He wore a tailored dark suit jacket over a flowing white shirt and black jeans. Olivia thought of her own father in his short-sleeved plaid polyester shirts and cringed.
“Thanks,” she said as Mr. Vega pinched the corner of the web from her fingers.
He hung it gracefully. Then he spun around and leaned back against the top rung of his ladder. “Shall we admire your work?”
Olivia looked over her shoulder and took in the enormous ballroom below. The classic movie posters on the stone walls were illuminated by tiny spotlights. Round black tables dotted the room, tombstones rising from them evocatively. Bats hung at all levels in the air. In each corner of the room, there was a huge coffin lined with dark purple satin that overflowed its sides luxuriantly—a special last-minute touch of Mr. Vega’s. Olivia had filled each one with party favors, like plastic fangs, temporary neckbite tattoos, and extra bats.
Olivia felt like cheering. Everything looked awesome!
“Now that is the sort of smile,” Mr. Vega mused, “I have rarely seen on your face.”
Olivia tried to stop grinning, but she couldn’t.
“So, daughter,” he said, “you have said nothing of your date.”
“You mean Brendan?” Olivia asked nervously as she climbed down the ladder.
“Ah, Brendan. I wondered when you would reveal his identity,” Mr Vega remarked.
Oops, thought Olivia.
“Tell me.What is he like?” Mr.Vega continued.
Olivia didn’t know how to answer.
“In a world that is so open to you,” he mused, “you need not always keep the contents of your heart closed.”
“He’s really cu—” Olivia stopped herself. “Handsome,” she finished.
“I am sure.”
“And . . . romantic,” Olivia added.
“Oh?” Mr. Vega’s dark eyes sparkled.
Olivia remembered something her sister had said. “The way he asked me to the ball was really ...sweet.”
Ivy’s father smiled. “I am glad for you, Ivy.”
Olivia suddenly felt weird talking about Brendan this way. He wasn’t her boyfriend, after all. She glanced at the enormous clock above the ballroom entrance. “I should go get ready,” she said.
Mr. Vega nodded. “Yes, of course.”
Outside the ballroom, Olivia descended the enormous staircase to the first floor. She was walking past the front doors on her way to the basement when she was stopped in her tracks by the momentary booming of a pipe organ. She was about to continue on her way when the organ music rang out again, the same brief ornate musical phrase as before.
“Ivy?” Mr. Vega called down the stairs. “Can you answer the door please?”
Olivia hesitated, took a deep breath, and opened the front door.
Before her stood the Beasts, grinning like idiots. Olivia silently noted that their ill-fitting tuxes didn’t make them look any less greasy.
“Hey, Vega,” one said.
“What are you guys doing here?” said Olivia. “The ball doesn’t start for another hour.”
“We, uh, brought a guest,” one of them replied. They pushed forward a boy Olivia hadn’t noticed at first: Toby Decker.
Olivia knew him from math. He was wearing a gray suit with a blue polka-dot bow tie, and his blond hair was combed back from his forehead.
“Hi, Ivy. Thanks so much for having me,” he said with formal politeness. Then he gestured to the Beasts. “These guys said you had more than enough punch, and it’s going to be quite a party.”
Olivia narrowed her eyes and turned to the Beast closest to her. “Can I speak to you for a moment?”
The boy shrugged, and Olivia led him down the hall. When they were just out of earshot, she spun around. “What are you doing?” she demanded.
“We brought our decoration—our human!” the boy said, bouncing up and down on his toes excitedly. “You know, like an hors d’oeuvre,” he continued with a guffaw. “That means snack.”
Olivia knew by now that there was only one way to handle Beastly behavior. She marched back to the front door, the boy scurrying after her, and went right up to Toby Decker.
“I’m sorry, Toby, but I’m afraid these boys misled you. Nobody can come tonight without an invitation. We’re already over capacity.”
“But—” Toby and a few of the Beasts began.
“No buts,” Olivia said decisively. She glared over Toby’s shoulder at the Beasts. “It’s a safety issue.”
Then she turned back to Toby. “Sorry,” she said as nicely as she could. “These guys should have known better. Maybe next time, okay?”
Toby nodded like he understood. Then he raised his eyebrows and said hopefully, “I should tell you I’m a really good dancer. I took classes for my older sister’s sweet sixteen.” He looked at Olivia expectantly.
“That’s nice,” said Olivia. “The boys will escort you back home now.” And then she added, speaking very slowly and looking each of the Beasts right in the eye, “And I’ll see you at school on Monday, Toby.”
Nobody moved. Olivia bore down on the Beasts with Ivy’s death squint.
“Let’s go,” one of them sulked at last. They all turned and shuffled off down the hill, Toby trailing behind.
Olivia shut the door and smiled to herself. Like Ivy said, they weren’t as scary as they smelled!
Ivy anxiously studied her reflection in the mirror that hung on an open door of her wardrobe. She straightened her dark, wine-colored, velvet strapless dress and turned around to inspect the thin satin ribbons crisscrossing her bare back. Her dark hair fell around her face in ringlets, and pearl earrings hung from her earlobes.