- Prey
- Sphere
- Black Rose
- The Great Train Robbery
- Blue Dahlia
- Carnal Innocence
- Dance Upon the Air
- High Noon
- Lawless
- Sacred Sins
- Tribute
- Face the Fire
- Holding the Dream
- A Man for Amanda
- All the Possibilities
- Next
- Prey
- Sphere
- Black Rose
- The Great Train Robbery
- Blue Dahlia
- Carnal Innocence
- Dance Upon the Air
- High Noon
- Lawless
- Sacred Sins
- Tribute
- Face the Fire
- Holding the Dream
- A Man for Amanda
Dark HungerChapter 2
After third period, Ivy was still trying to figure out what to do about Serena Star. She pulled open her locker and distractedly wedged her notebook into a crevice between a stray boot and a stack of books. The entire contents of her locker started trembling, and Ivy lunged forward just as an ava- lanche of stuff tumbled out. She was left clutch- ing a lone rubber vampire bat from the All Hallow's Ball, with a pile of things she didn't even know she owned at her feet. "Me, too," Sophia chimed in quickly. Serena Star paused. "So you two don't know Garrick Stephens?" Ivy and Sophia didn't say anything. "And you don't know anything about him or his friends?" Serena pressed. "Everyone calls them the Beasts," Toby piped up from a few feet away. Ivy hadn't even realized he was still there. Serena Star nodded at him encouragingly, and Toby went on. "They're always playing practical jokes and things. Several weeks ago, they dragged me to a party at Ivy's house, even though they knew I wasn't invited." Ivy winced. Serena turned to look at her. "You invited Garrick Stephens to a party?" "Just a, you know, a Halloween party." Ivy gulped. "Lots of people were invited." "But not Toby, who you work with closely on the school paper?" Serena said pointedly. Ivy shrugged helplessly. Serena Star turned back to Toby. "What else can you tell me about Garrick and his friends?" "I think they're into heavy metal," Toby said, "although that might just be their T-shirts. And they're always saying weird things, like `blood- sucker' this and `bloodsucker' that." Ivy's mouth went dry. "Bloodsucker?" Serena's eyes widened. "Are you sure?" "Yes," Toby replied. Serena looked at her cameraman. "That's a wrap," she said. She didn't even thank Toby or anything. "Looks like we have some investigating to do, Martin. Let's start by doing some under- cover eating at this Meat & Greet, where certain elements seem to hang out." She looked at Ivy and Sophia meaningfully. Then she marched out of the room, her cameraman hurrying after her. "Celebrities."Toby shrugged at Ivy and Sophia by way of explanation. They smiled back at him awkwardly. A few moments later, Ivy and Sophia were trudging down the hall toward the cafeteria. "You've got to do something, Ivy," Sophia said. "Me?" Ivy cried. "What about you?" "I can't. I'm just a photographer," Sophia said. "You have to get that assistant job." Ivy knew her friend was right, but it wasn't going to be easy. "I have a feeling Serena Star doesn't trust me very much." "You have to make her!" Sophia pleaded. Ivy thought about it and pushed her hair out of her face. "What I need to do is come up with a killer quote that is also completely misleading." "Hey, that's all Serena Star does every day," Sophia said with an encouraging smile. "And you're much smarter than she is." At that very moment, Serena Star rushed past with her cameraman in tow. "Didn't the actor Hank Hogart call his wife a bloodsucker after their divorce?" the girls heard her say. "Maybe there's a connection there!" Sophia and Ivy looked at each other and then burst out laughing as they pushed through the cafeteria doors. As she walked into media studies class, Olivia was having a hard time not imagining an angry mob storming into school and carrying off her sister for the WowTV cameras. She absentmindedly took her seat beside Camilla as the bell rang. In strolled Mr. Colton wearing dark sunglasses and his trademark short-sleeved Hawaiian shirt. "Good afternoon, media moguls!" he sang, dra- matically throwing his old leather briefcase onto his desk. "Judging from all the TV cameras around here, I'd say it's quite a day for media studies at Franklin Grove." He scanned the class until his eyes rested over Olivia's shoulder. "Mr. Stephens, it's clear from your little per- formance at the cemetery that last month's jour- nalism segment made quite an impression on you." Olivia and Camilla both turned around to see Garrick sitting with the other Beasts at the table behind them, an ear-to-ear grin above his Interna 3 T-shirt. "Maybe next time, you'll actu- ally complete the assignment on time," Mr. Colton finished with his eyebrows raised. Ouch, thought Olivia. She couldn't help feeling pleased as the smile fell right off Garrick's face. Mr. Colton dug into his briefcase and