by Elle A. Rose
***
Lance and I had been dating for a few months, and we were halfway through our second semester in college. He was walking me to my Marketing class as he always did, when we were greeted by this beautiful girl. It is hard to describe the way she looked. Vampires by nature are lovely to look at. It helps pull our prey closer to us-that is if you are into the whole human thing. But this creature that stood in front of us left me with my mouth hanging open.
“Hi, Lance, how are you? How was your weekend?”
As she lunged forward to wrap her long skinny arms around Lance, I was able to collect myself, and take a good look at her. She was five foot eight, with long blonde hair that went to her thighs. I do think she was maybe a size two, if they had sizes like that then. Her eyes were a dull brown and she was very tanned. Looking back on it now, her tan would have fit in better a few decades later. As she embraced Lance, who was still holding my hand, I felt him stiffen. He released my hand to use both of his to pry her off of him.
With a nervous chuckle, Lance brought his hand up in a gesture of introductions. “Annie, this is my girlfriend, Amber; Amber this is Annie. We used to go to high school together.”
Annie did not look too happy about the introduction. I was not the jealous type-well, at least I was not until I saw the way Annie looked at Lance. I immediately went to read her mind. I needed to know everything about her. The instant I drifted through her thoughts, I saw that all she could think about was Lance. She was thinking about how good it was to see him, and even though it had been a few days, she missed not seeing his face. She was not happy with the fact that I was standing there, or that Lance had not been bluffing about having a girlfriend. She was truly hoping that he was playing hard to get. Before two full seconds passed, she had already written me off. She did not believe what we had was serious, and now that she saw that Lance was ready to date, it would only be a matter of time before she would have him.
By now Lance knew my abilities pretty well. Although I had never read his mind, I recognized he was standing between us worried that I was reading Annie’s mind. Over the past few months I continued to tell Lance that I wanted him to be happy, and if at any time he felt I was not the one to do that, then I would understand. Realizing how strong she felt about Lance and how far back this cat and mouse game went on, I started wondering how long the attraction would continue before the game was over. Trying to be the adult in this situation-which I was by a century plus-I decided I would take my leave. If I was going to have faith in Lance, right now would be the time to prove it. “Lance, I’m going to class. I’ve homework to turn in. I shall see you later. Annie, it was very nice to meet you. Hopefully I will see you around campus.” I sensed Lance did not want me to leave. As I started to depart-much faster than I should have, in human company-he caught the back of my shirt. I turned to see what he wanted and was met by his lips. He kissed me softly on the lips. The kiss was nothing too over the top in public, but enough to let Annie know that I was his and he was mine.
Annie released a huff of air. I had been holding my breath until Lance kissed me. I loved to inhale his scent when we kissed. It was not a good thing to do, tempting myself and leaving him very little room to escape. But instead on inhaling Lance’s scent, I caught a lungful of her scent and in that moment I have to admit it made me want to shove Lance out the way, so I could get closer to Annie’s intoxicating aroma. There was something sweet and tangy about her scent. Her fragrance drew me in. As I started to turn my head to look at her, Lance brought my attention back to him.
“I will see you soon, love.”
Then in a low voice only I could hear, he said, “Don’t worry, Amber. You are the only woman I want. Read my mind if you don’t believe me.”
He was teasing me, and although I was the one trying to be the “adult”, I ended up looking like the immature one. He knew I wouldn’t read his mind. That was his little joke whenever I doubted him.
Once again, Annie showed distaste for us as a couple, and I could sense she wanted Lance’s attention back on her as she tapped her foot on the floor.
With another huff, she tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Yes, umm, Amber, I guess I’ll see you around. Lance, it is good to see you and hopefully I’ll see you soon. I don’t want to be late for class.”
Annie spun on her heels and retreated down the hallway. Checking his watch, Lance shook his head. “Yeah, sorry, I got to run now or we are all going to be late. I will see you later, and Amber?”
“Yes?”
“I love you.”
That was the first time he had ever said it. I always wondered when would be the first time he would tell me. I did not expect it to be in a college hallway, but it was perfect. That moment made my slow and steady heart skip a beat. Only a second or two past before I came out of my daze and my sight focused on Lance, who was standing there with that silly grin on his face.
“Bye, Amber.”
He turned and walked away. He was not expecting me to respond, even though I wanted too. I smiled and made my way to class too. I knew I would have the chance to later.