by Dean Murray
**
The next morning played out essentially the same as the day before. I awoke to an empty house, and then hurried to get ready and down to the bus stop so I wouldn't be stranded if nobody else showed up to give me a ride into school.
Brandon smiled as he pulled up and found me patiently waiting for the school bus. "One of these days you're going to go ahead and wait for me at your house, and then I'll know you finally trust me."
I didn't feel much like playful banter, but I marshaled a semi-convincing smile and gave it my best go. "Oh, I trust you, I just know that you've got more important things to worry about. One of these times you'll either forget to come get me, or you'll forget to tell me you're not coming by anymore."
Brandon let the silence build for several seconds. "I'd try and convince you I'm not going to do any of that to you, but I suspect that's just going to take time."
I was busy kicking myself for having cast such a pall over the morning, when Brandon sighed. "We should talk about what happened to you yesterday."
"I don't know what you're talking about. Nothing happened." Deny everything. It's essentially the motto of two entire generations now. Make them tell you exactly how much they know before you admit to anything, and then only admit to the parts they already know about. It's a crappy way to run a society, but I'm just one kid. I can't be blamed for just trying to keep my head down and survive.
We were already pulling into the parking lot. He must have been driving even faster than normal. That should have triggered another panic attack, but the tension in the black Mustang was high enough to distract my subconscious for now.
Brandon smoothly pulled the bulky car in between a pair of SUVs and cut the engine before turning and hitting me with the full force of his gray eyes. "Adriana, I promised to protect you. I know it's kind of anachronistic, but I take those kinds of promises seriously. Most of us here in Sanctuary do. I need to know what you saw and heard while you were in the bathroom with Lucy and Jasmin, before Cassie arrived."
"You're going to protect me from Cassie and Jasmin?"
His face was completely serious as he nodded. "If necessary, but I need to know what else was said so I know how serious things are. Jasmin had a really tough childhood. Her mom was killed while she was really young, and her father was pretty abusive. Alec's mother did a good thing by bringing her into their home and trying to give her a decent life, but she's not completely stable."
My laugh had a touch more hysteria in it than I'd meant to let slip through. Brandon didn't look at me like I was losing it though. "You're not the only one to realize she's dangerous, it's just that Alec's family has a lot of influence, and so far she's avoided doing anything they couldn't cover up."
I drew a deep breath and nodded. "Okay, I don't remember exactly what she said, but she was mad at the other girl, Lucy. Something about staying away from a boy, I don't remember if she said his name. Then Jasmin said she didn't believe Lucy was sorry, and that she'd kill her if Lucy didn't stay away from him."
Brandon nodded slowly. "The boy's name's Ben. I'm not sure why she's fixated on him the way she has, or why she views Lucy as such a deadly threat to her chances with him, but it's essentially that simple."
I felt like my head should be reeling from the sheer stupidity. Even in a town this small, it didn't seem like the competition for the available males should be a matter for death threats. Brandon took my head shaking as denial of what he'd said, rather than disbelief regarding the situation.
"I promise that every word I just told you is true. More importantly, I promise I'll make sure nothing terrible happens to you."
Looking into Brandon's caring eyes, I almost couldn't believe any of it. Being threatened and then having the perfect man come to your rescue didn't happen in real life. Then again, maybe I was due for some happy endings. With a sigh, I thanked him for the ride, and we parted ways.
The only thing of note that happened in Biology was that for a few moments at the beginning of the hour it almost seemed that the near-constant stares had somehow changed and taken on a more sympathetic tone than they'd had previously.
It seemed silly to even entertain the idea. People my age don't really do sympathy very well. We're much more inclined towards ridicule and hasty, usually unfair, judgments. Still, something had changed. I held onto that hope right up until I saw Mrs. Sorenson joining everyone else in staring at me whenever I looked down at my book. There was no mistaking the look on her face; it was utter distaste, possibly with a dash of disdain.
I was so tired of it all. By the time English rolled around my natural embarrassment had given way to actual anger at Britney for starting it all. She tried to catch me at our lockers in between classes, but I pretended not to hear her, and made it safely into Mr. Whethers' class before she could catch up.