Then it was showtime.
We walked through the Ancient Hall, and once again, more students and even the upperclassmen stared at us. I think on this particular occasion, Octavia was a full target of these excessive gawks. I walked behind while Cammie and Alyssa were explaining something about the Ancient Hall. Since they both were practically residents in this school, they knew all the detail better than I did. Our newbie went along without saying anything much, she just listened and nodded quietly.
"The Ultara Academy is quite different from other private schools. Languages, mathematics, histories, sciences, and cultures are in the basic curriculum, but we all are encouraged to pursue anything we want," Cammie said professionally.
"The school has amazing foods, but you can bring your own lunch along if you like. We have some students who are the world's health food nuts - Vivienne is for one," Alyssa might just want to be cute and gave an overboard detail to our newcomer. Alyssa turned to me and winked. But I saw Octavia's eyebrows knitted together in a curious expression though she didn't ask anything.
"So where did you study before coming to this school?" Cammie asked her.
"I was home-schooled," she said in her alluring accent. Then she looked at me and caught me looking at her. I turned away, trying not to blush.
"Do you know where your suite is?"
"I'm sorry; I don't stay in the mansion suite."
"Really?" exclaimed Alyssa, "Which means you're an exception too? Oh, that makes it two then, because Vivienne is another one," she said and then winked at me again. I blinked hard, not knowing why she chose me to illustrate most of her school info.
We ended up venturing into the gym as the last place to see. There were students playing softballs everywhere, and the four of us walked with nothing more to talk, we just watched people playing.
"And this is the storage room for our sports equipment. In case you want to see..." Cammie said as she pressed a button on the wall. The steel door slid open like an elevator. But what we didn't expect to see was Serena in her sports bra with no panties rocking on a screaming Rosa on the floor. Our eyes almost popped out of the sockets as we stared at the live sex in front of us.
Cammie quickly punched the shut-button and the door closed again.
"Well, there's nothing to see here," she said.
And a moment later the school bell rang so loud, I felt like my eardrums would burst. I had to cover my ears while the rest of us didn't seem to bother.
No sooner than the sound stopped, I heard a buzz of an object moving toward where I stood. I lifted my face to see a baseball went sailing through the air, aiming directly at me. It all happened so fast, like a blink-fast! I thought it was going to hit me right in the face, but at the same second, a white hand grabbed the ball, holding it inches away from my face.
I looked at the very hand that belongs to Octavia surprisingly.
"Wow, what a perfect save," said Alyssa.
"It's just a reflex," she replied modestly. The baseball players shouted apologies and asked for the ball back. Octavia tossed the ball from afar.
"You're alright?" she turned to ask me.
"Fine...thank you," I spoke awkwardly back.
When the tour was over, we were ready to grab our lunches at the Lunch Hall, but the place was almost vacant because we were late.
"Guess, that's just us now," Cammie said as she was scanning the place.
"Do you want to sit at our table?" Alyssa asked Octavia. I rolled my eyes at her as if to say, "Just give her a break!"
"I would love to, but I have some papers to fill out for the school, I hope you may excuse me."
"Oh, never mind, if anything we can help, let us know."
"Thank you so much for showing me around," she said before she turned away. Octavia walked to the other side of the hall. I have to admit that the girl has the sexiest legs I've ever seen. It made me shiver just by staring at them.
"Looks like someone is getting wet already," Cammie whispered in my ear.
I jumped, "What? No! How could you say such a thing?" I walked off to our table. They followed suit and we all settled down.
"Hey, look," Cammie tossed her chin, and I followed her gaze. Octavia was holding a carton of milk in her hand. "She's your dream girlfriend, Vivienne," she added.
"What do you mean, my girlfriend?" I asked, frowning at her.
"You guys have a lot in common," Alyssa added. "You both like milk. You both are the exceptions--"
"And we both don't know each other," I cut her off.
"I think you should invite her to your birthday party," said Alyssa eagerly. And just like that, Octavia looked at us as if she had radar that could detect gossips, but then she simply smiled in an innocent way, and we waved back at her.
