13 Double Disaster - My Sister the Vampire (6 page)

Olivia’s eyes widened in disbelief. She let out a startled laugh. ‘OK . . .?’ She casually held out her hand. Inside, though, she was in shock.
We were
boyfriend-and-girlfriend for months. Now we’re shaking hands like strangers?

Jackson took her hand, then gave a baffled laugh. ‘This is dumb, isn’t it?’

‘Well . . .’ Biting her lip, Olivia started to step back. At the same moment, Jackson tugged on her hand, pulling her into a hug.

The unexpected move upset her balance. Olivia tipped forwards – and their noses bumped hard. ‘Ow!’ she yelped.

Jackson almost leaped backwards in his hurry to let her go. ‘Sorry!’

Olivia stumbled back, hanging on to her aching nose and laughing nervously. ‘It’s OK,’ she said. ‘So . . . do you want to come in?’ She gestured to her hotel
room.

Jackson gave her the same megawatt gorgeous smile she had seen on so many movie posters and magazine covers. ‘Nah.’

Ouch.
Olivia couldn’t stop herself from wincing. The rejection hurt even more than her bumped nose!
So much for being friends now.

‘Wait.’ Jackson stepped closer, his eyes widening. ‘I didn’t mean it like that!’

‘You didn’t?’ Watching him warily, Olivia lowered her hand from her nose.

Jackson sighed. Pulling off his baseball cap, he ran one hand through his thick blond hair. ‘I’m such a doofus! I meant, I want to take you
out
. We still have a few more days
before filming, right? And here we are in a beautiful foreign city. Don’t you want to see some of it?’

Olivia glanced back through the open doorway of her hotel room to the panoramic view of London outside. ‘It would be nice to see London for real instead of through plate glass,’ she
admitted.
And without a joke guidebook playing pranks on me!

‘But . . .’ She turned back to Jackson, frowning. ‘Are you sure that it’s a good idea? I mean, we might not be in America any more, but we are still on
Planet
Earth
. Don’t you need to keep yourself well-hidden?’

Jackson’s grin was wide, relieved, and even more megawatt gorgeous than before. ‘Don’t worry about that part,’ he said. ‘Trust me. I’ve made us a reservation
for lunch in a place where we’re
guaranteed
not to be disturbed.’

An hour later, Olivia had to admit that he was right.
No one
would be able to intrude on them now, not even the most obsessed fangirl – because the lunch that
Jackson was treating her to would be served in mid-air!

Ever since Olivia had spotted the London Eye on her limousine journey from the airport, she’d wanted to ride the giant Ferris wheel that stood on the edge of the River Thames. But now, as
Jackson ushered her into one of the Eye’s big, egg-shaped glass pods, she looked around with a combination of enchantment and confusion.
I never thought I’d see it like this!

Inside the glass pod, an elegant table awaited them, set for two with silver that glittered in the sunlight. A light vegetarian lunch of sandwiches, wraps, hummus, pitta bread and fruits lay set
out on china platters while fruit juices glimmered in crystal glasses.

A uniformed waiter bowed politely to Olivia as the door of the pod slid shut silently behind her. A second waiter hovered in the background, keeping as discreet a distance as possible in such a
confined space. Outside, brightly coloured boats filled the Thames, pedestrians scurried around the streets, and the city bustled with activity while, inside the glass pod, Olivia felt the ground
lift beneath her feet.

The pod gently swung into the air as the London Eye began its big circle, carrying Olivia and Jackson in an enchanted bubble.

‘Well?’ Jackson asked. He stood watching her, a tentative smile on his face. ‘What do you think?’

‘It’s amazing,’ Olivia said. She sat down at the table and let out a laugh as she watched the city swing past her through the rounded glass walls. ‘I’ve never seen
anything like this.’

‘I know it’s not exactly Franklin Grove.’ Jackson grinned as he sat down across from her. ‘But do you think you could get used to it?’

‘Well . . .’ Olivia frowned, as one of the waiters leaned over to stack her plate with food. Jackson seemed to be able to ignore the service, the way her Transylvanian grandparents
could at one of their fancy banquets, but she couldn’t help being aware of the waiters’ presence as she spoke.

