The Vampire

Blood. I stared across the room, leaning forward in my desk, completely missing the teacher’s journal assignment, as Cheryl Browner, the only junior in the class, one year older than me, pulled a Band-aid from her purse and stuck it to the paper cut on the top of her finger. How I longed to stand up, walk across the room, kneel just next to her, pull off the bandage, and…

No! This was wrong! I snapped my gaze away from Cheryl and looked around. I was in English class, fourth period, and everyone had just finished writing. Mr. Edgars was waiting for someone to start the journal discussion. Damn it! I thought. Oh, well. I’d just ask Jake what the journal was after class.

The rest of the class consisted of Mr. Edgars, easily the funniest, coolest, and most-loved teacher in the school, cracking jokes about Lexi Slice’s newest hair style. This week she had dyed it blond with black streaks, swept it down over one eye, spiked the back and top, and colored the spikes red. After that the class passed slowly, it being a reading day. But I couldn’t concentrate on my book, even though it was, by far, the best book I’d ever read. My mind was working overtime, trying to think of a way, any way, that I could deal with the Thirst, at least long enough to find a donor.

Though I had long ago come to terms with the fact that I, Steven Rowlands, seemingly ordinary high-school sophomore, was a vampire, I still couldn’t believe myself. I had almost made the biggest mistake of my life. I had been just one second away from leaving my seat, walking over to the far corner of the room, and drinking Cheryl’s blood, right there in the middle of English class. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Not only would the social stigma of such an act be enough to guarante...

... middle of paper ...

... thought she would.

Instead, she nodded. “Yeah, I guess there’s nothing else to do…” So we went, holding hands as always.

When we got there, we scoped out an empty aisle and sat, my arm around her shoulders, her leaning against my shoulder. We had been dating for almost a month now and hadn’t yet kissed, though I wanted that more than I longed for a human donor. I thought she wanted it too, but I was reluctant. I didn’t want to chase her away by moving to quickly. But today was the day. I could feel it.

But before I could make the move, she scared me by asking me the worst question you could ask me.

“Steven, I'm curious... Do you believe in... In vampires?”

I had no idea what to say to that. I mean, there was no way she could have figured out what I was, and she'd never been one to believe in anything paranormal... So something weird was definitely going on.