The other guys all burst into laughter – all except Finn. He just looked away politely as Sophia hurried through the crowd, her shoulders hunched, to reclaim her skateboard from where it lay tipped on one side at the other end of the park.
Ivy cringed as Sophia stood back on the board. This time it didn’t go flying – but it wobbled so badly, she teetered from side to side, forced to wave her arms wildly to keep her balance. Within five seconds, she had fallen right off.
‘This is awful,’ Brendan whispered to Ivy.
Ivy groaned in agreement as she glanced around at the crowd that was gathering – bunnies and goths all coming to watch and enjoy the ‘comedy’. Her teeth ground together with frustration.
I can’t just physically drag her away. That would humiliate her even more!
It took everything she had, though, to hold herself back as she watched Sophia fall again and again. The crowd snorted with laughter every time. Sophia hadn’t wanted their old friends to see her embarrassing herself – but she was doing a good job of letting these new kids laugh at her expense.
Just give up, Ivy begged her friend silently.
At last, Sophia picked up her skateboard. Her face was flushed, but she held her chin high as she carried it by her side, walking away from the skatepark with as much dignity as she could muster.
Ivy let out a sigh of relief as she hurried to join her friend. ‘You did the smart thing,’ she whispered. She started to hold out her arms to give a comforting hug, but Sophia shook her head.
‘Not in front of them,’ she whispered back.
Ivy nodded and shoved her hands into her pockets. As Brendan scooped up Sophia’s backpack, she sought for a way to cheer up her friend. ‘You know,’ she said, ‘you could probably skateboard successfully if you just lost those shades.’
‘No way!’ Sophia’s free hand went protectively to her face. ‘They’re staying.’
Ivy shrugged, sighing. ‘If you say so.’
Vampires had natural super-strength and super-speed . . . but, apparently, they did not always have super-common sense!
Brendan handed Sophia her backpack, and they started walking away from the skatepark, ignoring the laughter of the skaters behind them. As they passed a group of goths lounging nearby, Ivy saw that Amelia Thompson was looking from Finn to Sophia and back . . . and then gave Sophia a hard glare.
‘Goths probably aren’t allowed to skateboard either,’ Ivy muttered, rolling her eyes. ‘Or have any other kind of fun.’ Which did make her wonder – what was Amelia doing in the park at all? Shouldn’t she be moping in a darkened room or something?
Sophia only shrugged . . . but unfortunately, the movement made her backpack gape open and the gingham fabric spilled out.
Amelia’s lips curled. She turned as if to speak to her friends, but her voice was pitched perfectly to reach Sophia and the others. ‘Oh, yeah. Gingham is so cute . . . for a farmer. Don’t you think?’
Her followers all laughed, like good little lackeys. Ivy’s jaw clenched. ‘That’s it,’ she said. ‘I’m going to –’
Sophia grabbed her arm and pulled her forwards. ‘Just forget it, Ivy.’
‘Don’t engage,’ Brendan agreed in a whisper. ‘It’ll only cause more trouble.’
Reluctantly, Ivy gave in. She breathed a sigh of relief the moment they stepped out of the park. At least now, they wouldn’t have anyone watching their every movement any more. Or would they? A curtain twitched across the street. Another twitched nearby. A moment later, a whole group of bunnies came flooding out of the first house, while goth underlings came hurrying from the park.
‘Ivy! I’m having a party on Saturday. Do you want to come?’
‘Hey, Ivy, we’re having a barbecue next week. Will you be there?’
‘Ivy, do you want to come to my house sometime? Just to hang out?’
Hang out? Ivy stared at the girl who’d made the suggestion. I’ve never even seen her before. What would we even talk about?
Sophia’s voice quivered with laughter as she whispered into Ivy’s ear, ‘How does it feel to be Ms Popular?’
Ivy had to bite back a groan of horror. Sophia was right! Somehow, in this crazy town and school, she had actually become popular. This was not supposed to happen!
She looked at the crowd of waiting, expectant faces all around her and resolved to do something about this. She needed help to deal with her new circumstances.
Next time I talk to Olivia, she vowed, I will ask her: how does anyone survive being popular?
Chapter Six
‘Aaaaand cut!’
Olivia’s shoulders slumped with relief as the cameras stopped recording. She could barely breathe. How did real Victorian women wear corsets every day without suffocating?
But wearing corsets all the time still couldn’t have been more annoying for Victorian girls than Olivia’s afternoon had been for her – thirty-seven takes of walking into a room and gasping, followed by twenty-two takes of her looking out of a window ‘wistfully’.
At this rate, I may graduate from college before we finish this film!
‘And with that, we are wrapped tight and cosy for today!’ Jacob Harker bellowed – even though calling an end to the day’s filming should have been Tom the director’s job. ‘Out-race dawn to the set tomorrow, folks.’
I assume he just means ‘bright and early’, Olivia thought as she made her way off the set towards her trailer as quickly as she could. Unfortunately, that wasn’t very quick. Her burgundy silk dress might have been drop-dead gorgeous, but between her fluffy bell-shaped skirt and tight ankle-length petticoat, walking was suddenly a serious challenge.