‘International travel
is
exciting,’ she said, ‘and the movie business is, too . . . but honestly?’ She leaned forwards, dropping her voice as she admitted:
‘Just between the two of us, I’m already exhausted, and we haven’t even
started
filming yet. I don’t know how you put yourself through this so many times a
year!’

Jackson nodded, looking sympathetic. ‘Honestly? I’m not sure, either. But . . .’ He shrugged, picking up an avocado wrap from his plate. ‘I’ve already got more
projects lined up, so I can’t let myself worry too much about it.’

‘That’s right!’ Olivia beamed. ‘I just heard you got that role as the teenage super spy! That sounds fantastic!’

Jackson stared at her, his wrap frozen halfway to his mouth. ‘Did you see that in
Teen Talk
?’

‘Um . . .’ Olivia’s mouth went dry. She couldn’t tell him the truth – that she’d read it in
VAMP
magazine! ‘I think . . . I don’t
remember,’ she mumbled, wincing.

Jackson shook his head, looking disgusted. ‘Don’t believe anything you read in
Teen Talk.
Seriously. They’re hardly the high standard of journalism, even by celebrity
journalism standards.’

Olivia forced herself to chew endlessly on a single piece of lettuce, cursing herself.
Why did I have to say anything about it in the first place?

VAMP
Magazine was far more credible than
Teen Talk
, but it was also a secret kept by the vampire community. And even if it hadn’t been, she couldn’t bring herself to
admit that she’d been reading
any
celebrity gossip articles about him. If she did, she’d come off as a gullible fangirl.

Or worse: she might even seem like the kind of stalker ex-girlfriend she’d seen on TV shows, obsessed with him in some unhealthy way!

‘It wasn’t
Teen Talk,
’ she mumbled.

‘No?’ Jackson frowned. ‘Where was it, then? I didn’t think anyone else had reported it.’

‘Um . . .’ Caught, with both the waiters’ gazes on her, Olivia swallowed hard. ‘Maybe . . . I might have seen it in the
New York Times
?’

Jackson choked on his wrap. ‘Are you serious?’ he managed, in between coughs.

Olivia licked her lips nervously. ‘I . . . think so?’

‘Wow.’ He shook his head as he finally stopped coughing. ‘I can’t believe it. I thought the only time my name
ever
got mentioned in the
Times
was when their
film critic trashed my performance in
The Groves.
He said I was wooden.’

‘
What?
’ Olivia gasped in outrage. ‘Who would say that? That’s ridiculous! It’s just not true. You were fantastic! You totally –’
Oops.
She
snapped her mouth shut too late, wincing.
D’oh!
‘Um . . . not that I’m a stalker fangirl,’ she muttered, her cheeks burning. ‘Obviously.’

‘Are you sure about that?’ Jackson raised his eyebrows. ‘You’ve apparently been reading all about me –’

‘In the
Times
!’ Olivia yelped. ‘I was just reading the film section!’

But he was already laughing, his blue eyes bright with amusement. ‘Don’t worry! I get it. I would have read articles about you, too.’

Olivia blinked. ‘You would have?’

‘Of course.’ He shrugged, as if it were obvious. ‘Anyway, I shouldn’t be teasing you like this.’ His gaze dropped to his plate. ‘Especially not now. See,
I’ve got something very important and a little . . .’ He gave an awkward laugh. ‘. . . well, it’s a little embarrassing, to tell the truth. But I really want to talk to you
about it.’

‘OK . . .’ Olivia felt a flutter of nervousness clutch at her throat. She could sense the waiters trying not to listen.

Was Jackson really about to talk about . . .
them
? As a couple? If he wanted to re-open that chapter of their lives . . .

Her breathing stopped as Jackson reached across the table and took her right hand. His fingers felt warm and strong and achingly familiar.

‘Olivia,’ he said. His voice throbbed with emotion. ‘I really, really need . . .’ He hesitated, looking anguished.

‘Yes?’ Olivia’s voice came out as a squeak. Her left hand was clutched so tightly around her napkin, it would have shredded if it hadn’t been made of cloth.

‘. . . your help,’ he finished in a rush. Then he let out a whoosh of breath and rolled out his shoulders. ‘Whew.’ He gave her a lopsided grin. ‘It was hard to get
that out!’