I turned around to my best friends and hissed, "Are you crazy?"
"Why not? I'm not crazy. I saw the way she looked at you," Alyssa said, and I felt my cheeks burn.
"On top of that, she did save your face from the ball," Cammie pointed. "If I were you, I would invite her to eat out."
I shot a disgusted look at her double meaning. Cammie just grinned. I couldn't believe my two best friends ganged up on me because of that too-gorgeous-to-look-at newbie. I shook my head at them and began chomping away my everything-vegetable like I didn't care.
"Anyway, I heard that there would be a big carnival downtown, do you want to go?" Cammie announced.
"Can't," I said, shaking my head, "I'm expected to be home before dark."
"Come on Viv! It's the best carnival ever!" Alyssa pleaded.
"You know my mom- she won't let me go."
"How about sneaking out?" Cammie suggested. When it comes to breaking the rules, Cammie is an expert. You could be kind of a rule-optional too if your mom were a headmistress.
"If you get caught, Cammie, you can get away with it without being chewed out by your mom, or maybe she even gives you a lollipop if you just apologize. But for me, Mom would skin me alive if she knew that!"
Cammie didn't look too pleased with my personal point of view, and she was about to yell at me in objection, but Alyssa broke her off by saying, "That's not the problem, Vivienne. I'll cover it up for you," she reassured me with a pat on my back. Alyssa had probably mapped out a thousand plans inside her head. With her genius IQ, everything is possible.
I was standing in front of the main gate, waiting to be scanned and checked myself out of the school. But then I heard footsteps coming behind me. I turned around to see Octavia walking forward. I forgot that I had a company now. I noticed her long curved eyelashes batted a little as she smiled. I looked straight back, feeling a bit inferior to her beauty.
"You're heading home?" she asked, coming to stand beside me. I don't know how it could be possible, but the moment our bodies got close. My nerves started acting up. I could feel my heart race as we stood next to each other.
"Yes."
"You don't want to talk to me, do you?" Octavia asked to my surprise.
"No!" I denied quickly, "That's nothing like that...it's just...I'm not... much of a talker," My words jumbled like crazy. Octavia just smiled.
"Me neither," she said. Then there was a silence. The cold evening air was whizzing about, causing dead leaves to fall from the trees. We both looked down at our shoes.
"How old are you?" she suddenly asked again.
"Why do you want to know?" I asked back with a nervous laugh, hoping that I didn't look so flustered by this question. She looked at me and then narrowed her eyes to my teeth. I shut my mouth up instantly and turned my face straight back. Octavia might have seen my usually long canine teeth, but pretended not to notice.
"My apologies, I'm just trying to find something to say."
"No, that's okay," I said, waving my hand in the air. "I'm turning seventeen soon."
"When?"
"This Friday," I told her. And for a moment, she had a worried look on her face which I didn't quite understand why.
"Would you like to come to my birthday?" I finally asked Octavia without even knew it. Oh great, I could imagine Alyssa going bananas about this already.
"My pleasure," she responded and smiled gorgeously back. Then I caught a glimpse of her perfect teeth. They weren't just regular white, but ultra-white. Plus she also had long canine teeth just like mine! Maybe, I wasn't the only one who shared gorilla genes after all.
When I got home that evening, Mom told me that Alyssa had called, saying her parents wanted to invite me to dinner at her house. And she would come to pick me up tomorrow night. I asked if it was okay, and Mom simply said, "Yes" without suspecting anything else. What a simple plan my best friend had! But it worked perfectly.On the next day before we went to the carnival, we actually had dinner at Alyssa's house. I guess it would make us feel less guilty about lying to our parents. After dinner, we hopped into Alyssa's black Benz and drove downtown instead of going back home or school. I sat at the back of the car whereas Cammie and Alyssa occupied the front."I thought you had a better light bulb to convince my mom," I complained."A better idea!" Cammie corrected me.
