Camilla placed her hands on her hips. ‘Do you want to be introduced to Craig Cash or not?’
Olivia almost gasped. Aurora and Craig Cash? Tall, popular, athletic – he was one of the most eligible bachelors in the whole school.
‘Oh, wow, that’s amazing!’ Olivia started to say. She’d love to find out all about this. But Camilla was frowning at her.
Um, I know when I’m not wanted, Olivia thought. I can take a hint! ‘Maybe I’ll see you later then?’ she told Camilla. She didn’t want to hold up their movie any more than she had already.
Now Camilla was busy repositioning Aurora so that she looked more ‘old Hollywood’, leaning up against the wall. She waved a hand over her shoulder without even looking around.
‘Later.’
‘Maybe we could get pizza tonight?’ Olivia called. She waited for a response – nothing. She slunk away, starting down Orange Grove Avenue and heading back to her house. She couldn’t ignore the pain of – was it loneliness? – in her chest. For the first time since Ivy had gone to Wallachia Academy, Olivia had to admit the truth to herself.
Who am I kidding? I’ve been miserable since the moment she left. Olivia almost never walked home from town on her own; Ivy was usually there to tease her about the latest pink outfit she’d bought or grumble over the newest rom-com movie she’d persuaded Ivy to sit through.
Olivia remembered her mom dropping her off on her first day at Franklin Grove. She had been intimidated by the campus, which looked ancient in comparison to her former school’s ugly modern building. Franklin Grove had leafy vines, huge columns and a yawning hallway. Olivia recalled staring up at it and being terrified that she would be the friendless new girl forever. But all that had changed quickly, and Olivia had even been put in charge of the biggest social event at school.
That was almost a year ago. Now, in the space of just a few minutes, she had felt like both Brendan and Camilla were strangers. Plus, of course, her sister was on the other side of the Atlantic. Olivia was beginning to feel like an outsider all over again. She knew this was probably part of growing up – that one day she and Ivy would be leading their own lives – but why did it have to be so horrible right now? I’m not ready for this! She didn’t even have a boyfriend to call any more.
Olivia scuffed her wedges along the sidewalk, sticking her hands in the pockets of her pink bubble skirt. On a day like today, dressing like Ivy would have fitted her mood much better!
Loitering outside the grocery store were Garrick Stephens and his buddies, nicknamed the Beasts by everyone in Franklin Grove. Garrick was bouncing a basketball loudly on the pavement when he looked up, noticing Olivia.
‘Watch out!’ He faked throwing the ball at her. Olivia didn’t flinch. They could try their scary act on her all they wanted, but Olivia wasn’t afraid of the Beasts any more. She had seen all they could do and, frankly, it wasn’t much.
‘Think you’re tough?’ said Garrick. He and his Beastly buddies formed a circle around her, forcing her to stop. She was surrounded by evil snickers and sneers. Their breath was so bad it should have come with big yellow-and-black warning signs: Danger! Biohazard!
Olivia wrinkled her nose and tried to leave, but Garrick blocked her. ‘Where’s your little bunny boyfriend, Olivia?’ He frowned and pretended to rub tears from his eyes with his fists. ‘Oh, that’s right. Didn’t he break up with you? Boo hoo.’
‘Very funny,’ said Olivia through gritted teeth. A cosmic black hole was opening up in the bottom of her stomach.
Garrick put on a fake baby voice. ‘Oooh, is Ivy not here to protect you any more?’
Olivia rolled her eyes. ‘Excuse me,’ she said, once again trying to get out of the circle.
‘I don’t think so.’ Garrick leered at her. ‘Because I don’t see Ivy anywhere.’ He pretended to look around.
‘Listen, buddy.’ Olivia poked Garrick in the chest. ‘You must be a real coward if you are that scared of one little girl!’ Whoa, where did that come from?
Garrick’s face darkened. ‘I’ll bite you for that.’
The boys tightened the circle around her. Garrick bared his teeth. Suddenly Olivia felt suffocated.
‘Get away from me, or I’ll . . . I’ll –’
‘You’ll what ?’ interrupted Garrick nastily. ‘You don’t have your sister now. You don’t even have your Hollywood boyfriend. Like you were ever going to keep him!’ Garrick spat the last word, bringing his face close. ‘A-list stars don’t date nobodies. And without him and Ivy, that’s what you are – a nobody.’
Olivia could feel her face crumpling. Then . . . Ding, ding! Ding, ding! Was that a bicycle bell? A figure appeared from around the corner, riding a blue vintage-style bicycle. She leaned low over her handlebars, aiming straight for the Beasts. They leaped out of the way as the girl slammed on her brakes and sent the back wheel skidding out so that the boys’ legs were nearly knocked out from under them. They scattered just in time, yelping in protest. One of them fell on the ground, limbs flailing. The others bent to help him up, dusting him down. Looking at them over the handlebars of the bike was Holly.
‘Are you crazy?’ yelled Garrick.
Holly was wearing a long, flower-power summer dress, and a camera dangled round her neck. Her hair was dyed with gorgeous bright red streaks.
‘You could have hurt someone,’ said another Beast, as Holly came to a stop next to Olivia.
Olivia furrowed her eyebrows and got up in Garrick’s face. ‘You guys are so tough until somebody stands up to you, isn’t that right?’