Before we begin; I want to explain this story. It is not a thing like the Twilight series, no matter how many 'similarities' my friend could find - in fact, I had the first two chapters written before I had read the series. This story is based in Glasgow, Scotland - my hometown - and yet I have changed the schooling system to the Americans, using the terms 'senior' and 'junior' instead of fifth and sixth years, hopefully this will make it a bit less confusing.
Now please, I ask you, read and review. And whatever you do - don't compare? My stories, no matter if they are of the same genre, could never compare to Stephanie Meyer's.
"You heard Ric," Amy sighed, tugging at the hem of her school skirt, the material baring too much of the pale flesh of her leg for her liking. "We have to stay here a few months, a year at best. It won't be too bad…" Running her free hand through her long red locks which, in sharp contrast to her pale face, made her seem exotic and peculiar, compared to a school of plain blondes and brunettes, the occasional red head here and there - although Amy noted that no one's hair was quite as red as hers, the red head began to wonder if she really could live here for 'a year at most'.
Glasgow, Scotland was unlike anywhere she and her family had lived. There was no bright sun piercing through the clouds, no excuse to dress to their advantage; showing off their lithe limbs and - in the girls' case - their enticing curves and there was always a sense that, if it wasn't raining, it was just about to. Not only that, but Ric, Amy's 'father' had chosen to live as central as possible - there was no easy route to the mountains, no beautiful scenery to bask in after one of their camping trips and the constant presence of people, pushing and bustling in every direction. They had lived in busy cities before, but always on the suburbs, close to nature. This, much like Amy's 'brother' had said, was hell.
"Ric also said we should enjoy being different," grumbled Candice, rolling her eyes at her sister. Candice and Amy were polar opposites and, unlike the rest of the family, were indeed related, Candice being Amy's younger cousin although, for the purpose of their popularity and reputation, they were sisters. "'There's no one quite like us - we're different, Candice. Special.' Bullshit we are." Candice hissed, snapping at her sister's hand as she attempted to tug her skirt down another inch or two.
"Can I help you…" the woman behind the desk, the receptionist for the school, counted the siblings. "Four?" her tight, auburn curls bobbed as she tilted her head this way and that, clearly trying to get a view of the two boys standing just out of her view. She had heard that the Flair family would be starting this week, two boys and two girls, two seniors and two juniors.
"I'm Candice Flair," the short brunette leaned forward, her school shirt a little too restraining for the pretty student. "And this is my sister Amy and my brothers," Candice turned, scowling at her two brothers who stood reading the school bulletin board, and began inviting them over. "Randal and David." The receptionist grinned, showing off her very full lips and her pearly, white teeth, hidden behind a mask of red lipstick. Candice frowned a little before continuing, her brothers remaining where they were. "We're here for our timetables; Randal and I are starting our Junior year and Amy and David their senior." The receptionist's grin soon faded when it became apparent that Candice would be the spokesperson for this family and she would, much to the receptionist's displeasure, be speaking for both boys. Holding up her hand, the auburn haired thirty-something made her way into the back to retrieve the timetables.
"Oh god, they have a chess club…" Randal, respectively known as Randy, let out a snort. He had been to many high schools in his time and yet it never failed to please him when he saw a chess club. A sad, social club of four, possibly five, virginal teenage boys who had no interaction with the public - excluding the meetings they held with each other - and who truly believed chess to be a sport. "Might have fun there…"
"Randy," Amy whined, shaking her head. Of the four 'siblings' Randy posed the most problems for Richard Flair, his adopted father. He had a knack of getting himself into trouble, a lack of control allowing him to wreak havoc on the unsuspecting public and usually, giving them more than enough reason to leave. "Why can't you be normal? For us, I mean." Randy rolled his eyes - normal for them, that's all he wanted. To be normal. And yet Ric had always imposed this pathetic, unnatural lifestyle on them, leaving Randy constantly irritable and ill at ease with the rest of his family.
