‘I can’t take this much longer,’ Ivy muttered under her breath. ‘I’m not cut out for popularity! I feel like I have to perform, or something – and I am not the actress in the family.’
Brendan rubbed her back in warm, comforting circles. ‘I know.’
‘Ooh,’ another girl at the next table sighed. ‘They look serious .’
Ivy winced. ‘Do you think it’ll ever get better?’ She eased into his touch, starting to relax. ‘Once people get used to me, they’ll see I’m not so special, and everything will calm down . . . right?’
Brendan shrugged. ‘Maybe I’m not the person to ask.’ His dark hair flopped over his eyes as he leaned towards her, smiling. ‘From the moment I realised you were the coolest girl in the world, I’ve been realising it every day, over and over again.’
Ivy tried to fight it, but she couldn’t stop a grin invading her face. ‘You big sap!’
Then she bit back a curse as she realised her mistake. How could she have been so dumb? She’d smiled. And smiling made her look friendly.
Big, big mistake!
It was too late to take it back. Goth-girls from her grade were suddenly swarming the table, beaming at her hopefully.
Don’t panic, Ivy told herself. There are only four of them. But that didn’t lessen the feeling of an attack as they all swooped at once, filling every empty chair. See, this is why smiling is stupid, she lectured herself. It lands you in uncomfortable situations!
‘So . . . how exactly do you two know each other?’ the first goth-girl drawled. ‘Hmm?’
The other three leaned in to listen, setting their chins on their hands and staring at Brendan with open curiosity.
‘You can tell us,’ the second girl purred. ‘Is it serious?’
‘Ivy deserves the best, you know,’ the third girl said pointedly.
Ivy stiffened with outrage even as Brendan gave a tiny, meaningful shake of his head, telling her without words not to worry about it.
I am not going to sit here and let him be insulted! Ivy opened her mouth to tell the other girls exactly how important Brendan was to her . . .
. . . then stopped herself with a jerk. Wait a minute. The last thing I need to do is to make romantic declarations ‘cool’!
She was still trying to figure out how to respond when she heard a familiar voice behind her. ‘Uhm . . . ?’
Oh, no. Ivy looked up, and her stomach did a backflip. It was Olivia, tray in hand, standing behind her . . . and looking at the completely-full table, without a single space available.
‘Olivia . . .’ Ivy began. She twisted around, looking for another chair to pull up to the table.
‘I don’t think there’s any space left,’ the first goth-girl said coolly.
‘Yeah,’ said the third goth-girl. ‘What a pity .’
Just explain it to them simply – this doesn’t have to be anything dramatic. Ivy gritted her teeth, starting a count to ten in her head . . .
Only to find Olivia backing away from her.
‘Don’t worry about it.’ Olivia gave her a bright, tight smile. To anyone but Ivy, she would have looked completely unbothered . . . but Ivy knew her twin. ‘I’ll catch up with you later,’ Olivia said breezily.
Ivy shook her head, glimpsing the hurt hidden behind Olivia’s expression. ‘But –’
It was too late. Olivia had already spun around and hurried away, her pink shoes clicking against the cafeteria floor. A moment later, she’d disappeared into the crowd of strangers, by herself.
Ripples of reaction ran through the cafeteria, and Ivy’s vampire ears forced every whisper on her.
‘Did you see that? Even her own twin isn’t cool enough to sit with her!’
‘Of course not.’ Someone let out a snort of disgust. ‘Just look at all that pink!’
Fury tightened every muscle in Ivy’s body. Under the table, Brendan took her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. He was the only person who could know exactly what she’d just heard . . . and how hard it was for her not to react.
Ivy squeezed his hand back, grateful for his support . . . but it wasn’t enough. This can never happen again. OK, she couldn’t find Olivia a place at her table this lunch hour, but she could do her best to fix things.
Starting now!
Squaring her shoulders, she looked at the goth-girl directly across the table from her, who was wearing a Shadowtown T-shirt.
The truth was, Shadowtown was Ivy’s favourite show . . . but it was undeniably trashy. And so far, no one else at Franklin Grove High knew about Ivy’s midnight marathons of Shadowtown. So . . .
She forced her face into a sneer. ‘So, is that how you like your vampires?’ She pointed dismissively at the other girl’s T-shirt. ‘Moon-eyed and sappy?’
