Free Fangtastic! by Sienna Mercer Page A

really.”
    Olivia
widened her eyes and flashed Toby her biggest smile. “That is so exactly what I
was hoping you were going to say. Come on!” She linked her arm through his and
started leading him toward the editing room.
    “B-but—”
Toby stammered, his eyes scanning the halls for Ivy.
    “No
buts!” Olivia said. “You’re just the man I need!”
    “I am?”
Toby croaked.
    “You
are.” Olivia confirmed, giving his arm a squeeze. “Camilla and I are making a
movie for media studies, and we’ve been looking everywhere for the right
guy to play the dashing duke!” As she pushed Toby through the editing suite
door, Olivia looked over her shoulder and winked at Ivy, who was lurking in a
doorway across the hall. “He was just perfect,” Olivia told her sister later
that day. “He’s got a nice voice and he even put on an Italian accent. ‘Edna,
bella,’ ” Olivia imitated, clutching her heart, “ ‘I cannot live without you.’ ”
    Ivy
laughed so hard, black mascara tears streamed down her cheeks. “Olivia,” she gasped,
dabbing at them with the sleeve of her black crocheted sweater, “you seriously
suck.” Which Olivia knew was like the biggest compliment a vampire could give.
    “Don’t
I?” Olivia grinned.
    “It
was like being freed from prison,” Ivy said giddily as the bell rang for the
start of science class. “I had the whole lunch period to myself! He did track
me down again after English, though.”
    “Did
you book an appointment with the adoption agency?” Olivia asked hopefully.
    Ivy
nodded. “I’m going after school.”
    There
was a flutter in Olivia’s stomach. Maybe today’s the day I’ll finally learn
something about my parents, she thought.
    As Mr.
Strain started writing instructions for the day’s chemistry experiment on the
board, Ivy said, “There’s just one thing.” Olivia looked at her expectantly. “I
need you to help me lose Toby again.”
    Olivia
understood right away what her sister had in mind. It seemed like ages since
she and Ivy had traded clothes and swapped places, but it was so much fun. A
smile spread across her face.
    “We’ll
switch!” they whispered together, as if on cue—which promptly set them both off
in another laughing fit.
    “Ladies,”
said Mr. Strain sternly from the front of the room. “Is there something
humorous about oxygenation?”
    “I’m
sorry.” Ivy gulped, straining to keep from laughing. “It’s my medication.”
Olivia clutched her chair to keep from falling off.
    It
took half the class before they could say anything to each other without
automatically cracking up. Finally, as they were finishing their experiment,
Ivy whispered, “Where should we do it?”
    “How
about the mall?” Olivia suggested.
    “Killer
idea,” Ivy said. “I’ll head there with Toby in tow right after school. I’ll go
the long way.”
    “And I’ll
take the shortcut,” Olivia said, blown away by how she and Ivy seemed able to
read each other’s minds, “and wait for you in the girls’ bathroom in the food
court. Once we switch clothes, I can lead Toby around the mall while you go to
your appointment.”
    “Exactly,”
said Ivy. Then added loudly, “Five hundred seventy milliliters.”
    “Huh?”
said Olivia, confused. Then she noticed Mr. Strain standing right in front of
their desk. “Right,” she said, writing the number on their experiment log. “Five
hundred seventy milliliters.”
    As the
teacher walked on to the next desk, Olivia felt Ivy slip something cool and
metallic into her hand, and looked down to see that it was a set of keys. “I’ll
meet you back at my house after a few hours,” Ivy whispered. “Just walk in, say
hello to my dad, and head straight to my room. Don’t come out until I get
there. Eventually, Toby will give up and go home.”
    Olivia
nodded. She’d have to call her mom and tell her that she was studying at
someone’s house. She went over the rest of the plan in her mind, and then she
started