Chapter 9. Please review.
"What about a big box of props for the photographs, so that people can pretend to stake each other?" Akiza asked eagerly as she added a chocolate brownie to her lunch tray.
Rebecca tried to nod enthusiastically, but her best friend was driving her seriously batty. Lately the ball was all that Akiza wanted to talk about. Akiza scanned the cafeteria for a place to sit. Tea and Serenity were both studying for a test in the library, so Rebecca knew she had to do something to avoid an entire lunch debating streamers vs balloons.
She spotted Becky sitting in the corner with Mai Valentine, who Rebecca and Akiza both knew because she occasionally wrote for the school paper. "Let's sit over there," Rebecca suggested.
At least with them Akiza would have to a break from the ball.
"With the bunnies?" Akiza said skeptically.
"Why not?" Rebecca answered. "You always like Mai's book reviews."
Akiza shrugged, and they made their way over.
"Hey," said Rebecca, with an innocent nod toward Becky. "Can we sit here?"
"Sure," Mai replied.
"Totally," Becky agreed.
As they sat down, Mai said, "Your last photo essay in the paper, I read that book you reviewed last week. You know, the one you gave four dances out of five. You were right. It sucks."
"Doesn't it?" gushed Mai.
"Where's your food?" Becky asked Rebecca, gesturing at Rebecca's half-empty tray.
"They ran out of burgers," Rebecca explained, rolling her eyes. "What kind of school cafeteria runs out of burgers?"
"We should riot," joked Akiza, and everyone laughed.
"Want some of my beef lasagna?" Mai offered. "My mom made it. It's the best."
Rebecca peered into Mai's Tupperware. It did look really good, and she was dying for something with meat in it. "Okay," she said gratefully. "If you think you have enough."
Mai slid a generous piece of lasagna onto a napkin and passed it to Rebecca.
"Thanks," Rebecca said. She scooped up a hunk with her fork and popped it in her mouth. Right away, her tongue felt like it was on fire. She gagged and swallowed to stop the pain.
Oh, no! thought Rebecca in a blind panic. That was the gravest thing I could possibly have done! Her stomach turned, and she felt ice-cold. She started seeing spots-big black and blue blobs at the corners of her vision.
"Rebecca?" Becky said, leaning across the table. "Are you okay?"
She couldn't answer.
"She looks really pale," Mai said in a faraway voice. "Like, even paler than normal."
Rebecca blinked. Her head was killing her.
Akiza grabbed Rebecca's hand and turned to Mai. "Did that have garlic in it?" she asked urgently.
"I, um don't know maybe," Mai stammered. "Maybe."
Akiza stood up. "We have to go."
Rebecca felt her friend pull her to her feet. The last thing she heard as Akiza dragged her out of the cafeteria was Becky's voice calling, "Is she okay?" from a million miles away.
"Do you think she's okay?" Becky repeated as Rebecca and Akiza disappeared out the cafeteria doors.
"I don't know what happened," Mai said, shaking her head guiltily. "Maybe Rebecca'a allergic to garlic."
"She looked so ill!" Becky remarked.
"Everybody says my mom's lasagna's great," Mai tried to explain. "At least Akiza seemed to know what to do," she added.
"Yeah." Becky wrung her hands. "I just hope Rebecca's all right."
After lunch and through the rest of the day, Becky watched for her sister in the hallways, but she was nowhere to be found. She didn't see Akiza anywhere either.
Becky started to worry when Rebecca didn't show up for last period. She remembered how, at her old school, somebody's little sister had almost died after accidentally eating a almond. All through science, Becky had to fight the urge to rush out of class. She kept staring at the door.
"Becky?" Mr. Kingery was pointing at her with a thin light brown stick. "The process by which plants turn sightlight into energy?"
"Um... Photosynthesis?" Beck suggested.
It was the longest science class of her life. When the bell finally rang, Becky had already packed up her things and punched Rebecca's phone number into her new cell phone.
