Ivy choked. ‘You put flour and sugar in that ?’
‘No, silly. I’ve brought decorations, to make everything look fabulous!’
As Sophia took out a pile of Tupperware boxes from her bag, full of tiny, crystallised cake decorations shaped like black bats and red castles, Ivy looped one arm around her boyfriend’s waist.
‘Hope you’re hungry!’ she said perkily, channelling Olivia’s most cheerleader-bright tone.
Brendan gave a half-hearted smile. ‘I’m here, aren’t I?’
The next moment, Camilla was barking orders from the doorway, her face hidden by her video camera. ‘Focus, everyone! This is for posterity.’
They all groaned, but not too hard – they knew Camilla too well to argue. And as Ivy looked around the kitchen, she had to admit it really was a scene worth filming. Olivia had covered every available surface in wipe-clean tablecloths and put out bowls of strawberry and lemon sweets, milk chocolate discs, and pink-and-blue decorations. It was like a picture from a magazine, pretty, neat and perfectly organised – just like Olivia herself.
‘Come on, everyone!’ Olivia said. ‘I’ve got ingredients for crispie cakes and chocolate-chip cookies.’ She pointed at the different stations she’d set up around the room. ‘Everyone take their places!’
‘Brendan’s brought something too,’ Ivy said, and nudged her boyfriend even as Sophia got to work on freezer cakes.
Brendan’s grin was real this time, as he held out his bag. ‘Double-00 flour: the best of the best!’
‘Aha.’ Ivy’s eyes narrowed. ‘So this was your secret to those unbeatable macaroons, huh?’
I can bake macaroons just as good as his, no matter what he says ! Ivy reached for the bag, fired up by her competitive instinct – she hadn’t forgotten his challenge! – but Olivia’s hand closed around it at exactly the same time. Oops ! Ivy let go, stepping back to let Olivia take the bag . . . just as Olivia let go, stepping back to let Ivy take it.
The two girls’ eyes met. Then the bag landed on the kitchen floor, exploding and spraying clouds of flour all over both of them.
Ivy heard Olivia draw in a breath. Sophia gasped – perhaps a little too melodramatically. The flour had fallen fast, but not so fast that one of the three vampires in the room couldn’t have caught it before it hit the floor. But with Camilla filming, they had to let the mess be made.
‘This is priceless!’ Camilla yelled. ‘Movie magic!’
‘Magic, huh?’ As the cloud settled, Ivy looked at her flour-covered twin and began to laugh. So much for staying neat ! ‘You look like the Abominable Snowman.’
‘So do you,’ said Olivia. ‘You’re not a goth any more! I can’t see a single speck of black on you.’
‘Actually,’ Sophia said, ‘covered in this much flour, even I couldn’t tell you two apart.’
‘And I have it all captured on film,’ Camilla said with satisfaction.
The doorbell rang. One of Olivia’s white-dusted hands flew to her floury face.
‘Don’t worry,’ Ivy said. ‘I’ll get it.’ Still grinning, she went to the front door. When she glanced back over her shoulder, she could see a trail of white footprints on the carpet.
Maybe it’s a good thing Dad is in Groomzilla mode. With any luck, he won’t even notice the mess !
She opened the front door and found Holly wearing a sunny yellow top and a wildly colourful skirt. Her long, shining blonde hair was set off perfectly by subtle red streaks, and she was carrying . . . a pizza box?
‘Hi!’ Holly said. ‘Sorry, I don’t really have time to bake today, but I thought we could all get stuck into pizza.’
Or you can just look perfect and popular, when the rest of us get messy, Ivy thought sourly, as flour flaked off her hand on to the door handle.
But, no, she told herself, that wasn’t fair. Olivia was right – Ivy was just overreacting to Holly . . . probably.
Even as she thought that, Holly leaned closer to peer at Ivy’s face. ‘You know what?’ She laughed, but it sounded uncomfortable. ‘I can’t even tell which twin you are, under all that flour! Is that . . . is that Olivia?’
Ivy gritted her teeth. Clearly, Holly was really, really hoping it was Olivia. So much for giving each other a chance! ‘You look nervous,’ she snapped. ‘Are you worried you might have to make conversation with a goth?’
‘Ivy!’
Uh-oh. Ivy turned to find her twin standing right behind her, mouth open in shock.