Hannah in the Spotlight Read Online Free PDF

I’m Princess Leia. I want to be Luke Skywalker, but Bobby says he’s always Luke Skywalker. Then I said I’d be Rey instead, but Zach said they’re not playing that bit today. It’s not fair, they’re always ganging up on me!’
    I’d been involved in enough Star Wars arguments to know there was no point in trying to interfere. ‘Why don’t you and I play something else?’ I suggested instead. ‘A board game?’
    ‘OK – can we play Monopoly?’
    Maisie always wants to play Monopoly even though she’s only five and she doesn’t understand it properly. She keeps putting houses on train stations and charging people extra, and she gets annoyed if anyone else tries to buy thepink section because it’s her favourite colour so she thinks she should be the only one allowed to own it.
    ‘Only if you play properly,’ I warned her.
    ‘Of course I will.’ Maisie was already leading the way downstairs. ‘I always play properly. It’s other people who don’t understand the rules.’
    Monopoly is a LONG game. Especially when played the Maisie way. I started to get a bit worried when it got near to lunchtime that it wasn’t going to finish, but then I landed on one of Maisie’s illegal hotels and she cleared me out of all my cash.
    After lunch I ran upstairs to get changed. I felt like the first meeting of a drama club required a dramatic outfit. I tried on lots of different combinations while Maisie watched and gave me her opinion. Soon most of my clothes were in a pile on my bed. Finally we settled on denim shorts over purple tights, a black top with seagulls printed all over it and a deep pink cardigan.
    ‘You need something with feathers too.’ Maisie was very definite on that point. ‘Feathers are dramatic.’
    She rummaged around in her bedside locker and pulled out a hairslide with big pink feathers on it. She insisted on me trying it on. Actually, it looked pretty good.
    ‘Now do I look dramatic enough?’ I asked her.
    ‘You look great!’ she said with a big smile.
    ‘Thanks, Maisie.’ I gave her a hug.
    Maisie’s smile had turned a bit wistful. ‘Can I come to your meeting too, or is it just for big girls?’
    ‘Sorry, Maisie. It’s just for big girls,’ I told her. I felt bad – she was so interested in the whole idea. ‘I’ll tell you all about it when I get home, OK? And if we’re doing a show maybe you can help me with my costume.’
    ‘OK,’ Maisie said, sighing.
    I looked at my watch. ‘I’d better get going!’ We were meeting at Ruby’s house today, and I’d said I’d call for Meg first. I grabbed my notebook and pen and raced down the stairs.

Chapter Five
    Cordelia answered the door. She was wearing a navy pinstripe jacket and matching knee-length skirt and a white blouse, and she looked so different from earlier that I couldn’t help staring.
    ‘Hannah, what do you think?’ she said, giving a little twirl.
    ‘Lovely,’ I said.
    ‘Now you would definitely want to hire me, wouldn’t you?’ Cordelia beamed. ‘Heavens, imagine me holding down a nine-to-five job! It’s too funny!’
    ‘You haven’t got the job yet, Mum,’ Meg said as she appeared behind her. ‘You still need to do the interview.’
    ‘Oh, that’s just a small detail,’ Cordelia said, waving her hand as if the interview was barely worth thinking about now that she had her perfect work outfit. ‘What are you girls up to, anyway?’
    ‘We’re forming a drama club,’ I told her, surprised that Meg hadn’t said anything.
    Too late I saw the look on Meg’s face. For some reasonI didn’t understand, she clearly hadn’t planned on telling her mum what we were up to.
    Cordelia’s carefree expression vanished. She looked at Meg, worry etched on her face. ‘Oh, Meg, do you think that’s a good idea, darling?’
    ‘Really, Mum, it’s fine,’ Meg told her. ‘It’s just four girls getting together to share our ideas and stuff. We’re not going to be appearing in the town hall or anything