Читать книгу Double Disaster! - Sienna Mercer - Страница 8

Oh my darkness!’ Ivy Vega collapsed on to her front doorstep with a moan. Resting her elbows on the knees of her black combat trousers, she sighed. ‘I have never been so happy to be finished with a party.’

‘Wasn’t it wonderful, though?’ said her twin sister, Olivia Abbott, who sat down beside her. They were identical, apart from the fact that Olivia was grinning happily, and favoured clothes like the bright pink skirt she was now rearranging.

Oh, and also the fact that Olivia was human, while Ivy was a vampire.

‘I couldn’t believe how perfectly it all went!’ Olivia said.

‘Are you kidding?’ Ivy snorted. ‘Groomzilla was in charge, remember? Nothing was going to go wrong.’

Yesterday, their dad had married Lillian Margolis, the glamorous vampire movie director. The twins had met her just a year earlier, when a huge Hollywood movie had come to film in tiny Franklin Grove. Ivy couldn’t have been happier for her dad – Lillian was the perfect addition to their family – but the memory of his frantic wedding preparation was enough to make her shudder.

How many weeks had it taken her dad to settle on exactly the right trim for the place cards at the reception tables? Ivy winced at the memory. I think I’d rather eat garlic than ever have to see another wedding invitation ever again!

It was no wonder she was exhausted now! Ivy shook her head at her sister. ‘How can you still be so perky? You may live in a different house, but I know you didn’t escape that much prep work.’

‘And it all paid off, every bit of it.’ Olivia swayed side to side, smiling dreamily. ‘Wasn’t it just the most romantic day ever? All those gorgeous colours – do you remember that peach and silver swag?’

‘Remember it?’ Ivy let out a groan. ‘I have nightmares about it! They accidentally delivered the wrong colour the first time round. Dad almost fainted from shock when he saw them. He ended up leaning against the wall, saying that he actually hoped he had gone colour-blind. If I hadn’t threatened to tip Strawberry HemoGlobules on to my bridesmaid’s dress, I’m not sure he would have snapped out of it!’

‘He really came good in the end, though, didn’t he?’ Olivia stretched out her legs, her pink toenail polish sparkling in the sunlight. ‘I can’t think of a better wedding planner. Even the peonies on the tables matched the colour scheme!’

Ivy felt her left eyelid begin to twitch dangerously. She wasn’t sure she could take any more wedding talk – especially now that the actual wedding was over. Calm down, she told herself. This nightmare can’t go on forever!

‘Yes indeed,’ she said dryly. ‘I may never stop swooning over the memories of the . . . “awesome” colour scheme.’

‘Oh, come on.’ Laughing, Olivia dug her in the ribs. ‘It was a day to remember! Even you have to admit that’s true.’

‘Well . . .’ Ivy sighed. ‘OK . . . It did kind of suck. In the good way. Kinda.’

‘See?’ Olivia beamed. ‘You had fu-u-u-u-un . . .’ Her last word broke off into a wide yawn.

‘Aha!’ Ivy shot upright and pointed triumphantly. ‘I knew it. You’re exhausted too!’

Olivia yawned again, not even trying to stifle it this time. ‘OK, you’re right. I never imagined that being a bridesmaid would be such hard work.’

‘You’re telling me.’ Ivy shook her head as she picked up all the confetti that had fallen from her hair on to her combat trousers. ‘Is this stuff made out of glue, or something? I’ve showered twice this morning, and I still haven’t got it all out!’

‘Aww.’ Olivia grabbed her arm, forcing her to look up. ‘Did you ever think you’d see that?’

Ivy blinked, then blinked again as she looked where her twin was pointing. On the pavement in front of them, their dad, their new stepmom and their grandparents were all negotiating the ‘awkward goodbye’. Their grandparents would soon be heading back to Transylvania, home of the elite, upper-class vampire society.

‘Wow,’ Ivy breathed. ‘Is that really Dad?’

Charles Vega normally looked really uncomfortable around any type of ‘goodbye’ – but not today! He was beaming as Lillian smiled serenely at his side.

