‘Um, see, I may have got myself caught up in a teensy little lie.’ Olivia held her fingers a couple of centimetres apart. ‘The thing is, well, I made this new friend called Holly, and she really wanted to meet you and interview you about Transylvania. She’s training to be a journalist and she’s entered a travel-writing competition and . . . she thinks you’re back in the country.’
Ivy palmed her forehead.
‘What? I couldn’t exactly tell her you were at a vampire boarding school! Plus, she thinks getting pictures of you will help her win the competition, and I don’t want to let her down. The deadline is the end of this week.’
Ivy shook her head, clucking her tongue. ‘Olivia, Olivia, Olivia.’ She broke out into a mischievous grin. ‘Don’t forget to bring your best death squint. At least I know you can fool people that you’re me, what with the Pall Bearers concert and everything!’
‘You heard about that?’ Olivia hid her face behind her hands as her shoulders shook with laughter.
‘Yes, we heard about it! And I got into a whole heap of trouble. My teacher thought I’d skipped school to go to it.’
Olivia’s hands fell from her face. ‘I’m so sorry!’ She couldn’t believe it. I’ve got my twin into trouble by trying to help her boyfriend. How twisted is that ?
Ivy batted a hand through the air. ‘Forget about it. I seem to get in trouble a lot here.’ Her smile faded.
‘You’re not still feeling homesick, are you?’ Olivia asked, suddenly concerned.
Ivy shrugged. ‘Kind of. A bit. What about you? How are you feeling now that you’re single again? Everything OK?’
Olivia smiled bravely. ‘Getting better. One day at a time.’
A bell rang at Ivy’s end. ‘Oops, that must be the end of our lunch hour. Speak later, sis!’ Ivy giggled and signed off.
Olivia’s palms were getting sweaty now and her heart was thumping in her chest. What if she messed this up?
She tiptoed down the stairs from her bedroom, straightening her black wig. How would she explain the long coat and hooded jacket she was wearing? It was going to be a scorcher in Franklin Grove today and this get-up certainly didn’t fit with Olivia’s usual fashion taste. This was the same outfit she’d worn to the Pall Bearers concert.
What am I doing? What am I thinking? Olivia was starting to freak out. Do I really think I can pull this off? Once could have been a fluke. Twice? That may be asking for too much luck. And how did she wind up having to cover one lie with another lie? I had to tell the first lie, Olivia told herself for the thirtieth time that morning. She hadn’t had a choice. It was either that or disappoint Brendan and Sophia.
Still, somehow she had a feeling that this was not going to end well.
One last step and . . . Creaaaaaaaak! Olivia cringed.
‘Olivia, are you there?’ her adoptive mother, Mrs Abbott, called.
Oh no! She made a beeline for the front door, but her mom stepped out of the living room just as she was reaching for the handle.
‘Why are you wearing that big coat, dear?’
Olivia reached for her hood, dragging it off quickly, along with the black Ivy wig. Now, as far as Mrs Abbott knew, her daughter was just in a hoodie and not dressed in a full-on Ivy disguise.
Olivia dug a pair of sunglasses out of the pocket of her coat and shoved them over her nose. Think, Olivia. ‘Oh, um . . .’ She squeezed her eyes shut for a split second, and when she turned around she had shaped her lips into her trademark megawatt smile. ‘I’m going over to Charles’s later, you know.’ She tried to sound offhand. ‘To talk wedding stuff. The plans are still all very hush-hush, remember, and I figure I’ll be coming back with notepads and bridal magazines and holiday brochures. So, I needed something with big pockets.’ She opened them up to demonstrate.
When Olivia had been acting in her first film, The Groves, the mega-famous Hollywood studio head, Harker, had told her, ‘Hey, kid, the key to selling any role is first confidence and then the details.’
Mrs Abbott shrugged, looking a bit befuddled. ‘OK, that’s fine. Have fun and I hope you don’t get too hot in that thing.’
Olivia shut the door behind her, replacing the wig and hood so that she was re-Ivy-ed. I swear, if I get past this little mess I’ve made, I will never tell another lie ever again.
Olivia checked her reflection in the window of Mister Smoothie. She looked like Ivy, but with a tan. She slipped off the coat and draped it over her arm. Holly didn’t know why Ivy was always so pale, so Olivia should be able to get away with it. Perhaps Ivy had been outside a lot while on vacation in Europe. Olivia almost burst out laughing at the thought. Ivy Vega volunteering for outdoor activities? The thought was ridiculous.
Olivia glanced at her watch and started going over the plan one more time in her head. It was 10 a.m. She would go inside, pretending to be Ivy. She would tell Holly that Olivia wouldn’t be long and that they should begin without her. That would give Holly a chance to take some photos. At 10.22 a.m., Sophia would call Olivia’s phone. Ivy-Olivia would act as though the real Olivia were on the phone. Then Ivy-Olivia would tell Holly that Olivia was stuck at their father’s house helping him with something, and that Ivy was needed there right away too. The three of them would have to hang out together some other time. Like when Ivy gets back from Transylvania, thought Olivia.
Simple, right?
Olivia took a deep breath. It would be a miracle if she made it through the day without having a heart attack! The door chimed as she stepped inside Mister Smoothie. She did a quick scan of the restaurant, spotting Holly right away with her long red streaks of hair. She was sitting in a corner booth with her back to the door.
Olivia started to walk over. Hold on . . . Ivy wouldn’t know who Holly was, or what she looked like. The two had never met. So she wouldn’t just walk over there, would she? ‘No,’ Olivia muttered under her breath. ‘Play it cool.’ That was what Ivy would do and Olivia needed to sell the part. It’s all in the details, she reminded herself.