Ivy was frowning hard now. ‘Could be . . . It would certainly help explain why this mystery blogger highlighted the mall.’ She turned to Olivia. ‘Perhaps there’s more to this than meets the eye.’
Olivia stood on tiptoes to peer through the crowd. S. K. Reardon was surrounded by VITs, but she couldn’t see any sign of the biggest fan she knew: Holly. Maybe she still hadn’t gotten the text. I need to try again, Olivia thought. If Holly could infiltrate the queue of VITs, she might be able to overhear something. Of course, Olivia couldn’t share the vampire secret with Holly, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask a few innocent questions about anything her friend might have picked up from the crowd of book-buyers. You never know. It might work.
‘I’ll be right back,’ Olivia said. Ivy nodded, but neither of their grandparents bothered to reply. The Countess was busy watching the VITs with a raptor’s predatory gaze, while the Count was re-reading Bare Throats at Sunset and happily murmuring to himself as he read.
Olivia just caught the words, ‘Now what I’d do if that happened . . .’ as she slipped past him on her way out of the store.
At least S. K. had gained one real vampire fan!
Once Olivia was outside the mall again, with a working signal, a beep sounded on her phone almost immediately. It was a text from Holly, sent only a minute earlier:
Oooh, I might be too shy. I’ll think about it . . .
She’d obviously received Olivia’s text about the signing. But, Holly – shy? This was the girl who’d stood up to Garrick in front of all the Beasts, telling him to go home and take a shower!
Olivia sighed. Maybe big crowds were scarier than the Beasts. Or maybe Holly was just wary about being around Ivy after the baking party that would almost certainly go down in Franklin Grove history as ‘Garlic Day’.
Her shoulders slumped. Oh well, it looked as though she wouldn’t be able to get Holly in amongst the VITs. But worse than that – how was she supposed to prove to Holly and Ivy that they ought to be friends if they never hung out together again?
She headed back into the mall to find Ivy waiting for her in the bookstore. Ivy glanced at the phone in her hand.
‘Problems?’ she asked.
She probably thinks it’s another call from Jackson, Olivia thought.
‘Oh, it’s nothing, really. I texted Holly to let her know her favourite author is in the mall but she thinks she’s too shy to come and see him.’
Ivy rolled her eyes. ‘Whatever. Come on, let’s do some more clue hunting.’
But as they walked through the aisles of the crowded bookstore, Olivia caught sight of a corner of a hippy flower appliqué on a pair of jeans. Was that . . . could that be Holly ?
Suddenly, there was the flash of a camera. She turned towards the source and spotted Holly in the corner of the bookstore photographing S. K. Reardon and all the VITs waiting to have their books signed.
But she said she was too shy to come down ! Olivia stared, trying to understand. The text had only been sent a few minutes ago, and it had definitely made it seem like Holly was still at home – but here she was! No way could she have made the trip to the mall in the past few minutes. Why would she lie to me ?
As she watched, S. K. spotted Holly. His mouth dropped open. Then he pushed his chair back and headed straight towards her.
Oh, wow, Olivia thought. Holly will be thrilled ! Her favourite author had recognised her. She must have been to his signings before.
Holly looked anything but thrilled, though. Her eyes widened, then she ducked her head and edged away. She wasn’t fast enough to avoid the author. As he reached her, she started talking fast. Olivia couldn’t catch any of the words, but Holly’s expression was pleading.
S. K., on the other hand, looked furious. As he lectured her, his voice rose until Olivia could hear him from across the store:
‘You can’t do this! You’re making things up!’ He was almost shouting.
‘Well, so do you!’ Holly cried back. Then she seemed to catch herself, glancing nervously over her shoulder.
Olivia ducked out of sight, pulling Ivy with her. The expression on her sister’s face was grim. ‘Can you believe that?’ Ivy asked, nodding towards Holly.
Olivia gulped. This is not how today was supposed to go. Her new friend was fibbing to her, Olivia and Ivy were hiding . . . and her twin’s growing mistrust of Holly had just hardened into stone.
Worse yet, for the very first time, Olivia found herself wondering whether there was any small chance that Ivy might actually be right about her new friend.
No, she told herself. There has to be an explanation !
But as she watched Holly storm out of the bookstore, straight into the neighbouring Internet café, she couldn’t think of a single explanation that would work.
Chapter Seven
‘Perfect.’ Ivy nudged Olivia in the ribs as they watched Holly settle down at a computer terminal. Almost immediately, Holly started typing furiously – almost as if she were updating something. Could it be . . . a blog ? ‘She’s on her own now. Let’s go ask her what she’s up to.’ And see exactly what she’s typing ! Ivy thought to herself.
But her twin looked utterly miserable. ‘We can’t,’ Olivia said. ‘Didn’t you see how upset she was? I think we should give her some space. When she’s ready, she might tell us what happened. I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation.’
Olivia looked as though she was about to burst into tears. Ivy could tell that she knew Holly was behaving strangely, but that she couldn’t bear to admit it. But all of a sudden, Holly was looking like a serious candidate for their mystery blogger.