13 Double Disaster - My Sister the Vampire (9 page)

Maybe it’s time for a death-squint,
she thought.
That would chase them all away!
But as she looked into the hopelessly adoring faces, she felt guilt twisting inside her. They
didn’t mean any harm. They were just
in her way.

Luckily, Brendan stepped in front of her, and put his hand flat out, like a celebrity’s no-nonsense bodyguard. ‘OK, guys.’ His voice was firm. ‘We want some time alone,
now. Got it?’ He took hold of Ivy’s hand and she heard some of the girls give audible sighs of adoration. One of them whispered in her friend’s ear and Ivy caught the words
‘so sweet’ and ‘adorable’.

‘If
you
say so, Brendan,’ said one of the bunnies. ‘We’ll leave you to it.’

‘See you soon, Ivy,’ said Magenta Hair. ‘Maybe with Amelia, too, next time? Right?’

Ivy let out a yelp as the last of her followers drifted obediently away. ‘The sooner we can get out of this park, the better!’ She stomped across the grass to Sophia’s lounging
figure. She still had her face turned to the sun, ignoring the crowded skatepark beside them. ‘What are you doing?’ she hissed.

Sophia jerked upright. Her sunglasses slid down her nose and her backpack tipped over, spilling its contents on to the skatepark pavement. ‘Ivy? What are you . . .?’

‘I could ask you the same thing,’ Ivy said. ‘I mean – wait!’ She gasped. ‘
I don’t believe it.
’ She pointed at where Sophia’s backpack
was spilling on to the pavement. ‘Is that
gingham
?’

‘No!’ Sophia scrambled to stuff the very-much-gingham fabric back into the backpack. ‘That’s just . . . for a project.’

‘
What
project?’ Ivy demanded. ‘We’re in all the same classes. I would
know
if you had a gingham-y assignment. What is up with you?’

‘Nothing!’ Sophia shoved her sunglasses back into place, hiding her eyes. ‘I was just . . . looking to meet some of the people from Lincoln Vale. If we’re going to be at
school with them, it’s probably a good idea to make friends, right? So they don’t suspect anything?’

‘Hmm.’ Ivy crossed her arms. ‘
I’m
already starting to suspect something!’

Before she could continue, though, shouts of excitement sounded behind her. A skateboard whizzed by so close, she could feel the breeze against her back. She spun around.

Finn the skater-boy was bowing to the crowd, his blond hair windblown and his grin wide and happy. His buddies gathered around to pound his back and bump his fist.

‘Bodacious “full cab”, brah!’

‘You are the “See-sen”!’

‘You mean “
Sensei
”, doofus!’

As she watched the skaters joke with each other, Ivy looked beyond them and saw girls in matching pale blonde, pixie-style haircuts. Skater-girls. They were cheering and applauding. ‘Go
Finn!’

Ivy rolled her eyes.
I can’t believe anyone could get
that excited about a few flips on a skateboard!
Turning her back on the skaters, she focused on what was important.

‘You know how I make friends?’ she said to Sophia. ‘I ask them questions, and they give me answers. Some people call that “conversation”.’

‘Yeah,’ Brendan put in. ‘You not making conversation is like a world-class baseball . . . thrower man not using his “wicked arm” . . .’

Ivy sniggered, giving Sophia a playful nudge. ‘See how odd you’re being – Brendan’s trying to make
sports
references.’

Sophia looked down, her fingers twisting through the strap of her backpack. ‘I . . . well, I didn’t . . .’ she stammered, then sighed. ‘I just became shy once I got
here.’

‘You? Shy?’ Ivy shook her head in disbelief as Brendan gave a soft laugh. ‘OK, I was just joking before, but now I’m a bit worried – something weird is
definitely
going on here.’

When Sophia didn’t answer, Ivy gave a frown. ‘Look, let’s just go, OK?’ She scooped up Sophia’s backpack. ‘We can . . . Oh. My.
Darkness
.’ Her
jaw dropped open as she saw what was revealed underneath. ‘Did you . . .’ her voice spiralled upwards in shock ‘. . . actually
buy
a skateboard?’

