I woke up with a jolt when I felt the presence of something weighing on my chest.
My sleepy eyes slowly focused on the pale form of Casper, the youngest member of the clan. He was staring at me with big brown eyes and a goofy grin, showing off two missing front teeth.
I laughed drowsily and rubbed my eyes. "What's going on, little guy?"
Casper crossed his arms over his chest and huffed. "I'm not little," he whined, pouting like a five year old.
I guess that was suiting, since he was a five year old.
"Sorry, big guy," I corrected. "So are you going to tell me why you're sitting on me?"
"Your daddy said you're supposed to be at school. He told me to wake you up, so you know what I did?"
"You woke me up?" I guessed.
"Yup!" Casper said proudly, puffing out his chest. "And I did it fast, too."
I chuckled. "That you did," I agreed. "So, uh, shouldn't you let me get up, then? You're kind of sitting on me."
Casper shook his head indignantly. "You'll have to make me!" He announced, giggling not-so-subtly.
I smirked and lifted both hands to his sides, wiggling my fingers threateningly. I hadn't even touched Casper before he squealed and jumped off of me, rolling off the bed and onto the floor with a thud.
"You alright, litt—big—guy?" I asked, though I couldn't mask my laughter. "How about this: I'll buy you a toy later to make up for it," I offered.
Casper jumped to his feet like a spring, his face glowing with excitement. "Really? Awesome!"
I grinned. "Great. Make sure you remind me, though, kay? Now, I'm going to open the blinds, so you're going to have to leave, alright?"
Casper nodded and scurried out of the room. He hadn't made the Trade yet, so he couldn't be in the sunlight. Most vampires didn't make the decision until they were ten or older, if they made the decision. Casper, as well as the other young vampires in our clan, was homeschooled, and would be until he made the Trade—that is, if he chose to.
I made it at eight, which was pretty early. But, hey, I know what I want.
I quickly got ready for school, skipping a shower and throwing on dark jeans, a white sweater, and brown boots. I had to admit, the outfit was a little too mainstream for my usual taste, but they were the first items I grabbed. I can be basic for a day, sue me.
I quickly brushed my teeth, grabbed my bag, and raced downstairs to the kitchen. The clock there told me that first period started thirty minutes ago, so I skipped a drink and raced to my car and then to the school.
I didn't normally care too much about school. I got good grades, just from being naturally smart, so there wasn't much to worry about. I could skip classes or be late every now and again.
But I'd literally skipped half the school day just earlier this week. Contrary to popular belief, I did want to go to a decent college and get a nice job. Did I need to? Absolutely not; I had everything that I needed. But I was ambitious, and wouldn't settle for being comfortable. I needed to be satisfied, and I wouldn't be until I knew I'd done something with my life.
When I opened the door to my first period, Mrs....Garrison? Garlic? Do I care?
Nah.
She didn't even look up from where she was at her computer, probably taking attendance. She usually spent a solid half of the period taking attendance, so I figured I might not even be counted as tardy if I hurried to my seat. So I did.
I was starting to get used to the feeling of being around Mason. I still didn't like it, but I might as well learn to tolerate it.
"Oh great," Mason said dryly as I sat down. "You're here."
I flashed him a sugary sweet smile. "Oh, but of course! I hope you didn't miss me too much."
Mason scoffed. "Oh, you don't have to worry about that."
The tension in the air could be cut with a knife. Everybody was thinking about the same thing, I could tell. Well, except for the one other guy who sat here but never really talked. He just looked down at his art and pretended he wasn't eavesdropping. Yeah, right.
"So," I said, keeping the false niceness in my voice, "how was your date?"
In honesty, I was hoping that Marcella and Mason would share an awkward glance, say it was fine, and then later today Marcella would tell me it was horrible and she couldn't believe she ever liked him.
Instead, the two smiled each other, and Marcella's signature pink blush spread across her cheeks.
"It was great," Mason said. "Awesome movie, awesome food," he looked at Marcella fondly, "Awesome girl."
"I'm so glad to hear that," my voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Does that mean there's going to be more?"
Please say no. Please say no. Please say—
"Oh, you bet," Mason looked from Marcella to me, his smile instantly becoming a smirk. "Marcella and I are dating."
I blinked once. Twice. Then, slowly, I turned to Marcella with wide eyes. "You're..." my voice was a whisper "you're what?" I hissed.
Marcella smiled tentatively and shrugged. "I was going to tell you. Last night, Mason...well, he asked me to be his girlfriend."
"You've known each other for less than an week!" I protested. "You've been on one date!"
"One awesome date," Mason said, still smirking. "You jealous?"
I snorted. "Yeah, no. Cella's not my type."
"I wasn't talking about Cella."
I decided to play along. "Oh, you bet," I winked flirtatiously, hoping to get a rise out of him. "Sometimes I imagine that I was there with you instead of her..." I sighed dreamily.
