05 Take Two - My Sister the Vampire (2 page)

‘Like the presents you’re going to bring back for us?’ Ivy said.

‘Like what that Lipsmacker tastes like,’ Mr Vega said to Ivy, making a grab for her cup. ‘Let’s switch.’

They swapped around their smoothies and slurped. Olivia had a hundred questions she wanted to ask her bio-dad about his family and where she and Ivy came from – but for now she was just happy that they were together without any more secrets.

They traded smoothies again so that Ivy could try the Twist and Shout but then got confused about which smoothie was which.

‘At least I’d never get the two of you mixed up,’ Mr Vega said.

Olivia kept a straight face and didn’t look at
her sister.
So maybe there’s one tiny secret he doesn’t know
, Olivia thought. She and Ivy had switched lots of times to fool Mr Vega and everyone else, too. She felt Ivy squeeze her hand under the table.

Olivia noticed the mini-jukebox sitting on the table next to the box of napkins. ‘Ooh, let’s pick a song!’

Mr Vega paled. ‘As long as there is no audience participation.’

She giggled. ‘We’ll be careful.’ She turned the old-fashioned knob to flip through the list of songs that came up on a screen. ‘How about “The Right One”?’ Olivia stopped on the theme tune from the new rom com she’d dragged Ivy to see two days ago.

‘Ugh, I’m so sick of that song,’ Ivy said. ‘And it’s only your favourite movie because you have a crush on Jackson Caulfield.’

‘I do not!’ Olivia tried to stop herself blushing. ‘OK, maybe I do – but we don’t have to talk about that now.’ She didn’t want her bio-dad to think she was boy-crazy. She flicked through the song list in an attempt to change the subject.

‘Wait!’ Mr Vega cried out, making her jump. ‘You passed the perfect song.’ He took over the knob and twisted until it came back to ‘Double Trouble'.

‘I love that one!’ Olivia hummed the tune and tapped her feet.

As the catchy song played out over the speakers, he pulled his straw in and out of the smoothie cup, making a little squeaking noise. ‘Now that I know your favourite movie,’ he said thoughtfully, ‘how about your favourite book?’

Olivia felt silly admitting it in front of her vampire family. ‘I really love the Count Vira vampire books.’

Mr Vega gave a dashing smile. ‘You might be surprised to learn that I have a first-edition signed copy of
Love in the Black of Night
in my library.’

Ivy’s jaw dropped and Olivia squealed.

‘Oh my goodness, you have to show it to me!’ That was the first Count Vira book she had ever read.

‘I promise I will.’ Mr Vega kept squeaking his straw in between sips. ‘How about your favourite subject in school?’

‘I love art class,’ Olivia said.

‘Art? Is that so?’ he replied. ‘You know I –’

Ivy’s phone blasted out the first riffs of the
Phantom of the Opera
musical, interrupting them.

‘Sorry,’ Ivy mouthed as she answered the call. ‘Hey . . . Yeah . . . OK . . .’ From her smile, Olivia could tell Ivy was talking to her boyfriend, Brendan. Whenever she was around him, Ivy’s usual goth grouch turned into adorable goth glee.

While Ivy chatted, Olivia took a moment to study Mr Vega’s face. With his strong jaw and dark eyebrows, he looked like he belonged on the cover of Count Vira’s books.

‘You know, Olivia, I’m an art enthusiast,’ Mr Vega said. ‘I would dearly love to see some of your work.’

Olivia beamed. ‘OK!’

Even though her bio-dad’s style was on the opposite end of the colour spectrum, he had excellent taste. He was even setting up a new exhibit at the Franklin Grove museum.

‘Brendan wants to have lunch at the Meat & Greet later,’ Ivy explained, putting her phone in her bag.

‘Just you two?’ Olivia asked.

‘Everybody. He’s already texted Sophia and Camilla.’

‘What a thoughtful young man,’ Mr Vega said.
‘Do you have a sweetheart, Olivia?’

For the past few months, what with settling into her new home and discovering her new family in Franklin Grove, Olivia hadn’t had a moment to think about romance.

‘Nope,’ Olivia said. ‘I never have had. But seeing Brendan and Ivy together makes me wish I did.’

Ivy smiled her shy little smile. Olivia knew her sister had crushed on Brendan for years but hadn’t spoken a word to him until Olivia accidentally broke the ice during a twin switch.

Mr Vega stopped squeaking the straw. ‘Do you mean . . . Do you want someone
like
Brendan?’

