by Hayden, Sean
“You need a ride home?”
“No. I have cheerleading practice and then I’m meeting Elizabeth at her house. She’s helping me with some homework.”
“Okay. Be careful.”
“Doing homework or splits?”
“Splits. There’s some Chosen on your cheerleading squad. I don’t know if they’ll be able to see through your orb. They might not appreciate a vampire on their squad.”
“Chosen?”
“Yeah. The Fallen are the good guys who look like demons. The Chosen are the angelic ones who are real assholes.”
“Um… Okay. Who?”
“Shannon and her two lackeys.”
Caelyn’s eyes doubled in size. “I knew it!”
“What?”
“That she wasn’t human. The bitch does like three thousand sit-ups a day.”
I couldn’t help it. I laughed. “Just watch your back. If you have any problems, let me know.”
“Okay, big brother. Thanks” She disappeared down the hall toward her locker. I kept walking to find mine and hopefully Jessie.
I nodded to the few friends I saw. James Underwood High wasn’t a large school at all. We had around two hundred kids per grade, making the entire school’s population around eight-hundred including the teachers and staff. Everybody knew everybody, and everybody knew everybody’s business. It was both charming and annoying.
I opened my locker and tossed my backpack inside, grabbing only the books I would need for the first two periods. English and Algebra, my favorite. I didn’t mind English, but I still bore a grudge against Algebra for turning me into a demon. Yet another reason why homework should be outlawed. I should move to France. I heard they were outlawing homework.
I closed my locker and jumped. Jessie had been standing behind the door waiting to scare me. She succeeded. “Morning, sexy,” she said and leaned in for a kiss.
“Morning, beautiful. How are you this fine, fine day?”
“Pretty damn good now that I’m not fumbling around the halls not being able to see.”
“I imagine. And what do you think of the beauty that is our fine establishment of learning?”
“It’s boring. I pictured way more color in my head. Maybe I’ll just keep my eyes closed while I’m here. Except when I’m looking at you of course…”
“Good answer. And not a bad idea. I keep my eyes closed for most of the day here, too.”
“That’s because you’re sleeping. Come on. Homeroom. We don’t want to be late.”
“You don’t, I do,” I said and took her arm out of habit.
“You know you don’t have to lead me around anymore.”
“Shhh. Close your eyes,” I said and winked.
She snuggled closer, but kept her eyes open anyway. “Thanks.”
“Anytime.”
Homeroom was quick and English seemed to drag on forever. I expected Algebra to take twice as long to get through. At least we’d have lunch after two more periods and one of them was PE.
Everyone in class was surprised at Jessie walking around without her customary white cane. It had been the same in homeroom. And walking through the halls. And everywhere else we went. It was during a flurry of excited congratulatory hugs and praises that Jessie took her usual seat next to me as Mr. Johnson began his monotonous drone about exponents.
“I hate Algebra,” I whispered under my breath.
“Yes, but at least you’re better at it than everyone in the class.”
I was a little surprised that Jessie could hear me. I had barely whispered it. “Yeah, now. I didn’t used to be,” I whispered again to see if she could hear.
“I can’t imagine you being bad at anything.”
“Who are you talking to Ms. James?” Mr. Johnson turned and stared directly at her. I was whispering. Jessie hadn’t.
“Myself. Sometimes when I repeat things I have a better chance of remembering them,” she lied smoothly.
“Well do it quietly, please.”
He turned and went back to making slash marks across the green blackboard. “Nice one,” I whispered.
“Thanks,” she whispered back.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.” She forgot to whisper. Everyone in the class started to giggle. Mr. Johnson didn’t seem as amused.
“See me after class, Ms. James.”
“Oooh,” everyone chorused.
Jessie blushed and gave me a dirty look. I did my best to look apologetic. I hoped she didn’t get into too much trouble. “Sorry,” I whispered again.
“Shhh.”
