Fangtastic! (4 page)

“Introducing
. . .” Mr. Colton shouted over the din, “the Film Assignment!” He held the
papers over his head in a disco pose.

Everybody
laughed.

“Your
mission, should you choose to accept it,” Mr. Colton said, darting around the
room and passing an assignment sheet to each student, “is to produce, film, and
edit a five-minute documentary.

“You
can pick any topic you choose, as long as it’s appropriate. That means,” he
said, looking fierce, “no footage of me dancing and singing ‘Do the Dudley’
from my 1989 appearance on
Star Search
.”

After
Mr. Colton had explained the process for reserving cameras and time in the
school’s editing suite, he said, “I know everyone’s anxious to get started, so
why don’t you take a few minutes to talk in your groups about possible topics?”

Camilla
turned to Olivia. “So, what should we do?” she asked excitedly.

Olivia
thought of Charlotte on the front steps this morning, directing her to talk
about what it was like to be a new student in Franklin Grove. “What about a
documentary that shows what it’s like to move to Franklin Grove?” Olivia
suggested. “It could be an introduction to the town and what it’s really like.”
Not what it’s
really
like,
she thought,
but close enough to fool
people like Serena Star.

Camilla
frowned. “I think Serena Star has the truth-about-Franklin-Grove angle covered
right now.”

Olivia
realized Camilla was right. It wasn’t a very fun idea for a school project,
anyhow: it was sort of like trying to make the most boring film possible about
Franklin Grove.

“I
know!” Camilla said. “I’ve always wanted to do something about alien
life-forms. We could show organisms from all different star systems.”

“That
sounds cool,” Olivia said, nodding. Then she sighed. “But do you think our
budget’s big enough to cover shipping and handling of alien organisms?”

Camilla
blushed. “I guess alien life-forms are reasonably hard to find.”

There
was snickering behind them, and Olivia heard Garrick say, “That’s killer!”

Olivia
had really had enough of Garrick Stephens for one day—after all, he was the one
that had started all the trouble with Serena Star in the first place. She spun
around. “Can you goons keep it down, please?”

The
Beasts hooted. “You’re just jealous because we have the best idea,” leered
Garrick.

Camilla
turned around, too. “I think it’s fair to say we’ve all seen enough of you in
front of the camera, Garrick,” she said coolly.

“Picture
it,” Garrick said, putting his thumbs and forefingers together to form a square
viewfinder. “A documentary that shows how violence is an important part of the
modern middle school experience. We’re going to film the football games and
call it ‘Cheers for Fears’!”

“Yeah!”
All the Beasts guffawed, high-fiving each other. Olivia glared at them.

“Hey,”
Garrick said, his eyes suddenly lighting up. “
You’re
a cheerleader, aren’t
you, Olivia? Want to star in my movie? Now that I’m famous, I’ve got
connections
.”

“You
wish,” Olivia told him, rolling her eyes and turning back around. “Unbelievable,”
she added quietly to Camilla. “Garrick’s time in the spotlight has actually
made him even more obnoxious!”

“No
kidding,” Camilla agreed.

Olivia
tried to tune out the boys behind her. “Are you coming to the football game
after school?” she asked Camilla.

“I was
planning to.”

“Why
don’t you come over to my house for dinner afterward?” Olivia offered. “I bet
it’ll be easier to come up with an idea for our film without all the
chatter
.”

She
gestured over her shoulder, only to hear Garrick say, “I bet those would make a
good
impression
on a cheerleader!” She had no idea what he was talking
about.

“I
have to check with my mom,” Camilla said, “but that sounds great.”

Behind
them all the Beasts shouted, “TOUCHDOWN!”

Mr.
Colton shot the boys a look, and they all piped down.

“Just
promise me Garrick Stephens isn’t going to pop out of a casserole at dinner,”
Camilla joked.

Olivia
grinned. “With my mom’s cooking,” she said, “he’ll be sliced, diced, and sautéed
way
before that.”