Sophia hid her face in her hands.

Ivy looked at Brendan, who just looked back at her with wide, stunned eyes. Then she looked back down at the skateboard. It was bright orange, and even more fluorescent than their school bus!
‘
Why?
’ she asked faintly.

Sophia shrugged. ‘I just . . . wanted to give it a
try
, that’s all. It looked like fun.’

‘But why did you come here?’ Brendan’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. ‘Why not skate in Franklin Grove?’

Sophia crossed her arms. ‘This is where the skaters hang out. Where better to learn?’

Ivy frowned. There was something in her friend’s voice. Something defensive . . . ‘Are you sure that’s the only reason?’

‘Of course it is! It was safer for me to practise here.’ Sophia lifted her chin. ‘If I’d tried in Franklin Grove, and failed, everyone I know would have
seen
me.
It would have been too embarrassing.’ She stared Ivy full in the face, though it was difficult to see exactly what her expression was, behind those sunglasses.

Ivy was about to respond, when a chorus of ‘
Cool!’
behind her cut her off. She turned and saw the skater-girls applauding Finn, who had probably just done another fancy move
with a silly name. Ivy shook her head.
Only ‘cool’ this time? What happened to ‘bodacious’?

She snorted.
Maybe Finn’s getting over-the-hill
already.
But when she turned back round, Sophia was watching Finn intently from behind her sunglasses . . . and her mouth had
formed into the same admiring O-shape that Ivy could see on the gingham-ified girls who were applauding the older blond boy.

That’s it . . .

Ivy nodded to herself. It wasn’t going to do her best friend any good to sit off to the side, making ‘goo-goo’ eyes at an older boy who didn’t notice her. If they
weren’t careful, this shyness – so
un-
Sophia – might become permanent. And Ivy had seen enough of High School this week to know that it would be even tougher to handle if
Sophia kept herself to herself too much.
A healthy serving of ‘tough love’ coming right up
, she thought.

‘You know, Sophia,’ said Ivy. ‘If you want to learn to skate, you should go for it.’ She stepped aside, clearing Sophia a path to the skatepark. ‘Right
now!’

Sophia scooted backwards, clutching her board to her chest. ‘What?’

‘Come on. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?’ Ivy raised her eyebrows. ‘Hey, maybe one of the skater-boys will give you
pointers
if you need
them.’

Brendan cleared his throat. ‘Um, Ivy, are you sure –’

But it was too late. Sophia was standing up. ‘Fine,’ she said, brushing off her jeans. ‘I will.’

Ivy gasped.
Abort ‘Tough Love’, abort!
‘But . . . you could hurt yourself
 
!’
And you weren’t supposed
to call my bluff
 
!

‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ Sophia stepped neatly out of reach and walked calmly over to the crowded skatepark. As skaters turned to stare, she set her board down and placed one
foot on it. Then she pushed forward . . . and her vampire super-strength made the skateboard fly into the air in front of her, leaving her staggering so hard, she almost fell over.

I can’t watch this!
Ivy thought, hiding her face in her hands. But she couldn’t help peeping through her fingers as the skateboard went soaring. The other skaters scrambled to
get out of its way.

‘Hey!’ One of Finn’s friends glared at her. ‘We don’t need a clown. This isn’t a circus!’

The other guys all burst into laughter – all except Finn. He just looked away politely as Sophia hurried through the crowd, her shoulders hunched, to reclaim her skateboard from where it
lay tipped on one side at the other end of the park.

Ivy cringed as Sophia stood back on the board. This time it didn’t go flying – but it wobbled so badly, she teetered from side to side, forced to wave her arms wildly to keep her
balance. Within five seconds, she had fallen right off.

‘This is awful,’ Brendan whispered to Ivy.

Ivy groaned in agreement as she glanced around at the crowd that was gathering – bunnies and goths all coming to watch and enjoy the ‘comedy’. Her teeth ground together with
frustration.

I can’t just physically
drag
her away. That would
humiliate her even more!

