Post by shiina on Jun 27, 2011 19:07:09 GMT -5
I had lived all my fourteen years convinced that I did and always would hate humans, despite the fact that I’d never met one. I’d thought of them before the way most humans think of vampires. They were different, so they didn't deserve to be alive. I learned on that particular Thursday, though, that I was wrong. I learned that lesson at lunch, when I began to take a liking to a certain human.
All because of three cookies and a carton of milk.
I mumbled numerous curse words as I searched for my money. I dug through my pockets, my purse, my binder, then my pockets again. Nothing, nothing at all. I lost my lunch money.
"Hey," Morgan chimed, materializing at my side. She noticed my distress, asking, "What's wrong?"
"I lost my money." I mumbled.
She raised an eyebrow, "Was it in your purse?" She asked. I nodded, "Stolen," she declared, "Keep it in your pocket from now on. This school is full of thieves. Don't worry about your money, here," She placed three dollars in my hand with a warm smile, "and you don't have to pay me back."
I blinked a few times and watched in amazement as she walked away. I had never met anyone before -vampire or human- who would be that nice. I didn't even ask, she just gave me the money. She got in the lunch line and I waited for a few people to get behind her before I got in line too.
I decided to finally give her a chance and sat beside her and Kayla during lunch. Morgan acted insane during the whole lunch period. You would think I would have been annoyed, but it was strangely entertaining. We may not have become friends instantly, but it was close enough for me.
So I decided to take her up on her sleepover offer.
I woke to my mothers voice on Friday morning. My alarm clock was still broken and I had neglected to replace it.
Everything seemed brighter than the day before, even though it was a bit cloudier outside. My mom didn't hang around in my room for long, though. She was gone from the doorway before I even opened my eyes.
Ben was in the kitchen when I got downstairs. "Good morning, Ben." I said, actually feeling a little happy. But the happiness quickly dissolved when Ben simply pushed past me and went upstairs without a word. I could almost physically feel my heart sink in my chest.
I knew he was going to be mad when I told him about how I felt toward humans. I wondered briefly if he would listen if I told him I was over it, but just as the thought crossed, another more arrogant voice ranted, 'You can't admit you were wrong! You'll get nothing but a big, fat I-Told-You-So!' and, sadly, that voice dominated.
I walked into the hallway after eating and, brushing against the spot under the stairs as I walked by, made my way outside with my school things in hand. I still wished the wall would have opened up and pulled me in.
The bus was full again except for the seat next to Morgan in the very back. She waved for me to sit by her. I scrambled back, the bus already moving even though I hadn't sat down yet, and fell into the seat next to her, almost squishing her two days in a row. She giggled at my not-so-graceful landing.
"Quiet, squishy." I laughed, poking her in the side. She squealed like a dog that had been stepped on and jumped nearly a foot out of her seat. "What was that all about?" I asked.
She was fake trembling, "I'm extremely ticklish. Do. Not. Poke. Me." She warned, "Or I'll eat you."
"Yeah right," I mumbled. If anything I would end up eating her.
We pulled into the school parking lot. "So, are we still on for your house tonight?" I asked her, "My mom said I can go." Because she's now looking for any excuse to get her human hating vampire daughter out of the house. Gah, my own mother hates me.
Morgan pouted, "Actually, no." she said, "My grandparents are coming over. some last minute thing. So my mom doesn't want a bunch of 'you rowdy kids,' " she mimicked an old lady voice, "Disturbing them."
"Man," I was actually looking forward to that. "Wait,” I said, an idea forming, "Maybe my mom will let you and Kayla stay the night at my house." Win-win situation. I have my new friends over, and I prove to my mom that my opinion of humans has changed so she won't hate me anymore. It's brilliant!
"Awesome!" Morgan said, "Chippy and I could easily walk to your house, too!"
"Chippy?" I asked.
"Oh yeah," she said, "Chip is Kayla's nickname, and Chippy is the nickname I gave her nickname. along with Chippewa."
Weirdo.
The bell rang and the bus unloaded. Morgan and I scrambled to gather our things and departed, Morgan calling to me, "Don't forget to ask your mom!" As we headed in opposite directions to our lockers.
Ms. Broaddus was my second period English teacher. She was a bit stout and chubby with short, ultra curly, orangish-blond hair. She was insanely cool and even handled jokes well. One guy in the class, named Colton Gunn kept shouting things like, "Marry me!" or, "I'll see you in bed tonight, Ms. Broaddus!"
And amazingly, Ms. Broaddus played along, countering with things like, "But won't your boyfriend get jealous, Colton?"
I spent most of the class passing notes with Kayla and Morgan. Well, actually, they were passing notes to me and I wrote 'Stop, we're going to get in trouble.' and passed them back. They kept passing them to me anyway, though, and after a while I just started throwing them away without reading them. Morgan and Kayla practically died laughing. At one point I chewed one up without Morgan noticing and plopped the soggy, spit drenched paper into her hand.
I got home that afternoon and grabbed the phone in my room as soon as I got in. I threw it onto the bed along with my book bag and dug through my bag for Morgan’s phone number. I pulled it out of a small side pocket, programmed it into my phone, and before calling Morgan, called my mom's work number.
"Hello?" She answered robotically.
I took a deep breath, ready for begging, "Mom, remember how I was supposed to stay the night at that one girls house tonight? Well, something came up and she can't have company, so I was wondering, can she and another friend of mine stay the night tonight instead?" I asked.
"Tomorrow night." She sighed, obviously too tired from work to put up a fight.
