05 Take Two - My Sister the Vampire

by Sienna Mercer

  ‘You are truly beautiful,’ he said to Ivy, gently wiping a cleansing pad across her brow. ‘Your friend, too. But you are both so pale. This foundation isn’t going to be enough. Lucky for us, we have enough fake tan on set for the star of the show to last through the sequel!’

  Something niggled at the back of Ivy’s mind. Lots of fake tan?

  ‘Georgie!’ Spencer called and a young girl with teased up-hair in a flowing crushed velvet dress came over. ‘Can you go get me a couple cans of the Santa Monica, please?’

  As Georgie scurried off, Ivy felt a sense of dread rising. Santa Monica was the fake tan of choice for the vampire community.

  ‘For the star?’ Ivy squeaked out.

  Spencer nodded. ‘The contract rider demanded at least three cases of the top range of Santa Monica spray tan.’

  Ivy felt her stomach churn. She thought of Jackson’s peachy complexion – if he was human and put on that spray tan, he’d look like an orange. But he didn’t; he looked completely normal. Completely human. Which meant that without fake tan his skin must be really, really pale. Could Jackson be . . .

  ‘A vampire,’ Ivy whispered.

  ‘Pardon?’ Spencer asked, his pad of cleanser freezing in mid-air.

  ‘Oh, nothing,’ Ivy said, lowering her eyes.

  ‘Are you OK?’ Sophia asked.

  ‘I – I’ve got to go find Olivia,’ Ivy blurted, trying to get up from the chair. She couldn’t let her sister fall for a vampire. Olivia wouldn’t want that at all; she’d said so herself. Ivy had to tell her before it was too late.

  But Spencer put a hand on her shoulder. ‘Slow down, honey. You’re not going anywhere until you’re camera-ready.’

  ‘But I –’

  ‘Ah, ah, ah!’ Spencer wagged his finger right in her face and wouldn’t let her go.

  Ivy sighed and sank back into the chair.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Sophia hissed, leaning over the side of her chair.

  Ivy swallowed hard and tried to give her friend a smile. ‘Nothing!’ she said brightly. She wouldn’t be able to share her fears until they were alone again. ‘Everything is just peachy!’

  Chapter Five

  I hope Ivy’s having as much fun as me, Olivia thought. At first she’d been really freaked out that Ivy had left her alone with Jackson, but he was making her feel so at ease.

  ‘And this is Craft Service,’ Jackson said, standing at the opening of a huge eighteen-wheeler which was well lit with flood lamps and smelled delicious. ‘Translation: the cafeteria.’

  It was much warmer in the truck than outside. Long tables were set out with enough food to feed four hungry high schools. There was a line of people carrying steaming plates and cooks tending to various portable stoves. It looked like a mobile gourmet restaurant.

  ‘I thought we’d stop for a snack,’ Jackson said. ‘It’s almost my call time, and it might kill the mood if my stomach growls during filming.’

  ‘You’re the tour guide,’ Olivia said, ‘where you lead, I’ll follow.’ Then she blushed as she realised that she sounded stalker-y again. But Jackson didn’t seem to notice and he directed her to a line behind some crew members.

  The chefs were serving out everything from duck salad to pasta with truffles to fancy-looking mini-pizzas, and even rows of sushi on ice.

  ‘You can have whatever you like,’ Jackson offered, but Olivia still felt full from last night.

  ‘Maybe I’ll just have a fruit cup,’ she said to the grey-haired cook with a wrinkly but friendly face, whose name badge said ‘Curtis'. ‘I had a big breakfast.’

  ‘As you wish.’ Curtis shrugged and handed over a small plastic bowl filled with fresh, colourful fruit pieces.

  When it was his turn, Jackson pulled down his shades so Curtis could see who he was. Curtis laughed. ‘Right on time, as usual.’

  Curtis turned the dial on a small microwave nearby. ‘You know,’ he said in his gravelly voice, ‘people will catch on to your disappearing act eventually. Your manager has stormed through here twice looking for you.’

  ‘You wouldn’t give away my secret, would you?’ Jackson replied.

  ‘Course not,’ Curtis said. ‘How else would I supply my daughter with Jackson Caulfield memorabilia?’

  The microwave dinged and Curtis pulled out a burger in a little paper tray. He leaned over and mock-whispered, ‘One hunk of cow smothered in cheese waiting just for you.’

