So, this rewrite is taking more effort than I thought, cause I'm pedantic about characters and whatnot. I want everyone to be… well, I want them to be themselves. Shell is bilingual, there will be translations in brackets after she speaks. Dedicated to RandomReader17 because she's too sweet, and she's been with me from the start.
Nicole/Rochelle
"Excusez- moi, Madame, mais est-ce que je peux aller boire de l'eau," (Excuse me, but can I go get a drink) I asked, coughing loudly and disrupting the class. The teacher waved her hand dismissively, not really caring whether I stayed or not, so long as I stopped disrupting class. I got up and collected my books, making it obvious that I was leaving. Today was my sixteenth birthday and I did not want to have to deal with my cold, or the annoyingly hard-to-conjugate French verbs.
I went to my locker, shoving all the stuff I needed into my backpack as fast as I could. I wanted to go before—
"What the hell are you doing here?" I heard someone demand. So much for escaping. And a happy birthday to you, I remarked dryly to myself.
"I could ask you the same question," I answered, continuing to shove my stuff into my bag. I was not ready to deal with Beth's crap today. Frankly, I never was, but I was hoping, since it was my birthday I could avoid her, just for twenty-four hours. I guess I'm not that lucky.
"Senior citizens first," she commented, pointing out the fact that I was holy crap older by almost seven months. This was a classic move by Beth, and then, if I refused again, she'd start her tirade on how I'm an awful friend and I never tell her anything. If I'm really lucky, her incredibly whipped boyfriend will stand there and nod like a cheap bobble head. Which is sanctimonious of me, because that's what I usually do.
I rolled my eyes, "currently, I'm circulating blood through my veins and inhaling oxygen, maybe later I'll even try a little brain-activity," I responded dryly. I turned and grabbed my jacket and threw it on, locking my locker and turning to leave. I wished I hadn't worn my new heels, because then I would be able to make a break for it.
"Real funny," she snapped, "I should have known you weren't going to tell me. Like you ever tell me anything. I swear, I learn more through the mom rumor-vine than you ever tell me. And did you actually-" I tuned out after that much, letting her rant without actually listening at all. I bumped into a girl in the hall, who normally, I might have overlooked. She had long, shiny black hair, cut jaggedly. There was eye liner under her eyes that looked almost tear like, but swirlier. Her vivid green eyes bore into mine as her blood red lips set in a hard line.
"Nicole Mackenzie," she greeted me, somehow knowing my name. "Today, you'll have to make a choice. And if you chose the cure, I want you to know my name," she said mysteriously, slipping a folded piece of that cool paper artists use into my bag. "and I am fine again," she whispered quickly.
"Is this another thing you never told me about?" Beth interrupted and the girl who'd stopped me bristled, like when a cat gets rained on, how they flinch and then stiffen. The girl squinted at Beth, as though working on a difficult problem, "Wilson?" she asked me, using Beth's last name. "The choice will be easier then I had thought," she said, her voice turning haughty as she left.
Beth muttered, "goth freak," under her breath, and then proceeded to share why she had a grudge against this particular person. Who does she think she is, going by Thorn, honestly, what kind of loser does that? Blah blah freaking blah. I tuned out after that. The school bell rang, and students poured into the halls, bursting out of the last class of the day. In the chaos, I managed to lose Beth and get out of the school. Rather than catching the school bus, I decided to walk five blocks to the city bus stop.
The May weather was beautiful, if not a little over cast. The street that I walked down was shaded by tall trees, whose leaves were a bright green. Feeling like I was ten years younger, I twirled around. Then, I sat down on a little bench and pulled out the little slice of pie I'd bought during lunch. "Happy Birthday, Nicole," I whispered, because this small moment of solitude was my present to myself. The sweet yet tart flavour of the lemon meringue pie caressed my taste buds as I ate it. I threw the little box the slice was in out and continued my walk, singing to myself.
"She's one of my kind," commented a voice from nearby. I whirled around, looking for the voice, when she stepped slightly out of the shadows, "Amy Lee, I mean. The High Council is quite proud that she's one of us," the vampyre explained. When she left the shadows, I got a better look at her. She had shirt and spiky black hair, and tattoos that looked like serpents. She was a good foot taller than my five foot five.
"Or rather, one of our kind," she amended, and I knew in that moment what she was going to say before she said it. "Nicole Mackenzie! Night has chosen thee; thy death will be thy birth. Night calls to thee; hearken to Her sweet voice. Your destiny awaits you at the House of Night!" she pointed a finger at my forehead and it exploded in pain, like a wasp sting. My vision was swimming with tears when she guided me to her car.
In utter shock, I sat down. My forehead had stopped stinging. Is this actually happening? I asked myself, do I want it to be? For a frightening moment, all the hard facts assailed me, I was leaving my family. I was leaving my friends. I could potentially die any day in the next four years or so. Assuming I don't die, I have to learn an entirely different way of life. I began to hyperventilate, trying not to faint. The tracker sat me down in her car and put her hand on my shoulder, "Nicole!" she snapped, "you need to breathe,"
She got in the driver's side and smiled at me, seeing the fear written all over my face, "many good things as well can come from becoming a fledgling, Miss Mackenzie." so as she drove me to the house I'd lived at all my life, I thought about what I had to lose and what I had to gain.
So, I kept Shell essentially the same, but I changed Thorn a little… like there's a reason she knows that… KShade out.
