Twin Spins! (14 page)

Olivia walked by the mirror, saw her hair sticking up at crazy angles, and immediately ducked. Thank goodness her hot boyfriend couldn’t see her with bed-head!

She recovered, remembering with a sad sigh that Jackson was a safe distance away in Utah. ‘If I had my boyfriend as my date,’ she finished. There wasn’t a peep on the line. Olivia could hear her own breath echoing through the receiver. ‘Jackson? Hello, Jackson!’

‘Olivia, the promo tour has been extended. I’m so sorry, but I’ve been invited to a live TV interview in Boston and I couldn’t turn it down. I don’t know what to say. You understand, right? That’s why I bought the boots, to make it up to you.’

The boots were beautiful, but they didn’t stop Olivia’s heart from dropping down into her slippers. ‘Is that why you had a wardrobe manager with you the other day when we talked?’

‘Er . . . yes, yes – that’s exactly it.’ Olivia heard shuffling around on Jackson’s end. ‘Hey, Olivia?’ He sounded distracted now. Olivia knew his distracted voice. ‘I have to go. We’ll talk later, OK? Bye!’

Olivia didn’t even get to say ‘goodbye’ before the dialling tone was droning in her ear. ‘Talk to you later,’ she mumbled to no one, letting the phone slip on to her mattress. Fat, salty tears started to pool on her eyelids. Her boyfriend was doing everything right. He remembered to phone. He sent presents.
So why do I feel so wretched?
Olivia wondered.

The phone rang again and Olivia picked it up, hoping it was Jackson ringing her back. It wasn’t.

‘Don’t sound so happy to hear from me,’ said Ivy.

‘Sorry,’ said Olivia, flopping on to her cool sheets. ‘I thought you were someone else.’

‘Jackson?’

‘Maybe.’ Olivia stared up at the ceiling and wiped the last few tears from the corners of her eyes. ‘What’s up?’

‘I was wondering if you wanted some help getting everything ready for the dance. I think it’s going to be deadly. I mean it!’

Olivia felt another lump rise in her throat. ‘That’s, like, the kindest thing anyone’s ever offered to do for me,’ she blurted.

Ivy laughed. ‘I think you’re just feeling a little fragile today, but, either way, there isn’t anywhere else I’d rather be. Not only will we get all the decorations for the dance up on time, but I will personally make sure that we both manage to look drop dead.’

Olivia hung up the phone, feeling a glow of warmth for her sister. After all this preparation, she couldn’t believe it – it was nearly time for the dance!

As she and Olivia got closer to Franklin Grove, it was as if every fibre of Ivy’s vampire-being was rebelling against the very idea of a school dance. Ivy stared out the window of her dad’s shiny black sedan, feeling seriously grave about the prospect of doing any dancing at all.

She had spent the day – a
whole
day – helping Olivia get herself and the dance ready. Of course, Ivy wanted to do everything she could to cheer her sister up. After all, Olivia thought her boyfriend didn’t care about her. But Ivy had to confess that spending the day with her hair in rollers while hanging bunting and tying balloons was going above and beyond the call of duty.

Olivia drummed her cerise-painted nails on the back seat. The tiny diamante stickers she’d applied on top of the polish shimmered in the dim light.

‘It’s going to be fine.’ Ivy examined her own nails. She’d opted for a more classic goth black.

‘I know, I know.’ A worried crease formed at the top of Olivia’s nose. ‘I just want everyone to have a good time!’

‘They will!’ Ivy assured her. Olivia eyed her sister and Ivy knew Olivia was particularly sceptical about
her
attitude. ‘Even me!’ Ivy exclaimed. ‘I mean, look at me.’

Ivy had zipped home to change before picking up Olivia, and was now dressed in skinny black jeans, a black-and-white gingham shirt with patch pockets, a black cowboy hat, and an authentic leather shoestring tie around her neck. Ivy had embraced the theme and put her own spin on it, just like Olivia had wanted.