‘Uh . . .’ Brendan stared at her, visibly shocked. ‘Ivy –’
She gave him a gentle kick under the table. The last thing she wanted right now was for him to blurt out how much Ivy loved Shadowtown and its sappy, moon-eyed vampires.
Brendan closed his mouth obediently, but his eyes were wide as she continued, ‘I mean, don’t you think all of that –’ She waved her hand in the general direction of the Shadowtown T-shirt, forcing poison into her tone –‘is a bit pathetic ?’
The girl rocked backwards as if she’d been punched . . . and Ivy’s stomach gave a sickening twist.
The whole table had fallen silent with shock. Everyone for three tables around was watching Ivy and her victim, waiting to see what would happen next.
It’s for the best, Ivy told herself, fighting down guilt. Really, this whole horrible scene was for the poor girl’s own good, and everyone else’s, too. If they all decided Ivy was horrible, they wouldn’t want anything more to do with her. Then they’d all find something more interesting to do with their lives – and she’d finally be left in peace to settle in at her new school without everyone analysing her every move.
Still, she couldn’t stand the look of hurt in the other girl’s eyes. Crossing her arms, she looked pointedly away, studying the rest of the cafeteria. As her gaze picked out Olivia in the crowd, she let out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness, her twin hadn’t ended up stuck at a table full of strangers – Sophia had made space for her at the skater table with Finn and his friends. Between Olivia’s pink top, Sophia’s black dress and the rest of the skaters’ tie-dyed or gingham outfits, they looked like an odd mixture of students to be sitting together . . . and that was exactly how it should be.
Ivy was just wishing that she could be part of it when she suddenly heard a piercing gasp. She swung back around to her own table and found Shadowtown Girl staring down at her T-shirt. When the goth-girl straightened, she was beaming with delight. ‘I get it! You’re quoting from that scene in series two, episode four, aren’t you?’
Uh-oh. Ivy swallowed hard. Was she? She hadn’t thought she was . . . but now that Laura pointed it out . . .
‘When that vampire guy makes fun of the sweater his girlfriend is wearing,’ Laura went on ‘to try to make her dump him because he knows he’s not good enough for her! But she doesn’t, she just loves him even more because she can see through his act and knows he’s a good person underneath.’ Her eyes misting, the girl reached across the table and grabbed Ivy’s hand. ‘I can’t believe this. I’ve never met anyone who knows Shadowtown as well as I do. You are the coolest !’
As all the other goth-girls around the table chimed in with agreement, Ivy sagged in despair.
So much for that plan! She’d just accidentally made herself more popular than ever!
When she looked at Brendan, she found his cheeks sucked in tight to try to hide his smile . . . but she could tell he was laughing on the inside, even while she was dying.
And it was still only Monday!
Chapter Four
‘I just miss you,’ Olivia whispered into the phone that evening, as she sat curled up on her bed.
‘I miss you, too.’ Her boyfriend’s voice was warm and confident, and just th
e sound of it made her shoulders relax. ‘But things will get easier at school soon. I know it. Hey, you’re a movie star now, remember?’
Olivia rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t help laughing as she propped herself up against her pale lavender pillows. ‘Yeah, maybe I should tell the goths at school to keep that in mind.’
Jackson laughed too, but when he spoke again, his tone was serious. ‘Just remember, it could be a lot worse. You wouldn’t want to be fighting off paparazzi every day, right? That’s why you went back to Franklin Grove in the first place – because you wanted a normal life. No Hollywood lifestyle, no hangers-on . . .’
‘You’re right.’ Olivia took a deep breath. ‘Of course you’re right. And if that means being unpopular . . . that’s OK.’ She nodded firmly, bracing herself. ‘I don’t need to be popular to be happy.’
The doorbell rang downstairs, and she jumped up, balancing the phone against her ear. ‘Oh, Camilla’s here! I’ve got to go.’
‘Have fun tonight,’ Jackson said, ‘and say hi to her for me, OK?’
‘I will.’ Beaming, Olivia hung up and hurried down the stairs to the front door, where her best friend was waiting.
Olivia hadn’t seen Camilla since she’d left for filming. Now that high school had started, they weren’t even going to the same school any more . . . but they had vowed to hold sleepovers every two weeks to make up for it. Even though it was a school night, their parents had allowed them to hold their first sleepover, on the absolute promise that they would go to bed on time.
