Today was his first day in Morganville. His two years at the university didn't count- for half of it, he'd been oblivious, and the other half was spent being terrified of everything that moved. Not today. Today he got his Protector, and became an official citizen of this screwed-up town. Not that he was complaining. It was better than hiding in his dorm room and hoping one of the vamps didn't grow the sudden urge to snack on a college kid.
And, yeah, he was still deathly afraid of the vampires, but he figured if he has Oliver for Protection, he's set. From what he's heard from some of the locals, Oliver's one of the head badass bloodsuckers in town. Except for the Founder. That was a whole 'nother level of dangerous.
"Hey!" His guide's squeaky voice knocked him out of his reverie. "Kid, if your not even going to attention, I'm not going to bother to teach you a way to survive this place."
Sighing, he ran a hand through his mohawk, wishing this would just be over already so he could go crash at his new off-campus apartment. "Okay, man, whatever. Continue."
"As I was saying," here, the guide shot him a nasty look, which he replied to with one raised eyebrow, "over there is the humans." He nodded his head toward the corner of the Founders Square, where a bunch of terrified/terrifying people stood, clumped together in small groups. "Of course, they're all split up. See those people over in the way corner with the bats and leather jackets?" He had to crane his neck, but he did. "Those are the anti-vamps. They want them completely gone. The other part is the fangbangers." Apparently, his guide thought the term was dumb, because he scoffed. "Anyway, they're right in the pocket of the vampires. Try to suck up to them as much as possible- no pun intended. And then there's people like us," he indicated towards the largest group, "The people who just want to survive."
"Uh huh," he muttered, scanning all the humans, trying to find some at least interesting people to hang with. Although he didn't want to end up dead, he wasn't sure he wanted to shack up with his guide and his fearful-looking group just yet. Casting a quick glance at the nametag stuck proudly to his guide's shirt, he found his name was Neil. God, even his name was cowardly.
He spotted a group towards the center of the Square, right in the midst of the line that unofficially divided the vamps and humans. There were only four of them, two boys and two girls. Both the boys looked intimidating, just in different ways. The uber blonde one was decked out in anti-sun gear, long leather jacket and all. The other just seemed… wary, like he was ready to punch out anybody that came near to them. He could see why, though. Both sides – vampire and human- looked at them like they were scum at the bottom of their shoes.
At least the girls were nice to look at. The taller one dressed like Hot Topic's poster child, and the other wore simple jeans and a blouse. She seemed almost plain, standing next to the scary vamp guy, the really scary human guy, and the Goth princess. But then she smiled, and his breath went out of his lungs.
"Who," he asked, turning towards Neil, "is that?"
Neil followed his gaze. "Oh no, man. Don't even go there."
"What? She's got a boyfriend or something?"
"Yeah," Neil said, like he was the densest person on Earth. "Like the nuclear bomb of all boyfriends."
"Damn it," he grumbled.
"What, you think a girl like her wouldn't? Not only is she gorgeous, but she's, like, the smartest person at TPU. Probably in the whole town. And, she's basically a super hero. She and her little posse of perfection have saved to town at least four times," Neil said.
"Huh," he said, watching her throw her head back in laughter at something the human guy said. She turned towards the Goth girl, and from across the Square, her eyes briefly caught his. The corner of her lips lifted, in just a shadow of the beautiful smile he'd seen earlier. But it was enough. In his mind, he could picture the words that would change his life forever taking form:
Challenge accepted.