Chapter 2
Summer had a way of making time disappear. I slept until way past it was comfortable and woke up to find Romulus gone; he had to escape before his family noticed him gone. I got ready quickly and went downstairs. It was quiet. The door to Grace's study was closed and who knew where my father was. I pulled out the container of pancakes and put them in the microwave. With a little whipped cream and syrup in the container with them, I grabbed a fork out of the drawer and my empty backpack from the hall closet. My wallet was still inside, lending to a day of doing something. I slid my feet into sandals and slipped out before I could be missed.
No sooner had I stepped off the porch before I heard, "Where you think you're going?"
I took a bite of my pancakes and looked at my father with my most innocent expression possible, "Shopping with friends."
"You going far?" he asked while working on the fixer-upper car he managed to find. At this point, I had no idea why he hadn't just brought a fully grown mammoth.
"Main street," I replied. The earth was still soaked, so it had probably rained in the hours I'd been asleep. He nodded, peeling the worn out interior from the seat he was working on. Upon his attention being distracted, I attempted to slip away again.
"You be home by dinner, understood?" he said without looking up.
"Yes, Papa," I replied, making my way out the gate and down toward the corner.
Venus and the others were seated at the base of the large tree at the edge of Romulus's block, smoking and giggling. As I neared them, I caught scent of the contents of the faux-cigarette and wrinkled my nose. "Could kill you to put something good in it?"
"You won't be so worried about it at the concert, will you?" she asked, her glassy eyes dancing with mischief.
"Concert?" I asked as we were joined by my boyfriend.
"Surprise," he replied, kissing my cheek. I rose a brow, but he just continued to smile like I knew what he was talking about. "There's a music festival coming up, it's gonna be downtown. They're having some indie bands, some punk bands...and, your favorite, Himalayan Yak Band."
My jaw nearly dropped at his casually placed fact. As he smiled, I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him, "I love you!"
"I love you too," he replied. His eyes glinted warmly, a deep, warm emerald. They glistened like newly minted leaves after a rainstorm, and he grasped my hand enthusiastically. "What are we doing today?"
I shrugged, "Having breakfast?"
Venus burst into laughter. He waved at her as we headed off for the park to have a place to sit while I finished my food. Half the pack or more were already there, hassling the vendors for more food and climbing on the kids' jungle gym. Rocco and some girl were hanging out on the carousel. Kate was on a bench, out of breath and looking comfortable in a pair of sweatpants and a yellow guy's undershirt. She beamed at us with exhilarated content, "Did you hear?"
"Just told her," he replied, sitting on the opposite side of the bench so I was forced to sit between them.
"No, about the vampires." Her eyes glinted in a way that made me think she had some sort of amazing revelation in store, but instead, she just glanced over toward them.
They were having a picnic on the far side of the park, four or five of them. They were wrapped in Civil War era gloves and shawls and hats. I laughed to myself, stretching out in an effort to make my frost-glazed skin catch the sun in a way theirs never would. I bet they were hotter than Heath with no air conditioning. If their attention had been attracted, it was gone in a flash. The pigeons scattered as Ghoulia's scooter pulled up to the curb and she waved over Frankie from the far side of the park. I drank down the syrup and returned my attention to Kate, "What about vampires?"
She glanced to me in confusion before the thought returned, "Oh. Right. Guess who's coming back to Monster High in the fall?"
I raised a brow. She nodded toward the group, causing Romulus to pay more attention. Regardless of whether it mattered or not, I glanced toward them and narrowed my eyes against the sun. My eyes were forced to adjust to the shadows, and after a moment, I made out the faces of Bram Devein and Gory Fangtell, one other girl from school, and Valentine.
...
The art shop was full of odds and ends that no one could find anywhere, which was partially why Kate liked to drag me there. Romulus hung out outside on the painted bench with an ice cream. I ran my fingers over beaded eyeball bracelets and wandered around past humorous signs. Kate browsed tunics and little silver baubles, so when I finally came up to her with an abstract necklace on a teal chain, I took note of the clothes draping over her arm.
