Part 1
You never expected your best friend to keep secrets from you. Your best friend should have been the one person you could trust more than anyone, they were the person you told everything to.
Or at least, that was what Alisha thought. Most of the time Jayden Stillman acted like a best friend was supposed to. Jayden was the most gorgeous guy that Alisha had ever laid eyes on. But they had never been anything more than friends.
One day Alisha knew that would change. *One* day. But even though she had known Jayden practically forever there was always *something* about him that was different to everyone else she knew.
That was what made him irresistible to the girls.
Most of Jayden's girlfriends seemed to like Alisha. She was the one they came to when they had problems with him. But even Alisha didn't know *everything* about Jayden.
He didn't know absolutely *everything* about herm for that matter. He didn't know she was completely in love with him. She would tell him *soon*.
Alisha had noticed in more recent years that Jayden was hiding something from her. She had seen him looking at her with an expression that said he wanted to talk, but didn't know how she'd react.
Alisha wished he would just get it over with and tell her.
Maybe she would have been better off not knowing.
* * *
A warm sun was shining in a picture perfect blue sky, over looking a picture perfect small town.
Kalika Silverflame made a gagging gesture. She wasn't exactly thrilled at the thought of being forced to come to small town USA in the middle of nowhere.
But her stupid parents had thought she should know what the real world was like, so they had taken her out of the Night World enclave she'd been living in, to here.
She scowled in irritation. She had been fine in the enclave, without needing to bother about vermin and what they get up to. Back home vermin were kept out in of the way.
Here in their world – they were everywhere. Now she had to be careful.
The idea of starting a vermin high school was positively revolting. But if course, there might be other Night People here – that thought cheered her up a little.
She eyed her reflection in the bathroom mirror critically. Dark red hair cascaded to her shoulders, golden huntress's eyes glowed. Her features were perfectly sculpted, her lips full and blood red. Her camellia pale skin was soft and flawless.
Perfect.
Her red lips skinned back fro her mouth, revealing small white teeth – except for her canines, delicate, and curving to a sharp and deadly point.
She smiled rather unpleasantly at her reflection and watched as her fangs retracted and her eyes became a softer yellow rather than flaring gold.
She sighed heavily.
~Time to face the music~ she thought, leaving the bathroom and heading out into the hallway.
* * *
Alisha pushed her way through the crowd in the hallway to her locker. She could see several guys were stood in clusters whispering excitedly. Some of the girls looked rather jealous.
~There must be a new girl~ she thought, her eyes scanning the crowd to see if she could see anyone she hadn't seen before.
"Did you hear? New girl."
Alisha looked over her shoulder to see Jayden and her other best friend Elaine Harman. Jayden looked rather interested.
"Is that what all the fuss is about?" Alisha asked, reaching her locker.
"Yeah, half the male population are drooling already," Elaine snorted, slanting a look at Jayden.
Jayden looked innocent. "What? I haven't even seen her yet," he protested.
Alisha didn't say anything. She gathered the books she needed for her morning classes, shut her locker, and then followed them both to class. As they entered first period English lit, she heard Jayden draw in a breath.
She glanced briefly at him, then around. A girl she'd never seen before was sitting in her usual seat. She was tall, even sitting down with a mane of blood red hair cascading around slender shoulders. Her features were gorgeous, model perfect. No wonder the girls all looked so annoyed.
But something about the girl seemed almost *scary*. Maybe it was the red and black of her appearance – the dark red hair combined with the sexy black outfit.
Alisha realised with a flush that she had been staring too long, and hurried to another seat.
Surely she was just being paranoid. She didn't need to get to know the new girl. Just avoid her and there wouldn't be any problems.
Right?
* * *
You never expected your best friend to keep secrets from you. Your best friend should have been the one person you could trust more than anyone, they were the person you told everything to.
Or at least, that was what Alisha thought. Most of the time Jayden Stillman acted like a best friend was supposed to. Jayden was the most gorgeous guy that Alisha had ever laid eyes on. But they had never been anything more than friends.
One day Alisha knew that would change. *One* day. But even though she had known Jayden practically forever there was always *something* about him that was different to everyone else she knew.
That was what made him irresistible to the girls.
Most of Jayden's girlfriends seemed to like Alisha. She was the one they came to when they had problems with him. But even Alisha didn't know *everything* about Jayden.
He didn't know absolutely *everything* about herm for that matter. He didn't know she was completely in love with him. She would tell him *soon*.
Alisha had noticed in more recent years that Jayden was hiding something from her. She had seen him looking at her with an expression that said he wanted to talk, but didn't know how she'd react.
Alisha wished he would just get it over with and tell her.
Maybe she would have been better off not knowing.
* * *
A warm sun was shining in a picture perfect blue sky, over looking a picture perfect small town.
Kalika Silverflame made a gagging gesture. She wasn't exactly thrilled at the thought of being forced to come to small town USA in the middle of nowhere.
But her stupid parents had thought she should know what the real world was like, so they had taken her out of the Night World enclave she'd been living in, to here.
She scowled in irritation. She had been fine in the enclave, without needing to bother about vermin and what they get up to. Back home vermin were kept out in of the way.
Here in their world – they were everywhere. Now she had to be careful.
The idea of starting a vermin high school was positively revolting. But if course, there might be other Night People here – that thought cheered her up a little.
She eyed her reflection in the bathroom mirror critically. Dark red hair cascaded to her shoulders, golden huntress's eyes glowed. Her features were perfectly sculpted, her lips full and blood red. Her camellia pale skin was soft and flawless.
Perfect.
Her red lips skinned back fro her mouth, revealing small white teeth – except for her canines, delicate, and curving to a sharp and deadly point.
She smiled rather unpleasantly at her reflection and watched as her fangs retracted and her eyes became a softer yellow rather than flaring gold.
She sighed heavily.
~Time to face the music~ she thought, leaving the bathroom and heading out into the hallway.
* * *
Alisha pushed her way through the crowd in the hallway to her locker. She could see several guys were stood in clusters whispering excitedly. Some of the girls looked rather jealous.
~There must be a new girl~ she thought, her eyes scanning the crowd to see if she could see anyone she hadn't seen before.
"Did you hear? New girl."
Alisha looked over her shoulder to see Jayden and her other best friend Elaine Harman. Jayden looked rather interested.
"Is that what all the fuss is about?" Alisha asked, reaching her locker.
"Yeah, half the male population are drooling already," Elaine snorted, slanting a look at Jayden.
Jayden looked innocent. "What? I haven't even seen her yet," he protested.
Alisha didn't say anything. She gathered the books she needed for her morning classes, shut her locker, and then followed them both to class. As they entered first period English lit, she heard Jayden draw in a breath.
She glanced briefly at him, then around. A girl she'd never seen before was sitting in her usual seat. She was tall, even sitting down with a mane of blood red hair cascading around slender shoulders. Her features were gorgeous, model perfect. No wonder the girls all looked so annoyed.
But something about the girl seemed almost *scary*. Maybe it was the red and black of her appearance – the dark red hair combined with the sexy black outfit.
Alisha realised with a flush that she had been staring too long, and hurried to another seat.
Surely she was just being paranoid. She didn't need to get to know the new girl. Just avoid her and there wouldn't be any problems.
Right?
* * *