I hadn't expected her to say yes, "Really? They can come?"
"Yes, Lily." She said, "You can have your little parasite slumber party."
"Thank you, thank you! God mom, Thank-" I broke off, "Wait a second, mom. They aren't-"
"I'm busy." She interrupted me, "Let me get back to work Lily, or I'll change my mind." Without another word, she hung up on me.
I was too excited about them being able to come over to worry about my mom thinking they were vampires. I would show her they weren't when they came. Quickly, I flipped through the phone’s programmed numbers and called Morgan to tell her.
There were two rings, a click, and a guys voice, "Hello?"
"Hi," I said, "Is Morgan there?"
"Nope," He said, sounding slightly amused, "Sorry, she isn't here."
She hadn't mentioned going anywhere after school. My mind rushed for a minute. What if she had already thought it was official that she and Kayla could come over and she was already on her way over? "Where is she?"
"She's dead."
Uh... Yeah, right. Then came a screaming in the background that, even though she was probably across the room, was loud enough that I had to hold the phone away from my ear, and even then could still hear her loud and clear. "Randy, give me the phone, I know it's for me, hand it over! Give me the phone! GIVE ME THE PHONE, IDIOT!"
There were some thumps, some shouted curse words, and insults before Morgan came on the phone, "Hi!" She said. She sounded breathless, but as perky as ever, "Sorry 'bout that, that was my werewolf brother, Randy."
I blinked a couple of times, not saying anything, as my mind rushed around the fact that she might be serious. If he's her brother, and he's a werewolf, then she would be one too. that would explain her eyes. But it wasn't possible. Telling a human would be against werewolf law, and werewolves actually enforce their laws. Unless she had figured out that I was a vampire and just hadn't said anything. Come to think of it, I hadn't been with her anywhere where no one could have overheard us.
"Hello?" She asked, "Did you hang up? I expected you to laugh when I insulted the Sasquatch, not hang up on me."
And what would've made more sense than a rubics cube suddenly diminishes, "Oh, sorry," I said, "Yeah, I'm still here. Didn't hang up."
She chuckled, "Right, then. What did your mom say? And if she said no, then tell me what she didn't say."
"She said you both can come tomorrow night. And now that I think about it, it's a good thing she said tomorrow. you guys can come early and leave late Sunday."
"Sweet!" Morgan said. "By the way, can I bring some movies? Just two."
"What movies?"
"They're vampire movies, Blood Rayne and Blood Rayne II." She responded, "I'm sorta obsessed with vamps."
Uh... "Sure, I don't see why not." Actually, I did see why not. I was why not. But I couldn't tell her that. Keeping vampires secret from humans was, like, the only vampire rule they actually enforced. "By the way," I said after Morgan whispered a quick, triumphant yes, "What's Kayla's number? I want to three way her."
Morgan gave me Kayla's phone number and I called her. The three of us talked until nine that night, when my mom kicked me off and made me go to bed.
I woke to warm rays of sunlight filtering into my bedroom through the window the next morning. I rolled over without thinking and fell onto the floor. "Oops," I mumbled, pushing myself up and jumping to my feet.
I hurried down into the kitchen after a quick shower. Ben was scrambling some eggs across the kitchen. I assumed he was still mad at me and the eggs were just for him, so I grabbed some cereal and sat down at the table to eat. My assumption was right, when he scraped all the eggs onto a plate and sat across from me at the table to eat.
A long awkward silence followed.
"Is Mom still asleep?" I finally asked when we were both almost done eating.
He glanced up at me, gathered all the eggs he had left into a large heap on his fork, and shoved the eggs in his mouth. Then, his cheeks bulging like a hamster, he used his stalling time to clean up his plate and fork so that by the time he was able to swallow, he could make a quick escape from any real conversation with me.
"Yeah." He said, grabbing his car keys.
I eyed him, slightly hurt. Don't get me wrong, Ben was a wonderful guy, but when he got upset, his solution was to avoid. Not just for a few days or so, either. The last time I had witnessed him give someone the cold shoulder, he had gotten angry at one of his buddies for saying something about my mom. He had lost a friend as a result, and he never even told the poor guy about us moving.
"Where are you going?" I asked him as he started towards the backdoor.
He pulled the door open, "Biking." He replied.
"Ben, wait," I said.
He stopped with one foot out the door and looked at me, "What?" His one word responses were beginning to bother me.
"Can we talk? Please." I begged him, willing myself not to cry.
"I'm going to be late as it is." He said, glancing at the clock and then down at is shoes.
Ben was a terrible liar. He and I both knew he didn't have to be at the bike race for another two hours. "Please, Ben. Don't do this to me," I said, "Please... Please hear me out, Dad."
He froze completely for a long moment, looking at me in surprise. A tear glistened in the corner of his eyes, and he wiped it away quickly. Finally, He stepped back inside and closed the door. He faced me, "Yes?" He asked. I could see that he was trying to hide the huge grin that covered his face.
"Ben," I stopped and quickly corrected myself, "I mean, Dad, I, uh, I'm sorry. People change, and well, I'm having some friends over tonight that-"
He cut me off by scooping me off the ground with a tight hug, "Apology accepted, sweetie."
I smiled, hugging him back as he set me back down. "Are we tight again?" I couldn't resist asking.
"Tighter than a rubber band stretched across Texas." He answered.
Ben and I hung out until he had to go to his bike race. We were watching a movie and joking about every part we could find something to make fun of. About two hours after he had left, it was finally time for Morgan and Kayla to come over.
