Disclaimer: The characters belong to Charlaine Harris, i'm just playing around.

AN: italics is thoughts, and i did try to not have so many this time. I love your comments, that helps me improve, to thanks to everybody that has helped!

Also, anyone up for betaing?

Thanks for reviewing: DD (desesperado!) and Billsbedroom (i still laugh whenever i see your penname)


Ch.9


Be curious, not fearsome.


"Curiosity is not a sin… But we should exercise caution with our curiosity" (1) So, there is the good and the bad about being curious. Thing is, there is unwarranted fear and things that are simply there to harm you. I truly had no good reason to be afraid of any vampire after my impression of the first one I met. However, I was not completely naïve for it. I did not shake of the feeling of being observed simply for curiosity, I knew that something was up and did not ignore it. The bad side of curiosity tends to make us learn about things we do not really want to, or makes ourselves go into deeper trouble than we already are in.

I am glad I found Pam. I wonder if she is still here today, does Mamma have two coffins or light tight spaces or whatever?, I wonder.

I turn in my bed, unable to try to get a few more minutes of sleep in. Also, I try to remember where that phrase is from, but I can't. Was it a literature book? Maybe it was a song…

I shut my eyes for a second and allow the memory of the feeling of Lyn's kiss on my cheek to take over me. I sigh pleased. I wonder if she already replied to my email, I did send it late yesterday.

I push off my mattress and whip my tablet from my bag. Three seconds later I am checking my inbox. There it is!

Judy—

I'd love to go see 'To Lose Control' with you, do you know it is based on a book? A really good one too.

No, I don't care that the mall will be full. There will be plenty else to notice than us. XD

See you tomorrow at school,

Lyn

"Wow" I breath. I have actually landed myself two dates in less than a week. Wow.

I reread the short letter a few more times, completely thrilled by what I found. I love the laugh she typed in.

I jolt. My alarm clock sounds. Now it decides to make noise? I leave my tablet on my table as I go back to turn it off and make the bed.

I follow my routine and meet Delia downstairs.

"Who are you going to prom with?" she questions me, she is hoping to catch me unexpectedly, in order for me to tell her. I look at her knowingly.

"I'll try later" she says and continues with her bacon and eggs. I rummage the fridge and produce a few strawberries and raspberries. I eat them with yogurt.

Delia finishes up as I am still eating and excuses herself. I just nod and up she goes. Soon after, I go upstairs to get my things too.

As I climb down the stairs with everything I need in tow, Delia is outside in the front door with her light sweater on.

"So, did you talk to Ethan last night?" I ask her. She looks at me quizzically, making a fast decision

"Who are you going to the prom with?" she asks. I roll my eyes.

"Fine, I know you want to tell me and I can live without knowing, you are the one that will not give up until I tell you" I huff and look away, the bus is coming. I get in before her and sit with Dave, to pissed to return his greeting.

"What bit you?" he asks

"Delia" I snarl.

"Did she really?" he asks, kinda interested.

"Not literally, you git, she is simply getting on my nerves" I say.

"Why?" he asks.

"Because I do not want to tell her who I am going to the prom with and she insists, she is being stupidly stubborn about it"

"I thought you said you turned down Bastian." I nod

"Then who are you going with?" he asks. I give him a glance.

"Oh, it's a secret" he says. I nod to him. He then proceeds to tell me about his current date options, though he still needs the courage to ask any of them. I do not tell him that half of them have a boyfriend, and the other half are straight. Until his last two options, which sound pretty realistic to me.

"So, what was that all about yesterday?" he says. Oh, shit, what can I answer to that?

"Um, some creepy guy was following me, or I least I thought he was following me, he turned a block away from mine." Is that too farfetched?

"You can be a bit paranoid sometimes" he is gullible enough, good. I still cannot believe I managed to get a date, wait, two dates, with Lyn. I smile pretending I am listening to what Dave is talking about.

I walk in a daze through the school and only come to my senses when Mr. Edgecombe, my lit teacher, calls the class to order. I had lost Dave after homeroom, but I was sitting besides Erika, and she was more than happy to fill me in on who she wants to go the prom with. I smile a bit, noticing her pretty smile and teeth a bit more than necessary. She does not notice and I tune into the class and listen to her random comments as much as I can.

