[A.N.] I just wanted to say Merry Christmas and happy holidays to everyone! Enjoy your gift!
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"Nice seeing you again."
I looked up from my phone as the elevator door opened back up again. Tara stepped in, smiling wide at me. I smiled back, putting my phone away in my back pocket.
"It's nice to see that you're in a better mood than you were yesterday."
She sighed while still having a welcoming smile on her face. "That Ivy bitch. She's so fake and just... Ugh! I hate her."
"Oh." I said, not knowing how to react when a girl has a grudge against another girl. "Why do you hate her so much anyway?"
"She cheated to get into here- got someone to write her essays for her. She even lied about her income to get some scholarship. I don't even know how she hasn't been caught yet. It's not fair that people like you and I work our butts off to get into a college like this while there are snobby rich kids that don't want to spend a dime or do any work." She looked completely furious, hands in fists and everything.
The elevator doors opened and we both walked out into the lobby area. We passed the front desk, greeting Todd as we made it to the door.
"But, that's nothing knew." I continued the conversation, as we walked outside. "There are a ton of people that do that. Why does she in particular piss you off so much?"
"I was getting ready to bust her until she threatened to spread this rumor that I slept with a bunch guys in high school- as if she would know."
I made a disapproving face. I don't really understand why girls work so hard to bring other girls down by spreading lies about each other. Is that an evolutionary trait? I know the saying goes "survival of the fittest" but no one said that had to be taken to the extreme.
As far as I knew, Tara was a good person. Crazy, but a good person. Trust me. I've been around enough people and Alex to confirm this.
"She's so childish, I know." She continued on. "I can't wait for some scandal to happen and she kicked out of here for good."
A scandal would be nice. I mean, not the scandal itself but the amount of national publicity the university would suddenly get. NYU is pretty well-known already, but imagine, on the front page of The New York Times, "Wealthy NYU Student Cheats Her Way In". I can see it now...
Something about scandals at colleges and universities that reach the national level excite me beyond measure. I don't know why.
"Can we stop at Starbucks for a sec so I can get a frappé?" Tara asked, nodding her head over to the coffee shop.
I gritted my teeth at the memory of Blake and when he bought me that stupid frappé. Fuck him and his frappé! It's too bad they actually taste good, because now every time I think of one, I think of that asshole.
I checked my phone to see how many minutes we had until class started, then nodded when I saw that we had time. I walked with her across the busy street. She got her caramel frappé, which, of course, looked pretty good, and drank in on our way to the science building.
We arrived at class relatively early again, with only a few people in the class, and took our seats in the same ones as before. Everyone was already diligently reviewing Monday's lecture notes or checking their social network accounts on their laptops. Tara and I kept our conversation to whispers since the entire classroom was awkwardly quiet to begin with.
"So how are your other classes?" I asked Tara.
"Russian language and Russian history I'm pretty excited about so far." She said. "The rest of them are ok, I guess. We started stoichiometry in chemistry yesterday." She made a fake puking face which made me chuckle a little.
I told her that I was personally worried about economics and how difficult it was going to be. Difficult. For me. Right. But give me a break. There no way I can be live everyday life around people without concealing my vampire abilities.
After several minutes of talking, more and more people started to enter the classroom and the seats filled up quickly. Professor Steiner drew a large diagram of DNA on the chalkboard, slowly tapering off into a chromosome.
I took out my notebook and pencil from my book bag and turned to a fresh page. Tara got out her Mac and opened up Microsoft OneNote. She diligently titled the page with the date and "Biology" then subtitled it as DNA. It nice to see that someone I know isn't a slacker...
Just as I was thinking that, the classroom door opened and in came Keith, looking like he couldn't care less. The professor took the time to turned away from the board and scowled at him with the most disapproving expression.
"You're actually here before class starts." The professor placed a hand in his pocket while fiddling with the chalk in his other hand.
Keith went up one step in the class before turning back around to face the professor. I couldn't see his face, but I could tell that he had that annoying smirk due to the fact that the professor's expression hardened even more.
"I always say that early is on time and-"
"On time is late. Yea, yea, yea." Keith finished the phrase off quickly.
Wait, what? "Early is on time, and on time is late."? That's what people live by? What logic is that?
It was obvious how irritated the professor was getting with Keith's attitude. Wouldn't he be use to his behavior by now? I mean, he did have him as a student before. I swear this guy is his dad or something, since he's so hard on him. Last time I checked, professors have this stereotype that says that they don't baby their students and don't hassle them. Basically, if your in trouble of failing their class, they won't take the initiative to tell you- you have to go out of your way to help yourself. I, personally, like that form of independence.
Keith waited to see if the professor would respond with something else. He simply cleared his throat and turned back to the chalkboard to label the diagram he made. Keith continued walked up the seating levels and took the same seat next to me. He brought out a binder and a pen and I noticed the same paper of study skills that I had written up in the inside pocket of the binder. I was sort of surprised that he put it in his binder. He looked up from his binder at me with an expressionless face.
