Vampalicious! Read Online Free PDF Page B

returned with their drinks. Olivia and Ivy waited until she was gone before clinking glasses. “To us!” they toasted.
     
    “You should have seen Mr. Daniels,” Ivy went on as Olivia slurped her smoothie. “He was so excited. When I thanked him for figuring all this out, he said he was the one who should be grateful. He wants to write his next book about us!”
     
    “First Serena Star, then the Franklin Grove papers and Vamp  magazine , and now a book,” marveled Olivia. “We should get an agent!”
     
    “As if.” Ivy smiled and rolled her eyes. Olivia knew Ivy had always hated the spotlight, but, no matter what her sister said, Olivia suspected that she was starting to enjoy the attention just a little bit.
     
    Suddenly, Ivy’s face tightened. “There’s my dad,” she said. She hunched over and sucked back the rest of her Bloody Shake in one gulp. Olivia stared into the pink froth of her smoothie.
     
    “Hello,” Mr. Vega announced.
     
    “Hi,” Olivia and Ivy said together.
     
    “Are you ready to go, Ivy?” Mr. Vega asked, without acknowledging Olivia.
     
    All at once, the joyous rush Olivia had felt at Ivy’s news melted away. She felt like she’d been doing a magnificent aerial cheerleading move, only to discover at the last moment that there was no one there to catch her. What did it matter how she came to be in this world if her own father wouldn’t acknowledge her?
     
    She wanted to ask her father why he didn’t seem to care about her, but the diner wasn’t the right place for that. Instead, she just raised her hand into the air and waved limply to Alice. “May we please have the check?”
     
    Olivia, Ivy, and Mr. Vega said nothing as they waited for the bill.
     
    After a minute, Alice brought it over and slapped it on the table. “Here you go!” she said. “Thanks so much. Really, you girls were a pleasure to serve. You have an energy, you know?”
     
    Alice turned to trot away, but Mr. Vega cleared his throat. “Pardon me,” he called.
     
    Alice spun around. “Yeah?”
     
    “Do I know you?” he said. “I feel certain that I have seen you before.”
     
    Olivia couldn’t believe her ears. That almost sounds like a pickup line! she thought.
     
    Alice screwed up her lips and rolled her eyes around, like she was trying to see the inside of her head. “Nope,” she said after a second, “I don’t think— WAIT A MINUTE! Have you been to any parties at the art museum?”
     
    Mr. Vega’s face bloomed into a smile—a real one, not one of those close-lipped pretend smiles Olivia was used to. “Of course. We met at the last exhibition opening,” he said. “You’re the artist who does those sculptures.”
     
    “I am indeed!” said Alice. Out of the corner of her mouth, to the girls, she added, “I’ve never been recognized before.”
     
    Olivia and Ivy stared at Alice and their father, totally speechless.
     
    “I’ve always had a passion for our little museum,” he said. “I remember one of your pieces well—the eight-legged clown.”
     
    “It was a mime, actually,” Alice corrected with a smile.
     
    Olivia kicked Ivy under the table. She’s the one!
     
    “Olivia and I have to go the bathroom,” Ivy blurted.
     
    Olivia hurriedly reached into her bag and found a five dollar bill. “Thank you so much, Alice,” she said, slapping the bill on the table. “Keep the change.”
     
    “Thanks,” said Alice.
     
    “Dad, I’ll see you in the car,” Ivy called over her shoulder as she and Olivia rushed to the ladies’ room.
     
    The moment they were inside, Olivia peered under the stalls. They were empty. “Do you think she’s, you know,” Olivia said, “one of you?”
     
    “This is one of our establishments, and she’s wearing black nail polish,” Ivy replied. “So yes!”
     
    “It’s perfect,” declared Olivia. “She’s an artist—”
     
    “And he’s artsy,” finished Ivy, sounding awed.
     
    “I know!” squealed Olivia. “And