We had a break in literature, where we were supposed to find a poem we liked to analyze, but I also took some time to email Lyn back. She answerd quickly, and before know I am too distracted messaging her instead of doing the research I should be doing. Too quickly class ends.

I walk away from the class reading the message that Lyn sent me a second ago. I am too absorbed in it to notice a lot, barely enough to not bump into people.

"That's her" I hear a voice nearby me. There are a few people in the hallway. But I see my homeroom teacher with a man I had never seen before pointing at me. Shit.

I lower my glance again at my computer. I opened another window and texted Delia quickly.

There is a were with the administration trying to find us. He is in the literature hallway and headed my way. Stay calm, I'll meet you in the cafeteria soon enough and then we can get out.

I send it quickly and then go back to Lyn's message. I find that there is nothing left to say.

"Judy," Mr. Potter addressed me. I look up from my computer, as if I had just noticed the pair.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Potter" I say respectfully.

"Judy, this is Mr. Julien Norris" he tells me. I nod my head.

"Pleased to meet you" I say and offer him my right hand to shake it. He takes it and squeezes lightly.

"Girl, do you know where your father is?" he asks me, still holding my hand.

"On a business trip. He did not say when he would be back." I say calmly. If he is trying to catch my pulse change with a lie, he is so not getting any.

"You have heard nothing of him?' he asks.

"Well, he called last week" I say.

"Did he say where he was?" he asks.

"No, sir, but why do you need to know?" I ask sweetly.

"He was working for someone I know" he says. Had not Bill something about an Orson Norris? Yes he had. Maybe this guy came all the way from Louisiana too.

"I think my Dad was in Vermont." I say, trying to play clueless.

"Definitely Vermont?" I shrug, deciding that I had to know more about this guy.

"He travels a lot" I inform him as I open my shields a tiny bit.

Did Merlotte sell us out? Did he escape? We found my brother body, but not his. And the wolves are not talking. Did the wolves take him? They say that Alcide died, too. Did they convince Merlotte of staying? I told them that coming here was not going to be productive. Well, I just hope that Crystal has better luck talking to his wife. She has a few points of leverage, I guess. No hostages yet, but as soon as Dixie gives the signal, we will. Merlotte will show himself whether he wants to or not.

"Maybe he went to South America? I know he said something about a product placement…" by which I meant nothing at all… "in Colombia"

"Colombia, huh?" he asks. I nod.

This kid is so stupid, she is giving me all the information I need in a silver platter. Might as well ask her if he did prefer Herveaux over Orson.

"Okay, kid, thank you. Stay out of trouble now, okay?" he asks. I smile innocently and watch him go away. Mr. Potter looks at me curiously.

"Would to care to explain?" he asks me. I do not.

"Why would you bring him to me?" I ask.

"Well, he said that he knew you, knew your parents. He said that he is from Louisiana and a relative of yours." He says. I glare icicles at him

"Could you not see that that was one very pissed were?" I ask him. So much for smarts, Mr. Potter.

"A were, yes, pissed, no" he explains, pushing his glasses towards the bridge of his nose.

"I am going to miss the rest of the day of class" I tell him, getting a permission slip form on my tablet. I check family emergency and email it to him. His cell phone vibrates, and I consider myself excused.

"Judy!" he says to me. "Explain yourself!"

"Explain? Did you not see? He is prying information from me about my Dad. Is that not wrong enough? Or do you want to wait for something else?" I ask him. He tries to remain calm.

"Give me your computer, Judy. Are you in some kind of trouble? Is your father in some kind of trouble?" he asks. I do not give him my computer, instead I take out my headphones and call Mamma.

"You okay?" I ask her when she picks up.

"Yes. You will never guess who showed up on our doorstep today, honey!" she says loudly. I can picture her smiling to whoever is sitting in the living room and making her way to the kitchen.

"Aunt Crystal" I say, not bothering to hide my disgust.

"How…?" she asks.

"Julien Norris just visited our school" I say. "He seemed eager to know where Dad is."

"What?!" she says in a harsh whisper. I sigh, I take a few steps away from Mr. Potter so he will not overhear me next.

"It's okay, he left, I told him I thought Dad was in South America, so stick to the story. Colombia" I said.

"Young lady," she starts to scorn me, but pauses. "That just might throw everybody off." She says. "Okay. Be careful for the rest of the day, I have a feeling that they are not the ones who asked the vampires for help, they are here because they want answers. If they know that he died, they would take claim in Delia, being the closest of kin, even if she is not a panther." I nod.