‘You’re the best gothic cowgirl I’ve ever seen!’ Olivia nodded approvingly.

‘I’m the
only
gothic cowgirl you’ve ever seen.’

‘Still! OK, how do I look?’ Olivia pouted her lips and turned her head from side to side for Ivy to examine.

‘Fluffy?’ Ivy admired the pink cowgirl outfit. Olivia wore a puffy, layered ra-ra skirt that Ivy wouldn’t be caught dead in, but it looked très cute on her sister. Olivia’s shirt was knotted at the front and her hair was tied into pigtails with two puffy pink hairbands. ‘And your boots, they totally make the outfit!’

‘You think so?’ Olivia beamed. ‘After all that Hollywood glamour, it’s sort of nice to dress up in an outfit that’s actually fun.’

That much Ivy could agree with. Although she had adored her outfit for the awards ceremony – a gorgeous black kimono embroidered with delicate red dragons – she
had
felt a bit constricted. She would take jeans over a fitted gown any day.

Mr Vega edged the sedan’s wheels up to the curb. ‘You girls both look stunning. Ivy, coffin by ten, OK?’

But Ivy was distracted. She had spotted Brendan standing in front of the school’s gates, right between the big iron initials ‘F’ and ‘G’. He strode towards the car in his shiny black cowboy boots and slender grey slacks. Ivy had never seen her boyfriend look so tall, dark and drop-dead handsome. He opened the door and, like a true gentleman, helped both Ivy and Olivia out of the car.

‘This is for you.’ He presented a corsage to Ivy made of deep purple . . . thistle! Even she had to admit, it was perfect. He helped pin it to her gingham shirt and then held out the crook of his arm so that Ivy could slip her hand through.

The other arm he extended to Olivia, and together the three of them walked into the crowd of students dressed in pink-and-black cowboy outfits. Ivy squeezed Brendan’s arm.
Olivia has totally pulled it off!
She peeked around Brendan.
Does Olivia look OK?
Ivy didn’t want her sister to feel lost without Jackson, but from the moment Brendan opened the school’s doors, Olivia was surrounded by a swarm of adoring classmates.

‘This theme is the best!’ said a red-handkerchiefed boy, patting Olivia on the back.

‘Oh my goodness, have you seen the bales of hay in the hall?’ Ivy recognised Jenny from the committee. ‘You just have to! Come on!’

Ivy was amazed to discover that Olivia had her own mini paparazzi.
If only Jackson could see his girlfriend in action!
Olivia led the way into the assembly hall and both twins gasped. It looked even better than when they had left to get changed. The gingham bunting was now hanging from the rafters and dance-goers were filtering in beneath a pink-and-black balloon arch. Inside the hall, everyone was sitting on hay bales and a country-and-western band was playing. Olivia had covered every detail, from floor to ceiling.

‘I can’t believe you managed to tame the beasts.’ Ivy pointed to Lucrezia, Melinda and Veronica. They were busy handing out berry-bright fruit punch, no attitude included.

‘Actually, that was Jenny’s idea.’ Olivia had her hands on her hips as she surveyed the rest of the transformed dance hall.

Ivy shrugged. It was hard to be a gothic grump when everyone was having so much fun. Ivy had better be careful that she didn’t let a ‘Yeehaw!’ slip out accidentally. Even better was the fact that Olivia seemed delighted, despite the fact that Jackson was a no-show. Ivy felt the familiar stab of guilt.
How delighted will Olivia be when she finds out I might be away for more than the summer?
Ivy tried to bury the thought.

‘May I have the honour of this dance?’ Brendan offered his hand with a flourish.

Ivy bit her lip, glancing in the direction of her sister, who was trying out the hay bales with a group of girls from the committee.

‘Olivia’s fine! Come on!’ He took her hand and dragged Ivy out on to the dance floor. In perfect step with the music, Brendan twirled her and circled in an excellent version of a do-si-do.

