‘Hmm.’ She narrowed her eyes at him. ‘Tell me the truth. Were you really sick? Or was it just a bad case of a-pun-dicitis?’
Brendan snorted. ‘If it was, it must have been contagious.’
Ivy shook her head. ‘That’s it,’ she said, in between giggles. ‘I’m stopping now before the contagion spreads any further.’
‘Just don’t go away again,’ Brendan said, placing an arm around her shoulders. ‘Then we should all stay safe.’
‘Got it.’ Ivy slipped the ring on the ring finger of her right hand. A perfect fit.
Brendan bumped shoulders with her. ‘I know,’ he said, ‘you don’t like loads of mush and romance.’
‘To say the least,’ Ivy said firmly. Still, she couldn’t help stroking one finger over the little face of the bat on her ring. She looked up into Brendan’s eyes and found him grinning at her.
‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘I thought your return home was important enough to mark, but from now on –’ Brendan crossed his heart – ‘I promise, you’re going to be totally ignored and overlooked. Just the way you like it.’
‘You better,’ said Ivy, biting the insides of her cheeks to keep a dumb smile off her face. ‘I have something for you too.’
Nearby, Camilla jumped up, breaking into the Great Pastry Debate. ‘Come on, guys! Split into two groups, and pretend those sticks over there are swords. I need to figure out the choreography for my fight scene! Ivy, are you two on-board?’
‘Not this time.’ Ivy waved Camilla off. As the others took up formations under Camilla’s direction, laughing and fencing with the sticks they’d picked up from the grass, Ivy and Brendan scooted to a more sheltered spot. As soon as they were safely out of cupcake range – and, she hoped, out of sight as well – Ivy reached into her black rucksack and pulled out the gift she’d felt almost too embarrassed to bring along. She didn’t want any observers for this one.
‘The Dead Travel Fast ?’ Brendan said. Now he was the one gaping in amazement. ‘This is my favourite book!’
‘I know that, dummy.’ Ivy rolled her eyes as she dropped it in his lap, glad she had her back turned to the others. ‘Do you think I would have got it otherwise? It’s a first edition copy.’
‘A first edition, huh?’ Brendan raised his eyebrows in mock outrage. ‘Ivy Vega, you are a total fraud. You may pretend to be tough, but inside you are as soft as Holly’s cupcakes.’
‘Whatever!’ Ivy groaned. But she didn’t resist when he pulled her into a quick hug.
Wow. Olivia hid a grin as she quickly looked away from Ivy and Brendan. I’ve never seen Ivy so loved-up ! Usually her sister put on such a front of carelessness; sometimes it could be hard even for Olivia to guess at her feelings. Right now, though, Ivy and Brendan were smiling into each other’s faces with pure delight.
It must be true love, Olivia thought. Of course, true love is easy. Not like me and Jackson, with all the distance and . . .
‘Excellent!’ Camilla said, and waved for everyone to set down their ‘swords’. ‘That’ll definitely work on-screen.’
Olivia hid a smile. That was Camilla – she might have spent the last half hour in a world of her own, caught up by the new movie idea in her head, but now that she was wide awake, she was back in full director-mode. Olivia didn’t mind being bossed about a bit to make her friend happy, though. Camilla had been partly responsible for Olivia meeting her ex-boyfriend, Jackson, when they’d got jobs on a film set in Franklin Grove.
Jackson . . . Don’t think about him !
‘Let’s play Frisbee!’ Olivia called, looking for any distraction she could find.
As the group arranged themselves to play the new game, she caught Ivy’s eye and the two of them smiled. Ivy’s back where she belongs, Olivia thought. Camilla’s in boss-mode. Brendan’s healthy. Everything’s back to normal.
Almost . . .
‘Catch!’ Brendan called, as he threw the Frisbee. It arced over Holly’s head. The new girl jumped into the air, but she missed it by at least three metres. The Frisbee landed just short of the park gates, and Holly’s shoulders slumped.
Olivia shook her head. That’s a really short throw, for Brendan ! Normally, Brendan would have been able to throw that Frisbee way out of the park with his vampire super-strength. Not that any of them could let on about this in front of Holly – vampire secrets needed to stay just that. Olivia was lucky to be in on the secret, but she had to keep it, just like the vampires did.
Some of the group couldn’t resist a bit of teasing, though. ‘Not back up to your usual strength yet, Brendan?’ Ivy teased.
‘Maybe you need a bit more rest, huh?’ their friend Sophia added, laughing as Brendan flushed.
Holly’s voice cut through all the teasing: ‘What are you guys talking about?’
Uh-oh, Olivia thought. She turned and saw her new friend staring at the rest of them as if they were speaking gibberish.
‘That went really fast and really far,’ Holly said, looking over her shoulder. ‘How could he ever throw further than that ?’