“But why? What’s Ivy up to?” Olivia wondered.
“Beats me,” said Sophia. “I’m just the messenger bat.”
The entrance to the library was at the end of a wide hallway near the principal’s office, and Ivy and Camilla were waiting by the door. Ivy stepped forward and handed Olivia a carrot. With the other hand, she gave Sophia a piece of beef jerky.
“What’s this?” Olivia asked.
“Lunch,” said Ivy matter-of-factly.
“We have work to do,” Camilla declared. Olivia looked at the carrot and took a begrudging bite. Just because vampires call humans “bunnies” doesn’t mean we live on carrots, she thought.
As Olivia and Sophia snacked, Ivy explained her plan. “There’s nothing my father likes more than a well-researched report. He’s always giving these killer presentations to his clients about what he wants to design for them. So I thought, why not prepare our own report to convince him not to move?”
“What would it be about?” Olivia asked with her mouth full.
“How much better Franklin Grove is than Europe,” Ivy answered.
Sophia swallowed her last bite of beef jerky and shook her head. “You think Franklin Grove is better than Europe?” she queried incredulously. “Europe has the Eiffel Tower.”
“Which people can fall off,” Ivy countered.
“It has the fashion shows in Milan,” pointed out Olivia.
“Which create an unhealthy self-image for girls everywhere,” argued Ivy. Camilla nodded vigorously.
Sophia clearly wasn’t convinced. “So what, exactly, does Franklin Grove have that Europe doesn’t?”
“That’s easy,” Ivy said, her dark eyes sparkling. “Us.” With that, she spun on her boot heels and pulled open the library doors.
Olivia couldn’t help smiling. Well, she thought, charging into the library after her sister, it’s worth a shot.
Ivy marched up to the librarian’s desk and found a woman wearing dark lipstick and stylishly chunky black and green glasses, hunched over an enormous book about the Middle Ages.
“Is Mr. Collins here?” Ivy asked. The woman looked up from her book. “Mr. Collins moved to Nashville to play country music. I’m Miss Everling, the new librarian.” She stood, held out her hand, and pumped Ivy’s enthusiastically. Everyone introduced themselves. “Killer sweater,” the librarian said to Sophia, whose top was embroidered with the branches of a bare, crow-filled tree.
You’re the new librarian? Ivy thought, impressed. “Hopefully you can help us, Mrs. Everling,” said Olivia.
The librarian put her hands on her hips. “It’s Miss. Anyway, shoot.”
“We’re doing a presentation on Europe,” Camilla piped up.
“Europe, huh?” Miss Everling said, grabbing a pencil off her desk like it was a sword. “Follow me.”
As she walked, Ivy noted Miss Everling’s black-and-white striped leggings and her gray corduroy skirt. I wonder if she’s a vamp, she thought.
“Welcome to Europe!” announced Miss Everling, arriving at an aisle near the back of the library. She ran a wine-red fingernail along the spines of some glossy paperbacks. “Want to dance the night away in Barcelona? Ski the Alps? Drop out of school and live large for twenty-five dollars a night?”
The girls all stared at her.
“Jok-ing,” Miss Everling sang. “I’m a school librarian, remember? But we do have a very impressive selection of travel guides,” she concluded.
“Do you have any books on what’s bad about Europe?” Sophia asked.
Miss Everling stared at her. “Nothing’s bad about Europe. I traveled there for a whole year after college.” Her eyes rolled toward the ceiling, and she sighed dreamily. “So much culture and history—”
“History?” Ivy interrupted with a meaningful glance at her friends.
Olivia followed her train of thought exactly. “Yeah, didn’t Europe have the Black Plague?”
“And both those world wars,” Camilla pointed out with a grimace.
Miss Everling frowned. “Time out,” she said, peering at the girls over the top of her glasses. “What’s this project about again?”
Ivy fiddled with one of the books on a shelf. “We’re trying to convince our...friend...not to move to Europe,” she said carefully.
Olivia nodded enthusiastically. “We have to make this person see that Franklin Grove is totally better.”
“Oh, now I understand,” Miss Everling said softly. “My best friend moved to California when I was thirteen. It’s so hard saying good-bye.”
Seriously, thought Ivy sadly.
Miss Everling tapped her pencil against her dark lips thoughtfully. She gestured to the camera hanging around Sophia’s neck. “Do you have pictures of your friends on that thing?”
“Of course,” Sophia replied.
Miss Everling adjusted her glasses. “Don’t worry, ladies,” she said. “I’m going to help you make a pitch your friend won’t be able to resist. Something exciting. Something emotional. Something that truly sucks!” She winced at her impulsive use of vampire slang. “I mean, something really great.”
Miss Everling is the deadliest librarian ever, Ivy thought, exchanging excited looks with her friends.
“So,” Miss Everling said, “when is this important project due, so to speak?”
“Today,” Ivy replied.
Miss Everling started to protest, but Sophia said, “Our friend’s supposed to move in ten days.”
“We don’t have any time to lose!” Olivia pleaded.
“Okay, okay,” Miss Everling said. “Then we’ll need to split up. Who wants to research Franklin Grove?”
“I’ll do it,” Olivia volunteered. “I just moved here a few months ago, so I could stand to learn a thing or two.”
“Good,” said Miss Everling. “The local history section is by the copying machine in the corner. Camilla, how would you like to do Europe?”
“Roger, Queen Informasys!” Camilla said, saluting. Ivy had no idea what that meant— Camilla was always making obscure references to sci-fi books she was obsessed with.
“A Coal Knightley fan, huh?” Miss Everling grinned. “Isn’t he the greatest? Anyway, Captain Omega, your mission is to find unappealing pictures of Europe. It won’t be easy. Start with these travel guides, and then check out the European history section, just like you and Ivy were thinking.”