I stared out the window for the longest time, with regular intervals of glancing at the clock. Punctuality was always something I freaked about, and Morgan and Kayla were going to hear about it when they finally arrived. If they arrived.
My mind suddenly began to race, as always, filled with doubt, worry, and betrayal. What if they didn't really like me? What if they were only pretending to be my friends to not show up and hurt my feelings? My mind flashed back to Sarah on the bus the first day. She was laughing with that other girl. Laughing at me. Maybe they knew. Maybe Morgan has done this before and they were laughing at me because I had no idea what was coming.
They aren't my friends, Morgan and Kayla. It was all an intricate and planned plot to hurt my feelings and embarrass me. Who knew Morgan the Moron was capable of something so clever?
She wasn't. Just as I was about to give up, walk away from the window, go right back to where I was, back to hating humans, I saw Morgan and Kayla walking towards my house on the side of the street. I leaped out of my seat and ran for the front door. I stopped myself on the porch, though, resisting the urge to run out into the middle of the street and hug them.
So instead, I stood on the front porch, waving frantically and smiling like a lunatic. I would have been better off running to greet them like a puppy after being left alone all day.
I watched them as Morgan waved back, with a smile even more insane than mine, and grabbed Kayla by the arm as she broke into a sprint. Kayla was visibly struggling to keep on her feet at first, but then, with the grace of a cat, caught her footing. Then my eyes connected with hers and instead of staying in perfect synchronization with Morgan, she started to stumble like she couldn't keep up.
But it was no trouble at all for me to tell that she was faking it.
I wondered briefly why she would pretend not to be graceful, but soon put it out of my mind as I gave up on my calm act and ran to meet them in the middle of the street. I clasped my arms around Morgan, expecting to be hit by the strong human scent that lingered throughout the whole school. I was shocked when my nose was met only by the light scent of vanilla.
I tried to keep a kind grin rather than a confused look as I commented, "Wow, Morgan, you smell really good."
"Are you hitting on me?" She laughed, "Thanks. It's a special body spray Kayla gave me. She said she made it herself. It smells so amazing."
I glanced at Kayla, curious about her, and suspicious. But why was I suspicious? So she gave Morgan some body spray, so what? That doesn't mean it was the reason she didn't smell like a human. And even if it was, that didn't mean Kayla knew it was. Maybe it was all a coincidence.
So I ignored it, and we all ran back to my house.
I took Morgan and Kayla up to my room to put their things down, and we all went outside to ride my go-kart. We were piled in it in an unsafe way, with Kayla sitting on Morgan’s lap and me driving. My neighbors owned the trails in the woods behind my house, and they had named and set up street signs for each trail.
"We goin' down Pimp Plaza!" Morgan shrieked as I took a sharp turn onto the trail named "Pimp Plaza." The turn was so fast and sharp that the go-kart lifted onto two wheels, threatening to flip as we all screamed in unison. The kart fell heavily back onto all four wheels as the path straightened, and we all busted out laughing.
"That was one close call we just had on Pimp Plaza!" Kayla screamed.
The go-kart could only keep us entertained for a little while, though, and soon we found ourselves in my newly remodeled basement playing my playstation 2, then again got bored and went upstairs, and ended up watching the Blood Rayne movies Morgan had brought.
Five minutes into the first Blood Rayne movie, I was already fed up with it. It was so off about vampires that I wanted to scream, smash the TV, and vomit, all in that order. The vampires in the movie turned to ash in the sun, got burned when touched by water, shrank away from crosses, and hissed with long, sharp fangs. They hissed! The only thing I had in common with those made up things was that I drank blood.
And that thought brought my attention to the fact that I was dangerously thirsty, and how good a thing it was that Morgan and Kayla only smelt like vanilla spray.
I stood up, twitching slightly as I did, "Are you guys thirsty?" I asked, looking down at Morgan, who had been leaning on my shoulder, and fell face first onto the couch when I stood, and at Kayla, who had been leaning on Morgan and had fallen onto the floor, hitting into the coffee table on her way down.
"Ow!" Kayla complained as Morgan giggled.
"Well?" I asked again.
Morgan beamed at me, "Sure!"
"Yeah," Kayla agreed as she pulled herself back onto the couch, rubbing an already forming bruise on her arm, "What do you have?"
"Kool-Aid, milk, water."
"Milk," Morgan chimed at the same moment Kayla responded, "Kool-Aid."
I started to turn to go into the kitchen when Morgan stopped me, "Hey, wait," She said, grabbing my sleeve, "are you okay, Lily? You look really Pale."
I put my free hand against my face, feeling how frozen my skin felt. I looked down at her hand gripping my sleeve still, able to feel the warmth radiating from her skin, as my ears began to lock onto the sound of her heartbeat.
My mouth ran dry, my throat beginning to burn. Finally, I forced myself to snap out of it, pulling my arm away so fast that I nearly ripped her arm out of it's socket. "I'm fine!" I spat violently, then forced a smile on my face and corrected myself, "I mean, yeah. Yeah, I'm okay."
I turned on my heel and made a hasty retreat to the kitchen, making a bee-line for the refrigerator. I reached out for the handle right as a scent hit me. That warm, enticing smell, as alluring as the call of the sirens. I looked at the doorway right as my Mom walked in.
"Stay there, Mom!" I practically screamed, holding out both palms to her like an idiot crossing guard about to cause an accident.
