Fashion Frightmare! (My Sister the Vampire) (14 page)

Wow,
Ivy thought.
Olivia’s really putting her acting skills to use! I’ve never seen her look so stern.

‘Um . . .’ Now Maxie’s skin looked chalk-white. He moistened his lips nervously.

A whirring noise sounded overhead, and cold air suddenly blasted down at them from the overhead air conditioner.
Perfect
, Ivy thought.

She rubbed her hands up and down her arms. ‘Oof, that’s cold. If only I had something I could use to get
warm
.’

‘Something you could drape over your shoulders, maybe?’ Olivia said pointedly.

Reiko crossed her arms. ‘Like a pashmina, you mean?’

‘Oh, no . . .’ Maxie let out a weary sigh as his shoulders slumped. ‘How could you have
possibly
found out?’

The look of defeat on his face was so pitiful, Ivy had to bite back the triumphant grin that wanted to break out on her face. ‘Sorry,’ she said lightly. ‘But we’re good
at this kind of thing.’

She looked over his shoulders at Olivia and Reiko, and both of them grinned back at her.

The Daring Detective Trio has solved the mystery!

Ten minutes later, all four of them were gathered around a table in the mall food court. Not only had they wanted a more private place to talk, but Maxie had looked ready to
faint with shock, so Olivia had declared food an urgent medical emergency.

For him anyway,
Ivy thought, and sighed. Maxie and Olivia were both nibbling at pita pockets with hummus as they sat across the table from her, but she and Reiko had been left
empty-handed. ‘Veggie Val’s’ was hardly a vampire-friendly foodstand.

She traded a rueful look with Reiko as Maxie finished his pita and let out a sigh of obvious satisfaction. Hunger growled in her own stomach, but she tried to ignore it.

‘OK,’ she said. ‘Now that you’ve eaten, it’s time to finally tell us the truth.’

Maxie took a deep breath and then sighed: ‘It’s all Penny Taylor’s fault.’

Olivia made a choking noise and Ivy stared at him. ‘What?’

Maxie blushed and stared at the table. ‘Well, not really,’ he said. ‘It’s my fault but I just . . . I just wanted her to notice me.’

‘You stole a pashmina because you wanted Penny to
notice
you?’ Ivy said slowly.

Olivia frowned. ‘Were you going to wear it?’

Reiko snorted and then burst out laughing. Even Maxie gave a small smile. ‘No, I wasn’t.’ He grimaced. ‘I guess I’d better tell you the whole story . . . no matter
how embarrassing it is.’

Ivy couldn’t quite bring herself to give him one of her patented death-squints, but she folded her arms as firmly as she could. ‘I think that would be a good idea.’

‘OK.’ Maxie seemed to steel himself. ‘Penny Taylor used to go to Lincoln Vale Middle School with me. We were friends, but I’ve always . . . liked her a lot.’

‘Penny
is
great,’ said Olivia warmly. She gave Maxie an encouraging smile and Ivy shot her a look.
This is an interrogation, not a dating show!

‘I really want Penny to notice me,’ Maxie continued, ‘but we don’t see each other much any more. She goes to Franklin Grove High now and she’s busy with her art and
fashion design.’

‘We heard that you are into art as well,’ said Olivia.

Ivy rolled her eyes. Why could her twin not
focus
on this?

Maxie was nodding. ‘That’s what Penny and I have in common. So I decided to come to the opening of Café Creative and talk to her. After the show, I followed you and Penny to
the display room. I saw you with the pashmina and I thought it would be the perfect talking point. But then I panicked and I hid. I was just trying to work up the courage to come out from behind
the display case and ask her about the pashmina and its designs, but she started to leave before I worked up the nerve.’

He ran a hand through his long hair, nervously tapping his knuckles on the table as he tried to continue his story.

‘I didn’t want to lose my chance. So I thought, maybe if I went over and made a big show of admiring the pashmina, she might hear me and turn around, and then . . .’ He drifted
off, looking hopeless.

