bands I know . . . Olivia?’
Ivy’s twin shrugged.
‘Not music .’ Reiko laughed. ‘No way! But Franklin Grove has a sports team, right?’
‘Well . . .’ Ivy’s head was whirling.
‘You must have lots,’ Reiko said. ‘There are so many different sports in America, right? Just like in Japan. So, who’s playing tonight? And what time does the game start?’
Dread settled in Ivy’s stomach. No one warned me I’d have to watch sports for this! ‘I . . . have to check the newspaper,’ she said weakly. ‘I think . . . are the sports reports at the back? Maybe?’
Olivia only shrugged again. Reiko looked stunned.
‘Are you serious?’ she said. ‘I can’t believe you two live in America and you don’t follow sports!’ She shook her head at both of them. ‘If I lived here, I’d go to a different game every night!’
Please not for the next two weeks, Ivy begged silently. I might start looking for a stake to walk into!
As Reiko launched into an excited list of all the different types of games she most wanted to watch while she was in Franklin Grove, Ivy sagged lower and lower in her seat. Does she actually expect me to watch a whole sports game? On purpose?
Worse yet . . . based on how packed full of equipment that backpack was, Reiko might even expect Ivy to play sports with her .
Ivy shuddered. I can’t believe this is happening!
Of all the possible vamps that she had imagined turning up, she would never have expected a sports fanatic! Now, here she was sitting right next to one . . . who suddenly gave her a nudge so powerful, she nearly slammed into the wall of their booth.
‘Hey, do you mind if we go somewhere else for lunch?’ Reiko tossed down the menu with a shudder. ‘This whole menu is really unhealthy. Does the Meat and Greet have something against proper nutrients?’
‘Ahem.’ Next to the table, the waitress cleared her throat loudly.
Cringing, Ivy looked up. The waitress stood holding Olivia’s diet soda . . . and she’d obviously heard every one of Reiko’s words about the menu.
‘Ready to order, finally ?’ the waitress snapped.
Ivy gave her best “apologetic” smile. ‘Um . . . can we please have the check?’
The waitress let out a growl. ‘I don’t believe this!’
Ivy sighed. Trust me, neither do I.
Two hours later, Olivia led Ivy and Reiko through the echoing halls of the Franklin Grove Museum. She had to hold on to Ivy’s elbow to keep her twin moving in the right direction. Ivy was walking backwards, her horrified gaze firmly fixed on the exchange student behind them . . .
Less than a minute after stepping into the museum, Reiko had pulled a tennis ball from her backpack. Now, she juggled it fluidly between her palms, elbows and shoulders as she walked. She was obviously skilled, but Olivia dreaded what would happen if the museum’s intense vampire caretaker, Albert, caught sight of what was going on. And if Reiko’s ball actually crashed into one of the museum’s priceless displays?
Ouch. Olivia cringed at the idea.
Reiko was the only one who seemed completely unfazed by the priceless antiquities all around them. ‘ . . . and after we go to the basketball game,’ she was saying, ‘I want to see a real American football game! And then . . .’
‘I can’t take this any more,’ Ivy mumbled. She pulled free of Olivia and turned to stride ahead.
Oh, dear. Olivia sighed. She couldn’t imagine Ivy sitting through a single sports game, much less two weeks’ worth of them!
Still, she didn’t want Reiko to feel snubbed, so Olivia dropped behind to walk by the exchange student’s side as she chattered on and on, juggling her tennis ball all the way. As they walked past an ancient ceramic vase sitting on a pedestal, the ball flew up over their heads. Reiko jumped up to catch it between her shoulder and jaw . . .
She missed.
‘Oh!’ Olivia gasped as the ball hurtled towards the vase.
‘Noooo!’ Albert suddenly appeared from the shadows of the hall, lunging towards them with his arms outstretched.
Ivy spun around. Horror spread across her face as she leaped forwards . . .
And, just in time, Reiko snatched the ball out of the air in a quick, backwards catch. ‘There!’ She winked at the others, grinning. ‘You weren’t worried, were you? I never miss a catch.’
Albert put one hand to his chest, as if to soothe his racing heart. He took deep breaths. Olivia thought he might be about to pass out from shock. As soon as he had calmed down, though, they were going to be in big trouble.
She traded a panicked look with Ivy. ‘Let’s hurry, OK?’ I don’t want to be here when Albert starts yelling! Putting one hand on Reiko’s back, she steered the exchange student through the marble halls at a quick trot. Aiming a wary look back at the recovering caretaker, she tried to laugh. ‘Sooo, Reiko . . . I guess maybe you shouldn’t have had that second cup of Vitali-Tea at lunch, huh?’
‘Are you joking?’ Reiko shook her head so vigorously, her long purple ponytail whipped against Olivia’s cheek. ‘That One Planet place you guys found is great! They even had gotu kola in the Vitali-Tea!’
Olivia glanced to Ivy for help, but her twin only shrugged.
‘Gotu kola is one of my vices,’ Reiko said happily. ‘It’s much better for you than caffeine, you know.’
‘If you say so.’ Smiling weakly, Olivia pushed open the door to the old South Wing. Finally. ‘Ta-da! Check out Café Creative!’
‘Cool!’ Reiko didn’t stop juggling, but she looked around with obvious interest.
Olivia felt a wave of pride as she followed the exchange student’s gaze around the wide hall that her vampire stepmom had decked out so impressively. ‘Isn’t it great? Lillian’s done fantastic work with the space in here.’
Once, this whole wing of the museum had been abandoned and full of dust. Now, light beamed in through long windows, showing off the tables arranged in star-formations around an X-shaped platform.
Olivia pointed to it. ‘See? That’s going to be the catwalk for the fashion show this week.’
‘Really?’ Ivy groaned. ‘It’s raised, like, five feet off the ground. If I fall off that, I’ll leave a dent in the floor!’
Laughter sounded behind them, and a familiar female voice spoke: ‘Now, I know you’re more graceful than that, Ivy Vega!’
Olivia, Ivy and Reiko all spun around . . . and for the first time since they’d stepped into the museum, Reiko actually dropped her tennis ball. It bounced away across the floor and rolled underneath the catwalk, but she didn’t even seem to notice. Her mouth had fallen open and her eyes were wide as she stared at the two new arrivals standing in the doorway: a young man with spiky black hair and high cheekbones, and a young woman with long, silky black hair tied in an impossibly long braid.
‘Is this . . .’ Reiko stopped and swallowed visibly. ‘I mean, are you really . . . can you be . . . Prince Alex and Princess Tessa of Transylvania?’
Olivia hid a grin. Who knew the sports-mad vampire could be so star-struck?
‘Of course they are,’ she said warmly, and ran forwards to hug them. ‘What are you guys doing here?’
‘We’re