14 Flipping Out - My Sister the Vampire

by Sienna Mercer

  But the boy wasn’t alone. He had run ahead to hold the door open for a whole group of his friends, who were all talking and laughing as they hurried down the street towards him . . . and even though he raised his eyebrows as he peered inside, he didn’t turn away. Instead, he called to his friends.

  ‘Come on. It doesn’t look all that bad. We might as well give it a try.’

  Ivy squared her shoulders. I can’t let this happen!

  Every vampire in Franklin Grove knew that they had a duty to keep bunnies out of the Slice of Life, to keep them from seeing or hearing something they shouldn’t . . . Last summer, Ivy and Brendan had started an impromptu ‘Ketchup War’ in the street to scare off a bunny couple who looked like they might give it a try. It had actually been fun – until Rachel asked them to help clean up!

  Ivy spun around and yelled at Rachel: ‘That food was disgusting ! How dare you try to charge me for something that had bugs in it?’

  The boy holding the door stepped back. Ivy heard his friends’ footsteps slowing. Someone halfway down the street whispered, ‘Did she just say bugs ?’

  Rachel yelled back, ‘Oh, come on, at least most of the bugs on your pizza were dead.’

  ‘Some of them were still moving!’ Ivy declared. ‘In my mouth!’

  The boy let go of the door, swallowing visibly. Ivy lifted her chin. ‘This is a scandal. I’m not paying you. I’m reporting you to the health board! Just as soon as I . . . as I . . .’

  She clapped her hand to her mouth. Bending over, she forced her shoulders to heave.

  Running footsteps sounded down the street outside as the boy and his friends fled at top speed.

  Behind the counter, Rachel chuckled. ‘Well done,’ she said. ‘Are you sure it’s your sister who’s the actress in the family?’

  Ivy snorted as she straightened up. ‘Positive.’

  Shaking her head, she walked outside and took a deep breath of the clean air. Her mouth was still tingling, but at least she could breathe now. She just wished she could erase her memories of the last half hour as easily as she’d gotten rid of those would-be pizza customers.

  Sure, she’d had some bad dental procedures in the past . . . but Dr Lee had never before had to kneel on the armrest just to file down her fangs, much less take out his ‘special machine’! And the lecture he’d given her afterwards had made her feel even worse. She frowned, kicking at the pavement as she remembered how angry he’d been at her for waiting too long between filings.

  ‘This isn’t just a matter of personal comfort, young lady. It’s about protecting the secrets of the whole vampire race!’

  ‘Stupid high school,’ she muttered now. If it hadn’t been for how crazy her stupid popularity was making her, she would never have let it go for this long . . .

  Nice try, Ivy . She sighed, giving up. Even to herself, she couldn’t pretend that it was anyone’s fault but her own. Keeping her fangs filed was basic vampire concealment strategy, and it had to take priority over everything else. No matter what was going on at school, she should never have neglected it.

  The whole thing felt so depressing that for once, Ivy couldn’t even bring herself to feel hungry for dinner. She’d already arranged to meet Brendan at the Meat and Greet, though, so she trudged through the dark street towards the brightly lit diner, trying to ignore the sickly sweet taste left in her mouth by the tooth filing.

  Brendan was waiting for her at one of the booths in the back, along with two steaming-hot, rare burgers. ‘Well, look at that.’ He grinned as he pulled open her mouth to peer dramatically at her teeth. ‘No more horror movie material!’

  ‘Get off !’ Laughing, Ivy pushed his hand away and settled in next to him, ignoring her waiting burger. ‘I don’t want to even think about teeth for at least a month.’

  ‘Really, it’s too bad.’ As Brendan picked up his own burger, he gave a mock sigh. ‘I’m going to miss those fangs. You’re so beautiful when you’re scary.’

  ‘Why does everyone at school seem to think that?’ Ivy groaned and dropped her head on to the table beside her plate. ‘I’ve been doing my scariest “Leave Me Alone” act all week, and it’s just not working! I don’t know what else to try.’

  ‘Well . . .’ Brendan’s tone turned wary. ‘I think I might know what’s wrong.’

  ‘Yeah?’ Ivy turned her head to glance up at him.

  Brendan took a deep breath. ‘I think your heart’s not really in it.’

  ‘What?’ Ivy jerked upright. ‘What are you talking about? You know I hate this popularity trap!’