‘Oh, no.’ Olivia could see what he was getting at. He fell in love with her human mother and that made his life totally complicated. ‘I’m looking for a perfectly normal boy – without any, erm, unusual eating habits.’

Mr Vega started squeaking the straw again. ‘I see. Well, I am certain that the perfect someone for you would have to be a very special kind of normal.’

‘I second that,’ Ivy said, bumping her shoulder into Olivia’s.

I’m so lucky to have a new dad and new sister
, thought Olivia.

‘Now, I spotted some chocolate-chip cookies on the menu,’ Mr Vega said, slurping the last bit of his drink noisily. ‘I’ll ask the waitress to bring three over.’ He raised a hand in the air.

‘There aren’t any waitresses,’ Olivia said. ‘You’ll have to go back up to the counter.’

‘Oh.’ Mr Vega looked like he would rather gulp down a garlic smoothie. But he eased himself out of the booth and went to stand back in line.

Ivy and Olivia grinned at each other.

‘He must really want to spend time with me to
risk another sing along,’ Olivia commented.

‘No kidding,’ Ivy agreed, as she watched Mr Vega chatting to the server. ‘He’s the best real dad we could have.’

An hour later, the twins were walking to the Meat & Greet with their friends. It was cold so Olivia had wrapped herself up in her matching pink scarf and gloves set.

‘How was your morning?’ Camilla Edmunson asked.

‘Let’s just say it was pretty . . . musical,’ Olivia answered, smiling at the memory of Mr Vega dancing.

‘My head almost imploded when Olivia wanted to put on “The Right One”,’ Ivy said to Brendan, sticking out her tongue and pretending to strangle herself.

‘I love that song!’ Camilla declared at the same
time as Sophia Hewitt said, ‘Torture!’

Olivia was on one side of Ivy and Brendan, and Camilla was on the other. They started singing ‘The Right One’ as loud as they could, forming a surround sound of chipper elevator music.

‘Nooo,’ Ivy screeched, covering her ears with her woolly black mittens. ‘I’m melting!’

Olivia wasn’t about to stop now. She gave Camilla a wink and the two of them started dancing around Ivy and Brendan, still singing the cheesy lyrics: ‘You’re the right one for me, can’t you seeeeee?’

Sophia removed the lens cap from her camera and snapped a few shots. ‘Ivy, you look like Frosty the Snowman at an ice-carving contest.’

Ivy was wearing an ankle-length mauve jacket with big black buttons down the front and had her eyes shut trying to block out the dancing.

Everyone laughed.

‘It’s safe to come out now, Ivy,’ Brendan teased. ‘The happy people have stopped singing.’

Everyone laughed harder.

‘Enough!’ Ivy cried. ‘We have an evil alert at twenty paces.’ She was looking down the street at three girls walking towards them.

It was Charlotte Brown and two hangers on. Her blonde hair was poking out from under her white fluffy hat. Olivia wasn’t Charlotte’s biggest fan, but they had to cheer together on the squad and so she wanted to avoid any major incident.

Unfortunately
, Olivia thought,
something always happens whenever Ivy and Charlotte are within a mile of each other.

Charlotte stopped and scowled at them until she caught sight of Olivia. She plastered on a big smile. ‘Olivia, darling!’

Olivia smiled at her, Katie and Allison, while Ivy and the rest of the group waited a few feet
away. Charlotte turned her back on everyone else, making Olivia feel even more awkward.

‘We’re going to Mister Smoothie to compare Christmas presents,’ Charlotte said. ‘Come with us.’ Katie and Allison nodded like bobble heads in their matching lavender scarves.

‘Oh, we’ve just left there,’ Olivia explained.

‘They
were at Mister Smoothie?’ Charlotte squinted at Olivia’s friends.

Ivy piped up. ‘We even got a Twist and Shout.’ Ivy began doing a silly version of the dance right there on the sidewalk. Brendan, Sophia and Camilla joined in while Olivia tried not to laugh.

‘Haven’t you moved yet?’ Charlotte snapped at Ivy. ‘I can’t wait to get some normal neighbours.’

Ivy opened her mouth, no doubt with a cutting come-back, but Brendan beat her to it.

‘Good news,’ Brendan replied smoothly. ‘Ivy’s not going to Europe.’

‘Did they refuse to let you in for crimes against fashion?’ Charlotte smirked. Katie and Allison giggled.

