‘Iiiivy!’ Sophia and Holly fluttered towards her, blocking her way. ‘You are soooo cool! Won’t you tell us how you did your hair? And your makeup? And your laces? And –’
‘Um . . .’ Smiling desperately, Ivy tried to sidestep past them, but they wouldn’t give her an inch of space. She could barely breathe as they clung closer and closer, filling up her vision.
‘Wasn’t the homework boring? What did you do last night, Ivy? Won’t you tell us how to be like you? Ivy, Ivy, Ivy, Ivy . . .’
Panic made Ivy’s heartbeat thrum against her skin. Her face twisted into a scowl, but they wouldn’t step back. She couldn’t escape. She couldn’t breathe. She looked desperately to where Olivia waited, further down the hall, but her sister was too far away to help.
‘Can we cut?’ Charlotte asked sharply.
‘Cut!’ Camilla bellowed.
Grinning, Sophia and Holly high-fived each other and stepped back to await Charlotte’s verdict.
The ex-head cheerleader was frowning intently. ‘You can’t do that thing with your face,’ she told Ivy.
‘What thing?’ Ivy stared at her.
Charlotte shook her head impatiently. ‘That squinty, I-hate-you face. That’s too mean.’
‘But they were smothering me!’ Ivy protested.
‘I know.’ Charlotte rolled her eyes. ‘Believe me, I know! But at most, you should look mildly annoyed.’
‘Sorry?’ Ivy shook her head wearily. ‘I don’t even know what that looks like!’
‘Oh, for heaven’s sake. Let me.’ Charlotte swept past Ivy to take her place in the gauntlet, and Ivy was only too happy to step back.
There may have been a real Gauntlet at Wallachia Academy for vampires . . . but the Hallway Gauntlet at Franklin Grove High is infinitely worse.
Camilla counted down. ‘Three . . . two . . . one . . . action!’
Walking briskly, Charlotte stepped into the hallway. Sophia and Holly swept down around her, shrieking with excitement.
‘Ivy, Ivy, Iiiiivy!’
Huh. Ivy’s eyes narrowed as she watched Charlotte’s reaction. She stood listening, without trying to step past them, but her forehead was drawn into impatient lines. As she listened, she glanced down at her watch in a move that read clearly: I have somewhere else I need to be!
Without a word of prompting – or an I-hate-you face – Holly and Sophia started to clear a path for Charlotte to walk through.
‘Oh. My. Darkness!’ Ivy shook her head in disbelief. ‘How did you do that?’
Charlotte shrugged. ‘Just act like your time is very important, and the people around you will treat it that way! You don’t have to be mean, or treat people badly – you just have to be honest about who you are . . . not the person other people think you should be.’
Charlotte’s face softened. Looking rueful, she met Ivy’s eyes directly. ‘That is a lesson you helped me learn all through eighth grade.’
‘Oh.’ Ivy felt her own face soften. Wow. There’s one more thing I wouldn’t have believed a year ago! ‘OK.’ She blew out a breath. ‘Can I try it again?’
Camilla nodded. ‘Take your places, everybody,’ she barked. ‘We are back at the Hallway Gauntlet . . . take two!’
This time, Ivy felt a sense of purpose leading her as she stepped forwards. As Sophia and Ivy converged on her, she fought her instinctive panic, trying to remember Charlotte’s advice. Small, impatient frown . . . look at watch . . .
Charlotte’s voice rapped out. ‘Can we cut?’
‘Oh, fine. Cut!’ Camilla sighed heavily. ‘I’ll bet real directors don’t get told when to cut, though.’
Ivy didn’t have any time to laugh. Charlotte was already hurrying towards her, and this time she reached out to physically push Ivy’s posture into place. ‘Shoulders straight and head up, that’s all good, but don’t raise your chin too much – you’ll give yourself neck strain!’
‘Seriously?’ Ivy let out a half-laugh. ‘Don’t you think you might be getting a little too obsessive, now? I mean –’
‘Why do you think I had to miss summer camp that one year?’ Charlotte demanded.
‘Um . . .’ Ivy thought back. ‘Oh, that’s right, you did miss a year. Why –?’
‘Because I was stuck at home wearing a neck brace, that’s why!’
‘Oh.’ Ivy’s eyes widened. Wow. ‘OK,’ she said. ‘I’ll keep my chin down.’
Who knew that popularity could actually give a girl physical injuries? I thought all I had to worry about was emotional damage!
‘Try again,’ Charlotte ordered.
Ivy nodded, rolling back her shoulders like a boxer getting ready to jump back into the ring. I can do this, she told herself. For the first time ever, it felt like it might actually be true.
She kept her shoulders back, her chin lowered, her eyes on her watch, her attitude impatient but not mean . . .
‘And I’m through!’ As she swept past Holly and Sophia in exactly the way that Charlotte had, Ivy let out a shout of triumph. ‘I did it! Woot!’ She punched the air.
‘Ahem!’ Camilla cleared her throat. ‘You’ve made it past the first obstacle . . . You still have the annoying skater-boy and the timid cheerleader lying in wait!’
Uh-oh. Lowering her fist, Ivy looked around. She’s right. Brendan was poised halfway down the hall, miming turning the wheels on his invisible skateboard. Olivia huddled near the end, her shoulders drawn up, holding a stack of textbooks in her arms as her eyes darted nervously around her.
‘Oops.’ Ivy sighed. ‘OK. I’m ready.’ She started forwards, trying to put herself back into Charlotte-mode . . .
And Camilla bellowed, ‘Cut!’
‘Sorry?’ Ivy stared.
Camilla rolled her eyes under her beret. ‘What on earth do you think you’re doing, Vega? We need to run this scene through from the top !’
‘What?!’ Ivy’s mouth dropped open. She turned slowly around . . . and found Holly and Sophia bouncing in place, getting ready to pounce all over again.
‘Ohhhh, fine.’ She sighed. ‘I guess I can do it again. Probably.’
‘Good,’ Charlotte said. ‘Because I have a few more notes.’