Ivy had memorised the letter her grandmother had sent back:
Dear Karl,
Your father and I would be so grateful to meet our granddaughters and welcome them into the family. Let us ignore the past. We enclose three first-class tickets leaving next month, in the hope that you will visit us.
Love,
Mother
Ivy instinctively reached for the ring that she wore around her neck; Olivia had an identical one. Matching emerald rings with their family symbol – the outline of an eye with a V in the middle – engraved inside. After a lifetime of not knowing, she was finally going to find out where she came from.
This week in Europe was going to be killer, but first she had to figure out what her boyfriend was up to.
‘So what’s the burger special today?’ Ivy asked innocently, seeing how far he would go to conceal where he was. Olivia covered her mouth to stifle a giggle.
‘It’s, uh . . .’ Brendan looked around frantically. ‘Green leather madness,’ he blurted.
Ivy snorted. ‘That doesn’t sound very appetising.’
‘Well, I’m not going to order one,’ he replied.
‘It doesn’t sound like you’re at the Meat and Greet,’ Ivy tried again. ‘I can’t hear any music in the background.’
‘I think they’ve turned it off for a minute,’ Brendan replied, talking faster and faster.
Ivy decided to let him off the hook. He wasn’t going to confess. ‘OK, well, I’ll see you at noon,’ she said.
‘OK, bye,’ he almost shouted and Ivy watched him collapse against the wall.
‘He would not keep it a secret if he wasn’t shopping for you,’ Olivia pointed out.
Ivy saw him stride away. ‘I’m going after him,’ she declared.
‘I’ll be here,’ Olivia said, looking morosely at the line in front of her.
‘With me!’ said Janie. ‘Another candy heart?’
Ivy darted across the lobby after Brendan, pressing herself against the walls. She followed him at a safe distance down the east wing of the mall. She had to be extra careful; Brendan was a vampire, after all, and might be able to sense her if she got too close.
What do spies in movies do? Ivy thought. Melt into the crowd. She looked down at her black skirt and heavy boots. Well, that’s not gonna happen. She’d just have to be . . . discreet.
Brendan went into Trudy’s Beauty Palace and Ivy ducked in and hid behind a rack of shampoo bottles. She peered between two mannequin heads displaying blonde wigs to see Brendan browsing the accessories in the glass counter. There were sparkly bracelets, dangly earrings, rings and brooches – nothing that her gorgeous goth boyfriend would ever buy for himself.
Oh my darkness! Ivy thought. He must be shopping for Valentine’s.
Brendan turned around and Ivy ducked behind the hair pieces, just in time.
If he’s buying me something, I have to buy him something, Ivy realised. A present that is as good as whatever he gets me. As Brendan left the store empty-handed, Ivy decided she had to follow him until she saw what he bought.
She crept along behind him, staying out of sight.
Be like water, Ivy told herself. Olivia’s martial-arts-obsessed dad had taught her that. She slid from a tall fern to a marble column to a sunglasses stall.
It was going well until, just outside the camera store, Brendan looked back over his shoulder. Ivy was next to a booth selling self-help books, so she ducked behind it. An old woman with a wart on her chin, sitting on the stool and tending the booth, looked at her.
Ivy smiled like nothing was abnormal, but then she noticed a security guard on the other side of the walkway staring at her. He pointed two stubby fingers at her, and then pointed them at his own eyes. I’m watching you, he was saying.
Ivy immediately straightened up and tried to look innocent by grabbing one of the books from the display and opening it to a random page. Bald is Beautiful! it declared in large print.
Ivy panicked, slammed the book shut and shoved it back on the shelf.
‘Can I help you?’ the old lady said in a scratchy voice.
‘Uh, just browsing!’ Ivy turned away to check where Brendan was, but the one thing she really didn’t need to happen had happened.
Brendan had disappeared!
Chapter Two
I can only feel two of my toes, Olivia thought. Ivy had been gone for half an hour and the line hadn’t even started moving yet.
‘Ohmigosh, I just can’t believe you got to be in a movie with him!’ said Janie. ‘So, how come you have to wait in line with the rest of us?’
