After a few more minutes, the four of them left the table together. They all were noticeably graceful - even the big, brawny one. It was unsettling to watch. The one named Amanda didn"t look at me again.I sat at the table with Jessica and her friends longer than I would have if I"d been sitting alone. I was anxious not to be late for cla.s.s on my first day. One of my new acquaintances, who considerately reminded me that her name was Angela, had Biology II with me the next hour. We walked to cla.s.s together in silence. She was shy.When we entered the cla.s.sroom, Angela went to sit at a black-topped lab table exactly like the ones I was used to. She already had a neighbor. In fact, all the tables were filled but one. Next to the center aisle, I recognized Amanda Cullen by her blonde hair, sitting next to that single open seat. As I walked down the aisle to introduce myself to the teacher and get my slip signed, I was watching him surrept.i.tiously. Just as I pa.s.sed, she suddenly went rigid in her seat. Alarm bells were screaming in my mind death. She stared at me again, meeting my eyes with the strangest expression on her face - it was hostile, furious, hungry. I looked away quickly, shocked, and reigned in enkidu. I stumbled over a book in the walkway and had to catch myself on the edge of a table. The girl sitting there giggled.
I"d noticed that her eyes were black - coal black. Fed vampires have like a b.u.t.terscotch color if I remember. This was not a fed vampire and my blood had magic in it, it was very good blood.
Mr. Banner signed my slip and handed me a book with no nonsense about introductions. I could tell we were going to get along. Of course, he had no choice but to send me to the one open seat in the middle of the room. I kept my eyes down as I went to sit by her, internally screaming don"t eat me don"t eat me.
I didn"t look up as I set my book on the table and took my seat, but I saw her posture change from the corner of my eye. she was leaning away from me, sitting on the extreme edge of her chair and averting her face like she smelled something bad. Inconspicuously, I sniffed my hair. It smelled like old spice swagger, the scent of my favorite shampoo. b.i.t.c.h better not think i stink she better just be affected by my blood.It seemed an innocent enough odor. I tried to pay attention to the teacher. Being this close to a superhuman vampire is not safe even if I have like 7 more clones I know for a fact being eaten would suck. My chains would have no chance at this distance and she is technically mortal she could probably tear them apart easily. my only chance is retreat to the kingdom I"d probably still be hit though and the kingdom doesn"t convert vampires that i know of. Unfortunately the lecture was on cellular anatomy, something I"d already studied. I took notes carefully anyway, always looking down.
I couldn"t stop myself from peeking occasionally at the vampire girl next to me. During the whole cla.s.s, she never relaxed her stiff position on the edge of her chair, sitting as far from me as possible. I could see her hand on her left leg was clenched into a fist, tendons standing out under her pale skin. This, too, she never relaxed. she had the long sleeves of her white shirt pushed up to his elbows, and her forearm was surprisingly soft looking and dainty. she wasn"t nearly as big as shed looked next to her burly brother she was tiny and terrifying.
The cla.s.s seemed to drag on longer than the others. Was it because the day was finally coming to a close, or because I was waiting for her to rip out my throat and eat me.she never did; she continued to sit so still it looked like she wasn"t breathing.Was this his normal vampire behavior? I questioned my judgment on this world choice but I wanted some people here. I"ll suck it up and be a big boy.
I peeked up at her one more time, and regretted it. she was glaring down at me again, her black eyes full of revulsion and hunger. As I flinched away from her, shrinking against my chair, the phrase if looks could kill suddenly ran through my mind. At that moment, the bell rang loudly, making me jump, and Amanda Cullen was out of her seat. Fluidly she rose - she was much shorter than I"d thought - her back to me, and she was out the door before anyone else was out of their seat. I sat frozen in my seat, staring blankly after her. That was terifying I really would have no chance in speed. It wasn"t fair. I began gathering up my things slowly. That was a very stressful hour man having someone who could probably throw cars with their bare hands that lives on drinking blood who had some monstrous addiction to yours at this point was really scary I"ve said it before I"ll say it again women are scary.
"Aren"t you Ryan Swan?" a male voice asked.
I looked up to see a boy with pale blond hair carefully gelled into orderly spikes, smiling at me in a friendly way. He obviously didn"t think I smelled bad. I mean I wear old spice b.i.t.c.h.
"I"m Mike."
"Hi, Mike."
"Do you need any help finding your next cla.s.s?"
"I"m headed to the gym, actually. I think I can find it."
"That"s my next cla.s.s, too." He seemed thrilled, though it wasn"t that big of a coincidence in a school this small.
We walked to cla.s.s together; he was a chatterer - he supplied most of the conversation, which made it easy for me. He"d lived in California till he was ten, so he knew how I felt about the sun. It turned out he was in my English cla.s.s also. I must repeat no boys allowed in the harem but me.
But as we were entering the gym, he asked, "So, did you stab Amanda Cullen with a pencil or what? I"ve never seen her act like that."
I cringed. So I wasn"t the only one who had noticed. And, apparently, that wasn"t Amanda Cullen"s usual behavior. I decided to play dumb. " I don"t think she likes the smell of old spice honestly."
The Gym teacher, Coach Clapp, found me a uniform but didn"t make me dress down for today"s cla.s.s. At home, only two years of RE. were required. Here, P.E. was mandatory all four years. I watched four volleyball games running simultaneously.The final bell rang at last. I walked slowly to the office to return my paperwork. The rain had drifted away, but the wind was strong, and colder.
When I walked into the warm office, I almost turned around and walked back out.
Amanda Cullen stood at the desk in front of me. I recognized again that long blonde hair she didn"t appear to notice the sound of my entrance. I stood pressed against the back wall, waiting for the receptionist to be free.
The door opened again, and the cold wind suddenly gusted through the room, rustling the papers on the desk, swirling my hair around my face. The girl who came in merely stepped to the desk, placed a note in the wire basket, and walked out again. But Amanda Cullen"s back stiffened, and she turned slowly to glare at me - her face was absurdly beautiful - with piercing, hate-filled eyes. For an instant, I felt a thrill of genuine fear, raising the hair on my arms. The look only lasted a second, but it chilled me more than the freezing wind. She turned back to the receptionist.
"Never mind, then," she said hastily in a voice like velvet. "I can see that it"s impossible. Thank you so much for your help." And she turned on his heel without another look at me, and disappeared out the door. "How did your first day go, dear?" the receptionist asked maternally.
"Fine," I lied, it was scary. She didn"t look convinced.
When I got to the truck, it was almost the last car in the lot. It seemed like a haven, already the closest thing to home I had in this damp green hole. I sat inside for a while, just staring out the windshield blankly. But soon I was cold enough to need the heater, so I turned the key and the engine roared to life. I headed back to Charlie"s house, time for some runescape.