After
school, Ivy stalked the halls with her notebook, trying to find the right quote
for Serena Star. It was clear that Serena wanted something Goth, so Ivy was
hoping for some tidbit that would seem really grave but was actually absolutely
harmless. She talked to a sixth grader whose cousin had got a tattoo of a skull
on her ankle; a janitor who swore that spilled black nail polish could not be
removed from school floors using any known cleaning solutions or polish
removers; and the librarian, who told her that books with black covers were
taken out less often than those with colorful ones. None of it was what she
needed.

She
was trudging along, feeling utterly hopeless, when she spotted one of the Beasts,
Ricky Slitherman, rush out of a side door.
No matter what I come up with
,
Ivy thought angrily,
Garrick and his friends will still be flapping their
coffin lids.
She decided to follow Ricky outside.

When
she emerged into the sunlight, Ivy saw Ricky heading toward the football field.
When she got over there, she discovered that the Devils were only fifteen yards
from the opposing team’s end zone. The bleachers were pulsing with cheering
people. Ivy peeked underneath them, thinking that that was where the Beasts
were most likely to lurk, but there was no one there.

She
was just walking around to the front of the bleachers to scan the crowd when
she caught sight of Olivia, cheering on the sidelines. Her sister was standing
atop another girl’s shoulders with her hands on her hips and her face aglow
with a natural smile. Olivia pumped her fist in the air and did a flip off the
girls’ shoulders. Two spotters on the squad caught her, and the crowd went
crazy.

Ivy
couldn’t help going wild with everyone else, clapping and hooting loudly for
her sister. Olivia seriously sucked—there was no doubt that she was the best
cheerleader on the squad. Especially compared to Charlotte Brown, who looked
desperate for attention beside her.

Charlotte’s
face was plastered with a smile and her eyes were so wide that she looked like
a cartoon smiley face. She was jumping up and down like a rag doll, throwing
little waves and winks high up into the crowd. Ivy shuddered. It was seriously
embarrassing.

Apparently,
Charlotte couldn’t even bear to turn her back on the crowd when the cheer
called for her to spin around. She rushed her move, immediately refocusing her
gaze high into the bleachers and tossing off another cloying wave.

Ivy
followed Charlotte’s gaze and saw ...the Beasts, sitting by themselves in the
top row of the bleachers. Dylan Soyle had a huge video camera hoisted onto his
shoulder, and he was pointing it down at Charlotte, while Garrick whispered in
his ear.

Ivy
remembered that the people in media studies were making movies; the Beasts must
be at work on their project.

W
hat’s
their topic?
Ivy wondered.
Extra-annoying cheerleaders?

Without
thinking, she marched to the top of the bleachers and stood in front of their
camera, blocking its lens with the back of her notebook.

“Hey!”
Dylan cried, pulling his face away from the eyepiece.

“Turn
it off,” Ivy commanded icily.

“You’re
interfering with an important movie shoot!” Garrick Stephens said.

“Turn
. . . it . . . off,” Ivy repeated, narrowing her eyes into a death squint.

There
was a long silence before Dylan glumly put down the camera.

“What
do you want?” whined Garrick.

“I
want you to climb back in your coffins and stay there!” Ivy snapped. “You’re
putting us all in danger.”

“It’s
just a video camera,” Kyle said. “It’s not like a, uh, wooden stake or
anything.”

Ivy
rolled her eyes. “It’s not
your
camera I’m worried about,” she snapped. “It’s
Serena Star’s. At this rate, she’ll be onto the vampire community in no time.
You idiots are digging all our graves.”

Garrick
shook his head. “You’re so
misguided
, Vega,” he said condescendingly,
using the same word Serena Star had used about him on the news. “Serena Star’s
not interested in all of us. She’s interested in
me.
”

“Yeah.”
Ricky guffawed. “I think she wants to be Garrick’s personal donor.” All the
boys laughed.

“Serena
Star is more likely to eat you alive,” Ivy seethed. “You guys better start
watching what you say.”

