‘Got it.’ Ivy slipped the ring on the ring finger of her right hand. A perfect fit.
Brendan bumped shoulders with her. ‘I know,’ he said, ‘you don’t like loads of mush and romance.’
‘To say the least,’ Ivy said firmly. Still, she couldn’t help stroking one finger over the little face of the bat on her ring. She looked up into Brendan’s eyes and found him grinning at her.
‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘I thought your return home was important enough to mark, but from now on –’ Brendan crossed his heart – ‘I promise, you’re going to be totally ignored and overlooked. Just the way you like it.’
‘You better,’ said Ivy, biting the insides of her cheeks to keep a dumb smile off her face. ‘I have something for you too.’
Nearby, Camilla jumped up, breaking into the Great Pastry Debate. ‘Come on, guys! Split into two groups, and pretend those sticks over there are swords. I need to figure out the choreography for my fight scene! Ivy, are you two on-board?’
‘Not this time.’ Ivy waved Camilla off. As the others took up formations under Camilla’s direction, laughing and fencing with the sticks they’d picked up from the grass, Ivy and Brendan scooted to a more sheltered spot. As soon as they were safely out of cupcake range – and, she hoped, out of sight as well – Ivy reached into her black rucksack and pulled out the gift she’d felt almost too embarrassed to bring along. She didn’t want any observers for this one.
‘The Dead Travel Fast ?’ Brendan said. Now he was the one gaping in amazement. ‘This is my favourite book!’
‘I know that, dummy.’ Ivy rolled her eyes as she dropped it in his lap, glad she had her back turned to the others. ‘Do you think I would have got it otherwise? It’s a first edition copy.’
‘A first edition, huh?’ Brendan raised his eyebrows in mock outrage. ‘Ivy Vega, you are a total fraud. You may pretend to be tough, but inside you are as soft as Holly’s cupcakes.’
‘Whatever!’ Ivy groaned. But she didn’t resist when he pulled her into a quick hug.
Wow. Olivia hid a grin as she quickly looked away from Ivy and Brendan. I’ve never seen Ivy so loved-up ! Usually her sister put on such a front of carelessness; sometimes it could be hard even for Olivia to guess at her feelings. Right now, though, Ivy and Brendan were smiling into each other’s faces with pure delight.
It must be true love, Olivia thought. Of course, true love is easy. Not like me and Jackson, with all the distance and . . .
‘Excellent!’ Camilla said, and waved for everyone to set down their ‘swords’. ‘That’ll definitely work on-screen.’
Olivia hid a smile. That was Camilla – she might have spent the last half hour in a world of her own, caught up by the new movie idea in her head, but now that she was wide awake, she was back in full director-mode. Olivia didn’t mind being bossed about a bit to make her friend happy, though. Camilla had been partly responsible for Olivia meeting her ex-boyfriend, Jackson, when they’d got jobs on a film set in Franklin Grove.
Jackson . . . Don’t think about him !
‘Let’s play Frisbee!’ Olivia called, looking for any distraction she could find.
As the group arranged themselves to play the new game, she caught Ivy’s eye and the two of them smiled. Ivy’s back where she belongs, Olivia thought. Camilla’s in boss-mode. Brendan’s healthy. Everything’s back to normal.
Almost . . .
‘Catch!’ Brendan called, as he threw the Frisbee. It arced over Holly’s head. The new girl jumped into the air, but she missed it by at least three metres. The Frisbee landed just short of the park gates, and Holly’s shoulders slumped.
Olivia shook her head. That’s a really short throw, for Brendan ! Normally, Brendan would have been able to throw that Frisbee way out of the park with his vampire super-strength. Not that any of them could let on about this in front of Holly – vampire secrets needed to stay just that. Olivia was lucky to be in on the secret, but she had to keep it, just like the vampires did.
Some of the group couldn’t resist a bit of teasing, though. ‘Not back up to your usual strength yet, Brendan?’ Ivy teased.
‘Maybe you need a bit more rest, huh?’ their friend Sophia added, laughing as Brendan flushed.
Holly’s voice cut through all the teasing: ‘What are you guys talking about?’
Uh-oh, Olivia thought. She turned and saw her new friend staring at the rest of them as if they were speaking gibberish.
‘That went really fast and really far,’ Holly said, looking over her shoulder. ‘How could he ever throw further than that ?’
‘Oh, that was just . . .’ Olivia said, her words falling away into a long, drawn-out ‘uuhhhh’ sound, ‘ . . . an inside joke!’
Holly smiled uncertainly back at her. ‘Oh, OK. Um, yeah, funny . . . I’ll just go get the Frisbee.’
Guilt tightened Olivia’s chest as Holly walked away, the embroidered flowers on her jeans glinting in the sunlight. Olivia knew all too well what it was like to feel an outsider in Franklin Grove. The last thing she wanted was to make her new friend feel that way.
As she turned back to the others, she saw the vampires in their group – Ivy, Brendan and Sophia – exchanging warning glances. The First Law of the Night said their existence must never be revealed to outsiders. Holly wasn’t like Camilla, who’d lived around vampires for years and no longer noticed or questioned the fact that her classmates could run super-fast. Holly was new to Franklin Grove. She was a true outsider.
And she was smart.
As Holly picked up the Frisbee, Ivy walked quickly over to Olivia. Something sparkled on her hand, catching Olivia’s attention.
‘Oh, wow. Ivy, did Brendan just give you a –’
‘Why did you invite her along?’ Ivy interrupted. ‘I thought we were supposed to be relaxing with the gang today. Now I have to be super-cautious so that Holly doesn’t guess anything. One little bit of teasing and she’s already starting in with the awkward questions.’
Olivia suddenly didn’t feel like complimenting her sister on her gift any more. ‘You know, Ivy, you didn’t have to tease Brendan in front of her . . .’
‘I just wanted to have a bit of fun with my boyfriend!’ Ivy protested. ‘Is that off-limits now, with her around?’