The girl pressed on, forcing Ivy further backwards. ‘But what brand of pale foundation do you use? You can tell me, Ivy! I’d never tell anyone else!’
‘I don’t really . . .’ Ivy began.
As she backed away, she walked straight into a sweet-faced bunny girl who was trying to edge past the group of goths. It would have been bad enough if Ivy was human – but with her vampire strength, she knocked the girl straight to the ground.
Oh, no! Olivia raced over to help. Ivy was already apologising as she leaned over the bunny girl.
‘I’m so sorry!’ Ivy said, for at least the third time. ‘I wasn’t looking where I was going. Are you OK?’
Olivia and Ivy took an arm each as they helped the girl to her feet. But the bunny shrugged them off.
‘No, no!’ she said to Ivy. ‘Please don’t apologise. It was my fault. I totally should have been watching where you were going! No one should get in your way. Ever!’
Hey. Suddenly frowning, Olivia let go of her arm. She didn’t have to be nasty about it. That kind of cruel sarcasm had been exactly what their old nemesis Charlotte Brown had specialised in, back at Franklin Grove Middle.
But as Olivia watched the other girl, the truth dawned on her. She wasn’t being sarcastic at all. She actually thought the collision was somehow her fault.
‘Please forgive me!’ she said earnestly, gathering up the last of her books. ‘I promise I won’t do it again.’
‘But . . .’ Ivy began.
It was too late. Still apologising, the girl had already hurried away.
Olivia met Ivy’s gaze and saw the desperate frustration simmering there. She started to step forwards but the goths had already moved back in. They swept between her and her twin like a tsunami. Olivia felt dizzy as she watched the wave carry Ivy down the hall. Even though she was standing still, it seemed like the world was spinning around her.
Ivy and Sophia were right. High school really is weird! Olivia was used to fangirls swooping down on Jackson and other movie stars. But on her own sister? Just for being cool ?
Olivia took a deep breath and rubbed her eyes, trying to steady herself. But when she opened her eyes again, she saw the weirdest sight yet. Ivy’s best friend Sophia was walking towards her down the hall, wearing one of her usual sleek black outfits . . . but her hair was . . . partially blonde!
It’s so different, Olivia thought, staring. But it’s fabulous!
Ivy had told her all about how Sophia had crushed on a skater-boy and gone pixie-blonde for a couple of days. The boy wasn’t anywhere in sight now, but Olivia absolutely loved Sophia’s new hair!
Sophia’s black roots were already growing back, and she had obviously taken the opportunity to dye the tips of her hair the same colour, leaving jagged streaks of blonde in chaotic patterns all over her head. It looked a little bit like lightning!
‘Hey, you!’ Sophia’s lips curved into a smile as she joined Olivia. ‘You’re back! How was London?’
‘It was all great,’ Olivia said weakly. She shook her head wonderingly even as she moved forwards for a welcome-back hug. ‘But you . . . what about you? You look amazing. I love your hair!’
‘Thanks. Me, too!’ Sophia hugged Olivia. When she pulled back, Olivia could see her scanning the crowd of goths surrounding Ivy. ‘I saw that little scene with the bunny girl, though. Is everyone here still sucking up to Ivy?’
‘Oh, yes.’ Olivia sighed as she stepped back. She could hardly bring herself to look at the disaster unfolding for her twin. How was Ivy, of all people, going to endure four years of this? Even now, one of the goth-girls was stroking Ivy’s hair, and Ivy was visibly shuddering with displeasure. ‘Maybe I should ask Jackson how he deals with all the attention,’ Olivia murmured.
Then she grinned. Hey, that’s right! I get to talk to Jackson whenever I like, now. After all their months apart, it still felt delicious to remember that they were finally a couple again.
Sophia cocked one eyebrow at her in a Come on, now look. ‘Ivy may be popular, but she’s not quite A-list yet.’ She grinned mischievously. ‘Besides, can you really see her using the classic Hollywood disguise of sunglasses and a baseball cap?’
‘Hmm. Maybe not,’ Olivia admitted.
As Sophia put her black faux-leather shoulder bag in her locker, Olivia looked around for her own locker. Her eyebrows scrunched together as she read the numbers. 61, 62, 63 . . . Wait a minute. Where’s 323? She’d assumed her locker would be in the same area of the hall as all the others in her grade. But these numbers weren’t anywhere near her own!
Frowning, she pulled out her cell phone. Maybe I’m misremembering it.
When she looked in her phone’s message box, though, she saw a second text from the school – a text she’d never actually read, in all the craziness of filming.
Drat. She sighed as she read the text. It turned out, because she had missed Week One of school, her locker wasn’t with the other freshmen at all! Instead, it was further down – with the juniors and seniors.
Oh, well. Considering how pushy her fan club is, I wasn’t going to get to hang out with Ivy anyway. Shrugging, Olivia put the phone in her backpack and stood on tiptoe to try to catch her twin’s eye.
‘I’ll see you in homeroom,’ she whispered. The crowd might be intense, but she knew her vampire twin would have no problem hearing her words. ‘I have to go find my locker. It’s not with yours.’
Ivy broke off from yet another fashion question – ‘Honestly, I don’t really have an opinion on whether purple lipstick “totally stakes” black lipstick!’ – to wave back at her. ‘See you later!’ she called.
At that, Ivy’s entire adoring crowd swung round to glare at Olivia. Every goth eyed her up and down with curled lips and frowns . . . then turned their attention back to Ivy.
Dismissed, Olivia realised. She gritted her teeth, forcing herself to keep her head high. Whatever!
Maybe Ivy’s goth-fans didn’t approve of her sparkly pink outfit, but that didn’t stop it from being fabulous . . . right?
Right, she told herself firmly. But she couldn’t help a small voice in her head from asking: Why is Ivy staying with them even after she saw them do that? Olivia had never seen her looking so helpless or so overwhelmed . . . but she knew her twin. Ivy was the strongest person she’d ever met. Why wasn’t she just speaking her mind to her ‘fans’ and walking away? She isn’t secretly enjoying all this attention . . . is she?