Olivia shook her head. ‘Lillian has really had an effect on him. I guess love can work miracles.’

Under Ivy’s disbelieving gaze, Charles stepped forward and, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, pulled his parents into a hug.

Ivy’s mouth dropped open. She was still staring, dumbstruck, when her dad turned around.

‘Come on, girls,’ he said. ‘Say goodbye to your grandparents!’

Ivy jumped up. That, I can do! She and Olivia rushed together down the stairs to give their grandparents big hugs of their own.

As Olivia hugged their grandfather, Ivy buried her face into her grandmother’s shoulder. The Countess stroked her hair, and Ivy could have somersaulted for joy.

I’m so glad she’s finally forgiven me.

Her grandparents had pleaded with Ivy to attend Wallachia Academy, an elite vampire finishing school in Transylvania. Ivy had gone along and tried her very best to fit in with the other students, but in the end she’d had to abandon the snooty academy – she’d missed her home too much. Her grandparents had both been appalled – and for a while, Ivy had really feared she’d lost her grandmother’s love for good.

‘I am really, truly proud of you,’ the Countess whispered into Ivy’s ear.

Ivy was glad she had her face hidden, because she was feeling very un-vampire-y tears welling up in her eyes. OK, no sappiness. She took a deep breath and stepped back, making a show of looking around. ‘Hey, where’s Horatio?’

‘I don’t know.’ The Countess frowned. ‘Where is Horatio?’

Olivia giggled. ‘Um . . .’

Smiling, Charles shook his head and pointed. ‘We should have known.’

The Count and Countess’s vampire butler was two doors down on Undertaker Hill, stalking Ivy’s neighbour Mr Galloway around his car, which was covered with soap suds.

‘What in the name of darkness is he doing?’ demanded the Count, his grey moustache bristling.

Ivy’s lips twitched into a grin. ‘Do you really have to ask?’

Mr Galloway’s voice drifted down the street. ‘But I told you, I really don’t need any help washing my car!’

‘Let me, sir.’ Horatio pinched the sponge from their neighbour’s hands with his vampire strength. ‘I must insist.’

Ivy cringed as she saw the outraged expression on Mr Galloway’s face. He stepped forward threateningly. ‘Look, you . . . Hey!’ His mouth dropped open as he leaned in to watch Horatio sweep the sponge around with professional precision. ‘How are you doing that?’

‘It is a special, spiralling, counter-clockwise technique – I invented it myself !’ Horatio coughed modestly and stepped back to demonstrate. ‘You see? Much more effective!’

‘Well, I’ll be . . .’ Mr Galloway’s scowl transformed into a smile as he saw the gleaming paintwork. ‘That actually is impressive!’

‘Thank you, sir. And now, if you’ll allow me . . .’ Smiling with quiet pride, Horatio straightened and removed his jacket. ‘There is some serious work to be done here. Although . . .’ He paused. ‘Yes, this would be much easier if we use some of my special, homemade turtle wax.’

Mr Galloway choked. ‘Your what?’

‘I have some just here, in the car.’ Frowning with concentration, Horatio hurried over to the hire car that he would be driving back to the airport. He opened the boot . . . then paused, suddenly looking anguished.

Uh-oh, Ivy thought. She didn’t often see the dignified butler lose his cool! She sidled up to him as discreetly as she could, glancing down into the boot. Unsurprisingly, the luggage was arranged like a 3D puzzle, every suitcase perfectly placed. He certainly can’t be upset about his packing!

‘Is everything OK?’ she whispered.

Horatio shook his head, still gazing with obvious desperation at the jigsaw-like stack of luggage. ‘If I’m going to use my special turtle wax, I’ll have to take it out of my suitcase,’ he whispered, his voice cracking. ‘But my suitcase is beneath the Count and Countess’s luggage – at the bottom of the boot.’

‘Uh . . . so?’ Ivy shrugged. ‘Can’t you just dig it out and then re-pack?’

Horatio turned on her with a look so appalled, it actually rivalled Olivia’s expression the time Ivy had suggested Olivia wear a paisley skirt with her plaid blouse.

