Even for a teenage, half-vampire boy, I hated Halloween. It just felt like everyone was mocking me. And the parties were stupid; especially when your crush/obsession Meredith was with another guy...dressed as a vampire. And didn't notice you at all...even if you're a real vampire.

The entire concept of Halloween just really pissed me off.

So I didn't feel great going back to school the Monday after. Not that I ever did, but it now it was just that much worse.

"Hey Vlad, still sulking?" Henry, my incredibly popular best friend asked me as we walked to school. I groaned.

"Oh come on," he continued, with that stupid grin still plastered across his face, "You could have at least talked to Meredith at the party."

I glared at him, "Before or after you started flirting with her?"

"I was not-"

"Drop it," I said, cutting him off, "I'm not in the mood."

"Whatever, dude," he shrugged.

I sighed. This was something I wished I could talk about with my father. If he and my mother were still alive, they would understand. It was times like this that made me feel more alone than ever.

"You okay?" Henry asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I just wish I wasn't so different."

"Like the Goth thing, or the vampire thing?" Henry knew about my nature; I had bitten him a long time ago.

"I'm not Goth," I muttered as we walked into school. Like everyone didn't think I was weird enough already.

"Or not the only Goth," he whispered as we stopped by my locker.

Shoving books into the locker next to mine was a girl I had never seen before. She was dressed completely in black and her dark brown hair spiked out just above her shoulders. My jaw dropped open with a pop. Where had she come from?

"Later," Henry said with a smirk. He quickly turned on his heel and sprinted down the hallway.

Jerk.

"Hey," I mumbled awkwardly as I pulled books out of my locker.

"Hey," she replied, turning toward me. Her black-rimmed hazel eyes flashed to my face and she smiled. I noticed her fingering a red glass heart that hung on a cord around her neck.

"New here?"

"Yeah," she extended her free hand, "I'm Elvira Manson."

I took her hand. "Vladimir Tod."

For a fraction of a second, I swore that her eyes widened, like she was shocked I would have a name like that. Shocked, and maybe a little scared. She dropped my hand, but before I could blink, her expression vanished.

"What a unique name," she commented, "Like Sweeny Tod and a vampire."

I froze. "Uh, yeah, I guess."

She smiled and pulled out her schedule. "Um, do you know where English is?"

"Actually, I'm going there now. I'll show you the way."

"Thanks."

We walked in silence for a moment. "So," I said finally, "Why'd you come to Bathory?"

She looked down. "My foster mom opened a shop in town."

I hesitated. "Foster mom?"

"Yeah, my parents died a few years ago." She wasn't smiling anymore. I stopped walking.

"I-I'm so sorry. And well, so did mine."

She turned to face me. Her bright eyes were dulled with sadness and pity. "I can't believe that. And you know what? I can't think of a single thing to say. You'd think I could help, but honestly..." Her voice trailed off, unsure of how to phrase it.

"Nothing you say would make it better?" I offered as we continued walking, "Yeah, I know how it is. I can think of a hundred things that people said that only made it worse. I guess sometimes it's better to say nothing at all."

She looked into my eyes for a long moment, and finally smiled. "Couldn't have said it better myself."

I gave her a small grin, and stopped in front of English class. "Well, this is it."

"Mr. Craig?" she read off the door.

"Um, no," I said reluctantly, "Mr. Craig actually went missing a few days ago."

Her eyes widened. "That's terrible. I'm shocked to hear that." I could tell she was regretting moving here.

We walked into the class and Elvira took the empty seat beside me in the back row. A strange man stood at the front of the room. Mr. Craig's substitute, no doubt.

"Good morning, class. My name is Otis Otis, and you may call me by either, so long as Mr. precedes your choice," he said, smiling widely, "And it seems we have another new person in class today."

"Um, yes, that's me," Elvira muttered, raising her hand.

Mr. Otis looked down at his piece of paper. "Ah, yes. Elvira Manson." At the sound of her name, his smile faded and his eyebrows mashed together. He cleared his throat. "Um, you wouldn't happen to have any relatives with the same name, would you?"

Her face fell. "No living ones, sir."

His eyes popped open for a second before he could control his facial expressions. I was extremely confused, as was everyone else in the room, But Mr. Otis carried on as if nothing had happened.

He handed out a very poorly written schedule. Despite the bad penmanship, I could make out the usual subjects- verbs, nouns, adjectives- and then monsters. Seriously, witches, werewolves, vampires, whatever were incorporated into the lesson plan.

What the hell?

"I see all of you eyeing your papers suspiciously," Mr. Otis said, his smile returning, "Since my profession is first and foremost mythology, I plan to teach you all about a different mythological creature every week, along with the other required English classes, of course."

I glanced at Elvira. She looked confused and almost scared, undoubtedly because of our substitute's strange questions. Even I was a little on edge. I could have sworn that every once in awhile Mr. Otis would peer at me in a creepy, all-knowing way. It really freaked me out.

"And now, I believe you are all due for a pronoun test," he stated as he handed out papers.

I groaned along with the rest of the class.

I walked Elvira to all of her classes. She was sweet and funny, and it surprised me how much I came to like her in the short time we spent together. I even found myself looking forward to each new period, excited to see her again. And I couldn't believe the sheer stupidity of it.

Even so, I was dreading the awkwardness we would get from Henry at lunch.

"Hey," Henry said, eyeing the both of us when we got to the cafeteria.

"Hey, um, Henry, this is Elvira, Elvira, Henry." I gestured to the both of them. They smiled at each other.

"So," Henry began as we sat down, "It's nice that you two seem to be getting along." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. I kicked him under the table.

"Yeah, he's a great tour guide," Elvira sighed, "too bad all he's showing me is the door."

Henry laughed, and I could tell that Elvira had won him over. I even saw her checking him out the way most girls did, and she seemed to like what she saw. I guessed that Elvira would be hanging out with us from now on.

"So, what did you think of the new English teacher?" Henry asked. Elvira and I exchanged glances.

"Whatever," she said vaguely.

"Seems alright to me," I shrugged.