Vampire Girl (Book 1)

~6~

I woke up to find myself in my bed, covered in sheets and still in the clothes that I was wearing yesterday. I sat upright in my bed and rubbed my eyes with my hands. Wow. That was probably the best sleep I've ever had in my life. I got out of bed and rubbed my head, messing up my already messed-up hair as I headed straight towards the bathroom. I turned on the light switch and walked over to the counter. I saw my reflection in the mirror and almost screamed. My hands trailed over my cheeks, which were bruised, then to my neck, where there were two red dots. Oh... my... God... What the heck happened last night? I gulped and looked down from the mirror and closed my eyes to compose myself. It's fine. I'm just imagining things. It'll disappear once I look back again. I opened my eyes to look at my reflection again, but when the two dots didn't disappear, I slumped in defeat. Great. I guess I'm going to have to improvise to hide those bite marks. But still... What happened? I shook my head and walked out the bathroom, forgetting to turn off the light.

I plucked out a black t-shirt and a pair of ripped black jeans from my drawer. I took out my leather jacket from my closet and put it on my bed. Then I glanced at my dresser and noticed a couple of chokers hanging from the lamp. One of them would have to do. I picked the laced black choker I got for my seventh birthday from my aunt and smiled. I love this one. I put on my clothes and snapped on the choker and observed my reflection in the mirror. At least I looked more awake with a jacket on instead of just a plain t-shirt. I walked out of my bedroom and was about to ask my mom something when I noticed that the living room and kitchen was empty. I frowned and was about to turn away when I noticed that there was a post-it note on the fridge. I plucked it from its place and read the small note: Vivian, I had to leave for work early. I'll be home early tonight. I promise. Love you, xoxo. I threw the note away in the garbage and slammed the cover closed. I didn't need any more of my mom's excuses for leaving me home alone today.

                                                                                                ~~~

I left the house shortly after eating a small bran muffin and took the bus, only to arrive twenty minutes later at school. I put my backpack in my locker and took out my English stuff, then closed my locker. "Hey, Vivian." someone said beside me. I jumped and looked up to meet the eyes of Carter Clyde, who was smiling down at me. I immediately avoided looking at him and started walking away, but I heard him follow me down the hallway as I made my way to my homeroom English class. "I can't talk to you, Carter." I told him. "Vivian, wait!" I heard him call out. I winced but kept on walking. Some people were glancing in our direction. I need to stop this now before it gets out of hand. I turned around and Carter bumped into me. "Oh, I'm sorry!" he said. I tugged on my backpack's strap. "I can't talk to you, Carter, and you have to understand that." I told him. He seemed almost hurt upon hearing my words, and when he placed his arm on my shoulder, I found myself looking into his eyes. "Whatever I did to hurt you, Vivian, I'm truly sorry." he said, an apologetic look in his eyes. I glanced at his hand, gulped and looked away. He noticed my discomfort and took his hand away, shoving it in his pants' pocket. "Are you okay?" he asked, worriedly. I didn't look at him, but instead, I lifted my hand to my neck, where my fingers brushed against my choker, and hence, where the two bite marks were, but hidden away underneath the fabric of my choker. His eyes followed my movement and he gulped. "Do you... remember anything about last night?" he asked. I avoided eye contact with him and simply said: "No." He sighed. "You... know you can talk to me about anything right?" he said. I frowned. "Not really, no." I replied, truthfully. He seemed pretty deflated about my response. So, seeing that the conversation was going nowhere, I pulled my backpack's strap more over my shoulder and gave him a slight nod. "Bye, Carter. See you in English." I said to him, and walked away.