Charlotte flipped open the screen on the side of the camera and the interview loaded. Olivia watched, nervously. To her relief, she was pleased with her answers, and she didn’t look like a total dork on camera, even without a crew of stylists and make-up artists behind her. She must have gained more than a hot celebrity boyfriend on set after all! Learning poise and a little screen presence were added perks!
Just as she was about to compliment Charlotte on her filming skills, she spotted Ivy in the background of the scene. Her sister’s hand was squeezing around a super-thick Mister Smoothie glass and, then . . . pow! It shattered in a big oozing mess. That had to be vampire super-strength! No normal girl could break a glass with her bare hands. Olivia could hardly squeeze an aluminium can. Why hadn’t she noticed the commotion back in the café? No way could she let this stay on camera – everyone would find out about her sister’s secret vampire skills and her vamp family would be exposed.
Olivia eyed Charlotte carefully, trying to judge whether she had noticed Ivy’s show of super-strength. Charlotte’s face lit up every time she heard her own voice come through the audio, which, for once, was perfectly OK with Olivia. Charlotte was so focused on Charlotte that she hadn’t seemed to notice Ivy in the background. Still, Olivia was going to have to do something about this.
‘You think I could take a look at your camera?’ asked Olivia. It would only take her a second to go through the footage and delete the scene.
‘Sure. It’s the best my dad could buy,’ Charlotte said, beaming. She shifted the camera into Olivia’s hands but, as soon as she got hold of it, Olivia heard a beeping noise. A red light on the side of the camera flashed and the screen flickered to blank. Olivia shook the camera, hoping it would come back to life like a zombie from the dead.
‘Hey, be careful!’ Charlotte protested. ‘Do you know how much this thing cost?’ She snatched the camera back. It must have been out of batteries. How utterly great. Olivia had lost her chance. Now she would have to find another way to delete the interview before anyone saw it.
Charlotte squinted at the blank camera screen.
‘This sucks,’ she said, fiddling with the battery compartment. ‘I was hoping to get some behind-the-scenes footage and I may not make any of the other committee meetings – I’ll be super-busy planning my outfit.’
‘That is a shame,’ Olivia said. She meant it, too. It seemed as if that camera was the only thing that could fend off the Mean Musketeers. In the meantime, she still had a committee meeting to manage . . .
‘How about a marshmallow tier-cake?’ one person suggested, raising a hand in the air.
‘What about a balloon arch for people to walk under as they arrive?’ a girl at the back of the hall called out.
‘I know a great DJ!’ one boy offered.
Olivia scribbled down the suggestions using her pink fuzzy-topped pen. Fabulous ideas were flying from all directions. This dance had the potential to be a knockout success!
The door wheezed open, and Olivia glanced up. It was the trio – Lucrezia, Melinda and Veronica. It was at times like these when Olivia would have really appreciated Jackson’s security entourage.
One of the girls leaned over Charlotte and asked, ‘Is that thing working?’
Charlotte raised her eyebrows, surprised to be addressed. ‘Um, no, sorry. The battery’s dead.’
The girls sent razor-sharp smiles in Olivia’s direction. ‘No problem,’ Veronica said in a loud voice. ‘No problem at all.’ They strutted down the room on their colourful espadrilles and chunky wedges. ‘Miss us?’ she asked.
Not really, Olivia wanted to say. What are they doing back?
‘We came up with a few ideas of our own. All we want to do is help.’ She looked around the room and it was like an ice storm passing over everyone’s heads. ‘Like here’s one: I think we should ban all goths and nerds from this dance. Everyone who’s with me say, “Aye!”’
‘Aye!’ Lucrezia and Melinda raised their hands before anyone had a chance to protest.
Talk about a hostile takeover, thought Olivia. She squared her shoulders and took a giant step forwards.
‘Ahem,’ Olivia cleared her throat.
Melinda whipped around. ‘Can it, you cheerleading cloudhead.’
Olivia’s mouth dropped open and there was a collective gasp from the room. She did not just say that! Olivia sank into a chair. She had completely lost her ability to speak.
‘Aren’t you going to do something?’ Charlotte mumbled from the seat beside her. ‘No way would I let someone speak to me like that.’ Olivia knew their behaviour had to be bad when even Charlotte was alarmed. For a moment, she wished Ivy was with her. Ivy would know what to do. She always knows what to do.
But what was Olivia going to do? The dance was in jeopardy before it had even begun, the secret of her twin’s vampire super-strength was in danger of being exposed and three mega-divas were muscling in on her action. And that wasn’t even taking into account the fact that her boyfriend was hundreds of miles away and unlikely to be giving her a hug any time soon.
She watched the three bullies flicking their ponytails over their shoulders as they smirked at each other. Olivia let out a big sigh.
How much can one girl take?
Chapter Five
Ivy could get used to having Horatio around. It wasn’t every day that you enjoyed a three-course lunch chock-full of meaty goodness in the Vega household. It was only noon and she was already stuffed! Too bad Olivia had been busy with her committee meeting and hadn’t been able to join them.