‘Excuse me,’ said Olivia, nudging Ivy, ‘but I thought I was the clothes horse. Why would you have more luggage than you could handle?’
Ivy bit her lip. She thought about inventing a story – something about needing new clothes? – but she stopped herself. She couldn’t take this any longer. Brendan was right. She couldn’t lie to her twin sister. ‘How about we go up to our room? There’s something I need to tell you.’
Horatio closed the front door behind them and Ivy followed her sister upstairs. Ivy knew the butler had to have overheard. Would Horatio be upset if she broke a vampire law? At the top of the staircase Ivy paused, peering over the railing. Instead of looking disappointed in her, Horatio just gave Ivy a solemn nod. Right, Ivy thought, twin-sister code does trump vampire code. I can do this.
‘Now explain one more time.’ Olivia sat cross-legged on Ivy’s carpet.
‘Olivia!’ Ivy had already explained Wallachia Academy and why she needed to go three separate times. On the last one she had even gone so far as to include her grandparents’ description of the Gothic castle!
‘Sorry, I just can’t believe it.’ Olivia rested her elbows on her knees and tucked her fists under her chin. ‘You’re going to finishing school . . . in Transylvania . . . without me?’ Olivia shook her head slowly. ‘But, you know, that’s not the worst thing. The worst thing is that you kept it a secret all this time. A secret! What other stuff has been going on behind my back?’ Olivia’s sharp green eyes bored into her sister.
Ivy groaned. She couldn’t have felt worse if she were forced to eat bunny food for the rest of her life. ‘That’s it – I’m not going!’ She tossed up her hands. Hadn’t her grandparents ever heard of home-schooling? That was what she needed – Wallachia Academy-style.
Olivia’s face was buried in her hands and her shoulders began to shake. Was she crying? Ivy’s chest throbbed. She pulled Olivia’s hands away from her face, expecting to see black streaks of mascara and splotchy make-up running down her cheeks, but – wait! – Olivia was . . . laughing!
‘Gotcha.’ Olivia grinned.
‘Hey!’ Ivy pushed Olivia’s shoulder and she toppled over backwards so that Olivia was giggling on her back, legs up like an upside-down cockroach on the floor.
‘What?’ said Olivia, this time wiping real tears from her eyes. ‘I knew something was up by the way you’ve been distracted, but I had no idea it was an opportunity this amazing.’
‘Are you sure?’ Ivy smiled uncertainly.
‘Of course!’ Olivia sat up. ‘What’s a few weeks over the summer anyway? You’ll be back in Franklin Grove before either of us knows it.’
Ivy’s smile fell. ‘The summer? But Olivia, it might be longer than that if the teacher’s assessment –’ Too late.
Olivia was already out of the room and bounding down the stairs two at a time. ‘Dad! Dad!’ She called to their father, who was just setting his briefcase down in the entryway. ‘I heard the good news! Ivy’s going to super-vamp school. How cool is that? My sister is a super-vampire!’
Upstairs, Ivy felt anything but super. She sank on to Olivia’s bed. Oh no, Olivia doesn’t totally get it. Ivy could be gone way longer than one summer . . .
Chapter Nine
H ere we go, Olivia thought as she studied her notes for the final committee meeting:
Bales of hay
Streamers
Country music
Anyone know a good line dance?
She had worn her favourite pink dress, freshly ironed and fitting just right. Olivia usually felt her best in pink and, today, she needed all the confidence she could muster. The committee had been strangely quiet since her announcement of the barn-dance theme. She hadn’t received one call from Jenny and her email inbox was completely empty. Now Olivia was stuck sitting alone in the all-purpose room, waiting for her own meeting to begin. It really was lonely at the top!
Her cell phone vibrated. It was Jackson! Olivia did the maths in her head. If today was Thursday, then that meant Jackson must be in . . . Utah. She had memorised his itinerary, complete with interesting factoids she could share about each of his destinations. Utah, ‘The Beehive State’. Home to five national parks!
Olivia answered the phone in a rush of excitement. ‘Jackson! Oh my goodness, I’m beyond thrilled to hear from you.’ She hadn’t realised how much she needed to talk to somebody. ‘I have so much to tell you.’ The words spilled out of her. ‘Wait, where are you?’ There seemed to be a lot of shuffling in the background.
‘Um . . .’ Static came over the line. ‘I’m in a restaurant. It’s a competition to help promote the film – a prize draw to go for dinner with the star.’
‘You’re eating with a total stranger?’ Olivia shrugged. She didn’t care who got to share nibbles with him, as long as she got to talk to him. ‘Everything with the committee has been going absolutely haywire.’
‘Huh?’ Jackson’s voice was distant over the phone, like he might have Olivia on speaker. Ew, she hated being on speakerphone.
‘Haywire. It’s been going haywire,’ she shouted, glad the common room was still empty. ‘The committee.’
‘Oh right. What committee was that again?’