‘It
might
have worked,’ Reiko said thoughtfully. ‘If you’d said something really cool afterwards.’

‘I suck at “cool” conversation,’ Maxie said sadly. ‘I was so desperate, though, I would have tried anything. But before I could say a word, the lights went
out.’

‘I remember.’ Ivy’s eyes narrowed. ‘So what happened then?’

Maxie shrugged. ‘It was so dark, I was . . . as blind as Blue Skye. I was just fumbling around, trying to find my way out, when I felt myself knock the pashmina off its stand. I
freaked out.
I mean, it’s probably priceless – what if I’d destroyed it? I was just scrambling to pick it up when the lights flashed back on.’

‘And then?’ Ivy prompted.

He looked miserable. ‘I panicked. I was about to be caught in a place I shouldn’t have been – and I still didn’t even know yet if I’d damaged the pashmina! I
didn’t even think. I just ran.’ He sighed, setting his hands flat on the table. ‘It wasn’t until I was outside that I even realised I was actually still carrying it. I
should have dropped it back in the museum, but by the time I noticed . . . it was too late. So I just kept running.’

‘Oh, Maxie.’ Olivia shook her head. ‘If only you’d come back –’

‘I know,’ Maxie said, sighing heavily. ‘But my fear got the best of me. I just tore down the fire escape. I knew that if anyone caught me, they’d never believe my story,
so . . .’

‘Wrong,’ Ivy said firmly. ‘
I
believe your story, and none of us are planning to tell on you.’

‘Absolutely not,’ Reiko said cheerfully. ‘This has been the most exciting part of my trip so far!’

‘We don’t want to get anyone in trouble,’ Olivia said. ‘We just need to get the pashmina back to the museum.’

‘And
fast
,’ Ivy added.
Before Alex and Tessa can get dive-bombed by any more angry birds!
Superstition or not, she wouldn’t feel like their royal friends were
safe until the real pashmina was resting securely in the museum again.

‘But how?’ Maxie looked at her with big, pleading eyes. ‘I’ve been trying to think of a way to sneak it back into the museum, but the building’s been locked up
every day since the fashion show! How am I supposed to put it back now?’

‘Hmm.’ Drumming her black-nailed fingers on the table, Ivy looked away for a moment. The museum had re-opened that morning, but any crowds might make their job even harder. How were
they going to make sure that the display room was empty when they snuck the pashmina back inside?

Her gaze fell on Olivia, who was frowning with obvious concentration. ‘What is it?’ Ivy asked. ‘Do you have any good ideas?’

Olivia gave a start. ‘What? Oh, I wasn’t even thinking about that part.’ She turned to Maxie, beaming. ‘I was thinking how we can get you set up with Penny.’

Maxie’s face flushed bright pink. ‘Oh no, it’s . . . You really don’t need . . . She doesn’t like me.’ He looked away and mumbled. ‘I have no
chance.’

Ivy nudged her sister’s foot under the table. ‘Um, Olivia? Don’t we have something more important to deal with right now?’
Like a vampire curse!

‘Pfft!’ Olivia snorted, waving off the interruption. ‘What could be more important than love . . .? Aha!’ She jumped in her seat, pointing a triumphant finger at Maxie.
‘You blushed even more when I said that word! Don’t deny it, Maxie. You’re in love, aren’t you?’

Maxie’s whole face was a bright, giveaway red, all the way down to the bottom of his neck. ‘It’s just hopeless,’ he mumbled.

‘Nothing is hopeless,’ said Olivia firmly. ‘Not with me in charge, anyway.’

For a moment, Maxie stared at her in shock. Then he swallowed visibly. ‘You mean it? You would actually help me?’

‘Are you kidding?’ Ivy rolled her eyes as she sat back in her chair. ‘You’re sitting next to the girl who made “Famelia” happen!’

