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 like 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.’
‘I hope not!’ Olivia shivered. ‘Honestly, at first I was only interested because of that situation, but then I got a chance to actually talk to Finn at lunch – and he is kind of sweet! He coaches Lincoln Vale middle school kids in skateboarding every weekend. He’s just a really nice guy . . . and, you know, I’m not so crazy about Amelia, but at least she’s no Jessica Phelps.’