13 Double Disaster - My Sister the Vampire (5 page)

I’ll never belong here
, she thought.
Everyone will be able to tell what I really am the moment they see me. I can’t fake it with all those bunnies for a whole four
years!

‘Come on,’ Sophia whispered. Her face was pale.

Together, they followed the line of Franklin Grove High bunnies out on to the pavement. As the bus pulled away, Charlotte, Camilla and Holly all waved to them out of the rear window. Ivy’s
chest ached at the sight. She waved back until the bus turned the corner . . . and then they were gone.

Ivy turned to Sophia. ‘We can do this,’ she said.

‘We can,’ Sophia echoed faintly.

Neither of them moved. Together, they stared at the huge school before them. Students streamed towards it from all directions.

At least I have Sophia
, Ivy reminded herself. She reached out to link arms with her friend. Together, they walked up the boulevard towards the school entrance.

Everything is going to be fine
.
Everything, everything, everything . . .

She had to shake her head at herself. Funny how she’d never felt
this
nervous starting at the snoot-tastic Wallachia Academy!

Franklin Grove High looked like a completely different world from Franklin Grove Middle. It was monstrously big by comparison, with lush strips of well-kept grass and flowers spread out in front
of it, almost sparkling in the morning sun.

‘Dad was right,’ she muttered to Sophia. ‘Goths would definitely stand out amid all this colour!’

Sophia only nodded. She looked too stunned to speak.

A walkway led from the front gate to the main building, lined with . . . Ivy’s feet thudded to a halt as she froze in horror.
No way!

The whole walkway was lined with non-goths – from the older grades.
Oh no
, Ivy thought.
We’re going to have to walk right through a
gauntlet
!

She gritted her teeth, bracing herself. ‘Are you ready?’ she asked Sophia.

Only silence answered her. Ivy glanced at her friend. ‘Sophia?’

But Sophia wasn’t paying any attention. Her eyes were fixed on a cluster of older boys halfway down the path, and her mouth had dropped open in an ‘O’.

This can’t be good
, Ivy thought.

She narrowed her eyes, studying the group of boys. Every one of them was unfamiliar, which meant they must have come from Lincoln Vale. They all balanced on skateboards as they talked, gesturing
animatedly and flipping their boards beneath their feet every few seconds to keep their balance. The tallest of them –
and, OK, the cutest
, Ivy admitted silently – was in the
middle of a mime about some daredevil move he’d obviously performed on his board.

‘Whoa, Finn!’ The boy nearest him punched Finn on his shoulder. ‘That is, like, the raddest thing I’ve ever heard!’

Finn grinned goofily and did an extra flip on his skateboard – it was all the more impressive because Ivy could
not
figure out how he could see
anything
with his mop of long
blond hair falling around his eyes.

Ivy shook her head. OK, so Finn was cute – in a dumb-blond sort of way – but she bet he had the exact same voice her dad had used in the kitchen this morning.
He’d just
better not ever try calling me ‘dudette’. Anyone who’s not my dad will get an Extreme-Level Death Squint for that crime!

Next to her, though, Sophia let out a sigh . . . and it didn’t sound like disgust.

‘Come on!’ Ivy nudged Sophia down the path. ‘Remember the Second Law,’ she whispered. It was one of the most important rules of vampire society:
No falling in love
with outsiders!

‘Right,’ Sophia mumbled. But as they passed the skater-boys, she let out another wistful sigh.

We might have a problem
, Ivy thought grimly.

But she didn’t have time to worry about it now. First, they had to get through today.
All we have to do is not draw any attention to ourselves. Easy. Right?

Her belly tingled uncomfortably, and she gulped.
I hope that’s just the doughger from yesterday. I’m not that nervous . . . am I?

When she spotted Brendan’s familiar silhouette near the main school building, she let out a sigh of pure relief. ‘Finally!’