She was the first one out the door, hitting Send the moment she crossed the threshold. It rang once. Twice. Three times. Four times. Five times.
"Hello?" Rebecca's sickly voice answered.
"Rebecca!" Becky cried. "Are you okay?"
"Hi, Becky," her sister said weakly. "I'm all right. I just had a... grave reaction to... the garlic in Mai's... lasagna."
"You sound awful," Becky told her, leaning against a locker.
"I'll be better... in a day or two," Rebecca said drily.
Becky felt tears spring to her eyes. "I was really worried." She gulped.
"Really, I'm okay," Rebecca said reassuringly. "I just can't... practice today... I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about that," said Becky. She'd been so worried she'd actually totally forgotten they were supposed to dance together this afternoon. "Just get better! Do you need anything?"
"No thanks," Rebecca whispered. "Just rest."
"I'll call you later," Becky said.
After she'd hung up, Becky spotted Mai by her locker and went over to give her the update.
"Rebecca's okay," Becky said. "She went home."
"What happened?" Mai asked, her eyes wide with concern.
"She's allergic to garlic," Becky explained. "She needs some time to recover, but says it's really no biggie."
"I'm so relieved she's all right," Mai said, sliding a book into her bag. Then she looked up at Becky. "Are you doing anything after school today?"
"I did have plans," Becky replied, "but they got canceled."
"Wanna go to a book signing at the mall?" Mai asked, swinging her bag over her shoulder. "It's this guy who's, like, a minor deity in the sci-fi world."
Becky thought about it for about half a second. Her parents weren't expecting her home until dinner. "Sure." She grinned. "I'd love to."
Thursday afternoon, Rebecca stretched in her backyard and waited for Becky to arrive. While she still felt a little stiff from the lasagna incident, she was seriously ready to reenter the land of the living after 2 days in bed.
She sat down and leaned over her outstretched legs to touch her toes. It had rained the night before, and the still-damp grass soaked through her black jeans, so she scrambled to her feet again.
As she did so, her sister bounded around the corner of the house with an excited, "Hello!"
Rebecca smiled, and they hugged tightly.
"You have one bite of garlic and you're out of commission?" Becky poked her playful disbelief. "That's insane!"
Rebecca stepped back and shrugged uncomfortably. "I had too much garlic as a baby," she mumbled. "It doesn't agree with me."
"That's weird," Becky said. "Especially because we had the same parents until we were one. And I love garlic."
Can she tell I'm lying? Rebecca wondered.
Fortunately, her sister didn't say anything more about it. Instead, Becky did a double clap and said, "Okay, on Monday, you made it clear you can dance. But your smiling needs more improvement!"
"Are you saying that on purpose?" Rebecca asked.
"Yes," Becky replied enthusiastically. "So let's see whether you can smile more!"
Rebecca rolled her eyes. Then she stood up straight, turned up the corners of her mouth, and started dancing. During the past 2 days in bed, she come up with a trick to help her smile: she imagined the Hirutani's gang standing in the graveyard, wearing nothing but pink briefs that said I'M WITH STUPID on them. It worked like a charm.
"Go, Rebecca!" Becky cheered as Rebecca finished. "That was much better! You smiled!"
"Thanks," Rebecca responded, slightly embarrassed.
Becky patted her on the back and said, "Want to work on more moves for new dances?"
"Okay," said Rebecca. They moved closer to the house and turned to face a distant line of thorn bushes. Becky counted down, and together they took a few running steps and leaped into the air.
1, 2, 3 roundoffs. Out of the corner of her eye, Rebecca saw Becky stick one last move.
Deciding to go one better, Rebecca put her hand to the ground, ready to push off into a double hand spring. But her palm slipped on the rain-slick grass, her arm went out from under her, and suddenly she was flying wildly through the air.
The thorn bushes came spinning toward her like a kaleidoscope. "Owww!" Rebecca cried as she slammed into them.
