Craving (Old Vamp & Shapeshifter Story I Wrote)

Chapter 5

I slowly sip the warm hot cocoa, leaning against the granite kitchen island. I get a nice, fuzzy, snug feeling in my stomach and sigh. Delicious. I  sip it quickly within one and a half minutes. Mmmmm. I want more.

I open the cupboard to find another packet of hot cocoa, but I must’ve used up the last one. I sigh and then  I hear my smartphone ring from the living room, when I threw it in the armchair. Maybe Jayce was calling again. I run to quickly answer it, but instead, its a text.

 

Mom: Going to be staying late tonight. Make yourself some dinner, there’s a small steak in the fridge thats going to expire soon.

 

I sigh and shuffle through the fridge, until I find the steak, in a styrofoam container topped with plastic wrap. I rip it open with a knife that’s lying around, and dump it on a pan. Blood streams out, gushing all over the cast iron skillet. My belly growls, and instinctively, I grab a plate and dump it on. Tonight I don’t seem to care if its raw or I could get food poisoning.

I don’t even bother getting silverware. I roll up my sleeves and shove the steak into my mouth, blood dribbling out. The steak falls out, and I tear a piece off, one by one, and gulp it down. After cramming the last hunk into my jaws, I lick the plate clean.

I expect to vomit or I don’t know, drop to the ground and die?, but instead I go to bed and the next morning, I feel the opposite. A swift kick of energy has surged through me, and when I get to school, it’s inevitable that Lakeesha and her clique find me.

“Oh, look, its loser girl!” Lakeesha points, her crew giggling.

“Back off.” I say, almost right away without any thought.

“Who says I will? I’m not Swiper The Fox from Dora.” Lakeesha steps forward, and then jumps at me. I dodge her, quickly.

“If you touch me, I will mess you up!” I threaten. Lakeesha springs back up, and tries to kick me in my stomach, but then I block it and shove her leg in her face. She falls backward. Her posse gasps, and they run away. Lakeesha tries to look cool while limping down the hall, I guess she isn’t very flexible for a runner.

“Good job.” I see Jayce coming down the hall.

“Thanks. I’ve just slept well, I guess. Surprisingly energetic for eating half a banana for breakfast.” I shrug.

“Well, thats because your . . .” Jayce quickly stops himself. “I’ll talk to you later about it. Did you hear me on the phone yesterday?”

“I told you the reception in these mountains are horrible, dude. Of course I didn’t hear you.”

“Okay then. See you in Math.” Jayce walks away, and I give a tiny wave.

At lunch, I sit with Mira and Bethany, again. I barely touch Pizza Wednesday’s cheese pizza.

“You need to eat, get your calories in you. Don’t you have running practice?” Bethany asks. Last night I’d gotten a voicemail that I got on the team.

“Yeah, but I’m just not that hungry today.” I push the tray away. “Besides, this good looking of a lunch is pretty suspicious, don’t you think?”

“This isn’t a diet thing, is it? You're the leanest girl I know.” Mira replies, looking at me like like I’m guilty of something.

“I don’t have anorexia, I swear. Here, you guys have it. I’ll get a granola bar from the vending machine later.” I lie.

“Lunch is probably the second most important meal of the day, after dessert.” Bethany pushes the tray back at me. “Come on, just a few bites. The pizza is delicious.”

“Fiiine.” I groan, and bite a bit of it off. It tastes like stale bread and rotten cheese and bruised tomatoes. I spit it out. “Yuck. I’ve made my case.”

“It can’t be that bad.” Mira bites off some of her pizza. “Mmm, delish.”

“Anyways, you guys can’t make me eat it.” I shrug.

“Ok then, I guess everyone has different taste buds.” Bethany shrugs.

“Anyways, we’re going ice skating tonight. Come with?” Mira asks.

“I’d love to! Ice skating is pretty fun. It feels like you’re an ice queen.”

“I know, right? Anyways, meet us at the Ice Rink at 7:00, front doors.”

“I’ll be there.”

 

After school, I look in the vending machine for something to eat, although I’m still not hungry. I slump against it and a snickers bar falls down. I shrug and pick it up from under the metal flap. I rip it open and nibble on it. Decent-tasting.

I go to running practice on the track behind the school. In the changing room, I glance in the mirror and see the bruises on my back and anywhere on my body, for that matter, are gone. But Lakeesha and her group, of course, haven’t disappeared into thin air yet, sadly. They elbow into me while I’m adjusting my sports bra.

“Whoops, sorry.” Lakeesha says sarcastically and I try not to freak the freak out at her.

 

“We have a meet next Friday at Richfield High School.” I hear groans and moans. “I know their track team has never really been beaten, but if we want to win, we have to finesse our skills. Start with some stretches and then some laps around the track, go!”

After some stretches, I’m itching to start running. I go around the track, cutting my average time in half. At the end of practice, I’m not tired at all. I meet up with Jayce on the late bus.

“Where were you?” I ask.

“Scrapbooking club.” He shrugs.

“Wow, you do scrapbooking?” I raise my eyebrows. I didn’t pin him for a scrapbooker.

“Its hard to resist all the cool stickers. I mean, come on! Who can?”
“Me.” I smile at him, raising an eyebrow at him again. “Seriously, 5 stickers for twenty bucks. Not much of a hobby to me. More like a money-making scheme.”

“Thats your opinion. Anyways, I saw you through the window on the track. You shouldn’t flaunt your skills.”

“Your just jealous.”

“Seriously, you need to slow down.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about. I just have skills and about seven years of experience.”

“Do you seriously not know?”

“I know you’re making a big deal out of nothing. I just got skills at track and you got skills at scrapbooking.” At the next stop, I switch seats, and play Cut The Rope until I get to my house.