‘It turns out I’m needed here,’ Ivy retorted, ‘for a campaign against conformity.’

Charlotte blinked. Olivia could tell she didn’t really understand the insult.
Which is a good thing
, Olivia thought.

‘Whatever,’ Charlotte huffed.

Olivia jumped in. ‘Is that a new bag, Charlotte?’

Charlotte shifted the big, brown, expensive-looking bag on her shoulder. ‘It’s a Kevin Green. My daddy bought it for me in New York.’

‘It’s nice,’ said Olivia, not quite sure if the over-sized leather bag went with Charlotte’s shiny blue puffy jacket.

‘Did you say Kevin Greene?’ Brendan peered closer at the bag. Olivia couldn’t imagine Brendan having an interest in handbag designers.

‘Yes,’ said Charlotte, turning her nose up at having to reply to Brendan.

‘I think your logo is supposed to have an extra “e” on the end of Green.’ Brendan straightened up and put his arm around Ivy.

‘What!’ Charlotte spluttered and Katie and Allison gathered around for a closer look.

Katie’s horrified gasp was all Olivia needed to realise that Charlotte’s bag was a cheap knock off. Charlotte stomped away, her friends scurrying after her. ‘At least I won’t be mistaken for a zombie,’ she called back over her shoulder.

Ivy laughed and gave Brendan a huge hug. ‘That was killer.’

‘Impressive fashion knowledge, Brendan,’ Olivia said. ‘How did you know about the “e”?’

Brendan shrugged. ‘Little sisters have their uses. Bethany’s been educating me on a weekly basis about who is wearing what.’

Sophia waved her camera, her white smile lighting up her dark skin. ‘I got it! The very moment when Charlotte saw for herself.’

‘You devil,’ Ivy said, making Sophia show her on the camera’s little screen.

‘Come on, guys,’ said Brendan, ‘I’m hungry!’

‘Onward to the Meat & Greet!’ said Camilla in her captain-of-the-space-ship voice.

‘Onward!’ everyone responded.

As they walked, they talked about the presents they’d gotten from their family – no one else was lucky enough to get an elusive Kevin Greene, but Olivia loved the pink, sparkly earmuffs her parents had bought her that matched her old scarf and glove set. They were keeping her ears toasty warm in the cold.

‘What did you get Ivy, Brendan?’ Camilla asked.

Brendan and Ivy shared a look.

Ivy explained, ‘He gave me a season ticket to
the movie theatre, a year-long subscription to
Vamp!
magazine and a bus pass.’

Olivia realised that everything Brendan had given Ivy were things that needed a permanent address in Franklin Grove. ‘How romantic!’

‘There isn’t anything romantic about a bus pass,’ Sophia declared.

‘Yes, there is,’ Ivy and Brendan said quietly to each other.

‘Cheese!’ Sophia complained. ‘This registers cheese factor 10!’

Ivy just smiled and Olivia wished for the second time that day that she’d be as lucky in love.

‘I’ve never heard of
Vamp!
magazine,’ Camilla said as they came to the end of the street. Camilla didn’t have any idea about the vampires in Franklin Grove, and it had to stay that way.

‘Oh, we’re almost there!’ Olivia chirped,
changing the subject quickly.

‘And I can’t wait for a ketchup-smothered chunky burger,’ Brendan declared. ‘With fries.’

But as they turned the corner to the diner, Ivy suddenly threw her arms out. ‘
What is that?
’

Olivia couldn’t see anything unusual. The diner had the same piñatas and disco balls hanging from meat hooks in the windows, the same sandwich board outside boasting the best burgers in town. ‘Um . . . it’s the Meat & Greet?’

‘No,’ Ivy said, frowning her forehead into a V. ‘It’s not. Look!’ She pointed to the sign above the door.

Sophia and Brendan gasped. Then, Olivia realised that not only was the restaurant completely empty, the neon sign no longer read ‘Meat & Greet'. It was ‘Meet & Greet’ with two ‘e’s!

‘What is it with “e”s today?’ Brendan asked.

‘What does it mean?’ Ivy said, clearly worried.

This could mean trouble
, Olivia thought. Had it become a regular diner? If it had, where would the vamps eat out now? Or had someone exposed their secret?

Camilla jumped up and down, her blonde curls bouncing. ‘I know! We’ve entered an alternate universe; the aliens who created it have obviously gotten some things wrong.’ Camilla was a huge sci-fi fan.