Becky came running. "Rebecca!"
"I'm okay," Rebecca called, feeling like an utter loser. She stood up from the bushes and brushed herself off. "That's what I get for trying to show off."
"You're hurt!" Becky exclaimed.
Rebecca looked down and saw that her left arm was covered in blood; three deep crimson ran its length. She had been careless. Usually, she would have checked to make sure there weren't any obvious injuries before emerging from the thornbushes, but it was too late now. Instinctively, she put her other hand over the scratches so her sister wouldn't see.
But before she knew it, Becky was at her side, trying to move her hand away.
"Let me look," Becky said reassuringly. "I took first aid class 2 years ago."
Becky pried Rebecca's fingers away and gingerly dubbed at the area with a little towel she had pulled from her waistband.
The blood came away on Becky's towel, but- just as Rebecca knew they would be-the scratches were gone!
"You were bleeding," Becky said, twisting Rebecca's arm around in her hands, looking for a cut. "You were bleeding," she said again in confusion.
Rebecca stared at the ground, frantically wondering what she could say.
Becky shook her head, frowning. "Does it hurt?" she asked.
"No, it's fine. I, um..." Rebecca stammered. How was she going to explain this?
"You're not cut somewhere else, are you?" Becky asked, bending to inspect Rebecca's legs. "This is so weird," she muttered, clutching the bloody towel in her hands.
Rebecca could feel her sister trying to catch her eye now.
"Rebecca?" Becky said, her voice brimming with confusion. "What just happened? Did you... did you heal?"
I should tell Becky the truth, Rebecca thought. I don't want to lie to her. She's my twin sister.
"Rebecca, say something!" Becky demanded in exasperation.
I have to tell her, Rebecca decided. "Becky," Rebecca said slowly, meeting her sister's gaze, "I have to tell you a secret."
"Okay," Becky answered cautiously.
"It's serious," Rebecca told her, taking her hand. "I need you to promise you won't tell anyone."
Becky's eyes searched Rebecca's face. "What is it?"
"It's the most important secret you'll ever know," Rebecca said simply.
Becky took a deep breath. "I swear on our sisterhood," she said at last.
Rebecca pulled Becky into the shade of the thornbushes. Then she slowly lifted her hands up to her face and carefully popped out her contact lenses, one after the other.
Becky put her hand to her mouth. "Your eyes are really orange!"
"They're red-orange," corrected Rebecca. She tried to smile. "Becky," she said, "I'm a vampire."
Becky put her hands on her hips. "You are not."
Rebecca nodded solemnly in response.
"You're a vampire?" Becky asked, bewildered. "For real?"
"And Akiza's a vampire," Rebecca went on. "And the other people in my... community: they're vampires, too. We have wear contact lenses to protect our eyes the sun."
"Yeah, right," Becky said. "Like I'm going to believe that vampires have orange eyes!"
"Most don't," Rebecca admitted matter-of-factly, putting her contacts back in. "My eyes are special. Bright yellow, crimson red-those, dark purple are more normal."
"Normal?" Becky said dumbly.
"Uh-huh," Rebecca confirmed.
"That's not in the Vampire Kisses and Count Vira books," Becky said with a doubtful shake of her 2 pigtails.
"Count Vira and some of the things in Vampire Kisses is fiction," Rebecca replied. "I'm a fact. We all have to wear special sunscreen, too," she went on. "Vampire skin is very pale and sensitive. It's completely different from yours."
"Is that why your arm stopped bleeding?" Becky asked.
"We heal super quickly," Rebecca explained.
Becky suddenly took a step back. "You're not going to suck my blood, are you?"
Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Becky, I'm your twin sister," she said. "Do you think I'd be practicing dance moves with you if I wanted to suck your blood?"
Becky came back and examined Rebecca's arm closely. "But isn't that what vampires do? Suck blood and kill people?"
