05 Take Two - My Sister the Vampire (12 page)

‘I can’t see Olivia,’ Ivy said to Sophia.

Sophia was a few inches taller and stood on her tiptoes to look over the crowd. ‘Maybe we
should try to push our way through to the diner?’

Ivy nodded. She had to find her sister, right away.

Olivia and Camilla were tucked away in a corner of the reception trailer, as far from the chaos of the diner as they could get. Any other time, she would have waited for Jackson with the others but Olivia wanted to get to work memorising her lines in peace.

The lines were from the opening scene and were supposed to make Jackson’s character, Chase, fall in love with Mia. The thought of doing a romantic scene with Jackson made Olivia feel a little shy, but she was just going to have to put all that to one side and be professional.

‘Ready?’ Camilla said.

‘Let’s do it,’ Olivia replied.

She started the scene by reaching for a box of tissues on the windowsill, pretending it was the last half-shell of coconut juice at a Hawaiian buffet. Camilla, playing Jackson’s part, did the same and bumped into her.

Camilla read, ‘Chase looks into Mia’s eyes and what he sees stops him in his tracks.’ She dropped her jaw and slapped her hands on either side of her mouth.

‘Ha, ha,’ Olivia replied, but she stayed in character and kept going with the lines.

‘Chase grabs a coconut from the fruit display in one hand and Mia’s hand in the other and pulls her to the beach,’ read Camilla. She grabbed the tissues and hit the box with a nearby can of drink. ‘Chase tries to smash open the coconut with a rock. “I’m going to open it for you,” he says.’ Camilla said Chase’s lines in a deep, very unconvincing man’s voice.

‘Maybe if you were wearing a grass skirt,’ Olivia/Mia teased.

‘Maybe if I’d just taken that last coconut drink, I wouldn’t be humiliating myself,’ was Camilla/Chase’s reply.

‘I’m glad you didn’t.’ Olivia knew this was supposed to be the really romantic bit where she admits a little that she likes him. ‘Because watching you try to crack that nut is the funniest thing I’ve seen this trip.’

‘So you think that you could do better?’ Camilla/Chase challenged.

The script had Mia take the rock from Chase. Olivia had never opened a coconut before but the script made it pretty clear. ‘You see these three indents here?’ She pointed at two of the letters on the can. ‘The Polynesians say that these three indents are the face of the coconut. These two are the eyes and this is the
mouth. The mouth is the weakest point.’

Olivia pretended to strike the coconut and get it open. Then she was supposed to smile the most beautiful smile Chase has ever seen. To make herself do this just right she thought of the moment when Jackson grabbed her hand before the big announcement about the auditions.

‘You know, you’re really good at this,’ Camilla said, dropping the silly manly voice. ‘When you said those lines, you became this whole new character. It was you, but you were different – and I really believed what you were saying.’

‘Thanks, Camilla.’

‘You should definitely be an actress.’

Olivia was always comfortable entertaining people when she was cheering, and she had to be super-careful about the vampire secret; maybe acting was just another form of all that? And lately, she could find plenty of inspiration for
romance. ‘Maybe today will be my big break,’ she said.

‘But remember that if Philippe is stupid enough to give the part to someone else, it doesn’t mean you aren’t good,’ Camilla countered.

Charlotte Brown stepped into the reception trailer. ‘What are you doing here?’ Charlotte said to Olivia. For once, she was without Katie and Allison.

‘Duh,’ Camilla retorted. ‘Olivia made the callbacks, too.’

Charlotte waved her hand like Camilla was a second-squad cheerleader. ‘It’s just that I’m surprised you’re still here practising.’

‘What do you mean?’ Olivia asked.

‘I thought you’d be with Ivy,’ Charlotte replied. ‘She looked really upset, arguing on the phone with someone.’ Charlotte leaned in and lowered her voice. ‘Looks like Dracula and
Dracu-less are on the out and out.’

Olivia realised with a start that they had forgotten Brendan again this morning. She felt terrible if he and Ivy were fighting, especially because they kept coming to the set for Olivia.
This is my fault
, she thought. She had to find Ivy. ‘Where is she?’

Charlotte shrugged. ‘Brewing up curses in her cauldron?’

‘Charlotte,’ Olivia warned, her face settling into one of Ivy’s death stares. Captain or no captain, if Ivy was upset, there was no time for diplomacy. ‘Where is she?’

‘OK, OK.’ Charlotte tossed her hair. ‘She told the other spook that she was going to the mall to get away from everything.’

Olivia started packing up her stuff, folding the script into her purse. ‘I’ve got to get to the mall.’

‘But what about the audition? The read-through?’
Camilla asked. ‘Can’t you just call her?’

‘This is more important. Ivy and Brendan never fight. It must be huge,’ Olivia said. They were the perfect couple and she wasn’t going to let something come between them. She would help fix it, help explain to Brendan. ‘She’ll need someone with her, not a voice on the phone.’

Ivy came before the audition. Olivia had to go.

Chapter Nine

L
ooking for Olivia among this crowd of Jackson super-fans was like looking for a real vampire on Halloween.

Ivy had figured out eventually that Charlotte had lied about Olivia being in the diner. When Ivy and Sophia managed to force their way in, one of the production crew said all the finalists had left right after the announcement.

One point to Charlotte.

