Melinda studied her flawless French manicure. ‘See, you guys?’ It would have been impossible for Melinda to look haughtier if she was part of the royal family. ‘There’s that rule book again – coming back into play when it suits Olivia best.’
Olivia’s shoulders sagged. She didn’t know what to do. She’d tried to reason with them. She’d tried to push back. Maybe they were right, maybe she was a dictator. Aunt Rebecca’s words echoed in her head: Stand your ground, Olivia!
Rebecca had fought to buy back the farm. Why? Because she knew it was important. Maybe I don’t need to borrow my moves from Ivy, but from my human family instead!
Olivia looked at the three girls, then at Camilla. Standing up for her friend had to be the right thing.
‘Haven’t you ever wanted to be a little different?’ Olivia asked the girls, looking them up and down for any clues that maybe they weren’t so uniformly pink through and through. Her gaze stopped at a piece of shiny jewellery. Hanging from Lucrezia’s neck was a saxophone charm strung along a thin silver chain. ‘Like perhaps wanting to play in a jazz band?’
Lucrezia’s frown softened.
The hem of Melinda’s skirt was uneven and Olivia realised she must have made it herself. ‘Or what about making one-of-a-kind fashion statements?’ Olivia suggested.
Melinda let her arms fall to her side, dropping the hard glare at the same time.
Finally, Olivia turned her attention to Veronica. She scanned every inch of her, but couldn’t spot one thing that was different. Veronica was polished from her toenails to her icy blue eyeshadow.
‘Oh, give it up,’ said Veronica. ‘You think we can’t see what game you’re playing?’
Lucrezia cradled the dangling saxophone charm. ‘Actually, V, I think Olivia has a point.’
‘You can’t be serious. Just because you have some stupid charm and Melinda likes to make her own outfits? Please.’
Melinda’s face got red, creating an unfortunate clash with her hot-pink get-up. ‘Don’t call her charm stupid and don’t laugh at my sewing.’
Veronica tossed her arms up. ‘You guys are completely missing the point! Don’t you see what Olivia’s trying to do?’
‘No, you’re missing the point, Veronica.’ Melinda fluttered her home-made skirt. ‘I’m proud to be a little different and I like this skirt!’
Olivia whispered to Camilla and Jenny, ‘Let’s go. They’ll never notice.’
Together, Camilla, Olivia and Jenny slinked into the assembly hall, leaving the Terrible Trio to fight it out amongst themselves.
‘That was close,’ said Camilla.
‘No kidding.’ Olivia laughed. ‘I guess there are lots of different ways to stand your ground.’
‘There are, but you were amazing! You deserve a medal or something!’ Olivia thought Jenny might bounce right out of her boots. ‘Or better yet – you should be on the diplomatic corps!’ After planning this event, Olivia was pretty sure the only thing she wanted to be on was a beach.
Olivia noticed the music had stopped. ‘Hey, who cut the sound?’ she asked, worried there might be a glitch.
The DJ picked up the microphone. ‘There is going to be a short break for speeches. Everyone –’ he waved – ‘gather round.’
Speeches? Olivia hadn’t included speeches on tonight’s agenda.
‘Did you know about this?’ she asked, turning to Jenny.
‘First I’ve heard of it.’
Oh no! Olivia wrung her hands. Surely nobody wanted her to speak . . . or did they?
Olivia let out a huge sigh of relief when she saw their head of year making her way to the stage. Ms Starling wore a bright red bandana around her neck and her hair was the slightest bit disheveled, as if she’d been taking a few square-dancing spins around the dance floor herself.
Ms Starling tapped the microphone to make sure it was working. ‘Firstly, I want to thank Olivia Abbott,’ she began, immediately making the temperature of Olivia’s face spike to a thousand degrees. ‘She has done a wonderful job pulling this event together, and on such short notice, too. The whole school is united.’ Ms Starling shot a significant glance at Lucrezia, Melinda and Veronica, who were busy sulking in the corner of the hall. ‘And thanks to Olivia, everyone who’s anyone in Franklin Grove is here. It’s truly wonderful.’ Ms Starling’s eyes twinkled and she clapped for Olivia.
Soon, the whole school was joining her in applause. Whoops and cheers filled the air and the next thing she knew, Olivia’s feet were lifted off the floor. Her body pitched and tottered, but then she was up, balancing on top of her classmates’ shoulders and parading around the room. This is so cool! Olivia blinked, taking a mental snapshot. Ivy stood to the side of the hall, watching her and laughing. This was the sort of moment that Olivia wanted to remember forever.
Perched up on her friends’ shoulders, the assembly hall looked magical. Glitter, hay and twinkling lights all came together to create the perfect effect. As the cheering parade circled around, Olivia saw a silhouette framed in the doorway. She cocked her head. He was the only one not joining in the festivities and yet she could clearly make out the outline of a Stetson. And there something in the way he stood – it seemed so familiar.