It took everything she had, though, to hold herself back as she watched Sophia fall again and again. The crowd snorted with laughter every time. Sophia hadn’t wanted their old friends to
see her embarrassing herself – but she was doing a good job of letting these new kids laugh at her expense.

Just give up
, Ivy begged her friend silently.

At last, Sophia picked up her skateboard. Her face was flushed, but she held her chin high as she carried it by her side, walking away from the skatepark with as much dignity as she could
muster.

Ivy let out a sigh of relief as she hurried to join her friend. ‘You did the smart thing,’ she whispered. She started to hold out her arms to give a comforting hug, but Sophia shook
her head.

‘Not in front of them,’ she whispered back.

Ivy nodded and shoved her hands into her pockets. As Brendan scooped up Sophia’s backpack, she sought for a way to cheer up her friend. ‘You know,’ she said, ‘you could
probably skateboard successfully if you just lost those shades.’

‘No way!’ Sophia’s free hand went protectively to her face. ‘They’re staying.’

Ivy shrugged, sighing. ‘If you say so.’

Vampires had natural super-strength and super-speed . . . but, apparently, they did not always have super-common sense!

Brendan handed Sophia her backpack, and they started walking away from the skatepark, ignoring the laughter of the skaters behind them. As they passed a group of goths lounging nearby, Ivy saw
that Amelia Thompson was looking from Finn to Sophia and back . . . and then gave Sophia a hard glare.

‘Goths probably aren’t allowed to skateboard either,’ Ivy muttered, rolling her eyes. ‘Or have any other kind of fun.’ Which did make her wonder – what was
Amelia doing in the park at all?
Shouldn’t she be moping in a darkened room or
something?

Sophia only shrugged . . . but unfortunately, the movement made her backpack gape open and the gingham fabric spilled out.

Amelia’s lips curled. She turned as if to speak to her friends, but her voice was pitched perfectly to reach Sophia and the others. ‘Oh, yeah. Gingham is so
cute
. . . for a
farmer. Don’t you think?’

Her followers all laughed, like good little lackeys. Ivy’s jaw clenched. ‘That’s it,’ she said. ‘I’m going to –’

Sophia grabbed her arm and pulled her forwards. ‘Just forget it, Ivy.’

‘Don’t engage,’ Brendan agreed in a whisper. ‘It’ll only cause more trouble.’

Reluctantly, Ivy gave in. She breathed a sigh of relief the moment they stepped out of the park. At least now, they wouldn’t have anyone watching their every movement any more. Or would
they? A curtain twitched across the street. Another twitched nearby. A moment later, a whole group of bunnies came flooding out of the first house, while goth underlings came hurrying from the
park.

‘Ivy! I’m having a party on Saturday. Do you want to come?’

‘Hey, Ivy, we’re having a barbecue next week. Will you be there?’

‘Ivy, do you want to come to my house sometime? Just to hang out?’

Hang out?
Ivy stared at the girl who’d made the suggestion.
I’ve never even seen her before. What would
we even
talk
about?

Sophia’s voice quivered with laughter as she whispered into Ivy’s ear, ‘How does it feel to be Ms Popular?’

Ivy had to bite back a groan of horror. Sophia was right! Somehow, in this crazy town and school, she had actually become popular.
This was
not supposed to happen!

She looked at the crowd of waiting, expectant faces all around her and resolved to do something about this. She needed help to deal with her new circumstances.

Next time I talk to Olivia
, she vowed,
I will ask
her: how does
anyone
survive being popular?

‘A
aaaand
cut
!’

Olivia’s shoulders slumped with relief as the cameras stopped recording. She could barely breathe.
How did real Victorian women wear corsets
every day without
suffocating?

But wearing corsets all the time still couldn’t have been more annoying for Victorian girls than Olivia’s afternoon had been for her – thirty-seven takes of walking into a room
and gasping, followed by twenty-two takes of her looking out of a window ‘wistfully’.

At this rate, I may graduate from
college
before we finish this film!

‘And with that, we are wrapped tight and cosy for today!’ Jacob Harker bellowed – even though calling an end to the day’s filming should have been Tom the
director’s job. ‘Out-race dawn to the set tomorrow, folks.’