I crouch down, shining the flashlight into a crawl space where we think the spooky book of spells might be hiding. I can sense Amelia behind me, and, suddenly, I believe she really is my little sister Pepper, not annoying Amelia Hart. I also truly believe that she and I have followed the clues of the missing book all the way to the pizza shop, and the only thing that matters is returning the book to the rare book room in the library, where it belongs.

“The book’s not here,” I sigh, really feeling the disappointment.

“But how can that be?” Amelia says in her typical drama-queen way. “We followed all the clues!”

“Sometimes, the clues don’t lead where we want them to go. It’s all about trying to figure out if someone would have motive.” This time, the line feels good. Genuine, like I’m saying it from my heart. “And Giovanni? Why would he want a book of spells? His pizza is already amazing. He doesn’t need some magic words to make it better. I think there’s more to this than meets the eye.”

Nailed it, I think. Paul’s going to love that performance.

But when I wait for Amelia’s next line, it doesn’t come. I move from my crouch position to check on her. As my flashlight hits Amelia’s face, I see that she seems to be in a trance. She stares toward the ceiling, her eyes wide.

“Psst,” I whisper. “Amelia?”

“I…” Amelia’s eyelids flutter. All of a sudden, she crumples to the floor.

“Darling?”

That’s Amelia’s mother. I can hear her director’s chair scrape back, and her high heels click on the wood floor as she heads out of Video Village. “My honeypie! Are you okay? Did you faint again?”

I cross my arms, wanting to groan. Last season, Amelia was famous for “fainting” when she forgot her lines. Of course that would be the time just when I got my lines absolutely perfect.

I glance over my shoulder at Aubrey and Cody, who’ve come to check out what’s happening. Cody gives me a look of sympathy.

“Baby!” Amelia’s mother crouches down at her daughter’s side. She pulls out a little spray bottle and starts misting Amelia’s cheeks. “Come back to me, my star!”

The water does the trick. Amelia’s eyes pop open, and she draws in a big breath. Everyone steps back to give her some air. Mrs. Hart helps Amelia to sit up, smoothing her hair back from her face and tut-tutting over her like she’s just come back from the dead. The droplets of water have smudged the cakey foundation our makeup artist, Vee, uses on all of us to make us more camera-ready.

“What happened?” Paul asks in a concerned voice. “Do you feel sick?”

“No,” Amelia whispers. “I-I don’t think so.”