Olivia’s jaw dropped. “No!”
“Oh, yes,” said Ivy as she reapplied her makeup and a little sunblock. “I said you were busy of course. He’s too dumb for you. But you should have seen the look on Charlotte’s face!” She did a perfect imitation: chest out, mouth open, eyes popping out of her head. Olivia laughed.
“Still,” said Ivy, letting her hair fall in front of her face. “I’m glad to be myself again. Talking about sports makes the lunch period seem eternal.”
“Careful,” Olivia said as she pulled out the container of facial wipes. “Brendan might like sports.”
“Why?” Ivy gasped. “What’d he say about sports?”
Chapter 5
“All right,” said Ivy, looking in the mirror one last time. “Swear to me that I don’t have any more of that stuff on my face.” She couldn’t imagine anything more devastating than Brendan Daniels seeing her and noticing that her ear was all brown.
“I swear,” replied Olivia. “You look totally pale and ill again.”
“Good,” Ivy said gratefully. “Almost ready?”
Olivia wrinkled her nose. “I still have to fix my hair. Besides, maybe it’s better if we leave separately. Won’t people get suspicious if we’re seen together too much?”
Ivy nodded. “You’re right. I’ll go first.”
Olivia put down her lip gloss. “You know,” she said, “you really did look terrific in that skirt.”
“What I know,” said Ivy, hugging her sister, “is that you look terrific in that skirt. See you in science.”
Ivy pulled open the heavy door.
“Ciao,” Olivia called after her.
With a shock, Ivy saw Brendan Daniels less than ten lockers away. He looked like he was waiting for someone.
He must have been there this whole time! Ivy realized, her heart jumping around in her chest like a bat caught in daylight. What if he heard what we were saying?
“Ivy,” he called.
He’s talking to me!
“Ivy,” he repeated, coming closer.
Ivy forced herself to put one boot in front of the other. She ran a hand along the wall of lockers to steady herself. “Hi, Brendan,” she said in a tiny voice.
“Listen,” he began. He was the most beautiful boy she had ever seen. “Do you . . .” He stopped and looked at the floor.
She heard her voice say, “Uh-huh?”
He looked right at her. Ivy put both hands on her bag to keep them from shaking.
“Do you want to meet up at the mall? Like, after school?” he finally asked.
Ivy didn’t respond. She thought she must have misheard him.
“Hey, listen, I . . . never mind,” Brendan gabbled. He shook his head. “I’ll see you around.” Suddenly he was walking away.
Speak! the voice in Ivy’s head cried. Speak!
“Brendan!” Ivy croaked. He spun around. “Um, what time?” she asked.
His smile shone. “Does four work for you?”
“Sure,” she answered, trying to sound relaxed. “I’ll tell my dad I’ll be home before sundown.”
“Great,” he said. He held up his hand, and then was gone.
Ivy collapsed against the lockers. Her hands were still shaking, and her heart pounded. People looked at her as they walked by on their way to class, but she didn’t care.
Well, she thought breathlessly, that’s one good thing about having a twin sister who’s a social butterfly!
As if on cue, Olivia emerged from the bathroom. “Wow! You look like you just did a triple handspring and landed on your head,” Olivia said. “What happened?”
“He asked me out,” Ivy whispered. She couldn’t believe she was saying it.
“What?” Olivia asked, drawing closer. “Talk louder.”
“He asked me out!” Ivy said again hoarsely.
Olivia’s face burst into a smile. “Go, Ivy!” she shouted really loudly.
“Shut up!” Ivy scolded, even though she couldn’t help smiling, too.
“That’s awesome!” Olivia said. “When’s the big date?”
“Today. After school.” Ivy panted. “The mall.”
Olivia gave her a squeeze. “I have to scoot or I’m going to be late for art, but we are going to have so much to talk about in science!” She hurried off with a wink.
Ivy was going to be late for class, too. She worked up the strength to start walking, and, as she made her way slowly through the prebell crowd, she let herself imagine her coming date with Brendan.
They would walk around Spins, the record store, together; she knew he was into punk. He’d hold up a pair of black jeans at Dungeon Clothing. He’d sit across from her in the food court, drinking red lemonade through a straw.
As Ivy turned into the main hallway, she imagined the two of them walking side by side, talking on and on about . . .
What are we going to talk about? she thought with a jolt.
Her wave of excitement disappeared like predawn fog. How was she going to talk to Brendan Daniels for a whole afternoon when five minutes ago she could barely string two words together?
She imagined herself with Brendan at the mall again, but now she couldn’t picture him smiling. They’d sit in silence. He’d have to order another red lemonade and drink it just to kill time. He would think she was an utter loser. She’d try to come up with something funny to say, probably some stupid joke about the school paper, but he wouldn’t laugh. He’d just look away.
I can’t go, Ivy thought.
The bell for the next class rang.
I’ll tell him I’m sick, she decided.
Suddenly somebody came up from behind and linked arms with her. She nearly jumped out of her skin.
“And where were you at lunch today?” Sophia demanded, poking her in the side. “Giddyup! We’re late for English.”
Ivy didn’t say anything. She let Sophia lead the way.
“What’s with you?” her friend said. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost. What, did Brendan Daniels ask you for a pen or something?” she teased.
“I don’t feel well,” Ivy replied weakly. “I think I’m sick.”
Sophia stopped in her tracks. “No way, Ivy.” She shook her head. “You are not going to bail on me! You promised me ages ago that you would come to today’s meeting.”