Toby blushed. “Oh, you know. Nothing, really.”
Olivia widened her eyes and flashed Toby her biggest smile. “That is so exactly what I was hoping you were going to say. Come on!” She linked her arm through his and started leading him toward the editing room.
“B-but—” Toby stammered, his eyes scanning the halls for Ivy.
“No buts!” Olivia said. “You’re just the man I need!”
“I am?” Toby croaked.
“You are.” Olivia confirmed, giving his arm a squeeze. “Camilla and I are making a movie for media studies, and we’ve been looking everywhere for the right guy to play the dashing duke!” As she pushed Toby through the editing suite door, Olivia looked over her shoulder and winked at Ivy, who was lurking in a doorway across the hall. “He was just perfect,” Olivia told her sister later that day. “He’s got a nice voice and he even put on an Italian accent. ‘Edna, bella,’ ” Olivia imitated, clutching her heart, “ ‘I cannot live without you.’ ”
Ivy laughed so hard, black mascara tears streamed down her cheeks. “Olivia,” she gasped, dabbing at them with the sleeve of her black crocheted sweater, “you seriously suck.” Which Olivia knew was like the biggest compliment a vampire could give.
“Don’t I?” Olivia grinned.
“It was like being freed from prison,” Ivy said giddily as the bell rang for the start of science class. “I had the whole lunch period to myself! He did track me down again after English, though.”
“Did you book an appointment with the adoption agency?” Olivia asked hopefully.
Ivy nodded. “I’m going after school.”
There was a flutter in Olivia’s stomach. Maybe today’s the day I’ll finally learn something about my parents, she thought.
As Mr. Strain started writing instructions for the day’s chemistry experiment on the board, Ivy said, “There’s just one thing.” Olivia looked at her expectantly. “I need you to help me lose Toby again.”
Olivia understood right away what her sister had in mind. It seemed like ages since she and Ivy had traded clothes and swapped places, but it was so much fun. A smile spread across her face.
“We’ll switch!” they whispered together, as if on cue—which promptly set them both off in another laughing fit.
“Ladies,” said Mr. Strain sternly from the front of the room. “Is there something humorous about oxygenation?”
“I’m sorry.” Ivy gulped, straining to keep from laughing. “It’s my medication.” Olivia clutched her chair to keep from falling off.
It took half the class before they could say anything to each other without automatically cracking up. Finally, as they were finishing their experiment, Ivy whispered, “Where should we do it?”
“How about the mall?” Olivia suggested.
“Killer idea,” Ivy said. “I’ll head there with Toby in tow right after school. I’ll go the long way.”
“And I’ll take the shortcut,” Olivia said, blown away by how she and Ivy seemed able to read each other’s minds, “and wait for you in the girls’ bathroom in the food court. Once we switch clothes, I can lead Toby around the mall while you go to your appointment.”
“Exactly,” said Ivy. Then added loudly, “Five hundred seventy milliliters.”
“Huh?” said Olivia, confused. Then she noticed Mr. Strain standing right in front of their desk. “Right,” she said, writing the number on their experiment log. “Five hundred seventy milliliters.”
As the teacher walked on to the next desk, Olivia felt Ivy slip something cool and metallic into her hand, and looked down to see that it was a set of keys. “I’ll meet you back at my house after a few hours,” Ivy whispered. “Just walk in, say hello to my dad, and head straight to my room. Don’t come out until I get there. Eventually, Toby will give up and go home.”
Olivia nodded. She’d have to call her mom and tell her that she was studying at someone’s house. She went over the rest of the plan in her mind, and then she started to grin again.
“What is it?” Ivy asked.
“If we’re switching clothes, then you’re going to have to wear this to the adoption agency,” she said, pointing to her pink sparkly top.
The look of complete horror on Ivy’s face was more than Olivia could bear. She burst out laughing again, which set Ivy off, too.
“Ladies!” called Mr. Strain.
Chapter 7
Ivy had bats in her stomach as she strolled through the mall food court. She wasn’t just nervous about her visit to the adoption agency, she was also excited about swapping identities with her sister. Switching was almost like being invisible. Especially this week, when she felt like a bug under a microscope. She couldn’t wait to shed her skin.
She confirmed with a sidelong glance that Toby was still behind her as she headed into the ladies’ room. At least he can’t follow me in here, she thought. Well, he could, but then he’d get arrested.
There was no one in the ladies’ room except an old woman bent close to the mirror, straining to put on pale lipstick with a shaky hand. Where’s Olivia? thought Ivy.
The lady noticed Ivy and gingerly turned around, clutching her purse to her chest. “You’re one of those death children I heard about on The Morning Star!” She gasped.
Ivy put her hands on her hips. “So?”
The lady wagged a bony finger. “The Star of truth will shine!”