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Through thein the Scribe&039;s office door, Ivy saw a setup that made the Beast&039;s movie shoot seem even more amateur The staff table had been re had been transfor microphones Atop a square of carpet taped to the linoleum floor were two plush leather chairs that faced each other, and beside each one was a s with the caest TV camera Ivy had ever seen, aimed squarely at the two chairs Is that a caht nervously
Serena Star spotted Ivy looking at the door She bounded over and ushered Ivy inside "Coe ss under her eyes, and strands of her hair were sticking out at odd angles Her lipstick was uneven, and Ivy thought she saw a stain on the lapel of yesterday&039;s suit In the last day or so, Ivy thought, Serena has gone froed Somehow, her eyes had noidened beyond the point of reason
Camilla waved at Ivy from where she stood by the cameraman "You look really nice," she said "Martin here was kind enough to let ht it would be neat to see how a live interview is done"
"Live?" Ivy quaked She looked at Serena "This is going to be on TV right now?"
Serena nodded "Anything could happen," she sang, steering Ivy to the far chair "Martin, how much time do we have?"
"Twospots at the corner of her vision, but then she realized it was just Martin testing the lights It&039;s grio on live TV?
"She&039;s looking pretty pale, Serena," Martin said "Should I get some blush on her?"
"No!" Serena said quickly "She&039;s perfect"
Cae wildly as Martin counted down from behind the camera with his hand "Five! Four! Three! Two!" He mouthed the word "one" and pointed to Serena
"I&039;m Serena Star, and this is a very, very spe- cial afternoon edition of The Morning Star," Serena announced "In a few irl Charlene Costa&039;s secret wedding But first, join ative report into Franklin Grove--the town that soree it&039;s nothing short ofTERRORFIC!" Ivy could just iraphic with the word "TERRORFIC!" that was appearing at that a, a typical eighth-grader here" The ca toward Ivy, who forced herself to s- fully
"Ivy," Serena said, "I understand you&039;re a writer on the school paper What got you into journalisht "Well, I&039;ve always liked to write," she said simply She waited for the next question, but Serena wasn&039;t looking at her In fact, she didn&039;t even see looks with Martin the cameraman
Ivy scrambled to fill the silence "I used to be a cheerleader," she blurted For about three days, she thought with a wince "But it wasn&039;t reallySoI joined the school paper" Martin reached his arlass of water on the table beside Ivy&039;s chair
"So back to life
"No, thank you," said Ivy
"Aren&039;t you thirsty?" Serena pressed
Serena Star&039;s an even worse interviewer than Garrick Stephens, Ivy thought "No, not really," she replied
Serena glared at her "I insist"
With a shrug, Ivy picked up the glass of water and took a tiny sip Serena Star leaned forward expectantly
Actually, the water felt good Ivy hadn&039;t even realized how dry hers, and Serena looked like she was going to fall off her chair When did drinking water becolass back down on the table, ready for the next question Serena sat back in her chair, looking disappointed "Umwhat&039;s your favorite of all the articles you&039;ve done?" she asked
"I did a series of pieces on the history of Franklin Grove Middle School that won a special achieveain, Serena appeared to lose interest the"Most people don&039;t know this," Ivy soldiered on, "but in 1924, President Calvin Coolidge accidentally dropped his favorite pocket watch in--"
"What&039;s your favorite book?" Serena inter- rupted eagerly Then, before Ivy could even answer, Serena pulled a fat volume out from beneath her chair She held it up to the ca it into Ivy&039;s hands "How about this one?"
Ivy looked at the book in her hands The Bible?
Serena Star stared at her accusingly
"Well, it&039;s certainly a good book In fact, it&039;s the Good Book," Ivy said at last, cracking a nervous san to put two and two together, and Serena&039;s strange behavior started to lass of water She&039;s test- ing me to prove I&039;m a vaood role lass was full of holy water, and Serena ! Of course, that religious stuff only worked in the movies, but who knehat else Serena had up her sleeve?
If she hits on soht in a panic, I&039;ll be revealed as a vampire on national TV!
"Did you see her show on celebrity underwear, when her made-up as `INCROTCHI- BLE&039;?" asked Olivia, aiting for Ivy on the steps in front of school with Sophia and Brendan
"No," Sophia said "Serena Star has her own ridiculous language"
"As aback on his elbows so his black button-down shirt hung open over his white top, "that&039;s what I ended up writing !" said Olivia
Brendan raised his eyebrows "I&039; Words of Serena Star!&039;" he said, laughing
Olivia and Sophia burst out laughing, too Then the front doors of the school opened, and Toby Decker e undone around his neck
Olivia waved and walked over to join him "Hey, Toby," she said "Is Serena Star&039;s intervieith Ivy over already?"
Toby shook his head "Still going," he replied
"I&039; it"
"What about you, Mr Special Assistant? Shouldn&039;t you be in there?" Olivia said "Caot a special invitation from the cameraman, but I didn&039;t think I&039;d be allowed"
"You wouldn&039;t have, but it&039;s live TV" Toby shrugged "You could have watched it in the library with everyone else"
"I didn&039;t realize it was live!" Olivia exclaihed "The only reason I&039;m not in there is thatwell, I quit my job as Serena&039;s assistant"
"You did?" Olivia was shocked
Toby hesitated, as if he was trying to figure out whether he could confide in her "Olivia," he said finally, "I think Serena is having some sort of nervous breakdown"
"What do you mean?"
"She&039;s convinced there are real vampires in Franklin Grove," Toby explained, "and that Ivy is one of them"
Olivia felt a wave of panic wash over her "Why would she think a ridiculous thing like that?" she asked nervously
Toby looked at the ground guiltily "Olivia, I have a confession to raveyard last night"
Olivia was speechless
"I&039;m sorry; I hope you&039;re not mad," Toby pleaded "I called Serena Star froured she&039;d be interested, since she&039;s so convinced that Goth culture is corrupting the youth of Franklin Grove Not that I think you&039;re corrupted," he added quickly "Well, anyway, Serena went there and"Toby&039;s voice trailed off
"And?" Olivia urged
"And I had to go home for dinner But earlier today Serena told me that she followed Ivy back to her house, and that then she saw--" Toby hes- itated
"What?" Olivia gulped "What did Serena see?"
"It&039;s silly"
"Toby, what did she see?" Olivia begged, fight- ing the urge to give hihed "She said that she saw Ivy jule leap"