She jumped nearly a foot into the air, remarkable for a woman with MS, and froze in her tracks, watching as I yanked open the refrigerator door and grabbed one of my plastic bottles full of the thick, cherry red liquid I was in dire need of. I downed it in less than ten seconds, holding it upside down, desperate for every last drop I could get from it.
I tossed the empty bottle in the trash and crossed the room to sit in one of the chairs at the kitchen table. "Having humans as friends is harder than I thought." I sighed, more to myself than to my mom.
"They're human?" She asked, shocked.
I looked at her, feeling exhausted, "I tried to tell you, but you wouldn't listen." I looked down at my still trembling hands, "I was wrong, Mom. People change."
She came up to me and hugged me from behind, "I'm sorry." She said.
Wanting to avoid an emotional moment, I stood up and crossed the kitchen to get the drinks. I sluggishly pulled down a few cups from the cabinet, wishing the blood rush would hurry up and take effect. I poured some Kool-Aid for Kayla and then two glasses of milk for Morgan and I.
"I'll talk to you later, okay Mom?" I said, walking out without an answer from her.
I walked into the family room, forcing myself to smile. I noticed the sun was just starting to set, giving the room a warm glow with long shadows cast. Morgan smiled at me as I set the drinks down on the table carefully.
"You know," I said, beginning to feel the effects of the blood, "One of you could have helped carry the drinks back!"
Morgan laughed, "But you're so good at it, Lily."
I looked at Kayla, who was still silent, her face neutral as she stared at me. She looked suspicious, as if she were analyzing me. "I knew it," She finally whispered.
"What?" I asked.
She sat up and smiled, an obviously forced expression, "Nothing!" She said too quickly.
"Fine," I rolled my eyes, "keep secrets."
"Shut up, you idiots!" Morgan shouted suddenly, "this is the best part!"
I looked at the screen to see Rayne, the vampire main character with pretty, red hair and revealing leather clothes, slashing at a group of men with her cool scythe things. Just like that, all three of us were engulfed in the movie.
Somehow, we all managed to fall asleep watching the movie. I was the first to re-awake at around two a.m.
I shook Morgan’s shoulder groggily, "Guys, wake up."
Morgan pulled her head off the throe pillow she was drooling on, "Huh? Orange juice?"
Kayla's eyes shot open, too, "Orange!" She said as she sat up.
"I'm not even going to ask," I said, watching as they both burst into quiet fits of giggles at their inside joke.
"Come on, let's get some hot cocoa." I said, "It'll wake us up." I glanced at them both again, the two of them giggling and hyper, "Okay, it will wake me up, then." I mumbled.
We headed to the kitchen and downed our hot cocoa, then, as hyped up as we were, went outside. It was a warm summer night, and around two forty-five in the morning. We ran down the go-kart trails, laughing and screaming like lunatics.
"Awesome!" Morgan said, pointing to the sign that said Pimp Plaza. And so we ran down Pimp Plaza.
We ended up in an old Civil War cemetery that was visible off to the side of one of the trails. English ivy vines completely covered the ground inside the wrought iron gate that marked the perimeter of the cemetery, none daring to spill out of the fence, as if they could only thrive within the graveyard. There were three broken headstones, a statue of an angel, a small sealed off mausoleum, and a stone bench with a statue of Saint Peter sitting on it.
"It's strange," Morgan breathed, "but somehow, I feel oddly safe here, rather than creeped out or scared."
And she was right, even I felt it. I had never been very religious; what vampire really is? Some stereotypes are hard to overcome, despite how untrue they may be, and most vampires truthfully believed themselves to be damned. I had never given it much thought, really, but standing there, looking up at the tall marble angel towering over me, head bowed, hands folded, deep in an eternal prayer, I felt there was another power watching over me from above. Actually, no, I felt like someone was with us, standing near and just waiting for us to notice.
"Dear Lord," I heard Kayla whisper. I looked over at her to see her hands folded and head bowed like the statue, "please protect us, be here with us and fill our hearts. I know you would never turn your back on us for anything, Lord, even when we turn from you. I pray that everything that happens is meant to be. In fact, I already know that everything happens for a reason. I have this feeling that runs deep to the marrow of my very core that something will happen tonight, and I know in my heart that it will be something wonderful for us. Bless us, Lord. In Jesus name, Amen."
I couldn't resist repeating her, "Amen." as Morgan did.
We finally left the graveyard after a while, and had started back to the house, running and screaming again like retards. I guessed it was probably around five in the morning by then.
I jumped skillfully over a root protruding from the ground, not bothering to hide my vampiric grace. I heard the dull thud of Kayla landing the jump behind me, then listened for Morgan. But instead of Morgan jumping over it, she stumbled and instead I heard her crash to the ground with the grace of a potato.
"Ow." Morgan moaned.
I could smell the sweet, alluring scent of the blood running down her arm before I saw it. "Oh sweet Lord," I whispered.
I didn't step forward, afraid that I wouldn't be able to control myself if I got any closer, but I couldn't step away either.
So I just stood there, gawking at her blood. I got so caught up that I didn't even notice Kayla had come up behind me until she tapped me on the shoulder and whispered, "Why aren't you doing something?"
I jumped and spun around to face her, "I can't."
"What do you mean?"
"I just can't." I said again, my head swarming for an excuse, "I-I get queasy around blood." I paused, taking a deep breath, "you help her."
"You're lying." She responded calmly, "and I can't help her either."
"Why?"
"The same reason as you." She mumbled.
I was startled, "you... You're a..." I froze mid-sentence. Kayla's face grew ghostly pale, contrasting against the back night sky. I immediately knew why, when I smelt the scent of blood multiply to an irresistible strength. My throat ran dry and was filled by a burning heat.