"You have boyfriend?" I teased.
She went red. They were pricey and individualized, probably not the kind of thing one redid their wardrobe with unless they had a good reason. I smirked and nudged her, "Do I know him?"
"You might," she replied. Her tone was vague enough for me to understand that she didn't want me to know, yet not territorial enough to keep me from teasing.
"Hope you are happy," I said. I picked up a jewelry holder and turned it over in my hand. She turned toward me and began holding up clothes for my opinion. I shrugged at most of them; I spent enough time in her house to know her, but not enough time in her closet to know what she liked to wear.
I would like to think I had two best friends. Kate was one of the first people I considered my friend. She tied me to the pack away from Romulus. Friendship with her was easy; she didn't care about censoring herself around me, and I didn't care about messing up around her. Frankie Stein was the other, but our friendship was a little more obviously rooted in our positions in the social hierarchy. I adored them both, but being around Kate felt a little more natural.
"I am," she replied, distracted by similar abstract charms. After a careful selection of two, and their subsequent chains, she carried her load up to the counter. I followed in silence, stealing a brief glance of longing toward the ice cream in Romulus's hands. She took the charm and jewelry holder from me and gently set them on top of her clothes. I glanced to her with complete surprise, but she just smiled. I pulled out my wallet, which she immediately clasped shut. "You buy dinner, I got this."
I took out money anyway, "Can't stay for dinner. Parents want me home." Hopefully I didn't carry the trace smell of Venus. Kate took the cash and tucked it away, and though the feud was over, I saw her stiffen up as a pair of vampire girls wandered in, followed by the two from lunch.
"Ooh, Rose!" one gushed as she touched one of the charm necklaces, "This is positively tribal."
The one I assumed was Rose glanced back with a jewelry holder like my own, "Wouldn't you love this for your rings?"
While the one whose name I didn't know wandered about, I nudged Kate. Gory Fangtell was staring directly at us, a little smile dawning on her fiercely feline features. She produced her clutch wallet from her little lace purse and produced a pair of crisp, neatly-folded bills, waiting behind us. When the woman behind the counter began to speak Kate's total, the vampire reached between us and silently set the cash down, "Consider it a gift."
The two vampires at the opposite side of the shop stopped talking. We were as surprised as they were. "What are you doing?" Kate asked, clearly at a loss for anything better to say.
"We were incredibly cruel to each other around Halloween. I never officially tried to apologize. Consider it a token of truce." Her red lips moved elegantly, but I found it hard to believe the words that were coming out, even if it had been eight months ago. For all I knew, they had werewolf friends. Still, maybe it was the fact that she had every intention to kill us and never voiced her remorse for a second, I had chills looking at her. They weren't the good kind.
"Thanks," Kate replied. She offered up some of the cash she was going to spend in return, but the vampiress simply shook her head. "We'll do lunch sometime or something."
"Well, I wonder if Bram decided to make you play nice," the unnamed girl said as she examined candles. The twins giggled. Gory smiled slowly, as elegant of an aristocrat as any out of place nobility could be.
"He didn't have to."
Romulus took up the doorway, staring at the both of us uneasily. Kate took her bag and handed Gory her change with a quiet, dual murmur of her thanks. The vampiress smiled to us both and made her way to the basket behind us, lifting an eclectic little painted box as if we had never been there. No goodbyes exchanged, no plans to meet up, only unease between the lot of us. As we left, though, I could hear the girls burst into mocking laughter. I could hear her piercing voice in my mind, there go the dogs with their tails between their legs, and I only slid my arm through my best friend's to tug her off to safety.
Silently, she pressed my money into my hand. I paused at the corner to take my gems too, and I dumped my wallet in my bag with my heart beating so loudly in my ears that it scared me to breathe.
"Coffee?" Kate asked as if it would solve all of our problems.
I just nodded, because the coffee place had great food and I was burning energy thinking of the fight or flight instinct that kicked into overdrive whenever I laid eyes on those vampires.