Pulling Sophia along with her, Ivy raced towards her boyfriend. He stood near the front door, and when he turned to face her, she saw that he’d dressed down too, wearing simple dark jeans
and sneakers. In terms of his clothing, he wouldn’t have looked out of place with the skater-boys. But he wore the expression of someone who had just seen a ghost . . . playing cards with a
yeti!

‘What’s wrong?’ Ivy asked.

He pointed a trembling finger at the school. ‘I went inside. Just for a second, to check it out. It . . . It . . .’

Ivy stared at him, feeling her stomach sink. ‘How bad
is
it in there?’

Brendan shook his head, his eyes wide and stunned. ‘I’ve never seen anything like it.’

Oh no
. Taking a deep breath, Ivy opened the front door.
I don’t care how bright and pink and bunnified it is. I can take it, no matter what!

Then she blinked, as the door closed behind her and her friends.
Wait a minute. Who turned out the lights?

The foyer was a sea of darkness. And lining the corridors in every direction, propped against the lockers, lounging on the floor, and gossiping in groups, were the students of Franklin Grove
High.

Ivy felt her eyes widen. The last time she had seen this many goths in one place was at a Pall Bearers concert!

Feeling dazed, she walked slowly down the first corridor, taking it all in. ‘But . . .’

Her voice trailed off as a girl in ripped jeans and bone-white face paint, leaning against the wall of lockers, nodded approvingly at her T-shirt.

‘Um . . . thanks?’ Ivy said to the girl, trying to smile. To Brendan, though, she whispered frantically, ‘Am I dreaming?’

‘If you are,’ Brendan croaked, ‘then I am, too.’

She reached out and laced her fingers through his, hanging on for balance. They passed a group of girls sitting at the bottom of a staircase, painting each other’s fingernails black.
Further along the hallway, Ivy could see someone carrying a black backpack that rippled with rubber spikes.

‘It’s not pink,’ Sophia said faintly. ‘I thought it would all be pink.’

Ivy shook her head numbly. ‘If any of these people saw the colour pink, they’d probably run screaming into the nearest darkened room!’

‘There are more goths here than bunnies,’ Brendan said. ‘It’s just
wrong
.’

‘And look at those T-shirts.’ Sophia nodded at the girls ahead of them. ‘I’ve never even heard of some of those rock bands!’

‘Whoa.’ Ivy felt her legs go weak as she absorbed the truth. ‘Guys,’ she whispered. ‘I don’t think we’re the outsiders at this school.’

Sophia’s eyes were wide. ‘Do you think . . . could it be . . .?’

Brendan nodded, looking panicked. ‘I think . . . the goth kids at this high school might actually be the
in-crowd
.’

‘No way,’ Ivy breathed. She saw the same stunned reaction in both of her friends’ eyes. But the truth was staring them in the face from all around . . . and it was wearing
black.

For the first time ever, it looked like Ivy, Sophia and Brendan might actually
fit in
!

I
can’t believe it
, Olivia thought, as she bounced on her hotel bed.
I’m actually in London, England!

A sea of dark rooftops spiked outside her window under a cloudy blue sky. In the distance, she could see Big Ben in the centre of the city. She had heard its hourly gong twice
since she’d arrived and, though she knew it was just a giant clock tower, there was something . . .
magical
about a giant clock tower so far away from home.

Through the wall of her connecting room, Olivia heard her adoptive mom, Mrs Abbott, gushing down her cell phone to a friend back home. ‘. . . and, of course, we’re determined to
catch a West End musical while we’re here!’

Olivia’s adoptive dad, Mr Abbott, didn’t speak, but Olivia heard a tell-tale thud as he moved to a different yoga position on the hotel room floor. Mrs Abbott might be excited about
the London theatres, but Mr Abbott had spent the aeroplane ride telling Olivia all about the wonderful yoga facilities in London. Apparently, there were even outdoor yoga classes on the
rooftops!

I just hope he doesn’t go into a headstand too near the edge of the roof
, Olivia thought, peering out the window.

