by Jones, L. A.
The bell rang, releasing them from Biology and setting them loose on break. Loose for twenty minutes, at least. She desperately wanted to talk to Dax, but she’d promised Rhonda she would spend break telling her all about the first Roy-date from the day prior. Aradia leaned toward her vampire lab partner and said, "Meet me in the greenhouse during fifth period?"
"I can think of no finer way to spend Study Hall," he smiled at her as he walked away.
If most vampires are as charming as Dax, Aradia thought as she gazed after him, then it’s no surprise that so many romance novels feature them. They must not have any shortage of romance. Or of food.
"Jesus," Rhonda remarked as she leaned against the locker next to Aradia's. She bit a chunk off of her string cheese and glanced at the clock to see how much longer they had on their break between classes. "Whatever did he do to you to make you look so... so..."
"Tired?" Aradia suggested.
"I was going to say drugged out but tired sounds nicer," Rhonda said and then laughed into her hand.
"Mmph,” Aradia grunted, growing even more exasperated, “don't tell me I am bad influence on you, too."
"Okay," said Rhonda, "I won't tell you."
Aradia groaned like a humpback whale as she slammed her locker shut.
"Okay, for real now," Rhonda exclaimed, surprised and worried. "What’s your problem?"
"Oh, nothing," Aradia finally said, though it clearly wasn’t nothing. From there she gave a moderately detailed account of their date, including the unceremonious end. By the time she was done, their break was winding down.
They made their way to their next class. The two walked side by side, navigating the crowded hallways. Aradia briefly considered using her powers to part the entire crowd like Moses with the Red Sea.
“Aside from the last bit,” Rhonda said, “it sounds like you had a pretty good time. Not a perfect date, maybe, but pretty promising.”
Aradia groaned. "It's just funny. You’d think it would be nice, right? For a girl to be the center of a love triangle? All it really is, is one major headache!"
Rhonda nodded and said, "No wonder they use triangles in math."
This time Aradia did chuckle aloud. Rhonda just smiled, satisfied.
As they were walking past the music room, the door swung open, nearly impacting Aradia. She wasn’t really paying attention, but she still darted aside before making contact.
"Oh! Sorry about that," D said. He leaned over to pick up his bass guitar which he’d dropped during the near-miss.
Aradia shrugged and said, "It's alright. No harm, no foul."
D just nodded. "Oh, hi Rhonda," he said softly.
"Hi D," she responded just as softly with a hint at seduction in her tone.
“Alright, alright,” Aradia replied finally. She gave them what she felt was a polite period of time to perform their mating ritual before she got bored and was ready to go. “Snap out of it.”
D smiled abashedly and said, “Later, Rhonda.”
“Mmm,” she replied distractedly, then turned and let herself be dragged off by Aradia.
"No wonder you want Roy to be my boyfriend," Aradia muttered. "Then you will have an excuse to see your would-be one more often."
Rhonda chuckled darkly.
About twelve seconds later while rounding a corner, Aradia collided with another boy. They both dropped their books into a messy pile.
“Aradia, you must be having an extra clumsy day,” Rhonda joked.
"Oh man, I am sorry," Aradia said to the other student, kneeling to sort her stuff out.
"No, no it's my bad," the boy said as he handed her one of her textbooks.
“Thanks,” she said, finally looking up and getting a glimpse of his face. He was black, had very short, clipper length hair, which was slightly longer on top, and was smiling. His teeth were vividly white against his dark skin, his cheekbones were prominent and strong, and he was very handsome. She couldn’t help comparing him to the other boys in her life. He didn’t look unruly like Roy or precisely controlled like Dax. He just seemed to be who he was.
“You’re welcome,” he replied, voice soft and gentle and slightly higher pitched than she might have expected.
"Hi," Aradia said nervously.
"Hey," he replied confidently.
They both rose and he held out his hand. "I’m Lamont."
"Aradia."
As they shook, Aradia was surprised by how warm his hand was. It was not hot like Roy's or cool like Dax’s. She felt like Goldilocks. His hand was just right, soothing and comforting.
“I know,” he replied. Still smiling, he went on, “Which you probably get a lot?”
Aradia laughed sincerely. “You have no idea.”
"So," he said, letting go of her hand. She very slowly pulled it back to her side. "What class do you have next?"
"Algebra," Aradia replied.
Lamont’s face fell visibly. “I’m going the other way. Biology next, with Ms. Flora.”
“Oh, I just came from there,” Aradia replied. “We did a dissection today. It was fun.”
“It sounds fun.”
“You’d better hurry! Break’s almost over.”
“Good advice,” he replied cheerfully, making to rush off. Turning over his shoulder, he called, "Maybe I’ll see you at lunch."
"You better," Aradia joked.
Lamont smiled in amusement, and Aradia stared after him as he left.
An arm shot out and grabbed Aradia’s in a vice grip. At first she assumed it was Rhonda yanking her to their next class.
“Geez, Rhon, what’s your…”
She didn’t finish the sentence, though, when she saw it was not Rhonda, but rather Roy, holding her captive, and he didn’t look happy.
“What the hell was that?” he demanded.
“What was what?”