I expected some kind of verbal reaction from Mason. However, he just sat there, wide eyed and obviously flustered, if the redness of his cheeks was anything to go by. "W-what?" He stuttered. "Really?"
Okay, I knew he was dumb, but...
"No," I deadpanned. "It was a joke."
"Oh," Mason said, turning even redder and looking down. Cella and I exchanged a glance, and I could tell we were both wondering the same thing. Hell, even the other kid at our table was thinking it.
What the hell is up with him?
***
"Guys!" Marcella exclaimed, tired of our bickering. "Can you guys stop arguing and actually put your energy into something useful? We've been here for an hour, we should be done with this damn project by now!"
Marcella was right. We really only had a small amount left to do. It was more or less just the ending. But, after an hour in her bedroom, we didn't have a single word written down.
It was as if Mason was extra irritated. Everything I said, he disagreed with. He purposely talked over me, and anytime I tried to say something about it he turned it into a full blown argument.
"It's not my fault that this dude doesn't know how to work with other people!" I protested.
Suddenly, Mason was fuming, more than he was before. "I don't know how to work with other people? How dare—are you kidding? You couldn't work with a team if you tried!"
"I'm not the one trying to take over this entire goddamn assignment!" I argued. "Maybe if you'd let me talk, we'd get some work done!"
"Maybe if everything that came out of your mouth wasn't stupid, I'd let you talk!"
"So you're implying I'm dumb now?"
"No, I'm saying it," Mason snarled. "You're a fucking idiot, Kieran Callisto."
Mason was furious. His face was red, his jaw was tight, his fists were clenched. I half expected him to attack me. I wouldn't really mind, to be honest—Cella definitely wouldn't date him anymore if he did.
"Dude, where the hell is all of this even coming from?" I asked in exasperation. "I don't know who shit in your cornflakes, but you're being extra annoying, and I'd really appreciate if you found some chill."
"I can't!" Mason snapped. "I fucking can't, because you drive me insane!"
"Well it's not like I'm your number one fan either!" I said. "I'd rather be anywhere else right now, but guess what? I'm not, and neither are you. We're so close to being done with this project, and then we'll never have to deal with each other outside of school again. So instead of throwing a hissy fit every two minutes, how about you just cooperate so we can get things done?"
Mason opened his mouth, probably to argue some more, but Marcella's phone buzzed and she held up a hand to silence us.
"Hey...Yeah, I'm working on a project, what's up?...He did what?...I'm so sorry...Yeah, I'll be right over...Bye...Love you too."
Marcella put her phone down and looked at us apologetically. "Guys, it's Deborah, she needs me."
"Who's Deborah?" Mason asked.
"Her sister," I answered without thinking. "Goes to the college thirty minutes away," I scoffed. "Thought you'd know that, since you're dating and all."
Mason glared at me, but Cella held up her hand again to prevent the inevitable argument that was coming. "Guys, not now. Her boyfriend just cheated on her. She needs me, I've gotta go."
I felt a pang of sympathy for Deborah. She was the sweetest girl, she didn't deserve that. I stood as Cella did, grabbing my bag. "Alright then, see ya."
"Woah woah woah." Marcella put her hand on my chest to prevent my leaving. "Where do you think you're going?"
"Home?" I said in a 'duh' voice. "You're leaving, right?"
Marcella nodded. "I am. You're not."
"What?" Mason and I both snapped.
"Mr. Cooper just gave us the project due on Friday. It's going to take me a hell of a long time to do, so I need this done," before Mason or I could protest, she said, "I've done more work on this project than either of you. So you owe me this. Just, please, try not to destroy my house...or each other."
Before either of us could say a word, Marcella picked up her phone and left.
Mason and I exchanged an awkward glance. "Okay," I said eventually with a sigh. "I want this done too. So how about we just try to be civil for thirty minutes so we can finish it."
All I got in response from Mason was a grunt, which I took as a yes.
It actually went surprisingly well. I found that the less we talked, the less we argued. There were a few minor disagreements here and there; Mason and I had two completely different mindsets, it was inevitable. Either way, after forty-five minutes, we were nearly done.
We were on the last line, and another small argument arose when I said it needed to be significant and Mason said it didn't really matter, because the paragraphs preceding it had been.
"I think he should say: A bicycle can't stand on its own because it's two tired," I said completely randomly as the pun came to my head.
Mason was silent for a moment, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, before what I said fully processed in his mind and he chuckled.
Mason. Chuckled. At something that I said. Sure, I'd heard him laugh before, but only because of Cella. Never...never because of me.
It felt kinda nice.
"So you do have a sense of humor," Mason mused, raising a teasing eyebrow. Since when did we tease each other?
"Yeah," I said arrogantly. "A rather good one, too. Only for people I like, though."
"Well..." Mason trailed, "you just said something funny to me, so you must like me all of a sudden."
I snorted. "Ha, not a chance."
I leaned over, pen in hand, to write what I'd said on the paper.
