"Ryleigh, Sarah's here!" "Coming" I look myself over in the mirror, nodding. Nothing too dressed up, just something casual, some dark jeans, a black shirt and the jacket my aunt made thrown over top of it along with some vans. I make sure my hair looks fine before walking down the stairs where Sarah and Wendy were chatting while Snowball kept trying to get Sarah's attention.
"There she is" Aunt Wendy smiles. I take in Sarah's outfit, looking her over. "You look beautiful" I smile. "Thanks. So do you" Sarah smiles. I head into the kitchen, grabbing something before heading back towards her. "Some flowers for the lady" I holds it out to her. "You didn't have to get me anything" Sarah says but by the smile on her face, I knew she appreciated it.
"Ryleigh came home and immediately put those in water." Aunt Wendy smiles widely. "Thank you, Wendy. Don't you have a dress you're working on?" "Oh" She shoves my shoulder playfully, turning to look at Sarah. "You two have fun and don't stay out too late. And don't do anything too dangerous either. I don't want a repeat of last week" She warns us.
"You've got it" Sarah nods. I hold out my elbow for Sarah and she loops hers through it. "Have fun!" I motion for her to stop it as she waves us out the door. I open the driver's side door for Sarah and she smiles appreciatively, climbing in. I get into the passenger seat. "I feel like I should be doing this for you" "Don't worry about it. I've already got it covered" I wink and she nods, starting the car.
"So, where are we going?" "You drive, I'll give directions" I pull out my phone. "You can't tell me?" "It's a surprise, Sarah." I tell and she shrugs. She starts to drive and I give her directions. "So, how are things? You know, with the whole fledgling thing?" I bring up. "It'd be good if the blood substitute Benny's Grandma had given me tasted better" Sarah sighs out. "What's it taste like?" "It's hard to describe" She sighs.
"Do you have one with you?" She motions into the back and I reach back, picking up a gold juice box. "Blood in a juice box?" I ask. "Yep. Guess she's used to packing nerd lunches" She quips. "Hey. She packs mine sometimes" "My point proven" "Ha, ha. Very funny" I laugh sarcastically. I look over the box, finding side effects on the side.
"May cause nausea, dizziness, irritability, bloating, and sleep drooling" I list off before looking over at her. "Geez. You sure you can't find anything better to drink" "I'm not drinking from rats again" "I don't think their blood would cause sleep drooling. It'd be worse if you already sleep drool though. Do you?" "What a fun conversation to have on a date" She emphasizes the word date, sending me a look.
"It was just a question, Sarah. Shouldn't I know this stuff if we might be girlfriend/girlfriend. I'd like to know if I'm gonna roll over into a puddle of drool in the morning" "Seriously, Ryleigh?" I hold up my hands innocently, throwing the box back into the back seat. "Take the next left" She does as I say.
"So, what about you? How was the hospital?" "You know...a hospital. I hadn't been there since I was little" "Like, been in a hospital or had to go to one because you got hurt?" "Both" Sarah nods, glancing over at me curiously. "My mom died when I was little." I inform her, looking out the window. "Oh...I'm so sorry, Ryleigh. I thought you said they were workaholics" Sarah brings up.
"I wouldn't have really considered ourselves friends then. I mean sure you're..." I glance over at her and she raises an eyebrow. "You" "What does that mean?" "You're a hot, vampire, junior that was only talking to us because Erica had been hired to babysit but you took the job for her instead. And I'm just a freshman that watches old movies and likes superheroes and whatever else you find nerdy or whatever. I just didn't think we could be friends then. So, I didn't tell you the truth" I sigh out.
"Do you think we're friends now?" "You know what I think" I scoff, looking over at her. Sarah slowly nods. "Take this right" She takes the right and we start going up a steep hill. "Where are we going?" Sarah wonders. "The best place in town" "There's something up here?" I just nod. We make it onto the top of the hill which was on a sort of cliff and she parks the car.
"Here we are. The best view of town" I climb out and open her door before she can get out. Sarah looks out curiously before taking notice of the setup. There was a picnic blanket spread out with some food I thought she might like and candles spread around. I plug my phone into her car, playing music from her radio. "You did all this for me?" Sarah asks in surprise. "Mostly" I find Rory hiding behind one of the trees and send him a thumbs up which he sends back. Looks like Rory isn't useless after all.
I sit on the blanket, patting for her to sit next to me and she does. "I don't know what vampires eat, honestly, but I put out things you might've liked before you were one" I explain. "It's okay. It looks good" Sarah assures me. We start putting some food on plates and eating. Sarah looks out onto the town in wonder.
"How'd you find this place?" "We liked to go on adventures when we were younger." Sarah scoffs. "Sounds about right" I roll my eyes. "Ethan, Benny and I found this place. Kind of like a pact. We promised we'd keep this between ourselves and we were only allowed to bring special people up here. So, Rory knows about it since he's in our friend group and all. I brought Snowball up here too." I smile at the thought.
Sarah seems to have moved closer as I told her about it which I take notice of and I raise an eyebrow at her. "Special people?" I play with my fingers nervously. "I asked for their permission first" I assure her. "What makes me so special?" She wonders. "You're Sarah Fox. What doesn't make you special?" I scoff and she rolls her eyes.
