Читать книгу Flipping Out! - Sienna Mercer - Страница 7

‘You must be like water . . . running water . . .’

Ivy Vega clamped one hand over her mouth to hold back a snicker. I can’t let myself laugh, she told herself. It’s not fair!

Mr Abbott was sleeping in the front seat of the Vegas’ car after a red-eye flight from London. Unfortunately, he was having a deep conversation with a martial arts student – in his sleep.

‘Flowww,’ he mumbled. His chin sagged over his bright orange ‘I London’ T-shirt, muffling his words. ‘. . . like a waaaterfall . . .’

‘If there was a prize for Most Jet-Lagged Man in the World,’ Ivy whispered to her twin, ‘he would have to win!’

Olivia Abbott stifled a giggle, her blue eyes bright. ‘No competition!’ she whispered back. ‘Do you think we should we call the Guinness Book of World Records ?’

‘Well . . .’ Ivy eyed the London Eye ferris wheel pictured on Olivia’s babydoll T-shirt and grinned. With a quick side-glance at their bio-dad in the driving seat of the car, she lowered her voice. ‘Maybe I should call a few gossip magazines first!’

Olivia rolled her eyes. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘Ahem?’ Letting a grin spread across her face, Ivy pointed to the heart that had been drawn in pink ink around one of the pods on the ferris wheel on Olivia’s shirt. ‘Does that or does that not say JC + OA ?’

Olivia’s cheeks flushed pink. Still, her lips curved into a tiny smile. ‘So?’

‘So-o-o . . .’ Ivy drawled, and nudged her twin. ‘I’m guessing that someone had a romantic moment with her boyfriend on the London Eye. And since that boyfriend just happens to be a major movie star, I’m betting the magazines would be fascinated to hear that.’

‘Oh, shush, you!’ Olivia batted at Ivy’s shoulder, but she couldn’t hide her smile.

Ivy batted right back at her, laughing with delight.

Olivia’s tourist T-shirt was one more reminder of just how far away she had been – but now that she was home, everything finally felt right again to Ivy. From the grin on Olivia’s face – and the heart she’d drawn on her T-shirt! – it looked like everything was going right for Olivia, too.

Ivy’s sister gave an impatient bounce as she turned to look at her adoptive parents, who were snoring loudly in the backseat. ‘I can’t believe they’re both sleeping. I have never felt so awake!’

Ivy rolled her eyes. ‘Tell me about it. You’ve been fidgeting ever since you got here!’ But her smile was affectionate as she gazed at her twin.

The Abbotts had flown to London a week ago so that Olivia could film scenes for the upcoming Hollywood film Eternal Sunset. Now Olivia should have been crashing, after being up all night on the plane ride home. But between the hectic filming schedule she had just gone through, her crazy levels of jet lag, and her giddy happiness over her reunion with Jackson, she was acting exactly like a bumble bee that had rolled in sugar. Ivy had never seen her twin so hyper.

‘Ooh! I almost forgot!’ Olivia let out a squeak of excitement, diving down to grab the bag from between her glittering pink tennis shoes. ‘I have gifts ! I got you guys so many souvenirs.’

‘Just wait!’ Laughing, Ivy put one hand on her twin’s arm. ‘It’s too cramped in here for gift-giving. Plus, Dad’s busy driving, and your parents are out like lights. Why don’t you hand them out when we get home to Undertaker Hill?’

‘You’re right. Of course you’re right.’ Nodding firmly, Olivia gave another little bounce. ‘We should build suspense. That way, we’ll all enjoy the pay-off even more when it comes!’

‘Is this movie-talk?’ Ivy raised her eyebrows, thinking of Olivia’s cinema-obsessed best friend Camilla. ‘I think you’re the first of us to get fluent in Camilla-ese!’

Before Olivia could reply, her adoptive father lurched forwards in his seat.

Still asleep, he bellowed, ‘Forget shape and structure! They have no meaning he-ahhhhhzzz . . .’

His last word was swallowed by an enormous snore as his head fell back against the seat.

