Do we? Olivia stared warily at Jackson, who closed his eyes and groaned, ‘Oh no . . .’
Harker stepped back and gestured grandly at the big speakers set along the deck. A moment later, 1950s pop music blasted out from the speakers.
Silently, Olivia echoed Jackson’s groan.
Just what this awkward afternoon needs – dancing!
Argh. Ivy groaned silently as she tipped her head against the window beside her seat on the bus as it stopped at yet another red light. I’m on a bus going nowhere!
She was very eager to get to the Lincoln Vale Mall – and was seriously worried about what she might find when she got there. She had gone to Sophia’s house that afternoon to have a serious talk with her friend. Unfortunately, she’d been too late – and as soon as Sophia’s mom had told her where her friend had gone, Ivy had been filled with panic.
If Sophia actually wanted to go shopping, Ivy had reasoned, she would have gone to the Franklin Grove Mall.
Was she hoping to run into Finn the skater-boy? Wasn’t that what some people called ‘stalking’?
Ivy had to stop her before she went too far.
Finally, the bus lurched back into movement.
When it pulled up in front of the Lincoln Grove Mall, Ivy jumped off with a moan of impatience. She hurtled through the front doors with only one goal. Mission: Rescue Sophia – From Herself !
But as she hurried down the long galleries of the mall, her eyes widened. As malls went, it was actually the coolest one she’d ever seen. One side was dominated by goth and alternative clothing outlets, the other with accessories stores. Pall Bearers CDs filled the display cases of the music stores. And right up there, in front of her . . .
Oh my darkness. Ivy’s feet slowed to a stop as she stared at the mall’s comic-book store, the frontage rising up and up over the central fountain. She had to tip her head all the way back to see the very top floor with its glass-fronted display. That store is bigger than my whole house!
She had to force her mouth shut before she could start moving again. No time to stop! she told herself firmly.
Still, she slid longing glances back at it as she walked away. I will definitely bring Brendan here another time . . . when I’m not looking for my crazy best friend!
Ivy turned a corner to find a bunch of middle-schoolers soaring down the polished gallery floor right towards her on their skateboards. She leapt aside just in time to avoid a messy crash.
One of the younger skateboarders craned his neck backwards as he skated past. ‘Are you OK?’
Ivy sighed. ‘I’m fine.’
The truth was, she could have leapt all the way across the gallery if she’d wanted to. Instead, she’d forced herself to use only half her strength and landed just far enough away for safety. She couldn’t break the First Law of the Night by letting outsiders see her vampire super-strength at work.
But up ahead of her, she saw a vampire who didn’t seem to remember anything about the Laws of the Night – or who she really was – any more. Sophia – who looked like she had been caught in explosion at a gingham factory – stood in the middle of a line of skater-girls that snaked down the long gallery. What are they in line for?
Scowling, Ivy marched right up to her friend and tapped her on the shoulder.
Sophia gasped, her arms flying up to cover her gingham shirt.
Ivy rolled her eyes. ‘Your arms are in the sleeves of your shirt, Sophia. You can’t hide gingham by covering it up with gingham sleeves!’
Sophia looked at the floor. ‘What are you even doing here?’
‘Your mom told me where I could find you.’ Ivy crossed her arms. ‘But she didn’t tell me why you’d come here in the first place.’
Sophia shrugged, lifting her chin defiantly.
‘There’s a special offer.’
‘On what?’
Her friend didn’t answer, so Ivy leaned out from the line of girls, craning her neck to see. The line ended in a hair salon, and the poster in front showed . . .
Ivy’s mouth dropped open. ‘You wouldn’t!’
A short-haired, blonde girl smiled out from the poster. Her hairstyle was the same as worn by everyone in the flock of skater-girls from the park the other day – the ones who’d applauded Finn’s ‘bodacious cabs’ as if their lives depended on it.
Half-Price Cut-and-Dye Today! read the banner at the bottom of the poster.
Ivy turned to stare at her friend. ‘You cannot be serious.’
‘Why not?’ Sophia asked. She crossed her arms stubbornly. ‘Are you turning into Amelia now, Ivy? Telling other goths what to wear?’
Ivy gasped. ‘I am not like Amelia!’
‘No?’ From behind her sunglasses, Sophia raised an accusatory eyebrow.
Taking a deep breath, Ivy forced herself to imagine her friend with short, blonde, pixie-style hair. But her brain simply refused to form the image.
‘Look,’ Ivy said. She fought to keep her voice soft and reasonable. ‘At the risk of sounding like Charlotte Brown, have you actually stopped to think how this is going to look?’
Sophia’s chin jutted out. ‘I’ll pull it off.’
Where was the vamp-fashionista Ivy had known her whole life? Taking a deep breath, she stepped closer. ‘What will your parents say when you get home and reveal this new-look? They’ll totally freak out.’
Sophia’s jaw clenched, but she didn’t back down. ‘It’ll be worth it.’
Ivy shook her head. Lowering her voice to a whisper, she hissed: ‘You can’t say that Finn is worth this much trouble and effort. You’ve known him for one week, and the most you’ve talked to him is when you fell down in front of him.’