Read Fangtastic! for Free Online

taking up obscure martial
arts. None of them ever made him any less embarrassing. “You scared me,” she
said.
    Her
father raised his chin. “He who masters li ching can do scary things!”
    Olivia
rolled her eyes and said, “Where’s the remote?”
    Her
dad shrugged and glanced around the room. Then he said, “Oh!” and reached into
the pocket of his pajamas.
    Olivia
grabbed the remote from him and flipped straight to The Morning Star . On
screen, Serena Star was standing in front of Franklin Grove Middle School,
talking into her microphone.
    “Anonymous
sources say Garrick Stephens, the Franklin Grove student who hijacked a dead
man’s funeral on Sunday”—a leering photo of Garrick appeared beside Serena Star’s
head—“is kingpin of the Beasts, a gang of bullies who constantly reference the
occult,” Serena Star reported gravely.
    “Serena
Star was at your school?” Mr. Abbott said curiously.
    Olivia
shushed him with a vigorous nod.
    “Some
students believe that Mr. Stephens and his friends’ strange behavior,”
continued Serena Star, “may be symptomatic of a much larger problem. One that’s
nothing short of . . . GRIMARKABLE!” A graphic with the word “GRIMARKABLE!” appeared
beside her head.
    What
a ridiculous word! Olivia
thought. She was shocked, though, when the graphic was replaced by Charlotte
Brown’s flushed face, over a caption
    that
said CHARLOTTE BROWN, HEAD CHEER- LEADER. “I was in the girls’ bathroom,
re-applying gloss, when two Goth girls came in,” Charlotte said. Olivia shut
her eyes in embarrassment. “They were dressed from head to toe in black rags,
and their nails were covered in black nail polish.” And then, “They growled at
me!”
    “So
you think it’s a problem,” Serena Star’s voice said offscreen, “that so many
Franklin Grove students are obsessed with darkness?”
    “Totally!”
Charlotte agreed.
    “Interesting,”
Olivia’s dad murmured. Serena Star reappeared on screen. “It’s clear that a
sinister, corrupting influence is alienating the good students, like Charlotte
Brown, at this school.” Olivia rolled her eyes as Serena Star walked
dramatically toward the camera, stopping only when her face filled the screen.
    “America,
where there’s smoke, there’s arson! Who is behind the dark forces strangling
Franklin Grove? Young Garrick Stephens clearly isn’t smart enough to be the
real ringleader, so who is it?” Serena demanded. “I, Serena Star, am determined
to find out, because the Star of truth must shine!” she cried, thrusting her
microphone into the air and bringing it down. Then, with sudden calm, she
smiled and said, “I’m Serena Star. Wake up, America!”
    Olivia
shut off the TV. Her father noticed the frown on her face and said, “Don’t
worry about those Beast boys, Olivia. I’ll teach you li ching so you can
protect yourself.”
    Olivia
groaned and walked into the kitchen. She was staring into space, thinking about
Serena Star and eating a yogurt, when something in the next room caught her
eye: a sparkling feather was sticking out from the top shelf of the tall glass
cabinet where her parents kept the good china.
    Olivia
realized that after she and Camilla had pored over Great-aunt Edna’s priceless
artifacts last night, her mom must have moved them all up there so that they
wouldn’t get damaged.
    Without
another cheerleader in the room to give her a boost, Olivia had to drag her
chair over to reach the top shelf.
    Leaving
the ostrich fan where it was, she carefully carried the wooden box back to the
kitchen and set it before her on the breakfast table. She still couldn’t get
over how beautiful it was. The box was made of gleaming cherrywood, delicately
carved in a pattern of flowers and birds.
    Olivia
opened the lid and gazed at Great-aunt Edna’s precious necklace, which lay
glittering on the deep-blue satin lining of the compartment. For some reason,
that made her think of Garrick Stephens in his luxury Interna