  ‘But think about what you’re doing to escape it. Snubbing people? Making fun of others?’ Brendan’s tone was gentle as he reached out to put one hand on top of hers. ‘Come on, Ivy. Yes, you’re a loner – and yeah, you take things pretty seriously – but you’ve never been mean before.’

  Ivy swallowed hard, staring down at her burger as guilt clenched her chest. ‘I’m not sure about that,’ she mumbled. ‘I’ve been known to be pretty grumpy.’

  ‘Maybe so,’ Brendan said, ‘but you’re not acting like yourself. That’s why you’ve been so unhappy.’ He squeezed her hand. ‘The truth is, you’re the anti-mean. Deliberately hurting other people’s feelings . . . that’s just not in your nature.’

  He waited a moment, but Ivy couldn’t answer. She was fighting too hard against the sudden knot in her chest . . . the one that said he was right.

  ‘That whole scene at lunch where you made fun of that poor girl’s T-shirt?’ Brendan’s voice was soft, but inescapable. ‘I’ve never seen you mock anyone to their face before. That’s not you. Is it?’

  ‘No,’ Ivy whispered. Her throat clenched. She turned her hand over to lace her fingers through his. ‘It’s not,’ she agreed. ‘But I don’t know what else to do. All I want is to be left in peace! I want to be allowed to hang out with my own twin without half the school trying to get in between us.’

  ‘Trust me,’ Brendan said. ‘Everything will work out if you just stop pretending .’

  Pretending . . . Ivy froze as she connected the dots. Hadn’t she told Penny the same thing? Penny was working so hard to pretend to be another person, it was making her miserable. And Ivy had been doing just the same, without even realising it. In fact . . .

  She winced. This morning in the courtyard, when they’d been with all the other goths, she had actually been . . . kind-of-sort-of-a-little-bit . . . making Penny pretend even more than she already had been.

  Ouch . She sighed. I can’t do this any more – not to Penny or myself.

  One way or another, she was going to find a way to improve things for both of them.

  Fuelled by new determination, Ivy reached for her burger. ‘Mmm!’ As she savoured the bite, she carefully wiped the grease from her lips. It’s so much better to eat without fangs! No more accidentally biting herself in the cheek when she ate, no more . . .

  ‘Wait a minute.’ Ivy narrowed her eyes as she saw Brendan looking mock-sad beside her. ‘What is it? What’s wrong now?’

  ‘Ohhh . . .’ Brendan sighed mournfully. ‘I just miss your scary ketchup face! Do you think you could do it again, once more? Just for me?’

  ‘You!’ She snatched back up her greasy napkin. ‘I’m going to spread grease all over your face for that.’

  Even as they arm-wrestled, though, exploding with laughter, Ivy felt the tension drain straight out of her. She might not know yet just how to fix her unwanted popularity or to make it up to Olivia for the ‘canteen-incident’ . . . but somehow, she was beginning to feel certain that everything would be OK.

  Chapter Nine

  Operation Famelia: go!

  Olivia hunkered down in her seat on the Lincoln Vale bus the next morning, scoping out her materials. It had taken hard planning and a ridiculously early alarm call for her to make it all the way out to Lincoln Vale in time to catch this school bus, instead of riding her usual Franklin Grove bus along with Ivy, Brendan, and Sophia. But it had been worth it. It was time to
take Lillian’s advice and set up an Awful Alternative for Amelia, to make Finn look even better by comparison . . . and Olivia knew exactly who to choose.

  Josh Dillon sat at the very back of the bus with his Beastly friends, but the stench from his trench coat emanated all the way to Olivia’s seat in the middle of the bus. He is definitely the one, she decided, as she breathed through her mouth to avoid the worst of the smell. They might have only met once, but sometimes, once was more than enough. She was absolutely certain that Josh had to be the most horrid boy in Amelia’s grade.

  If only she could force Amelia to spend some time with Josh, the Goth-Queen would have to realise how fantastic Finn was! And really, this mission was bigger than either one of them. Not only did Amelia and Finn both secretly want to get together – whether or not they would admit it – but their romance would help to unite the whole school . . . and allow one particular pink-loving bunny girl to publicly sit with her goth twin at lunchtime.

  Olivia took a deep breath. I have to get this right!