Ivy blinked and stepped back. ‘Or . . . not?’

Horatio pointed at the boot with a finger that trembled. ‘Look at that, Miss Ivy.’

‘Er . . .’ Ivy shrugged again. ‘All I see is packed suitcases.’

‘No . . .’ Horatio shook his head with obvious disappointment. ‘What you see are perfectly packed suitcases!’ A look of rapt passion spread across his face as he continued. ‘This is the Platonic ideal of suitcase-packing! They can be easily removed from the boot once we reach the airport, yet they are secure enough that no damage will be incurred to any items while driving. I have dreamed my whole life of managing to pack with such precision, such perfection.’

‘Oh.’ Ivy gulped, looking again at the suitcases. ‘Um. Oh, the, er . . . tectonic ideal. Right. Sorry I didn’t realise. Should I take a picture?’

‘There is no need.’ Horatio shook his head. ‘I will never forget the day I displayed such excellence in my craft. I couldn’t. And I planned to tell my fiancée, Helga, all about it once I had returned to Transylvania.’ His expression crumpled. ‘But I cannot if I must destroy it before we even leave for the airport!’

‘And speaking of which . . .’ The Countess was suddenly standing beside them, giving him a stern look that made Ivy take another step back. When her grandmother looked like this – confident, powerful and seriously scary – it was suddenly easy to remember that she was one of the oldest and most powerful vampires in the world.

‘We are taking a commercial flight, Horatio,’ the Countess said, sounding as if the word ‘commercial’ was actually painful on her tongue. ‘That means that we are on someone else’s timetable.’

Oops. From the tone of her grandmother’s voice, Ivy could tell that wasn’t something the Countess was used to . . . and she obviously did not like it.

‘Of course, Madam.’ Horatio’s shoulders slumped as he turned back to Mr Galloway. ‘I do beg your pardon, sir,’ he called, ‘but I shan’t be able to use my special turtle wax after all.’ His voice trembled with emotion. ‘You cannot possibly know how much I regret this. I will post some to you the very moment I return home, however. Such a fine vehicle deserves only the best. If only –’

‘Oh, Horatio!’ Ivy couldn’t wait any longer. She threw her arms around the tall butler, overcome by affection. ‘I’m going to miss you so much.’

His arms closed around her, warm and reassuring. ‘And I you, Miss Ivy,’ he said. ‘Do take good care of yourself.’

‘I will,’ she promised. Over his shoulder, she could see Olivia giving a fierce hug to their grandmother, who looked surprised and pleased. Mr Vega looked on, nodding approvingly. It was hard to imagine that, just a year ago, their family had been so awkward around each other.

But now, they were beginning to feel like a real family.

A moment later, the Transylvanians were all sitting, dignified and straight-backed, in Horatio’s car, heading off towards the airport. As Ivy finished waving them away, she absently ran her hand through her hair . . . then groaned, as yet more confetti showered down around her shoulders.

Seriously? Where is this stuff even coming from?

That night at the Meat and Greet, the atmosphere was subdued. It had been well over ten minutes since the group arrived, without any waitress appearing to take their orders, but no one at the table had uttered a word of complaint. In fact, they’d barely spoken. As Olivia looked around at the three long faces, she shook her head. ‘I can’t believe my three vampire friends are all watching the sunset with dread in their eyes.’

Ivy’s boyfriend, Brendan, just sighed, his dark hair flopping over his forehead. Her best friend, Sophia, looked miserable even in her usual fashionista glamour, with black rhinestone earrings falling nearly to her shoulders, as she intoned gloomily:

‘It’s the last sunset.’

Olivia frowned at Ivy, who gave back half a death-squint. ‘Don’t you get it?’ Ivy asked. ‘Tomorrow, everything changes.’ She gestured sweepingly, making the bat ring on her left hand glint. ‘Tomorrow, the grass becomes blue and the sky becomes green. Tomorrow, things that always made sense just . . . stop!’

‘She’s right,’ Brendan mumbled. ‘Because tomorrow . . .’