  Olivia crinkled her nose. It was the only thing about Jackson this whole morning that surprised her; it looked like Jackson’s taste buds were more in line with Ivy’s than her own. She couldn’t help feeling it made him a little less . . . perfect.

  They sat down at a table between some crew members and a group of younger girls and Jackson tucked into his burger. Olivia didn’t want to watch him eating, so she looked around at all the people munching away in the back of this gigantic truck: people in all black, people in full make-up and tired-looking people poring over stacks of papers.

  ‘Tell me about you,’ Jackson said, between mouthfuls.

  ‘What do you want to know?’ Olivia asked. She plucked a juicy piece of orange from her fruit cup.

  ‘What’s your favourite movie?’

  Olivia looked back down at her bowl to hide her face. She didn’t want to confess that it was one of his. ‘I, um, love so many. I couldn’t pick just one.’

  ‘What about books, then?’ he asked, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth.

  That one was easy. ‘I’m a huge Count Vira fan,’ she replied.

  ‘I love those, too!’ He put on a thick Transylvanian accent. ‘Come to me, my darling, and I will take your breath away.’

  Olivia recognised that line from Thrice Bitten. She knew the next line, too. ‘But what about my employers?’ she said breathlessly.

  Jackson smiled as he played along. ‘They will not miss you, my love. I am your destiny!’

  Olivia giggled. ‘I love that story.’

  ‘Me, too,’ Jackson said.

  Olivia bit her lip. We like the same books! she thought.

  The girls next to them burst into squeals.

  ‘I can’t believe we’re extras on the same movie set as Jackson Caulfield,’ the one with brown pigtails said. ‘He is sooo gorgeous!’

  ‘What if we get to be in a scene with him?’ replied the girl with a blue streak in her hair.

  ‘I know how we can definitely meet him,’ said the third girl wearing a cute bucket hat. ‘We should wait around outside his trailer and pretend to be lost when he shows up.’

  Olivia had to shove a piece of watermelon in her mouth to stop from laughing. The girls had no idea they were sitting right next to Jackson. He looked at her over his sunglasses and winked.

  She was having such a good time with him. If it weren’t for the fan girls, it would almost be like Jackson was just a normal guy – not a famous movie star. Olivia wondered for a moment what would happen if he were just a regular person. Would they have a chance together?

  ‘But we’ll have to make sure we don’t run into her,’ said Brown Pigtails.

  ‘Ugh, no,’ said Bucket Hat. ‘She’s such a diva!’

  ‘I heard she’s already fired three hairdressers and two caterers and insisted on bringing in her own,’ said Blue Streak.

  ‘Who are they talking about?’ Olivia whispered to Jackson, who had thankfully moved on to eating his fries.

  ‘That would be my co-star.’ Jackson shrugged. ‘Jessica Phelps. But I bet if you ask her, she doesn’t have a co-star.’

  Jessica Phelps had shot to fame being cast as the lead girl in a New York fashion movie. She was on the cover of every magazine, including this issue of Celeb Weekly. Olivia realised what a big deal this production must be, with two such huge stars in it. ‘What’s the movie about, anyway?’

  Jackson’s face lit up. ‘It’s such a great concept! As soon as I heard the pitch I wanted to sign up. It’s called The Groves and it opens with a guy named Chase on vacation
, falling in love with another tourist named Mia. After a wonderful date on the beach, her parents whisk her away before he can get her phone number. He can’t stop thinking about her, and all he knows is that she lives in Franklin Grove. Trouble is: there are five Franklin Groves all over America. He sets out with three friends on a road trip to visit every one until he finds her. In each Franklin Grove, he imagines what it will be like when he finally finds her. We’re filming the first imaginary meeting today.’

  Olivia found herself swept up in the story. ‘That sounds so romantic.’ His enthusiasm about it made him even more charming. ‘I can’t wait to see it.’

  ‘You won’t have to,’ he replied. ‘It’s being rushed out before the end of the school year. There’s even talk of filming a sequel in the fall.’

  Olivia frowned. ‘Does that mean Chase and Mia don’t end up together?’

  ‘Now that would be telling . . .’

  Jackson’s walkie talkie crackled and Amy’s exasperated voice came over the speaker: ‘J. C. starts shooting in half an hour. If anyone sees him, they are to escort him to his trailer immediately!’