Olivia wondered if there was actual steam coming out of her ears. ‘That’s a very good question, Janie.’
Just then a huge collective shriek erupted from the front of the line. Olivia stood on her tiptoes to see that the doors to the bookstore had finally opened.
The line surged forward and, despite being about 200th in line, she got all the way to the front door of the store very quickly. There must have been another 200 people behind her. She tried to peer past the window display, to see if she could catch Jackson’s attention – or even see him – but the store was so packed with people clutching copies of his new book, Jackson’s Journal, that his signing desk was hidden from view.
‘Look what he gave me!’ squealed a girl who was leaving the store. She was the ice skater from the front of the line and was waving something red and heart-shaped over her head. ‘It’s a picture frame and he signed it: “Love, Jackson”. He loves me!’
The girls still waiting for their chance to meet Jackson all crowded around her, desperate to see. Olivia got jostled around like she was holding the last purse in a sale.
Janie turned to Olivia and clutched her hands. ‘I have to have one,’ she said. ‘I just have to!’
Olivia sighed. Even though Valentine’s Day wasn’t until the end of the week, this was her only chance to see Jackson before she left for Transylvania.
It doesn’t matter, Olivia thought to herself. Once I get to the front of the line and give him his V-Day present, this will all be worth it. She touched the crinkly wrapping paper on the small box in her jacket pocket and smiled. The Valentine’s present she’d bought for Jackson was silly, but sentimental. It was a little pair of ceramic cowboy boots. She’d painted a red heart on the front of both and put her initials on one and his initials on the other. The first thing she’d ever said to Jackson was, ‘Yeehaw’ and ‘I like your boots’ and he teased her about it all the time.
‘Could you stop mooning?’ said an impatient girl behind her.
Olivia blinked and realised the line had moved way inside the store.
‘Sorry.’ She scurried forwards into a wider aisle with ropes down either side. At the far end, she could see a big pink backdrop and could just catch a glimpse of Jackson’s blond hair. When she caught up to the line, Janie turned around with tears in her eyes.
‘Oh, no,’ Olivia said, reaching to give the girl a hug. ‘What’s wrong?’
Janie held out her fist and opened it, palm up. The candy heart was still there but the message now read, ‘I EAR U.’ The letters had smudged off in her sweaty hand.
She sniffled. ‘What am I going to give him now?’
Even though it was weird to have so many people obsessed with her boyfriend, Olivia couldn’t let Janie be upset. She spotted a bunch of construction paper pink hearts taped up on one of the book displays. She looked both ways, to make sure no one was watching, and gently pulled off one of the smaller hearts.
Janie watched, her bottom lip trembling.
Olivia dug in her bag and pulled out a black pen. ‘We’ve got this.’ She held up the heart. ‘And this.’ She held up the pen. ‘And we’ve got about five minutes for you to write something for Jackson on it.’
Janie’s eyes lit up. ‘Thanks!’ She took the pen and the heart and wrote, ‘I ♥ YOU,’ in the middle. She spent the following four minutes admiring it.
‘Next!’ called a woman in a
dark green tailored suit with an orange silk scarf. It was Amy Teller, Jackson’s manager.
Janie took a deep breath and stepped up to the table. Olivia watched as Jackson turned his full attention to her, giving a trademark wide white smile.
‘Hello. What’s your name?’ he asked. His attention was fully on the little girl and he’d totally failed to see that Olivia was next in line. She couldn’t help smiling to herself. He’s so good to his fans.
Janie was clutching the little pink paper heart so hard she was crushing it.
‘J-Janie,’ she replied, then thrust the heart out to him.
‘Thank you,’ Jackson said, his blond hair flopping over his blue eyes as he read it. ‘That’s really sweet.’
‘I messed up your first present,’ Janie confessed and stepped to the side, pointing at Olivia. ‘She helped me.’
Jackson looked over and Olivia felt her heart cartwheel. He half stood up and leaned over the desk, almost knocking a pile of books over but not taking his eyes off her. She felt a flush of excitement and her heart raced.
‘Olivia!’ He looked happy but confused. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘Remember, I said last night . . .’ Olivia began, wanting to give him a hug but feeling like it would be inappropriate.
