“Okay,” Olivia said, “everyone calm down. Maybe we can try to convince Serena that there are werewolves in Franklin Grove instead—or something stupid like that.”
Ivy and Sophia exchanged nervous glances.
Olivia blinked. “Don’t tell me there are werewolves in Franklin Grove?”
Ivy raised her eyebrows just as the bell for first period rang.
“Saved by the bell!” Sophia blurted. She and Ivy flew out of the bathroom, leaving Olivia with her mouth hanging open.
After third period, Ivy was still trying to figure out what to do about Serena Star. She pulled open her locker and distractedly wedged her notebook into a crevice between a stray boot and a stack of books. The entire contents of her locker started trembling, and Ivy lunged forward just as an avalanche of stuff tumbled out. She was left clutching a lone rubber vampire bat from the All Hallow’s Ball, with a pile of things she didn’t even know she owned at her feet.
This is not a good sign, Ivy thought.
Chapter 2
It took her forever to pick everything up and cram it back inside. Finally, the only things left were two black boots on the floor just below her open locker door. Ivy went to pick one of them up, but it wouldn’t budge. She pushed it with a frustrated grunt.
“Hey!” a voice cried as the boot moved away.
Ivy pushed her locker door shut to find Sophia attached to the boots.
“Where have you been?” Sophia demanded.
“Tidying my locker,” Ivy answered sheepishly.
“Tidying your locker!?” Sophia repeated incredulously. “Well, while you were cleaning out your locker, Serena Star convinced Principal Whitehead to call a meeting with the staff of the Scribe!” The Franklin Grove Scribe was the school paper, where Ivy was senior writer and Sophia was a photographer.
“Why?” Ivy asked.
“I don’t know,” Sophia answered, “but it can’t be good!”
“When’s the meeting?”
Sophia looked at her watch with false nonchalance. “Oh, you know . . . RIGHT NOW!” she replied, pushing Ivy along in front of her.
As they charged through the halls, Sophia whispered, “You know we’re the only vamps on staff.”
“That’s why we have to get on Serena’s good side,” Ivy responded, following her friend through the frosted-glass Scribe office door. She saw at once that they were the last to arrive; everyone else was already seated around the big editorial table. At the far end of the room stood Serena Star with Principal Whitehead at her side.
She’s so much shorter than she looks on TV, thought Ivy.
“Thank you for joining us,” Serena Star said with a flash of her brilliant smile as she shot a tiny glance over the girls’ shoulders.
Ivy turned to find herself face-to-face with a WowTV camera lens. She hadn’t noticed the cameraman squeezed into the corner by the door. For a moment, she felt as if she’d been turned to stone; she hated being in front of cameras, crowds, and tape recorders.
Camera or no camera, I have to charm Serena Star, she told herself. With a gulp, Ivy looked right at Serena and smiled as brightly as she could. “As the senior writer of the Franklin Grove Scribe, allow me to say what an honor it is to meet a journalist of your, uh, standing, Ms. Star. I’m sure we all have a great deal to learn from you.”
“Thank you,” said Serena Star, clearly flattered by the praise. She gestured to the boy sitting closest to her. “This young man has just finished saying so himself.”
Toby Decker, one of the best reporters on staff, blushed slightly. His blond hair was combed neatly off his face, and he was dressed in a blue button-down shirt and a red power tie. Ivy thought he looked like he was running for office.
Sophia and Ivy grabbed two seats next to Camilla Edmunson, who was the paper’s book reviewer.
Serena officiously placed her palms on the table. “I called you here, fellow reporters, because I need your help.”
“We’ll do whatever we can,” said Toby eagerly, and everyone nodded.
“Good,” said Serena. “Because I’d like one of you to work with me on my nationally covered story about life here in Franklin Grove.”
A bunch of people gasped.
“You mean, be your assistant?” asked Will Kerrell, a seventh-grader who usually covered sports.
“Exactly.” Serena Star nodded. She paused to let the information sink in. “I’m holding an audition, and the person who wins gets to be my assistant.”
“How exciting!” Principal Whitehead said approvingly.
What is she up to? Ivy wondered suspiciously.
Serena Star looked around the table with her wide eyes. “To audition, you have to get out there and get me a quote about Garrick Stephens and his coffin.”
“What kind of quote?” asked Kelly Marlings, flipping open her spiral pad and furiously starting to take notes.
“Something juicy,” replied Serena Star, “something that will make the American public sit up and take notice. And the person who gets the best quote will get to help me, WowTV’s Serena Star, with my story,” she finished, her eyes sparkling.
Ivy was beginning to see what Serena had in mind. She’s using us to find out stuff no adult could, she thought.
Ivy felt Sophia slip a piece of paper into her hand. She unfolded it beneath the table and glanced down to see one of her friend’s hastily drawn bunny cartoons. Surrounded by a bunch of wide-eyed baby bunnies was a particularly thin bunny with enormous eyes, long hair, and a sparkly smile—Serena Star, obviously. Her speech balloon said, “The first little bunny to give up their fur wins a rabbit coat!”