Emma hearts LA by Keris Stainton Page B

find his number. Even when Jessie and her mum weren’t getting on, they always watched old films together, so they had that to talk about. I wish I could text Dad something casual as if he never left, as if everything was fine, but I just can’t. Not yet. I lock the keyboard and put my phone back in my pocket.
     
    We walk down Hollywood Boulevard, looking at the stars on the pavement. I knew about the Walk of Fame, but I’m surprised at just how many stars there are; there’s one every other step. Bex hops from one to another like the opposite of not stepping on the pavement cracks. When we ask her what she’s doing, she says it’s good luck. I don’t know if she’s read that or just made it up. The stars are pretty cool, I must admit, but it’s kind of weird to see people just walking down the pavement as if there’s nothing unusual. Is it really such a great honour to have your name on the ground for people to walk over? I’m not so sure.
    All along the road, people are dressed up as various characters and posing for photos for money. They’re all rubbish though. There’s a tiny guy dressed as Spider-Man, but his costume’s badly fitted and frayed. I’ve seen better Spider-Men at kids’ parties. There’s a woman who I know, by the green dress and the toy frog, is supposed to be the princess from The Princess and the Frog , but she’s about twenty years too old and she looks really pissed off. We dodge a rather chubby Captain Jack Sparrow and an equally unconvincing Marilyn Monroe and nip into the Kodak Center to get away from the pavement crowds.
    ‘What’s this place?’ Bex says, turning in a circle and looking up at the ceiling lights.
    ‘It’s just a shopping centre with a cinema,’ Oscar says, ‘but it’s pretty cool. I thought we could get a coffee or something.’
    We follow Oscar through to an open courtyard which has multi-coloured fountains in the centre, plaster elephants on plinths, twinkly lights everywhere and a massive X Factor billboard featuring Simon Cowell.
    ‘One day that’ll be me,’ Bex says, staring up at the billboard.
    ‘What? Too-white teeth and trousers up to your chin?’ I ask.
    She flaps her hand at me. ‘No. My name in lights.’
    Cowell’s name’s not actually in lights – it’s just a billboard – but I don’t bother to correct her. Who knows, she could be right.

Chapter Twelve
     
    Jordan, Alex’s PA, meets us at the studio gate and gives us visitor passes.
    Bex is so overexcited I think she’s lost the power of speech, but her facial expression could be described as ‘ecstatic’ and has been that way since she spotted the Warner Brothers water tower from a couple of wide leafy streets away.
    ‘I’m just going to walk you over to the soundstage,’ Jordan tells us. He’s tall and skinny with small, round-rimmed glasses and a very preppy outfit – chinos and a white shirt. ‘Alex is filming right now, but I’m going to show you around a bit and then we can get lunch. After that, if you’re interested, I thought you might like to take the studio tour. Does that sound OK?’
    ‘That sounds wonderful,’ I say.
    We start walking and it seems utterly surreal to be here. The huge, square, windowless buildings seem incredibly familiar and there actually are people zipping around in little golf carts. It is absolutely and utterly what I imagined a movie studio would look like.
    Bex grabs my arm and points at the corner of the beige building on our left. Next to the door, there’s a plaque: THE FRIENDS STAGE .
    ‘Ah, you’re Friends fans?’ Jordan asks. ‘Yes, they filmed there for eight out of the ten seasons. For the first two, they were still using that soundstage for The Facts of Life . You know that show?’
    We both shake our heads and Jordan grins. ‘Yeah, it was before my time too. But George Clooney was in it!’
    I look back at the steps leading up to the door to the studio and imagine Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston and the rest