held up a sheaf of papers. "Drum roll, please!" Everyone started drumming on their desks with their fingertips. The thrumming got louder and louder, until Olivia and Camilla were slap- ping the table they shared with their hands. "Introducing . . ." Mr. Colton shouted over the din, "the Film Assignment!" He held the papers over his head in a disco pose. Everybody laughed. "Your mission, should you choose to accept it," Mr. Colton said, darting around the room and passing an assignment sheet to each student, "is to produce, film, and edit a five-minute docu- mentary. "You can pick any topic you choose, as long as it's appropriate. That means," he said, looking fierce, "no footage of me dancing and singing `Do the Dudley' from my 1989 appearance on Star Search." After Mr. Colton had explained the process for reserving cameras and time in the school's editing suite, he said, "I know everyone's anxious to get started, so why don't you take a few minutes to talk in your groups about possible topics?" Camilla turned to Olivia. "So, what should we do?" she asked excitedly. Olivia thought of Charlotte on the front steps this morning, directing her to talk about what it was like to be a new student in Franklin Grove. "What about a documentary that shows what it's like to move to Franklin Grove?" Olivia sug- gested. "It could be an introduction to the town and what it's really like." Not what it's really like, she thought, but close enough to fool people like Serena Star. Camilla frowned. "I think Serena Star has the truth-about-Franklin-Grove angle covered right now." Olivia realized Camilla was right. It wasn't a very fun idea for a school project, anyhow: it was sort of like trying to make the most boring film possible about Franklin Grove. "I know!" Camilla said. "I've always wanted to do something about alien life-forms. We could show organisms from all different star systems." "That sounds cool," Olivia said, nodding. Then she sighed. "But do you think our budget's big enough to cover shipping and handling of alien organisms?" Camilla blushed. "I guess alien life-forms are reasonably hard to find." There was snickering behind them, and Olivia heard Garrick say, "That's killer!" Olivia had really had enough of Garrick Stephens for one day--after all, he was the one that had started all the trouble with Serena Star in the first place. She spun around. "Can you goons keep it down, please?" The Beasts hooted. "You're just jealous because we have the best idea," leered Garrick. Camilla turned around, too. "I think it's fair to say we've all seen enough of you in front of the camera, Garrick," she said coolly. "Picture it," Garrick said, putting his thumbs and forefingers together to form a square viewfinder. "A documentary that shows how vio- lence is an important part of the modern middle school experience.We're going to film the football games and call it `Cheers for Fears'!" "Yeah!" All the Beasts guffawed, high-fiving each other. Olivia glared at them. "Hey," Garrick said, his eyes suddenly lighting up. "You're a cheerleader, aren't you, Olivia? Want to star in my movie? Now that I'm famous, I've got connections." "You wish," Olivia told him, rolling her eyes and turning back around. "Unbelievable," she added quietly to Camilla. "Garrick's time in the spotlight has actually made him even more obnoxious!" "No kidding," Camilla agreed. Olivia tried to tune out the boys behind her. "Are you coming to the football game after school?" she asked Camilla. "I was planning to." "Why don't you come over to my house for dinner afterward?" Olivia offered. "I bet it'll be easier to come up with an idea for our film with- out all the chatter." She gestured over her shoulder, only to hear Garrick say, "I bet those would make a good impression on a cheerleader!" She had no idea what he was talking about. "I have to check with my mom," Camilla said, "but that sounds great." Behind them all the Beasts shouted, "TOUCH- DOWN!" Mr. Colton shot the boys a look, and they all piped down. "Just promise me Garrick Stephens isn't going to pop out of a casserole at dinner," Camilla joked. Olivia grinned. "With my mom's cooking," she said, "he'll be sliced, diced, and sautted way before that." |
- The Loners
- The Saints
- Switched
- Fangtastic!
- Re-Vamped!
- Vampalicious!
- Tome of the Undergates
- Black Halo
- The Skybound Sea
- If You Stay
- If You Leave
- Until We Burn
- Before We Fall
- Every Last Kiss
- Fated
- Suspiciously Obedient
- Random Acts of Crazy
- Random Acts of Trust
- Her First Billionaire
- Her Second Billionaire
- Her Two Billionaires
- Her Two Billionaires and a Baby
- His Majesty's Dragon
- Throne of Jade
- Black Powder War
- Victory of Eagles
- Tongues of Serpents
- Empire of Ivory
- Crucible of Gold
- Delirium