“Can I
help it if the bunny ladies love me?” Garrick shrugged. He gestured to the
cheerleaders. “For example, look at Charlotte Brown, the star of my movie.”

Ivy
spun around to see Charlotte glaring at her and waving her hands. “Get out of
the way!” Ivy could imagine her screaming. “You’re blocking my scene!”

Ivy
turned back to face the Beasts and found that Dylan was filming again. “You
want a wooden stake?” she said with disgust. “Here!” She flung her pencil
angrily at Garrick—who shrieked and threw up his arms to shield himself—then
spun around and stalked away.

After
the game, Olivia and Camilla sat on the school’s front steps, waiting for
Olivia’s mom to pick them up. All the TV news vans were gone, and the setting
sun cast an orange glow over everything.

“We
killed
them!” Camilla said happily. “Fortysix to three must be a record. Could you
believe it when their lineman ran into the wrong end zone? Maybe our film
project should be about embarrassing sports defeats.”

Olivia
grinned. “I think the Willowton Badgers have had enough humiliation for one
year, without us making a
movie
about how bad they are.”

Camilla
laughed.

“Hey,
didn’t you get a new cat?” Olivia asked. “You mean Captain Whiskers?” said
Camilla. Olivia nodded. “Maybe we could do something

about
him? I could imagine a cool documentary about what the world’s really like for
a cat.”

“As
far as I can tell,” Camilla said, “it’s mostly sleeping and scratching.”

“Sounds
like my uncle Morris,” Olivia joked.

At
that moment, her mom pulled up. “Hello, girls!” she called excitedly out the
window, as Camilla and Olivia grabbed their bags and dashed down the steps.

“Hi,
Mrs. Abbott,” Camilla said, climbing into the back of the car.

“Hey,
Mom,” said Olivia, as she slid into the passenger seat.

Olivia’s
mom didn’t drive away. Instead, she wiggled her fingers on the steering wheel
and looked at Olivia out of the corner of her eye. Suddenly, she held out her
hand. “Pinch me!” she said.

Olivia
stared at her. “Why?”

“Fine,”
Olivia’s mom said. “I’ll pinch myself.” She grabbed a piece of her arm between
thumb and forefinger. “Ouch!” she cried. Then she grinned. “It’s not a dream!”
she squealed ecstatically.

“Mom,”
Olivia said, feeling confused, “what’s going on?”

“My
great-aunt Edna died!” her mom replied, clapping with delight.

Oh,
my gosh!
Olivia
thought in shock; she’d never even heard of a Great-aunt Edna before.
My
mother has lost her mind!
She glanced at Camilla, who looked even more
confused than Olivia felt, then turned back and said, “And you’re
excited
about this?”

Her
mom gave her a stern look. “Who do you think I am?” she said. “That morbid boy
that Serena Star is investigating? Of course I’m not excited about the death of
a relative. But Greataunt Edna was one hundred and two! She led an
extraordinary life, and I know that it would give her great joy to see me so excited
about what she’s left me.”

“She
left you something?” Olivia asked. “You mean like an inheritance?”

Camilla
stuck her head between the front seats. “What was so extraordinary about
Greataunt Edna?” she asked.

Mrs.
Abbott gave Olivia a pointed look before turning to Camilla and saying, “Thank
you for asking, Camilla.” Then she shifted the car into gear and pulled away
from the curb.

“It’s
quite a story!” she went on as she drove. “You see, Edna lived in New York City
in the nineteen twenties. She was a maid in the household of an Italian duke.
The duke was in New York searching for an American wife among the city’s high
society. Have you girls ever heard of Napoleon Rochester?”

“Wasn’t
he superrich?” Olivia asked.

“Yes,”
Camilla said eagerly.

Mrs.
Abbott nodded. “The duke was engaged to one of Rochester’s daughters. But then,
much to the shock of New York society and the duke’s own family, he suddenly
broke off his engagement!”