"What do you like about me?" "I like your eyes. They're like a chocolate. And your smile. I like making a fool of myself just to see it. And you're pretty badass. I mean, it's not everyday you see someone take down a werewolf" I describe. "You know what I like about you, Ryleigh?" "Huh?" "You're straightforward. And you don't care what people think. You went shirtless to school. Sure I've seen Kurt do that but never a girl. You also made that deal to kiss me when we had to go to the Dusk showing" Sarah explains.
"I had to take a chance" I shrug. I pull something out of the picnic basket, showing it to Sarah. "I know it's kind of cliché, but I've always wanted to feed someone a chocolate strawberry" I show her the container and she rolls her eyes. "Really?" "Just one? Please?" "Fine" She sighs out.
The song on the radio changes and I smile, holding up my finger. I turn up the volume so we can hear it better. "What is this song?" She wonders curiously as I sit back down beside her. "She's the girl next door, nice but not in a heart that's pure, she's the girl next door, just for me. You can take her home to mom, cause she's got that small town charm, that comes any time you want and more" I sing along.
"It's Girl Next Door by Copperpot. It makes me think of you so I added it to the playlist" I explain, grabbing a strawberry. Sarah hums as she listens to the lyrics, watching me. I hold one up with a smirk, slowly moving it towards her. She rolls her eyes but complies, letting me feed her a strawberry. "As cliché as it is, these are pretty good" She nods. "I know" I nod, eating one of my own.
"Hey, if you get to feed me one, I should feed you one" She protests. "Sorry, sorry." I hold up my hands in surrender. She holds up a strawberry and feeds it to me slowly. I eat it in one bite, winking at her and she shakes her head at me. We continue to eat, listening to the song playing.
She's the girl next door, Nice but not in a heart that's pure
She's the girl next door
Just for me
Just for me. Just for me. Just for me
I glance over, noticing a little bit of chocolate at the corner of her mouth. Jesus, are we really in some kind of cheesy romantic movie or what? Not that I'm complaining. "Uh, you've got something" I try to point to it and she starts trying to lick it off. Definitely a movie. But I can't squander the perfect opportunity, now can I?
"Here, let me" We were already pretty close as it was so I didn't have to lean far. I give her a kiss, making sure to get the chocolate off before pulling away and biting my lip as she watches me. "I think I still have more" She breathes out. "Really, I don't see any" I tease. She grabs a strawberry, rubbing it against her lips before quirking an eyebrow.
"Are you sure? I can still feel some" "I guess I didn't notice that before" I smirk. I lean in, kissing her again. It seems to escalate from there as she sits in my lap, straddling me while my hands roam towards under her shirt. Eventually, she pulls away. "Yep. Definitely as good as the first time. Maybe even better. No, definitely better" Sarah rolls her eyes fondly. She stands up, holding out her hand for me and I take it. She helps me up.
"As much as I'd like to continue, I promised to get you home safely." Sarah says and I groan. "Just a little longer?" "Nope" "You're no fun" "That's not what your lips said a minute ago" Sarah comments and I nod. "You've got a point." I agree.
~~~
It was the night after our date and Rory, Ethan, Benny and I were sitting in Ethan's living room, watching our favorite show, Doug the Vampire Hunter. "This is the unholiest abandoned veterinary hospital I've ever seen. I'd put the chances of seeing Canus Spectralis- ghost dog- at total max." Doug says as he searches through a veterinary on tv while we watch, leaning forward in our seats.
There's a noise of glass shattering, putting Doug at attention. "Somebody's here. I smelt it...but the spirit world dealt it." Benny, Ethan and I look over as we hear obnoxious crunching and find Rory eating chips. "Rory! Vampires don't even need food!" Ethan exclaims. "You know I'm a stress eater" I reach over Benny, smacking the bag out of his hand and he sends me a look.
"Your stress eating is stressing me out. Shut it" We turn back to the tv as Doug brings up one of his rules. "Scare Finder Rule Number Eight: Don't be afraid of scares." "Doug's fearless" Benny smiles. "He's a machine designed to, like, delete fear from itself." He explains. "Hey, everybody! We're live outside the door of this year's Day with Doug winner. This super fan gets to hang with me and go on a scare find in his town"
Doug rings the doorbell and we all groan as we hear Ethan's doorbell go off. "Oh, come on! Who would bother us now?" Ethan complains while I stare at the tv curiously. The doorbell rings two more times and Ethan goes to answer it. "Doesn't that door look familiar?" I bring up and they look it closely.
"I don't know, but that kid must have a crazy luck bonus- like, a plus six!" "I automatically hate this jerk. He should be me and he isn't" Benny complains. "Wait, isn't that Ethan's door?" I bring up. Right as soon as I ask, the door opens revealing a frowning Ethan who's expression quickly turns to shock.
"Hey, big man! Name's Doug Falconhawk." Doug explains while Ethan stares in shock. "Ethan, you'll never believe who won the contest." Benny calls out as they stare at the screen in shock. I smack the both of them. "Ow!" "He obviously knows considering he's talking to Doug right now. Idiots" I mutter.