Bleeding Love

by Ashley Andrews

  “Bitch!”

  “You! You nincompoop!”

  “I see you've been studying for the SATs, whore.”

  Because of that, her vocabulary had gone back to normal. “Fucker!”

  “Skank!”

  “Skank has always been your taste,” Adrienne said, nodding her head in agreement to herself.

  “No, girl is my taste.”

  “Oh—leave.” She wanted to call him 'oaf', but she decided to stop their fight right then and there. Adrienne just wanted him to leave, and she realized that he wouldn't as long as she kept hurling back insults at him. The childishness needed to stop, and soon.

  “What did you just tell me to do?”

  Adrienne groaned again. “You're really stupid, aren't you? I told you to leave.”

  “I don't follow orders from anyone.”

  Not using her vampire talents, she tried pushing him out of her room, which she succeeded in accomplishing, but the getting him down the stairs was harder and more challenging. They tripped and tumbled over each other a few times, and before either of them knew it, they were on the ground floor of the house, both their heads throbbing from the fall.

  “How the hell do you expect me to play the game tomorrow with all these bruises?”

  She saw the dark purple spots on his face, on the back of his head, and on his arms. The marble flooring of the living room, Adrienne realized, was a bitch. Speaking of the discolored-marks, Adrienne had a few of them too. On her face, arms, back, but that wouldn't stop her from getting him out of the house. “Don't be such a baby. I have them, too.” She rolled her eyes and saw him raising his arms as if he were stretching them.

  “I took the harder fall,” he answered her in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. “I'm the quarterback. How do you expect our team to win if I’m hurt?”

  “Cocky much?” She raised an eyebrow up at him. “If your skills were as great as your ego, then our team would have won the cup last year. And besides, your uniform will hide all the wounds. So get over yourself and get out of here.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” No one had ever degraded the football team he captained except for the coaches, and especially not a cheerleader. “We were our conference's champions last year! We were finalists. Just stay with your pompoms and out of football.”

  “Just let us win the school trophies.” And no one had ever debased the squad she'd been on since freshman year. “We won UCA last year after all.”

  “I'm not having this screaming-match with you anymore.” He went to open the door. “I'm out.”

  Leaving in the middle of an argument was so typical Ethan Lawrence. “Yeah, because you just lost.” She smirked. “To a girl.”

  “I might have lost an argument with you, but I can win other and better things.”

  She froze in her place. “Since when was sex a competition?” Adrienne may not be a virgin, but she still treated the act with greater sanctity than he did. Truth be told, she'd only done it a few times, and during those moments, she treasured their closeness and took it seriously. It angered her that Ethan didn’t really care. Being able to read his mind was a revelation. She had been in love when she gave herself to him, while he, he was just in lust.

  “Ever since we entered High School.”

  “Seriously?” Her temper was building up. “What kind of girl would let herself be your rebound?”

  Ethan's smirk widened, and with that, she realized why she had fallen for him. He was undeniably gorgeous, and he had always held a certain air that attracted her to him and turned her on. She was so, so stupid despite all her academic success to believe that love happened in real life like it did in the fiction novels.

  “The kind with bigger breasts and asses than yours.”

  That did it. Adrienne socked him in the balls, and she saw how he fell and held on to his family jewels ever so tightly. He was groaning in pain and cursing her with expletives, some of which were alien to her.

  “I hope that keeps you from having babies,” she seethed.

  “Good, then I don't have to worry about using a condom and impregnating someone.”

  Adrienne screamed as she pulled at a few strands of her hair. She couldn't believe it, really. Even after hurting him where it pained him the most, he still had the audacity to mock her and stroke his ego. How could she have loved someone like him? Screw high school. “Screw you.”

  “I thought you didn't want to fuck.”

  “Get out! Now!” she bellowed.

  Inside her head, Adrienne could hear voices talking. She realized the vampires were getting closer. Then it dawned on her that every single vampire in the house could hear the fight between Ethan and her. Her eyes stopped blinking for a second. Her father could hear her too, even more clearly than the others could. Great.

  “I can't stand up!”

  “Out! Now!”

  “I said I can't fucking stand up!” He screamed, lashing out on her. “You had to sock me in the boys, didn't you?”

  Adrienne couldn't take it anymore. She wanted to cry, and she was going to the moment he left the house. The feelings she had for him had been genuine. She had really loved him, and they had been together for about a year and a half. She couldn't believe that just by saying no to sex, it would mean the end of their relationship. They had been through a lot together, and he had been there for her all year. Even if he was the epitome of the word bastard, she was still going to miss him. She was still going to cry over him.

  “Just leave,” she said, her voice mellowing.

  He was in the process of opening his mouth and telling her for the umpteenth time that he couldn't stand up properly, but she beat him to it. She went closer to him and helped him up as she pushed him forcefully out of the house. Once he stood in front of the mansion, she closed the door behind her. She felt a few tears leave her eyes and heard the sound of gushing winds. In her disheveled state, she turned around and came face-to-face with Xavier, Aidan, Yvonne, Tatiana, and Valerie.

