Huh? Olivia stared at him. What is he talking about? She might be a former cheerleader, but she hadn’t done a front-flip in months, much less in the school hallway. Why would he think . . . ?
Oh . She sighed. If she looked like me, it must have been Ivy . . . and it sounds like something set off her vampire reflexes . So much for keeping those hidden at school! ‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘I’m that girl’s sister.’
‘Really?’ Josh pulled a face. ‘Geez, you two could be twins!’
Olivia had to call on all of her acting training to keep herself from letting out a cheer of triumph. Foul, mean, and dumb . . . he’s absolutely perfect! There couldn’t be a more Awful Alternative in their school. Now all I have to do is bring them together.
She glanced at the front of the bus, where Amelia was still sitting alone and looking out the window. If I can just talk Josh into going up there and asking her out . . .
Leaning across the top of her seat, she asked as casually as she could, ‘So, are you seeing anybody?’
‘Ha!’ He burst into laughter. ‘I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!’ He shook his head and pointed straight at her, as his friends exploded into hilarity all around him. ‘That moment you “bumped into” me – you were just faking, weren’t you?’
‘What?’ Olivia’s jaw dropped open. ‘No! What – why –’
‘You were just trying to get my attention!’ He shook his head, still chortling. ‘Listen, kiddo, I’m flattered, believe me, but I have a reputation to think about, y’know? I just can’t date a ninth grader . . .’ His gaze swept her up and down. ‘Especially not one who looks like she’s gone swimming in cotton candy!’
Ouch! Olivia snapped her jaw shut. Desperately, she fought to remember Jackson’s acting tips on how not to blush. Tongue behind my teeth; think of something cold . . .
Maybe it would even have worked . . . if it hadn’t been for what happened next.
‘Hey, everyone!’ The boy next to Josh cupped one hand to his mouth to call out to the rest of the bus. ‘You should have heard it! This ninth-grade chick was just telling Josh how much she loooooves him!’
As the entire bus burst into laughter, and students all around her turned to point, Olivia sank back down into her seat. She could feel her skin burning, and there were no acting skills that could stop it.
Worse yet, while everyone else had turned to stare at the back of the bus, Amelia just kept looking out the window without turning around once. Her iPod must have drowned out all the noise. When the bus came to a halt a few minutes later, she walked straight to the door without glancing back for a single second at her Awful Alternative.
Olivia followed after with clenched teeth and hunched shoulders, while Josh’s friends sent catcalls after her. This was definitely the last time she would ever take the Lincoln Vale bus!
As she marched through the hallway ten minutes later, Olivia did her best not to make eye-contact with anyone . Seriously, had the kids from the bus really had to tell her embarrassing story to every single person they met today? She could hear whispers on every side, and she didn’t need to have vampire hearing to know that they were talking about her.
I was trying to help this whole school with ‘Operation Famelia’! she wanted to yell. I was doing it for you guys!
Instead, she kept her head down and her gaze fixed on the ground . . . until a strong hand suddenly grabbed her arm. Even as Olivia yelped, she was dragged sideways across the hallway floor. A moment later, a door slammed shut, closing her off from the crowded hallway. Shelves full of pens and paper rose around her.
‘What on earth?’ She whirled around. Ivy! ‘What’s going on?’ Olivia asked her twin. ‘And why are we in a stationery cupboard?’
‘I should ask you that!’ Ivy stared at her. ‘Where have you been this morning? When I didn’t see you on the bus, I thought you must be sick today.’
‘Not . . . exactly.’ Olivia sighed. At least the rumour mill hadn’t reached Ivy yet. Maybe even the gossips were smart enough to know that the most popular girl in ninth grade wouldn’t take well at all to people mocking her twin. ‘I got the bus from Lincoln Vale.’
‘Sorry?’ Ivy frowned. ‘But why –? No, never mind. I don’t need any more of a headache!’
Olivia looked more closely at her sister. Ivy’s skin was paler than usual, and her eyes looked shadowed. ‘Why are we in a stationery cupboard ?’
Ivy shrugged, looking miserable. ‘I didn’t know where else to go. I don’t know anything at this crazy school! I walk into the hallways and just get overcome with the urge to . . . well, hide!’ She slumped back against the shelves of paper, wrapping her arms around her chest defensively. ‘I couldn’t think of anywhere else we could talk without being interrupted.’
Olivia shook her head, concern overwhelming her earlier embarrassment. ‘This has to stop,’ she said. ‘You can’t hide in cupboards every day for four years, can you?’
‘Maybe not,’ Ivy muttered. ‘But I also can’t give fashion tips to every pale-faced, eyeliner-wearing ninth grader who thinks the Pall Bearers sold out . . . which they did not!’ She straightened, her face darkening with obvious outrage. ‘There’s absolutely nothing wrong with keyboards, no matter what any of those goths want to say!’
‘Ohh-kay,’ Olivia said, and put her hands up. ‘I didn’t criticise your favourite band, though. Remember?’
‘I know.’ Ivy sagged again, the energy seeming to drain out of her. ‘The thing is, I don’t want to change just because of this popularity nonsense . . . but right now, I don’t see how I can avoid it.’
Olivia reached out and took her sister’s hand in hers. ‘Maybe change is just inevitable,’ she said quietly. ‘I mean, look at us. We’re older now, and we’re in a new school, with new people all around us. Well . . .’ she glanced over her shoulder ‘new stationery around us, at the moment. But you know what I mean! We’re going to have to change whether we like it or not.’
Ivy squeezed her hand even as she scowled. ‘I wish I didn’t have to.’
‘Seriously?’ Olivia couldn’t help giggling as she imagined it. ‘Are you telling me you want to be fourteen for the rest of your life, Ivy Vega?’