Just the sight of Camilla’s grinning face under her big glasses and floppy new velvet beret was enough to make Olivia start to feel like she was really home again, after all the weirdness of the filming, the jet lag and her bizarre new school. And as they went into the kitchen to make potato salad for dinner, Camilla’s burbling energy was infectious.
‘I missed you so much!’ Camilla bounced into a movie director’s pose, holding out her hands to frame Olivia’s face as if she were directing a shot. ‘Scene: A school hallway . . . but something is missing from the picture!’ She dropped her hands, sighing. ‘School is so different without you.’
‘I know.’ Olivia winced as she thought of just how different her new school was. Shaking it aside, she leaned over to pull out a sack of potatoes from a storage drawer.
‘I mean, Charlotte Brown is great, of course!’ Camilla said. ‘But it’s not the same.’
‘Excuse me?’ Olivia jerked upright, the sack of potatoes slipping out of her hands. ‘Did you just say Charlotte Brown was great ?’ She stared at Camilla. ‘Are we talking about the same Charlotte Brown?’
As the queen bee of Franklin Grove Middle School, Charlotte had tormented them relentlessly all through eighth grade.
‘Well . . .’ Camilla shrugged and picked up a carrot stick from the platter Mrs Abbott had left on the counter earlier that evening. ‘She’s changed. She’s actually really fun to be around, now. She’s good at organising events, and we’re working together on the school play.’
‘Wow.’ Olivia shook her head in wonder as Camilla crunched the carrot stick. ‘So . . . you and Charlotte Brown are BFFs now?’
Camilla cringed, almost dropping the carrot. ‘No! Not exactly. More like . . . maybe SOFFNs?’
Olivia laughed helplessly. And Ivy thought film language was hard to understand! ‘What does that even mean?’ she asked, as she leaned back over to pick up the potatoes.
‘I just made it up.’ Camilla grinned, looking delighted with herself. ‘Do you like it? It means Sort-of-Friends-For-Now.’
‘Got it.’ Olivia smiled ruefully. ‘No long-term commitment.’
‘We’ll just have to see how it goes,’ Camilla said. Her brows lowered as she finished the carrot stick. ‘Have you noticed how high school changes people?’
Olivia sighed. ‘That is very true.’
The last thing she wanted to think about right now was how much everyone seemed to have changed . . . even her own twin. So she was only too glad when Camilla launched into questions about the filming experience on the set of Eternal Sunset. Olivia might not know all the technical details that Camilla, a director herself, was curious about, but thinking about the London shoot was a perfect distraction from the day she’d had.
Camilla looked out through the kitchen window. Olivia saw her notice Mr Abbott standing silently with his back to them, his hands together and his head slightly bowed.
Camilla’s eyes widened, and she stopped in the middle of a question about film cameras. ‘Um . . . is your dad praying?’
‘Oh, no. He’s meditating.’ Olivia frowned, putting down the potato she was peeling as she tried to remember what he’d told her earlier. ‘He’s looking for some kind of energy, but I can’t quite remember what it is. “Jee” energy, maybe? Or “T” energy . . . or maybe even “B” energy! It could be any of them . . . but definitely not “Chin”!’
Sudden laughter burbled out of her as she remembered Ivy’s desperate attempt in homeroom. I wonder if she’s found her chin yet?
Olivia was pretty sure she’d seen the real word Ivy was trying for on one of her dad’s books once . . . but she thought it was spelled with a ‘Q’, not a ‘Ch’!
‘Ohh-kay.’ Shrugging, Camilla started chopping potatoes as she launched back into her interrogation about the movie set.
After the third straight question about camera lenses, though, Olivia had to give up. ‘I’m sorry! I’m really not all that familiar with the technical stuff. I was just focused on remembering my lines.’
‘Oh.’ Camilla slumped. ‘And you didn’t ask a single question about what frame-rates they were using?’
‘Um, well . . . no.’ Olivia winced at the disappointment on her friend’s face. Turning away, she swept the potato peels into the compost. ‘It just didn’t occur to me. But it will next time, I promise!’
