Page 1 (1/2)
For Jenny Meyer, who totally sucks
Ivy Vega trudged sleepily into the breakfast room, slid into her chair, and rested her cheek on the cool stone table She wished she was still in her coffin Monday , sleepybones," her father said, placing a bowl next to her head
"Shh," Ivy "
"It&039;s your favorite," her dad coaxed "Marsh- mallow Platelets"
Ivy peered at the little whitein their milky sea "Thanks," she mumbled
Her father, already dressed for work in black chinos and a black pin-striped shirt with French cuffs, sipped his tea and picked up the re per- son&039;s dulltelevision"
He flipped through the weather and so Star
"Please no," Ivy said "Just looking at Serena Star&039;s sives me sunburn"
Serena Star, WowTV&039;s best celebrity reporter, had iht, bleached blond hair and eyes that looked as if they&039;d been surgically enhanced to be permanently wide open in either adoration or shock Lately she&039;d been trying to cast herself as a serious journalist on her ownStar Just the other day, Ivy had turned the TV off in exaspera- tion after Serena had said, "Tell me, Mr Senator, how does it feel to have a law na with her back to a s into hera tiny blue suede th trench coat, and the look in her wide eyes said "shock!" She was in a park or er stood beside her--
Ivy&039;s dad flipped the channel
"Turn back!" Ivy blurted
"But you said--"
"I know Turn back!" she repeated
Ivy could not believe her eyes The boy stand- ing next to Serena Star was none other than Garrick Stephens, one of the lamest vampires at her school He and his bonehead friends--every- one called the which one of the seri- ously ill They weren&039;t nearly as scary as they s since forever
What is he doing on national TV? Ivy wondered
"I think that&039;s the local ceht--this was being filmed less than five blocks frorave, and Ivy&039;s dad turned up the volume
"yesterday&039;s s," Serena Star was saying off screen
"Local deceased man, Mr Alan Koontz, was scheduled for burial here at the Franklin Grove Meround, eyewitnesses say that his casket creaked open" The ca open next to the grave "In a bizarre turn of events, out cliedly live person!" Serena contin- ued "Mr Koontz&039;simmediately fainted and was rushed to Franklin Grove General Hospital for treat face reappeared on the screen "Friends of the faed bore no resee boy" The ca his pal now, too; Garrick and his friends didn&039;t know theof the word "discreet" They probably couldn&039;t even spell it Ever since they were little kids, Ivy had always been a the First Law of the Night: vampires are never supposed to reveal their true selves to an outsider
Thinking about that made Ivy feel uncomfort- able After all, she&039;d recently broken the First Law herself She&039;d had no choice, though: she couldn&039;t possibly keep the fact that she was a vampire secret from her identical twin, Olivia, even if Olivia was human
She and Olivia had only discovered each other at the beginning of the school year They&039;d been separated at birth and adopted by different par- ents, so Ivy hadn&039;t known that she had a twin until Olivia turned up at Franklin Grove Middle School And it had been just as great a shock to Olivia
I may have broken the First Law, but at least I didn&039;t reveal ht
Serena Star looked squarely at the ca you an exclusive intervieith the thirteen-year-old boy as alree it&039;s a story that&039;s trulyINDEADIBLE!" A graphic with the word "INDEADIBLE!" materialized on the screen over Garrick&039;s head, and Ivy rolled her eyes Serena was alwaysup lame words for her on-screen headlines
"Awesorinned
Ivy&039;s head ached How in the underworld, she thought, are we going to cover up a va out of a coffin in the middle of a funeral?
"Mr Stephens" Serena Star turned to face her subject "How do you feel?"
"I feel great!" Garrick said
"Aht frown She had clearly been expecting Garrick to be upset "How long were you in that coffin?"
"Like seven, eight hours"
"That ," Serena Star prouys carried it around and wokea peeved look off ca you were asleep in there?" asked Serena Star, her wide eyes widening even further
"Yeah," Garrick answered "I slept like I was dead"
Ivy winced as Serena Star shook her head in disbelief "You aled
"Mr Stephens," Serena Star said, a hint of dis- approval in her voice, "what kind of person sleeps in a coffin?"
