Sarah

"Let's go!" Steph shouted, dragging me and my best friend along. It was during the scorching heat of '88, and she insisted on spending it in some comic book shop. I mean, if there were interesting and complex novels, or anything of the such in there, I suppose I would not mind.

"No-o-o!" Kate protested, sticking her black combat boots into the pavement. She had her denim pants tucked into the leather in a classic style. She had on her black Metallica t-shirt and was jacketed by an army fatigue. How wasn't she sweating? No idea. And with her arms crossed and her glare set, I wasn't just sweating because of the heat.

"Deni. There's air conditioning in there. There are sexy hot guys in there. And, might I add, there is StarWars in there!" Steph argued, and tossed her bottle red hair. She had on a tight blue shirt tucked into small denim shorts, and she was looking even more flushed than usual. I can tell that she didn't want to be in the heat.

Kate's green eyes widened and a lock of short brown hair fell into her eyes. As she swiped away the strand, she yelled, "What are we waiting for?" And away she went.

By the time Steph and I found our friend, she was sitting in the middle of the aisle with comic books strewn around her, with a crazy, psychopathic laugh escaping her lips.

So Steph and I decided to take the smartest and safest route, which means we left Kate to her own devices. The red-head and I walked around the store, looking from comic to comic, and by the time we reached the front, she had a stack of them taller than Kate's dog Luke.

But when something caught Stephie's eye, she gasped, threw the comics at me, and bolted towards the nearest hot guy. I rolled my eyes and sighed. Steph is so horny, it isn't even funny. Every blonde guy she sees, she flocks to. And I'm left in the dust. So I slowly trailed behind, checking out her newest crush. It was this thing we do. Scope 'em out, make sure their eligible…. And memorize the face for further murder, in case our friend's heart got 'mysteriously' broken.

He had on the worst clothing. Bright, multi colors with crazy designs. His hair was tousled in a way that was sorta cute, and he had a soft, round face. Pretty eyes, I'll admit. He wasn't Steph's worst.

As I made my way over to the register to pay for Steph's reading material, I noticed the guy who worked there. He was wearing a black shirt with a band logo on it that was tucked in, and a green jacket of sorts which were rolled up to the elbows. He was leaning on the counter and reading a comic book, his eyes flying across the page. His hair was fluffy and light and under it was a red bandana.

I sauntered up to the counter and stood in front of him. He glanced at me and then the stack I was carrying, and asked, "May I help you?"

His voice was a shock. It was deep and husky and add that to his handsome face, it made my stomach drop. "No, I'm just standing here with a stack of comic books to just say hi." I replied, and rolled my eyes with a smile.

He grunted at me, and grabbed at the books when I put them down to ring them up. As he was doing that, I looked once more at everything in here, from the view of the register, of course. I was tapping my fingers rhythmically on the counter, and then turned to him and asked, "Soo…. Are there any interesting novels here?"

He glanced up at me then as if I suddenly grew two heads, or fangs, or something. "This is a comic book shop."

"So?" I asked. He just grunted at me and rang up the last comic book and told me the price. I handed him the money and looked toward my friend.

I tilted my head as I saw the guy brush a strand of her hair out of the way. I basically saw hearts in her eyes. Out of spontaneity, I said to the cashier guy, "You know, I find it kind of shocking how we can start the day completely regular, but by the time you go to sleep, you could have totally met someone new. And isn't it strange how at one point in time, you could not know a person, and then a year later, they are the most important thing to you, and you couldn't stand loosing them? That's just blows my mind."

Again, he grunted. I swiveled on my heel and said to the red-head, "It's time to go, Steph." She looked at me and then whispered something in the boy's ear. He smiled, nodded, and she sauntered over to me.

"Oh my god, dude, he is so sexy it isn't even funny. I mean, did you see him? You saw him right? My god! And we have a date today later on and—"

"Gag me with a spoon, why don't you?" I mumbled and pulled my in love friend to find Kate.

Kate

I was sitting in the Star Wars section of the shop, and I had the entire stack of comic books to my right. The final one is what I'm reading at the moment. I place it down after I finished and sighed angrily. "Great. I'm done with all of them!"

I was looking around, and noticed a guy with a grey shirt tucked in to regular pants, a black leather belt, and an army fatigue rolled up to his elbows. I also noticed his combat boots, and I smirked. I got up from the ground with books in hand and started placing them back. I observed that he had a clipboard in hand, and was probably taking inventory.