  ‘Whoops, that’s my cue.’ Jackson shoved the last two fries into his mouth. ‘I better go let someone turn me in.’ Olivia felt her heart drop. Her personal tour was over. ‘I always have to have extra time in make-up to touch up my tan.’

  ‘Don’t you Hollywood types spend all day in the sun?’ Olivia teased.

  ‘I’m not really a big fan of the beach or the sun,’ Jackson confessed. ‘I’ve even been thinking of buying a house away from the baking heat of Beverly Hills.’

  Olivia had had one of the best mornings of her life, and she didn’t want it to end. Just as she was taking a breath to say goodbye, Jackson reached into a jacket pocket and handed her a plastic laminated pass that read, ‘VIP Guest'.

  He took off his sunglasses and pulled down his hat, turning away from everybody as much as he could. His blue eyes were mesmerising. ‘Please don’t go just yet. This pass will get you in anywhere. Stay and watch the filming.’

  An all-access pass! ‘Of course,’ she said, trying hard not to hug herself with delight.

  Then he put his sunglasses back on and strode away, giving her a little wave as he hopped down from the truck. No one gave him a second glance. Olivia sat for a moment, staring at her shiny pass. She had basically just had a private lunch with one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, but there had been times when things felt completely normal. Could he possibly be the guy she’d been waiting for?

  Don’t be ridiculous, she told herself. Jackson was super-famous and he would never really be interested in her. He was just being nice.

  Time to find Ivy, Olivia thought. Olivia hurried out into the cold air and tried to call her twin, but Ivy’s phone was off. She’d just have to look for her. Clutching her new pass, she set off, hoping that Ivy hadn’t already been discovered and chucked off set.

  As she passed a row of trailers, a bald man grabbed her hands and twirled her around. ‘Oh, yes, sweetie!’ he exclaimed. ‘I am good. Your skin tone looks flawless in this light. Gorgeous!’ He did a triple-zigzag finger snap and then he sashayed away.

  Olivia had no idea who he was or what he was talking about. But being called gorgeous by a perfect stranger was enough to make her extra-special day . . . well . . . perfect.

  ‘Background artists, please,’ called a man wearing headphones with earpieces that were bigger than a Meat & Greet burger. He darted back into the diner and Lillian shooed the group of fashionably dressed teens up the steps and inside. One girl was wearing a white wool wrap-around with rainbow-coloured buttons and another had on a deep purple slash-neck sweater. They looked like they’d just stepped out of a jeans commercial.

  ‘It’s not like they’re going to get married before lunch,’ Sophia was saying. ‘You can tell her your theory when we see her later – and it’s only a theory.’

  ‘But if Olivia really falls for him –’ Ivy began.

  ‘Come on, Ivy, you don’t have any proof.’ Sophia nudged her along with the crowd. She was looking killer with her messy up-do and long-sleeved, black tube dress. It was the first time Ivy had seen her oldest friend with a necklace rather than a camera around her neck.

  Ivy had loved every second of sifting through the extras rack in the costume trailer. For herself, she had chosen a triple-layered loose knit sweater with grey, mauve and black on top of each other over a pair of black jeans. She’d made friends with the jewellery assistant who’d lent her a set of heavy silver bracelets that clunked as she moved. Awesome.

  But something was threatening to spoil the fun, like a cloud of darkness hovering. Olivia had said straight as a stake that she didn’t want to date a vampire.

  If I have just set Olivia up with a vampire, she could end up broken-hearted, Ivy thought. And it would be all my fault.

  Ivy was following the group across the diner, mulling it over in her head.

  ‘Hey, watch it!’ Sophia grabbed Ivy, startling her. ‘Look!’ Sophia pointed at the ground.

  Ivy was just about to step into a tangle of wires on the floor.

  Lillian hurried over. ‘Disaster averted. Thank you,’ she said to Sophia. ‘If you’d pulled on those wires –’ Lillian indicated the lights above – ‘all of those would have come crashing down.’

  ‘Ohmygosh,’ Ivy replied. ‘I’m so sorry!’ Ivy wouldn’t want to do anything to get in trouble on set. Or ruin the set.

  Sophia tugged Ivy around the equipment safely.

  The production team had moved away all the normal diner booths except for the back row and one in front, obviously where the stars were going to sit.

