‘Worse,’ he said. ‘I have a side-parting.’
Ivy nearly dropped her cell phone. She recovered herself just in time to say, ‘We’re going to look like total opposites. I’m dressed like I’m forever on my way to the gym.’
When Brendan burst out laughing, Ivy finally started to see the funny side of her predicament. ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘Laugh it up now. But we have to promise to keep straight faces when we actually see each other. Otherwise, that’ll give the whole game away.’
‘Got it,’ Brendan said. ‘Jock Ivy is totally normal. Yep, totally.’
Ivy grinned to herself. ‘But the most important thing is, you cannot actually like my new style. Understood? As soon as this little problem is cleared up, I am ditching this Jock look and going straight back to being me.’
‘So . . .’ Brendan said, sounding concerned. ‘Does that mean I can’t keep my side-parting?’
Ivy was feeling a whole lot better by the time she hung up and went downstairs, following the aroma of pancakes and blueberries to the kitchen. From the deliciousness of the smell, she knew exactly who to expect at the oven: Lillian.
When Ivy appeared in the kitchen, her future stepmom’s mouth dropped open, and she had to fumble to keep from dropping her spatula. ‘That’s a little . . . different,’ Lillian said, blinking hard.
‘That’s the whole point!’ Olivia said. Finishing her last pancake, she dabbed neatly at her mouth with a napkin. ‘Subtle disguises,’ she explained. ‘Trust me, this is going to work.’
‘Right,’ Ivy said, doing her best to return Olivia’s encouraging smile.
At least there’s one consolation, she told herself. She might be dressed in a sack and advertising some sports company she couldn’t care less about, but at least she and her twin were bonding again.
That was worth almost any disguise.
Olivia was just about to step through the doors of Franklin Grove mall that afternoon when a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
‘Ivy!’ she gasped, as she ended up hidden behind the outer wall of the mall beside her twin. ‘What’s the matter with you? You and your vampire strength almost gave me whiplash!’
‘The mall is full of VITs!’ Ivy hissed.
‘Oh no.’ Olivia swallowed hard. ‘They’re here already?’
‘Didn’t you see the latest blog post?’ Ivy’s eyes looked wild. ‘The title was: “Which mall is crawling with creatures of the night?”’
Olivia pulled free of her sister to peer through the glass doors. ‘I don’t see anything weird,’ she said.
‘Look closer.’
Olivia glanced inside. Teenagers gathered in groups at all the usual kiosks selling jewellery and toasted almonds, while more shoppers streamed out of the clothing stores carrying massive plastic bags. A trio of girls tried on pairs of sunglasses at the closest kiosk, while an older mother pushed a stroller past them. ‘I still don’t – Oh.’
Now that she looked closer, she could see that there was definitely something strange about the teenage couple sitting on a bench. For one thing, the newspaper they shared was upside-down . . . Then there was the girl by the food court wearing a long brown trench coat and a large crucifix necklace. Also . . .
Olivia’s eyes narrowed. That girl outside the stationery store wasn’t being nearly as subtle as she thought she was. She was taking cell-phone photos of everyone who passed her.
Ivy was right. This was not good. Franklin Grove’s secret was under grave threat.
Olivia took a deep breath to settle her nerves. Really, she told herself. Walking into a VIT-infested mall can’t be harder than running out on to a football field to cheer in front of hundreds of spectators.
‘Ivy,’ she said, ‘if you can make it past these VITs, you will have passed the biggest test of your disguise.’
‘Well . . . I guess that’s true,’ Ivy agreed, peering around Olivia’s shoulder.
Olivia nodded firmly. ‘Better yet, if we hang around the mall for a while, we might be able to find some clues to the blogger’s identity. There must be some reason why the blogger told all those VITs to come here today.’
‘You’re right.’ Ivy’s eyes gleamed. ‘I bet the blogger’s somewhere in here too, hiding in the crowd. And he – or she – so needs to be taken down!’
Olivia pushed the mall doors open.
Showtime !