She looked down at her carefully chosen outfit. Her glittery pink short-sleeved shirt, with its shiny Union Jack in the centre, was her very favourite British souvenir, and it looked perfect with her paler pink capris. I’m all set!
Unfortunately, her stomach didn’t seem to be listening to her head. First it did a nervous front-flip. Then a backflip! Olivia swallowed hard. I’ve performed whole cheerleading routines with fewer flips and tumbles than my belly is doing right now!
Olivia took a deep breath and turned to look at her sister. As long as I’m with Ivy, it’ll all be fine.
But Ivy was groaning as she gazed into the dimly-lit front hallway of Franklin Grove High. ‘You see?’ she muttered to Olivia. ‘I told you this was Bizarro World.’
As Olivia followed her twin into the school, she was forced to agree. Her head whipped back and forth as she tried to take in everything she saw in the crowded hallway. And what an unexpected crowd it was . . .
Wow. The goths really were in charge here! Goth girls and boys lined the walls, leaning against the lockers with their arms crossed, wearing sunglasses despite the low light. Other goths slouched in groups down the centre of the hallway while the few bunnies leaped to the side to make way for them, nearly squeaking with panic as they approached. And then there were the skaters . . .
‘So, are you freaked out yet?’ said Ivy, giving Olivia a nudge.
‘Well . . .’ Olivia shrugged, settling her own nerves. ‘It can’t be more of a mix here than the kind I saw on the film set. The actors and the crew members all got along just fine, no matter how different they were. In fact . . .’ She dropped her voice. ‘I’m pretty sure the actress who played Jackson’s mom was secretly dating the key grip!’
‘The what ?’ Ivy stared at her. ‘She was dating a key ? Or a glove? How did that even work?’
Oops. Olivia shook her head ruefully. ‘Sorry. Technical term. Maybe I should have saved that bit of gossip for Camilla?’
‘Maybe,’ Ivy agreed. ‘But you can do that later. Right now . . .’ She drew a deep breath, looking even paler than usual. Her lips twisted. ‘It’s time to face the music!’ Squaring her shoulders, she headed into the crowd.
Why does she look like she’s heading into battle? Olivia wondered. As she walked by her sister’s side, her concern deepened. Something is seriously wrong. Normally, Ivy looked so confident as she walked around. She never cared about other people’s opinions. But here . . . she looked tense. Her eyes darted everywhere, as if she were afraid of being attacked.
And maybe she had a point. As they headed for their lockers together, every head turned to watch them. Olivia didn’t need vampire hearing to pick up the whispers rising all around them.
‘Is that Ivy’s twin ?’
‘That’s not possible! She’s so . . . pink !’
‘Geez, look at her skin-tone. Why would she put on a fake tan like that?’
‘Maybe it’s not fake.’
‘Then how could she have let it happen ?’
Gritting her teeth, Olivia hung on to the shoulder strap of her sequinned bag and forced herself not to react. They’re not really making fun of me, she told herself. They’re just confused. And why wouldn’t they be? Ivy and I must be the least alike identical twins in the world!
She wasn’t the only one hearing the whispers. As Ivy came to a stop in front of her locker, Olivia could see the frustration on her twin’s face.
‘Are you OK?’ Ivy muttered.
‘I’m fine.’ Olivia gave her a reassuring smile.
Knowing how protective Ivy was, she guessed her sister had probably wanted to stop and shout at every single person who’d whispered about Olivia on the way. As sweet as that was, Olivia couldn’t let it happen.
Unlike the students at Franklin Grove Middle School, Lincoln Vale kids hadn’t grown up with vampires. The Franklin Grove vamps had to work extra hard here to keep their secret safe. That meant: Make no waves!
‘It’s just going to take a while to get used to, that’s all,’ Olivia said firmly.
‘Good luck with that,’ Ivy grumbled. ‘I’ve been here a week already, and I’m not getting used to anything!’
‘Oh, come on.’ Olivia gave her twin a sympathetic smile. ‘There’s got to be something good about this school, right? I mean . . .’ she looked around the dimly lit hallway, searching for something positive to say ‘. . . at least the light isn’t bright enough to hurt your eyes.’
Ivy snorted. ‘I wish . . . oh, no!’
‘What is it?’ As her sister’s eyes widened with horror, Olivia twisted around . . . just in time to see half a dozen goths descend in a mass of black hair, flapping black trench coats and jangling silver jewellery.
They swept down around Ivy like a flock of blackbirds.
‘Oh, Ivy, where did you get that killer ensemble?’ The girl in front was almost shrieking with excitement, reaching out to stroke Ivy’s Pall Bearers T-shirt with one black-nailed hand.
Olivia watched Ivy squint – not in one of her patented death-stares this time, but in an obvious attempt to hide the fact that she was rolling her eyes as she scooted backwards.
‘These are the exact same clothes I was wearing last Friday,’ she said, sighing. ‘There’s nothing special about them.’
‘Ohhhh!’ breathed the girl who’d asked the question. She clapped one hand to her mouth, her eyes widening in obvious wonder. ‘That is so daring of you!’
The two girls behind Olivia started whispering frantically.
‘She’s so cool, she doesn’t even do laundry!’
‘I’m going to try that, too!’
More and more goths gravitated towards them, as if Ivy were a magnet pulling them in from throughout the school. Olivia had never seen anything like it. Her twin had no choice but to keep backing away to create room for the newcomers. Within a few minutes, she had somehow drifted from one side of the hall to the other, fending off fashion-related questions with every step.
‘But how do you get so pale?’ the closest girl asked imploringly. ‘I want to do it, too!’
‘Um . . .’ Ivy gave Olivia a look of obvious desperation, but they were separated by so many goths now, Olivia could only shrug sympathetically. ‘I don’t know,’ Ivy said. ‘Just luck?’