"Guys?" Morgan said, standing right behind me.
Kayla stopped breathing. I didn't.
All because of three cookies and a carton of milk.
I mumbled numerous curse words as I searched for my money. I dug through my pockets, my purse, my binder, then my pockets again. Nothing, nothing at all. I lost my lunch money.
"Hey," Morgan chimed, materializing at my side. She noticed my distress, asking, "What's wrong?"
"I lost my money." I mumbled.
She raised an eyebrow, "Was it in your purse?" She asked. I nodded, "Stolen," she declared, "Keep it in your pocket from now on. This school is full of thieves. Don't worry about your money, here," She placed three dollars in my hand with a warm smile, "and you don't have to pay me back."
I blinked a few times and watched in amazement as she walked away. I had never met anyone before -vampire or human- who would be that nice. I didn't even ask, she just gave me the money. She got in the lunch line and I waited for a few people to get behind her before I got in line too.
I decided to finally give her a chance and sat beside her and Kayla during lunch. Morgan acted insane during the whole lunch period. You would think I would have been annoyed, but it was strangely entertaining. We may not have become friends instantly, but it was close enough for me.
So I decided to take her up on her sleepover offer.
I woke to my mothers voice on Friday morning. My alarm clock was still broken and I had neglected to replace it.
Everything seemed brighter than the day before, even though it was a bit cloudier outside. My mom didn't hang around in my room for long, though. She was gone from the doorway before I even opened my eyes.
Ben was in the kitchen when I got downstairs. "Good morning, Ben." I said, actually feeling a little happy. But the happiness quickly dissolved when Ben simply pushed past me and went upstairs without a word. I could almost physically feel my heart sink in my chest.
I knew he was going to be mad when I told him about how I felt toward humans. I wondered briefly if he would listen if I told him I was over it, but just as the thought crossed, another more arrogant voice ranted, 'You can't admit you were wrong! You'll get nothing but a big, fat I-Told-You-So!' and, sadly, that voice dominated.
I walked into the hallway after eating and, brushing against the spot under the stairs as I walked by, made my way outside with my school things in hand. I still wished the wall would have opened up and pulled me in.
The bus was full again except for the seat next to Morgan in the very back. She waved for me to sit by her. I scrambled back, the bus already moving even though I hadn't sat down yet, and fell into the seat next to her, almost squishing her two days in a row. She giggled at my not-so-graceful landing.
"Quiet, squishy." I laughed, poking her in the side. She squealed like a dog that had been stepped on and jumped nearly a foot out of her seat. "What was that all about?" I asked.
She was fake trembling, "I'm extremely ticklish. Do. Not. Poke. Me." She warned, "Or I'll eat you."
"Yeah right," I mumbled. If anything I would end up eating her.
We pulled into the school parking lot. "So, are we still on for your house tonight?" I asked her, "My mom said I can go." Because she's now looking for any excuse to get her human hating vampire daughter out of the house. Gah, my own mother hates me.
Morgan pouted, "Actually, no." she said, "My grandparents are coming over. some last minute thing. So my mom doesn't want a bunch of 'you rowdy kids,' " she mimicked an old lady voice, "Disturbing them."
"Man," I was actually looking forward to that. "Wait,” I said, an idea forming, "Maybe my mom will let you and Kayla stay the night at my house." Win-win situation. I have my new friends over, and I prove to my mom that my opinion of humans has changed so she won't hate me anymore. It's brilliant!
"Awesome!" Morgan said, "Chippy and I could easily walk to your house, too!"
"Chippy?" I asked.
"Oh yeah," she said, "Chip is Kayla's nickname, and Chippy is the nickname I gave her nickname. along with Chippewa."
Weirdo.
The bell rang and the bus unloaded. Morgan and I scrambled to gather our things and departed, Morgan calling to me, "Don't forget to ask your mom!" As we headed in opposite directions to our lockers.
Ms. Broaddus was my second period English teacher. She was a bit stout and chubby with short, ultra curly, orangish-blond hair. She was insanely cool and even handled jokes well. One guy in the class, named Colton Gunn kept shouting things like, "Marry me!" or, "I'll see you in bed tonight, Ms. Broaddus!"
And amazingly, Ms. Broaddus played along, countering with things like, "But won't your boyfriend get jealous, Colton?"
I spent most of the class passing notes with Kayla and Morgan. Well, actually, they were passing notes to me and I wrote 'Stop, we're going to get in trouble.' and passed them back. They kept passing them to me anyway, though, and after a while I just started throwing them away without reading them. Morgan and Kayla practically died laughing. At one point I chewed one up without Morgan noticing and plopped the soggy, spit drenched paper into her hand.
I got home that afternoon and grabbed the phone in my room as soon as I got in. I threw it onto the bed along with my book bag and dug through my bag for Morgan’s phone number. I pulled it out of a small side pocket, programmed it into my phone, and before calling Morgan, called my mom's work number.
"Hello?" She answered robotically.
I took a deep breath, ready for begging, "Mom, remember how I was supposed to stay the night at that one girls house tonight? Well, something came up and she can't have company, so I was wondering, can she and another friend of mine stay the night tonight instead?" I asked.
"Tomorrow night." She sighed, obviously too tired from work to put up a fight.
I hadn't expected her to say yes, "Really? They can come?"
"Yes, Lily." She said, "You can have your little parasite slumber party."
