Talk about suspicious! Ivy gritted her teeth as she washed her own black-and-red-covered hands in double-quick time.
It’s time to practise my investigative reporter skills – on my own boyfriend!
She aimed for the door like a loaded missile heading for its target. Unfortunately, someone hopped in front of her before she could even move three steps.
‘Ivy! Hey, Ivy. Hi! I just wanted to introduce myself!’ The perky blonde bunny girl who blocked her way grinned hopefully, bouncing on the toes of her pink tennis shoes. ‘I’m Marcia!’
‘Um . . . hi, Marcia. Nice to meet you, too,’ Ivy fibbed. She had seen this bunny girl plenty of times before, but this was definitely not the time she would have chosen for official introductions! She shifted to the left, shaking her head. ‘Sorry, but I’m –’
‘Oh, I won’t keep you,’ Marcia said brightly, even as she sidestepped to stay in front of Ivy. ‘But I thought it was definitely time that we met for real, right? Before next week?’
‘Uh . . .’ Ivy shrugged helplessly. ‘I guess? But the thing is, right now I’m –’
‘You’re Ivy Vega, right? And I’m Marcia Vincent. So . . .’ Marcia flung out her hands, beaming. ‘It’s fate! Because we’re definitely going to be paired up for next week’s assignments, right? Vega, Vincent – Vincent, Vega!’
‘Great.’ Ivy forced a smile. Brendan was getting away! All she could see of him now was the back of his head disappearing into the crowd. She tried a quick sidestep in the other direction, only to have Marcia jump in front of her like a football player making a block.
Is there any way past this girl?
‘Marcia . . .’
Marcia grabbed her hand. ‘Oh, I’ll let you go,’ she said. ‘But I just want to shake hands first with my . . . new . . . partner!’ She squealed the last word so high that Ivy’s eardrums hurt.
Ow! Sometimes it really did not help to have sensitive vampire hearing.
Ivy’s smile was definitely wavering by the time Marcia finished her enthusiastic handshake. The moment Marcia let her go, she lunged for the door . . . only to feel her nose twitch at an odd, pungent scent as she escaped into the hallway. Where is that coming from?
Her gaze landed on her own right hand, which was stained with some kind of chemical goo. Thanks a lot, Marcia!
Apparently, Brendan wasn’t the only one who hadn’t bothered to wash his hands at the end of their Chemistry lesson. To make it even worse, not only was Marcia’s goo foul and sticky, but it was also utterly, inescapably pink.
Bright pink.
Aaagh! Ivy let out a silent scream as she stared at the bubblegum-pink mess on her hand. No way can I walk around like this, she realised. The colour would make me sick even if no one else noticed it!
Growling, she veered off towards the closest girls’ bathroom. Thank darkness, at least no bunnies were there to waylay her this time. As soon as her hands were clean, she hurried back out, stuffing her hands safely in the pockets of her black cargo pants.
Unfortunately, having both hands buried in her pockets made her elbows jut out dangerously from her side . . . which made the crowded hallway into an obstacle course. Or a really sucky pinball game, Ivy thought, as a senior football player bumped into her and immediately bounced off, knocked aside by her vampire strength to fall against the closest wall of lockers.
‘Hey!’ he yelled.
‘Watch where you’re going!’ Another senior glared at her, rubbing his arm where he’d walked straight into her other elbow.
‘Sorry,’ Ivy mumbled. But she didn’t have time to slow down. She shoved the front door open with her foot, training her vampire ears.
Brendan’s voice came from the bus stop. ‘Look, we need to be careful,’ he was muttering to someone. ‘If anyone sees us together . . .’
“Us”? Ivy’s heartbeat pulsed hard against her skin as she started towards the bus stop. She couldn’t see Brendan yet, or hear any response from whoever he was talking to. Is he having another secret call on his cellphone?
Then Brendan said, ‘Come on. Don’t look at me like that.’
Aha! Ivy sped up until she was almost running. Mystery Person is right there with him!
She hurtled through the school gates and raced towards the bus stop . . .
Only to find Brendan standing by himself, his shoulders hunched, staring into space.
Panting, Ivy slowed down. ‘Are you OK?’
His head jerked up as he seemed to notice her for the first time. ‘Yeah! Of course . . . Why wouldn’t I be?’
‘Uh . . .’ Because that’s the second time today you’ve blurted three answers to a simple question? But the words dried up in Ivy’s throat, swallowed by sick dread.
She and Brendan had been so happy together for so long. What could be going wrong now? And why?
The school bus ground to a halt in front of them, and Brendan started through the doors with what sounded like a sigh of relief. Ivy followed, her eyes widening as she saw just how crowded it already was from the last school’s pick up.
‘Hey, kids.’ Mrs Henderson, the bunny driver, smiled sympathetically. ‘Just take whichever spare seat you can find, OK?’
But there aren’t any pairs of seats together! Ivy realised.
Brendan didn’t even seem to notice as he sank down next to a stranger. He just turned to stare out the window, oblivious to Ivy’s gaze.
Biting her lip, Ivy made her way to an open space on the bench at the very back of the bus.
‘Hey, where’s your boyfriend?’ an older goth girl called out as she passed. ‘You guys have a fight?’