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Olivia peeled her eyes away fro, and looked at Brendan, as staring up at Ivy with hiswide open He looked even paler than usual
"Bren," Ivy said quietly at last, "there&039;s so to tell you" She pulled her hair from its ponytail and descended the stairs to stand before him "Olivia and I are twin sisters," she said, her voice tre
Brendan looked over at Olivia "You&039;re not Ivy?" he asked
Olivia shook her head
"Whoa," he said, and for a rabbed his hand to steady him, and Brendan&039;s eyes flickered "That hand feels like you"
Ivy smiled "That&039;s because it is me," she said quietly
"You twoare t-twins?" Brendan stam- inning of the school year," she explained "I never even knew I had a twin sister before"
At least we don&039;t have to keep it a secret anyht
"I have to sit down," Brendan said drily He pulled his hand froered to the corner of the bed
Ivy followed, talking faster now "Not even the two of us noticed how much alike we look at first But, apart from the fact that Olivia&039;s a cheer- leader, we&039;re practically identical"
Brendan shook his head "I don&039;t understand," he said "How coht now?"
"Because," Ivy said, wincing, "itched places"
Brendan blinked slowly
"Bren?" Ivy quavered A single tear tracked down her face, and Olivia felt her own eyes well up "Are you okay?"
Brendan didn&039;t answer
Please, please don&039;t break up with her, thought Olivia, biting her lip
Brendan&039;s voice erupted hoarsely at last "I-- I just can&039;t believe itLong-lost twin sisters? It&039;s like so from a book"
Ivy took a deep breath "I&039;d understand if you never wanted to see ain, Brendan" Her lip trembled violently "I should have told you I wanted to--"
Brendan suddenly stood and put his hand on Ivy&039;s face, gently wiping away a tear with his thumb Ivy&039;s spray-on tan rubbed off to reveal a pale stripe of skin Brendan sed her "I&039;m a little confused, but I&039;htly around hih of relief
"There&039;s so back froot a secret bigger than your twin sister?" Brendan teased Olivia chuck- led nervously
"Olivia and I aren&039;t coan "She&039;s not a vampire"
Brendan did a double take "Ivy!" he whis- pered disapprovingly, shooting a quick, sidelong glance at Olivia
"I had to tell her, Brendan," Ivy said
Olivia stepped forward "I promised Ivy that I would never, ever tell anyone, and I won&039;t, Brendan I&039;ll do anything to keep the vampire secret safe" Brendan looked at her doubtfully "That&039;s why I&039;ht now-- to keep Toby Decker off her trail"
"What does Toby Decker have to do with any- thing?" Brendan asked
"Serena Star has got hi sensational," Ivy explained
"Oh," Brendan said "I guess that makes sense, then" He chuckled "It&039;s coed again
Olivia realized that her feet were killing her fro around in Ivy&039;s heavy black boots all afternoon "Hey, now that the big secret&039;s out," she interrupted, "can itch back?"
Ivy looked down at the pink sparkly top "Definitely"
"Ahined Brendan, "but I really like you in pink"
"Really?" Olivia and Ivy both said in surprise
"No," Brendan answered mischievously Then he winked at Olivia "No offense"
"None taken" Olivia laughed as she and Ivy headed for the black-lacquered screen in the cor- ner of the rooh, too "No wonder you couldn&039;t find my book!"
Ivy pulled her top on over her head and came out fro Olivia to finish changing
Brendan&039;s eyes lit up when he saw her "There you are," he said, and Ivy&039;s heart fluttered
With a grin, she walked straight to her desk and pulled Brendan&039;s English book from the mid- dle of the heap She walked over to him and held it out "Thanks, Brendan," she said, and she wasn&039;t just talking about the book he&039;d lent her
Brendan brushed her hand as he took the book "You&039;re welcoh Okay?"
"Okay," Ivy said, pushing aside a shoe and so down beside hi where you scrunch your nose up when you&039;re nervous"
"My nose does not scrunch!" protested Ivy
"Yes, it does" Brendan sently He leaned back on his elbows "One vampire sister and the other hu across his chest "That doesn&039;t happen every day, huh?"
"No kidding," said Ivy "That&039;s why Olivia and I switched this afternoon I went to the vaency to see what I could find out about our parents"
Olivia&039;s head popped out from behind the screen, half her face still covered with spray-on whitener "What did you find out?" she asked
"Nothing They didn&039;t even have a record of a has adopted a child in the last four hundred years! I think they must have lost my file"
Olivia&039;s face fell
"I&039;hed "I&039;ve been spending soabout my mother and Great-aunt Edna and their history, you know, for this filet at least a clue into our own family"
Ivy nodded sympathetically
Olivia was silent for adown her sister&039;s whitened cheek "I&039;ll be done in a sec," Olivia whispered at last, disappearing behind the screen again
Brendan stood up abruptly "We should have a party!" he announced
Ivy turned to him in disbelief "A party?"
"Sure" Brendan nodded "Or have you and Olivia already celebrated the fact that you&039;re long-lost twin sisters?"
Ivy shook her head, and Olivia&039;s voice called from behind the screen, "I could use a party!"
Brendan looked at Ivy "What do you say we go toso for us, and we can pick up a fruit s like herself again "What&039;s a family crypt?"
"Lots of vamp families have their own tombs," Ivy explained "It&039;s sort of like our version of a vacation hoh," said Brendan "I go there all the ti it Seriously"
"I&039; ht thirty"