Free 14 Flipping Out - My Sister the Vampire by Sienna Mercer

park full of people looking in the other direction.’ She turned to gaze soulfully at Ivy. ‘Do you ever feel that
everyone in the
world
is looking in the other direction?’
    Right now, it feels like everyone is looking right at me
, Ivy thought. She had to bite down hard on her tongue to keep the words from coming out. Then she twitched with pain.
Ouch!
Her too-sharp fangs had just drawn blood. She stifled a moan as she put one hand to her cheek.
    With a glance at Ivy’s poetry textbook, Penny reached into her backpack and pulled out her own. The front was covered with doodles – headstones and daggers, barbed wire and skulls
– and from the shy look Penny gave her, Ivy knew she was supposed to comment on them.
    ‘Wow, that’s . . . very goth.’ Ivy gave a polite smile. ‘I can certainly tell which gang you belong to at school.’
    ‘Really?’ Light broke through the mask of misery on Penny’s face. Beaming, she pulled up her shirt sleeve. ‘Here, look! I just got this today.’
    Obediently, Ivy leaned over and saw the temporary tattoo on Penny’s wrist: a ram’s skull with twisted horns.
Seriously? She’s showing off a temporary tattoo?
‘Um
. . . yeah,’ she finally managed. ‘Nice.’
    It was true that Ivy liked all things Gothic . . . But weren’t temporary tattoos a bit childish?
    Even if she’d been rude enough to say so, though, she couldn’t have gotten a word in edgeways. It was as if her admiration of Penny’s doodles had opened up a dam, and now all
of Penny’s words were flooding out.
    ‘You wouldn’t believe where I went yesterday,’ Penny said. ‘A record store – can you believe it? Real, old-school vinyl in a real-life record store! I even managed
to track down the EP of Death Rattle’s first live gig. That is seriously rare! Rare like a . . . a really rare steak!’ She lifted one hand to her mouth.
    Is she about to be sick? Ivy stared at the other girl. ‘Ohh-kay.’
    ‘But we were talking about music!’ Penny visibly perked up. ‘You’ve heard of Death Rattle, right? They are an incredibly important goth band! Oh, and there are lots of
other important goth bands, too. There’s the Pall Bearers, and . . .’
    Ivy shook her head wonderingly as Penny listed off on her fingers every goth band she knew.
It’s like she’s been cramming for a goth exam!
    ‘Wow,’ she said, finally breaking through the list. ‘You must be the ultimate student.’
    ‘Oh, no.’ Penny’s face crumpled. ‘Was it too much? A step too far?’
    Ivy blinked. ‘Too much of what?’ she asked. ‘I don’t understand.’
    ‘Oh, forget it! You don’t have to pretend.’ Penny’s eyes brimmed with tears. ‘I knew you’d see through my act!’ she said. ‘Someone as cool as you
. . . of course you’d know a genuine goth from a fake goth. I should never have even bothered trying. I’m such a loser!’ With a sob, she buried her face in her hands.
    ‘Hey!’ Shaking her head, Ivy hurried to the other side of the table to put a hand on Penny’s shoulder. ‘I don’t even know what’s going on!’ she
protested. ‘Are you telling me this was all an act? You’re not even a real goth?’
    Penny nodded without uncovering her face.
    ‘But what’s the point?’ Ivy slumped on to the seat beside Penny, her head whirling. ‘Who would pretend to be a goth?’
    ‘I hate goth stuff,’ Penny mumbled. ‘I hate the colour black. It’s so ugly! I like pink, sparkly things.’
    ‘Really?’ Ivy looked at Penny’s dyed-black hair and all-black outfit and let out a snort of laughter. ‘You should meet my sister, then.’
    I just wish she was here now.
Ivy sighed. How long had it been since she and Olivia had managed to have a heart-to-heart like this one?
It’s ridiculous that ever since school
started, I’ve had less time with my own twin than I do with any random goth!
    That wasn’t Penny’s fault, though. Gathering her wayward thoughts, Ivy said briskly, ‘No wonder you’ve