“It wasn’t a date.” I can feel my face burning. “We’re just friends.”
“Yeah, whatever.” Barney chimed in. “Did you kiss?”
“Barney!” Peggy said.
“Do you kiss your friends?” I asked him.
I watched them finish their game. Pinochle, it turns out. I never could get the hang of that game. I have tried and tried, but I just don’t get it. I can play, I understand the rules, but I can’t get the intricacies of bidding or how to play the hands to get the most points.
When they were done, Jess and I went up to her room. Our room. And we sat on the bed and she started grilling me, wanting every little detail of what happened today. She thinks it was a date. She isn’t saying it, she nods in agreement when I tell her Teresa and I are just friends, but she really does think it was a date, and she wants details. So I told her everything.
“So tell me what the hang up is.” she said. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” “You two get along great, you’re like the same age, basically,” “Give or take a century and a half.”
“You think she’s pretty, right? I mean I think she’s really pretty,
and I’m not even into girls.”
“She is. But I’m not sure... I mean I don't know, it’s just
different.”
“Brynne, I can tell you want her, you’re just scared. What are
you scared of?”
“Other than me being nearly immortal, and her maybe finding
out? Other than people like me are going around killing people, and I
can’t think of a single way to stop them. Other than those same people
nearly killing me, and me maybe putting everyone around me in
danger because those same psychos might come back? Sure, there’s
nothing to be afraid of. Oh yeah, and then Teresa kept coming back to
one other thing today that has worried me for a while: child welfare
people scooping me up. No, I have no worries at all.”
“Well obviously all of those. I just meant why are you scared to
admit you like her?” She pulled me in for a hug. “Honey, nobody here
will judge you for this. And if you’re worried about our friends at
school, you haven’t ever seemed to really care what any of them think
about anything anyway.”
“Because I don’t know. I don’t know what I feel!” I shouted. “Whoa, hey, it’s okay. Don’t get upset.”
“I’m not upset!” Okay, so I am. I took a deep breath. “I just
don't know if I should even think about... I mean what if I have to take
off?”
“Promise me you won't. Please, Brynne.”
“I... she's going home at the end of the summer.” “That's a long time away.”
“I don't want to put her in danger if those monsters ever come
looking for me again.”
“You can't worry about that for the rest of your life, Brynne.
You have to live.”
“I just... I need to think about it.”
Thursday, June 9 So I’m completely healed from being sliced and diced, I think. At least physically. Honestly, I still have dreams about it. Mostly I get scared that Jess walked in when she did. They could have killed me, and she startled them and they stopped attacking me, but they also could have killed her. I could deal with them killing me, but not her. I really don’t want to die, though. I’m so torn on how that whole thing happened. I wonder how long they would have tortured me before killing me?
Teresa and I have been off doing something every day, and I feel like we’ve become really good friends. I wish I could tell her my secret, but it’s dangerous for her.
“How was your date?” Barney asked. I just got home after seeing a movie with her.
“It wasn’t a date.”
Every night one of them asks me that, and every night I have to explain to them that Teresa and I are friends, that’s all. And Barney... shouldn’t he be out doing things with his college buddies? Oh yeah, he’s too much of a loser to go to college, so he doesn’t have any college buddies.
I sat on the arm of the sofa when I saw what was on the news. Another attack. At least one a week now. Police say there's a serial killer on the loose, and they are telling people not to go out at night, and if they have to go out then don't go alone until they catch whoever is doing this. Which they never will. I have to do something. Nobody else can. At least nobody else will. But I have no idea what to do.
“You don’t have any friends who can get me a rocket launcher, do you?” I asked Barney.
“That would be expensive and hard to come by.” he said.
“I can handle expensive.”
“You’re not actually thinking of going after them again?” he asked. He sat up straight and had an almost panicked look on his face. “Brynne, the last time you tried that they almost killed you.” “I know, but someone has to stop them.” “Well it doesn’t have to be you.”
Oh he’s actually concerned. That’s sort of touching. He cares about me. All this time he wasn’t just trying to get into my pants, maybe. Not that he ever had a chance.
“Promise me you won’t try anything.” he said.
“What do you care?”
“Because I don’t want to have to babysit you again when you
get cut up.”
“I sort of think if it comes to that, they aren’t letting me get
away next time.”
“Well then Jessica would miss you too much.”
“And if I do nothing then they might come for me and kill her
in the process. Or you.”
“Bring it on. I’m not letting them near you.” he told me. “We
do have guns here.”
“Barney, I really appreciate what you’re saying, but I have to
do something.”
“Then what about Teresa?”
“What about...”
“She’d never know. She’d think you just ran away from her.” “We’re just friends.” I repeated for the hundredth time. “Well maybe you are, but she’d still think you ran off without
explaining and without saying goodbye. You can’t do that to her.”
He has a point there. How would I feel if my friend just ran off without any explanation? It would suck. Plus, I know she likes me. I can imagine how painful it would be if Jess did that to me.
