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Destiny swallowed hard. aWell, weall all be home now. It wonat be so quiet anymore.a aThatas what Iam afraid of!a he said. Behind the glasses, his pale blue eyes flashed.

They both laughed.

Livvy emerged from her cabin in shorts and a sleeveless T-shirt, dragging a suitcase, a backpack, and three other canvas bags, clothes spilling over the tops. aI couldnat fit it all in,a she said.

She dropped everything and ran to hug her dad. aHey, I missed you!a He stepped back to study her. aYou look pos- itively healthy.a Livvy frowned. aIs that a compliment?a He continued to stare. aNo tattoos?a aOf course not, Daddy. I promised, remember?a He turned to Destiny. aDid she stay out of trouble this summer?a aNo way,a Livvy said before Destiny could reply. aWhy would I want to stay out of trouble?a Dr. Weller chuckled. He raised his eyes to Livvyas cabin. aWeare missing one family member. Whereas Mikey?a Livvy rolled her eyes. aHe found some new

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kind of worm heas never seen before under my bed. He was following it around the cabin, studying it. Heas just like you, Dad, fascinated by animals and insects.a aOur cabins are a great place to study mutant insect life,a Destiny said. aHe could be in there for hours.a aMikey is definitely growing up,a Livvy said. aHe used to eat the worms. Now he just follows them.a aLetas start packing up the car,a Dr. Weller said, massaging the back of his neck. He sighed.

aWeave got a long drive home.a aDad looks so much older,a Livvy said. She whispered even though they were upstairs in their room.

aItas just because his whiskers turned white,a Destiny said.

Livvy shook her head. aHe looks really tired.

Heas kinda stooped over. And didnat you notice how he keeps sighing all the time? His whole face is different. Itas like sunken or something.a Destiny peered down the stairs to make sure the door was closed. The twins shared a long, low room above the garage. It had been empty

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storage space when the Wellers moved in and the girls were little. But their father built walls, painted, set down carpet, and turned it into a big room with lots of privacy that they could share.

Destiny loved the room because it was like having her own apartment. When her friends came over, they always hung out there.

aI think Dadas been working too hard,a Destiny said, stuffing dirty camp clothes into a white laundry bag. aHe didnat take any vacation at all this summer.a Livvy, sprawled on her bed, watched Destiny unpack. aHeas been strange ever since Mom died, like a zombie or something.a aWe all miss Mom,a Destiny said softly. aItas just weird being back in this house without her.

I keep expecting her to come up here and help us unpack.a aMe too,a Livvy whispered.

They both fell silent. Destiny checked the bottom of her suitcase. Empty. She had finished unpacking. Her sisteras bags sat against the wall, untouched.

aAnd what is Mikeyas problem?a Livvy asked. aHe played that dumb Game Boy game all

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the way home and barely spoke to us.a Destiny shrugged. aIam worried about him.

I asked him how he liked his day camp, and he said it was totally boring. He said he didnat make any new friends because he didnat want to. And he didnat learn to dive because there was too much chlorine in the pool.a aOh, wow,a Livvy said, shaking her head.

aIs it shrink time for Mikey?a Destiny sighed. aYou know how close he was to Mom. And heas only eight years old, the poor kid.a She crossed the room and dropped down on the edge of her sisteras bed. aIt isnat going to be easy, Liv. Weare really going to have to help out a lot more here at home.a Livvy leaned back against the headboard of her bed, crossing her legs in front of her. aTell me something I donat know. I already quit the cheerleading squad so I could be home with Mikey afternoons, didnat I?a She sighed. aThis is our senior year. Itas supposed to be totally awesome. You know. Fun?

Exciting?a aWeall have fun,a Destiny said, reaching out and squeezing her sisteras arm. aDonat worry.

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We can still have fun.a She turned when she heard heavy footsteps on the stairs. aHeya"whoas there?a she called.

aItas me!a a deep voice boomed in a heavy foreign accent. aIave come to drink your blood!a

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Chapter Seven.

She Canat Stop Screaming Destiny jumped up and ran to the stairwell.

Peering down, she saw their friend Ari Stark halfway up the stairs. Ari, short and stocky, his serious face topped by curly black hair, wore baggy khaki cargo shorts and a T-shirt with a grinning mummy across the front.

aHey, whatas up?a he called. aCheck this out.a He held up a DVD. Destiny read the title: Curse of the Vampireas Daughter.

