"Hey!" I called out, seeing Jez and the gang on the sidewalk. Jez ran over to me, and caught me in a quick hug. "Hey, you ready to go?" She asked me with a smile. Looks like I made a new best friend. I looked at her, confused. She turned her gaze to Kevin, and her smile melted into a frown. "You didn't tell her?" She sounded angry. I looked at him as well. He had a sheepish grin on his face. "Oh, yeah, it's Monday. The gang always goes out and has some 'fun' on Mondays." He said with a smirk. He projected some images into my mind, and my mouth fell open with a 'pop'. I snapped it shut again, and heard snickers from the group. "Shut up. It just caught me by surprise, that's all…" I muttered, looking from Jane, to Talon, to Danie. They kept on snickering, but Jez silenced them. "We have to wait until dark, why don't we go hang out at the mall?" All the guys audibly groaned. "Umm, why don't we go to The Sticks?" I suggested, and Talon shot me a grin. Jez pouted, but it looked like I had one the fight, for now.
* * *
Around ten o'clock, we all rounded up outside of The Sticks.
"Alright guys, you know the drill. I'll take Jesse for her first round." Jez announced, and Jane, Talon, and Danie grinned. Kevin sighed, and shook his head. Jane shot him a dirty look, and Kevin shot one right back.
"Meet back here at………let's say midnight. That gives you guys two hours. Three, two, one, go!" She called out, and suddenly we were alone. It was just Kevin, Jez and I.
"What??" I exclaimed. Jez sighed. "Come on, we can't let them beat us." She muttered. I grabbed her arm.
"What am I supposed to do?" I asked. She spun around to face me, a sad smile on her face.
"Count how many humans you can kill before the time is up." I looked around, and saw that Kevin was gone already.
"Uh, no." I said, shaking my head. She sighed, and gave me a pleading look.
"Please Jesse, we need to do this." She said. I groaned.
"Aw come on Jez……" I muttered, but when she grabbed my arm again, I didn't protest.
* * *
"Hey!" I called out, seeing the gang ahead of us. Jez said I had to seem enthusiastic, or else they would think I didn't feed. "Hey, guys!" I called out again, and Talon turned to face me.
"How many?" He asked. His voice sounded lifeless, but his eyes were sparkling.
"Six." I told him, my chin high. He smirked at me.
"I got fifteen!" Danie called out, and she slapped hands with Jane. Jane had a smug smile on her face.
"I got eighteen." She said proudly. Kevin rolled his eyes, and then turned to face Jez.
"I got ten. Talon?" He questioned, glancing at Talon. Talon grimaced.
"I got eleven…" He muttered, shaking his head. Jane smiled smugly at the whole group.
"I won!" She called out, and she and Danie hugged. Kevin rolled his eyes again, and then he wrapped his arm around Jez's waist. He kissed her forehead, and she sighed. She glanced over at me, and threw me another sad smile.
Wanna go? She asked me, but her mouth didn't move. I tilted my head, and she shrugged. It's a mind trick. She said. I nodded to her, and she took a step away from Kevin.
"See you later babe." She whispered, standing up on her toes to peck him on the lips.
"Later." He murmured, and then he walked up to the group. Jez walked over to me, and we fell into an easy human pace. As soon as we were a good mile away, I turned my gaze to Jez.
"What the hell was that?" I asked. I was disgusted. Jez sighed.
"The gang……has conflicting opinions. Even though I'm the leader, there are more of them. I need to seem…… strong, not weak and sentimental." She seemed to struggle for the right words to explain it to me. I sighed, and wrapped my arm around her shoulders in a comforting way. She leaned into my side, and rested her head on my shoulder.
"It's hard, you know? But if I let them loose, they'll cause so much havoc, and expose all of us." She murmured, closing her eyes. I squeezed her shoulders comfortingly.
"But now there are three of us too." I told her, and she opened her eyes and smiled.
"Yes, yes there is." She said, and we kept walking, my arm around her shoulder.
* * *
The next day, I was walking to school because I had missed my bus. Out of nowhere a black mustang pulled up beside me. It was Talon. He asked me if I'd like a ride to school. Of course I said yes, and we started the fifteen minute drive to school.
It started off kind of awkwardly, neither of us said anything for the first few minutes. Suddenly, Talon turned to me.
"You didn't feed last night, did you?" He asked with a grimace.
"I don't know what you're talking about." I said without looking at him.
"Don't joke with me Jesse." He said.
"I really have no idea what you're talking about Talon." I said again.
"Jesse, you can't fool me. You still aren't very good at shielding your thoughts." He smiled. I grimaced. I knew there had to be a reason that Talon would go so far out of his way to pick me up for school.
"I don't need to explain myself to you." I focused on filling my thoughts with anger.
"It's no use Jesse; I've already read your thoughts. But the others aren't going to be happy." He seemed to smile, and I gasped. "You wouldn't dare!" I nearly snarled at him. He laughed. "Try me." He said simply.
* * *
Class went by quickly, but Talon didn't show up. I was fuming the whole time. Jez kept throwing me worried glances, and Kevin kept asking me who made me this anger. It seemed to me that Kevin had taken over the role of the big brother in my life. I rolled my eyes every time he clenched his fists, demanding that I tell him who I was mad at. At least one good thing came of being this mad. No one could read my thoughts.
Talon!!!! I screamed with my mind, seeing him in math. He looked up at me, and smirked.
Yes? He asked innocently. I wanted to punch him.
