Chapter 1 – Chris

I rushed to get my shoes on before mom could say anything else. I gave Vampyr a firm pat on the head, even though he finished his water already and was looking for more. I left the half eaten PopTart on the counter so mom wouldn't hear it rustling around. She must have gone back to bed. I ran out the door, and went to the end of the driveway. I was the last stop, so I had to wait for a while. I didn't care. Anything to get out of my house was a good thing.

When the bus finally did come, every seat but one was full. The seat that was empty, right next to Fang. Typical. "Hey Fang. What's on the agenda today? Complete sadness, monotone, or slight happy?" That was joke that went on between us. He seemed to chuckle every time I said it.

"Well, in Louisiana there's a slight pressure of sadness, but in Tennessee it's as sunny as can be." I laughed. He chuckled. This was the way things worked. I looked over across the aisle, and here came Kendra.

"Hi Crystal!"

"You know I go by Chris."

"Right. Hi Fang! Are you two going to the dance? Like, together? You so should! I'm going to ask the running back Eric! I mean he is H-O-T HOT! Like, maybe he wants to…" She finally noticed the look on my face that always meant stop talking and go away. I knew she made Fang uncomfortable.

"Groovy," she whispered. Kendra went back to her seat next to Lisa (the only one who enjoyed her talking) and was talking like no tomorrow.

I looked over my shoulder at Lisa and Kendra. "Eric told me that he might ask you to the dance! The only way he won't is if he asks Chris and she says no. But she's going with Fang! How great is this?" Kendra's face looked lit up. She turned to look at me, but I pretended to talk to Fang.

Thanks Lisa. Now my Best Friend thinks I lied to her.

"Do you want to go to the Dance with me?" Fang asked in his version of a casual voice.

Chapter 2 – Chris

My fear had come true. He'd overheard Lisa's big mouth.

"Yes. I mean no. I mean yes. I mean, ugh." I didn't know what to say. I didn't want to hurt his feelings.

He looked at me and smiled. I t was the first in a long time (Since his parents disappeared). I was so happy to see him smile, but it wasn't enough to say no to Eric. "Yes?" Fang asked.

"Yeah, um sure." I was answering Eric's question in my head.

"So you're not going with Eric?" Even Fang sounded surprised.

"Wait what? Oh, Yes, I am."

All heads turned to me in bewilderment. Someone even yelled, "Choose Chris!" I knew what everyone was thinking: Chris, going to the Dance with Eric and not Fang? Yeah right! Maybe in another dimension! Just then, the bus pulled into the school. I was so relieved.

I knew Fang wasn't surprised about me going with Eric. He knows I I've had a crush on Eric since first grade. I told him that not to soon after we met. The day dragged on through lunch. As soon as sixth period was over, I ran to Eric's locker in the locker room. The only thing dividing it from the girls was a wooden door with a window. No one was here, but I heard footsteps coming. I quickly got out a slip of paper and wrote this:

I HEAR YOU WANT TO GO TO THE DANCE WITH ME.

-?

I slipped the not in his locker. I was heading for the door when I heard a certain running-back's voice say one little word, "Hey."

Chapter 3 – Chris

I spun quickly around. "Hey, um, Eric. I, um, saw something sticking out of your locker." I mentally slapped myself for saying something so stupid. I thought he was going to say something like, "We both know that's a freaking lie! So let me read the note!" Instead, he just walked to his locker, and opened. When the note fell out of his locker he sighed and said, "Who told?"

I gave up. "Lisa. Well, Lisa did, but it was kind of by accident. She was talking to Kendra and told her how you would ask her if I said 'no.' And I admit I was sort of eaves dropping but Lisa was talking way louder than . . ." I realized he was smiling. "What? It's all true!"

He chuckled. "I wanted to make sure you'd hear her. I asked Lisa to do that for me. Only, after you got off the bus did everyone tell me that Fang asked you. Anyways, thanks for the note." He started to turn.

"Wait! I didn't ask Fang, Fang asked me!" I said quickly.

"And you said yes?"

"No, I didn't, because I wanted to go with you." Talk about awkward. I thought.

"Okay then, Chris." My face lit up and so did his. "Will you go to the dance with me?" he finished.