‘We start ninth grade,’ Sophia finished. She looked as if she might be sick. ‘High school.’

‘Oh, come on!’ Olivia tried to smile at everyone. ‘Isn’t it . . . “un-vampire-y” for you guys to be feeling this kind of . . . nervousness?’

Ivy shrugged. ‘Probably. But that doesn’t really matter, does it?’

‘Not any more,’ Sophia said, her head drooping.

Ivy gave a heavy sigh. ‘I’d only just got used to being in the oldest grade at Franklin Grove Middle School. Now I’ll have to get used to being in the youngest at Franklin Grove High!’

‘. . . Which is way out on the border of town,’ Brendan added, his shoulders hunching. ‘AKA – “Next-Door to Nowhere”.’

Sophia wrinkled her nose with disapproval. ‘It’s right next to Lincoln Vale. That means a whole bunch of kids from out of town – who we’ve never even seen before – will be our new classmates.’

Ivy tipped her head on to the table, her long dark hair spilling out around her. ‘I am so not looking forward to it!’

Olivia couldn’t believe it. Ivy might wear black all the time, but her mood is never normally this dark! ‘It won’t be that bad,’ she said. Sitting forward, she tried to make sure her tone was confident. ‘You never know. Maybe you’ll love it!’

‘Oh, yeah?’ Ivy rolled her eyes. ‘Easy for you to say, Miss I-Don’t-Go-To-School-Any-More!’

Olivia blushed, shaking her head as the others joined in the gentle teasing.

‘Hey, life looks pretty good for some of us,’ Brendan grinned. ‘If you don’t even have to go to high school . . .’

‘Private tuition overseas,’ Sophia breathed longingly. ‘In other countries. Starting with England!’

‘It’s just for while I’m away on set, you guys know that.’ Olivia tried to sound casual, but she couldn’t help feeling the excitement – and the panic – bubbling up inside her.

Finally – finally! – she was going to be performing again, playing the lead role in the long-delayed Big Movie Adaptation of Eternal Sunset! Not only was it glamorous, it was going to be the biggest acting challenge of her short career. She’d play immortal vampire identical twins who both fall in love with human – mortal – twin brothers. In the story, the vampire girls would seek out the reincarnated versions of their beloved humans every one hundred years, finding and falling in love with them all over again.

I hope I can pull it off, Olivia thought – not for the first time!

At least she wouldn’t have any problems getting into the right emotional state. She would be acting opposite Jackson Caulfield – world-famous teen idol, fantastic actor . . . and Olivia’s ex-boyfriend. She wasn’t sure that all her feelings for Jackson had totally disappeared since they’d broken up earlier in the summer. Her heart still skipped a beat whenever she saw his face, even on a magazine cover. And Jackson was on the cover of a lot of magazines.

It’s going to be great for my performance, less great for my love life.

Olivia wasn’t sure how she was going to handle any of this.

‘Back with Jackson again,’ Sophia murmured, interrupting Olivia’s thoughts. ‘How cool is it that you get a second bite at the cherry?’

Olivia could feel the heat coming off her blushing cheeks. Can Sophia actually see inside my head now?

‘The “cherry”?’ Ivy snorted with laughter. ‘No, it’s “second bite at the apple”.’

Sophia frowned at Ivy. ‘I’m sure it’s “cherry”,’ she said.

Ivy gave a huff of disbelief. ‘And how many times have you eaten a cherry that takes two bites?’

‘Well . . .’ Sophia shrugged. ‘I have to admit, you may have a point there. But cherries are better fruits anyway.’

Ivy’s mouth dropped open. ‘Are you crazy?’ she gasped, before launching into a full-on rant about cherries, while Sophia was just as vehement on the opposing side.

Olivia traded a glance with Brendan and they both grinned ruefully, settling back to enjoy the show. Only Ivy and Sophia could get into a serious debate about the ‘bite-able qualities’ of cherries versus apples. Once the two of them got started, they were unstoppable.