Livvy came over to greet Ari. She groaned when she saw the DVD. aI am so not in the mood for another one of your gross vampire movies.a aBut itas Part Three,a Ari protested. His gums showed when he smiled. aItas the best one.

The special effects are awesome.a Livvy tossed back her hair. aIam, like, sick of awesome effects. Whatas so great about awesome effects?a

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Ari looked hurt. Horror movies were his life.

aWe havenat seen you all summer,a Destiny said, aand you just want to sit and stare at a movie?a aYeah,a Ari replied. aWell, hey. How was camp? Did they show any movies?a aWe didnat have time for movies,a Livvy told him. aWe were too busy having sex every night.a Arias cheeks turned red.

Destiny and Livvy shared a smile. He believes us.

aAnd what did you do all summer?a Livvy asked him. aYou have a paper route or something?a aHa ha.a Arias face was still red. aI just hung out. You know. I helped my dad a little at the restaurant. Itas been kinda scary here in town.a Destinyas eyes went wide. aScary?a Livvyas cell phone rang. She ran to her desk and picked it up. aYeah. Hi. Where are you? Our front yard? Well, yeah. Come up. We havenat seen you in months.a She clicked off the phone.

aWho was that?a Destiny asked.

aEverybody.a

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aI missed you so much.a Ana-Li May wrapped her arms around Destiny. aI kept trying your cell for weeks, but you never answered.a aThe camp was deep in the woods,a Destiny said. aMy phone was useless. I missed you tooa . Whatas different about you?a She stepped back to study her friend.

Ana-Li was tiny and thin, like a delicate bird. For such a little girl, she had a surprisingly deep, womanly voice. She also had a warm, winning smile, and enough energy for five people.

She gave Destiny a playful shove. aThereas nothing different about me. You just forgot what I look like. You know. Out of sight, out of mind.a aI tried to e-mail you,a Destiny said, abut my laptopa"a aSo how was camp? Meet any great guys?a aNot really. I made some good friends, though.a aToo bad,a Ana-Li said. She waved to Livvy across the room. aI struck out too. That physics workshop I went to at M.I.T.? Geek City.a aLetas talk later. Just you and me,a Destiny said. aI love what you did with your hair. Wish I could have such perfectly straight black hair.a

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aThatas so funny,a Ana-Li said. aI always wanted to be a blond.a Destiny tugged her friendas hair. aMaybe we should trade.a They both laughed.

Destiny turned to say hi to her other friends. They were all talking at once, their voices ringing off the low ceilings of the room above the garage. They sprawled on the cream-colored carpet, sat on the long, cushiony couch that divided the room between Destinyas terri-tory and her sisteras half, and perched on the edges of the beds.

Destiny felt a wave of happiness sweep over her. The house had felt cold and gloomy last spring when her mother a when her mother killed herself. So many tears. So many long silences.

And after it had happened, their friends suddenly treated the twins differently. No one made jokes. Everyone acted tense and awkward.

The girls felt kids were watching them when- ever they walked down the hall at school.

We werenat us anymore. We were the girls whose mother committed suicide.

Eight weeks of working at Camp Blue Moon

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had helped Destiny get away from all that. And now her friendsa voices warmed her, made her feel safe and comfortable in her house again.

Standing by the door, Destiny gazed around the room at everyone.

On one end of the couch, Ari was talking with Courtney DeWitt, gesturing wildly with his hands, as usual, telling her about a horror convention his cousin had taken him to.

Courtney hadnat changed a bit over the summer, Destiny saw. She was still skinny but round-faced, with her straight brown hair pulled back in a high ponytail, the kind everyone had in fourth grade.

aI hate this round face,a she once com- plained to Destiny. aEvery time my dad calls me Babyface, I just want to slug him!a Now she kept tugging at a hole in the knee of her jeans as she listened to Ari.

Destiny turned to Ross Starr on the other end of the couch. Ross had shaved his blond hair short over the summer, and everyone had to comment on it.

aWhat did you do this summer?a Destiny called to him.

Ross lowered the Mountain Dew can head

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been chugging from. He flashed Destiny his winning smile. aI was a lifeguard. What a blast.

Check out this tan.a aA lifeguard? For real? Where?a aJersey shore. My aunt has a house there.a aDid you rescue anyone?a Ari asked.