00+00:00

On a Clear Day You Can See Forever

In the summer, it should be illegal for morning to begin before noon. Especially in Malibu. You’d think that living in one of the most famous beach communities in the world, it might be worthwhile to get up early and enjoy the day. Honestly? Unless you’re a surfer, there’s really no need.

Summer usually begins in the midst of June Gloom. That’s when every morning starts off with a low marine layer, encasing the Malibu Colony in fog and cloud cover until much later in the day. And don’t let the name fool you. June Gloom happens anytime in the year that it wants to. It’s just worst when the beach-going is supposed to be the best. Not that it would make any difference in my case. Even if every day was bright and sunny, I’d still be as pale as the walking dead.

The other thing that should be illegal is going to school in the summer. Even though the Orion Academy Summer Theatrical Program isn’t really like normal school, it still takes place at school. So, just when you thought you’d escaped, they pull you back in.

I was the first one in the parking lot. I blame my mom for that one. She agreed to watch one of her clients’ Labradoodles. (That’s a dog, if you don’t know. A cross between a Labrador and a poodle.) Mom owns a doggie boutique on Melrose Avenue called Kaye 9. It caters to the pampered pooches of the pampered Hollywood elite … and anyone else who can afford to plunk down a hundred dollars for a dog’s T-shirt.

I can’t blame my mom entirely, though. You see, Canoodle—that’s her name … Canoodle the Labradoodle—belongs to the headmaster of my school, Headmaster Collins. Mom had agreed to watch Canoodle while the headmaster and his wife were on a month-long tour of Europe. I doubt Mrs. Collins would have left her baby with us if she knew that Mom never let poor Canoodle past the kitchen and into the rest of the pristine house. We do have a big backyard for her to play in … Canoodle, I mean, not Mrs. Collins.

Typically, I’m big on dogs, but this particular Labra gets up at the crack of gloomy dawn to doodle and likes to wake up the entire house in the process. Then again, if I couldn’t go to the bathroom unless someone opened a door for me, I guess I wouldn’t be all that quiet in the morning either.

Here’s the problem with starting your day early at Orion: If you get to school before the teachers, you can’t get in. I hadn’t known that before, never having started my day before the teachers. I guess that seems pretty obvious, but who can be logical at eight o’clock in the morning during the summer?

All I could do was sit in my car, Electra, staring out the window, wishing she had an iPod connection … or a CD player … or FM radio.

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