Jackson winced. ‘You totally did. I’m really sorry! Why didn’t you call?’
‘I tried,’ Olivia replied, glad that it was all over now and she could talk to her boyfriend at last.
Amy Teller, Jackson’s manager, was talking to a man at Jackson’s shoulder. ‘What do you mean, we’ve run out?’ She was towering over one of the store’s employees. His face was bright red.
‘We just didn’t expect this many girls,’ the short man in thick-rimmed glasses replied.
‘That’s right,’ Amy drawled, ‘because a visit from an A-list movie star is so yesterday, isn’t it?’ She threw her hands up and leaned over to Janie. ‘I’m sorry, sweetie,’ she said, in a fake syrupy voice, ‘but we don’t have any more of Jackson’s Valentine’s photo frames.’
Janie’s eyes filled with tears again.
‘But she’s been waiting in line forever,’ Olivia said.
‘No more?’ Janie echoed in disbelief.
‘Don’t be upset,’ Jackson said.
Olivia looked at him pointedly. ‘She’s really been looking forward to seeing you.’
‘OK, wait there a minute,’ Jackson said, pointing to a couple of empty chairs behind him. Then he leapt up on to the table and called out to the rest of the line, ‘Everyone, I’m really sorry to say that we’ve run out of the Valentine’s photo frames.’
The crowd sighed with disappointment.
‘But,’ he went on, ‘my pen hasn’t run out of ink and I’ll be here until I’ve signed every last one of your copies of Jackson’s Journal.’
Everyone burst into cheers.
‘Will you sit with Janie for a minute?’ Jackson said to Olivia, touching her hand gently. ‘We can talk after this.’
He sat back down and motioned for the girl behind Olivia to come over.
Olivia sighed. More waiting. She sank into the chair next to a very excited Janie.
‘Oh my goodness,’ she whispered. ‘This is so cool! I’m hanging out with Jackson Caulfield!’
Idly, Olivia picked up a copy of Jackson’s Journal from one of the displays on either side of the line. It had photos of the small town where he was from, pictures of him as a baby and all about his movie career. It mentioned The Groves, but there wasn’t any mention of Olivia.
‘Amy?’ she asked. ‘How come I’m not in here?’
Amy rolled her eyes. ‘Do you have any idea how long it takes to make a book?’ she replied. ‘They’d finished writing it before he’d ever met you. Besides, having a girlfriend isn’t good for his image.’ She swept her hand out over the line of girls still waiting to get their books signed. ‘Think of all the broken hearts.’
What about my heart? Olivia thought.
She watched the next person, a girl about Olivia’s age with cropped brown hair wearing a T-shirt from The Right One movie.
‘Happy Valentine’s Day,’ Jackson said to her with a smile.
He hasn’t even said Happy Valentine’s to me, Olivia realised.
Girl after girl came up and received the full focus of Jackson’s attention for at least a minute – more than Olivia had – and walked away happy. At last, there were only three people left in line: two teenage girls and one older woman carrying her dog, with a studded dog collar that spelled out Jackson’s name.
When he was finished, Jackson turned to Olivia and Janie. ‘Well, now,’ he said, with a wink. ‘My two favourite Valentines.’
But before he could say anything more, Amy picked up her big grey handbag. ‘That was great. Now, just say a quick goodbye and we’ll get you to the VIP party.’
Olivia’s stomach lurched. ‘You never told me about the VIP party,’ she said, trying to control her emotions in front of Janie, who was listening to every word.
‘I forgot. I’m sorry,’ Jackson said, looking pained. He touched her hand again. ‘Look, if you’ll just hold on –’
‘I can’t,’ Olivia said. And after hours of waiting already, I shouldn’t have to! ‘Ivy has been waiting for me to leave; we’ve got to finish packing.’
Jackson looked unhappy. ‘I wanted to see you before you went away.’
‘That’s why I came,’ Olivia said. She wished that everything between them wasn’t always so fleeting. She pulled out the box she’d wrapped in crinkly silver paper and handed it to him. ‘Happy Valentine’s Day.’