"You can't seriously be about to write that," Mason said.
I gave him a serious look. "Do I look like I'm kidding? I think we should end with an outlier, just as a big fuck you to the school system, you know?" That was all total bullshit, I just wanted to write it to be a troll and confuse Mrs Gyarados. "Now if you'll excuse me..."
"You're not writing that," Mason said seriously.
"You can't stop me."
Mason snatched the pen straight from my hand. "Uh, yeah, I can."
I grabbed it back. "No you can't."
Mason grabbed for the pen, but I jerked it up over my head at the last moment. The momentum of his lunge sent him toppling over, straight onto me.
I fell backwards, dropping the pen in surprise as my back hit the floor. Mason made another lunge for it, but I grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him down. I practically crawled over him to get it, and let out a triumphant 'Ah hah!' when I did. My victory was short lived, however, when Mason pretty much tackled me.
He pushed down on my chest with one hand, pinning me down, and reached for the pen with the other. I held it as far behind my head as I could, because no way in hell was I about to lose.
And we were laughing.
That's right. Me, Kieran Callisto, and him, Mason Kane, were laughing. Together.
I was laughing so hard, I dropped the pen. Instantly, Mason stopped reaching for it and used both arms to pin me down by the wrists so that I couldn't make a move to get it.
The problem now was, neither could he.
The expression on his face as he tried to devise a plan had me laughing even harder. Mason cracked up again too, and soon enough, the pen was long forgotten.
And it felt good. It was nice to laugh with him instead of argue, to feel like friends rather than enemies. Okay, maybe friends was a stretch, but still.
When we finally sobered down, both of us were breathing heavily.
And we were close.
Like, really close.
Mason still had me pinned down, and he was only inches away. I could make out every detail of his face, from the light dusting of freckles on his nose to the specs of gold in his blue eyes.
Then I heard his heartbeat, a small thump in the back of my head, and thought, Oh no, I need to get out of this. I wasn't sure quite how to, though, with him holding me down.
Then he kissed me.
As soon as Mason's lips were on mine, my eyes shot wide open. So did his, as if he was surprised with himself. As if he'd kissed me without meaning to.
But he didn't pull away.
And neither did I.
It was as if a switch had flipped; the magnet had turned over so that the opposite polls were facing each other, and I couldn't pull away.
Mason's eyes slowly fluttered shut. I felt my own eyelids grow heavier, then close, as if of their own will.
It was the same feeling I'd gotten when I'd seen the vein in Mason's neck, or when I heard his heartbeat. Except it was completely different. It wasn't hunger, or thirst.
It was pure wanting.
I wanted Mason. I didn't understand why, or how, but at that very moment, I didn't care. When as Mason's lips touched mine, I felt completely right.
His lips moved against mine slowly, tentatively, as if he was scared I'd pull away any second.
The crazy part was, I had absolutely no intention of pulling away.
Mason's grip on my arms had loosened, so I pulled them out of his grasp and grabbed the sides of his face, pulling him closer and deepening the kiss.
That must have been a green light for Mason, because he stopped being careful altogether. He kissed me senseless, leaving me dizzy and only hoping I could keep up. His tongue traced my bottom lip in a way that drove me absolutely insane. He shifted his wait from his hands to his forearms, and suddenly our bodies were completely pressed against each other.
I couldn't help it. I ran my hands into Mason's hair and tugged roughly. When Mason gasped, I took the opportunity to shove my tongue into his mouth. We'd never played gentle before—I saw no reason to start now.
It was a whole new feeling. One thing was the same, though. We both still wanted to be in control. Just as in everything, we fought for dominance.
I felt a shiver run down my spine when Mason ran a hand down my chest. I wanted him closer, I wanted to feel him more, but we couldn't get any closer.
We kissed hungrily, as if our lives depended on it. Mason sucked and nibbled on my lower lip, pulling it between his teeth and forcing a moan out of me. I slowly pushed myself into a sitting position, with Mason straddling my lap. My hands went to his waist, roughly pulling the lower half of his body into me so that there was no space between us.
Mason moaned at the contact, then gasped when I pulled away from his lips and moved on to his neck. His hands entangled themselves in my hair as I kissed down his neck until he let out a hum and I knew I'd found his soft spot. I was so entranced by the heated situation, I didn't notice when my fangs slid out.
I continued sucking and nibbling, spurred on by Mason's whimpers and the feeling of uttermost desire and want radiating through my body. My fangs sunk into his skin, completely of their own accord.
I practically flew away from Mason to the opposite side of the room. I pressed myself against the wall and covered my mouth with both hands.
What just happened?
Mason had tumbled to the floor when I abruptly pulled away, and was looking at me with childlike confusion. "What's wrong?" He asked softly, cocking his head to the side like a puppy. The action exposed two small, shallow marks on the side of his neck.
"I have to go," I said quickly. Then I grabbed my backpack and ran.
I ran out of the bedroom, out of the house, all the way home.