‘You’re such a hero!’
Across the room, Ivy glimpsed her twin finally walking in. Thank darkness for a voice of common sense! She waved eagerly – but with the mass of followers surrounding her, they might as well have been miles apart. Olivia’s gaze passed over the crowd, and she sighed. Giving a sad half-smile, she went to join Sophia without even making a move in Ivy’s direction.
She’s probably right. They’d never have let her through to me.
Grimacing, Ivy sat down at her desk, desperate for the teacher to walk in and force everyone else to disperse. How many more pats on the back could she take before it bruised? So much for my plan to stall out my popularity.
As she looked around for the teacher, she caught Penny Taylor’s eye.
The pseudo-goth-girl sat alone near the front of the class, looking horribly alone. The desks on both sides of her were empty, and as she watched the other students crowd around Ivy, her eyes glimmered with wistfulness.
I have to do something, Ivy realised. But what?
She still hadn’t figured out what to do by the end of the morning. But as she walked towards the cafeteria for lunch, she glanced out a window and saw Penny sitting alone in a quiet corner outside, reading a familiar-looking magazine. Ivy couldn’t see what the magazine was called, but she knew exactly who it was aimed at: girly, teeny-bop bunnies. It pretty much had to be, because it had a picture of her sister’s boyfriend on the front cover!
Pushing open the closest door, Ivy stepped outside. Penny gasped and slammed the magazine shut. ‘I wasn’t really reading it! I was just . . .’
‘Does the article on Jackson mention Olivia?’ Ivy asked. She pointed to the picture of Jackson’s smiling face. ‘If it does, I might have to buy it.’
‘Oh, well . . . um . . . I mean, I wasn’t really reading it. I mean, not for pleasure. I just . . .’
Ivy raised one eyebrow as Penny stammered to a halt. ‘I saw you smiling as you turned the pages.’
‘Um, that was an ironic smile.’ Penny swallowed visibly. ‘A pitying smile! At how silly the articles in these magazines are. You know. Mainstream? They should – they should call it lamestream !’
Ivy rolled her eyes. ‘You shared your secret with me, remember? I know you like the lighter side of life. It’s OK, I won’t tell anyone.’
‘Well . . .’ Penny relaxed. She gave a guilty-looking grin. ‘The truth is,’ she admitted, ‘the “Have You Spotted?” section is quite entertaining, if . . . oh!’ She gave a sudden gasp and clamped her mouth shut.
Ivy looked around. Aha. A group of goth-girls was sidling towards them, obviously trying to eavesdrop on their conversation. Penny’s scared of blowing her cover. Which means . . .
Moving with vampire speed, Ivy snatched the magazine from Penny’s hands. ‘See?’ she said, pointing. ‘That’s the part I wanted you to look at.’
Penny stared at her. Then her face lit up with gratitude. ‘Oh,’ she said. ‘Oh! You mean, in your magazine.’
‘That’s right.’ Ivy smiled as the other goths reached them. Pointedly, she turned the bubblegum-coloured cover directly towards them. ‘I was just showing Penny something I really liked in my magazine.’
Come on, she silently urged the other goths. Start sneering! See, I’m not cool after all, am I?
One goth raised her eyebrows. But she didn’t sneer. Instead, she looked thoughtful. The others peered closer.
‘Is that magazine cool?’
‘I’ve been reading that magazine forever!’
‘Maybe I’ll get a copy after school.’
Argh! Ivy screamed silently.
Next to her, though, Penny was leaning into the circle of other girls with wistful delight, like a plant stretching towards the sunlight. That’s it, Ivy decided. I have to shift this school’s attention on to Penny. Let her be the cool one!
And the time to make that change was . . . now . Because the hovering goth-girls were already beginning to swarm! Where are they all coming from? Ivy wondered, as more and more flooded through the school doors towards her.
‘Ivy, why aren’t you going to lunch? Aren’t you hungry?’
‘Maybe she doesn’t want to.’
‘Is lunch “uncool” now?’ one goth-girl gasped.
Ivy stared at her in disbelief. How could not having lunch be cool? She shook her head. ‘I’m not skipping lunch. I was just stopping here to . . . to . . .’ Inspiration struck. ‘To ask Penny for some fashion advice!’
‘Really?’ The goth-girls flocked closer, looking from Ivy to Penny and back.
‘Oh, yes.’ Ivy nodded solemnly. ‘Penny is the one girl at this school with real style . Don’t you think?’
‘Oohhh . . .’ There was a collective sigh as all the girls clustered around Penny, looking her up and down, from her black lace T-shirt and silver dragon bracelet to her skinny black jeans and boots.
Penny’s cheeks were flushed, but she looked desperately hopeful. Ivy gave her a firm nod of support. ‘I always think that Penny looks just right.’
‘I do like your style,’ the closest goth-girl said to Penny.
‘Oh . . . me, too.’
‘And me.’
It’s working! Ivy thought . . .
. . . Until the goth-girls turned away from Penny to beam at Ivy.
‘You’re so perceptive, Ivy!’
‘You notice everything !’
‘Of course Ivy was the one who noticed that Penny wasn’t just a normal goth!’
At least that part’s true, Ivy thought glumly. But only in ways that these girls don’t realise!
The girls were all flocking back to her now. ‘How can we learn to see people the way you do, Ivy?’ another goth-girl sighed wistfully.
I can’t take this any more! Losing her cool completely, Ivy gave in to sarcasm. Waving her hands, she droned, ‘O . . . pen . . . your . . . eyes . . .’
But even blatant rudeness didn’t work.
‘You’re so right, Ivy.’
‘Of course she’s right!’
‘I will open my eyes and see people better. I swear it!’
‘If only there were glasses or contact lenses that helped us see true style,’ one of the girls mused. ‘If some scientist could invent that, they’d be a gazillionaire . . . and they’d deserve it!’