"Yes ma'am" I say.

"Is she there?" she asks.

"No, we are meeting the cafeteria right about now, but I got held back." I say.

"Wait, I have an incoming call, it might be her" she says. She is setting us for conference a second later.

"Judy are you okay?" Delia asks me. I nod.

"Yeah, stupid guy wanted to know where exactly Dad was. He did not ask a lot." I say. Then Mr. Potter came closer to me.

"Delia, do not get hot headed" Mamma asks her. I have to agree.

"I won't" she replies.

"And Judy, do not tell a cover story again before clearing with me first" she says.

"Mhm" I say.

"Clear?"

"Mhm" I answer again.

"Are you with someone?" Delia realizes.

"Mhm" I reply.

"Okay, hang up, I am waiting in the cafeteria" she says.

I hang up. I stow the headphones and then the tablet.

"Judy, let me see your computer" he asks again. If he thinks that it will show anything relevant, he is wrong.

I give it to him.

"Who were you talking too?" he asks.

"My mother" I reply.

"I will only ask once more, after that I consider myself not responsible for any of this" he offers. "Are you or your family in some kind of trouble?" he asks.

I shake my head. I had to make up something.

"That guy is a distant relative, he is my cousin's family. I do not talk to my cousin or his mother, my uncle died when my cousin was less than a year old." I explain. But that tends to happen to bitten weres.

"He is looking for my father because they had a deal but he thinks my father got cold feet, which is not true" That was the only thing I could think of saying without saying too much.

"If I check, would your story be true?" I nod.

"Ask anybody" I say.

"Anything else you want to tell me?" he asks. I shake my head, but open y shields

There is something fishy here, and I'll be damned if the school or my teaching abilities go down with this mess. I have always had a feeling that she is strange, and this just might prove it. The way she just knows things, there must be something there. I thought I had been very careful most of the time. Her website history might tell me something interesting. He checks it to find nothing. I try not to smile. Maybe her emails or her programs… I cover my footsteps always, and he cannot say anything about Lyn and me. Besides, he needs a password to check the content of any email.

"Fine, go along" he says after finding nothing.

"Thank you, Mr. Potter" I say. I see the tall and frustrated teacher face the wall were I had been, and decide that leaving quickly is the better option.

I erase the last sentence I had written to Lyn and replace it with something else.

I send it and stow my tablet as I reach the cafeteria. Delia is sitting with some of her friends. I giver he a meaningful glance, and nod at her question. We decide to just act normal. I get some food and go sit with my usual crowd.

The girls glare at me. Bastian is playing with his food and does not look up at me. Dave is not with them today. Actually, I have not seen him since homeroom.

"Where's Dave?" I ask amiable ignoring the girls leers.

"Why do you care so much?" they tell me. I jolt to my senses.

"Whoa, what's with the hostility?" I ask.

"He said something about physics homework when we came out of American History." Bastian mumbles without looking up from his plate. So …

Erika wastes her hate in shooting him a death stare as well. He is trying to not get involved.

"So… did you girls get invited to prom?" I ask them.

"Yes" Alexa tells me coldly.

"No" says Erika. I sensed that most of the tension in the table was from her, though Piper is helping her a lot too.

"Oh. Don't worry, you still have plenty of time." I assure her.

"Oh, it's not a matter of time. He already asked out someone else" Erika says hatefully. Okay, how does this involve me?

"Oh?" I wonder.

"Hi Judy" a voice nearby calls to me. "How's everything?" she asks. I smile despite how confused I am with Erika and Piper, not even Lyn manages to make me feel happy just now.

"Just fine… how about you?" I ask her.

"Oh, okay, I was wondering what is the name of your godfather because I told my gramps and he said he had never heard of anything like that before" Not good.

"I just call him Fred" I lie. "He's from out of state" I explain.

"Oh" she says. "So, he probably did not know anybody from here" she says.

"Can't say anything about that." I say.

"That's allright." She says, she then lingers there for a second. She seems to take in the iciness of the table and looks at me curiously.

"Want me to show you the poem I was telling you about?" she offers. Wow, that would be… something with a rock and a couple of birds? What was that old saying? Anyways, just that.