“Ohhhhhkay,” Rhonda said. “Aradia, I’ll see you in Algebra?”
“Yeah, go ahead,” Aradia replied.
Roy snorted in frustration and released her arm. Aradia wondered if it might bruise, even with her regenerative power. Roy pointed after Lamont and said, “That guy? What the hell was up with that?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Aradia stated plainly.
Roy’s face turned pink as blood rushed to it. “You know, I’m getting really sick of this!”
“Roy, please calm down. What are you sick of?”
“I’m sick of you playing with me like a fool,” Roy replied. “It’s like every time I turn around you’re flirting with another guy. How much does it take for a guy to get you to flirt with him, huh? Eye contact? Teeth? I know it’s not breathing, because you’ll flirt with Dax.”
Aradia glanced around nervously at the onlookers they were drawing. Fortunately, break would be over any second, and most of their fellow students were already at their next class. Just the same, she could only imagine the gossip that would come of Roy’s outburst. She blushed in advance thinking about it. At the moment, though, she had bigger concerns.
“Roy,” she whispered, quietly enough that she was sure he was the only one who could hear, “there are humans around. Please be more careful.”
“I swear, Aradia,” he replied, “the longer I know you, the more I realize you can be such a skank.”
Aradia’s head shot up and she stared Roy in the eye. Voice shaking and eyes blazing, she asked, “What did you just say?”
“You heard me,” he replied. “You date Dax, you date me, you flirt with anybody who will hand you a book. I bet you’ve already got a date lined up with him this weekend. You’ve got game, Aradia.”
“What game!” Aradia replied.
“Oh, you’re a real player. And I thought…”
“What?” she replied. “You thought what!”
“Nothing,” he said, eyes down, turning to leave. “Never mind. I’m going to be late for class.”
He tried to stomp off, but this time Aradia grabbed his arm. “Oh that’s typica
l,” she said. “You beat around the bush, make a big deal about it, but when it comes time to man up, suddenly you don’t have anything to say. What’s your problem?”
“Nothing’s my problem,” he muttered.
“Yeah? Then why the hell are you picking a fight with me in the middle of the hallway?”
The second bell rang, indicating that they were now late for class. At least now we’ll be able to finish this fight in private.
Roy shook his head again and tried to pull away, but Aradia wasn’t letting go. She was confident that he would bruise.
“This is seriously not cool, Roy. I am not okay with this.”
“With what?” he asked.
“With you acting all overprotective and jealous.”
“I’m not jealous!” Roy bellowed defensively.
“Oh, of course not,” Aradia sneered derisively. “In order to be jealous, you’d have to like me, and you can’t admit that now, can you.”
He actually pried at her fingers with his free hand, but she still wasn’t letting go.
“Please, Aradia…”
“Begging? Begging a girl to let go of your arm? Real macho. Real tough.” She knew she’d regret this later, but she was so irate she didn’t care. “I’ve been totally honest with you. You think it was easy, having those conversations with you and Dax? Baring my soul to both of you like that? Hell no. But I did it, because it was the honest thing to do. But you? You won’t even be honest with how you feel about me.”
“Aradia, you know–”
“Of course I know! Everybody in school knows how you feel about me. But you won’t just say it!”
“Hey! I asked you if you liked me and you didn’t answer either.”
“Fine then! I like you! Or I did until this conversation. Does that make you happy?”
Roy was stunned into silence.
“Of course you don’t have anything to say,” Aradia replied, finally releasing his arm. She didn’t notice that the hand on that arm had turned purple. “What a shocker.”
She stormed off to Algebra, leaving Roy staring after her. His mouth opened and closed randomly, as if contemplating speech, but no sound came out.
"So," Dax said upon entering the greenhouse, "What's up?"
He made sure to shut the door behind him. As he did so Aradia got shivers up her spine. He even makes slamming a door sound sexy. She reminded herself that any Study Hall student could get a pass to visit the greenhouse, so they could theoretically have company any moment.
"I just wanted to ask if you are okay," Aradia stated, trying to sound sensitive.
"Of course I am,” he replied. “Should I not be?"
"Well," Aradia ventured cautiously, "I did go out on a date yesterday. With Roy. You know?"
Dax smiled. "I was aware. How did it go, by the way?"
Aradia stared in disbelief.
"Dax," she asked slowly and clearly as if she were speaking to somebody who was only just learning English. "Can vampires get high? Because I kind of feel like you are."
He laughed and said, "Aradia, I do like you, and I will not deny the thought of you being with that werewolf makes me want to get him neutered, but I don't own you. You are neither my property nor my girlfriend. You are entitled to do whatever you want."
Aradia just gaped, completely astonished at his attitude.
"Seriously?" she asked him.
“You said so yourself when you proposed our alternating dates program,” he replied. “I agreed with you then, as I do now. I’m sure Roy has been just as agreeable, no?”
Aradia started to answer, but Dax cut her off. “Don’t reply to that question. That was base of me.”
Aradia replied, “I’m sure you’ve already heard about our little rumble during break today.”
“Rumors? Gossip? I’m too old for such things.”
