‘I’m sorry for running out of the room.’ Ivy had worms crawling in her stomach. She felt dreadful. Never in twelve centuries would she have guessed she’d ever get into a fight with her sweet grandparents.
There was nothing else for it – she went and wrapped both of them in tight hugs.
When she pulled away, her grandfather was wringing his hands. ‘I can’t believe we upset you so. It was silly to mention our age. We would have come to Franklin Grove anyway. We love travelling!’
‘Yes, yes,’ the Countess rushed to agree. ‘We’re happy to be here visiting you and Olivia. But surely you can understand. We would dearly love to see our granddaughter become the very best vampire she can possibly be.’
‘I understand.’ Ivy could see her grandparents believed in what they were saying and weren’t just trying to make her toe the vampire line. ‘But I still don’t think Wallachia Academy will be right for me.’ She couldn’t just take off and leave her sister with no explanation.
The Countess pressed her wrinkled lips into a thin line, nodding. ‘Very well. At least we tried.’ Like most vampires, Ivy’s grandmother had different-coloured eyes – one green, the other a rich amber – and both looked close to tears.
Ivy hated disappointing them, but she had other loyalties as well. Like her loyalty to Olivia. ‘I promise,’ said Ivy, ‘I will always try to be the best vampire I can be.’
Her grandmother pulled Ivy into another hug. ‘Oh, Ivy, I know that is true!’
A loud sniffle came from the corner of the room. When Ivy turned round, Horatio was wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.
‘I’m surprised the dance committee can survive without their fearless leader for one day,’ said Ivy, tossing a pillow at her sister. ‘What have you left them doing?’
Olivia was sprawled on the bed in Ivy’s room, sucking on a Cherrylicious lollipop. She propped herself up on her elbows. She wasn’t so sure the committee could survive without her, but tomorrow she and Ivy were going to Aunt Rebecca’s farm, and that meant another twin sleepover at the Vegas’ house. Olivia had written detailed instructions for Jenny. ‘Follow these and you’ll be fine,’ she’d told her:
Take suggestions for a theme
Make a list of supplies
Check the budget
And most importantly, try not to let Lucrezia,
Melinda and Veronica boss you around. I know it’s hard, but try!
A mental image of Jenny, with her mousy-brown hair and her shoulders hunched over, snapped into Olivia’s mind. ‘Maybe I’d better call to check in with Jenny. They’re supposed to be thinking about themes, but . . . you know. Just in case.’ Olivia fumbled inside her straw tote bag for her phone. ‘Hi, Jenny?’ she said when Jenny picked up. ‘I was just calling to double-check that you all don’t mind having a committee meeting without me . . .’ She held her breath.
‘Honestly?’ Jenny’s voice was high-pitched. ‘I’m not so sure.’
Not so sure, thought Olivia, trying to stifle a groan. She had cleared this with everyone yesterday.
‘It’s just, well, what about Lucrezia and her friends?’ Jenny continued. ‘I don’t know if I can keep them in line.’
Unfortunately, Jenny was right. Those girls would stomp her like a chewed stick of spearmint under their platform heels.
Olivia twisted one of her bangle bracelets around her wrist, until suddenly she had an idea. ‘Jenny, leave those girls to me. I’ll call you later with an update.’ She snapped the phone shut.
‘You are going stand up to those girls, right?’ said Ivy, jabbing a chopstick into her dark bun. Olivia had told her twin all about their performance at the first committee meeting.
The thought of confrontation made Olivia queasy, but she couldn’t just leave Jenny to become roadkill. ‘What’s the one thing bullies can’t handle?’ Olivia asked, more to herself than to Ivy.
‘I don’t know. Teachers hanging around?’
Not a bad suggestion, thought Olivia, but that wasn’t what she was getting at. ‘Bullies can’t stand it when the victims push back. What I need to learn is how to push!’
‘Care to borrow a bit of my super-strength?’ asked Ivy.
‘Hopefully, I’ll just need my brains this time!’ Olivia jumped off the bed and skipped down the stairs to the living room, where Mr Vega was lounging on the couch with an open newspaper.
‘Dad? I was wondering: do Ivy and I have time to slip out before dinner?’
Ivy pulled up behind her. She gave Olivia a confused look, but played along.