‘Where did you pick up these moves?’ asked Ivy. Her dark hair was flying and she was spinning, spinning, spinning until she was dizzy. If Ivy wasn’t mistaken, she was actually having –
gasp!
– fun. That was the last thing she’d expected.

Brendan pulled Ivy closer, looking a bit sheepish as he stared down at her. ‘Er, I might have been practising the country dancing your Aunt Rebecca taught me.’

That had to be the sweetest thing Ivy had ever heard and it didn’t even make her nauseous. She gazed up at Brendan, with his intense dark eyes and cute shaggy hair. Would he still love her when she was so far away? He smiled, warm and familiar. Ivy smiled back and, somehow, she had a feeling that everything would be fine.

Chapter Eleven

O
livia had once landed a perfect round-off back handspring with a full twist at her school’s homecoming game, but pulling off this dance had been ten times harder . . . and better! She watched Ivy line dancing with Brendan and a mixed group of goths and bunnies.
I knew that she’d have fun if she gave the dance a chance!

She only had one extra wish. Olivia squeezed her eyes shut, clicked the heels of her fabulous pink boots, and wished for Jackson to be with her. But when she opened her eyes again, she was still alone.
Hey, a girl has to try
.

A sudden scuffling sound caught Olivia’s attention and she whirled around to see three girls blocking the end of the balloon archway. She glanced at the punch bowl. It was abandoned. Oh no, she knew taming the Terrible Trio had been too easy!

Olivia rushed over to Lucrezia, Melinda and Veronica to see what was causing the fuss. ‘Can I help you guys with something?’

Lucrezia stepped back and Olivia was stunned to see Camilla – just back from Paris and dressed as a space-cowboy character.
Probably from one of her favourite sci-fi books
, thought Olivia. Camilla had donned a fishbowl helmet over her Stetson, and even Olivia had to smile at her friend’s eccentricity.

Melinda, on the other hand, looked disgusted. ‘She cannot come in looking like that.’ Melinda swished her hand over Camilla as if she were something Olivia should be able to clean up. ‘She’s not dressed for the theme.’

Olivia frowned. ‘You guys, have you learned nothing?’ She caught Jenny’s eye from across the dance floor and Jenny headed straight over, arriving in front of the group looking as self-assured as a real, live sheriff.

Jenny pushed her white cowboy hat down over her head. ‘Lucrezia, Melinda, Veronica, it is not your job to be refusing people entry. Your job is to attend to the refreshments.’ She pointed at the unmanned beverage table. ‘And you’ve abandoned it. Remember what we talked about?’

Olivia nodded at Jenny. She had provided first-rate backup, but this time Olivia could tell it wasn’t going to be enough.

‘Look,’ Olivia stepped up. ‘Tonight is all about letting people have fun. Relax a little. Maybe you can all join the line dance together,’ she suggested, knowing this might be asking too much too soon.

Veronica shrieked. ‘Relax! Weren’t you the one trying to dictate what theme we should have in the first place?’

‘Hey!’ Camilla stomped her space-inspired snow boots. ‘I will not have you girls compromise my artistic integrity. I am a fangirl,’ she shouted, through the thick plastic of her helmet, ‘and I’ll come wearing whatever I want!’

Lucrezia raised her eyebrows at Olivia, ignoring Camilla. ‘Veronica’s right. You’re the one who insisted on this theme. What a hypocrite.’

Olivia wanted to tear out her hair. She knew they had a point, but she’d learned her lesson since then and she didn’t want to be pulled off course again. She reached past the line of girls, lunging to try and help Camilla get in. ‘Follow me,’ she told Camilla.

But as she reached out, Lucrezia bumped shoulders with Olivia and the three of them got caught up, staggering in a big heap towards the balloon arch. Olivia felt the arch sway behind her and Camilla landed on top of Olivia with a sharp elbow to her stomach. ‘Ouch!’

Pop! Pop! Pop!