He took it and gave her a huge hug. For a moment, it felt like everything in the world was just how it should be. ‘Thank you.’
He carefully unwrapped the paper and opened the little box. He pulled out the pair of cowboy boots and grinned.
‘Yeehaw,’ Olivia said quietly.
Jackson smiled, looking right into her eyes. She knew that he totally got her present. Maybe the waiting was a little worth it, Olivia thought.
‘Those are so cute!’ declared Janie, peering at the cowboy boots. ‘They look just like yours, Jackson.’
‘They do, don’t they?’ Jackson replied.
He looked from the boots to Janie and then to Olivia. She realised without him saying a word what he was thinking.
‘You don’t mind, do you?’ Jackson asked.
Olivia was torn. It was really sweet for Jackson to give Janie something so special – but it was his Valentine’s present. Why doesn’t he want to keep it for himself? Olivia thought.
Still, she wanted Janie to leave happy and knew that was all Jackson was trying to do. She shook her head and he handed one over to a beaming Janie.
‘And I’ll always keep the other one very close to my heart,’ Jackson said, holding up the one with Olivia’s initials on it.
‘You two are the best!’ Janie shouted, giving Jackson and then Olivia huge hugs. ‘I think you make the perfect couple,’ she whispered and skipped out of the store.
‘Jackson,’ Amy warned. ‘We have to go now.’
‘I’m really sorry,’ Jackson said to Olivia. ‘Your present isn’t . . . uh . . . ready yet. You know Valentine’s isn’t until the end of the week . . .’ he trailed off.
Olivia tried to smile. ‘It’s fine, don’t worry.’ But inside she felt like this morning had been nothing but a big disappointment. ‘We’ll see each other when I get back from Transylvania.’
‘If not before,’ Jackson said. He gave her a hug and squeezed her hand. ‘I’m really sorry about today.’
‘Jackson, Amy insisted.
‘Bye,’ Olivia said quietly.
‘Bye.’ He waved as he walked away.
She was about to spend yet another week away from Jackson in Transylvania, and he didn’t even seem to care that much. As she walked out of the store, past the rows of Jackson Caulfield books, DVDs and posters, Olivia felt like a deflated balloon.
Might as
well go home and finish packing for the trip, she thought, but where’s Ivy? It had almost been two hours since she’d seen her sister. Olivia pulled out her phone and pushed redial.
The phone rang twice and Ivy picked up. Then Olivia heard a crash and a squeal. She yelped, holding the phone away from her ear.
‘That sounded painful!’
Operation Night Stalker was well under way. Ivy had wrapped her black scarf over her head like a ninja and she was peering around a shelf of shoes.
Her suspect was ten feet due north, staring intently at a row of belts hanging on pegs.
She’d trailed him through Midnight Clothing, the Sweet Tooth candy shop and George’s Glass Emporium but he still hadn’t bought anything. Now, he was in Batty for Beads, the accessory store, and was looking baffled by the huge range of bags, shoes, jewellery and belts.
‘Can I help you?’
The voice behind her made Ivy jump.
‘Uh, no,’ Ivy mumbled to the store assistant. ‘Just looking, thanks.’
Brendan moved out of sight.
Drat, Ivy thought. I’m going to have to follow.
She flattened her back against the end of the shoe shelf and leaned out briefly, like a SWAT team member about to storm a building.
Clear, Ivy thought. Go, go, go!
She crouched down and scurried to the end of the aisle. She had no idea which way he’d gone, so she grabbed a pocket mirror off the shelf in front of her and held it out, tilting it this way and that.
Bingo.
Brendan was over by a rack of necklaces and browsing through the semi-precious stone section. He picked up a long strand of chunky blue lapis lazuli with silver beads.
Ooh, thought Ivy. That’s a good one.
Focus! she berated herself. Don’t lose sight of the mission. She darted behind a stack of turntable shelves of beads where she could see most of the store.
Brendan was engrossed in the necklaces but, out of the corner of her eye, Ivy saw the security guard who had warned her earlier. He was walking through the entrance of the store and looking around.
06 Love Bites - My Sister the Vampire Page 2
