“That wasn’t a growl,” Ivy protested, “that was a bark. For night’s sake, she got a perm last year that made her look like a poodle.”
Olivia laughed, but her sister turned serious.
“This is really grave, Olivia,” Ivy said anxiously. “I thought maybe the story would just go away quietly, but that’s not going to happen with all these reporters hanging around and people like Charlotte and Garrick jockeying for the spotlight.”
Sophia Hewitt, Ivy’s oldest friend, appeared, her big digital camera hanging around her neck. “Code black,” she whispered cryptically. “I repeat, code black.” And with that, she disappeared down the hall.
Ivy rushed to pull her black leather bag onto her shoulder and slammed her locker shut.
“What’s code black?” Olivia asked in a low voice.
“Science hall bathroom,” Ivy said, taking off down the hall. Olivia hurried to keep up.
The two of them pushed through the bathroom door to find Sophia checking the stalls to make sure the bathroom was deserted.
Then she spun around to face Ivy and Olivia with her hands on her hips. “Garrick Stephens wasn’t on a dare. He was window-shopping!”
“Are you serious?” Ivy asked.
“Dead serious,” replied Sophia.
Olivia said, “I don’t get it.”
“Vamps upgrade their coffins like most people upgrade cell phones,” Ivy explained.
“And the Interna 3 is the latest, greatest dream box of all,” Sophia added. “It’s not like Garrick could afford it. He just thought it would be fun to try it.”
Ivy frowned. “Funeral homes are often run by vampires. Their showrooms are multipurpose. But this time they must have gotten the showroom coffin mixed up with the dead guy’s.”
Sophia bit one black fingernail. “I’m really worried, Ivy. Serena Star seems desperate for a big story. Even if she can’t find one, she’ll probably make one up!”
Just how much was at stake started to dawn on Olivia. This wasn’t just some TV tabloid news story. This could mean the greatest witch hunt since, well, witch hunts. What would people do if they found out that vampires were living among them?
“We really need to get Serena Star off our trail,” Sophia said.
Ivy and Olivia both nodded.
“What do you have in mind?” Ivy asked.
“I don’t know!” Sophia said exasperatedly. “That’s why I dragged you two in here.”
Ivy sighed, and all three girls fell silent for a moment.
“We need a distraction,” Olivia mused eventually.
“Exactly,” Ivy agreed. “My father thinks that Serena Star will forget about Franklin Grove the moment there’s some fresh Hollywood gossip.”
“Great!” Sophia responded sarcastically. “All one of us needs to do is start dating Celebrity magazine’s Hottest Man of the Year.”
“Can I volunteer?” Olivia put in, trying to break the tension.
“I’m just saying,” Ivy snapped at Sophia, “that we need to find a story that’s more interesting to Serena than vampires.”
“Okay,” Olivia said, “everyone calm down. Maybe we can try to convince Serena that there are werewolves in Franklin Grove instead—or something stupid like that.”
Ivy and Sophia exchanged nervous glances.
Olivia blinked. “Don’t tell me there are werewolves in Franklin Grove?”
Ivy raised her eyebrows just as the bell for first period rang.
“Saved by the bell!” Sophia blurted. She and Ivy flew out of the bathroom, leaving Olivia with her mouth hanging open.
After third period, Ivy was still trying to figure out what to do about Serena Star. She pulled open her locker and distractedly wedged her notebook into a crevice between a stray boot and a stack of books. The entire contents of her locker started trembling, and Ivy lunged forward just as an avalanche of stuff tumbled out. She was left clutching a lone rubber vampire bat from the All Hallow’s Ball, with a pile of things she didn’t even know she owned at her feet.
This is not a good sign, Ivy thought.
Chapter 2
It took her forever to pick everything up and cram it back inside. Finally, the only things left were two black boots on the floor just below her open locker door. Ivy went to pick one of them up, but it wouldn’t budge. She pushed it with a frustrated grunt.
“Hey!” a voice cried as the boot moved away.
Ivy pushed her locker door shut to find Sophia attached to the boots.
“Where have you been?” Sophia demanded.
“Tidying my locker,” Ivy answered sheepishly.
“Tidying your locker!?” Sophia repeated incredulously. “Well, while you were cleaning out your locker, Serena Star convinced Principal Whitehead to call a meeting with the staff of the Scribe!” The Franklin Grove Scribe was the school paper, where Ivy was senior writer and Sophia was a photographer.
“Why?” Ivy asked.
“I don’t know,” Sophia answered, “but it can’t be good!”
“When’s the meeting?”
Sophia looked at her watch with false nonchalance. “Oh, you know . . . RIGHT NOW!” she replied, pushing Ivy along in front of her.
As they charged through the halls, Sophia whispered, “You know we’re the only vamps on staff.”
“That’s why we have to get on Serena’s good side,” Ivy responded, following her friend through the frosted-glass Scribe office door. She saw at once that they were the last to arrive; everyone else was already seated around the big editorial table. At the far end of the room stood Serena Star with Principal Whitehead at her side.
She’s so much shorter than she looks on TV, thought Ivy.
“Thank you for joining us,” Serena Star said with a flash of her brilliant smile as she shot a tiny glance over the girls’ shoulders.
Ivy turned to find herself face-to-face with a WowTV camera lens. She hadn’t noticed the cameraman squeezed into the corner by the door. For a moment, she felt as if she’d been turned to stone; she hated being in front of cameras, crowds, and tape recorders.
Camera or no camera, I have to charm Serena Star, she told herself. With a gulp, Ivy looked right at Serena and smiled as brightly as she could. “As the senior writer of the Franklin Grove Scribe, allow me to say what an honor it is to meet a journalist of your, uh, standing, Ms. Star. I’m sure we all have a great deal to learn from you.”