I swear to god Talon, if you told them I'll- I started, but I felt him cut me off.
Tsk, tsk Jesse. You really think that lowly of me? He said, and I laughed without humor.
Yes. I thought grimly, sitting down in my seat. I was drawing attention to myself, standing there. To everyone else, it seemed like I was standing there, staring at Talon. I shrugged my shoulders when Talon laughed out loud, and everyone turned and looked. "Shut up Talon." I muttered, and then tried to pay attention to the teacher. Since we were at the back of the classroom, the teacher didn't pay much attention to us. Talon knew this, and he used it. He reached across my desk, and ran his fingertips down my cheek. I swatted his hand away, and he chuckled softly.
Aww come on Jesse. You don't want me to tell, do you? He murmured, reaching over again. I squeezed my hands into fists until my knuckles turned white.
You son of a bitch. I snarled at him, turning my head to glare into his eyes. His face lit up, and he laughed inside my head.
Come on Jesse…… He murmured, just as the bell went.
"Great, lunch……" I muttered under my breath, and I walked out of the classroom. Talon followed me for a few minutes, but then he turned down a different hall. I let out a breath I hadn't known I'd been holding. Coming up to my locker, I opened it, and took my lunch out. Pulling out my cell phone as well, I texted Jez.
Eating outside. Ttyl?
She texted me back fairly quickly, and I looked at it.
Yeah, sure. Txt me when ur done.
I smiled, and put my phone in my pocket. I made a beeline for the nearest door, and not know the school all too well yet, I ended up behind the school. There was a dumpster beside me, and I could hear kids behind it, most likely smoking, cigarettes or otherwise. I started to make my way around, heading for the corner, when I was suddenly pushed up against the wall. The person wrapped their arms around my chest, and I pushed forward, but whoever was holding me here didn't budge.
What the hell……TALON! I screamed at him, shaking with anger. He kept his arms wrapped around my chest, trailing his nose down the side of my face.
Talon! Let the fuck go of me!!! I screamed, pushing with all my strength away from him. Once again, he didn't budge.
"Aren't you glad to see me?" He chuckled, pulling one of his arms from around me to cup my face.
"Don't touch me!" I snarled at him, not caring who heard.
"Now now Jesse. That isn't the way to talk, if you want me to keep your little secret…" He ended his sentence by drawing his hand down my chest. I spat in his face. He slapped me. "Don't do that again." He hissed at me, throwing me onto the ground. He was on top of me before I could get away.
"Get. Off. Of. ME!!" I snarled loudly at him, separating each word. He laughed, and pushed the hair back from my face.
"Now, Jesse, you don't seem to be in any condition to be making demands." He smiled, and seemed to be about to kiss me, when mystery boy walked around the corner. "What the hell are you doing to her?" He said, raising an eyebrow. On the outside, he seemed completely calm, but the anger leaked through in his voice.
I managed to speak.
"Get out of here." He was just going to get hurt. He didn't even look at me.
"Get off of her." He said, placing a hand on Talon's should. Talon smirked, and jumped off of me.
"As if I would listen to you." He said. I had enough sense to stand up, and for a moment, I thought that Talon was going to jump him. But blondie put both hands on Talon's shoulders, and flipped him over, and onto the ground. I was still pretty pissed at Talon, and I know that your never supposed to kick a man when he's down, but I couldn't resist. I walked over to him, and kicked him in the balls.
"Never touch me again Talon." I told him, and then turned to blondie. "Thanks……" I started, my eyes asking for an explanation.
"I am what I am." He said, and shrugged. I didn't notice before, but he had a slightly English accent.
"So…you're a vampire?" I whispered the last part. He nodded, and I smiled. "Same. I'm Jesse. Just moved here." I told him, sticking my hand out. He took it, and raised it to his lips. He kissed my fingers, and I nearly swooned. He let go of my hand, and smiled.
"My name is Ryder. It's a pleasure to meet you." He said, and he stuck his hands in his pockets.
"Hello Ryder." I said, and my phone buzzed. "Just a sec…" I told him, and pulled it out of my pocket. I read it quickly.
Where the fuck are you???
It was from Jez. I shook my head, and typed back a quick reply.
Out back of school. Explain when you get here.
I could almost hear the questions now. I sighed, and stuck my phone back in my pocket. Ryder was staring at me, and when I looked up, his face leaked into a soft smile.
"How did you know where to find me?" I asked, tilting my head and raising an eyebrow. He shrugged.
"I heard the snarling." He said softly, and he chuckled. Oh my god. When he laughed, his face lit up, and he looked like an angel. I looked up again, because the laughter had stopped. He was blushing.
Oh my fucking god!! He heard that! I thought, my cheeks turning blood red. He sighed, and then he was gone. Jez came out of the school at that point, and Talon got up, doubling over in pain.
"Where the hell did your bodyguard come from?" He growled, staring at me. At that point we weren't even bothered to shield our minds, and Jez had seen everything. She stood in front of me, and snarled at Talon.
"You fucking asshole." She hissed, stalking towards him. "You thought you could get away with it? That I wouldn't find out?" I walked up to her, and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Jez, calm down. We don't want a fight here." A couple of the druggies had looked out from behind the dumpster, and they were peering at us. They seemed stoned, but I didn't want to take a chance. "Jez, come on." I said, pulling gently on her arm. For a second, I thought she was going to rip her arm out of my grasp, but she relaxed slightly.
"I swear to god Talon, what has gotten into you?" She whispered. He had done this before?