"You kept the paper." I pointed out.
His eyebrows knitted together briefly before being set back in place. "Yea..."
I nodded at him approvingly, unable to make another point about something else.
He seemed to pay a little more attention in class this time. A little. He still would ask me to elaborate on what the professor said on some occasions. Not to mention, there were only about four lines of notes on his paper. The rest of the page were doodles of cartoon characters and intricate designs. God knows what's going through this guy's head.
I nudged him at one point, when I realized his head was buried in his paper, drawing Mickey Mouse's ears over and over.
He winked and nodded to me. "I got this."
"Got what? Mickey Mouse's ears? You're not even paying attention." I whispered harshly.
"I am-"
"Shut up." I said through my teeth, eying the professor to see if he was hearing me. "You're so loud."
Keith narrowed his eyes at me. "Can you stop being my mother? You're the one being loud" He turned away from me. "Bloody hell."
Professor Steiner turned around to face Keith and I. Here we go again. Does this man have superhuman hearing or is that simply innate with all professors? Or he's a vampire too.
"Is there a problem?" He asked.
I sighed and lowered my head in guilt. I seriously hate giving my teachers a bad impression of myself.
"Actually." Keith said in a matter-of-fact tone. "There is."
"Ok. Let's here it." Professor Steiner said, suddenly intrigued.
The class turned to face Keith- many looking surprised that he was actually engaged in class.
Keith pointed towards the chalkboard with his pen. "I'm just confused on the functions of the helicase and DNA polymerase enzymes. Like, how exactly are they different since they both synthesize parts of the DNA strand?"
I think, if it was possible, my jaw wouldn't been hitting the table at that point. I looked over to Tara to confirm my surprised expression with her.
The professor seemed amused by this. He's amused by any question that he's asked but he was right on answering Keith's question and drawing everything out on the board. While the professor had his back turned, Keith looked over at me and winked again. I scoffed and rolled my eyes at him.
After class, I somehow decided to take the initiative to speak to Keith, saying good-bye to Tara and catching up to him in the hallway.
"Are you suddenly smart now?" I said out of the blue.
"Was I dumb before?" He looked mortally offended but grinned momentarily.
"No, no. I didn't mean it like that." I said, quickly feeling bad about what I said. "I just didn't expect you to be so... into the lecture."
"Yea, well I'm slowing trying to engage myself in learning, I guess you could say."
I wanted to add that he's going to need a hell of a lot of improvement since his note-taking skills, as well as other things, could use a lot of work, but refrained from doing so. He seemed pretty proud of himself, like he had accomplished something by asking a legitimate question in class. (It was probably his first time even asking a question.)
"Do you think you could swing by tomorrow to help me out again? The last session was really helpful."
"Um. Sure. I have a club meeting around 5:30 but I can come a little later- like 6:20-ish."
"That's fine. See you then." He was about to walk away before he stopped himself and turned back. "Oh, and I'll make sure to pay you too. Remind me if I don't."
He turned and walk away down the hallway. I went my separate way out of the building.
Just as I'm crossing over the grass to the sidewalk, I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. The screen flashes a text from Miles.
"Where do you want to eat?" He messaged.
I laughed a little to my myself while walking down the sidewalk, having my head down in my phone. I positioned my thumbs above the screen, ready to reply. It'd been a while since I'd actually eaten and for the the sake of Nick and Miles asking me why I'm starving myself, I decided to participate this time. Not only that but, I was worried what would happen if I went a long time with consuming anything.
I quickly searched Google maps for steakhouses nearby. I found one that was pretty close and had good reviews so I replied to Miles, telling him about it. We both agreed to have everyone meet in Miles and my dorm before I drove everyone to the restaurant.
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"Are you all ready to order?" The waitress asked, coming back to our table with a warm smile.
We looked around at each other, not wanting to impolitely intrude on someone's order. It was finally decided that Miles start. Nick ordered after him and Alex kept insisting that I go before him since "everything looks good on the menu".
"Um," I said looking back at the menu, even though I knew exactly what I was going to order. "I'll have a steak."
"Ok..." She nodded and scribbled down on her notepad. "And how do you want your meat?"
"Rare." I said sharply, knowing I would get some shocked looks from the other guys- except Alex, of course. "Like, extremely rare. Like, you don't even have to cook it."
The waitress laughed uncomfortably. "Well, we need to cook it to some degree, sir. That would be a violation of the restaurant to give a customer completely uncooked meat."
I sighed with disappointment. "Alright..."
"And what side?" She quickly elaborated. "We have coleslaw, mashed potatoes and gravy, steamed broccoli..."
"No side, please."
"It... comes with the meal, sir."
"Ok. Uh... surprise me."
"You... have to designate what sides you want. We aren't aloud to choose what our customers eat."
