Brendan’s eyes widened as his gaze went from her ketchup-smeared face to the ketchup she had sprayed across the table.
It’s OK, Ivy told herself, trying to slow her suddenly rocketing heart-rate. We’ve been together for a long time. He knows this isn’t really me. Right?
As she sat frozen, unable to speak, Brendan’s lips twitched. Then he began to laugh.
‘Uh . . . you want one of these, maybe?’ Still laughing, he handed her a paper napkin from the dispenser on the table. ‘You look just like a movie vampire!’
Rolling her eyes, Ivy snatched the napkin from his hands and hastily wiped off her face. ‘Movie vampire, huh?’ She gave him a mock-snarl.
Brendan recoiled, his laughter dying. ‘Whoa.’ His voice dropped to a concerned whisper. ‘Your teeth really need filing.’
‘I know, I know.’ Ivy winced. ‘I’m going to the dentist soon, I promise. But first, you need to sit down fast.’
‘Really?’ He looked around the nearly-empty table, shaking his head. ‘Have you been saving all the seats just for me?’
‘Doofus.’ She groaned, trying to ignore the ripple of excitement and gossip that passed around the room as Brendan sat down beside her.
It was impossible to ignore the squeals that rose from the very next table, though. ‘O.M.G.!’ one girl gasped. ‘Do you think Ivy has a boyfriend ?’
‘I can’t take this much longer,’ Ivy muttered under her breath. ‘I’m not cut out for popularity! I feel like I have to perform, or something – and I am not the actress in the family.’
Brendan rubbed her back in warm, comforting circles. ‘I know.’
‘Ooh,’ another girl at the next table sighed. ‘They look serious .’
Ivy winced. ‘Do you think it’ll ever get better?’ She eased into his touch, starting to relax. ‘Once people get used to me, they’ll see I’m not so special, and everything will calm down . . . right?’
Brendan shrugged. ‘Maybe I’m not the person to ask.’ His dark hair flopped over his eyes as he leaned towards her, smiling. ‘From the moment I realised you were the coolest girl in the world, I’ve been realising it every day, over and over again.’
Ivy tried to fight it, but she couldn’t stop a grin invading her face. ‘You big sap!’
Then she bit back a curse as she realised her mistake. How could she have been so dumb? She’d smiled. And smiling made her look friendly.
Big, big mistake!
It was too late to take it back. Goth-girls from her grade were suddenly swarming the table, beaming at her hopefully.
Don’t panic, Ivy told herself. There are only four of them. But that didn’t lessen the feeling of an attack as they all swooped at once, filling every empty chair. See, this is why smiling is stupid, she lectured herself. It lands you in uncomfortable situations!
‘So . . . how exactly do you two know each other?’ the first goth-girl drawled. ‘Hmm?’
The other three leaned in to listen, setting their chins on their hands and staring at Brendan with open curiosity.
‘You can tell us,’ the second girl purred. ‘Is it serious?’
‘Ivy deserves the best, you know,’ the third girl said pointedly.
Ivy stiffened with outrage even as Brendan gave a tiny, meaningful shake of his head, telling her without words not to worry about it.
I am not going to sit here and let him be insulted! Ivy opened her mouth to tell the other girls exactly how important Brendan was to her . . .
. . . then stopped herself with a jerk. Wait a minute. The last thing I need to do is to make romantic declarations ‘cool’!
She was still trying to figure out how to respond when she heard a familiar voice behind her. ‘Uhm . . . ?’
Oh, no. Ivy looked up, and her stomach did a backflip. It was Olivia, tray in hand, standing behind her . . . and looking at the completely-full table, without a single space available.
‘Olivia . . .’ Ivy began. She twisted around, looking for another chair to pull up to the table.
‘I don’t think there’s any space left,’ the first goth-girl said coolly.
‘Yeah,’ said the third goth-girl. ‘What a pity .’
Just explain it to them simply – this doesn’t have to be anything dramatic. Ivy gritted her teeth, starting a count to ten in her head . . .
Only to find Olivia backing away from her.
‘Don’t worry about it.’ Olivia gave her a bright, tight smile. To anyone but Ivy, she would have looked completely unbothered . . . but Ivy knew her twin. ‘I’ll catch up with you later,’ Olivia said breezily.
Ivy shook her head, glimpsing the hurt hidden behind Olivia’s expression. ‘But –’
It was too late. Olivia had already spun around and hurried away, her pink shoes clicking against the cafeteria floor. A moment later, she’d disappeared into the crowd of strangers, by herself.
Ripples of reaction ran through the cafeteria, and Ivy’s vampire ears forced every whisper on her.
‘Did you see that? Even her own twin isn’t cool enough to sit with her!’
‘Of course not.’ Someone let out a snort of disgust. ‘Just look at all that pink!’
Fury tightened every muscle in Ivy’s body. Under the table, Brendan took her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. He was the only person who could know exactly what she’d just heard . . . and how hard it was for her not to react.
Ivy squeezed his hand back, grateful for his support . . . but it wasn’t enough. This can never happen again. OK, she couldn’t find Olivia a place at her table this lunch hour, but she could do her best to fix things.