“Please tell me if you have any other idea of how to stop them.” I told him.
“Give me a couple of days to think about it.”
“And let them kill more people?”
“You can’t rush into this, you have to take time to plan it correctly or you just get killed and then they go on killing anyway.”
“Well,” That actually makes sense. “Okay. I’ll think about it. You think about it. Barney, I can’t let them keep killing. And I might be the only one who can stop them.”
“Are you sure there aren’t more?”
“Maybe. And maybe they’re like those two.”
I was in bed already when Jess got back from her date with Tony. She was pretty upset, so I didn’t tell her about there being more attacks. Instead I sat up with her and listened to how insensitive Tony is, and how she’ll never go out with him again. As if she really meant that.
Friday, June 10 I spent the day shopping with Jess and Teresa. I bought Teresa some new clothes that she wanted. I kind of like buying her things. It makes her happy.
Jess ate lunch with us, then went off on her own, promising to see me at home. I think she was planning on calling Tony. I still don’t know what they were arguing about, but I think she’s getting over it.
Teresa and I snuck into an R rated movie. We paid for a PG, then just switched theaters once inside. They wouldn’t let us in otherwise. Which is just plain stupid, because I go to school with the girl who was selling tickets, so I’m sure she thinks I’m her age.
/> It was a good movie. There were some love scenes that were slightly embarrassing to watch. And the people sitting behind us were totally making out, right there in the theater. Teresa grabbed my hand and leaned over against me as the movie was playing. It was sort of nice, actually.
We walked home after the movie, discussing what we each thought about it. She had a totally different take on it than I did, but she still liked it. I thought it was sad because the girl lost her boyfriend, she thought it was sort of a happy movie because the girl had finally allowed herself to completely fall in love with him before he died.
“Well, see you tomorrow.” I said. “Yeah.” I reached for the doorknob, but she yanked me back by my hand that she was still holding. Some day I’m going to show her that I’m stronger than her. Just to show her she can’t push me around.
“Teresa,”
“I’m going to kiss you.” she said. She glanced away, blushing. “What?”
“I’m going to kiss you.”
“Um,” I’m not sure how I feel about that. Also, what do you
say to that? “Was there a timeline you had in mind for this?” “Oh, right now.” she said. She was staring into my face now,
still blushing.
“Oh. Are you sure you want to do that?” She’s really, really
close to me.
“Definitely.”
“Oh.”
“What are your thoughts on that?”
“I don’t know.” I told her.
“If you don’t want me to, I won’t.” she said. She’s taller than
me. I never paid much attention, but she is. A couple of inches. “Do
you want me to?”
“I...”
Do I want her to? I’ve spent almost all my time with her for a week, and she has made it clear in that time that she likes me. And I can’t say I don’t feel attracted to her, because I do.
“Do you want me to?” she asked again, almost a whisper this time. I couldn’t answer, so I just nodded. And then she did it. It wasn’t a long kiss, and not even all that hot of a kiss, just a short kiss on the mouth. But then another real quick after it, and then a third. And then she backed away.
“Goodnight.” she said.
“‘Night.”
“I’ll be here early tomorrow, okay?” “I’ll be waiting.”
I stood there and watched her go, and I contemplated the chances that someone like me could possibly ever make someone like her happy. I’ve always wanted to be completely, over the top in love, and I never have been. I’m not now, but this is the first time I think I’ve ever felt like it could grow to that.
“How was your date?” Barney asked, like always. Ted and Peggy are sitting on the sofa, watching a movie with him. “Um,” I felt myself blushing and smiling. “Good, thanks. Goodnight.”
I hurried up the stairs, not listening to the questions he followed that with.
Saturday, June 11 I guess I fell asleep early last night, because I was out before Jess got home. She was up before me in the morning, too. So when I woke, she was waiting to jump on me about last night, wanting details. I told her everything.
“So wow.” she said. “I was right.” “Yeah yeah.” She was. “So what about you and Tony? How is that going?”
“Not well.” she said. She sort of smiled. “Doesn’t matter. I’m not really feeling it anyway.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s cool. I’ll find someone else. I mean we still hang out, so maybe he’ll pull his head out of his rectal region and things will be okay.” She shrugged. “Who knows.”
“Your parents are watching the news.” I said.
“What are you... you can hear them?”
“Yeah. There was another attack. A young girl is dead.”
“But it’s not your responsibility, honey.” she said. “You didn’t cause this.”
“But nobody else can stop them, Jess.”
“You can’t stop them, either! They’re going to kill you if you try.”
“I know. I didn’t say I was going to do anything. I just wish they’d stop.”
“Me too.” she said.
“Teresa is here.” The doorbell rang. “See. Look, I have to get more blood soon. So like, I may have to go somewhere so I can nab some from a blood bank tonight.”
“You don’t need to, we can all give some like before.”
“Ya know you actually sort of need your blood, Jessica.” I said.
“Last time you took off you went after those horrible people.”
“I’m not going, Jess. I promise.”