“Since you don’t feel the need to pay attention in my class, why don’t you come up here and solve for Y for me?” He held out his piece of chalk, not allowing her to back down from his challenge.
Jessie stood and walked to the board, taking it from him as she passed. She stared at the board briefly and let fly. Her arm was almost a blur as she wrote the complicated answer beneath the initial line. Mr. Johnson looked over at me, mouth agape. It would appear I wasn’t the only algebra prodigy to spring up in his class…
Oh shit. I fought down the panic. A few weeks ago, I had done the exact same thing when my Fallen powers began to manifest. All of a sudden, I could see glowing numbers in the air in front of me. The problems began to solve themselves. All I had to do was copy them down. That means she could be changing, or just got really good at math.
I didn’t know what to do. Solving for Y was hardly a reason to panic and call her father. I looked around the room. Everyone else was staring at Jess. Something white in the corner of my eye caught my attention. On her seat was a solitary white feather.
“Damn,” I said and didn’t whisper.
“She’s good,” someone else said.
I knew the change was coming. I didn’t have enough solid proof to tell Mr. James; I would however, tell him the next time I saw him what had happened. Hopefully, the change wouldn’t happen quickly. Hopefully, we had time. Hopefully, she would still love me when she found out what I was…
* * *
I slid into the lunch line right behind Jessie. “Hey beautiful, is this spot taken?”
“Why yes it is. By a handsome man who just happens to look like you.”
“I’ll kill him!”
“Dork. How was PE?”
“Cold. You’re lucky you have study hall.”
“I am.”
“Sorry about before… How much trouble are you in? Johnson give you detention?”
“No. He lectured me and let me go. And it wasn’t your fault. I’m the one who needs how to learn to whisper.”
“Salad for the lady and sloppy-joes for me,” I told the lady behind the counter.
“How do you know I didn’t want sloppy-joes?” Jessie gave me a wink.
“Because you’re smarter than I am? Duh. I thought you knew that.”
“I think you’re smarter than you give yourself credit for. I also think you need to quit putting yourself down every opportunity you get. It’s one of the few things about you that drives me crazy.”
“Gasp! You mean there’s more?”
“Yes. You’re way too attractive. I’m going to have to start beating the girls away from you with a stick.”
I frowned at her statement. If you only knew the half of it…
I still needed to tell Jess about Shannon. I had meant to earlier, I just hadn’t had the opportunity. At least that’s what I kept telling myself. The truth was I didn’t want to hurt her and I didn’t want her to hurt me.
“What?” She looked at me quizzically.
“Come on. Let’s eat. I’ll tell you over lunch.”
“I really don’t like the sound of this…” She picked up her tray and walked over to our usual table. Clarisse and Jeremy, who normally ate with us, were thankfully absent. She put her tray on the table, sat down, and folded her hands over her food, waiting expectantly.
“Aren’t you going to eat?”
“After. Maybe.”
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I gave her a half smile. “It happened Saturday…”
“What happened Saturday, Connor?”
Oh shit, she said my name. “I went to the mall to get some pretzels. Shannon got a job there and was working–”
“Shannon who?”
“Shannon. Cheerleader. Senior Shannon.”
“Okay?”
“Well she was acting all weird. She gave me free pretzels, I said thank you, ate and left.”
“That’s it?”
“Well no, I haven’t gotten to it yet.”
“Talk. Now.”
I gulped and took in a large breath. “Well, I walked around the mall for a bit and when I was leaving, she sort of ran up to me and kissed me.”
Her face went blank. She calmly reached down and grabbed her salad dressing, opened it, and began pouring it over her salad. I expected her to say something, anything, but she just started munching on lettuce.
“Are you okay?”
“Yup, I’m fine.”
“Aren’t you going to say something?”
“Trust me, you don’t want me to say anything right now. Eat.”
I sighed, doubted my wisdom in saying anything, and tore into my sloppy-joe. We sat quietly for almost ten minutes before the silence was broken by Clarisse sitting down with a tray of food next to Jessie.