She turned to pick up her guidebook. As her gaze travelled across the room, she had to blink to remind herself that she wasn’t dreaming. Really, this could hardly be described as a
bedroom. It felt bigger than her house in Franklin Grove! The ceiling was painted with images of famous London sites, and the opposite wall was covered with expensive electronic equipment, from a
flat-screen television to a range of radios, DVD and CD players.

Hollywood stars really
do
live differently!

Taking a deep breath, Olivia opened up her guidebook and began to read. As she turned the pages, her eyes widened.
Did Mom and Dad accidentally pick up a joke version?

Surely no one would actually call a building ‘The Shard’, or ‘The Gherkin’. Would they?
It has to be a joke!

There was one thing that was no joke, though. As Olivia set down the ridiculous guidebook, the luxury of her hotel room astounded her all over again. It was unbelievable. Jacob Harker, the
studio executive in charge of
Eternal Sunset
, certainly went all-out when he wanted to impress the people working on his movies.

A knock sounded on the connecting door, and Mrs Abbott’s head poked through. She was wearing sunglasses and had her own guidebook sticking out of her handbag. ‘Hi, honey. Your dad
and I want to go exploring. Are you ready?’

‘Um . . .’ There was a funny tingling sensation in Olivia’s stomach. She put one hand on it and forced a smile. ‘Why don’t you guys go without me? I’m a
little tired from the trip.’

‘Well, if you’re sure . . .’ Mrs Abbot hurried across the room to press a kiss on Olivia’s brow. She stroked her hair back from her face, and smiled down at Olivia.
‘Get some rest, sweetheart.’

‘I will,’ Olivia promised. As she listened to her parents’ bustling departure, she propped her shoulders against the wall and tucked the strange, fluffy ‘duvet’
around her, making herself a nest. It felt like she was walling herself in from the world.
I just can’t face going out. Not yet.

Between jet lag and culture shock, she had lost all sense of what time it was. The clock on the wall claimed it was early afternoon, but she felt a strange craving for cereal.
Maybe my body
just doesn’t want to admit that it’s left America!

It wasn’t just her body that was in trouble, though. Her heart rate rocketed every time she thought about exactly where she was and exactly
who
she would be seeing on-set once the
filming began. Playing two different vampire twins was going to be tough . . . but trying to act normal around Jackson was going to be Olivia’s
greatest
acting challenge this
summer.

A knock sounded outside, and Olivia blinked, startled out of her worries. What were her parents doing back so soon?

Then she realised: the knock hadn’t come from the connecting door. It had come from the hallway outside.

As she stood up, she knew – somehow – exactly who she would find waiting for her.

Her heartbeat pulsed against her throat. There didn’t seem to be enough air in the hotel room as she walked across the lush carpet. Pasting a welcoming smile on her face, she opened the
door . . .

. . . and found a scruffy, unfamiliar boy standing outside, wearing baggy shorts and a jersey for some English soccer team she didn’t recognise. A baseball cap was pulled down low over his
face, his shoulders were slouched, and no one in the world would have had any idea who he was . . .

Except Olivia.

‘Hi, Jackson,’ she said softly. ‘Come on in.’

Jackson Caulfield pushed up the brim of his baseball cap to give her a rueful grin, his blue eyes intense. ‘You weren’t even fooled for a moment, were you?’

Olivia only shook her head, smiling. But inside, she answered honestly:
I would know you anywhere.

She couldn’t say that out loud, though, could she?

Absolutely not
, she told herself. If she said that, she’d sound like she was still in love with him. He’d think she was pathetic! But now
no one
was speaking, and the
silence felt like pressure building all around them, until she was ready to burst.

Olivia clasped her hands together so she wouldn’t fidget.
Just say something,
she begged him silently
. Anything!

She’d never seen Jackson looking so awkward before. He
always
knew what to say; what to do.

‘So . . .’ Jackson stuck his thumbs in his shorts pockets, rocking awkwardly on his heels. ‘I guess . . . maybe we ought to shake hands now?’