"Hey." I said to him, and he glanced at me. "Nice boots." He glanced down at his and then at mine, and knew it was the same. He grunted and flicked his head at me, as if to say, 'You too.'

"I'm Kate by the way." I introduced.

"Alan." He replied to me, and wiped at his dark black hair. As he moved around me, I heard his dog tags clanking.

"So, you work here?"

"What do you think?" He said, and after I raised an indignant eye brow, he smirked. "I'll take it you're new here."

"Kinda, yeah." I sighed, walking with him. "Me and my two best friends are staying at one of their great-cousin's house. We'll be here for the rest of the summer."

"You might want to watch out. A lot of people go missing, and a pretty face like you is an easy target." Alan warned me, and I smiled at him.

"I can take care of myself." I murmured, leaning in. He looked down on with an eye brow raised. I was in between him and the comics and it seemed like he was only getting closer and closer….

"Kate!" I heard my name being called. Slowly, Alan and I turned our heads so we were looking at my friends. Steph was looking love drunk, while Sarah was just watching us with an impassive face. She had on a white spaghetti strap blouse which was tucked into a long, hippie skirt. Her wild, naturally wavy/curly/straight/ crimped near black hair was surrounding her face and in the light, it looked like a halo. She pushed her glasses up then, and stated, "It's time to go."

I turned to Alan and smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow. Same time, same place?" I asked, as I walked away. When we reached the door, I turned back, to see Alan, and two other guys watching us. By the look on Steph's face as she glanced back, she liked one of them. Hmm…. This'll be interesting.

Edgar

"Oh my god. Guys, Steph is amazing! She is so interesting. She likes Aerosmith, Journey, Guns N' Roses….. All of that stuff. She loves dogs and said she thinks Nanook sounds adorable. She loves swimming. And I think I'm in love." Sam was telling my brother and me. Personally, we couldn't care less about his love life, but he seemed determined to tell us.

"Cool. Did you get her number?" I asked him. Alan and I were checking one last time to make sure everything is in order for the night, before we lock up.

"Yes. She gave it to me after our date. We walked on the boardwalk, ate some food, and visited the beach."

"Did I ask what you're date was like?" I inquired my Arizonian friend.

"Um… no."

"Does it look like me or my brother gives a crap about how it went?"

"….Not really."

"Then shut up about it." I finished checking and then all three of us went to the door to lock it up.

"But it's not every day you meet the girl of your dreams!" Sammy protested. To that comment, Alan and I did our signature grunt and slammed the doors close.

"What ever. But did you see her friends? They weren't bad looking either."

"I know." Alan commented, and I gave him a sharp look. He knows that if he converses with Sam, then that gives him more incentive to keep talking.

"Yeah? Which one caught your eye? The girl who looks like she's ready to take on all the vamps or the one who looks like Star?"

Alan was silent for a moment. "The one in the army stuff. Kate."

"Oooo, Alan has a crush!" Sammy taunted, and in return received a death glare. "So, tell me, mate. What do you fancy about her the most?" Our weird friend questioned the raven haired boy in a terrible British accent.

"She's cool. Able to take care of herself. Likes Star Wars. And Metallica."

"Nice babe." Sam relented, and then turned to me. "What about the other girl? Did you meet her?"

"Yeah, while you were flirting with some one whose hair color is from a bottle and whose fashion sense is almost as bad as yours."

Sammy scrunched up his face and murmured, "Harsh. But, do you like her?"

I shook my head. "Not at all. She's stupid and has nothing substantial about her. She asked if we had any novels in the comic shop." Alan and Sam shared looks and burst out laughing. "Exactly. And if vampires attacked her, she would be dead in seconds."

As we continued walking on, lost in our thoughts, I thought back to the girl who was so weird. She was pretty. I couldn't really deny that. But was she as dumb as I let on? I guess. She did ask a stupid question. But…. Her musings were deep.

"Hey." Sam said finally. "Wanna know what I think?"

"No." Alan and I said simultaneously.

"I think you're going to fall in love with her."

"Don't be crazy." I dismissed him and his knowing tone. I've never fallen in love and I never want to. But the thing is…. I could see me being with her. And that scares me more that any vampire could.