Monday September 18th, 2000
"It's going to be okay," Ella breathed as they walked into the cafeteria. Elizabeth and Christopher led the way, Christopher looking ridiculously like a body guard in the middle of hostile territory. Elizabeth looked wary, too, but much more irritated than protective.
"Of course it is," William grumbled.
"She's not here yet, but the way she's going to come in… she won't be downwind if we sit in our regular spot." Ella continued.
"Of course we'll sit in our regular spot. Stop it, Ella. You're getting on my nerves, I'll be perfectly fine." William snapped.
Ella blinked and focused on William's face. "Hmm," she said, sounding surprised. "I think your right."
"Of course I am," William muttered.
William hated being the focus of their concern. He felt a sudden sympathy for Wesley, remembering all the times they had hovered protectively over him as he transitioned into their lifestyle. Wesley met Williams glance briefly and smiled.
Annoying isn't it? Wesley thought. William grimaced at him in response.
Today William's nerves were stretched tight, his senses hyper alert. He scanned every sound, every sight, every movement of the air that touched his skin, every thought, especially the thoughts. There was only one sense he refused to use, smell, he didn't breathe. He was expecting to hear more about the Croft's in the thoughts that he sifted through. All day William had been waiting, searching for whichever new acquaintance the new girl might have confided in, but there was nothing. No one noticed them anymore than they had before. Several of them were still thinking of Mia, but instead of finding this utterly boring, William was now fascinated.
"Anything new?" Wesley asked.
"Nothing. She…must not have said anything." William replied.
"Maybe you're not as scary as you think you are," Christopher said, chuckling. "I bet I could have frightened her better than that."
William rolled his eyes as Ella informed the group that Mia was coming into the cafeteria.
Mia entered the lunch room with Mike and Charlotte, as they all got in line for food Mia glanced at the table in the corner out of habit. She froze where she stood when she realized there were five people sitting at the table. Suddenly not hungry Mia grabbed a soda and followed Mike and Charlotte to their table with her eyes on the floor. She sipped her soda slowly, her stomach churning.
William tried to keep his attention on his family, a grin fixated on his face. He could hear Charlotte's impatience with the new girl, who seemed to be distracted, too. He saw in Charlotte's thoughts that Mia's cheeks were once more colored bright pink with blood. William could hear Mike's thoughts, he didn't like the way they wrapped around the girl, the flicker of already established fantasies that clouded his mind while he watched her.
Mia did not look away from her table for the rest of the hour. When the lunch hour was up, William stayed in his seat.
"I…think its okay," Ella said, hesitant. "Your mind is set. I think you'll make it through the hour." But Ella knew well how fast a mind could change.
"Why push it, William?" Wesley asked. "Go home, take it slow."
"What's the big deal?" Christopher disagreed. "Either he will or he won't kill her. Might as well get it over with, either way."
"I don't want to move yet," Elizabeth complained. "I don't want to start over. We're almost out of high school, Christopher, finally."
William was torn on the decision; he wanted badly to face this head on rather than running away again. But he didn't want to push himself too far, either. He didn't want to uproot his family, knowing none of them would thank him for that. But he realized he wanted to go to class, he wanted to see her face again. It was his curiosity that decided for him.
"Go to class," William ordered, pushing away from the table.
William took one last deep breath at the door of the classroom, and then held it in his lungs as he walked into the small warm space. He was not late; Mrs. DeSimone was still setting up for today's class. Mia sat at their table, her face down staring at the doodle she was drawing. William approached, examining the sketch; he pulled his chair out loudly to announce his presence. Mia noticed but did not look up.
"Hello," William said in a quiet voice he used to make humans more comfortable, forming a polite smile with his lips.
Mia looked up, startled, almost bewildered. She noticed that William was sitting as far away from her as the desk would allow but that his chair was angled towards her. He looked like he had just finished a commercial for hair gel. Her eyes were full of questions; it was this same expression that had obstructed William's vision just yesterday.
As William stared into Mia's amber eyes, he realized the hate he'd somehow imagined the girl deserved for simply existing, had evaporated.
"My name is William Croft," he said, though he knew she knew that. "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Mia Russo."
Mia's head was spinning with confusion. Why is he speaking to me, she wondered. She realized she needed to respond but was at a loss for words and blurted out the first thing that came to her mind.
"How do you know my name?" Mia demanded unable to hide the shake in her voice.
"Oh I think everyone knows your name," William replied. "The whole town's been waiting for you to arrive."
Mia frowned at this information; she hated the thought of being the center of attention. Thankfully, Mrs. DeSimone started class at that moment. Mia tried to concentrate, wishing she could just relax and enjoy her one interest.
"You should find the supplies you need on your tables, so go ahead and get started; I'll be around to help." Mrs. DeSimone commanded.
