Petra set her jaw, practically glaring at the tree. ‘You’re right. I have to see him. Give me a boost.’
Ivy held out her hands, lacing her fingers together to form a step for Petra like she had seen her sister do during cheerleading practice. She lifted Petra to the lowest branch and in turn Petra reached out a hand to help Ivy up. Together, they scrambled to a higher branch.
‘Can you see them?’ Ivy asked, breathing hard.
Petra pointed. ‘There, on the sports field. There’s a bunch of boys playing.’ Ivy watched them running around in their rugby shirts, waiting for the match to start.
‘This is crazy.’ Ivy laughed, even though she wasn’t sure she really thought it was funny. ‘It’s like we’re living in one big zoo and the boys are the main exhibit.’
Petra clutched her heart. ‘I wish we had better views, then. Up close and personal.’
This girl has it bad! ‘Yeah,’ Ivy said, leaning back against the trunk, her legs dangling from the branch she was sitting on. ‘Back in Franklin Grove I got to hang out with my boyfriend all the time. He was one of my best friends. I can’t imagine . . . living like this.’
The two of them fell quiet. Beside her, Ivy could sense Petra holding her breath, probably hoping for a glance of Etan.
There was the sound of a twig snapping and an adult’s voice called from the base of the tree.
‘You two, what are you doing up there?’ A long-nosed teacher with circular spectacles peered up at them from below.
Ivy and Petra looked at each other wide-eyed and scrambled down.
‘Coming!’ called Ivy.
She dropped to the ground only a moment after Petra, brushing off her uniform.
‘Sorry, Miss . . . um . . .’
‘Kornikova,’ said the woman, like she’d just swallowed a spoonful of curdled milk.
‘Miss Kornikova. Right.’ Ivy tried to look innocent. ‘You see, we were just preparing for our first Herbal Science class this afternoon and – oh, look at the time! We better get going!’
Ivy grabbed Petra’s hand and the two of them scurried away, walking fast past the forest. Petra had fallen silent and Ivy was glad to be left to her thoughts for a few moments. That was a close call!
The two of them sat through lessons that felt more like torture for Ivy: choir practice, which involved singing Gothic chants, and then on to Domestic Science, where they were taught the finer points of making steak tartare. Ivy loved Gothic songs, but her newly long fangs kept catching on her gums. And although she loved eating steak tartare, she hated chopping up the meat with the raw egg! Where’s Horatio when you need him?
Finally it was time for Herbal Science. They headed towards a large, glass greenhouse. This was one class that Ivy was actually looking forward to. Around the time of Prince Alex and Tessa’s royal wedding, Ivy had discovered her knack for vampire botany. Olivia had been mistakenly treated with vampire medicine after she’d fallen into a nasty patch of Bloodbite Nettles. With the help of the Lazar family herbal scientist, Helga, Ivy had created a poultice, mixing plants and potions to cure her twin sister.
Ivy and Petra arrived outside the state-of-the-art greenhouse with its whirring fans and electric sprinklers. Half a dozen metal tables were set up behind a chalkboard, with stools lined up along both sides of the tables. Potted plants hung in baskets above, their tendrils snaking through the air.
‘Good afternoon, class!’ From behind a screen, an older vampire woman emerged, wearing a dark-green apron and canvas gloves. Her frizzy grey hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail and streaks of dirt covered both her cheeks.
‘Helga?’ Ivy blurted before she could stop herself. ‘I didn’t know you were teaching here.’
‘Ivy Vega!’ Helga peeled off her gloves and rushed over, her hand extended. Ivy was about to pull Helga to her in a hug when she noticed something sparkling on her ring finger. She froze, staring at Helga’s hand. It was a sparkly antique diamond ring. ‘You’re engaged!’ she exclaimed.
Helga gave Ivy a shy smile. ‘Horatio proposed yesterday. We decided we didn’t have any time to waste!’
Olivia and Ivy had witnessed the butler’s crush on Helga develop into full-blown love during the run up to the royal wedding. Olivia had thought it was the most romantic thing ever and even Ivy had to admit she was pleased to see these two lovely people sharing secret glances. It had been like watching two old-style Hollywood actors politely charm each other in one of those rainy Saturday afternoon black-and-white movies.
‘Really? That’s killer!’ This time she did pull Helga in for a heartfelt hug.
‘Do they know each other?’ Ivy heard one of the other students ask. ‘I thought she came from some dorksville place called Franklin Grove.’
Helga pulled away, flattening her hair back into place. ‘Um, class?’ she said, returning to the front of the room. ‘I’m sure you are wondering what I am doing here. Miss Petrovsky had a sudden change of heart. She decided to retire. Something about allergies and children and a bad case of the sucker-footed bat pox. Anyway, please allow me to introduce myself. The Academy would like you to call me Miss Peneve but –’ she glanced over her shoulder – ‘I would like you to call me Helga.’
Ivy took her place at one of the desks. Petra was watching, her brow creased in a frown, as though she was annoyed to see Ivy with a friend from the past. But nothing could spoil Ivy’s delight at seeing Helga and remembering the good times they’d spent together, mixing potions.
Maybe good things can happen at Wallachia, after all, she thought, feeling the pleasure rising through her. Things were definitely looking up.
Chapter Four
Deep breaths, Olivia, deep breaths, she told herself. We’re twins, remember? Identical twins.
Olivia’s palms were sweating and she kept jiggling her right knee. She was totally going to give it away, especially if the layers of goth make-up she had painted on started dripping off her face. I have to calm down. She’d pulled off looking like Ivy before and she could do it again – couldn’t she?
Olivia was standing in the winner’s line at the box office that was set up in Franklin Fields. Sophia and Brendan stood waiting in line with her, among all the super-fans clad in band T-shirts. Brendan was bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, looking both nervous and excited. He pulled his hands out of his jacket, giving her an undercover thumbs-up and a sly smile that was probably supposed to be encouraging, but came out more Dracula-style sinister.