Ivy and Olivia both had to cover their mouths to hold back their giggles. Even Charles Vega, in the front of the car, looked as if he was choking back a laugh.

‘Welcome home,’ Ivy whispered to her sister, giving her a hug.

Back at Ivy’s house, her dad and stepmom, Lillian, laid out a light breakfast for the returning trio. Even cereal and toast didn’t seem to be enough to fight the jet lag, though. Mrs Abbott had to excuse herself to go upstairs after less than five minutes.

‘I need to splash some water on my face,’ she said. ‘Maybe that’ll wake me up.’

‘Of course,’ Lillian said. ‘Please make yourself at home.’ As Mrs Abbott walked out of the room, Lillian turned to Olivia and Mr Abbott. ‘Won’t you two tell me about your flight?’

‘Well . . .’ Olivia began. Then she stopped, as Mr Abbott’s head suddenly lolled forwards.

Ivy gasped as he began to fall face first into his cereal bowl . . .

. . . Only to catch himself just in time. He jerked back as he grunted awake, sending his silver spoon flying through the air, too high and fast for any human to catch.

But none of the Vegas were human.

Charles Vega’s hand flashed up with vampire speed and snatched the spoon from mid-air.

Uh-oh. Ivy stared at her father. That was a mistake. A real human couldn’t have done that!

Next to Charles, Lillian was visibly wincing, while Olivia looked just as alarmed as Ivy felt. Talk about a vampire giveaway! Even Charles seemed to realise his mistake. He gave the spoon in his hand a stern glance, looking as annoyed as if he’d found a shoe in his closet that wasn’t perfectly polished.

Luckily, Mr Abbott was clearly too zonked to have noticed. There’s one advantage of jet lag, Ivy thought ruefully. It keeps you from noticing the vampires all around you!

‘Whew.’ Mrs Abbott walked back into the room, her face still pink and damp-looking. ‘I can’t believe how tired I am.’

‘I can imagine.’ Lillian Vega smiled sympathetically. ‘I’ve been on enough red-eye flights for my own movie jobs. I know exactly how difficult jet lag can be.’

‘Do you know, I’m so exhausted, I’m actually having hallucinations.’ Mrs Abbott collapsed back on to her stool at the breakfast bar, rubbing her eyes. ‘As I was walking past Ivy’s room, I could have sworn I saw a coffin inside!’

Oops. I must have forgotten to close my bedroom door. ‘Ha! Ha.’ Ivy almost choked on her forced laughter. ‘Just imagine! A coffin in a bedroom. Isn’t that funny?’

But she cringed at the look her father gave her. This one was the look he had when something really serious went wrong, like a stain on one of his silk shirts.

‘What were you thinking?’ Olivia hissed into her ear. ‘You know you need to keep your door locked when you have “bunny-company” around the house!’

‘Did you just say something about bunnies, sweetheart?’ Mrs Abbott frowned at Olivia as she picked up her last piece of toast. ‘Or was I imagining that, too?’

Olivia’s cheeks flushed. ‘Umm . . .’

Her adoptive mother stared at her. ‘Why would you be talking to Ivy about rabbits?’

Lillian leaned forwards, gracious as always, to rescue the situation. ‘You must tell me,’ she said to Mrs Abbott, ‘what did you think of London’s sights?’

‘Oh, London . . .’ Mrs Abbott gave a sigh of delight. ‘It was amazing. The culture! The architecture! The –’

‘I’ll just clear up,’ Ivy mumbled, as she felt her dad’s disapproving gaze lingering on her.

‘I’ll help.’ Olivia bounced to her feet. ‘I can’t sit still anyway!’

‘Thanks.’ As Ivy started gathering up plates, she gave her dad an apologetic look. ‘Sorry,’ she said in a low voice, aiming her words at both him and Olivia. ‘It’s been such a crazy time, I’m just a little absent-minded right now.’

Olivia’s adoptive parents might be wonderful people, but they were still bunnies – humans who weren’t in on the vampire secret – and they could never be allowed to find out. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t have forgotten to close the door of her bedroom.

