I rested a little, huddling up in my blanket. To pass the time, I took out a little notebook Amy gave me before I got on the plane. Looking through the pages, I got an idea how she persuaded others to write for me.
Some of them wrote to express the sympathy they had. The little policeman I once yelled at when I first recovered from the shock told me that he totally understood the state I was going through and hoped me recover soon with this trip. Others, like Helen, and a girl called Genie were not so nice. Helen just scribed her name in an angry way, and Genie left a rather rude note saying I was just a stupid little one not caring what my brother felt after he died, just heading off for my own happiness.
I quickly went through all of these, and stopped at the page where Kerwin’s signature was. He left me a two-page note, about everything I had to be careful with when meeting those people at the party. Some of the advices were pretty good, actually.
I took out a pen to put a star on those which might come into use. Better use black contact lenses. Look sheepish and harmless. Be sweet and welcoming to anyone who came to greet you. Give a nice impression on them.
Besides these, he also enclosed a piece of plant in the book. His neat writing told me that this plant was rare but had a strong scent. It could release a kind of liquid if being rubbed, kind of like mint. If I keep perfuming myself with it, even vampires could not tell my true identity.
I took a sniff then wrinkled my nose. The scent was pleasant, but much too strong for me. I was not sure if I wanted to use it. I had a few perfumes with me, which I borrowed from Amy’s mom. She was very nice, and apparently Amy told her a lot about me, so she wasn’t very surprised to see me or to hear my extraordinary name.
After I got off the plane and fetched my luggage, I was greeted by a human girl at the exit. She had dark hair dyed green. I could see the roots clearly. She had a round face, and a nice tan. There was a golden tattoo around her waist which was like a bird. Later I found out that it was to resemble the phoenix. Her nose was a bit small, and her mouth too large to be called pretty, but she was friendly and sweet enough no one took much notice on her looks.
“Hi, my name is Ivy. I guess you are D. I love your designs! I even bought some myself. Look!” She twirled around for me to see. She was wearing a more relaxing design of Zach’s. I did my homework by going through his old work book. This sleek purple blouse was one of his favorites. I still remembered him trying to stuff me into one of these, threatening to return to his normal diet.
I smiled and nodded, presenting myself a very sweet kind of girl who was fascinated by Ivy’s liking of the dress. “I’m so glad you like it. I just thought I would try to post it. You know, I just love designing dresses for my Barbie dolls when I am a little girl, and I really don’t want to throw that away-----“
I could tell Ivy was very impressed. She kept babbling about she never thought of me as such a friendly and humble girl. She even told me, a little embarrassed, that she used to picture me as a self-loving gay. I gave her my middle name Diana, as my first name. I decided not to tell her in case some one on her branch was not so trustable. Also, D seemed a better nickname for Diana.
She took me to a nice hotel and led me into the room. It was a single room. There was a great bed with beautiful sheets. The decorations were expensive and ancient-looking. There were huge mirrors and a phone was placed right at the head of the bed in case you have any needs. This was more than I had imagined.
I stood there in shock, with my mouth opened. Ivy giggled and said: “I know how you feel. When I first worked here, I was thrilled. The whole hotel belonged to the magazine company for such events like designers getting together. And you can meet celebrities easily in those corridors. You want to go for a hunt?”
