Switched (13 page)

The
dark staircase creaked with every step. Olivia thought she heard laughter, then
creatures scurrying in the walls, then the sound of liquid running ominously in
pipes. She was scared of tripping and tumbling down the stairs, but she was
even more scared of placing a hand on the wall to steady herself. What if it
was damp? At last they reached the narrow hallway at the bottom. Olivia trailed
farther and farther behind, terror making Ivy’s boots feel even heavier than
usual. She passed the first mysterious unmarked door. It was huge and made of
dark, brushed metal. It also had a slot to look through so that those inside
could see who was outside wanting to come in. The shutter over the slot was
closed, but Olivia could hear talking and laughing from a crowd inside.

BloodMart!
Olivia thought.
On
the other side of that door
,
vampires are thirstily drinking BLOOD!
She
lurched forward, feeling sick. She put her hands on her knees. Ivy’s black
fishnet stockings crawled like spiders beneath her fingers.

“Will
you come on?” Sophia called from up ahead.

Olivia
thought if she tried to stand up again right now she’d puke.

Sophia’s
footsteps came closer. “Ivy, relax,” she said. “I know you have cold feet about
being head of decorations, but it’s just a meeting. Besides, you’re already
doing a killer job.”

Then
she grabbed Olivia’s hand and dragged her to the door at the end of the hall.

The
vampires were waiting within: Vera, with her startling shock of white hair,
Raymond, with his fiendishly bald head, Anise, as gaunt and hollow eyed as an
ex-lover of Count Vira. The Beasts, looking more bloodthirsty and beastly than
ever.

Melissa,
with her officious manner and disarmingly chunky glasses, offered Olivia some
punch. Olivia declined. “Oatmeal raisin cookie?” Melissa tried. Olivia shook
her head like a zombie.

Now
all the vampires were taking their places around the sacrificial slab of a
table.

“May
the Secret be cloaked in darkness,” Melissa intoned solemnly.

“And
never see light of day,” came the response. Olivia collapsed into her seat.

“Okay,
people,” Melissa began, flipping through her notes. “First item on the agenda
is decorations. Ivy?”

Olivia
couldn’t speak. All the vampires were looking at her with their
contact-lens-covered eyes.

“Ivy?”
Melissa said again.

Sophia
pinched her hard, and Olivia jumped. She reached into Ivy’s black velvet
messenger bag and pulled out her white All Hallows’ Ball— Decorations folder.

The
papers rustled in Olivia’s trembling hand. “Take one and pass them on,” she
whispered.

Olivia
stumbled through her presentation. She’d organized her ideas into two
categories: “Big Things,” which included stuff like the centerpieces—fake
tombstones featuring celebrity vampires’ names, surrounded by bouquets of white
lilies—and “Little Things,” which included random stuff like rubber spiders,
bats, cobwebs, flaming torches, and so on.

Even
through her haze, Olivia could tell that the committee, in its Goth way, was
pleased. Almost against her will, she started feeling better.

Oh,
my gosh,
she
thought nervously,
I might actually make it through this meeting without
losing my mind, being bitten by a vampire, or driving a stake through anyone’s
heart!

She’d
saved the best idea for last: a bunch of old vampire movie posters she’d found
on eBay.

“That
sucks!” Anise declared, and everyone nodded. Olivia smiled in spite of herself.

One of
the Beasts cleared his throat. “I have an idea,” he said, a devilish grin
spreading across his face.

Olivia’s
pulse quickened.

He
held up a long, pale finger. “A decoration that’s cheap and plentiful.”

“Let’s
hear it,” Melissa invited reluctantly.

“Something
better than posters.” The Beast leered at Olivia. “How about we round up a
bunch of dead bunnies from the morgue and line the walls with
them
?”

The
other Beasts burst into laughter.

Olivia’s
stomach churned.

Melissa
seethed. “You guys are disgusting!”

Raymond
balled up his list and chucked it at the boy.

