As she walked, Ivy noted Miss Everling’s black-and-white striped leggings and her gray corduroy skirt. I wonder if she’s a vamp, she thought.
“Welcome to Europe!” announced Miss Everling, arriving at an aisle near the back of the library. She ran a wine-red fingernail along the spines of some glossy paperbacks. “Want to dance the night away in Barcelona? Ski the Alps? Drop out of school and live large for twenty-five dollars a night?”
The girls all stared at her.
“Jok-ing,” Miss Everling sang. “I’m a school librarian, remember? But we do have a very impressive selection of travel guides,” she concluded.
“Do you have any books on what’s bad about Europe?” Sophia asked.
Miss Everling stared at her. “Nothing’s bad about Europe. I traveled there for a whole year after college.” Her eyes rolled toward the ceiling, and she sighed dreamily. “So much culture and history—”
“History?” Ivy interrupted with a meaningful glance at her friends.
Olivia followed her train of thought exactly. “Yeah, didn’t Europe have the Black Plague?”
“And both those world wars,” Camilla pointed out with a grimace.
Miss Everling frowned. “Time out,” she said, peering at the girls over the top of her glasses. “What’s this project about again?”
Ivy fiddled with one of the books on a shelf. “We’re trying to convince our...friend...not to move to Europe,” she said carefully.
Olivia nodded enthusiastically. “We have to make this person see that Franklin Grove is totally better.”
“Oh, now I understand,” Miss Everling said softly. “My best friend moved to California when I was thirteen. It’s so hard saying good-bye.”
Seriously, thought Ivy sadly.
Miss Everling tapped her pencil against her dark lips thoughtfully. She gestured to the camera hanging around Sophia’s neck. “Do you have pictures of your friends on that thing?”
“Of course,” Sophia replied.
Miss Everling adjusted her glasses. “Don’t worry, ladies,” she said. “I’m going to help you make a pitch your friend won’t be able to resist. Something exciting. Something emotional. Something that truly sucks!” She winced at her impulsive use of vampire slang. “I mean, something really great.”
Miss Everling is the deadliest librarian ever, Ivy thought, exchanging excited looks with her friends.
“So,” Miss Everling said, “when is this important project due, so to speak?”
“Today,” Ivy replied.
Miss Everling started to protest, but Sophia said, “Our friend’s supposed to move in ten days.”
“We don’t have any time to lose!” Olivia pleaded.
“Okay, okay,” Miss Everling said. “Then we’ll need to split up. Who wants to research Franklin Grove?”
“I’ll do it,” Olivia volunteered. “I just moved here a few months ago, so I could stand to learn a thing or two.”
“Good,” said Miss Everling. “The local history section is by the copying machine in the corner. Camilla, how would you like to do Europe?”
“Roger, Queen Informasys!” Camilla said, saluting. Ivy had no idea what that meant— Camilla was always making obscure references to sci-fi books she was obsessed with.
“A Coal Knightley fan, huh?” Miss Everling grinned. “Isn’t he the greatest? Anyway, Captain Omega, your mission is to find unappealing pictures of Europe. It won’t be easy. Start with these travel guides, and then check out the European history section, just like you and Ivy were thinking.”
“You two.” Miss Everling pointed her pencil at Ivy and Sophia. “Follow me to the computers. I’m going to show you how to make a digital slideshow that’s guaranteed to make your friend laugh and cry. But, more than anything, it’s going to make her stay!”
At 4:30 P.M., Olivia stood behind her sister on the front porch of Ivy’s enormous house atop Undertaker Hill. They’d stayed after school with Camilla and Sophia, rushing to finish their presentation, and it looked totally awesome. But as Ivy reached for the doorknob, Olivia was suddenly filled with dread. “Wait,” she blurted.
Ivy stopped. Olivia turned and looked down on Franklin Grove; amid the fog and the bare December trees, she could just make out the roof of the school in the distance.