Bloodlust

Bloodlust Chapter Six

Chapter Six: Welcome to Hell High

Will was the only thing I thought about all day…and night…and for the first week of the new term at Northfield High. He was always in the back of my mind at first but then my thoughts would begin to wander and he would keep crawling back. Especially on days like today when I needed to focus the most. I found my locker-at the very end of the hall, as usual-and grabbed my books, in a hurry to get to my homeroom class. You never know when you might stumble upon the wrong room and have to turn back and try again.

          My feet pounded on the smooth floor of the deserted hallway, running faster than any normal human would even dare. But not fast enough. I collided with a tall, burly boy of about seventeen, dropping my books in the process. His shaggy blonde hair tumbled across his midnight blue eyes. Or at least they seemed midnight blue. I didn’t get a good look since his eyes were focused on my books.

          “Ouch,” I complained, hissing through my teeth. “Watch where you’re going.”

          His obvious tardiness made him seem like a regular slacker in my eyes, so I added, “Some of us are trying to get to class.”

          He bent to the ground to retrieve my fallen books, and grinned. “Well, you looked a little lost. So I decided to offer a dashing man who knows his way around campus, to assist the new girl.” I noticed he wasn’t looking at me. Just staring at the floor.

          I looked around, hoping to find someone-ANYONE-else to help me. “Huh,” I said, looking mock disappointed. “It’s too bad because I don’t see one.”

That stupid smile just widened, like someone else I knew and again I felt the urge to wipe it off his face. His gaze lifted to the ceiling…the lockers…anywhere but at me.  “Haha, very funny. Now let’s go. Class starts in less than five minutes and we’re on the wrong side of the school.” He began leading the way out the double doors of the entrance.

“I’m Justin by the way.” He didn’t offer his hand. Justin kept his eyes locked on the doors ahead of us.

          “Lexie.”

          He scoffed. “I figured. You’ve been the talk of the town all break since Maggie heard you were coming.”

          I looked at him, questioningly. “How do you know Maggie?”

          He laughed. “Everyone knows Maggie. She’s practically a legend around here.”

          “Why’s that?”

          That’s when he actually looked at me and I realized his eyes weren’t blue but an almost ivory green, with a tint of brown that looked like vines wrapped around the pupil. They were beautiful. I shook myself to keep such unwanted thoughts from crowding my brain. You have enough on your mind already. Don’t go adding more by fascinating yourself with this other boy. Speaking of boys…

          “I’m surprised she didn’t tell you,” Justin was saying. “You are blood related, so it seems mandatory to tell your kin the story behind her legacy.” He shrugged. “But I guess if you already don’t know, then Maggie must want to keep it confidential. At least for awhile”, he added, with a not-so-sly look in my direction.

          My heartbeat quickened. He can’t possibly know, can he?

We were now in the quad where I assumed most students spent their lunch hour goofing off to kill time. A single table, cut off from the rest at the edge of the quad, stood near the trashcans. An area that was always vacant. I smiled sourly. Looks like I found where I’ll be eating.  There was an overhang that stood above all the tables that crowded close to each other, with saucer-like umbrellas that covered them from the afternoon heat rays.