"Thank you, thank you! God mom, Thank-" I broke off, "Wait a second, mom. They aren't-"
"I'm busy." She interrupted me, "Let me get back to work Lily, or I'll change my mind." Without another word, she hung up on me.
I was too excited about them being able to come over to worry about my mom thinking they were vampires. I would show her they weren't when they came. Quickly, I flipped through the phone’s programmed numbers and called Morgan to tell her.
There were two rings, a click, and a guys voice, "Hello?"
"Hi," I said, "Is Morgan there?"
"Nope," He said, sounding slightly amused, "Sorry, she isn't here."
She hadn't mentioned going anywhere after school. My mind rushed for a minute. What if she had already thought it was official that she and Kayla could come over and she was already on her way over? "Where is she?"
"She's dead."
Uh... Yeah, right. Then came a screaming in the background that, even though she was probably across the room, was loud enough that I had to hold the phone away from my ear, and even then could still hear her loud and clear. "Randy, give me the phone, I know it's for me, hand it over! Give me the phone! GIVE ME THE PHONE, IDIOT!"
There were some thumps, some shouted curse words, and insults before Morgan came on the phone, "Hi!" She said. She sounded breathless, but as perky as ever, "Sorry 'bout that, that was my werewolf brother, Randy."
I blinked a couple of times, not saying anything, as my mind rushed around the fact that she might be serious. If he's her brother, and he's a werewolf, then she would be one too. that would explain her eyes. But it wasn't possible. Telling a human would be against werewolf law, and werewolves actually enforce their laws. Unless she had figured out that I was a vampire and just hadn't said anything. Come to think of it, I hadn't been with her anywhere where no one could have overheard us.
"Hello?" She asked, "Did you hang up? I expected you to laugh when I insulted the Sasquatch, not hang up on me."
And what would've made more sense than a rubics cube suddenly diminishes, "Oh, sorry," I said, "Yeah, I'm still here. Didn't hang up."
She chuckled, "Right, then. What did your mom say? And if she said no, then tell me what she didn't say."
"She said you both can come tomorrow night. And now that I think about it, it's a good thing she said tomorrow. you guys can come early and leave late Sunday."
"Sweet!" Morgan said. "By the way, can I bring some movies? Just two."
"What movies?"
"They're vampire movies, Blood Rayne and Blood Rayne II." She responded, "I'm sorta obsessed with vamps."
Uh... "Sure, I don't see why not." Actually, I did see why not. I was why not. But I couldn't tell her that. Keeping vampires secret from humans was, like, the only vampire rule they actually enforced. "By the way," I said after Morgan whispered a quick, triumphant yes, "What's Kayla's number? I want to three way her."
Morgan gave me Kayla's phone number and I called her. The three of us talked until nine that night, when my mom kicked me off and made me go to bed.
I woke to warm rays of sunlight filtering into my bedroom through the window the next morning. I rolled over without thinking and fell onto the floor. "Oops," I mumbled, pushing myself up and jumping to my feet.
I hurried down into the kitchen after a quick shower. Ben was scrambling some eggs across the kitchen. I assumed he was still mad at me and the eggs were just for him, so I grabbed some cereal and sat down at the table to eat. My assumption was right, when he scraped all the eggs onto a plate and sat across from me at the table to eat.
A long awkward silence followed.
"Is Mom still asleep?" I finally asked when we were both almost done eating.
He glanced up at me, gathered all the eggs he had left into a large heap on his fork, and shoved the eggs in his mouth. Then, his cheeks bulging like a hamster, he used his stalling time to clean up his plate and fork so that by the time he was able to swallow, he could make a quick escape from any real conversation with me.
"Yeah." He said, grabbing his car keys.
I eyed him, slightly hurt. Don't get me wrong, Ben was a wonderful guy, but when he got upset, his solution was to avoid. Not just for a few days or so, either. The last time I had witnessed him give someone the cold shoulder, he had gotten angry at one of his buddies for saying something about my mom. He had lost a friend as a result, and he never even told the poor guy about us moving.
"Where are you going?" I asked him as he started towards the backdoor.
He pulled the door open, "Biking." He replied.
"Ben, wait," I said.
He stopped with one foot out the door and looked at me, "What?" His one word responses were beginning to bother me.
"Can we talk? Please." I begged him, willing myself not to cry.
"I'm going to be late as it is." He said, glancing at the clock and then down at is shoes.
Ben was a terrible liar. He and I both knew he didn't have to be at the bike race for another two hours. "Please, Ben. Don't do this to me," I said, "Please... Please hear me out, Dad."
He froze completely for a long moment, looking at me in surprise. A tear glistened in the corner of his eyes, and he wiped it away quickly. Finally, He stepped back inside and closed the door. He faced me, "Yes?" He asked. I could see that he was trying to hide the huge grin that covered his face.
"Ben," I stopped and quickly corrected myself, "I mean, Dad, I, uh, I'm sorry. People change, and well, I'm having some friends over tonight that-"
He cut me off by scooping me off the ground with a tight hug, "Apology accepted, sweetie."
I smiled, hugging him back as he set me back down. "Are we tight again?" I couldn't resist asking.
"Tighter than a rubber band stretched across Texas." He answered.
Ben and I hung out until he had to go to his bike race. We were watching a movie and joking about every part we could find something to make fun of. About two hours after he had left, it was finally time for Morgan and Kayla to come over.
I stared out the window for the longest time, with regular intervals of glancing at the clock. Punctuality was always something I freaked about, and Morgan and Kayla were going to hear about it when they finally arrived. If they arrived.