It was then that Mia finally noticed the stack of paper and box of colored pencils in the middle of their desk. She smiled slightly, she had no idea what she was supposed to be drawing but she liked using colored pencils.
"Ladies first," William offered. He pushed the supplies towards her.
Mia was caught off guard by the crooked smile on William's face. She reached for the pencils, glancing around to see what everyone was drawing. Still life, she thought as she followed everyone's gaze towards a stack of miscellaneous objects in the center of the room. She would have to turn her back on William to draw, thinking of her parents and what they had been through she became angry with him. Why did he have to come back? She thought to herself.
William was having a bigger problem than the new look of anger on Mia's face, he was out of breath. He leaned as far away from her as he could without moving his seat, twisting his head towards the window. He braced himself, locking his muscles into place, and then sucked in one quick chest-full of air through his mouth. It was genuinely painful, William could not smell her but he could taste her. His throat was suddenly in flames; he gritted his teeth and tried to compose himself.
Slowly Mia turned her seat towards the center of the room so she could work, watching William through the corner of her eye. Once she was in a good position she completely forgot about the person sitting just a few feet away from her. She loved drawing; it was the one thing she still had that brought her peace. As her pencil started to move she became the only person in the room.
William was now completely distracted by Mia, her hands moving fluidly over the paper. She's talented, he thought to himself, as he watched her create a perfect replication of the objects she saw. It was Mike's thoughts that interrupted William's trance.
Wish he'd stayed wherever he went, Mike thought, scowling at William. William hadn't realized that Mike harbored any ill will towards him. What was even more interesting to William was that the feeling was mutual. William looked towards Mia again; it wasn't that he couldn't see what Mike was going on about. She was actually rather pretty…in an unusual way. Better than being beautiful, her face was interesting. It was her eyes that held Williams curiosity, brimming over with silent secrets. As William watched Mia he recognized the fascination growing inside of him. He wanted to know more about her, her life before she came here, all the meaningless details that would explain her character.
Absentmindedly, Mia tossed her thick hair just as William took another breath. A particularly concentrated wave of her scent hit the back of his throat. It was like the first day, like the wrecking ball. The pain of the burning dryness made him dizzy. As soon as the bell sounded William fled the classroom, gasping at the clean wet air, putting as much distance as he could between them.
The rest of Mia's day went by as she expected, as it had most of last week. She was getting used to seeing the Crofts, although she was still a little confused as to why William was speaking to her in class today. She didn't see him again until after school was let out.
William had run to his car again, hid, again. Like an addict he found himself searching through the thoughts emanating from the school building. He tried to convince himself he wasn't spying on her, but rather preparing, he didn't want her to take him by surprise.
Mia walked slowly to her car, pulling her hood up as her mouth turned down at the corners, she really did hate the rain. She got into her little silver car, turned it on and put her hands up to the vents in an attempt to warm them. She took a quick look around before she started to back out of her spot and stopped when she noticed the still white figure. He was leaning against his car staring at her; they locked eyes for a moment. Mia was out of the parking lot and on the road before she realized she had stopped breathing again.
William was not thirsty, but as a precaution he decided to hunt again. Phillip joined him; they hadn't been alone together since William had returned. As they ran through the forest William could hear Phillip's thoughts about his hasty goodbye last week. In his memory William could see the way his features had been twisted in despair; he could feel his fathers surprise and sudden worry.
William?
I have to go Phillip, I have to go now.
What's happened?
Nothing, yet, but it will if I stay.
I don't understand.
Have you ever…Has there ever been a time…Has any one person ever smelled better to you than the rest of them, much better?
Oh… Do what you must to resist son. I will miss you.
Phillip was wondering if he had done the right thing, sending William away, wondering if he had hurt him with his lack of trust.
"No," William whispered as they ran. "That was what I needed."
"I'm sorry you are suffering William. But you must do what is necessary to keep the child alive. Even if that means leaving us again."
"I know, I know"
Phillip had stopped running to examine William's expression.
But you're not going to run, are you? Phillip thought.
William hung his head.
Is it pride, William? There's no shame in…
"No it isn't pride that keeps me here. Not now."
"What holds you here William, I'm failing to see…" Phillip asked.
"I don't know if I can explain it." William replied
Well I will respect your privacy, if you prefer.
"Thank you."
It was colder when they had returned. William stayed by the river, waiting for the sun to rise. Phillip is right; he thought to himself, I should leave. William imagined Mia's life, she would go off to college somewhere, get older, start a career, perhaps marry someone. He could picture it; he could see her dressed all in white. He found it odd the pain that image caused him.
As the sun rose behind the clouds William returned home to put on a fresh change of clothes.
