My Babysitter's A Vampire is my latest craze! I only discovered it less than a week ago, and I'm hooked. This was bound to happen.

This chapter is dedicated Abby, Precious, Amanda and Jenc0449, who helped make it possible. Enjoy! =]

I do not own My Babysitter's A Vampire. Or Sharpie. Or The Rainbow Fish.

It was 9:15 AM when Whitechapel High School's newest student arrived.

She stood in front of the freshman science class, to be introduced by the teacher, trying to hide the fact that she was literally shaking in her boots.

"Class, this is our new student Riley Temberlon." The teacher droned. "I trust all of you will make her feel welcome."

Although she would never say it, the girl didn't think he trusted anything. The way she saw it, people couldn't trust if they didn't care. In her opinion, the teacher must not have cared much, being that he got her name wrong. Then again, most everyone did. She didn't know what came over her to make her correct him, and-for the first time that day-break her silence.

"Excuse me, I don't mean to be rude and correct you," She began, in a voice the teacher found just barely audible. "but my name is Ryellie. Like Ryan and Ellie, for my parents' best friends. But you don't need the Etymology lesson."

Her tone went from shy to sheepish, and she trailed off when she heard most of the students laugh at her.

Best friends Ethan and Benny's ears perked up at Ryellie's use of word 'Etymology', and the two of them exchanged impressed smiles.

The teacher gave a quick nod in reply while Ryellie headed off to the side of the classroom, away from everybody. She was right when she guessed that she wouldn't be assigned a lab partner until further notice. She quickly found out, however, that she was wrong in choosing where to sit.

Apparently, she didn't get far enough away from everyone. She didn't pick up the negative vibes as she sat in a beat up plastic chair and ran a hand through her ginger-honey hair that had naturally tight, tiny curls. Her hands looked reddish on the palms, as if she had them in hot water. A contrast to her pale, freckly skin.

When she put her bag made from recycled aluminum pull tabs-some of which she colored in with Sharpie marker to look like the scales of the Rainbow Fish-on her lap and pulled her reading glasses case from it, she found out exactly what she had gotten herself into.

An older boy turned to look at her, and eyed her strangely for a spilt second before he spoke. It wasn't his age that intimidated her-she was used to being one of the youngest in her class-but his cold eyes looked right through her. She tried to ignore him, and just read the board, but then he opened his mouth.

"I realize your ridiculous name should be a red flag for me not to waste my breath talking to you, but don't you think it's a little redundant-not to mention stupid-to wear glasses over your contacts?"

This time, Ethan and Benny exchanged glances in reaction to what they heard, looking concerned and confused. They themselves were both used to getting made fun of, given there level of undeniable 'geekiness', but it wasn't every day that a boy picked on a girl. In fact, at their school, it wasn't any day that a boy picked on a girl.

This boy in particular was quite satisfied with trying to tear her down, and Ryellie tried to remain unflinching. She thought about explaining that-as difficult as it was for people to believe-her eye color was a natural sort of orange: too dark to be 'yellow', but not dark enough to be brown. She barely talked to people she thought were nice, however, so she decided he definitely wasn't worth her time. He interpreted her silence as a green light for his teasing.

"Are they meant as some distraction for that eyesore of a dress you're wearing?"

Ryellie refused to look down at the dress she'd made herself, which had a sunflower pattern and went down just past her boney knees. She didn't need to reevaluate it. As if she'd asked for a second opinion.

Ethan was ready to say something, even though Ryellie kept her mouth shut. The more he heard, the madder he got, and Benny was right with him on that one. They didn't think they could take listening to another word.

"Is that really the best you can do in your attempt to look halfway decent?"

That was the boiling point. Ethan opened his mouth, at the same time Benny stood up. Which made what came out of Ethan's mouth completely different than what he'd planned to say. He didn't understand why he spoke in a sharp whisper. Their teacher had been too focused on writing on the board to hear any of the teasing. Except, he was done by the time Benny got up from his chair, and turned to see him walking over to the boy who was now laughing harshly at Ryellie.

"Benny, what are you doing?"

Both Ethan and the teacher got their answer when they saw Benny reach where the bully was sitting. Without even giving it thought, Benny landed a solid punch right to his face, nearly breaking his nose in the process.

The class gasped in unison, and cheers mixed in with chatter, drowning out the bully's cries of pain. In that moment, Ryellie's silence was that of the stunned variety. The teacher, having no idea what had really happened, didn't hesitate in writing Benny up. "I hope you realize you just earned yourself five days suspension."

Benny brushed that off and replied with: "It was more than worth it…"

"…So Benny walks up to the guy, and just decks him."

