Georgia led them to an alcove off the front hall, where there was a grand piano. “Could there be a more perfect backdrop?” she enthused. “The caption will read: ‘Ivy and Olivia, ebony and ivory, make music together!’ ” Sophia directed Ivy to sit at the keyboard, while Kong had Olivia take off her shoes and sit on top of the piano.
Kong told Olivia to pose like a lounge singer, while Ivy pretended to play the piano. They finished with both girls standing atop the piano, holding their high-heeled shoes in their hands and shouting the words to “I Wear My Sunglasses at Night.” Georgia and her crew looked ecstatic.
Then Olivia changed into a luxurious burgundy satin ball gown, while Ivy slipped into a dark green one that trailed onto the stone floor, and they posed next to one of the balusters at the bottom of the main staircase. Olivia felt just like a character in the Count Vira novels she loved so much.
Kong handed the camera to Sophia to let her take some pictures.
“More drama! More passion!” Sophia called enthusiastically.
Ivy stood beside Olivia on the bottom stair, one hand on the balustrade and the other on her hip, while Olivia tried to accentuate her cheekbones for the camera.
After Sophia gave the camera back, Olivia saw her whispering in Kong’s ear. Then Kong waved Georgia over and Sophia continued whispering to the two of them. Kong’s bald head bobbed enthusiastically on his enormous shoulders.
“Young lady,” Olivia heard Georgia say at last, “when you are of working age, you will call me.” Then she turned away. “Kitty!” she called, “I want every drop of makeup off these girls.”
Once their faces were completely clean, Kitty told Olivia and Ivy to follow her to the guest bathroom on the second floor. Olivia thought it was so they could change again, but when she got there, Kong and Sophia were setting up lights.
Sophia came over. “This is going to be killer,” she said. She gestured to a tall, ornate oval mirror that leaned up against one wall. “We’re going to shoot you so you’re looking at yourselves in the mirror. Except you won’t be able to see the camera in the shot.”
“You can do that?” Ivy wondered.
“I read about it in a book,” Sophia said under her breath. “We have to get the angle exactly right.”
A few minutes later, Olivia and Ivy were posing next to each other, Olivia in a simple white shift dress and Ivy in a simple black one. Olivia stared at the reflection of herself and her sister.Their skin tones were different, of course, and their eye color, but otherwise they looked, well . . . identical. “Olivia?” Ivy murmured.
“Yeah?” said Olivia, trying not to break the pose which Kong had just carefully orchestrated.
“I think I see my reflection,” Ivy whispered, “and it’s you!”
Chapter 7
A little girl with long black hair and black whiskers drawn on her face opened the door to Brendan’s house and shrieked at the top of her lungs, “IVY’S SISTER’S HERE!!!” Then she grabbed Olivia’s hand and pulled her inside. “Want to see my room?”
“Um,” Olivia said, glancing around. “Is Brendan home?”
“His room’s boring.” The little girl sighed, rolling her eyes. “Come on!” she said, dragging Olivia toward the stairs.
“What’s your name?” Olivia asked.
“I’m Bethany,” the little girl declared. “And I’m seven, but I’m utterly mature.”
Bethany pushed open a door that had a DO
NOT EXPOSE TO SUNLIGHT sign on it. “So you’re a cheerleader?” Bethany asked. Olivia nodded. “I think cheerleaders suck. Look!” she said, kneeling down in front of a black dollhouse. She reached into a tiny bathroom and produced a Barbie doll that had red pom-poms glued to her hands. “Do you like her? She lives in the bathtub.”
Olivia laughed, taking off her jacket. “Does she know any cheers?”
Bethany nodded and made the doll hop around on the floor. “Two, four, six, eight. The bunny hop is really great!”
Olivia made the sound of a roaring crowd.
Bethany giggled. Then she said, “Will you come play with me after Ivy moves away?”
Olivia felt an ache deep in her heart. She nodded silently.
Bethany smiled gratefully, even though her eyes were on her doll, which she was making do somersaults. “I’m going to miss Ivy,” she said quietly.
“Me, too,” whispered Olivia.
“Here you are,” a familiar voice announced. Olivia looked up to see Ivy standing in the doorway. “Everyone’s waiting to meet you in the kitchen,” Ivy told her. “Hey, Bethany,” she said, “want to do the spider?”
“Yeah!” Bethany shrieked. She ran up to Ivy, then turned around, put her hands on the ground, and flipped her legs up into the air. Ivy caught them and steered the little girl down the stairs like a wheelbarrow as Olivia followed.
“Did Olivia tell you that we’re going to be in Vamp?” Ivy said to the soles of Bethany’s feet.
“You are not!” Bethany lifted one hand off the ground and twisted around to look up at them.
“We are,” Olivia confirmed. “Maybe we’ll autograph a copy for you.”
Bethany squealed and spun back around.
When they entered the kitchen, a middle-aged man with crazy gray hair and round glasses hurried across the room. “You must be Olivia,” he said excitedly. His gaze flicked from Olivia to Ivy. For a moment, Mr. Daniels seemed completely lost in his own thoughts. Brendan came up and gave Olivia a hug.
Brendan’s father leaned forward and peered into Olivia’s ear. “Inconceivable!” he murmured.
“Dad?” Brendan said in an embarrassed voice, and Mr. Daniels snapped out of it.
“Oh, yes!” Brendan’s father blurted. “I mean, yes, inconceivable how much you and Ivy look alike.” He took off his glasses and polished them with his shirt. “Not that it’s amazing for twins to look alike. Just that you’re so different.” He laughed uncomfortably. “But not too different. Oh, dear,” he finished, suddenly shutting himself up and putting his glasses back on.
Olivia could tell Mr. Daniels was trying desperately not to give anything vampish away, but she just nodded like she had no idea what he was fussing about.
A woman wearing a gray pin-striped blouse tucked into black slacks gave Olivia a warm smile. “What my husband is trying to say is that it’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said, coming over to give Olivia a peck on the cheek. “I’m Brendan’s mom.” She handed her husband some long tongs. “We’re cooking on the barbecue grill outside,” she explained. “But, don’t worry, we’re eating indoors.”