Charlotte Brown stepped into the reception trailer. ‘What are you doing here?’ Charlotte said to Olivia. For once, she was without Katie and Allison.
‘Duh,’ Camilla retorted. ‘Olivia made the callbacks, too.’
Charlotte waved her hand like Camilla was a second-squad cheerleader. ‘It’s just that I’m surprised you’re still here practising.’
‘What do you mean?’ Olivia asked.
‘I thought you’d be with Ivy,’ Charlotte replied. ‘She looked really upset, arguing on the phone with someone.’ Charlotte leaned in and lowered her voice. ‘Looks like Dracula and Dracu-less are on the out and out.’
Olivia realised with a start that they had forgotten Brendan again this morning. She felt terrible if he and Ivy were fighting, especially because they kept coming to the set for Olivia. This is my fault, she thought. She had to find Ivy. ‘Where is she?’
Charlotte shrugged. ‘Brewing up curses in her cauldron?’
‘Charlotte,’ Olivia warned, her face settling into one of Ivy’s death stares. Captain or no captain, if Ivy was upset, there was no time for diplomacy. ‘Where is she?’
‘OK, OK.’ Charlotte tossed her hair. ‘She told the other spook that she was going to the mall to get away from everything.’
Olivia started packing up her stuff, folding the script into her purse. ‘I’ve got to get to the mall.’
‘But what about the audition? The read-through?’ Camilla asked. ‘Can’t you just call her?’
‘This is more important. Ivy and Brendan never fight. It must be huge,’ Olivia said. They were the perfect couple and she wasn’t going to let something come between them. She would help fix it, help explain to Brendan. ‘She’ll need someone with her, not a voice on the phone.’
Ivy came before the audition. Olivia had to go.
Chapter Nine
Looking for Olivia among this crowd of Jackson super-fans was like looking for a real vampire on Halloween.
Ivy had figured out eventually that Charlotte had lied about Olivia being in the diner. When Ivy and Sophia managed to force their way in, one of the production crew said all the finalists had left right after the announcement.
One point to Charlotte.
Now, Sophia was off talking to Lillian and resting her feet, while Ivy wandered in circles. It had been almost two hours since she’d found the ‘garlic clause’ as she was now referring to it, and she still hadn’t been able to tell Olivia the truth about Jackson.
Ivy sat down to rest on one of the parking plinths, her legs crossed in front of her.
Ivy’s phone rang from inside her bag. Hoping it was Olivia, she started digging for it, pulling out her key chain, her notebook and the packet of O-Neg flavoured lollipops that Brendan had given her before Christmas. She found her phone on the sixth ring.
‘Thank the darkness!’ Ivy said.
‘I’m so sorry,’ Olivia blurted. ‘It’s all my fault, but we can fix it. I’ll help.’
Ivy was a little confused; she wasn’t that upset about not being able to find Olivia. ‘Fix it? There’s nothing to fix. I just need to talk to you.’
‘I know,’ Olivia said. ‘That’s why I’m here – and there is something to fix. You can’t give up so easily.’
‘Give up?’ Ivy was getting really confused.
‘Love is worth fighting for,’ Olivia said.
‘Um, OK,’ Ivy replied. She started to think that maybe Olivia already knew. Maybe Jackson had broken the First Law of the Night and told her. And maybe that meant that Olivia had gotten over it and would be happy with a vampire boyfriend after all.
‘Now tell me where you are,’ Olivia instructed.
‘I’m right in the middle, near the fake palm trees,’ Ivy said.
‘Is that by the pet store?’
‘No,’ Ivy replied, thinking Olivia must be joking. The closest thing to a pet store on set was the make-up trailer where Spencer groomed and fluffed his actors like poodles. Ivy decided to play along. ‘It’s next to the cake shop.’
Olivia didn’t respond for a moment. ‘There’s a cake shop in the mall?’
Now Ivy was completely baffled. ‘The mall?
‘Yes, the mall,’ Olivia said. ‘The mall where you are.’
‘I’m not at the mall,’ Ivy said slowly. ‘I’m on set where you are supposed to be.’
‘But –’ Olivia started. ‘But . . . but . . .’
There was a terrible pause as Ivy couldn’t figure out what to say.
Olivia finally broke the silence. ‘You’re not at the mall.’
‘Why in the name of all that is gory would I go to the mall now? And why would you?’
Olivia sighed. ‘Charlotte Brown.’
Olivia explained what Charlotte had told her, and the truth sunk in.
‘It’s true that Brendan might be feeling a little left out, but we didn’t fight,’ Ivy said. ‘I haven’t spoken to him today.’
Two points to Charlotte, Ivy thought. Or maybe more like ten.
‘She was just trying to get me off set, so I’d miss the callbacks,’ Olivia said and Ivy could hear her start to get breathless as she hurried through the mall. ‘And it looks like she succeeded!’
Ivy looked down at her spooky pumpkin watch. ‘You’ll never get back in time.’
‘I know!’ Olivia said quietly. She sniffled. ‘It wasn’t just Jackson; it was the part. I really thought I had a chance.’