Chapter 12

Jade-Marie Lilliwhite was the first big thing to come out of the Star House all the way back in the first series. She hadn't even won the thing but that was because back then the voters mainly consisted of bored housewives who spent their Saturday nights at home with their cats. The actual winner had been a 16 year old called Simon Leeber. He had a number 1 Christmas single followed by an album that hit number 1 in it's first week and dropped out of the top 40 in it's second, followed by an unsuccessful tour, followed by a scrapped autobiography and a stint on 'Celebrity Prison Dinners' where they teamed up Z list celebrities with killers and paedophiles and challenged them to host a dinner party. He was currently working on a cruise ship. As a barman.

Jade on the other hand who wrote all her own music and played the guitar, piano and clarinet had gone from strength to strength. Her first album topped the charts and gave her a sellout tour. Her second album hit number one on both sides of the Atlantic and gave her a worldwide tour. By the time the 3rd album came out she was the best selling female solo artist since Brittney Spears. It seemed like nothing could stop her. The public adored her and she was a great role model for teenage girls; not getting naked in lads mags and keeping her weight healthy. Then disaster struck. Her pianist John Terrence who toured with her everywhere since the beginning died of a seizure. It came out in the papers days later that Jade had been in a secret relationship with him for 2 years previously. She went into her London home and wasn't seen for months. Some said she was working on a new 'heartbreak' album. S&M inc put out a live CD so the public didn't forget about her. Then 6 months after Johns death on Christmas day Jade was found in a pool of her own vomit after an overdose.

Rumours flew round the tabloids that Eddie and Jake had not given her enough support after Johns death. Eddie knew that hadn't been true. He had always given her what she needed and was always there for her professionally if not personally. She was his prize asset after all. He tried to recreate Jades success every year after with new seasons of the The Star House but whilst the show itself went from strength to strength the acts never hit Jades heights. Some got close. Boyband Fringe Patrol were doing well both sides of the pond still and singers like Sara Cork and Tiffany Britches were always popular with the lads mags but Eddie had never found a talent like Jade. She had truly been the whole package.

Right know the whole package was flying through the air with Eddie clinging on for dear life. After he had fainted Jade must have been in a rush because she did not try to wake him up before leaving. He had awoken around 2 miles off the ground and promptly vomited on what he wasn't to know was a rather surprised bus driver having a cigarette on his break. The driver had blamed a young couple who were sitting on the top deck of his night bus. He subsequently threw them off the bus where they had to walk home. On the way home the couple had stopped at a popular fried chicken outlet and ordered a bucket of chicken. Once at home they had devoured the chicken and inside one of the hot wings found part of a human finger which the resulting inquest found out came from the hand of a young Filipino boy being paid $2 a day in the chicken shops secret factory. The chicken company was shutdown, the kids from the sweatshop freed and the young couple were awarded a 2 million dollar settlement and lived happily ever after. Many theorists have written essays about how this mysterious vomit came from the Gods or some sort of chaos theory to shut down the evil chicken empire. But many theorists don't get out much.
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Jade swooped down and landed on a pavement somewhere in England. She let go of Scrooges hand and he fell face first into a bush and vomited again (this time nothing special happened except a small woodlouse drowned. But he was a dick of a woodlouse anyway). After a few minutes he regained his composure and looked at Jade.
'Well you look pretty good for a dead girl. Forgive me if I don't act more surprised than spewing chunks but I have already seen my dead uncle tonight and shot a police officer so it couldn't really get more surreal.' He looked her up and down. 'So what are you the ghost of my Christmas past?'
'I am merely a face you recognise Eddie. Someone who might cause an emotion in you this evening.'
'Too bloody right I've got an emotion. You cost me around 30 million and god knows how many interviews to get my public image and our ratings back up.' He paused embarrassed. 'So...how are you? I know it's been a while but do you want to talk about it or anything?'
'No I don't want to talk about it Eddie. My problems are over now because of whatever I did when I was alive. We're here tonight to talk about you and to try and save you from (she pointed downwards) you know who.'
'Yes Uncle Jake told me about that. So where are we going? A church or somewhere?'
'No; Tom doesn't want us to go to a church for fear of alienating all the readers who don't believe in God.'
'What readers? What are you talking about?'
'Never mind take a look over there. You recognise that place?'
Eddie looked over at a brightly lit school building. He stopped in his tracks. 'This is my old secondary school, S.T Cribbins.' Jade pulled him forwards.
'Well come on then I expect you're wondering why I've bought you here?'
'Are we about to see some scene from my childhood to help me change my evil ways?'
'Yes how did you know that?'
'Because it's the plot of A Christmas Carol Jade!' She kept pulling his arm rushing forward
'What's that a musical? Never heard of it. Come on!'