help shrieking at the sight before her. Am I seeing things? she wondered.
Standing in the front doorway was a girl wearing a fitted black jacket, long, narrow scarf, pencil skirt and high-heeled boots. Her black hair was longer than when Ivy had last seen it, the very tips still pixie-blonde from a rebellious dye-job the month before. ‘I can’t believe you’re here!’ Ivy cried. She threw her arms around her fashionista best friend, Sophia. ‘Aren’t you supposed to still be in Japan, finishing up your exchange programme? Reiko isn’t flying back till next week.’
Sophia hugged her back tightly, and Ivy caught a whiff of an exotic new perfume. ‘My parents decided they didn’t want me away from home on Moonrise.’
‘Yeah, right.’ Grinning, Ivy released her friend and closed the front door to keep out the chilly late-October air. ‘Come on, admit it. You were just too homesick to stay away!’
‘Well, obviously.’ Sophia rolled her eyes as she started towards the kitchen. ‘Japan was just soooo boring, what with all its incredible sights, cool people and amazing fashion . . . how could I not want to get back to sleepy little Franklin Grove as quickly as possible?’
‘Ha!’ Following Sophia into the kitchen, Ivy was still laughing at her friend’s comeback even as Olivia let out a delighted shriek of her own.
‘Sophia!’ Olivia jumped off her stool to hug the new arrival. ‘Welcome home!’
As Reiko stood up too, Ivy gestured towards her. ‘Oh, and I should introduce . . .’
‘No, I’ve got this.’ Smiling, Sophia turned to Reiko. ‘Hajimemashite,’ she said. ‘Watashi wa Sophia to moushimasu.’
Reiko beamed. ‘Reiko desu. Yoroshiku!’
‘Wow.’ Ivy blinked at her best friend. ‘You really have learned Japanese!’
Sophia winced. ‘Well, I’m not that good . . .’
‘You’re great!’ Reiko insisted.
‘You have to tell us all about your trip, Sophia,’ Lillian said, pulling out a stool for Sophia to sit on.
‘Tell us about the food . . .’ Charles licked his lips as he put cling film over his bowl of cranberry sauce. ‘It’s been so long since I’ve had any decent udon noodles!’
‘Well, I want to hear about what you saw,’ Olivia said. ‘Tell me all about the fashion!’
‘And the movies!’ Lillian added. ‘Can you believe the new Koizumi film won’t be released here until January? You have to tell me all about it!’
Reiko shook her head. ‘Before anything else, I need to know . . .’ She fixed Sophia with an intent gaze. ‘ . . . is my friend Megumi still dating that creep Tetsuo?’
A smile played over Sophia’s lips as she leaned closer to Reiko. ‘Actually, the day I left, Megumi was preparing for a very hot date . . . with . . .’ Her words trailed off.
‘With who? With who?’ Reiko bounced on the edge of her seat.
‘ . . . Kaneda!’ Sophia finished triumphantly.
‘Yes!’ Reiko pumped one arm in victory. ‘I always thought he’d be so much better for her!’
Ivy had no idea who they were talking about, but she grinned along with them.
‘Aha!’ Sophia spun around, pointing an accusatory finger at Ivy. ‘Gotcha! I caught you smiling. The Happy Vampire is back!’
‘Augh!’ Ivy groaned as the rest of her family burst into laughter. ‘Don’t remind me.’ She had only just stopped having nightmares about the mix-up the twins had had at Café Creative’s recent fashion show, when she and Olivia had accidentally ended up in each other’s outfits. It wouldn’t have been a problem – except that, as identical twins, the girls looked so similar that the vampire community had assumed that it was Ivy in the goth-tastic black gown, grinning like she’d just won a backstage pass to a Pall Bearers show.
‘Well, as long as you aren’t going to scare me by smiling all the time . . .’ Sophia teased. ‘Because that would be too terrifying! I really –’
But Ivy didn’t catch the rest of Sophia’s sentence. Olivia’s cell phone trilled loudly. Olivia pulled it out, opened up her text messages . . . and gasped.
‘It’s an SOS,’ she said. ‘Camilla needs our help with the set-up for tomorrow’s party . . . otherwise she says it might be ruined!’
‘Not if we can help it,’ Ivy said. ‘Come on, guys. We need to get to Café Creative, now!’
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