She laughed so hard she snorted. “Seriously, Dax, it is such a relief that you are being so mature about this situation.”
"I can’t say where this is going, with us," he added with a shrug. "If things between us do progress, and you are my girlfriend, I would expect certain changes in behavior.”
“Like no dating other guys?” she replied with a smile.
“That’s a prime example,” he agreed deadpan. “But other than that... What it comes down to, Aradia, is that I do not believe in telling women what to do. I don’t believe in telling anyone what to do. I’ve lived a long time, and I’ve learned not to force these kinds of decisions on people. I do not intend to start with you.”
Aradia suspected that there was a lot more to Dax's explanation than he let on. However, she was so happy with his outlook and so emotionally exhausted that she decided to leave the deeper meaning questions for another day.
"But Dax, you do know what my going out on a date with Roy means don't you?"
He raised his eyebrow, wondering if she was deliberately baiting him.
Aradia rushed on. "It means that now I am all yours!"
Dax smiled seductively. "Interesting choice of words, Aradia love. Do you have any idea how tempting that sounds?"
Aradia blushed and said, "You know you are the only who is capable of making do this."
"Do what?"
"Blush," Aradia said giggling.
"I intrigue you."
Aradia laughed softly and then asked, "So what do you want to do for our date?"
“I was thinking you might like to meet my family,” he said. “For dinner.”
“That’s funny,” she replied. “That’s what Roy and I did.”
“I know,” Dax replied. “The rumors thing I said earlier, completely untrue. I don’t engage in gossip, but I have excellent hearing.”
She giggled. She’d been doing that a lot. “I love how you make me laugh,” she said.
“Honestly, I was already planning this as a date,” he said. “It’s long overdue, really, given how many dates we’ve already been on.”
Aradia was silent for a moment and then asked, "You don't have twenty cousins, do you?"
Dax laughed, sounding astounded, and said, "Certainly not!"
"Then sure, I would love to,” Aradia said with a big grin on her face.
On Saturday, Dax picked up Aradia at 4:00 sharp in his grey BMW 335d. He had driven her halfway to the Dayton manor when Aradia had an epiphany.
"Wait a minute, Dax! I just remembered. I have already met your family."
Dax laughed and said, "I was wondering when you were going to figure that out."
"So what? Are you trying to trick me again?" Aradia replied testily.
"No," said Dax, slightly amused. "It is true you have met some of my family. You know Xan, of course, but the only time you met my father, you were bleeding all over the couch."
"Oh yeah," said Aradia blushing again. “Sorry about that. The couch, I mean.”
"It's alright," said Dax. "Father replaced it. I liked the old one more. It reclined. This one has a storage spot for the remotes, though, so it balances, more or less.”
“It is so weird hearing a vampire talk about the pros and cons of different sofas.”
“Everybody has to sit somewhere. As for the other bit, you still have never had a proper dinner with my family. Now you will."
Once they got to the manor, they walked hand in hand to the door.
"Do you think your parents will like me?" Aradia asked nervously.
"Not as much as I do," Dax smiled at her. Aradia just giggled in response.
In biology, Aradia was partnered with Dax again. She expected him to bombard her with questions, and randomly drop acid-like comments about Roy. Amazingly, he said nothing but he did not ignore her or give her the cold shoulder. He acted as casually as he always did, and Aradia was not sure what that was supposed to mean.
She wanted to read his mind, but the only way she could do that is if she caught him off guard and kissed him. She could not do that in the middle of class.
It was as the class was ending that Aradia
leaned towards him and said, "Meet me in the greenhouse in five okay?"
"Your wish is my command my lady," he smiled at her as he walked away.
Aradia thought to herself as she watched him walk away, if all vampires are as charming as Dax then it was obvious why so many women fantasize about them and why they never seemed to have any shortage of food.
"So," Dax said as soon as he entered the greenhouse, "What's up?"
He made sure to shut the door behind him. As he did so Aradia got shivers up her spine and thought to herself, dear god he even makes slamming a door sound sexy.
"I just wanted to ask if you are okay." Aradia asked trying to sound sensitive.
He shrugged and said, "Of course I am. Why would I not be?"
"Well," Aradia ventured cautiously. "I did go out on a date yesterday with Roy you know?"
"Yeah I know," said Dax, "How was it by the way?"
Aradia stared at Dax in disbelief.
"Dax," she asked softly as if she was speaking to a mental patient. "Can vampires get high? Because seriously that's the only way I can explain how you are behaving."
Dax laughed and then said, "Look Aradia I do like you and I will not deny the thought of you being with that werewolf Roy makes me want to get him neutered but the fact is I don't own you. You are not my property or my girlfriend therefore you are entitled to do whatever you want."
Aradia just gaped, completely astonished at his attitude.
"Seriously?" she asked him.
"Of course," he added with a shrug. "If you were my girlfriend I would expect certain changes in such behavior like no more hanging out with other blokes without supervision. But other than that...Well the truth is Aradia I do not believe in telling women or people in general what to do and I do not intend to start with you"
Aradia suspected that there was a lot more to Dax's explanation that he let on. However, she was already impressed with Dax's attitude about this whole situation and decided to leave that matter for another day.