‘Gotcha.’ Olivia grinned.
‘Hey!’ Ivy pushed Olivia’s shoulder and she toppled over backwards so that Olivia was giggling on her back, legs up like an upside-down cockroach on the floor.
‘What?’ said Olivia, this time wiping real tears from her eyes. ‘I knew something was up by the way you’ve been distracted, but I had no idea it was an opportunity this amazing.’
‘Are you sure?’ Ivy smiled uncertainly.
‘Of course!’ Olivia sat up. ‘What’s a few weeks over the summer anyway? You’ll be back in Franklin Grove before either of us knows it.’
Ivy’s smile fell. ‘The summer? But Olivia, it might be longer than that if the teacher’s assessment –’ Too late.
Olivia was already out of the room and bounding down the stairs two at a time. ‘Dad! Dad!’ She called to their father, who was just setting his briefcase down in the entryway. ‘I heard the good news! Ivy’s going to super-vamp school. How cool is that? My sister is a super-vampire!’
Upstairs, Ivy felt anything but super. She sank on to Olivia’s bed. Oh no, Olivia doesn’t totally get it. Ivy could be gone way longer than one summer . . .
Chapter Nine
H ere we go, Olivia thought as she studied her notes for the final committee meeting:
Bales of hay
Streamers
Country music
Anyone know a good line dance?
She had worn her favourite pink dress, freshly ironed and fitting just right. Olivia usually felt her best in pink and, today, she needed all the confidence she could muster. The committee had been strangely quiet since her announcement of the barn-dance theme. She hadn’t received one call from Jenny and her email inbox was completely empty. Now Olivia was stuck sitting alone in the all-purpose room, waiting for her own meeting to begin. It really was lonely at the top!
Her cell phone vibrated. It was Jackson! Olivia did the maths in her head. If today was Thursday, then that meant Jackson must be in . . . Utah. She had memorised his itinerary, complete with interesting factoids she could share about each of his destinations. Utah, ‘The Beehive State’. Home to five national parks!
Olivia answered the phone in a rush of excitement. ‘Jackson! Oh my goodness, I’m beyond thrilled to hear from you.’ She hadn’t realised how much she needed to talk to somebody. ‘I have so much to tell you.’ The words spilled out of her. ‘Wait, where are you?’ There seemed to be a lot of shuffling in the background.
‘Um . . .’ Static came over the line. ‘I’m in a restaurant. It’s a competition to help promote the film – a prize draw to go for dinner with the star.’
‘You’re eating with a total stranger?’ Olivia shrugged. She didn’t care who got to share nibbles with him, as long as she got to talk to him. ‘Everything with the committee has been going absolutely haywire.’
‘Huh?’ Jackson’s voice was distant over the phone, like he might have Olivia on speaker. Ew, she hated being on speakerphone.
‘Haywire. It’s been going haywire,’ she shouted, glad the common room was still empty. ‘The committee.’
‘Oh right. What committee was that again?’
Olivia palmed her forehead. ‘Jackson! You know which committee. The dance!’ This conversation was clearly headed for a dead end. She tried switching tacks. ‘Bad news, though: Ivy is leaving for the entire summer.’
There was a lull on the other end and then Jackson asked, ‘Cool, where are you two going?’
‘We? No, Ivy is going, not me. I’m going to have twin-teration anxiety.’ Olivia cringed at her bad joke. She waited again. ‘Jackson?’
Then Olivia heard something to put a stake through any girl’s heart. ‘’Zis will match ze colour palette much better.’ A girl’s voice, and in a French accent, no less!
Parlez-vous ‘buzz kill’? thought Olivia drily.
‘Hey, Olivia . . .’ Jackson was back on the line. ‘I have to run, sorry. My wardrobe manager wants to show me some pictures of outfits for my appearance.’
The line went dead and Olivia was left staring at a blank screen. What was going on with Jackson? He had always said he didn’t care about wardrobe as long as he didn’t look ridiculous. The boy actually hated shopping. Sometimes Olivia wondered how they could be such a good match! So why was he discussing outfits when he was meant to be out for dinner with a fan?
The committee started to file in, something that should have made Olivia feel less lonesome. One of the members hollered an enthusiastic ‘Yeehaw!’ in honour of the barn-dance theme.
Olivia gave a half-hearted ‘Yeehaw’ in return. But it was tough to be a cheerful cowgirl when she had the boyfriend blues.
Rather than their usual seats front-and-centre, Lucrezia, Melinda and Veronica took the back row, leaning backwards in their chairs and popping big gobs of green gum. Could they look any less interested? Olivia wondered. She ignored them, put her phone away, and started the meeting.
‘Congratulations, you guys!’ Olivia tried to force her peppiest smile. ‘This is our very last committee meeting!’ She had expected cheers, but all she got was radio silence.
One of Lucrezia’s bubbles made a loud crack and the two other girls giggled.
Olivia felt her fingernails dig into her skin. ‘Cut it out, you three,’ she snapped.
Lucrezia stood up, wiping the bubble gum from the corners of her mouth. ‘Who do you think you’re talking to?’ Lucrezia jutted her hip as if daring Olivia to answer. She didn’t. ‘We’re a grade older and it’s about time you learned your place, even if you are the chairperson.’ The three girls started to strut to the front of the room. Was Olivia about to become the Terrible Trio’s next victim . . . in front of everyone? ‘We’ll be taking over from here on in, thank you very much.’
In the background, Olivia noticed a figure appear in the doorway – Jenny! ‘Excuse me a minute,’ Jenny said, pleasantly but firmly.
That was so not the Jenny Olivia remembered. Everyone in the room quietened down. Olivia had never seen Jenny so – what was the word? – confident before. Smile in place, Jenny strode up the aisle straight to the front of the room, Charlotte in tow.
Charlotte sidled up to Olivia. ‘I’ve been giving Jenny a few pep talks. Watch and be amazed.’