  Unfortunately, Amelia wasn’t helping the plan. She sat at the very front of the bus, with her back to everyone . . . including Josh. Turn around, Olivia willed silently, as Josh and the others let out obnoxious brays of laughter in the back of the bus. Turn around, look at Josh, turn around . . .

  It was no use. If Olivia left it up to the ‘heroine’ of this rom-com, Amelia would never even glimpse her Awful Alternative. It’s time to play the director, Olivia told herself. Make it happen!

  But how?

  Aha . As Olivia watched, she saw the flick of a page in the corner of her eye – her seat mate reading a novel. I know exactly what to do!

  Amelia loved the book of Eternal Sunset . How better to start a conversation with her than to talk about the movie? Then, once I’ve got her talking, I can ask her what she thinks of Josh, and get her to take a good look at him . . . yes!

  Olivia jumped out of her seat, ignoring the rattling of the moving bus. As she headed up the aisle towards Amelia, she started practising her opening lines. So, you’re an Eternal Sunset fan . . .

  ‘What do you think you’re doing?’ the bus driver screeched.

  The whole bus went silent. Olivia froze.

  The driver was a middle-aged woman named Mrs Martin, and when Olivia had first stepped on to the bus, she’d barely said a word. Now, though, her face looked furious in the rear-view mirror.

  ‘I see you standing up, young lady! What do you think you’re doing, walking around on a moving bus? Do you want me to lose my licence?’

  Gusts of nervous laughter swept around the bus as Olivia stuttered. ‘Um . . . I, um . . . I just . . .’

  ‘I don’t care!’ Still steering with her right hand, Mrs Martin jabbed her finger towards the one empty seat nearby – the seat next to Amelia. ‘You sit down this instant, young lady. I will not tolerate this behaviour!’

  Cringing, Olivia hurried to take the empty seat beside Amelia, feeling the eyes of all the other students on her.

  ‘Sorry,’ Olivia said weakly to Mrs Martin.

  Amelia rolled her eyes and sighed heavily, even as she moved her bag to make space for Olivia to sit. ‘What are you doing on this bus anyway?’ the older girl asked. ‘This is the Lincoln Vale bus. Don’t you live in Franklin Grove?’

  ‘Er . . .’ Olivia hesitated halfway into the seat. The truth was, she’d set her alarm clock for five-thirty a.m. and walked all the way to the next town specifically to catch this bus. She could hardly tell Amelia that, though – she’d look like a super-meddler. ‘I, um, stayed over at a friend’s house. Last night. In Lincoln Vale,’ she mumbled.

  ‘And they’re not here with you now?’ Sighing, Amelia looked over Olivia’s head at the bus driver. ‘Come on, you’d better sit down before she has any more of a fit.’ Shaking her head, Amelia turned to gaze out the bus window, obviously dismissing Olivia.

  Wait! This isn’t how it was supposed to go . Desperately, Olivia grabbed for her earlier plan. ‘So!’ she said brightly. ‘Did you know there’s more filming for Eternal Sunset starting next week? I’m flying out on Saturday afternoon.’

  ‘Good for you,’ Amelia drawled, still looking out the window.

  Olivia forged on, trying to sound enthusiastic. ‘We’ll be shooting the futuristic dream sequences – oh, but I probably shouldn’t talk too much about this, should I? I mean, unless you want to know the details . . .’ She trailed her words off enticingly.

  At just that moment, a familiar flash of colour caught her eye on the street outside. It was Finn, skating down the street just ahead of one of his friends, a pixie-blonde skater-girl . . . and Amelia had just leaned closer to the window to gaze after them, her look suddenly intent.

  Yes! Olivia let out a silent cheer.

  Amelia must have felt Olivia’s eyes on her, though. She straightened, looking self-conscious. ‘Sorry, I didn’t catch that.’ She yawned pointedly . . . but Olivia caught her sneakily glancing back at Finn and the skater-girl.

  ‘Well,’ Olivia said. ‘If you don’t want any spoilers for Eternal Sunset –’

  ‘Are you kidding?’ Amelia looked amused. ‘No one can spoil the plot of Eternal Sunset for me. I’ve read it way too many times for that. It’s the best of the Count Vira novels.’ She reached into her bag to pull out an iPod and headphones.

