‘What’s wrong?’ She hurried across the grass, fighting panic. Ever since she’d got his text message after school, she’d been worried – and judging by the nervous look on her boyfriend’s face, she had been right to feel that way.
As he stood at the edge of the park, Brendan’s face looked even more pale than normal, and his expression was tense as he pointed over his shoulder. ‘See for yourself,’ he said.
Frowning, Ivy followed the direction of his finger – and blinked.
‘Wait a minute,’ she said. ‘Is that Sophia?’
Of all the people she’d never expected to see hanging out in a Lincoln Vale park, Sophia was probably top of the list! Ivy’s best friend was lounging just beside the purpose-built skatepark with her head tipped back, wearing sunglasses and . . .
Ivy’s jaw dropped open. ‘Is she tanning?’ Everyone knew how bad the sun was for vampires!
Brendan turned up his hands in a Who knows? gesture. ‘Or she’s pretending to.’
‘Well . . .’ Ivy gulped. ‘That’s one way to make sure no one realises you’re a vampire. But we need to figure out what’s going on!’
She started towards the crowded skatepark. Time for an extraction operation, stat! But as she set off towards her friend, students began crowding around her.
‘Ivy?’
‘Oh, wow, it’s Ivy!’
Oh no, she thought. The popularity’s kicking in again. How did celebrities deal with this All. The. Time? It was exhausting – and inconvenient.
Near-goths and bunnies came streaming across the park to join her.
‘I’ve been wanting so badly to meet you!’
‘You’re Amelia’s friend, aren’t you?’
‘No!’ Ivy said. She had to step back as two intense-looking goths descended on her, looking as hungry as if she were an afternoon snack. ‘Not really,’ she said, trying to walk past them. ‘I just met Amelia today.’
‘But I saw you talking to her.’ One of the goths, whose hair was a bright magenta, sighed wistfully as she blocked Ivy’s escape route. ‘Amelia actually spoke to you! And you got to speak back!’
‘Uh . . .’ Ivy blinked. ‘Yeah, so?’
The goth-girls let out a moan of envy. ‘You are so cool!’ Over her shoulder, Ivy could just glimpse Sophia – but her friend may as well have been on the opposite side of a huge ravine. How was she ever going to get to her?
Argh! Ivy looked for an escape route, but there was no way out – and more ninth-graders were flocking towards her from all around the park. I never realised being popular was so hard! These wannabe groupies were sticking to her like the wedding confetti she was still finding in her hair!
Maybe it’s time for a death-squint, she thought. That would chase them all away! But as she looked into the hopelessly adoring faces, she felt guilt twisting inside her. They didn’t mean any harm. They were just in her way.
Luckily, Brendan stepped in front of her, and put his hand flat out, like a celebrity’s no-nonsense bodyguard. ‘OK, guys.’ His voice was firm. ‘We want some time alone, now. Got it?’ He took hold of Ivy’s hand and she heard some of the girls give audible sighs of adoration. One of them whispered in her friend’s ear and Ivy caught the words ‘so sweet’ and ‘adorable’.
‘If you say so, Brendan,’ said one of the bunnies. ‘We’ll leave you to it.’
‘See you soon, Ivy,’ said Magenta Hair. ‘Maybe with Amelia, too, next time? Right?’
Ivy let out a yelp as the last of her followers drifted obediently away. ‘The sooner we can get out of this park, the better!’ She stomped across the grass to Sophia’s lounging figure. She still had her face turned to the sun, ignoring the crowded skatepark beside them. ‘What are you doing?’ she hissed.
Sophia jerked upright. Her sunglasses slid down her nose and her backpack tipped over, spilling its contents on to the skatepark pavement. ‘Ivy? What are you . . .?’
‘I could ask you the same thing,’ Ivy said. ‘I mean – wait!’ She gasped. ‘I don’t believe it.’ She pointed at where Sophia’s backpack was spilling on to the pavement. ‘Is that gingham?’
‘No!’ Sophia scrambled to stuff the very-much-gingham fabric back into the backpack. ‘That’s just . . . for a project.’
‘What project?’ Ivy demanded. ‘We’re in all the same classes. I would know if you had a gingham-y assignment. What is up with you?’
‘Nothing!’ Sophia shoved her sunglasses back into place, hiding her eyes. ‘I was just . . . looking to meet some of the people from Lincoln Vale. If we’re going to be at school with them, it’s probably a good idea to make friends, right? So they don’t suspect anything?’
‘Hmm.’ Ivy crossed her arms. ‘I’m already starting to suspect something!’
Before she could continue, though, shouts of excitement sounded behind her. A skateboard whizzed by so close, she could feel the breeze against her back. She spun around.
Finn the skater-boy was bowing to the crowd, his blond hair windblown and his grin wide and happy. His buddies gathered around to pound his back and bump his fist.
‘Bodacious “full cab”, brah!’
‘You are the “See-sen”!’
‘You mean “Sensei”, doofus!’
As she watched the skaters joke with each other, Ivy looked beyond them and saw girls in matching pale blonde, pixie-style haircuts. Skater-girls. They were cheering and applauding. ‘Go Finn!’
Ivy rolled her eyes. I can’t believe anyone could get that excited about a few flips on a skateboard! Turning her back on the skaters, she focused on what was important.
‘You know how I make friends?’ she said to Sophia. ‘I ask them questions, and they give me answers. Some people call that “conversation”.’
‘Yeah,’ Brendan put in. ‘You not making conversation is like a world-class baseball . . . thrower man not using his “wicked arm” . . .’
Ivy sniggered, giving Sophia a playful nudge. ‘See how odd you’re being – Brendan’s trying to make sports references.’
Sophia looked down, her fingers twisting through the strap of her backpack. ‘I . . . well, I didn’t . . .’ she stammered, then sighed. ‘I just became shy once I got here.’