"Sure, let's go" I say and nearly jump off the table.

"I'm leaving too" Bastian says and stands beside me. We start to walk away and at a safe distance Bastian halts me.

"I swear I do not know what has gotten into them. They would not tell me." He tries to say to me.

"That's okay, Bastian" I offer to him.

"Oh, okay" he says, feeling out of place. "Bye, then, bye, Lyn" he says.

"Bye, Bastian" she says sweetly to him. I am for a moment jealous, just for a moment.

"Well, I kinda said about the poem because I sensed some tension at the table" she says to me. I smile at her.

"Thank you so much, I have no idea what has gotten into them" I say. "But show me the poem anyways." I ask.

"I'll be happy too" she says as we settle in a table just outside the cafeteria near the lounge and the entrance. I sit with her.

I have a nagging feeling about those three, and the only few words I got from them did not make any sense. Stupid girl… has all the good ones eyeing her… she's not even that pretty… Bastian and Quentin, who else? I shake the thoughts away and look attentively at her.

"Are you okay?" she asks. I nod and smile.

"Just a small headache" I tell her. She opens her computer screen and types directly on it, it does not have a keyboard, nor a mouse. I had seen an ad about those. Did not find them reliable.

We spend the rest of the lunch period talking about poetry and laughing. She showed me her favorite poetess, and I showed her a few things I had written myself.

I am still in shock of how easily the conversation flows when she brings up one of the few subjects I was hoping not to talk about.

"I broke up with Sean" she tells me. Oh, shit.

"Does that make you happy?" I ask her. She smiles playfully at me

"A lot" she says. I smile back.

"Good, then" I say, but hate myself for what I am going to tell her next. "You do know that I tend to move a lot?" I told her. She looks away for a second

"Are you moving away before prom?" she asks me. I shake my head.

"We can always email" she says. I nod.

"We definitely can" I say to her and smile. There are a lot of those going on when she is around.

My computer starts ringing then. I see that it's Mamma, so I pick up.

"Hi Mamma" I say. Lyn stays quiet while I listen to her.

"Judy, come straight home after school. Do not stay for swimming, do not go to work. This is just a precaution, don't be alarmed."

"Mamma, it's the last swim practice." I try in vain to convince her. "I'll ask Delia to stay with me" I say.

"What's wrong?" Lyn mouths to me. I motion for her to give me a second.

"Judy, I need to talk to you before I go out to work." She explains.

"But swim practice ends at five and you do not leave for work until eight" I say.

"Fine, but call me back when your sister agrees" she says and hangs up. I feel the last vibe of her snapping as she hangs up on me.

"Mother troubles?" Lyn asks. I nod.

"She's being overprotective" I say, not saying anything else

"So, was William Quills friends with your great grand father?" I ask Lyn.

"Yes, he was actually a child of my grandfathers. He called him when he was to venture back to America, he has been by his side for the last decade, they are business partners, though more than once he finds himself with weird debts to other vampires that my gramps decides not to be involved in" she tells me. Is there a possibility that the other guy I slipped away from was actually Lyn's ancestor? No, he did not look oriental or anything.

But he had thought something… Is Lyn for any reason aware of this? Is she baiting me too?

Oh shit. I had to look.

We have so much in common, why had I never thought of befriending her before? From the books to the poetry, and she even liked Marisia! I cannot wait to introduce her to Pa and Ma, Gramps, too, Okay, if there is something wrong, she is definitely not thinking about it right now. This is messed up.

"I have calculus" I say to them as the bell rings. She nods at me.

"I have Italian" Lyn says and gets up too.

We walk a bit in an uncomfortable silence.

"I take it you do not tell a lot of people about your great grandfather." I say, knowing that I had to go there again to make her think about her grandfather, maybe she'll think of him long enough for me to get if she's setting me up or if this is for real. I hated being suspicious, but it was simply too large of a coincidence.

I analyzed through her thoughts and words easily. There was nothing there. Absolutely nothing. She does not even know much about her grandfather's business, if he is indeed helping the shifters, he has no idea how close I am to his radar.

"You don't have to tell him about me if you don't want to" I say.

"Well, it's just new for me" she says. I smile.

"I never told my parents about my ex girlfriend. I mean, they knew her, but they never knew how close we were." I share.

