“It won’t be as fun as gabbing with Goths, but I guess it’ll have to do,” Olivia conceded. “Luckily, I have an apple and some health chips to keep me company.”
As Ivy finished Olivia’s eyes, she said, “Let’s meet back here right after lunch and—”
The bell rang.
“Oh, my gosh!” Olivia squealed. “It’s time.You have to go!” She scooped up her cosmetics, dumped them back in her pink purse, and handed it to Ivy. “I’ll refill your bag once you’ve gone,” she added.
Ivy rested her hands on Olivia’s shoulders and looked her right in the eye. “Don’t smile too much and don’t speak,” she said, and Olivia felt her sister pressing her down toward the ground. “And, whatever you do, please don’t bounce!”
Olivia nodded seriously. She hugged her sister for luck. Then Ivy plastered her face in a smile and headed out the door, clutching Olivia’s purse.
Olivia did her best not to grin after her. After all, she was a Goth now.
Ivy pushed open the doors to the cafeteria, curling her toes so that Olivia’s flip-flops wouldn’t fly off her feet.
She tried bouncing as she walked, but then she realized she wasn’t smiling. She started smiling, but then she forgot to bounce.
Ivy caught a glimpse of Charlotte Brown and her minions already at their table, and she ducked nervously into the food line.
As the line crept along, Ivy decided to try a hair flip. She thought of a mouse running along the floor, just as Olivia said, and followed it out of the corner of her eye. Her ponytail swung around smoothly. Then the mouse ran under Charlotte Brown’s chair. Ivy imagined Charlotte jumping up and down, screaming her head off.
There. That was better. Now it was suddenly easy to smile and bounce.
“A burger, please!” Ivy requested perkily when it was her turn.
Her full tray in hand, Ivy set her sights on the Table of Evil. Charlotte saw her and waved excitedly, then rested her hand meaningfully on the shoulder of the boy next to her—none other than Jeff Moore, the original beefy superbunny. Even from this far away, Ivy could see Charlotte fluttering her eyelashes.
Ivy made her way across the cafeteria bouncily. She was almost at the Table of Evil when she realized with a jolt that she was walking right past her usual table, where all her friends were eating lunch. She nearly tripped over one of her flipflops and had to bend down to get it back on.
Sophia was saying, “It’s seriously the most important night of the whole year” to Holly.
What am I doing? Ivy thought nervously.
As Ivy straightened, Charlotte caught her eye again and mouthed, “Isn’t he hot?” She was leaning toward Jeff like she was hanging on his every word.
I remember, thought Ivy, turning her smile back on. I’m getting back at Charlotte Brown.
She plopped her tray down across from Charlotte and Jeff and unleashed an exuberant, “Hi, guys!” Oops, she thought. I wasn’t supposed to overdo it.
Fortunately, Katie and Allison didn’t seem to notice. “Hi, Olivia!” they replied.
Then Charlotte said, “What do you think you’re doing?”
Ivy’s heart stopped. “Uh . . . I’m, like,” she stammered, “having . . . lunch?”
Charlotte blinked in disbelief. “Since when,” she asked wide-eyed, “do self-respecting cheerleaders eat hamburgers for lunch?”
Allison and Katie nodded in concern.
“Yes, well, you are so totally right,” Ivy said, her heart beating again. “And I don’t know what came over me, but I just really wanted a burger today.”
“I think it’s cool,” said Jeff Moore, smiling broadly at Ivy from beneath his crew cut. “Refreshing, actually. A girl who really eats. All the girls I know won’t even have a French fry unless it’s covered in fatless dressing.”
“I love hamburgers!” Charlotte said quickly. “Just not from the cafeteria.” She giggled uncomfortably. “Anyway, let me introduce you. Olivia, this is Jeff. Remember I was telling you about him? Jeff ’s co-captain of the Devils football team.”
“Really?” Ivy said in wide-eyed wonder as she took a bite of her burger.
“Plus he’s all-state cross-country,” Charlotte continued, savoring the words like she was eating a chocolate.
“Baseball, too,” Jeff added.
“You should see him in uniform.” Charlotte winked.
“Rea-lly,” Ivy said with a knowing smile. Jeff chomped a French fry.
Ivy wasn’t about to stop now. “So, what’s the latest in Devils football?”
“I scored seventy-two touchdowns last year.” Jeff swallowed. “It was a county record. This year, I’m going for eighty.”
“Really?” Ivy said automatically.
“Yeah.” He cocked his head. “Hey, Charlotte tells me you’re trying out for the cheerleading squad.”
Ivy nodded coyly.
“She says you’re pretty good,” said Jeff.
“For a new girl,” Charlotte put in.
“You sure look like you’d be a good cheerleader,” said Jeff, with what he obviously thought was a winning smile.
I’ve sunk to a new low, Ivy thought. Jockstrap Jeff Moore likes me!
The look on Charlotte Brown’s face made it seriously worth it, though. “Jeff!” she said, clutching at his arm like she was drowning. “Oh, my gosh, Jeff. We forgot wrestling!”
“Oh, yeah,” Jeff nodded, looking impressed. “I wrestle, too.”
Charlotte narrowed her eyes. Then she reached over, grabbed the last bite of Ivy’s burger off her plate, and dramatically popped it in her mouth, smiling at Jeff goofily as she chewed.
Katie and Allison looked seriously shocked.
This is going better than I ever imagined! Ivy thought, wiggling her toes in delight underneath the table. Charlotte Brown is literally eating her words!
Olivia was having a great time trudging back toward the science hall bathroom at the end of lunch period. Now that she was used to Ivy’s boots, every step made her feel really powerful, like she could march through a crowd of people and they would all move out of her way. Her mouth set firmly, she peered out at people from behind a wall of hair. A passing Goth girl murmured, “Hi, Ivy.”
“Hi,” Olivia answered without stopping. She