"It wasn&039;t ed
"Oh?" said Serena Star "Whose idea was it?"
Garrick was about to answer, but then he seemed to think better of it He crossed his aret the the people who did this to you are friends of yours?" Serena Star asked
"Totally," Garrick replied, grinning
"You s of Franklin Grove Middle School!" Garrick cried,wildly "Yo, Kyle, Ricky, Dylan! I&039;ht Ivy
"What exactly did your friends have in mind?" Serena Star probed
"They daredmischievously "That&039;s why I did it"
Ivy could tell Garrick was lying fro it was a dare to avoid revealing any vampire secrets--like the fact that they slept in coffins Still, it was a pretty la on about hoas "the best sleep" of his life
"The Interna 3 is the sweetest coffin ever," he gushed, grabbing the microphone "When they say `rest in peace,&039; they mean it!"
"Mr Stephens, please," Serena interrupted "That still doesn&039;t explain how you ended up at Mr Koontz&039;s funeral"
"Oh, right My friends just sort of thought it would be funny to leave uys!" Garrick winked "Then the funeral hoot the coffinscoffin in America?"
Serena Star yanked the microphone away "Are we to believe that this was really just an innocent student prank?" she said to Garrick, who shrugged again
"Or," she continued, turning slowly to the ca ht Serena Star sruesome obsession with death," Serena went on as the camera zoomed in for a close-up of her shocked face, "nearly cost this uided?" Garrick&039;s voice whined offscreen
"And he isn&039;t alone," Serena said, ignoring Garrick "One look around this sleepy town reveals a dark obsession consu the e of the raders
"Are the youth of America next?" Serena asked ominously, as she reappeared on-screen Then she froith determination "I, Serena Star, will not rest until I find out the evil truth behind what&039;s happening here"
Oh no, Ivy thought She&039;s going to say that line of hers
"Because the Star of truthher micro- phone in the air It really was the worst journalis- tic sign-off Ivy had ever heard "This is Serena Star Wake up, America!"
A commercial came on, and Ivy&039;s dad shut off the TV "You must promise me," he said, "that if you are ever on television, you will make a better impression than that boy Garrick Stephens"
"It&039;s not funny, Dad," Ivy said "If Serena Star starts seriously investigating Goths in Franklin Grove, you knohat she ht findWhat if she scoops the existence of vaain!"
Her father put down his tea "Ivy," he said, "we are talking about a woman best known for her special exposâ–ˇ on the footwear of the rich and fa any real proof Besides, the ossip, Serena Star will for- get all about Franklin Grove"
Ivy sighed "I hope you&039;re right," she said, standing up to take her e to be really hard to get Marshmallow Platelets around here"
As they pulled up in front of Franklin Grove Middle School on Mondayher pink lipstick in the visor asp Olivia flipped up the visor to see the front steps of the school packed with people and a string of TV news vans lining the curb
"Wow!" said Olivia
Her et out of the car
Olivia grabbed her ?"
"I want to see what all the commotion&039;s about," her mother replied
Olivia shook her head "You can&039;t come with me into school"
"Why not?" her rade," Olivia ex- plained
Olivia&039;s moh
"It&039;s not you," Olivia assured her "It&039;s all mothers It&039;s like a rule I&039;ll call you" And, with that, Olivia pecked her mom on the cheek, climbed out of the car, and squeezed between ts vans
She started up the steps, trying not to trip on any of the TV crews&039; electrical cords as she weaved through the people Scanning the reporter-studded crowd, she spotted a flash of soft blond curls up ahead "Camilla!" she called
Camilla Edmunson turned and waved When Olivia joined her, Ca on?" asked Olivia
"Everyone&039;s trying to get on TV," Caroup of boys everyone called the Beasts, holding up two fingers to look like bunny ears behind an unsuspecting reporter&039;s head The ca frantically in an attempt to shoo him away