YES!YES! A MILLION TIMES YES! Embarrassment flooded my face. "I mean, yes, I would love to attend the dance in your company. I knew he loved it when I talked like that. It always made him laugh. Only, now he wasn't laughing. "You okay? Yu always laugh when I do that."

"Oh, right, Ha! Ha! Ha!" I giggled. I knew something was wrong, but I let it go. I walked out and Eric followed me. I guess it was okay since we were going to the dance together.

After we were in the tan hallway surrounded by empty purple lockers and tan tiles, Eric said, "Hey Chris, why did you write the note like that? We both know you write way neater."

"I was afraid you'd tell Lisa and she'd tell Kendra." I lied. I just didn't want him to know it was me.

"I think she'll get over it. But I won't tell her." He smiled from ear to ear.

We were walking in the hallway when I saw Brenda, a nerdy kid. She was in this graveyard cleanup thing with Fang. They were supposed to be cleaning up after one o'clock. It's one forty-two. "Brenda, where's Fang? I haven't seen him since lunch and I thought you guys left forty-two - now forty-three - minutes ago."

Brenda looked confused. Then she had her explanation face and pushed up glasses. "Well given the fact that they clearly stated over the intercom that it was cancelled . . ." I stopped hearing her after cancelled. He should've been in sixth period.

I suddenly got mad, grabbed her by the shirt and pulled her close. "Then where is he?" Her breath smelled like tooth paste.

"I don't know. Maybe he went home sick?" Sick, he would never go home sick. No one would pick him up.

I let her go anyways. "That's all. He's sick. Dine. Go." I let go quickly. She started running off. Eric looked concerned. I explained before he could say anything. "Fang wouldn't have left sick. No one would pick him up and he doesn't own a car. Some things going on, and it's not good."

Chapter 4 – Chris

I walked into Social Studies and sat next to Eric in my assigned seat. Fang's empty seat next me just freaked me out. I tried not to think about it much. I looked down and saw Eric's hand reached out for mine. I glanced at Kendra, and she was talking to the quarter back of the team. I reached down and help onto his hand. Eric saw my caution. "Hey, I don't bite, and Kendra can deal with it. It's okay.

I grinned. I only had time to grin for five seconds before Brenda's boyfriend, Jake (who is also a nerd) came running in. Everyone turned around. "Run for your lives!" he screamed, "Run! Run!" feeling a bit amused, I walked towards him.

"Why?" I asked. Eric looked at me funny. Like he was wondering what the heck I was doing.

"There are Vampires in the school!"

I heard chuckles behind me. Just to hear how far Jake was going with this, I turn around. "Hey! Shut up! Save all comments and laughs until he's out of the room!" All became quiet. Eric was trying hard not to smile and failing. He knew what I was doing. "Thank you," I turned back to Jake, "Tell me what happened."

"I was walking down the hall and passed by Zack. I got to my locker, and they weren't anywhere near me. I walk three more feet, and they're right next to me. Zack took me outside, threw my books down, and slammed me against a wall. He bared his teeth and said, 'I'm hungry. Your my snack.' Someone walked by and Zack left because they sounded bigger than me. I ran away. All of a sudden, I heard a male scream quietly and be cut off."

I'll admit, I was amused. I decided to keep humoring him. "So you ran to warn everyone and they didn't stop you because they thought no one would believe you." I was acting like I was thinking aloud. Apparently, I'm a good actress.

"Exactly. You know what else Zack said?" asked Jake. I made a "what" motion and facial expression. He didn't say anything. "Wait for it, Wait for it, here it comes! He said there were more!" He exclaimed with a capital M-O-R-E. This was getting really funny. "And there's one who knows everything, but she refuses to join." Everyone burst out with laughter. I said nothing.

Suddenly, what he last said sank in. She knew everything. Maybe she'd know where Fang was. It's crazy, but I want to talk to this girl. I kept on acting and grabbed him by the shirt, just like Brenda. "What's her name?" I asked. He exhaled loudly. Does everyone's breath smell like tooth paste at this school?

He looked frightened. As if he was warned not to say. I didn't care. I never talked to Zack anyways. He wouldn't find out. "A-A-Alexa T-T-Towers." He shuddered. I could feel him shaking. Feeling bad that everyone was laughing at him, I let him go. He stood there. "Hear that?"

