Switched by Sienna Mercer

spotted the roof of the school in the distance.
    Ivy
reappeared. “Come on,” she said, pulling Olivia inside. “My dad’s not home.”
    Olivia’s
eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light. The entryway was huge, with walls
covered in interlocking patterns of stone and dark mahogany. She could just
make out an extravagant staircase snaking up to the second floor; a window
above it was shrouded by thick dark velvet curtains.
    Apparently,
Ivy’s not the only black sheep in her family, Olivia thought. This place is
Goth heaven!
    Olivia
followed her sister past a suit of armor and down a twisting flight of stone
steps. A series of electric candelabra lit the way. They came to a landing and
turned a corner.
    Suddenly
Olivia found herself at the top of a staircase. To her left was a window
covered with a heavy velvet curtain, which Olivia realized must be set just
above ground level. As she followed Ivy down the stairs, the wall to her right
fell away to offer a clear view of the spacious basement room below.
    In the
center of the stone floor was a huge, round, cream-colored rug. Tall mahogany
shelves crammed with papers and books took up the far wall. In one corner was a
huge desk with a computer and toppling stacks of CDs; in another was a big
black bed strewn with funky pillows. Black shoes littered the floor everywhere,
looking like fallen bats. “This is the coolest room I have ever seen!” Olivia
admitted as she reached the bottom.
    “Thank
you,” said Ivy, sounding pleased.
    Olivia
turned around and noticed some words written in big black calligraphy on the
stones that ran down the side of the stairway: “The matter is that I never get
any rest, and my nights devour my days.”
    “That
is so weird,” she murmured. “That’s from the Guy de Maupassant story I read in
the library today. I even told Brendan to read it!”
    “ The
Horla ? ” Ivy responded. “It sucks, doesn’t it?”
    “That’s
exactly what I told him.” Olivia grinned.Then she noticed the largest wardrobe
she had ever seen, made of ornately carved mahogany. It had five doors, one of
which hung open. Necklaces and purses glimmered in the dim light.
    Olivia
charged over, flinging open the doors. There were racks upon racks of sweaters,
skirts, tops, and dresses in every imaginable shade of black, purple, sapphire,
and claret, with occasional flashes of emerald and gray. There was one section
filled with more black shoes and boots.
    “I
knew we had something in common,” Olivia said excitedly as she took inventory.
    She
immediately pulled out a long-sleeved, lightweight, V-necked top in a rich wine
red with slashed sleeves. “Can I try this on?” she asked.
    Ivy
stood looking in the mirror, examining the outfit her sister had helped her
choose for her first date with Brendan. She hadn’t worn this sweater in ages,
but she had to admit that Olivia was right—she looked drop-dead in it. Olivia
had also picked out a formfitting, long black skirt that Ivy hadn’t even known
she owned.
    “What
do you think of this?” Olivia said behind her, referring to her latest
creation. She was wearing a black baby tee that said KILL ME SOFTLY in gray
Gothic letters and a black chiffonand-velvet-striped skirt. It must have been
the sixth outfit she’d tried.
    “Now that ,”
said Ivy, “looks like me.” Olivia inspected herself in the mirror. “Let’s
    accessorize,”
she decided. She went down to the end of the wardrobe and came back with an
armful of jangly, strappy things. She carefully handed Ivy some silver bangles
and a pair of big silver hoop earrings, saying, “I can’t believe you wear
clip-ons,” to which Ivy just shrugged. For herself, she’d chosen a black velvet
choker.
    Ivy
sprayed some Pale Beauty on Olivia’s face, and then they crowded side by side
in the mirror to finish their makeup. They both chose the same dark maroon
lipstick.
    Ivy
glanced at her chunky watch and shot her sister a pained look. “You have to
meet Sophia at