But soon, Olivia began to tune out their voices. Honestly, she had more than enough to think about right now. Back when she’d first been cast, it had meant everything to her that she was going to star opposite the same Hollywood megastar she had met and fallen in love with right here in her hometown. What she had not realised at the time was that it couldn’t last. When the film industry was hit with a strike, lots of movies were shut down – Eternal Sunset included. At first, Olivia had been relieved – she would have the time to properly prepare for the role, and would not have to up and leave Franklin Grove, and her family, behind.

But the strike also gave her and Jackson time to realise that they could grow apart. And they did.

Olivia had done the Hollywood scene now, and it confirmed for her where she belonged: right here in Franklin Grove. If only Jackson had felt the same. Her mouth twisted as she remembered their final split. As he’d toured around the world, they’d emailed less and less; their text messages had got shorter, the jokes more forced. Eventually, they both had no choice but to admit it wasn’t working any more. The memory wasn’t as painful as it had been but, still, she couldn’t help feeling sad.

I just wish I could know for sure that we made the right decision.

Sophia’s voice broke in with an all-too-painfully-relevant question: ‘So, will you rekindle your romance?’

Olivia’s mouth dropped open. Instinctively, she looked to Ivy for protection . . . but her twin just shrugged at her.

‘We’re just preparing you for the inevitable journalist questions,’ she said. ‘It’s for your own good – think of us as your personal publicists!’

Rolling her eyes, Olivia forced herself to relax. ‘I’ll always be glad to know Jackson,’ she said, and gave Sophia a gracious Hollywood smile.

Ivy gave her a thumbs-up of approval . . . then leapt in for a second prong of attack. ‘Will you know him as more than friends?’

Olivia widened her smile. ‘You can never have too many friends,’ she said sweetly. ‘And isn’t the weather in England lovely? Don’t you just love rain?’

Ivy collapsed into laughter. ‘Good job,’ she said. ‘I like your evasiveness. It’s practice for when you’re being hounded by gossip columns!’

Olivia shook her head. ‘I don’t think that’ll be any time soon. After all, this is my first starring role. I have a long way to go before I’m famous.’

‘Uh-uh.’ Sophia shook her head vigorously. ‘Don’t kid yourself, Olivia. People are already talking about you and Jackson! Everyone loves a beautiful couple, even a beautiful couple who are in splitsville.’

‘Especially a beautiful couple who are in splitsville,’ Ivy agreed. ‘What could be more fascinating? The magazines will all want to know exactly where you two are in your relationship.’

I only wish I knew that myself ! Olivia grimaced. There was so much unfinished business between her and Jackson, she couldn’t even begin to analyse it all. Even the way they’d broken up . . . she still didn’t completely understand what had happened. She’d been even more confused ever since Jackson had starting calling her again lately, sounding wistful as he talked about ‘the old days’.

‘Hey!’ A sharp voice interrupted her musing. It was the waitress, finally arriving. Her name-tag said ‘Joy’ . . . her face said that she hadn’t laughed in at least a year. ‘Are you ready to make your orders yet? Or are you just going to hang around chatting?’

Olivia blinked. Wow. I guess she really isn’t happy.

Sophia smiled calmly. ‘I’ll have a lamb burger with French fries, please.’

‘Oh, yeah?’ Brendan smirked. ‘Well, I will see your lamb burger and fries, and I will raise you . . . a Burgel!’

Joy-the-waitress stared at him.

Brendan raised his hands as if he were accepting applause. ‘Yes, yes, that is a hamburger in a bagel. Traditionally eaten for breakfast, but . . . I’m feeling a little cavalier.’

As Ivy and Sophia chortled, Olivia just blinked. ‘Uh . . .’ She looked around the three grinning faces. ‘What exactly is going on?’

‘It’s a new game we’re playing.’ Ivy dug Brendan in the ribs. ‘We like to call it . . . “raising the steaks”!’

Olivia frowned. ‘Raising the stakes?’

‘You know,’ Sophia said. ‘Meat . . . steaks . . . and . . .’ Twisting her body to hide the movement from the waitress’s eyesight, she crooked her fingers in a ‘fangs’ gesture that definitely meant vampires. ‘The person to order the weirdest, meatiest thing on the menu wins.’