Ivy had just started high school, though . . . and the circumstances were anything but ‘normal’.

Olivia’s energy seemed to dim a bit for the first time since she’d arrived. ‘Is high school really as tough as you said in our Lonely Echo chats?’

‘Just wait until tomorrow,’ Ivy told her, as Charles joined in with the others’ conversation. ‘You’ll see for yourself. And wait until the homework starts rolling in – you’ll need to learn how to write while wearing gloves!’

Olivia blinked, then shook her head. ‘OK, it can’t just be jet lag. That comment made no sense at all.’

‘Trust me.’ Ivy leaned close to whisper in her twin’s ear. ‘Even my RHP’ – Rapid Healing Process – ‘struggles to keep up with all the paper-cuts I’m getting from the mountains of essays.’

‘Ouch.’ Olivia sighed as she picked up the last of the plates. ‘Well, I’m still not dreading the new school . . . but I really wish I could take a day off to recover after all my travelling.’

‘What?!’ Charles and Mrs Abbott both broke off at once to turn on Olivia.

‘You cannot afford to miss any more schooling,’ they both declared.

Poor Olivia, Ivy thought. She had to force herself to hold back a smile at the look on her twin’s face. That’s the real downside of having four parents. Even more people to lecture you.

The voices woke Mr Abbott at last. He let out a grunt like a startled bear. ‘Uhh! Sorry. Sorry.’ Yawning, he stumbled to his feet. ‘I don’t quite seem to be able to fight this jet lag. It’s like a mysterious opponent that hides in shadows and cannot be overcome by force.’

‘We noticed,’ said Mrs Abbott. Sighing, she traded a meaningful look with Lillian.

‘Well, then, if no one minds . . .’ Mr Abbott stepped back from the breakfast bar, stretching out his arms in a warming-up pose. ‘I’ll just stand up and do some “forms”. That will definitely keep me awake.’

It’ll keep all of us awake, Ivy thought. She looked down, biting her lip to keep from laughing. Ouch! Her lip stung. It’s definitely time to get my fangs filed. She’d skipped an appointment at the vampire dentist so that she could be here this morning, but she hadn’t rescheduled yet. I can’t forget to do that! The First Law of the Night demanded that vampires kept their existence secret – so every vampire had to get their teeth regularly filed to keep them at a normal, human length.

But how could Ivy think about practicalities when there was a middle-aged man doing kung-fu mimes in her kitchen? Every sensible plan in her head fizzled away as she gaped at the sight before her. What on earth could that move be? she wondered. Man fumbling for a light switch? Man tearing down cobwebs, maybe?

Even Lillian, who was always perfectly poised in social situations, looked bemused.

Olivia broke the awkward silence. ‘Time for presents!’ She dived under the breakfast bar to grab her bag, hitting her head against the bottom of the counter.

‘Look out!’ Ivy reached down to help her twin up. Jet lag finally seemed to have hit Olivia, who was starting to weave slightly from side to side. ‘I’m sure it can wait just a little –’

‘Absolutely not!’ Olivia emerged with the sequinned purple bag, looking tousled but pleased with herself. ‘I don’t want to keep you guys in suspense any longer. A pay-off is only good if the audience still wants it, you know!’

‘I really will have to learn Camilla-ese now that you’re in the movie business, won’t I?’ Ivy gave a mock-sigh, shaking her head. ‘Can I buy a phrase book somewhere, at least?’

‘Oh, you’ll pick it up as we go,’ Olivia said breezily. Fumbling slightly, she put the bag on the table and opened it up to rummage through the chaos inside. ‘And for you, Ivy, from London . . . ta-da!’

Ivy blinked in disbelief. Is that a teddy bear?

It was. It was a small stuffed bear in a red raincoat and blue felt hat. Olivia beamed as she held it out. ‘To keep you company in your coff– . . . erm, bed!’

‘Uh, thanks.’ Eyebrows raised, Ivy accepted the bear. She must have been really Jackson-giddy when she bought these souvenirs. At least I should be grateful it isn’t pink!