"I," he began, one hand in his pocket, the other fixing his hair as he caught his reflection in the glass casing of the bulletin board. "Am normal. I have urges - just like the rest of you - and I - unlike the rest of you - are willing to embrace them. It's not my fault people frown upon it…"
"Randy, you sound like a homosexual, you know that? Urges with the chess club? People frowning on it?" Candice interrupted his thoughts as Amy fought to suppress a giggle, resulting in an unladylike snort. The truth was, Randy was no where close to homosexual and the urges he spoke of were not of a sexual nature, not entirely anyway. Instead, his urge was to feed and, every few years, he liked to give into his urges. Sadly, this usually meant the killing of a human and Ric really didn't approve of that. Randy, like his brother, his sisters, his mother and his father, was a vampire.
"Whatever. I'm just saying, they're the least suspecting. And all I have to do is say that one of you two are my sisters and whoosh," Randy clicked his fingers. "They want to be my very best friend. That's how it happened with that AJ kid…"
"Don't," Amy shook her head. AJ had been a friend of hers, or at least, he was one of the few people she had allowed herself to get close to and it had been quite a shock when she had arrived home after a shopping trip with Candice and their mother Ivory to discover Ric packing up and complaining about Randy's lack of self control, AJ lying peacefully on the floor. It had seemed so casual to Ric, to Dave and to Randy, who sat on the sofa, flicking through the channels on the huge plasma television as though he had done nothing wrong and yet Amy had been filled with guilt and of something she had never felt towards a family member - hate. She had never seen one of Randy's 'meals' - not a human one, at least - and it was not a sight she ever wanted to see again.
"Your timetables," the receptionist cleared her throat, interrupting the awkward silence which had fallen between the four siblings. Handing the four pieces of white paper to Candice, the receptionist then turned her back on the Flairs, returning to her chair by the computer.
"Thank you," Amy called, although the receptionist showed no indication of hearing her. Taking the timetables from Candice, she began to dish them out, telling each of her siblings, in turn, where they were. "Dave you're in…Psychology with me. Mr…Is that Steiner? Mr Steiner. Candice, you're in French with Mr. Dupree and Randy…" no reply or inclination of hearing her, no hand held out for the timetable. "Randy?" Amy groaned when she saw him, running his tongue over his bottom lip, eyeing up a tallish girl with a short skirt, chains and an excessive amount of makeup. Amy hissed slightly, a noise only heard by Candice and Dave. "Asshole. Timetable." pushing the crumpled up paper into Randy's hand, the red head tugged on Dave's bag and stomped off in the direction of the Psychology class.
"You shouldn't do that to her, you know," Candice sighed, adjusting the strap of her own bag, a lurid pink number, and making her way to her French class. "Why can't he just be normal?"
"Today we will be taking a basic look at the Ego, the Superego and the Id," Mr Steiner, a tall, broad shouldered man with platinum blond hair, dressed in a too tight tee-shirt, said. His voice was fairly quiet and timid for a man of his stature and size. "I assume that you two know of these?" He gestured towards the Flairs, a quiet Dave and a sulky Amy who both nodded, although the motions were barely visible. "Now if you'll all turn to page 46..."
Mr Steiner's words were almost inaudible to Amy, although, with her acute senses, she could probably hear him better than anyone else, save for Dave. "Why does he have to cause so much problems, huh?" she sighed, her words barely louder than a heartbeat, but Dave picked up on every one. "He doesn't want to be vegetarian, he doesn't do commitment. You think I wanted to be like this?" the redhead shook her head slightly, her hair falling between them and creating a curtain. A curtain Dave decided she probably didn't want peaked through.
That being said, he replied all the same. "Because it's Randy. He likes to be different. He likes controversy, even amongst us. And as for the commitment thing…maybe you…Maybe he…" words failed him. The history between Randy and Amy was much deeper than most relationships. "He's a dick." He finally concluded, glad he had found something Amy would agree to.
Amy sighed. He was a dick. But he had given her something most people craved. Immortality. If it wasn't for him, she would have been an elderly woman now, probably married, with children, and perhaps even grandchilden playing at her feet. But now, as her seventieth birthday approached, she wondered if perhaps she would have been better remaining mortal. Heartache was a bit too much to bear when your heart had stopped beating.
Read and Review; please.
Stephanie; xox.