Charles and Brendan glanced at each other and Brendan answered, ‘Um, I think Mrs Abbott was just squealing at the cuteness of the ducks.’
Ivy’s eyes got wide. The ducks? Ivy’s super-vamp hearing really was working on overdrive. She gulped. Looks like I really do need to learn to control my powers.
Olivia walked the fence-line with Aunt Rebecca. The wet grass soaked through her sneakers, but the fresh air already seemed to be serving its purpose. Olivia’s nerves were slowly unwinding and she was able to take deep breaths and enjoy the sweet smell of the honeysuckle. Aunt Rebecca strolled beside her, asking a question every minute or two.
Olivia pressed her palm to her heart. ‘I swear. This dance is going to make me lose my hair. It’s turned into a total stress factory.’
Aunt Rebecca leaned in close, pinching a few strands of Olivia’s dark hair. ‘No,’ she said, examining them. ‘But you are turning a bit grey.’
‘No!’ Olivia snatched her hair and held it out in front of her face. ‘Where?’
Rebecca squeezed Olivia’s shoulder. ‘Relax! I’m kidding.’
Olivia tried to give her aunt a reproachful look. ‘Hair is not something to joke about.’
‘Sorry.’ Rebecca pretended to zip her lips. ‘Now, explain to me what’s going wrong.’
Olivia sighed. So much had happened since she’d first accepted the position as chairperson. ‘There are these three girls – Lucrezia, Melinda and Veronica,’ Olivia began. ‘They are just plain mean, like evil-stepsister mean. They have forced their way on to the committee and now they’re trying to make the whole dance pink. Worse, they want to exclude most of the school, and anyone that dresses like Ivy will be strictly blacklisted. How O-negative is that?’
She stopped. Olivia had been ranting so fast, she hadn’t realised she’d borrowed a vampy phrase from Ivy.
‘It’s bad,’ Olivia picked up, hoping Aunt Rebecca put her strange choice of words down to teen speak. ‘I want everyone to be at the dance, wearing whatever colour they like. But how do I get around the Terrible Trio?’
Aunt Rebecca hummed thoughtfully. ‘That’s a tough one.’ She walked with her hands in her pockets. ‘Do you want to know what I think?’
‘Absolutely.’ Olivia wished that planning a school dance came with an instruction manual, but getting some grown-up advice seemed like the next best thing.
‘Olivia, you are stronger than you give yourself credit for. I think you need to stand up to these girls and fight for what you think is right. It wasn’t easy for me, buying back this farm, for instance. But I did it.’
Olivia imagined her aunt without a family, without any support, but still trying to play hardball against the bank that had taken back the property. ‘Why did you do it?’ she asked.
Aunt Rebecca’s hair blew softly in the breeze. ‘Because I knew I had to have this piece of family history back in our lives. Your mother and I grew up together here on this land. I knew it was the best thing to do and it turns out I was right. It’s given us a place where our whole family can gather. And look at how Ivy has tried to be better around the animals. She’s riding horses! She’s learning! Everyone can do the best that they can, if they put their minds to it. If you think the pink plan is a bad idea, you should come up with a better one. You’re the chairperson. Be pleasant, but stand your ground.’
Olivia ogled her aunt like she was a five-star general who’d just urged her into battle. Olivia had always thought Ivy got her tough streak from being a vampire, but now she was thinking that perhaps the toughness came from the human side of the family. And if that was the case, surely Olivia could be tough, too.
‘I know you’re right.’ Olivia reached down and plucked a dandelion from the ground. Pondering, she twirled it between her fingers. ‘But the atmosphere has become so bad. I don’t know how I can fix it.’ Olivia blew on the dandelion and the fluffy white of the flower scattered in the wind. She made a wish. I wish for the perfect night. And then she quickly added, Complete with the perfect boyfriend.
‘You’ll think of something,’ Rebecca assured her. ‘I remember when I was your age, your mother and I used to love holding big barn dances at the farm. Dancing with Brendan brought back a lot of memories. Dressing up in boots and hats and country cowgirl gear! Oh, those days were so fun.’
Olivia drew in a sharp breath. ‘That’s it! Aunt Rebecca, we can have a barn-dance theme! No one in Franklin Grove will expect it. Maybe that will bring everyone together!’ Olivia gave her aunt a giant bear hug. Maybe it was a good idea to come away for the day after all.
New dance theme? Check! Now all she had to do was deal with the mean girls . . . and find out what was bothering Ivy . . . and talk to Jackson. Gulp!
Ivy scraped sawdust off the back of her trousers. How utterly embarrassing. Brendan wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her close. Ivy was so not into the damsel-in-distress thing, but she guessed if she had to be saved, it might as well be a goth-gorgeous guy with skin the colour of pure white marble and high cheekbones that made picture-perfect valleys in his handsome face.
Ivy glanced up at her boyfriend. ‘I’m fine.’ She pulled away. ‘Really,’ she said after seeing the worried look on Brendan’s face. ‘It’s my super-strong powers acting up again.’ At all the wrong moments, Ivy added in her head.
‘Super-strong powers?’ Brendan’s eyebrows swooped up.
This was going to take some explaining. She looked to her father for help.
Charles gave a slight nod. ‘You’ll have to excuse me,’ he said, clearing his throat, ‘but I should go back to check on my parents.’
Ivy took Brendan’s hand and led him to the big porch that wrapped around the main house, where they plopped down on one of the swing seats. Ivy let her boots dangle as Brendan pushed the swing back and forth, his fingers still curled around hers.
‘When I told you about Wallachia Academy, I might have left out a few parts.’
‘Oh?’ Brendan’s eyebrows shot up beneath his hair.