  ‘You, purple sweater, sit there,’ Lillian said as she arranged the twenty or so extras in groups around the tables. ‘And you, T-shirt boy, you’re there.’

  Ivy and Sophia got to sit together at a booth all the way on the right. When Lillian plunked some fake food in front of them, Ivy’s stomach churned – she still hadn’t had anything decent to eat. The plastic burger was starting to look tempting.

  ‘Now, remember,’ Lillian instructed. ‘You pretend to be talking whenever the cameras roll.’ She opened and closed her mouth soundlessly. ‘Pretend, got it?’

  Lillian stood back and then frowned. ‘Hold up! We’re missing one. Where did that blonde go?’

  The door to the Meat & Greet flew open and everyone turned to look. Ivy and Sophia gasped but no one else paid any attention. Charlotte Brown, wearing an outrageous blue feathered dress, clicked her way over to Lillian in super-high heels. She looked like she was going to prom.

  ‘She must be freezing,’ Sophia commented.

  ‘Sorry I’m late. The costume department couldn’t find anything that was right, so I had to do some emergency shopping.’ She did a twirl, not noticing the disdain on Lillian’s face.

  Lillian crossed her arms. ‘Don’t you think that’s a bit over the top for a diner, missy?’

  ‘Oh, I wear this sort of thing all the time.’ Charlotte waved her hand, but almost slipped out of her strappy heel.

  Ivy sensed trouble brewing. Charlotte had obviously figured out that the Meat and Greet was not closed down because of a sewer problem and, once she spotted Ivy, there would be retaliation. How did she manage to get on set so quickly? Ivy wondered as she slunk down in her seat and let her hair fall over her face.

  Lillian stuck Charlotte next to a guy wearing a beanie and cargo pants, almost as far from the camera as she could. Ivy sat up a little; Charlotte couldn’t see her from where she was sitting.

  ‘Non, non, non!’ shouted a small man with a goatee and a heavy French accent. ‘The colours, the colours!’

  ‘Sorry, Philippe,’ Lillian said. ‘I could –’

  But he waved his hand in her face. He strode over and started yanking people up from their tables and rearranging them. Ivy realised he was the director and perhaps needed a good six months at a yoga retreat to find some inner peace. Philippe was like a grumpy fly,
buzzing at everyone.

  He marched over to Charlotte’s table. ‘You, in that blue!’

  ‘Moi?’ Charlotte sounded like she thought he was going to give her the starring role.

  ‘Take it off!’

  ‘Wh-what?’ Charlotte spluttered.

  Ivy and Sophia – along with several other extras – leaned over to see what was happening.

  ‘Non, non. You will distract the eye.’ He snapped his fingers and pointed at a grey jacket on the back of his director’s chair. The man with the headphones scurried over with it and Philippe tossed the jacket at Charlotte. ‘Put this on and come with me.’

  A miserable Charlotte did as she was told and scooted out of the booth. He grabbed her hand and dragged her to a different table, as she stumbled and tried to keep up.

  Ivy looked away but not in time. Charlotte caught sight of her and shot a death stare that Ivy would have been proud of . . . if she hadn’t been on the receiving end of it.

  ‘Uh oh,’ Sophia said. ‘Busted.’

  ‘She can’t do anything now,’ Ivy whispered back. ‘She wouldn’t risk it.’

  Once Charlotte was installed at the next table over, grey and drab, the director clapped his hands. ‘Where are my actors? Where? Where?’ He threw himself into his chair and covered his eyes with his hands.

  The diner door opened again and Jackson strolled in right on cue, script in hand. There was no sign of Olivia; Ivy wondered what that meant. Maybe their private tour had been awful and Olivia decided she wasn’t interested after all. That would bring a swift end to Ivy’s matchmaking disaster. I hope she’s OK, Ivy thought.

  Philippe leapt from his chair, gesticulating at Jackson. ‘This! I do not believe this. Don’t you know your lines?’

  Jackson slapped the papers into Philippe’s flailing hand. ‘Like a warlock knows his spells. I’m completely off-script.’

  ‘That’s vamp slang,’ Ivy hissed.

  ‘I’d call that wizard slang, really,’ Sophia whispered back.

  ‘But he was so calm,’ Ivy argued. He was keeping his cool, just like a vampire.

  ‘He must be used to all kinds of crazy directors,’ Sophie countered.