  Uh-oh. Time for my Hail Mary . Opening her mouth, Olivia prepared for her most lastditch attempt of all – asking whether Amelia thought Josh was the type to read Count Vira books. It might just work to make her look around at him . . .

  But before she could say a word, Amelia glanced back at the window . . . and froze.

  Olivia peered over her shoulder. The skatergirl had caught up with Finn, and they were laughing together over some joke.

  Amelia’s face suddenly looked carved out of ice. She jerked her head away from the window – and glowered as she found Olivia watching her. ‘Would you mind finding your own seat?’ she said. She waved one hand in haughty dismissal. ‘I’d like to be alone.’

  Ohhh-kayy . . . Olivia opened her mouth, then closed it again. She had literally no idea what to say in response to that.

  So much for my plan! Feeling as deflated as a limp balloon, she stood up . . .

  And the bus screeched to a halt. ‘That is it!’ Mrs Martin swivelled around in her seat, pointing furiously at Olivia. ‘If you stand up one more time in my bus, you will be walking the rest of the way to school. We’ll see how you like it when you get detention for being late!’

  ‘I’m sorry.’ Hunching her shoulders, Olivia started back towards her original seat, feeling the bus driver’s fuming gaze on her every step of the way.

  At the last moment, though, inspiration struck. I didn’t manage to get Amelia to look at Josh . . . but I bet I could make Josh look at her!

  She veered off course to sit in the seat in front of Josh and his friends, just as the bus re-started with an angry-sounding roar of its engine. Olivia stumbled and almost fell into the seat, but it was worth it: she was exactly where she needed to be.

  The more she thought about it, the more sense it made. Maybe Amelia wouldn’t think twice about Josh, but she was certain she could plant the idea in his head.

  Fixing a beaming smile on her face, she turned in her seat . . . and found Josh smirking at her. ‘I knew it,’ he drawled. ‘Aren’t you the girl who front-flipped in the hallway yesterday just to get my attention?’

  Huh? Olivia stared at him. What is he talking about? She might be a former cheerleader, but she hadn’t done a front-flip in months, much less in the school hallway. Why would he think . . . ?

  Oh . She sighed. If she looked like me, it must have been Ivy . . . and it sounds like something set off her vampire reflexes . So much for keeping those hidden at school! ‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘I’m that girl’s sister.’

  ‘Really?’ Josh pulled a face. ‘Geez, you two could be twins!’

  Olivia had to call on all of her acting training to keep herself from
letting out a cheer of triumph. Foul, mean, and dumb . . . he’s absolutely perfect! There couldn’t be a more Awful Alternative in their school. Now all I have to do is bring them together.

  She glanced at the front of the bus, where Amelia was still sitting alone and looking out the window. If I can just talk Josh into going up there and asking her out . . .

  Leaning across the top of her seat, she asked as casually as she could, ‘So, are you seeing anybody?’

  ‘Ha!’ He burst into laughter. ‘I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!’ He shook his head and pointed straight at her, as his friends exploded into hilarity all around him. ‘That moment you “bumped into” me – you were just faking, weren’t you?’

  ‘What?’ Olivia’s jaw dropped open. ‘No! What – why –’

  ‘You were just trying to get my attention!’ He shook his head, still chortling. ‘Listen, kiddo, I’m flattered, believe me, but I have a reputation to think about, y’know? I just can’t date a ninth grader . . .’ His gaze swept her up and down. ‘Especially not one who looks like she’s gone swimming in cotton candy!’

  Ouch! Olivia snapped her jaw shut. Desperately, she fought to remember Jackson’s acting tips on how not to blush. Tongue behind my teeth; think of something cold . . .

  Maybe it would even have worked . . . if it hadn’t been for what happened next.

  ‘Hey, everyone!’ The boy next to Josh cupped one hand to his mouth to call out to the rest of the bus. ‘You should have heard it! This ninth-grade chick was just telling Josh how much she loooooves him!’

  As the entire bus burst into laughter, and students all around her turned to point, Olivia sank back down into her seat. She could feel her skin burning, and there were no acting skills that could stop it.

  Worse yet, while everyone else had turned to stare at the back of the bus, Amelia just kept looking out the window without turning around once. Her iPod must have drowned out all the noise. When the bus came to a halt a few minutes later, she walked straight to the door without glancing back for a single second at her Awful Alternative.