Now, Sophia was off talking to Lillian and resting her feet, while Ivy wandered in circles. It had been almost two hours since she’d found the
‘garlic clause’ as she was now referring to it, and she still hadn’t been able to tell Olivia the truth about Jackson.

Ivy sat down to rest on one of the parking plinths, her legs crossed in front of her.

Ivy’s phone rang from inside her bag. Hoping it was Olivia, she started digging for it, pulling out her key chain, her notebook and the packet of O-Neg flavoured lollipops that Brendan had given her before Christmas. She found her phone on the sixth ring.

‘Thank the darkness!’ Ivy said.

‘I’m so sorry,’ Olivia blurted. ‘It’s all my fault, but we can fix it. I’ll help.’

Ivy was a little confused; she wasn’t
that
upset about not being able to find Olivia. ‘Fix it? There’s nothing to fix. I just need to talk to you.’

‘I know,’ Olivia said. ‘That’s why I’m here –
and there
is
something to fix. You can’t give up so easily.’

‘Give up?’ Ivy was getting really confused.

‘Love is worth fighting for,’ Olivia said.

‘Um, OK,’ Ivy replied. She started to think that maybe Olivia already knew. Maybe Jackson had broken the First Law of the Night and told her. And maybe that meant that Olivia had gotten over it and would be happy with a vampire boyfriend after all.

‘Now tell me where you are,’ Olivia instructed.

‘I’m right in the middle, near the fake palm trees,’ Ivy said.

‘Is that by the pet store?’

‘No,’ Ivy replied, thinking Olivia must be joking. The closest thing to a pet store on set was the make-up trailer where Spencer groomed and fluffed his actors like poodles. Ivy decided to play along. ‘It’s next to the cake shop.’

Olivia didn’t respond for a moment. ‘There’s a cake shop in the mall?’

Now Ivy was completely baffled. ‘The mall?

‘Yes, the mall,’ Olivia said. ‘The mall where you are.’

‘I’m not at the mall,’ Ivy said slowly. ‘I’m on set where
you
are supposed to be.’

‘But –’ Olivia started. ‘But . . . but . . .’

There was a terrible pause as Ivy couldn’t figure out what to say.

Olivia finally broke the silence. ‘You’re not at the mall.’

‘Why in the name of all that is gory would I go to the mall now? And why would you?’

Olivia sighed. ‘Charlotte Brown.’

Olivia explained what Charlotte had told her, and the truth sunk in.

‘It’s true that Brendan might be feeling a little left out, but we didn’t fight,’ Ivy said.
‘I haven’t spoken to him today.’

Two points to Charlotte
, Ivy thought.
Or maybe more like ten.

‘She was just trying to get me off set, so I’d miss the callbacks,’ Olivia said and Ivy could hear her start to get breathless as she hurried through the mall. ‘And it looks like she succeeded!’

Ivy looked down at her spooky pumpkin watch. ‘You’ll never get back in time.’

‘I know!’ Olivia said quietly. She sniffled. ‘It wasn’t just Jackson; it was the part. I really thought I had a chance.’

Grrr
, Ivy thought.
Arg.
She wanted to hang Charlotte up by her fake designer-label boots.
She is so devious!

‘Now there really is something to fix,’ Ivy said, looking around at the film people passing by, to see if there was someone she could tell. ‘We’re not going to let Charlotte win. I’ll go and stall
them.’ She jumped up from the plinth.

‘You couldn’t stall Philippe with an apocalypse,’ Olivia replied. ‘But there is something we could do.’

Olivia’s tone of voice made Ivy brace herself for what was coming.

‘Even though I’m not on set, there happens to be someone who looks just like me there.’

Ivy knew what Olivia meant. ‘You mean switch?’

‘It’s the only way,’ Olivia said. ‘You can be me for the callbacks, at least until I get there. Camilla is still on set; she’s got my copy of the script.’

Ivy gulped. ‘Um . . .’

She knew her sister wanted this role – and that she’d be perfect for it – but learning lines and going in front of the camera on her behalf could be a disaster.
Bigger than Olivia not showing up at all?
she thought. Maybe, if Ivy got the part and got
to spend time with Jackson, she could figure out once and for all whether he was a vampire.

‘Jackson doesn’t know we’re twins, I don’t think. I’ve never told him. And you’ve fooled everyone else before.’ Olivia’s voice got quiet. ‘Please?’

‘OK, I’ll do it.’ Ivy felt a little flush of panic saying it but knew her sister would go to the same lengths for her.

Olivia squealed down the phone and Ivy had to hold it away from her ear. When she put it back, Olivia was saying, ‘OK, go get bunny-fied. I’m leaving right now and will be there as soon as I possibly can. Love you, sis.’

‘Love you, too.’ But Ivy felt like a gravestone was on her shoulders. How was she going to find Camilla, learn lines and pink up in the next half an hour plus impress a highly strung director and teen-dream movie star?

It would take superpowers – ones she didn’t have!

I’ll just have to do my best and not let Olivia down
, Ivy decided.

Ten minutes later, Camilla was barking out lines of perky, romantic dialogue while Ivy smeared off her dark eyeliner with make-up remover. Sophia was outside standing guard. They had decided to sneak into the make-up trailer first because she couldn’t go to get her Mia costume looking Goth-gorgeous or they would never believe she was Olivia.