‘We-e-ell . . .’ Camilla gave a melodramatic sigh, then winked. ‘I guess I can wait.’ Hopefully, she added, ‘When will the next time be, exactly?’
Olivia groaned, falling back against the kitchen counter. ‘This weekend. Already! Can you believe it?’ As her friend started to mix together the final ingredients in a large clay mixing bowl, Olivia said, ‘It’ll be another whole week of shooting. I told my teachers, and they’ve piled up so much homework for me to take, I don’t know how I’ll get through it all! When I open my mouth on set next week, I might just start reciting weird historical test questions instead of my character’s lines.’
‘Olivia Abbott, less than perfect on-screen?’ Camilla smiled, setting down her spoon. ‘It’ll never happen. You know I’m right. Now, what else do you want for dinner, besides the potato salad?’
‘Honestly?’ Olivia shrugged. ‘I’m feeling in the mood for cereal!’
Camilla blinked. ‘Are you joking?’
‘I wish,’ Olivia said. ‘I’m still so jet-lagged, my body seems to think it’s morning! In fact – I’m so jet-lagged, I even thought that . . . oh, never mind.’ She slumped.
‘What?’ Camilla frowned.
‘Nothing,’ Olivia said. ‘It’s dumb. I just . . . I shouldn’t talk about this.’ She turned away and pulled down a box of cereal. ‘Let’s eat now, OK?’
‘No, tell me.’ Camilla put one hand on her arm. ‘What is it?’
‘It’s . . .’ Olivia bit her lip. ‘There was just a weird moment at lunch today . . . well . . . Ivy didn’t want me to sit with her,’ she finished in a rush.
‘What?’ Camilla stared at her. ‘That doesn’t sound like Ivy.’
Olivia shrugged unhappily. ‘Honestly, at the time I was just confused. But now that I’ve had time to think about it . . . well, it’s kind of getting to me.’ As hurt bubbled up inside her, she had to take a deep breath, focusing on pouring her cereal without spilling it. ‘She promised we’d sit together at lunch, but when I got there, the whole table was filled with goths. There wasn’t a single space left. And . . . well, the goths at that school hate people lik
e me.’
Camilla shook her head as she took down a box of cereal for herself. ‘Do you seriously think Ivy would snub you just to please someone else?’
‘No!’ Olivia said. ‘Of course not. But . . .’ Her voice lowered to a whisper. ‘When another girl snubbed me, Ivy didn’t say a word. The truth is, I’m worried about her. I think she’s not finding it so easy to be herself.’
Or easy to stand up for what she believes in. Olivia sighed.
Where was her twin tonight? At home, hiding? Or out with one of her new friends . . . the ones who sneered at everything pink?
‘Well . . .’ Camilla blinked, giving a quick headshake as her gaze passed over Mr Abbott in the garden. ‘Wow, he still hasn’t moved. What martial art is he practising, Statue-Do?’
Olivia smiled weakly. ‘Maybe.’
‘Never mind.’ Camilla turned back to Olivia, a determined look in her eye. ‘Look, I strongly, strongly doubt that Ivy didn’t want to be seen with you. High school is a weird time for everyone, you know? It was probably just a misunderstanding.’
‘Yeah.’ Olivia sighed. ‘At least it wasn’t all bad.’ Her lips twitched into a mischievous smile. ‘I actually ended up sitting with a group of senior boys!’
‘Oh, reeaally?’ Camilla drawled. Putting on a mock-stern look, she added, ‘And what would your boyfriend have to say about that?’
‘Oh, shut up!’ Giggling, Olivia shoved her playfully. ‘I didn’t mean it like that. But I wanted to get a better read on one of them, anyway. His name’s Finn, and –’
‘Finn, hmm?’ Camilla waggled her eyebrows as she poured her own cereal. ‘I bet he has blond hair. Am I right?’
‘Of course you are.’ Olivia carried the big bowl of potato salad to the table, with two sets of forks and spoons stuck inside, and Camilla followed with the bowls of cereal. As the two girls settled in comfortably, Olivia explained the Finn-and-Amelia problem to her friend.
‘So it’s a Romeo and Juliet meets West Side Story vibe.’ Camilla nodded knowledgeably as she scooped up a spoonful of potato salad. ‘I’ve got it. We’re talking romantic tragedy here.’
14 Flipping Out - My Sister the Vampire Page 4