"I know, I heard! It's all over school." Sarah told Ethan, sounding just as shocked. She couldn't help but smile about it. At least he'd tried to stand up for the girl, the way that boy had been running his mouth was uncalled for. She understood why Benny reacted the way he had perfectly.

"How's the girl?" Sarah asked, worried and feeling sorry.

"I don't know." Ethan told her honestly. "She didn't say much. I don't think she ever does. She was probably happy Benny shut him up, though. I know I was."

"So she's shy?" Sarah asked. "She sounds really sweet."

"Yeah, I guess." Ethan leaned up against his locker. He seemed exhausted.

"Are you okay?" Sarah said with a sigh. She could tell something was bothering him. His mind was still on that morning.

Ethan spoke his thoughts to his concerned crush. "Do you think I should write this off as regular Whitechapel weirdness, or is something else going on here?"

Sarah wondered the same thing, but she didn't want him to worry. "I think that kid needed a serious attitude adjustment, and Benny certainly adjusted something." They shared a laugh.

"I just can't believe Benny gets punished for it." Ethan said, unable to get out of his downer mood.

Sarah once again tried to cheer him up. "C'mon, I'll drive you home. It is Friday, anyway."

"You don't have to baby-sit for a few more hours." He reminded her, as they walked out of school together.

"I know." She replied. "That doesn't matter. You do realize you're one of my best friends, right?"

"Yeah." He answered. "Of course." Ethan couldn't help how wide his smile was.

"Ry, you won't believe this!" Ryellie's twin cousins said as they burst into her room unannounced. She was sitting on the window sill rewriting her homework, since she spotted three mistakes in her first paper and had nothing else to do.

The elder twin, Reegan, ran toward the window and threw it open, nearly knocking her startled cousin over in the process.

"Look into the window of that house!" The younger twin, Rainelly, who most of the time simply went by Rae to avoid confusion, ordered, from where she stood.

Ryellie's orange eyes widened. "No!" She said. It was easy for her to talk to her cousins. She had lived with them all her life. "I'm not gonna spy on people. It's unethical." She mumbled.

"Just do it!" Reegan insisted, while Rae giggled excitedly.

"Are you sure you guys are in college?" Ryellie wondered aloud, raising her eyebrows. It was difficult for her not to question, with the way they acted.

"It's that guy." The twins said in unison, unable to help themselves. They were having too much fun torturing their little cousin.

"You know, the one you told us about?" Rae explained, with her blue eyes bulging.

"Yeah." Reegan agreed. "For you to talk about a guy-in so much detail-he's gotta be important."

Ryellie didn't see eye to eye with them. "But all I know about him is what he looks like. Wouldn't you stare at someone who punched someone else right in front of you?"

"Stop making excuses and go over there and talk to him". Reegan ordered, flipping her bleached blonde hair. She was labeled the bossier twin.

"To break the ice, we baked him all kinds of stuff for you to give to him. How hard can it be to talk to a guy who's too busy stuffing his face to listen anyway?" Rae asked, as she handed the box to Ryellie.

She sighed, and headed for the front door of her house. "Bring an umbrella!" The twins shouted to her from the second floor. Reegan's tone was, of course, a little more forceful.

"Why would I need an umbrella?" Ryellie answered as she unlocked the door. She felt awkward, since she had to raise her voice. "It's not even raining, and it's not like I'm gonna stay and chat." That never happened. Ryellie was known for being a girl of few words.

She practically ran around the block, figuring that the sooner she could be back to her own house the better. Her knock was louder than to be expected, given her voice.

Benny answered the door. His shock was evident. She was the last person he expected to see. "Hey." He greeted, knowing her answer wouldn't be nearly as enthusiastic. Ryellie gave a small wave in reply, forcing him to swallow a laugh.

Then, in what seemed like a single breath, she told him why she was there. "My crazy cousins noticed you lived here and they baked practically everything they could imagine so that when I came here to thank you, I wouldn't be empty handed."

"Sweet." He replied, taking the box from her and remembering to be gentle, despite his hunger. A soft, short and melodious sound escaped from Ryellie's lips when she heard him say that. It took Benny a few seconds to realize that that was a laugh.

"You're welcome." He added as more of an afterthought, distracted by the fact that it seemed like she was afraid to laugh. "And thanks."

"Thank my cousins." She told him. "Then run. They can talk for hours, nonstop."

"They should meet Rory." Benny thought out loud, although he knew that wouldn't make sense to her unless she'd met him herself. By the way her face contorted just a bit, he could tell she hadn't. He considered her lucky, and mentally laughed at that.

