Flipping Out!. Sienna Mercer

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      ‘Oh, yes, I can!’ Olivia blurted out.

      A pair of goths nearby gave her startled looks.

      Oops. She hadn’t meant to say that out loud!

      ‘Is Ivy’s twin talking to herself ?’ one of the goths whispered loudly.

      The other shook his head sadly. ‘I guess not everyone in her family is cool.’

      Whatever. Olivia ignored them. She had bigger things to worry about . . . like figuring out how to bring down the social barriers of Franklin Grove High!

      Matchmaking Amelia and Finn wouldn’t just make the two of them happy – it would bring all the school’s barriers crashing down.

      And I’m just the person to make it happen. Olivia gave a decisive nod as she stepped into her classroom.

      If she’d needed any more proof of how much this school needed help, it was right here in homeroom, where the social groups were so clearly laid out, they might as well have put up signs and gateposts by each set of desks.

      The goth-crowd owned the ‘primo’ tables, sitting by the window towards the back of the class. Meanwhile, the bunnies were stuck all the way in front, completely unable to join any of the ‘cool’ conversations because they would have to turn around in their desks.

      Olivia shook her head, sighing, and looked for Ivy. I might have known.

      Ivy was boxed in right in the far corner of the room, besieged by goths. As they pressed around her, Olivia saw her eyes fill with more and more panic and frustration until she looked like a trapped tiger.

      ‘. . . But is that show really cool, Ivy? I mean, I know everyone says it is, but what do you think? If you tell me, I’ll know what’s right.’

      ‘Do you think the Pall Bearers sold out with their latest album? I mean, they used keyboards – that’s the opposite of goth! Isn’t it?’

      Uh-oh, Olivia thought. She could see an ultimate death-squint ready to form on her sister’s face. No one trash-talked the Pall Bearers in front of Ivy and survived!

      ‘Hey, Olivia.’ It was Sophia, sitting in the exact centre of the classroom in a spot neither popular nor outcast. She smiled ruefully and patted the empty desk beside her. ‘There’s no point trying to fight your way through Ivy’s flock of bats.’

      Olivia sank down into her seat, still watching her twin. ‘Do you think we should intervene?’

      Sophia sighed. ‘There’s nothing we can do. Trust me – I’ve tried.’

      The goths’ voices grew louder and louder as they all competed for Ivy’s attention. ‘But Ivy –’

      ‘Ivy –’

      ‘Ivy –’

      ‘Hey!’ Ivy suddenly surged out of her seat. ‘I need some thinking time!’

      ‘Thinking time?’ The closest goth-girl shook her head while all the others gasped. ‘What’s that?’

      ‘I just . . .’ Ivy sank back down into her seat, looking defeated. ‘I want to . . . meditate,’ she mumbled. ‘I need to . . . find my chin.’

      ‘Um . . .?’ One of the other girls hesitantly pointed to Ivy’s face. ‘Isn’t it right there?’

      Olivia had to choke down her laugh. None of the others might understand, but Ivy was definitely quoting Olivia’s adoptive father . . . only she had gotten the quote a little bit wrong. Olivia was pretty sure she’d meant to say ‘Jee’.

      Unless it was ‘Chi’? She’d never been sure.

      ‘Whatever,’ Ivy muttered. ‘I just . . . I need to have my own headspace before school really starts.’

      ‘Oh, yes.’

      ‘So smart.’

      ‘I always do that too, Ivy!’

      The other goths all fluttered back to their own desks.

      ‘Mondays are intense !’ the closest goth-boy said solemnly.

      Then they all folded their hands and closed their eyes.

      Ivy looked around the intently meditating group and shook her head, looking desperate. Then she put on her headphones and closed her eyes, slumping down in her seat.

      ‘Look!’ One of the goths had snuck one eye open to peek, and now they nudged another one, pointing to Ivy. ‘She even meditates better than anybody!’

      Little do they know, Olivia thought, Ivy isn’t meditating on anything . . . except maybe on how much she hates being popular!

      She sighed as she turned back to Sophia. ‘This can’t go on.’

      ‘What can we do?’ Sophia shrugged. ‘They love her.’

      ‘But you can see the pressure getting to her already,’ Olivia said. Just like it did at Wallachia Academy in Transylvania, she realised. The memory made her shoulders stiffen.

      Olivia hadn’t been able to help her sister at that snooty school for vampires, but she was here for Ivy now . . . and she wouldn’t let her twin down.

      She looked around the room and shook her head. ‘There are so many social walls built around everyone at this high school, it’s unbelievable.’

      ‘Tell me about it,’ Sophia groaned. ‘I’ve never seen anything like this before.’

      ‘Then let’s do something about it!’ Olivia nodded decisively. ‘These walls need breaking down . . . and I’m the one with the sledgehammer!’

      ‘You?’ Sophia gave a snort of laughter as she looked up and down Olivia’s glittering pink top, flippy skirt and sequinned bag. ‘Olivia Abbott with a sledgehammer – now, that would really be unbelievable!’

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