I
have to get out of here!
Olivia
thought. She leaped up from her chair, blurted, “Sorry” to Sophia, and bolted
out of the room.

She
raced down the narrow hallway, its walls closing in around her. On the stairs,
she tripped and skinned her knee, but she just scrambled to her feet and kept
running.

She
burst out through the doors of FoodMart and finally slowed to a stop. She
leaned against the outside of the building, taking deep breaths of fresh air.

A few
seconds later, Olivia heard someone coming up behind her. She spun around,
ready to fight for her life, but it was just Sophia.

“What’s
wrong
with you?” Ivy’s friend asked. Olivia didn’t answer. She was
breathing too hard.

Sophia
shook her head and said, “You’ve been acting strange all afternoon. It’s one
thing for Ivy Vega to be out of her element at social functions, but my best
friend has
never in her life
fled from a room.” She stepped closer and
peered into Olivia’s eyes.

Olivia
looked away.

Sophia
said, “What’s going on?”

“Nothing!”
Olivia gulped.

“What
is
going on?” Sophia repeated more forcefully.

“Everything’s
totally fine!” Olivia squealed hysterically.

Sophia
narrowed her eyes.

I
just said “totally,”
thought
Olivia.

“Did
you just say ‘totally’?” demanded Sophia.

Olivia
sank down on the curb. It was obvious that Sophia knew something weird was
going on. She was going to have to confess. “I’m not Ivy,” she muttered in
defeat.

“What?”
said Sophia.

“I’m
Olivia Abbott.”

Sophia
grabbed Olivia’s arm. “What have you done with my best friend?” she demanded
anxiously.

“Nothing!”
Olivia snapped, twisting out of her grasp. “She’s at cheerleading practice,”
she admitted.

Sophia
was speechless for a moment. Then she sat down beside Olivia on the curb. “I’m
listening,” she said.

It
took a long time to tell the whole story: discovering they were twins,
switching identities, Charlotte Brown, Ivy’s date with Brendan, the ball. In
the middle of it all, Sophia was nice enough to go inside and buy Olivia some
aspirin and a Diet Coke.

After
getting over her initial shock that Ivy had a twin sister, Sophia seemed to
take the news surprisingly well—except that Olivia left the most awkward part
for last.

“And
then yesterday,” Olivia said slowly, “Ivy told me what kind of person she is.”

“What
do you mean?” Sophia asked innocently.

“What
kind of people you
all
are.”

Sophia
looked thoughtful for a second. “Goths?”

“No,
the
really secret
thing,” Olivia said meaningfully.

“Oh!”
Sophia’s eyes opened wide. “She told you
that
?”

“Yup,”
Olivia said guiltily. “I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone. She said we could both
get into big trouble.”

“She
never should have told you,” Sophia said firmly.

“She
didn’t have a choice,” Olivia responded. She shut her eyes and let out a heavy
sigh. “This is all my fault.” She thought she was going to start crying, but
then she felt Sophia’s hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t
worry,” Sophia said quietly. “I won’t tell anyone.”

“Really?”
Olivia said, opening her eyes.

“Really,”
Sophia said sincerely. “Ivy’s my best friend.”

“And
you’re not mad?” Olivia asked.

“A
little,” Sophia admitted with a shrug. “Ivy could have told me she’d found her
long-lost twin sister. I feel like I’ve been missing all the fun. But at least
this explains why Ivy was suddenly so good at party planning!” She peered at
Olivia’s face. “You really had me fooled. I mean, I didn’t notice any
resemblance between you and Ivy at all.”

Olivia
smiled. “That spray-on pale stuff does wonders.”

Sophia
laughed and stood up. “Come on,” she said.

“Where
are we going?” Olivia asked, getting to her feet.

“Cheerleading
practice,” Sophia replied. “If Ivy’s hopping around like a bunny, I need to see
it!”

Ivy
stuck the final move of another cheer, yelled, “Fight!” and thrust her arms in
the air. She could hear Charlotte panting desperately beside her.