My mind suddenly began to race, as always, filled with doubt, worry, and betrayal. What if they didn't really like me? What if they were only pretending to be my friends to not show up and hurt my feelings? My mind flashed back to Sarah on the bus the first day. She was laughing with that other girl. Laughing at me. Maybe they knew. Maybe Morgan has done this before and they were laughing at me because I had no idea what was coming.
They aren't my friends, Morgan and Kayla. It was all an intricate and planned plot to hurt my feelings and embarrass me. Who knew Morgan the Moron was capable of something so clever?
She wasn't. Just as I was about to give up, walk away from the window, go right back to where I was, back to hating humans, I saw Morgan and Kayla walking towards my house on the side of the street. I leaped out of my seat and ran for the front door. I stopped myself on the porch, though, resisting the urge to run out into the middle of the street and hug them.
So instead, I stood on the front porch, waving frantically and smiling like a lunatic. I would have been better off running to greet them like a puppy after being left alone all day.
I watched them as Morgan waved back, with a smile even more insane than mine, and grabbed Kayla by the arm as she broke into a sprint. Kayla was visibly struggling to keep on her feet at first, but then, with the grace of a cat, caught her footing. Then my eyes connected with hers and instead of staying in perfect synchronization with Morgan, she started to stumble like she couldn't keep up.
But it was no trouble at all for me to tell that she was faking it.
I wondered briefly why she would pretend not to be graceful, but soon put it out of my mind as I gave up on my calm act and ran to meet them in the middle of the street. I clasped my arms around Morgan, expecting to be hit by the strong human scent that lingered throughout the whole school. I was shocked when my nose was met only by the light scent of vanilla.
I tried to keep a kind grin rather than a confused look as I commented, "Wow, Morgan, you smell really good."
"Are you hitting on me?" She laughed, "Thanks. It's a special body spray Kayla gave me. She said she made it herself. It smells so amazing."
I glanced at Kayla, curious about her, and suspicious. But why was I suspicious? So she gave Morgan some body spray, so what? That doesn't mean it was the reason she didn't smell like a human. And even if it was, that didn't mean Kayla knew it was. Maybe it was all a coincidence.
So I ignored it, and we all ran back to my house.
I took Morgan and Kayla up to my room to put their things down, and we all went outside to ride my go-kart. We were piled in it in an unsafe way, with Kayla sitting on Morgan’s lap and me driving. My neighbors owned the trails in the woods behind my house, and they had named and set up street signs for each trail.
"We goin' down Pimp Plaza!" Morgan shrieked as I took a sharp turn onto the trail named "Pimp Plaza." The turn was so fast and sharp that the go-kart lifted onto two wheels, threatening to flip as we all screamed in unison. The kart fell heavily back onto all four wheels as the path straightened, and we all busted out laughing.
"That was one close call we just had on Pimp Plaza!" Kayla screamed.
The go-kart could only keep us entertained for a little while, though, and soon we found ourselves in my newly remodeled basement playing my playstation 2, then again got bored and went upstairs, and ended up watching the Blood Rayne movies Morgan had brought.
Five minutes into the first Blood Rayne movie, I was already fed up with it. It was so off about vampires that I wanted to scream, smash the TV, and vomit, all in that order. The vampires in the movie turned to ash in the sun, got burned when touched by water, shrank away from crosses, and hissed with long, sharp fangs. They hissed! The only thing I had in common with those made up things was that I drank blood.
And that thought brought my attention to the fact that I was dangerously thirsty, and how good a thing it was that Morgan and Kayla only smelt like vanilla spray.
I stood up, twitching slightly as I did, "Are you guys thirsty?" I asked, looking down at Morgan, who had been leaning on my shoulder, and fell face first onto the couch when I stood, and at Kayla, who had been leaning on Morgan and had fallen onto the floor, hitting into the coffee table on her way down.
"Ow!" Kayla complained as Morgan giggled.
"Well?" I asked again.
Morgan beamed at me, "Sure!"
"Yeah," Kayla agreed as she pulled herself back onto the couch, rubbing an already forming bruise on her arm, "What do you have?"
"Kool-Aid, milk, water."
"Milk," Morgan chimed at the same moment Kayla responded, "Kool-Aid."
I started to turn to go into the kitchen when Morgan stopped me, "Hey, wait," She said, grabbing my sleeve, "are you okay, Lily? You look really Pale."
I put my free hand against my face, feeling how frozen my skin felt. I looked down at her hand gripping my sleeve still, able to feel the warmth radiating from her skin, as my ears began to lock onto the sound of her heartbeat.
My mouth ran dry, my throat beginning to burn. Finally, I forced myself to snap out of it, pulling my arm away so fast that I nearly ripped her arm out of it's socket. "I'm fine!" I spat violently, then forced a smile on my face and corrected myself, "I mean, yeah. Yeah, I'm okay."
I turned on my heel and made a hasty retreat to the kitchen, making a bee-line for the refrigerator. I reached out for the handle right as a scent hit me. That warm, enticing smell, as alluring as the call of the sirens. I looked at the doorway right as my Mom walked in.
"Stay there, Mom!" I practically screamed, holding out both palms to her like an idiot crossing guard about to cause an accident.
She jumped nearly a foot into the air, remarkable for a woman with MS, and froze in her tracks, watching as I yanked open the refrigerator door and grabbed one of my plastic bottles full of the thick, cherry red liquid I was in dire need of. I downed it in less than ten seconds, holding it upside down, desperate for every last drop I could get from it.