Then I heard it. A male screaming then cut off. Just like Jake had described it. "Now I do."

Chapter 5-Chris

Everyone jumped from they're seats and ran outside. I knew exactly where I heard the scream come from, and apparently everyone else did, too. They all walked up to the indention in the grass. Someone laid here; whether it was a setup, or real. All of a sudden, Zack showed up. "Well, Jake! Look at you, boy! Maybe you're badder than I thought."

"Badder isn't a word, Zack." Jake made what this school often calls a fatal mistake. Zack only grinned.

"Look at him, correcting someone obviously bigger than him. Everyone! Welcome our new member to the pack!" Zack bellowed, addressing us as if he was a king and we were his court. Zack frowned. I would've said something but the afternoon announcements came on, so I had to run to get my backpack. I looked back and saw that Jake, Zack, and the pack were gone. I kept running.

Chapter 6-Jake

"Time for your initiation." Zack came towards me and threw me on the ground.

"You know, Zack, violence is never the answer," I responded. Zack just made a joke that if he and I threw down, it would be so short that we couldn't even call it violence. I grinned trying to get out of this. "Maybe we could get out of this a less hurtful way?" I asked.

"Shut up Jake!" screamed Zack. He warned me not to tell anyone about Alexa. And now, I was about to get the punishment. I would be a jerk and break up with Brenda. Only remember the bite. The great pain I'd feel in my body, and be completely different. Be a vampire. "STOP THINKING!" Zack yelled at me. He punched the wall. Where he did turned to rubble. My jaw dropped.

"You can read my mind?"

"Good Job!" Zack said sarcastically. Rude .I thought. "I'm getting sick of your thoughts. Pack, let's do this now." Zack came to me and lifted me to the wall. "Hold him there!" Zack turned back to me. "Snack time!" I held my breath. Nothing would prepare me for this moment. I closed my eyes as the sharp pain flew through my body. What felt like glass, shoved into my neck. I knew what it was. It was the bite where I became one of them, also known as my initiation. Zack kept going, and I passed out.

Chapter 7- Chris

I'd had a big day, and frankly, I was ready to go home. By the looks of it, everyone in the ninth grade and the tenth grade (me) were quiet. All of the eleventh graders were surrounding another eleventh grader. By looks of it, she needed to replace a lot of water because she lost a lot from crying. I moved up two seats, three seats, and asked one of the girls what was wrong. One turned around. She looked Zack and I's age. She had gentle red hair that fell beautifully down her pale face. Her eyes were the color of grass in the morning: bright green. "My sister's boyfriend went missing yesterday. She's been crying day and night since."

Her sister looked up. She had brown hair, and a tanner body. They only way you could know they were related were their eyes. Exactly the same. "I loved him and he loved me so much! Why? Why?"

"That has to get annoying. Let me ask, what's your name?" I didn't know what I was think. It just came out. I guess it was worth it.

"I'm Alexa. Alexa Towers. That's my sister, Taylor Towers."

I'd found her. The girl who knew everything.

Everything seemed to be happening so fast. She noticed my surprise. "You know." She paused. She knew what I knew. But she didn't seem to care. "Sit with me in the back. Sis?" She turned, talking to her sister.

"Yeah?"

"I'll be right back."

"Just don't leave me alone like the man I loved!"

"Dramatic." I said.

Alexa nodded her head in agreement. "So, I'm going to let you talk. Then you're going to let me talk, and we'll figure this out together."

I began, explaining what happened earlier that day. Alexa stopped me after I mentioned Jake and his story. "Stop, tell me about Jake? What was his story?" I repeated it all. Beginning with seeing Zack, and hearing a male scream and be cut off. "Interesting. Okay. So you know what I am. No kidding. A vamp. Alexa sat up and said, "I'd appreciate less sarcasm. Anyways. Why do you care about what I am? Are you some, undercover vampire hunter? Seriously…"

"I care because you may have an idea about what's going around in this cave we call our school. That's why. Anymore questions?" my voice kept rising and rising. Alexa staggered back.

"All right, all right. Don't bite my head off." I laughed. I couldn't help but to reply.

"That's your job." We laughed loudly. We were repeating moments from my favorite kids movie, "The Little Vampire."