“Oh, my gosh,” Olivia said with a shake of her head. “If this were the movies, I’d have to slap your face to make you snap out of it.” She was so dumbfounded she couldn’t think of anything else to say. Finally she just sat down on the ground, eyes closed, thinking hard. She could hear her sister scribbling and picking up leaves.
It was a windy day, and Olivia shivered. She wished she was still wearing Ivy’s long skirt. That’s it! she thought, springing to her feet and rushing to her sister’s side.
“I really wish you’d stop disturbing my sample,” Ivy said, stomping around.
Olivia grabbed her sister by the shoulders. “Ivy, we have to switch again,” she said sternly.
“You’re right,” Ivy replied with a frown. “You’d be much better on a date.”
“No, you’ll go on the date,” Olivia said, grinning. “I’ll go to the meeting!”
“Oh!” Ivy said, sounding shocked. Then she shook her head. “I think it’s one of those meetings where a cheerleader might stick out, though.”
Ivy was clearly confused, so Olivia had no choice but to speak extra slowly. “There will be two Ivy’s, you dork,” she explained. “Impostor Ivy—that’s me—will go to the meeting with Sophia. Real Ivy—that’s you—will go to the mall with Brendan.”
Ivy silently studied the leaf in her hands for a long moment. Finally, she looked up. “I know you’re trying to help, Olivia.” She sighed. “But it won’t work. This meeting will be all Goths. And even if you could get by everyone else, you’ll never make it past Sophia.”
“If you can fool Charlotte, I can fool Sophia,” said Olivia confidently.
“She’s my oldest friend,” countered Ivy.
“Don’t underestimate me,” Olivia pleaded. “Just because I’m a cheerleader that doesn’t mean I don’t know all about Goths. I’m like the number one vampire novel fan in middle school today. I’ve read every Count Vira book four times. I promise, I’ll fit right in.”
Ivy laughed uncomfortably.
“All right, class,” Mr. Strain’s voice wafted across the field. “Time’s almost up!”
“Say you’ll do it,” Olivia said intently.
“I want to, Olivia. But . . .”
Olivia took her hands. “Ivy, I swear to you as your twin sister that if you don’t go on this date, you will never forgive yourself. The boy you like likes you. He likes you. The only thing that will definitely ruin that is if you blow him off.”
“But what will we talk about?” Ivy asked desperately. “Somehow I don’t think asking about the ‘latest’ is going to work in this situation.”
“I’ll help you,” Olivia said firmly. She was not going to take no for an answer. “You’ll be fine, just like you were at lunch.”
Ivy was silent.
“Girls!” Mr. Strain called.
“Say you’ll do it,” Olivia whispered. “Please.”
Ivy blinked. “Okay,” she said, a smile creeping onto her face as she squeezed Olivia’s hand. “But I get to wear my black velvet sneakers.”
Olivia used Ivy’s cell phone to call her mother as soon as the final bell rang, and told her that she was going to Ivy’s house after school. This was technically true, because twenty minutes later, Olivia stood with Ivy at the base of a willow tree–lined driveway that led up a small hill. At the top was a house that looked like something out of Gone with the Wind. It had windows that were about fifteen feet tall and a columned front porch that spanned the front of the house.
Ivy started up the drive.
“This is your house?” said Olivia. She thought of the two-story brick house her family had just moved into on the other side of Franklin Grove. Olivia really liked their new house—her bedroom was at least twice the size of her old one—but this place was a total mansion.
“Yeah,” Ivy said. “Why?”
“It’s nice,” said Olivia, shaking gravel out of one of her flip-flops.
They hustled up the hill and climbed the sweeping front steps. A huge lantern of dark red glass hung above the porch, flickering even though it was day. Ivy paused before turning the burnished brass knob on the ornately carved oak front door. “Stay here for a sec.” She disappeared inside.
From where she stood beside a pile of firewood taller than she was, Olivia could see almost all Franklin Grove below her. It looked beautiful with houses poking up among the trees. She spotted the roof of the school in the distance.