Benny realized that throughout the conversation, neither one of them had really mentioned themselves. He knew he had to be the one to initiate the introduction. "I'm Benny." If his hands weren't full of the food he was sorting through, he might have shaken hers. Then he thought, if she wasn't much of a talker, why would she want to touch him? It probably wasn't even her choice to come over. He thought.

"Ryellie." She replied, although she knew he knew that. There was something about her tone that made her sound disgusted.

Bad memories. Benny decided. He had to do something about that. "That's an awesome name. I don't care what anybody says."

"Neither do I." Ryellie replied, smiling just slightly through her sentence. Although, she felt she could've cried in science class. Up until the point where Benny proved himself her hero. Then she could've tackled him into a hug. If they'd known each other better. And if she did things like that.

"Wanna come inside and watch TV? If nothing's on we can watch Jacuzzi Time Machine. Or whatever, you know, you're the guest." Benny saw that she had no intention of sticking around, but it didn't seem to him like he was the reason for that. She thought she was being bothersome, he could tell.

Nothing about her bothered him. Nothing about her even made him nervous, or had him feeling like his usual girl-crazy self. He blamed that on her shyness, there had to be some explanation. It was sort of twisted irony for him to add: "I'm not gonna bite ya." To the end of his sentence. Certain Whitechapel residents couldn't make that promise.

Ryellie's face practically exploded into a smile-revealing her clear braces-but her smile disappeared when the rain snuck up on her, pouring down. Instinct told Benny to drop the box of baked goods and pull Ryellie inside.

It may have just been because of her petite form, or Benny might not have realized his own strength, but he picked her up in the rush to get her out of the rain. Oddly, she didn't mind. She hated the rain. And the cold. Anything was better than being stuck in it.

Ryellie realized she was beyond drenched when he put her down. She envied Benny and the doorway that kept him dry. "Change of plans." He said. "You're gonna go get acquainted with my hair dryer. Put it on high."

"Gee, thanks." She replied, clamping her hand over her mouth when she realized sarcasm had just escaped from it. Benny almost laughed, finally seeing that she had a sense of humor.

He also saw that they had a situation. "I guess I should find you something to wear. You can't go out again in that. You'd melt." Ryellie's laughter echoed from the bathroom.

"If you have a sewing machine and a table cloth, I'm sure I could improvise." She informed him, only half-joking.

Benny began snacking on his thank you gift while Ryellie rushed through drying her hair. She came out of the bathroom dragging her feet, as if she knew what was coming. "Whoa." Benny said when he caught sight of her.

"I know," She answered, irritated. "I look like a deranged lion." That was the first time she made him laugh, and he was close to falling over when he did. Ryellie wasn't used to that, and Benny could guess why. She probably didn't talk enough to make jokes.

"Should I get you some of my old clothes or is that beyond awkward?" Benny asked, handing her a cookie when she walked over, just automatically. She accepted it as if that was natural too. Somehow he knew what she liked.

She smiled warmly at her realization, then answered his question. " As long as I'm warm and dry, I won't complain."

With that, he was off to find her something to wear. Ryellie couldn't help but go to read the first book she saw, which happened to be Benny's spell book. She tried to skim through it and speed-read, but the fact that it wasn't in English didn't make that very easy. She put it back where she found it, disappointed but also excited. Now she had a challenge: figure out how to read that book. It was just too appealing to her to be overlooked.

Benny came back with all he could carry in clothes. He was dealing with a girl, so he felt that was necessary.

"Stripes." Was her only comment, and he wasn't sure if she meant that positively or negatively.

"It's kinda all I've got." He explained.

"That's so dorky." That was a shock. So was the word that followed: "Awesome."

If Ryellie was trying to mess with his mind, he considered her mission accomplished.

As she went into the bathroom to change, Benny told her: "I'm gonna order some pizza, is that alright with you?"

He watched her head poke out of the doorway. "I don't think it'd be alright with the pizza guy." She answered, regarding the storm.

"Well, what do you suggest?" He asked, almost mockingly, knowing he'd have to wait awhile before he got an answer.

Ryellie walked out of the bathroom in about three layers of Benny's old clothes. The sight was strange to say the least, but so was the plan to begin with. They both just decided not to think about it, all it did was bring headaches.

"Why don't we make our own pizza? Or something. My cousins and I cook all the time." Benny didn't hesitate to answer.

"If you cook as well as they bake, that's the best idea I've ever heard." Ryellie laughed, and Benny led the way to the kitchen…

PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! Lol, baked goods. I sound like a commercial, I didn't know how else to phrase it. All ideas are greatly appreciated! I'll update ASAP! (I can't wait!) =]