Olivia snickered. ‘Sounds . . . “fun”.’

‘You wanna hurry it along, folks?’ Joy’s face looked as sour as if she’d bitten into a lemon. ‘Or am I going to grow old and die while waiting for one more wonderful pun?’

Ivy scooped up her menu. ‘I will see Brendan’s Burgel and raise him a . . . um . . . er . . .’

Olivia leaned over to scour the menu at the same time as her twin. ‘Wow,’ she breathed. ‘I can’t believe it. The Burgel really is listed!’

‘And it’s the most ridiculous thing on there,’ Ivy moaned. ‘How am I supposed to top that?’

‘Yes!’ Brendan pumped his fist. ‘I win!’

‘Not so fast, Buster.’ Ivy smacked down the menu with a look of triumph. ‘Because I will have . . . a doughger!’

‘A what?’ four voices chorused at once.

Ivy beamed at the whole group. ‘A hamburger,’ she said, ‘inside a doughnut!’

‘Oh, please.’ Joy rolled her eyes even as she wrote the order down. ‘And for you?’ She turned to Olivia, her expression weary. ‘Let me guess. A hamburger in a brownie? Or in an ice-cream cone?’

‘No, thank you.’ Olivia smiled. ‘I’ll just have a chickpea salad.’

Joy blinked rapidly. ‘Could you repeat that order, please? I don’t think I got that.’

Olivia repeated it calmly, while her three vampire friends covered their mouths to keep from laughing. Joy sighed as she turned away. She stopped after a few steps, turning to call back:

‘I forgot to ask. How would you kids like your burgers?’

Olivia shook her head. As if she had to ask.

All three vampires chorused as one: ‘Rare.’

Half an hour later, Olivia set down her spoon and looked around the table.

Ivy was lolling in her seat, clutching her stomach. ‘Why didn’t anybody stop me from eating that doughger?’

Brendan had his arm around Ivy and was grinning as he teased her. ‘We didn’t dare. You and that doughger had a special thing going!’

Sophia was drawing fashion designs on her napkin with a bat-winged fountain pen. Olivia smiled around at all of them and stood, picking up her beaded purse. ‘OK,’ she said, giving a little wave. ‘See ya.’

‘Wait a minute.’ Sophia dropped her pen. She turned from Olivia to Ivy and then back again, shaking her head. ‘That’s it? Olivia Abbott, you are going to be in other countries for quite some time. Is that really all you can say? “See ya”?’

‘Well . . .’ Olivia shrugged, still smiling.

‘It has to be bigger than that!’ Sophia said. ‘Think of Ivy!’

Olivia looked at her twin . . . and they both burst out laughing.

‘Don’t worry,’ Ivy said to Sophia. ‘We worked this out ahead of time. We are so done with the big, sad, sappy goodbyes. We’ve had way too many of them recently.’

‘We don’t need them any more,’ Olivia said, as she and her twin exchanged warm smiles. They had been through a lot this past year – but that had just confirmed exactly how strong their bond was.

‘If there’s one thing we both learned from eighth grade,’ she said, ‘it’s that the two of us drifting apart is pretty much impossible!’

‘That’s right,’ Ivy said. She lifted one hand in a wave. ‘See you later, twin.’

Olivia was still smiling as she stepped out of the Meat and Greet a minute later. As the front door closed behind her, she cast a last look over the familiar shop fronts of Franklin Grove – the town she wouldn’t be seeing for quite a while, just as Sophia had pointed out.

I really wish she hadn’t said that.

Olivia took a deep breath, feeling a sudden heaviness in her chest.

This is good. It’s wonderful. Because of this movie, I’m going to see the world!

But would things be different when she finally made it back?

She couldn’t help it. She looked back over her shoulder . . . and found Ivy looking right at her through the diner window.

Ivy gave a little nod, just as if she had read Olivia’s mind and was letting her know: Everything’s going to be OK.

Olivia felt her shoulders slump in relief. Ivy’s always right about this kind of thing.

With one last smile for her sister, she turned and walked quickly home. She had packing to finish and a movie to make!