Worse yet, the polish he’d added at the end tasted of pink bubblegum . Talk about a bunny flavour!
Hunching her shoulders, Ivy ran her tongue over her newly-short fangs and fought the urge to gag at the taste as it mingled with the disgusting smells of the pizza parlour. It’s definitely time to get back outside!
Ignoring the cobwebs and fake roaches that cluttered the corners, Ivy walked past the dustcovered service counter where Rachel, the ‘manageress’ of the Slice of Life – who was actually Dr Lee’s receptionist – was pretending to read a sauce-spattered magazine.
Cobwebs trailed off Rachel’s dirty cap, which was topped by a plastic spider, and a smear of red – which Ivy’s sensitive nose identified as paint rather than real pizza sauce – spread all the way across her cheek. As Ivy passed, Rachel looked up just long enough to give a secret nod . . . before ticking off a note in the patient book that was hidden inside the magazine.
Nodding back, Ivy held her breath and picked her way across the spills of dried cheese that covered the floor. It was a huge relief to reach the doorway. On the threshold, she started to turn back to wave goodbye to Rachel . . .
And then the unthinkable happened. From the corner of her eye she saw a hand . . . a hand reaching for the door.
Reaching for the door to the Slice of Life? I must be seeing things!
Ivy squeezed her eyes shut. Then she opened them, blinking hard . . . and saw the door being pulled all the way open.
She spun around. Oh, no!
It was an older boy – a high school senior, judging by his appearance, but she’d never seen him before. He must go to Willowton, she realised. But what is he thinking, for darkness’ sake? Are they even crazier at Willowton than at Franklin Grove? No one in their right mind would ever try to eat here! It has been designed specially, to repel all non-vamps!
But the boy wasn’t alone. He had run ahead to hold the door open for a whole group of his friends, who were all talking and laughing as they hurried down the street towards him . . . and even though he raised his eyebrows as he peered inside, he didn’t turn away. Instead, he called to his friends.
‘Come on. It doesn’t look all that bad. We might as well give it a try.’
Ivy squared her shoulders. I can’t let this happen!
Every vampire in Franklin Grove knew that they had a duty to keep bunnies out of the Slice of Life, to keep them from seeing or hearing something they shouldn’t . . . Last summer, Ivy and Brendan had started an impromptu ‘Ketchup War’ in the street to scare off a bunny couple who looked like they might give it a try. It had actually been fun – until Rachel asked them to help clean up!
Ivy spun around and yelled at Rachel: ‘That food was disgusting ! How dare you try to charge me for something that had bugs in it?’
The boy holding the door stepped back. Ivy heard his friends’ footsteps slowing. Someone halfway down the street whispered, ‘Did she just say bugs ?’
Rachel yelled back, ‘Oh, come on, at least most of the bugs on your pizza were dead.’
‘Some of them were still moving!’ Ivy declared. ‘In my mouth!’
The boy let go of the door, swallowing visibly. Ivy lifted her chin. ‘This is a scandal. I’m not paying you. I’m reporting you to the health board! Just as soon as I . . . as I . . .’
She clapped her hand to her mouth. Bending over, she forced her shoulders to heave.
Running footsteps sounded down the street outside as the boy and his friends fled at top speed.
Behind the counter, Rachel chuckled. ‘Well done,’ she said. ‘Are you sure it’s your sister who’s the actress in the family?’
Ivy snorted as she straightened up. ‘Positive.’
Shaking her head, she walked outside and took a deep breath of the clean air. Her mouth was still tingling, but at least she could breathe now. She just wished she could erase her memories of the last half hour as easily as she’d gotten rid of those would-be pizza customers.
Sure, she’d had some bad dental procedures in the past . . . but Dr Lee had never before had to kneel on the armrest just to file down her fangs, much less take out his ‘special machine’! And the lecture he’d given her afterwards had made her feel even worse. She frowned, kicking at the pavement as she remembered how angry he’d been at her for waiting too long between filings.
‘This isn’t just a matter of personal comfort, young lady. It’s about protecting the secrets of the whole vampire race!’
‘Stupid high school,’ she muttered now. If it hadn’t been for how crazy her stupid popularity was making her, she would never have let it go for this long . . .
Nice try, Ivy . She sighed, giving up. Even to herself, she couldn’t pretend that it was anyone’s fault but her own. Keeping her fangs filed was basic vampire concealment strategy, and it had to take priority over everything else. No matter what was going on at school, she should never have neglected it.
The whole thing felt so depressing that for once, Ivy couldn’t even bring herself to feel hungry for dinner. She’d already arranged to meet Brendan at the Meat and Greet, though, so she trudged through the dark street towards the brightly lit diner, trying to ignore the sickly sweet taste left in her mouth by the tooth filing.
Brendan was waiting for her at one of the booths in the back, along with two steaming-hot, rare burgers. ‘Well, look at that.’ He grinned as he pulled open her mouth to peer dramatically at her teeth. ‘No more horror movie material!’