  Her fiancé was the first one to talk, and what he said caused more tears to well in her eyes. “Are you seriously crying over him?” he asked incredulously. “I've always pegged you as an intellectual being, but I guess I was mistaken.”

  Her eyes turned sharply towards his face.

  “You seriously didn't see through all the steroids?” he asked.

  When would Xavier ever stop making her feel stupid and inferior?

  ”The guy's no good. Period.” He grinned.

  Adrienne tried putting on a small smile. “Congratulations.” She just needed to escape from the bloodsuckers, and then she could go on and lock herself up in her room. She just wanted to cry, but she couldn't let anybody see her. “Congratulations for telling me how much of a fool I am.”

  “Humans are so emotional,” interjected Yvonne. “You've been living with them for too long.”

  “You shouldn't have decided to stay with the Day Class, you should stick with your own kind.” That was Valerie.

  “They're right,” Xavier said.

  Adrienne rolled her eyes. “And I'm wrong?” She feigned a look of shock and amusement despite her tear-stained face. “According to you I'm always wrong. I'm always the stupid and inferior one. I know.”

  Xavier didn't understand Adrienne. “What are you going on about?”

  “Congratulations again for embarrassing me. Every time you are around me you make me feel horrible about myself. Just stay away,” she said. For the third time since they met, she drained some of his negative energy. It made her feel worse, increasing the negativity inside.

  * * * * *

  Adrienne was finally done crying. Her nose was sore and her throat was hurting like hell from all the loud sobbing. Her tear-stricken face was sticky. In short, she was a complete and utter mess, and she couldn't end her night feeling sorry for herself for having been extremely stupid to fall for Ethan. She needed to get out of the house, but before that, she was going to retouch her make-up. The concea
ler could probably cover up the bruises caused by her fall down the stairs just a while ago, and a few dashes of her eye shadow could provide the illusion that she had bright, shining eyes, but in reality, her caramel-colored eyes were sulking and sore. She should not have cried so, so much.

  “Can I come in?” a voice called out from the other side of her bedroom door.

  She would never mistake that voice—Xavier's low, mysterious and sexy tone. It was captivating, and all the more hypnotizing. Whether it was a vampire quality of hypnosis or not, he could probably make anyone believe whatever he wanted them to believe. But Adrienne was smarter than that. She sighed. Obviously, she hadn't been smart enough to realize that Ethan had been playing her the whole time until she was able to literally get into his thoughts.

  “Adrienne, are you there?” Xavier tried again.

  She kept quiet, thinking of what to do—what she had to do. She couldn't face Xavier since she couldn't stand it if he embarrassed her again by telling her that sulking wasn't going to solve any of her problems. It was logical of him to say that, she realized.

  “Logical my ass,” she said in a tone that was barely above a whisper, but Xavier, being a vampire, heard it as if she had used a megaphone.

  He immediately opened the door and saw piles of clothes strewn across the floor in disarray, a box of tissue on her bed, her blankets and a pillow that were wet with tears, but there was no Adrienne. He looked farther into her room and noticed the opened window, the curtains swaying with the cool breeze. She didn't run away since he was sure she had no time to pack her belongings. She was just simply avoiding him. Yvonne was right about her, about humans—they were too emotional, and she'd been living with them for too long.

  * * * * *

  “So you and Ethan are dunzo, huh?” Brianna asked a few moments after Adrienne had finished her story about the break-up.

  Adrienne had escaped from the mansion and found friendship and serenity in Brianna's humble abode. Her best friend welcomed her with open arms and listened to the long heartbreaking story. When Adrienne finished, Brianna looked quite sad. She knew this had to hurt her friend.

  “So dunzo.” Adrienne looked away and rolled her eyes.

  “That's a shame,” said Brianna to herself. “You guys were the cutest.”

  The two sat in silence for a few minutes, until Adrienne came up with something. Knowing Ethan and his wild ways, he was probably having fun tonight while she was feeling sad over him. She thought that she should do the same—have fun and get wild.

  “Hey Bree, is anyone throwing a party tonight?”

  At the mention of the word party, Brianna Kim turned her head sharply to face her friend who was in deep thought and thinking—to party or not to party?

  “Charlotte's having one.” Brianna looked suspicious. “You're planning on drinking your ass off because of him, aren't you?”

  Adrienne shook her head, and Brianna saw right through her friend's mask. She saw guilt.

  “You are!” Brianna shouted accusatorily. “Adie, you can't!”

  A skeptical eyebrow was raised by the vampire. “And why can't I?”

  Not even thinking before speaking, Brianna answered,” Obviously because once he finds out you're sulking and drinking over him, the more his ego will grow, and as twisted as it sounds, he'll feel good and like the fact that he was able to get you to act that way.” Bree breathed a sigh. “Whew! That was tiring to say,” and with that, Adrienne laughed softly.

  Brianna was right, Adrienne realized, and she couldn't help but rethink the things that were going on inside her head. All she wanted to happen was for her to get over Ethan and move on as painlessly as possible, but of course she knew that the hell known as high school wasn't going to let that happen. Her friends were Ethan's friends; they were in the same small, but elite, circle of friends, and to add to that, there was Xavier. Adrienne knew he was going to consistently and hurtfully remind her how much of a fool she was to have fallen for someone like Ethan.