"We don't kill people at all. Ever," Rebecca said seriously. "It's evil! And, besides, the risk of exposing our kind is too great. We haven't sucked blood since the 18th century, when they burned half of us at the stake."
"So how do you satisfy your insatiable thirst for demons?" Becky pressed.
"My insatiable thirst for demons?!" Rebecca repeated incredulously. "You have to start reading better books, Becky. I go to BloodMart like everyone else. There's one in the basement of KN Store."
Becky nodded thoughtfully. Then her eyes lit up. "You have a reflection. You can't be a vampire!" she declared triumphantly.
Rebecca raised her eyebrows. "That's a myth."
"Oh," said Becky, deflated. "Do you sleep in a coffin?"
"Yes." Rebecca almost blushed. "That myth happens to be true."
"But I saw your bed," Becky said.
"The quilts, pillows, and stuff make it more comfortable when I'm doing homework. There's a coffin underneath," Rebecca explained. "When I was little I was utterly jealous of Akiza and her sister's bunk bed coffins," she added wistfully.
"And you getting sick from Mai's lasagna?" Becky prompted.
"Was a bit more than a allergic reaction," Rebecca admitted.
"You're really serious," Becky breathed in amazement.
"Completely," Rebecca confirmed.
For a moment, Becky said nothing. Then she gave a quesy smile. "I am so glad I didn't have any cherry punch at the ball meeting."
Rebecca couldn't help laughing. "Pretty killer secret, huh?" she said.
"Totally," Becky croaked.
Rebecca touched her sister's arm. "Becky, by telling you this, I've broken the First Law of the Night. A vampire is never supposed to reveal her true self to an outsider. I could get into serious trouble if anybody ever finds out that I have"-Rebecca paused-"and you could, too."
Becky nodded bravely. "I won't tell," she said. Then a weird look crossed her face.
"Are you freaked out?" Rebecca asked.
"If we're twins," Becky said slowly, "does that mean that I'm a vampire?"
Rebecca had been asking herself that question for a week. She shook her head. "There's no way, Becky. You love garlic; you have normal skin; and, on top of it all, you have regular green eyes! You're maybe the least vampy person on earth."
"But you're still sure we're twins, right?" Becky asked.
"Absolutely," Rebecca said. "I won't pretend to understand it, but I know I'm a vampire and you're a bunny. We just happen to also be identical twins."
"So that's what a bunny is," Becky murmured distractedly.
This is a lot for Becky to take in all at once, Rebecca realized. "Maybe now that you know," she said, "swapping places isn't such a good idea. Maybe you shouldn't go to any more ball meetings. I'll do it. You focus on dancing."
Becky shook her head. "No," she said firmly, "I can do it. You promised you." Suddenly, her eyes rested on Rebecca's mouth. Becky bent her head down a little, and Rebecca thought for a second that her sister was trying to look up her nose. Then Rebecca realized that wasn't what Becky was doing at all."
"Are you looking for fangs?" Rebecca demanded.
Becky smiled sheepishly. "Maybe."
Rebecca rolled her eyes. "We hide our fangs. And just so you know," she added as she showed her fangs to Becky, "my face never gets gross and bumpy like the 'vampires' on Buffy."
Becky nodded thoughtfully.
She needs time to get to this, Rebecca thought. "I think we're done cheering for today," she said aloud.
"But we only just started," Becky protested halfheartedly.
"It's okay," Rebecca said. "Really. I'm ready for tomorrow. I have the moves. I can even smile. You said it yourself."
Becky's eyes flickered uncertainly.
"Are you sure you still want to go through with it?" Rebecca asked.
Her sister grinned. " Are you worried I'll freak out in front of all your friends?"
"A little," Rebecca admitted.
Becky looked her in the eye. "Trust me," she said. "I can handle it." They hugged. "After all, you know what they say," Becky continued. "Blood is thicker than water."
Rebecca couldn't resist. "And better tasting, too!"
End of chapter 9. Please review.