“I hate school. Have I mentioned that lately?”
“Did you know?” Jessie calmly sat her fork down and turned to look at Clarisse.
“Know what?”
“Connor just shared some interesting information with me.”
Clarisse looked over at me. I looked down at my food. “About…”
“Don’t play dumb, Claire.”
I panicked. I was worried Clarisse would think I had told her about the movies. “I told her about Shannon,” I said apologetically.
“Good,” Clarisse said and started eating.
“Good? He kisses a girl and you say good?”
“Yes.”
“Would you care to elaborate? How is it good that my boyfriend is kissing other girls?”
Clarisse sighed heavily and set her fork down. She turned to look Jess right in the eye. “First of all, yes. I knew all about it. Connor told me about it at the movies. I didn’t tell you because he said he couldn’t keep anything from you and it would kill him if it hurt you to find out what happened. I even told him not to tell you about it.
“Second of all, he didn’t kiss her. She practically attacked him and kissed him. His first thought? To tell you about it. So think about it, Jessie. He didn’t do it, he didn’t want to do it, and he still told you about it. I’m not saying you shouldn’t be mad. I’d be pissed, too, but you shouldn’t be mad at Connor. You should be thanking him for telling you about it and not keeping things from you.”
She turned and picked her fork up again and started eating. I had trouble believing she had stuck up for me as vehemently as she had. It sounded like she was expecting this conversation and had rehearsed her lines. They had come out that naturally.
I looked from Clarisse to Jess who stared at her salad like she would find some sort of wisdom hidden between the layers of leafy green goodness. “I’m sorry, Connor,” she said and started eating, too.
I didn’t want to say anything that could possibly have a negative impact on the situation. If she had been looking at me, I would have given her a smile. “I love you,” I whispered. “I’m just sorry it happened at all. If it makes you feel any better, I will be avoiding both Aunt Annie’s Pretzels and Shannon for the rest of my life.”
Jessie looked up from her salad and opened her eyes as far as they could go. “You’d give up pretzels? For me? You really do love me,” she said and grinned.
“More than pretzels.”
“I’m not hungry anymore,” Clarisse said disgustedly.
Jessie and I laughed and finished our lunches. We sat quietly until Claire finished hers and we stood to leave together. Life is kind of funny, sometimes. Just when you think things have gotten back on track and you might be heading toward some sort of normal, that’s usually when the powers that be decide to derail your train.
As we were leaving, Shannon decided to make a grand entrance to the cafeteria with her two lackeys in tow. I groaned inwardly as soon as I saw her blond hair come through the doorway. Please don’t say anything, please don’t say anything…
Her gaze swept right over Jessie and Clarisse and settled upon me. Her pouty lips curved into a sultry upward smile and her eyes narrowed as she looked down at my shoes and all the way up to my face, meeting my eyes. “Hello, Connor… Long time no–”
The impact of Jessica’s fist sent a clap of thunder that reverberated through the James Underwood High School cafeteria like a sonic boom. At least that’s what it sounded like to my ears. It must have been pretty loud to everyone else, too, because everyone turned around to watch Shannon fly back between her friends and land, skidding, across the linoleum floor.
“Kiss him again and you won’t wake up from the next one,” Jess said as she walked passed her prone form.
I hurried to catch up to her and Clarisse, avoiding any sort of eye contact, physical contact, metaphysical contact, or anything that could be construed as any sort of contact with Shannon. I didn’t want to be on the receiving end of one of those punches. Ever.
Chapter 9
“You okay?”
I turned and saw my sister as I was getting on my scooter. “Yeah, why?”
“Saw the fireworks at lunch. Just making sure you weren’t on the receiving end of any of them.”
I laughed. “No. Her rage was focused solely on Shannon.”
“What the hell happened?”
“I’ll tell you when you’re a little older, kid.”
“Fine. Then I’ll tell Mom your girlfriend knocked out the head cheerleader at lunch today and you won’t tell anyone why.”
