It's 2006, and shy geek Nate Papadakis has a rose-colored view of vampires. Who could complain about living forever and sampling the nubile flesh of one's hot, female classmates? Not that he's ever had any particular fantasies about any particular g...
Well, yeah, theoretically she could. But I didn't know how. I finally said, "How's it going?"
"Fine." She sounded irritated, but I couldn't focus on that. I was too busy staring at her skin, so much of it exposed, every inch flushed with warm life and shiny with sweat. She was absolutely beautiful.
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"Nathaniel," she said. "It's Nathaniel, right? What happened to your face?"
I decided to go with a half-truth. "I got in a fight."
"Looks like you lost."
"Yeah." I glanced past her into her house. It didn't look like anyone was home except for her. "Can I come in?"
She seemed suspicious, but she stepped away from the door frame and gestured me in. "Only for a minute. I'm kind of busy."
Now, here's the part where I walked right into Emily Harding's house. I mean, seriously. I invited myself in, and she agreed to it. This is not something I ever would have been brave enough to try on a normal day. For one thing, I was never interested in Emily except on the days when she wore mini-skirts. More importantly, she was never interested in me ever. Yet here I was. Walked right in like I owned the place. That still gets me.
Emily shut the door and looked me up and down while she picked at one of her nails.
"Out with it, already," she said.
"Out with what?"
"You're going to ask me out, right? Well, I'm very flattered, but unfortunately, I just don't feel that way about you. Thank you for asking, though, it was very sweet." This rolled off of her tongue as though she'd already said it a hundred times. "Now, off you go. I have a bubble bath waiting for me."
I laughed a little, but I couldn't put much energy into it. I was too mesmerized by the smell of her, by the pattern of blue-green veins that ran beneath her skin. By the pulse I could see fluttering in her throat.
"That's not why I'm here."
"Then, why? Selling cookies?"
"Where are your parents?"
"Oh, you want them. They took my little sister out of town."
"But you're here."
"Studying, like I said. Not like I wanted to spend the weekend with my Aunt Marian, anyway."
This news came to me like a breath of fresh air. She was alone. And she was going to be alone for the foreseeable future. I smiled at her, but she just glared back.
"Dude, you have five seconds to tell me why you're here. Then you're getting ou---"
"I need you." It was out of my mouth before I could stop it. Even in my half-starved state, I knew it was the wrong thing to say. "I mean, um---I need you to help me."