This is the 4.5 out of 5-star restaurant that I found on Google maps?
"He'll have mashed potatoes and coleslaw, Jesus." Alex blurted out, getting some looks from the people's around us.
The waitress's eyes widened as she scribbled the note down. Alex looked at my angrily and mouthed "What the fuck is wrong with you?".
The waitress looked back up at Alex who quickly transformed his scowled into a smile. She took his order then asked us each what drinks we wanted.
I waited until the waitress walked away to speak. "I'm carnivorous." I said to Alex.
"You're freaking people out. Who the hell orders an uncooked steak and nothing else?"
"Carnivores...?" I said in a "isn't-it-obvious" tone.
He ignored my joking manner. "I know that you're a-" He did a weird eye twitch while cupping the side of his mouth and mouthing "vampire". "-but try to fit in."
"Yes, mom." I said, grinning and rolling my eyes.
He scoffed and looked away from me. Miles and Nick both looked confused by the scene that just played out before their eyes. Neither of them, hopefully, knows I'm a vampire this far. I don't really know how long I'm going to keep it that way.
Miles, being my roommate, ought to know, right? How would he even take it? He doesn't look like the type that will suddenly believe that his roommate is a blood-sucking monster that you only see on TV.
I can trust Alex not to tell Nick, but I feel as though he'll find out some day as well and then all four of us will know of Jesse's little secret. I think about it for a second and realize that it doesn't really bother me. As long as no one catches me slitting a deer's throat or drink from a blood bag, I should be safe from a mental hospital.
Our food arrives after about twenty minutes of waiting and my nose immediately takes in the meat on my plate. It smells like Heaven- as if I'll ever get to know what Heaven really smells like.
"Thank you so much." I said, absentmindedly. My eyes didn't leave my plate as the waiter set it down in front of me.
She set the other plates down for everyone else and paused next to the table. I pictured the waiter thinking something around the lines of "This guy is nuts." but I really didn't give damn.
"Enjoy." She said before leaving down the aisle.
I picked up my plate and fork and stretched across the table with them to dump the mashed potatoes and coleslaw onto Alex's plate. He paused and looked up at me with his brows knitted.
"You could've waited-"
Before he could finish his sentence, I set my plate down on the table in front of me, set the fork to the side, and instinctively picked up the steak in my hands. I tore off chunks of it shamelessly, like a lion eating a freshly-killed zebra. The meat was rich and there were still some traces of blood in it. The sauce on it was an added bonus since I really would've eaten it bare.
"Holy shit." Miles laughed. "I'll make sure to invite you over for Thanksgiving, Jesse."
I was too engrossed in the wonderful masterpiece of cow meat to reply to him. I probably looked like a twi year old stuffing its face with applesauce. I would occasionally stop to lick around my lips and smack my mouth in approval then dive back into it. Take note that when a vampire hasn't eaten and drank blood for a long time and they finally eat, it's not a pleasant scene.
"Excuse me." I heard a man's voice and looked around until my eyes fell on a, give or take, guy in his early 30s looking at me in disgust. There was a woman across the table I n front of him whom I guessed was his date, since she was desperately tugging on the sleeve of his shirt.
"What?" I saw, with my mouth full.
I saw Alex do a facepalm and heard Miles and Nick stifling their laughs.
"Can you please not... eat like that... It's rude and unsettling." He wrinkled his nose when I took another taunting bite out of the meat.
"I don't care." I said, challengingly. His date looked at him worriedly, urging him not to argue with me.
"Listen to your girl, Matt Damon." I said, suddenly surprised that I had gotten the nerve to be so rude to a stranger.
"I'm reporting this to the manager." He said, outraged.
"I. Don't. Give. A. Flying-"
Alex banged the table and my head quickly snatched to him. "Jesse! You're going to get us kicked out of you don't shut up. What's gotten into you?"
By that time, the man had looked away from me and switched his focus to his date who kept telling him that he should've picked a fight with me. Alex relaxed his clenched jaw and went back to eating his food. Miles and Nick followed suit with suppressed smiles on their faces.
I finished the steal within the next few minutes and looked down at the T-bone sitting on my plate. My fingers were coated in a layer of steak sauce. I was tempted to lick it off my fingers but for the sake of everyone around, I wiped them off on about ten napkins.
"That was delicious." I said, smiling with satisfaction. I slurped some of my Sprite then set it back down on the coaster.
"So you just eat meat?" Nick asked in between laughs.
"Yup." I said with a lazy smile.
"I mean, that's badass, but isn't that bad for most people?"
"Yea. But I'm not most people. I'm Jesse."
I felt a little drunk for some reason, even though I didn't have a pinch of alcohol in my system. It was a nice feeling to eat after so long but then came the guilty feelings that remind me that I'm still and always will be a bloodthirsty monster. On the bright side, I still haven't killed anyone for blood and I'm still somewhat sane. Somewhat.