14 Flipping Out - My Sister the Vampire (6 page)

‘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!

‘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 the 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.