Iwoke up from the nightmare at last.I was sure it was another crazy dream. But my mind was filled with hazy thoughts. My head throbbed, my body ached. But at least, I was relieved knowing that it wasn't true. I craned my head to see my mom standing by my bed. Strangely, the room was too blinding bright that it made even a healthy person look sick. And the white fluorescent light stung my eyes, causing me to flinch away.Mom quickly switched the lamp off, leaving just a dim of the yellowy one above the headboard. She was wearing her long white coat with a stethoscope hanging around her neck. If I still remembered it clearly, that was how she looked in her doctor uniform. It took me a while to collect my thoughts and realized where I was.Of course, this place was
I wish there was someone who would lie to me about it or make up a story about it. I had lived all my life thinking of myself as nothing other than an average human being, but before I knew it, I became a creature that has to sink its teeth into people's flesh like a freaking leech. Then it hit me like a strike of lightning. I turned to my mom who was watching me digest the truth in my head."Mom, how did I get here? Where are Alyssa and Cammie?" My voice cracked with emotions."We found you lying unconscious in Alyssa's car," She told me and took a deep breath, "You have no idea how much that frightened me.""What was that, mom?" I asked."There was blood all over you," Mom spoke in a quiet tone. I could almost see the dreadful momen
Octavia walked gracefully forward, looking as sizzling as ever.She came to stand at the foot of my bed."Octavia? What are you doing here?" I asked cluelessly, but then I remember the fight and how she had helped us escape. "Oh my, don't tell me you get hurt, are you okay?""I'm good, thank you," she responded quickly. Octavia did look composedly unharmed. I let out a sigh of relief."Then why are you here in the hospital?" I asked again, feeling even more confused. Suddenly things began to make sense. I turned to look at Mom again."Mom...""She knows," she answered the question in my eyes.
How strange it was just to wake up in the morning. There was something creeping beneath the layer of my skin, in my pulse, racing through my body. I felt so much stronger, and that scared me.As I sat watching the dust motes dancing their way through the cracks of the window, the sound of light footsteps approached the door."Good morning, sunshine," my mom said pleasantly as she entered the room. A huge smile stitched across my face, but then there was something I seemed to come to."What's wrong, honey?" she asked, reading my face."Well, it's just that, 'sunshine' sounds too ironic for a vampire," I told her with a weak shrug."Oh, Vivienne," Mom brea
The next day was shining bright and blistering hot. Even with my sunglasses on, I could tell there wasn't a single pack of clouds in the sky. Standing before the sensors of the Ultara gate, I kept telling myself for a zillionth time that no one knew it, no one expected it."You look nervous," a melodious voice uttered behind me. I almost jumped out of my skin. I craned my head around to see Octavia in her usual dazzling self. She smiled innocently at me."What do you want?" I snapped."Viv, I just want to apologize about yesterday," she said, using my short name as if she owned it."Apology unaccepted," I muttered back. And when the laser scanners flashed green and the steel door slid open, I quickly walked off without giving a second
I was pretty convinced that I wasn't going to survive the lunch period. It seemed as if there were loudspeakers attached to every corner of the hall. And whenever someone walked past me, I found myself clenching my fists and held my breath.The mixed scents of the place were too mind-boggling. I forced myself to walk, but I always saw figures flitting in and out of the corner of my vision. My vampire instinct was begging me. My teeth were itching so bad, I just wanted to bite something, and that horrified me to no end. It took every ounce of my willpower to keep to myself. Now, I was starting to worry about these innocent freaks. They didn't know their lives were completely exposed to jeopardy because of my existence."Vivienne, you look as if you were watching a bunch of cannibals," Cammie said, jerking me to my sense
After lunch, I told Cammie that I wasn't ready to pick up Karate yet, and she believed me without a doubt. And that was because I had unfolded Octavia's note and read what she said in the finest penmanship I've ever seen.Meet me at the library,—OI cringed. What makes the girl think I would answer her call whenever she wants? She also drew a smiley face with fangs popping out. I was going to rip the note, but then I remember she had saved me with a tube of sunblock. I sighed in defeat. Besides I also wanted to go to the library in the first place. Maybe I should just go and get it over with.A moment later, I found myself wrapped in the crispy smell of gazillions books and dried wooden shelv