Maxie just blinked at her. Ivy remembered that Maxie did not go to Franklin Grove High, and so had no idea about the unlikely skater-boy and Goth-Queen match that Olivia had made.

‘Never mind,’ she said, grinning at the glee on her sister’s face as Olivia leaned forwards to start making plans.

Leave it to my twin,
she thought.
The one person in the world with the power to turn a vampire crisis into a sweet love story!

Half an hour later, Olivia led the whole group into One Planet, buzzing with happy anticipation.
This isn’t just a successful mystery investigation, it’s a true
romance!

Next to her, Ivy’s leather jacket was zipped up all the way to her chin to conceal the stolen pashmina, which Maxie had handed over with obvious relief. Ivy was only wearing the pashmina
until the twins and Reiko could take it back to the museum – but that wouldn’t be until Stage Two of Operation: Maxie-Matchmaking had taken place!

As she pushed open the door to One Planet and heard the bell jingle over her head, Olivia had to stop herself from bouncing excitedly
.

This couldn’t be more perfect,
she thought.

Artistic Maxie was just the right match for sweet, goth-no-more fashion designer Penny . . . and he liked her
so
much. He told them that his regular trips to One Planet were in the hope
of running into Penny. The health food store was close to the art class she took on Wednesdays, and Penny just
loved
the gotu kola they sold. Maxie had gone there every week, hoping that
he would one day work up the courage to talk to her.

He didn’t even like gotu kola that much!

How adorable is that?
Olivia beamed at her sister, who only replied with a rueful head-shake. Olivia knew that Ivy was desperate to return the pashmina to the museum without any more
delays, but some things were too important to put off. Poor Maxie had clearly had a terrible week after his accidental theft. Even impatient Ivy had understood that he needed help from them now . .
. even if she
still
didn’t seem to truly understand the importance of true love conquering all. Olivia was determined to help Penny and Maxie turn into . . .
Hmm. Pexie? Menny?
Maxenny?

OK, making up
their
couple-name was going to take some time, even for her!

The bell over the door jingled, and Olivia spun around, waving. ‘Penny!’

‘There you guys are!’ Penny hurried towards them, smiling. She was wearing a soft-looking cornflower-blue top over a black skirt cut in such a swirling pattern, Olivia was certain
that Penny must have designed it herself. ‘Thanks so much for inviting me to join you here. Has there been any news about –?’

‘Shh.’ Olivia held one finger to her lips, indicating the crowd of customers around them . . . including Maxie, who stood in front of her, slightly separate from their group, as if
he had not arrived with them. ‘It’s all been solved,’ she whispered to Penny.

‘Whew.’ Penny let out a sigh of relief. ‘I can’t wait to tell Amelia.’ She reached into her sunny yellow purse to pull out her cell phone.

‘Wait!’ Olivia grabbed her arm. ‘Don’t get on the phone now!’

Penny paused, looking confused. ‘Why not?’

‘Um . . . Because . . .’
Because it’ll ruin my plan!

Olivia started to panic. As soon as the line started moving again, Maxie was supposed to step aside and offer to let the girls all go ahead of them, because they were such a big group.
And
that will get him and Penny talking!

She couldn’t tell that to Penny, though. ‘Um . . .’ Olivia flashed a desperate,
Help-me
look at Ivy. ‘Because . . . because . . .’

Ivy answered as casually as if the whole fate of “Pexie” didn’t rest on that moment. ‘You should wait until we’ve gotten our drinks. There’s terrible cell
phone reception up here by the counter.’

‘Oh. OK.’ Penny dropped the phone back into her purse. ‘Hmm, I wonder if I should go for the double shot of gotu kola?’

While Reiko and Penny launched into an enthusiastic discussion of health drinks, Olivia peered over the heads of the people in front of her.
Isn’t this line ever going to move?
If
their plan didn’t get started soon, shy Maxie was almost certainly going to lose his nerve!