“You better not.” She gave me a hug. “I believe Teresa would miss you.”
Teresa! Oh, I better get up and make myself at least a little more presentable. Crap, she’s coming up the stairs. I hurried to the bathroom and brushed my teeth and hair. When I came out, she was sitting with Jessica, chatting while she waited for me.
“Good morning.” I said. “Morning, love.” she said. She hopped up and hugged me, then gave me quick kiss. “We’re going out, get dressed.”
“Jeesh,” Jessica said. She put her hand on my shoulder. “You’re new girlfriend is demanding, Brynne. You two have fun.” She left the room.
Girlfriend. Ugh. I really wish she hadn’t said that. I’m probably about as red as a brick right now. Teresa is smiling, at least. I think I’m going to be sick.
“So is that what you told her?” she asked me.
“I... no, I never... I...”
“So then,” She grabbed my hand and kissed it and stared at my
eyes. “Are we officially girlfriends?”
“I... don’t know.”
“I would like that.” She kissed my hand again. “Would you like
that?” I couldn’t speak. When she looks into my eyes like that it gets really hard for me to make my mouth work. I’ve never, ever experienced that phenomenon before. It makes me nervous, too.
“Brynne?”
“What?”
“Would you like to be my girlfriend?” I nodded. “Good. Now
do you need help getting dressed so we can go?”
“I think I can dress myself.”
“But I want to help.” she said.
I finally got the strength to shove her out of the room. She may want to help me change, but I’m not sure I’m ready for that. I mean what would happen if I started getting naked around her? I may heal quickly, but scars take a long time to go away, and I’m really scarred from the attack. It’ll probably take close to a year for those to completely disappear.
I didn’t even bother to try to hide how I felt about her when we were shopping. I guess I’m pretty into her too. So we held hands and even kissed a few times, and pretty much ignored anyone that seemed to have an issue with it. There aren’t exactly a lot of gay people around here, so I imagine there’ll be a lot of people having problems with this. I know we’re getting a lot of weird looks.
“Who’s this?” Halle, a girl I know from school, asked me. “Oh, um, hi.” I said. “This is Teresa.”
“You’re not from here.” Halle said to her.
“I’m from Georgia.” Teresa said.
“Huh. Wow Brynne, I would never have pictured you with
someone like this. Someone from the south, I mean.” She laughed a little. “Well good for you. Anyway, ladies, there is a huge sale going on upstairs, you should check it out. See ya’ll later.” she said, putting on a fake southern accent.
That went really well. The world is slowly changing, and people are becoming more and more accepting. If I had shown up with a girl when my parents were still alive they would have made me leave. My own parents would have disowned me. Not because they were bad people, just because that’s how everyone was back then and that’s how they were taught.
“Who was that?” Teresa asked.
“Halle. She was in my history class.” “She seemed nice.”
“Eh, I guess. Wanna go check out that sale?” “Let’s do i
t, girlfriend.”
We took the stairs. We could have taken the escalator or waited for the elevator, but I sort of like the slower pace of taking the stairs sometimes. The place is becoming packed, maybe because of the sale. There are several stores up here having sales. Sales are great, even if you can afford to pay the higher price. It always feels good to feel like you’re getting a bargain.
“So why don’t you have a heavy southern accent?” I asked Teresa. She was holding up a sequined tank top. “My mother is from Massachusetts, and my dad is from California. And then I spent every summer away from home. We used to visit Mom’s family in Mass or Dad’s in Cali in the summers. The last couple I’ve spent with my aunt and uncle here. Plus we lived two years in Wyoming when I was little. So yeah, sort of kills any chance of an accent.”
“I’ve lived all over, too.” I told her.
“Oh yeah? Where?”
“Everywhere.”
“Like?”
“Miami, Cleveland, L.A., Portland, Milwaukee. I spent some
time in Canada, lived in the middle of nowhere in Alaska for a while, lived in basically every state at one point or other.”
“Wow, you’re parents moved that much?” Oh crap. See what happens when I let my defenses down and I talk too much? Stupid! Okay, this isn’t a problem, I just have to cover up good. Now I have to lie to my girlfriend. Nice way to build a relationship.
“They did. And then I moved around a lot after they died. It seemed like staying in one place too long would be bad.”
“‘Cause they’d make you go into foster care?”
“That would be bad, I think.” Not untrue.
“So how long ago did they die?”
“Gosh, it seems like forever.” I said.
“You’ve been here for two years?” I nodded. “You must have been really young when they died? How have you lived alone so long?”
“I just... get by.”
“Hey,” She kissed right next to my eye, then wiped my cheeks with her hand. “Sorry I brought it up. I didn’t mean to upset you, love.”
I spent three hundred bucks on clothes, mostly for Teresa. It’s always fun to shop. But I heard some woman warning her daughter and a friend to stick together and not wander off away from everyone, because it’s too dangerous right now with all the attacks in the news. I have to stop Joanna and Julius. I just have to.
Brynne, Non-Vampire (The Non-Vampire Series) Page 12