As soon as Ivy had heard Olivia describe Jackson as ‘normal’ she’d known Olivia was interested in him, so she had decided to do a little research. If he was on the VVV then Ivy could accidentally leave it up on the screen for her sister to discover. It would be so much easier if Olivia found out for herself that Jackson is anything but normal, Ivy thought as she typed in ‘Jackson Caulfield vampire.’
Ivy scanned the screen but the search results didn’t list any hints of his possible vampness – only sites like ‘Top 50 Bite-able Humans', which put Jackson at number four, and ‘Vampires for Jackson for President'.
But just because there was nothing on the VVV, it didn’t mean he wasn’t a vampire. Lots of movie-star vamps kept it a secret to avoid being typecast as moody brooders by the vamp powers-that-be in Hollywood.
‘What do you think of this for me to wear tomorrow?’ Olivia held up a green ribbed sweater dress and wide green belt. ‘It might be my last chance to see Jackson, so I want to look nice.’
‘I’m not sure Jackson is your type,’ Ivy said, ‘but the belt looks great.’
‘Do you mean the way-too-good-looking-and-famous-to-ever-actually-consider-me type?’ Olivia sighed and sat down on her bed.
‘No!’ Ivy didn’t want her sister thinking Jackson was out of her league. ‘He’s way into you.’
‘You think so?’ Olivia’s voice went up an octave.
‘It’s just he might not be as perfect as you think,’ Ivy said, shutting down the VVV and standing up to make her ‘bed’ for the night.
‘He’s definitely not perfect,’ Olivia said. ‘At lunch today, he went all carnivorous on me. I totally expected him to be a veggie, like me, but he had a burger you would have been proud of.’
Carnivorous? Ivy’s stomach lurched. That could count as evidence. ‘Does that mean you don’t want to see him any more?’ If Olivia was going to give him up anyway, then Ivy could stop her investigations.
‘I’d love to keep hanging out with him, as long as it’s not at lunchtime.’
Ivy sighed. She was going to have to get proof – and that meant going back to the movie set tomorrow and facing whatever consequences there might be for Jessica’s outburst. She was clearing the dressing table when there was a knock at the door.
Ivy whirled around as Olivia said, ‘Come in,’ and Mrs Abbott appeared, carrying a tray of warm milk, some crackers and a bottle of pink digestion liquid. Good thing it hadn’t been a minute later, or they would have had a tough time explaining why Olivia’s dressing table was on its back.
‘You said your tummy was bothering you.’ Mrs Abbott put the tray down on the edge of the bed.
The tummy ache plan from this morning had worked like a charm, and Ivy had already wolfed down the roast-beef sandwich they’d bought on the way home – mmm.
Ivy snapped out of the happy memory to say, ‘That’s so nice of you, Mrs Abbott.’ Moms really were awesome.
‘I just want to make sure you get a good night’s sleep.’ Mrs Abbott gave both girls a hug and wished them sweet dreams. ‘Olivia, honey, be considerate to our guest and give Ivy the comfy bed tonight.’
Once the door was shut, the sisters burst out giggling.
When they’d recovered, Olivia looked at Ivy and pointed to the bottle of antacid. ‘I am not drinking that for you.’
Olivia flashed her badge at the security guard.
‘Hey, where can I get one of those?’ shouted a teen girl from the crowd as Olivia, Ivy, Sophia and Camilla walked through the barriers on to the movie set.
‘I want one, too!’ called a little girl with a balloon.
Olivia wished she could help. Ivy and Sophia’s extras passes were still valid from yesterday, but only her top-level VIP pass allowed her to bring someone in – and it was only one person.
‘Sorry!’ Olivia called behind her.
As they walked around the parking lot, Olivia could see that the buzz had drained away from the production since yesterday. There were barely any people milling around and anyone who was, looked worried.
‘Is this how it’s supposed to be?’ whispered Camilla, pulling down the hood on her ‘Watch the Skies’ hoodie.
‘Not at all,’ Ivy replied.
‘There she is.’ A snide voice came through the open door of a trailer and Charlotte, followed by a group of extras, stepped out into the cold. ‘That zombie girl is the one who ruined the movie for everyone.’ Charlotte was pointing right at Ivy.
Ivy glared back at Charlotte.
Olivia had a flashback to a district cheerleading competition at her old school two years ago where two squads had got their ponytails in a twist over an accusation of a stolen stunt.
‘It wasn’t anybody’s fault,’ Olivia began, stepping between the two groups. ‘The movie is on hold because Jessica wanted to quit.’
‘But if it wasn’t for your freakish sister –’ Charlotte tossed her hair – ‘we would all be getting our big chance to break in.’
‘Break into the discount store?’ Ivy asked.
Charlotte narrowed her eyes. ‘No, you ghoul! To Hollywood, California – where people have skin tone?’
‘Hey,’ Camilla said to Ivy, pointing across the parking lot. ‘Isn’t that Steven Spielberg?’
While Charlotte and her crew all strained to see, Camilla hooked her arm through Ivy’s and pulled her in the opposite direction. Olivia caught on to what she was doing, grabbed Sophia and followed.