Turning away, Ivy sighed, her own smile slipping away. It was great to see Penny so happy, but it didn’t solve any of Ivy’s own problems – like the question of the mysterious New Girl. ‘I’m not hungry,’ she told Sophia. ‘I’ll just skip lunch today.’
‘Are you serious?’ Frowning, Sophia leaned forwards. ‘You’ve got a “preoccupied” look on your face. Is everything OK?’
‘Well . . .’ Ivy shrugged helplessly, not knowing where to begin.
‘Hmm.’ Sophia tapped one crimson-polished nail thoughtfully on the table. ‘I saw Brendan walking over to the science building just now, and he was wearing the exact same look. Is everything OK between you two?’
Ivy’s breath shortened.
The science building was in exactly the opposite direction from the library where Brendan had claimed he was going to be doing his ‘epic history homework’.
‘I thought it was,’ she said slowly. ‘But now . . . I’m not so sure.’
There could be a totally reasonable explanation, Ivy told herself. But her heartbeat was suddenly thudding in her ears as she pulled her phone back out to type a new message.
Hey, did you get lost trying to find the library?
Her fingers trembled as she sent the message. Let’s hope the smiley face hides the fact I’m kind of freaking out!
She couldn’t stop drumming her fingers on the table as she waited for a reply. Five minutes later, she was still waiting. It never usually took Brendan more than two minutes to respond to a text.
That’s it.
She shoved herself up from the table. ‘Gotta go,’ she blurted to Sophia.
Ignoring Sophia’s worried questions, she almost ran across the cafeteria and through the outer doors. Outside, the sun was shining brightly and students were sprawled across the steps and the field – it was a kind of perfect day, but Ivy barely noticed. She was too busy scanning with her eyes and training her sensitive vampire ears. It only took a moment for her to pick out Brendan’s voice from the crowd.
‘You have to stop coming here!’
Definitely Brendan . . . and he sounded almost as freaked-out as Ivy felt. From the sound of his voice, he had to be under the fire escape by the rear of the school, behind the Administration building. Flattening herself against the wall, she placed her palms against the brick as she walk-crawled to the edge of the building.
Halfway along, she passed a window, and a flicker of movement caught her eye. Peering through the glass, she found herself looking in on Olivia’s meeting with Ms Milligan. Both of them stared back at her open-mouthed.
Ivy just shrugged. There was no way to explain this! She moved on, walk-crawling to the corner.
By now, Brendan was sounding more upset than ever on the other side of the building. ‘You’re going to cause trouble if you keep doing this – a lot of trouble.’
Ivy hesitated at the corner. Did she dare peek around? Or would she be seen? Before she could make up her mind, she heard a girl’s voice.
‘Do you hate me now?’
Brendan sighed. ‘Of course I don’t.’ His voice softened, and Ivy’s hands clenched as she listened. ‘I could never hate you. You know that. But this . . . is just not the right thing to do.’
What? Ivy wanted to scream. What isn’t right? What aren’t you telling me, Brendan?
Abruptly, his footsteps moved towards her. ‘I’ve got to go,’ he muttered.
Ivy dived behind a trash can. From her hiding place, she watched her boyfriend walk, head down, across the school grounds. He still hadn’t even touched the cellphone in his pocket, where her message was sitting, totally ignored.
Edging around the corner, Ivy risked one quick look . . . and saw exactly what she’d feared.
Maya stood directly under the fire escape, looking ready to cry.
Ivy lurched back, shrinking behind the trash can until she was completely hidden. Her legs gave out underneath her, and she found herself crumpling to the ground, her stomach churning as if she’d guzzled a week-old garlic smoothie!
She took a deep breath, trying to fight down the nausea that wanted to overcome her. So this is what real dread and panic feels like. She’d never felt them before when it came to Brendan . . . because she’d always, always been able to trust him.
Until now.
Chapter Four
‘There’s no other explanation,’ Ivy insisted.
Olivia had seen Ivy make some serious faces before – death-squints aimed at Garrick Stephens, for example – but nothing quite like her expression now. Ivy looked brittle enough to snap at the wrong word or even the gentlest touch.
Ivy ticked off the points on her fingers. ‘Brendan’s been acting weird, he’s been keeping secrets and now he’s sneaking around meeting some student-who-isn’t-really-a-student. What reasonable explanation could there be?’
Olivia glanced helplessly at Sophia beside her. Their school bus was due to leave at any moment, but the three of them were still huddled in the sheltered spot in the school courtyard where Ivy had dragged them immediately after their last class finished. Sophia looked as disturbed as Olivia felt, but she only shrugged hopelessly.
It was up to Olivia to make an attempt.
‘Well,’ she began, ‘it’s true that what’s going on doesn’t make any sense, but . . . there’s just no way that Brendan would be . . .’ She broke off. ‘I can’t even say it – that’s how ridiculous the whole idea is!’
‘She’s right.’ Sophia moved closer to Ivy, her expression brightening. ‘Boys can be stupid sometimes, but not that stupid. Imagine the death-squint you’d give him!’