Olivia just stared at him, her mouth hanging open. Outside, the sights of London swung past, exotic and beautiful, and having no effect on her because, inside, she felt numb. ‘What are you
talking about?’ she asked faintly.

‘It’s the role. I mean,
roles.
’ Grimacing, Jackson sat back. ‘For our London scenes, I have to do English accents for the brothers.’

‘Yeah . . .?’ Her head was still whirling with reaction as she drew her hand away from his.

He didn’t seem to notice. ‘Well, one of the brothers is “posh” – upper-class English. I can do that, no problem! But the other brother . . .’ Jackson sighed.
‘He’s a “Cockney”, a real working-class Londoner, and I just can’t get that accent right.’

‘And you think
I
can?’ Olivia shook her head, almost laughing. ‘Jackson, look at me. I’ve never even been to England before!’

‘But you’re awesome at voices, though,’ Jackson said. ‘Your robot voice in Camilla’s sci-fi version of
Romeo and Juliet
was amazing!’

It
was
amazing
, Olivia thought wistfully. But she wasn’t thinking of the strange voice Camilla had made her put on. She was thinking of that opening night performance, when
Jackson as Romeo had given her a very first kiss . . .

Focus!
She jerked herself out of the memory and found Jackson looking at her expectantly:

‘So, can you help me?’

‘Well . . .’ Was it really a good idea to spend so much one-on-one time with Jackson, when her feelings were so confused? Olivia hesitated. ‘Don’t you have a voice
coach?’

‘Of course.’ Jackson made a face. ‘Unfortunately, we don’t really see eye-to-eye.’

‘Hmm.’
Just think of it as work!
Olivia told herself firmly. She sat up straighter, trying to look professional and confident, and scooped up a strawberry from the bowl of
fruit. ‘All right, then. Why don’t you try a Cockney voice for me now?’ She smiled brightly and popped the strawberry into her mouth. ‘How bad can it be?’

‘OK.’ Jackson took a deep breath. ‘Awight, gawvanah – there’s sumwan arskin’ for ya on the doggonbone.’

‘Um . . .’ Olivia’s eyes widened as she almost choked on the fruit. She noticed one of the waiters raise his eyebrows to the other. ‘OK. I have to admit, I have no idea
if that was a good accent or not. But I’m pretty sure that whatever you just said, it wasn’t in English!’

Jackson grinned, visibly relaxing. ‘It’s pretty different, anyway. But I really need to practise without my vocal coach glaring at me the whole time. So . . .’ He looked at her
hopefully. ‘What do you think? Will you help me? I don’t want the whole of England laughing at me when I open my mouth on-screen!’

Olivia pressed her lips together, forcing herself to stop and think it through before she answered. What would Ivy say, if she were here?

OK, I think I know the answer to that one.
Fiercely protective Ivy would not let Olivia put herself in a situation where she could be hurt again.

But on the other hand . . . Olivia wanted the movie to be good, didn’t she? And she didn’t want
anyone
laughing at Jackson. He may not have been her boyfriend any more, but
that didn’t mean she’d stopped caring about his feelings. And if helping him out meant spending lots of time together . . .

That’s what I want
, she realised.
Whether it’s sensible or not!
She’d been so nervous about seeing Jackson again, but the last hour had actually been wonderful.
When they’d broken up, her only hope was that they would manage to be civil, but this had been
way
more than civil. Olivia had almost forgotten just how much fun it was to be with
him!

And what is Ivy going to say about that?
She smiled ruefully, imagining her twin’s reaction.

‘OK,’ she said to Jackson. ‘I’ll do it.’

‘Yes!’ He pumped one fist in victory. ‘Thank you so much. You’re really saving me!’

Olivia laughed and picked up another strawberry. ‘I don’t know about that, but I do have an idea. You want to get your accent right, don’t you?’

‘Of course.’ He frowned. ‘So?’

‘So, why don’t we
both
adopt disguises?’ she said. ‘Then we can go out and walk among real Londoners, instead of just relying on your vocal coach and her rules. We
can listen to how people
really
talk, to get the rhythms of the speech down.’