“I was just kidding. Sheesh. No need to resort to blackmail.”
“There’s always a need for blackmail when it gets me what I want.”
“Evil bloodsucker.”
“Evil Demon.”
“Touché. It was actually kind of weird. I was at the mall and Shannon kissed me. I felt bad about keeping it from Jess, so I told her.”
Cae shifted from foot to foot and looked like she wanted to say two million things to me. “Um…”
“What? Spill it.”
“I’m having a little trouble believing that Shannon kissed you.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“I’m not saying anything about you… I…um… Okay. You didn’t hear this from me, but I wasn’t even totally sure that she liked…”
“Fallen Ones?”
“No.”
“Younger men?”
“Closer.”
“Dashingly handsome younger men?”
She rolled her eyes. “More like men in general. Let’s just leave it at that.”
Oh, how the gears in my head started turning. That was kind of hot. “Wow.”
“You’re daydreaming about it now aren’t you?”
“Yep.”
“Perv. Anyway. This is the point in our conversation where I get to tell you you’re a dumbass.”
“Why?”
“For telling Jessica. Do the words ‘death wish’ mean anything to you?”
“Okay, picture this. Shannon kisses me. I don’t tell Jess about it. Jess finds out about it…” I let my words trail off for maximum effect.
“Good point. I guess there really is a fine line between dumbass and genius.”
“And I cross it every day.”
“Yes, but sometimes you regress.”
“Can’t help it. I’m a guy.”
“Too true.”
I laughed. “How you doing? Everything okay? You didn’t drain anybody into a raisin-like husk at lunch, did you?”
“Okay, this is going to sound weird. Elizabeth and Jenny can drink animal blood.”
�
�Too much information, but continue.”
“Well, it turns out, I can’t. I’m a different kind of vampire.”
“Tell me you’re not feeding on people…”
“People, no. Vampires, yes. Jenny cut her finger and before I knew it, I was latched on and feeding off her.”
“Was she okay with that?”
“Um. Yeah. Apparently it feels good when I feed. Like really good.”
“Re-entering the land of I-don’t-need-to-know-this.”
“That’s not a real place.”
“Sure it is. It’s in Asia. Look it up.”
Caelyn laughed. “You’re a dork.”
“And you’re related to me. Bwahahaha.”
“Don’t remind me.”
“So you’re doing okay?”
“Yes. I’m fine. Thanks for worrying, though.”
“Big brother duty, number twelve. You sure you don’t want a ride home?”
“Nope. Going to Jenny’s.”
“Don’t drain her dry.”
“I won’t,” she said and turned to leave. I watched her go and gave a little smile. For the first time in a few days I had a feeling that she was going to be just fine.
I started up my engine and let it run for a few seconds before turning it around and heading out of the school parking lot. Clarisse honked as she passed me, turning the corner and almost getting the VW Bug up on two wheels. I shook my head. I liked Clarisse a lot, but I didn’t miss riding in her car every day. I might be immortal, but riding with her was just tempting fate.
I felt my cell phone buzz in my jacket pocket. When I hit the first red light, I pulled it out. It was a text from Clarisse.
Clearing, twenty minutes. Don’t be late. Company
I had no idea who she could be bringing, but I would find out soon. The clearing was only ten minutes away. I would even pass Rockin’ Robin’s Convenience Mart on the way. I was still hungry and had time to pick up a snack.
* * *
I pulled into the clearing with half a Twinkie in my mouth and an Ice-nado cherry beverage precariously perched in my left hand. Driving a scooter, holding a beverage, and eating a snack-cake was damn near impossible, but I pulled it off without wrecking.
Clarisse wasn’t there yet, so I parked and finished my food, feeling a little more human…or whatever I was. Two minutes later, she pulled in. She wasn’t alone either. There was a passenger in her car, and it was difficult to make out any details with the sun’s reflection almost blinding me off the windshield.