I tossed the empty bottle in the trash and crossed the room to sit in one of the chairs at the kitchen table. "Having humans as friends is harder than I thought." I sighed, more to myself than to my mom.
"They're human?" She asked, shocked.
I looked at her, feeling exhausted, "I tried to tell you, but you wouldn't listen." I looked down at my still trembling hands, "I was wrong, Mom. People change."
She came up to me and hugged me from behind, "I'm sorry." She said.
Wanting to avoid an emotional moment, I stood up and crossed the kitchen to get the drinks. I sluggishly pulled down a few cups from the cabinet, wishing the blood rush would hurry up and take effect. I poured some Kool-Aid for Kayla and then two glasses of milk for Morgan and I.
"I'll talk to you later, okay Mom?" I said, walking out without an answer from her.
I walked into the family room, forcing myself to smile. I noticed the sun was just starting to set, giving the room a warm glow with long shadows cast. Morgan smiled at me as I set the drinks down on the table carefully.
"You know," I said, beginning to feel the effects of the blood, "One of you could have helped carry the drinks back!"
Morgan laughed, "But you're so good at it, Lily."
I looked at Kayla, who was still silent, her face neutral as she stared at me. She looked suspicious, as if she were analyzing me. "I knew it," She finally whispered.
"What?" I asked.
She sat up and smiled, an obviously forced expression, "Nothing!" She said too quickly.
"Fine," I rolled my eyes, "keep secrets."
"Shut up, you idiots!" Morgan shouted suddenly, "this is the best part!"
I looked at the screen to see Rayne, the vampire main character with pretty, red hair and revealing leather clothes, slashing at a group of men with her cool scythe things. Just like that, all three of us were engulfed in the movie.
Somehow, we all managed to fall asleep watching the movie. I was the first to re-awake at around two a.m.
I shook Morgan’s shoulder groggily, "Guys, wake up."
Morgan pulled her head off the throe pillow she was drooling on, "Huh? Orange juice?"
Kayla's eyes shot open, too, "Orange!" She said as she sat up.
"I'm not even going to ask," I said, watching as they both burst into quiet fits of giggles at their inside joke.
"Come on, let's get some hot cocoa." I said, "It'll wake us up." I glanced at them both again, the two of them giggling and hyper, "Okay, it will wake me up, then." I mumbled.
We headed to the kitchen and downed our hot cocoa, then, as hyped up as we were, went outside. It was a warm summer night, and around two forty-five in the morning. We ran down the go-kart trails, laughing and screaming like lunatics.
"Awesome!" Morgan said, pointing to the sign that said Pimp Plaza. And so we ran down Pimp Plaza.
We ended up in an old Civil War cemetery that was visible off to the side of one of the trails. English ivy vines completely covered the ground inside the wrought iron gate that marked the perimeter of the cemetery, none daring to spill out of the fence, as if they could only thrive within the graveyard. There were three broken headstones, a statue of an angel, a small sealed off mausoleum, and a stone bench with a statue of Saint Peter sitting on it.
"It's strange," Morgan breathed, "but somehow, I feel oddly safe here, rather than creeped out or scared."
And she was right, even I felt it. I had never been very religious; what vampire really is? Some stereotypes are hard to overcome, despite how untrue they may be, and most vampires truthfully believed themselves to be damned. I had never given it much thought, really, but standing there, looking up at the tall marble angel towering over me, head bowed, hands folded, deep in an eternal prayer, I felt there was another power watching over me from above. Actually, no, I felt like someone was with us, standing near and just waiting for us to notice.
"Dear Lord," I heard Kayla whisper. I looked over at her to see her hands folded and head bowed like the statue, "please protect us, be here with us and fill our hearts. I know you would never turn your back on us for anything, Lord, even when we turn from you. I pray that everything that happens is meant to be. In fact, I already know that everything happens for a reason. I have this feeling that runs deep to the marrow of my very core that something will happen tonight, and I know in my heart that it will be something wonderful for us. Bless us, Lord. In Jesus name, Amen."
I couldn't resist repeating her, "Amen." as Morgan did.
We finally left the graveyard after a while, and had started back to the house, running and screaming again like retards. I guessed it was probably around five in the morning by then.
I jumped skillfully over a root protruding from the ground, not bothering to hide my vampiric grace. I heard the dull thud of Kayla landing the jump behind me, then listened for Morgan. But instead of Morgan jumping over it, she stumbled and instead I heard her crash to the ground with the grace of a potato.
"Ow." Morgan moaned.
I could smell the sweet, alluring scent of the blood running down her arm before I saw it. "Oh sweet Lord," I whispered.
I didn't step forward, afraid that I wouldn't be able to control myself if I got any closer, but I couldn't step away either.
So I just stood there, gawking at her blood. I got so caught up that I didn't even notice Kayla had come up behind me until she tapped me on the shoulder and whispered, "Why aren't you doing something?"
I jumped and spun around to face her, "I can't."
"What do you mean?"
"I just can't." I said again, my head swarming for an excuse, "I-I get queasy around blood." I paused, taking a deep breath, "you help her."
"You're lying." She responded calmly, "and I can't help her either."
"Why?"
"The same reason as you." She mumbled.
I was startled, "you... You're a..." I froze mid-sentence. Kayla's face grew ghostly pale, contrasting against the back night sky. I immediately knew why, when I smelt the scent of blood multiply to an irresistible strength. My throat ran dry and was filled by a burning heat.
"Guys?" Morgan said, standing right behind me.
Kayla stopped breathing. I didn't.