Then she followed Jackson’s gaze to where Will, his body double, stood at the other end of the deck, watching them.
‘Oh, Will!’ Olivia almost laughed with relief as she found her way back into the conversation. ‘What do I think of him? Well . . .’
She remembered knocking him over in her hoop-skirt, when she’d thought that he was Jackson. Her face burned with renewed embarrassment.
A crease appeared in Jackson’s brow. ‘Why are you blushing?’
‘Oh . . . no reason,’ Olivia mumbled. ‘Really. It’s not worth explaining.’
‘No?’ Jackson’s frown deepened. ‘I’d really like to hear it, though.’
Silence pulsed between them as the dock grew closer and closer. I can’t tell him what happened, Olivia thought. It’s too embarrassing! But she had to say something to break the odd tension that was growing between them at that moment.
‘Um, he’s very convincing,’ she said, ‘as a body double, but . . .’
‘But . . .?’ Jackson asked.
‘Well, he’s nowhere near as kind and thoughtful as you are,’ Olivia blurted. ‘Who could be?’
Jackson let out a half-laugh, stepping back. ‘You don’t have to say that. Seriously –’
‘I mean it!’ She frowned at him, putting her hands on her hips. ‘Honestly, who else would hire a boat for the entire crew?’
‘Olivia . . .’ Jackson shook his head, flushing. ‘You know I like to do nice things for people.’
Olivia stepped forwards, closing the distance between them. ‘I know, but even so . . . it’s pretty awesome . . .’
Her words dried up as embarrassment hit her. Am I really lecturing Jackson about himself ? ‘I’m sorry,’ she mumbled. She felt her face flush again. ‘I’ve been talking too much, haven’t I?’
‘No,’ Jackson said gently. He grinned, and this time it wasn’t the smile from the posters and magazine covers. It was a smile Olivia knew from their time as a couple.
A personal smile, just for her.
He took her hand, looking straight into her eyes. ‘Everything you say is absolutely perfect,’ he said. ‘In fact –’
Bump!
The yacht had hit the dock with a thud. Jackson’s mouth snapped shut as he looked around nervously.
Suddenly, there were people streaming towards them from every direction, talking and laughing and eager to disembark.
Jackson let go of her hand. ‘I guess it’s time to go,’ he said.
Olivia nodded. But as she looked at her ex-boyfriend-now-something-else, she felt an ache burn deep in her chest. ‘It was a wonderful afternoon,’ she said softly.
It was true.
But why was she now feeling anything but wonderful?
Chapter Eight
Ivy’s stomach felt tight with dread as the line of skater-girls shuffled forwards, bringing the black leather hairdresser’s chair closer and closer. Sophia’s really going to go through with this!
They were fourth in line now, and the team of hairdressers was working fast – too fast! Ivy watched the latest identical blonde skater-girl emerge from the salon, beaming and stroking her identikit haircut. It’s like watching a parade of clones! Can’t Sophia see that?
The big, black chair looked ready to swallow up the next unique, individual girl and spit her out as yet another copy of SkaterGirl 2.0. If Ivy didn’t think fast, the same thing was about to happen to her best friend.
If only Olivia was here! Ivy’s twin would never have pressed the point so hard. She’d have been able to explain gently to Sophia just why this was such a terrible idea.
I don’t have those skills! Ivy thought glumly.
How many more times could she simply repeat, ‘It’s not a good look for you’? Because, so far, that tactic was not working and she felt mean even saying it. Telling people how they should look is so not ‘me’.
‘Next!’ the top hairdresser announced.
Yet another skater girl jumped off the black chair, her hair magically transformed into exactly the same colour and cut as every other girl’s before her.
Sophia beamed as she moved forwards in the line. Ivy’s heart rate sped up. I wonder just how much trouble I would get into for setting off this mall’s fire alarm?
‘Oh, would you please stop scowling?’ Sophia demanded, shaking her head at Ivy. ‘What if this style is the “new me”?’
‘It can’t be!’ Frantically, Ivy waved from the latest skater-girl to Sophia. ‘They all look exactly the same. Just think about that.’
‘No, you think about it.’ Sophia slid her sunglasses down her nose and glared at Ivy. ‘You seem to want me to look just the same as every other goth. How is that any different? Are you, of all people, seriously going to force another person to look a certain way? Just because it’s the way you look? Because, if you are, then . . . there’s really no difference between you and Amelia Thompson.’
Ivy stared at her friend, her jaw slack.
Sophia nudged her sunglasses back into place. Smiling serenely, she followed the line as it shuffled forwards yet again as one more skater clone strode proudly out of the salon. Numbly, Ivy turned and followed after.
I can’t stay and watch, she thought.
But Sophia was right: this decision was hers to make.
High school is pretty challenging, Ivy thought miserably. Her best friend was making a drastic mistake, all the social rules had been turned upside-down . . .
Things had seemed so much less serious back in eighth grade!