Read Online Switched by Sienna Mercer - Free Book Online Page A

And . . . ooh, you could even get a big projector
and show that old Dracula movie—you know, the black-and-white one with that
Bela guy? And someone could take black-and-white photographs of all the guests!”
    Nobody
spoke for a long time. At last the boy with the shaved head said, “So you want
to perpetuate the stereotype?”
    Huh? thought Olivia.
    “No,
Ivy’s onto something . . .” Melissa decided, nodding slowly. “Retro is in.”
    “Can
you imagine? Everyone in fangs and capes and stuff?” mused the girl with the
streak of white hair. “That would be deadly.”
    “I
agree,” said the girl with the studded collar, turning to Olivia. “This idea
really sucks, Ivy.”
    For a
second, Olivia thought she might get thrown out of the meeting, but then she
remembered again that “suck” was good. She glanced over at Sophia, who was
staring at her in shock but who still managed a small, surprised smile.
    In the
food court at the mall, Ivy fidgeted at a little table, watching as Brendan
Daniels waited in line at Deep Slice for a small Carnivore’s Delight pizza for
the two of them to share. A long silver key chain looped out of his back
pocket. He turned and smiled at her from under his cowl of dark curls. She gave
a small breathless wave and continued stacking the spice shakers on the table.
    Their
date so far hadn’t gone anything like Ivy had imagined. The first thing Brendan
had done was lead her right past Spins and Dungeon Clothing to the arcade,
where he challenged her to an air hockey tournament.
    For
the next forty minutes, they had barely spoken. Instead, they shouted and
laughed and banged their little round paddles on the table as the thin puck
whizzed between them, cracking against the boards.
    Ivy
took four games out of seven. “You let me win!” she had said, grinning and
bravely nudging Brendan’s arm as they walked out of the arcade.
    “You think
so?” he’d replied, spinning on his heels and grabbing her hand. “Then let’s
make it best of eleven.”
    Brendan
had won that round, but only just. He’d promised Ivy they’d keep a running
tally.
    Now
she was watching as he filled two huge cups at the drinks dispenser. When he
comes back , she thought, remembering her sister’s advice, I’m going to
ask him about himself.
    Brendan
approached carefully, his eyes on the two tall cups that were filled to the
brim with red lemonade. Steam rose off the pizza and bathed his face. He set
the food down in front of Ivy and looked at her.
    “You
know I’ve been scared to death,” he said.
    “Of
spilling something?” Ivy asked, pretending to be distracted by balancing the
oregano atop the pepper atop the salt.
    Across
from her, Brendan shook his head. “I have so many questions I want to ask you,”
he told her.
    Ivy
blinked at her tower and prepared to put the crushed red pepper flakes on top. “Like
what?”
    “I don’t
know.” He shrugged. “Everything?”
    Ivy
couldn’t help recalling what Olivia had said about boys who ask questions. Boyfriend
material! she thought, her heart pounding. She tried not to seem excited.
    Brendan
asked, “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
    Ivy’s
hand jerked, and the chili peppers knocked into the oregano, and the entire
tower of spices collapsed, crashing right into Ivy’s full cup of lemonade and
sending it flying.
    Brendan
was already on his feet. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll get some napkins.”
    Pretty
soon everybody at the planning committee meeting was talking about the theme
Olivia had suggested for the ball. Meanwhile, the Beasts kept whispering and
snickering to one another.
    Finally
Melissa turned to them and said, “Care to share?”
    They
all looked up. One of them said, “Uh, yeah. We got an idea.”
    “Okay,”
said Melissa.
    “It’s
a really excellent idea for a—what do you call it?—a decoration,” the same
Beast went on. His friends chuckled.
    “Totally
excellent,” one of them muttered.
    “ Okay, ”
said