The
look on Charlotte’s pink face when Ms. Barnett put Ivy front and center in the
formation—right in the captain’s spot—had been truly unforgettable. It was
enough to plaster a 150-watt smile on Ivy’s face for the rest of practice. She
turned it up.

“Good,
girls!” shouted Ms. Barnett.

Ivy
had been sinking her teeth into every cheer. Olivia would be so proud.

A few
cheerleaders’ boyfriends clapped from the stands. Ivy thought,
I wish
Brendan were here, too.
Then she remembered, with a pang of regret, that he’d
never even know.

“A
Little Birdie!” called Ms. Barnett, and the cheerleaders launched into another
cheer.

Ivy
was raising herself from a split when out of the corner of her eye she saw the
gym doors open. In walked Olivia . . . with Sophia.

Questions
raced through Ivy’s mind.
Did Sophia figure it out? Does anybody else know?
Are we going to have to leave town? What about Brendan? Is Sophia mad?

Ivy
suddenly realized she should be spinning around. She was rushing to catch up to
the other girls when Charlotte Brown crashed into her, hard.

“What
are you
doing?”
Charlotte shrieked as the cheer ground to a halt. “You’re
supposed to be over there! What is your problem?”

“Charlotte!”
yelled Ms. Barnett.

The
Energizer Bunny shut her trap.

“If
you’re going to be on this squad, I expect to see some teamwork!” Ms. Barnett
scolded. “You girls will talk to your fellow cheerleaders with respect!”

“Yes,
Ms. Barnett,” Charlotte said, staring at the floor.

“And
next time, Charlotte”—Ms. Barnett tapped her clipboard—“you’ll try to be more
aware of the other girls.”

Charlotte
looked like her eyes were going to pop out of her head. “But it was her fault!”
she protested, pointing at Ivy.

“I am
not
interested in playing the blame game,” Ms. Barnett said coolly. Then she
raised her eyebrows and scanned the rest of the squad. “I hope you’ve all
learned something today, and not just about handclaps and tumbling. See you at
practice next Friday.” She gave a double clap. Dismissed.

Charlotte
stalked off with a grim look, leaving Ivy to beeline it to the back of the gym.

Sophia
looked angry. “I cannot believe . . .” She stamped her foot.

Ivy’s
heart sank into her stomach.

“. . .
that all I got to see was half a cheer!” Sophia concluded, a grin spreading
across her face. “At least I got some pictures,” she sang.

Ivy
shook her head. “You did not.”

“Oh,
yes, I did,” her friend replied.

Ivy
herded Sophia and Olivia out of the gym and down the hall to the bathroom.

“What
happened?” Ivy said the moment they were safely inside.

“I’m
sorry, Ivy!” Olivia blurted.

Sophia
stepped forward and said, “Olivia’s not the one who should be sorry.”

Olivia
looked from Sophia to Ivy and back again, then disappeared into a stall to
change.

Sophia’s
teasing smirk was gone. “You’re the one who should be sorry,” she told Ivy. She
shook her head, and her bottom lip started to quiver. “Why didn’t you tell me
about Olivia?”

“I
didn’t know how,” Ivy whispered.

“I’m
your
best friend
,
”
said Sophia, her eyes filling with tears. “Did
you think I’d be jealous?”

“No,”
Ivy said, her voice catching in her throat. “I was just waiting for the right
time. And then”—her voice trembled—“once I’d told Olivia everything, I didn’t
think I’d ever be able to tell anyone about her. Even you.”

Sophia
rolled her eyes. “You’re not the only vamp in history to break the First Law,
Ivy.”

“But I
bet I’m the only one in Franklin Grove,” Ivy said sorrowfully.

Sophia
sighed and wiped her cheek. She shook her head. “No, you’re not.” With a deep
breath, she continued, “I told that bunny boy I thought I was in love with two
summers ago.”