  She buried her face in her hands, and after, she looked up and grinned.

  “We're going to go to Charlotte's, we're going to party, we're going to go wild, and we're definitely drinking our asses off.”

  “Adrienne! What did I just say a while ago?” Brianna asked, her voice much louder than before.

  Adrienne only smirked in return. “We have to celebrate the fact that I'm single again.” They both looked mischievously at each other.

  “Now that's what I would call a good reason.”

  Chapter 6: Democracy is a Good Thing

  October rolled by quickly, and before Adrienne knew it, she was busily making preparations for her school's annual Halloween carnival and dance. Having been part of the Student Council her entire high school life, she knew the gist of dances and fairs, so organizing them wasn't a strenuous task anymore. What made it tiresome for her this year was the fact that the whole female student body of her school was bugging her to make the carnival and the dance a joint project with the Night Class. She quickly dismissed the idea, but her peers were persistent.

  “Weren't you all about change when you made your campaign speech last year?” the Secretary of the council asked. “I think this idea is a good start for change, and I'm sure the rest agree with me.”

  A few heads nodded. They just didn't understand what was so dangerous about pulling the Night Class in with the Day Class.

  “We suggested the idea last year, and Principal Stahl hastily rejected it.”

  “But you're his daughter, and you're the president now.” A few heads turned to watch the discussion. “You can do anything.”

  “Just because I'm daddy's little girl?” Adrienne bit her bottom lip. “Hell no. We can organize the dance and the fair ourselves. We don't need their help.”

  A few groans erupted from here and there, and to cut it short, the treasurer, the secretary, the vice president, and the class representatives glared at Adrienne Stahl. It didn’t matter that she was just looking out for them, protecting them from the Bloodsuckers since they weren't like her. They needed blood to survive, and there was going to be lots of blood running through the Day Class veins on the nights of the carnival and the dance.

  “Come on Adie, just talk to your dad,” Katherine, the freshmen's representative, pleaded complete with a pout and almost-watery eyes. “It doesn't have to be the whole Night Class.”

  A few others agreed with her.

  “It's fine with everyone if we just invite the males,” another one supplied, and with that, Adrienne couldn't help but snicker.

  The guys countered the girls' proposition.

  “No! The Night chicks are sexy as hell. They have to come too even if some of them are geeks and dweebs.”

  The head of them all—the president—pursed her lips in dissatisfaction with what was happening right in front of her. Her school just wanted the Night Class to come because of the physical benefits they could offer, and she didn't like that—the inferiority complex of her human friends with the vampires. She’d met a few of the Night group students, and they were pompous as hell.

  Adrienne didn't want them to mix with the humans because she knew how much their egos would boost even more if that happened.

  “You're underestimating us, people.” Adrienne looked down at them. “You have a stupid reason for wanting to merge the Day and the Night Classes. If you can give me a better motive, then maybe I can rethink my decision and talk to the principal—my dad.”

  Better reason or not, Adrienne was staying firm to her first and last verdict—that the Night Class was not going to go anywhere near the Day Class. She smiled triumphantly to herself; no one was going to make her change her mind.

  * * * * *

  She was extremely wrong. Very, very wrong. Did she actually think that Constance's Day Class would let the opportunity of being with the Night Class just slide like that? The moment the council meeting ended, its members, Adrienne excluded, rushed to their respective class groups and q
uickly thought of good enough reasons for Adrienne to allow the integration of the two classes.

  By the end of the day, at least a few hundred people had come up to her, shooting lengthy but sensible speeches at her. A few them had actually been good—a call for change, unity amidst diversity, for the betterment of school society, etc, etc. She couldn't believe it, but at seven o'clock in the evening she was in her father's office and was giving him the proposal.

  “I didn't want to, but everyone, seriously Dad, everyone was against me! And can you believe it? Even Brianna thought I was being melodramatic and overprotective!” Adrienne's voice rose and sounded irritated. “Well, I'm sorry if I just don't want them to get eaten by a bunch of vampires!”

  “Don't forget. You're one of us too.”

  An all-too familiar voice joined the conversation, and Adrienne pursed her lips.

  “Xavier.”

  Adrienne didn't turn to face him or even acknowledge him. She was still deeply wounded with the way he consistently embarrassed and degraded her, usually when he was in front of his friends. She had never been treated by anyone the way he treated her.

  “Still mending your broken heart?” His voice wasn't teasing, nor was there that usual tone of arrogance. It was…emotionless.

  Adrienne nodded at what she considered proof of her theory, he just probably asked the question for the sake of bringing up a topic she didn't want to talk about. Heartless bastard.

  “It's healed,” she partly lied and thanked God he couldn't read her mind or else he'd know how false that statement was. She may not have feelings for her ex anymore, but she still felt her emotions rise and heat up whenever Ethan talked to her and flirted around with other girls. Yes, flirted, and he was now pursuing Charlotte Daniels—the head cheerleader.

  “You don't have to move on so quickly.” Now, he sounded teasing. “You have your whole immortal life to do that.”

  Her vampire instincts coming to the fore, Adrienne let out a deep growl from the pit of her stomach.