"And exactly how close was that?" Lyn asks me. I pretend to blush and look down. Let's just say that there was less than a hair's length between both of us, from elbow to groin.

"We kissed a lot" I say and leave it at that.

"Do you want to kiss me?" she says. A lot.

"Yes" I say, not taking my gaze away from her eyes. "Do you?" I ask her back.

"I do too" she says with a smile. I take her hand and hold it in mine, for a few seconds.

"You have pretty hands" I say stupidly.

"Thanks" she says, blushing a bit.

"I have to go to class" I say,

"Me too" she says.

"Hey, sis!" Delia jumps in.

I immediately tense up.

"Hey, Lyn." We had dropped our hands the second she spoke.

"Who are you going to prom with?" Delia asks. I look at her.

"Sure, sure, secret" she says and then turns to Lyn.

"Has she told you? Because she won't tell me" I felt myself plummet to the floor. Dead.

"No, she's been just as secretive with me" she says, smiling towards me.

"So, how about you? Going with Sean?" Delia asks tactlessly.

"No, we broke up." She says.

"Ugh, tough break" she says. "You guys did not seem so happy with each other."

"That's tactful, Delia" I say to my sister. She looks at me.

"Rather, I broke it off" Lyn clarifies.

"What?" she says. "Oh, and Mamma told me to tell you that no swimming practice." She says.

"But she said that if you came with me it would be okay!" I say, rather whine.

"Yeah, well, she called me and I do not feel like freezing my bottom off" she says.

"Well, it's indoors, you're always warm and since when do you pass an opportunity to ogle at pretty boys?" I say to her.

"There are hot boys on the swim team?" I shake my head when she asks.

"Off course!" Not that I consider them hot, but they did have nice muscled bodies.

"You've never seen the team at practices or meets?" Lyns says to her. She shakes her head. "Now that is definitely eye candy that you have been missing on." She says to her.

"So, please, pretty please, stay?" I ask to her.

"I'll think about it." She says, completely convinced by both of us.

"Okay, great" I say.

"I have not said yes yet!" she says.

"Oh, did you?" I say. "I am pretty sure you were thinking it." I say, I did not need to listen in, her body language said yes.

"I have calculus, see you guys later!" I say, kissing both on the cheek as I make my way down the hall.

I might as well have been skipping, but I don't. I know that Lyn was not watching my skirt flow away as I did hers, but I did think about how soft her hand felt.

I daydream through most of the calculus class.

I cannot believe who I see once I am outside of class. My cousin Jonas Stackhouse looks not a day older than the last picture I have seen of him, about four years ago. He still looks twenty. Maybe he won't recognize me…

This is probably the other leverage that Julien Norris had. How do they just let them walk into the school like this?

I do a quick glance around and stick myself between Bastian and Dave, Phil is with them. I am counting on the three large bodies to help me pass without him seeing me.

Funny, if I had not seen Julien Norris earlier today I would not have even considered hiding from him.

"Merlotte?" I see him working his charms on Erika that promptly turns around and tries to locate me.

"Why are you crouching?" Dave whispers to me.

"Because my evil cousin is looking for me" I say, steering him and Bastian right in front of me.

"Does this have anything to do with your shadow yesterday?" Dave asks.

"You're being followed?" Bastian tries to understand.

"No, and no" I answer both questions. Followed would consist of one person continuously, right? This was not it.

"Then why are you hiding from your cousin?" Dave whispers again, we are still walking away cautiously. He is working his charm on the teacher to find out about me.

"Because he is mental" I say. What else? "He is my first cousin and has a stupid fixation that we date, he heard from his mother that its prom in a few days, so he crashed. I cannot believe Mamma slipped on that." I elaborate, does that make sense?

"So, why are you hiding?" Bastian asks.

"Hello!! Ten years older than me first cousin that wants to date me? Besides, last time I saw him…" I broke off. Crystal nearly left my mother without a hand? My mother bit Crystal?

"There was a fight. He took his wounded mother back, but Mamma swore never to talk to them again. Off course, she kept the promise for half a year." I really hope that they believe me and do not try anything rash.

Dave looks back at me. I am not cowering or anything, I look just a bit thrown of balance. I should have expected something like this when Julien Norris left.

"You so do not look okay" Dave says. I shrug. I rub my eyes and face, walking crouched still.

Dave whispers something to Bastian, and next I know they are lifting me up between them and going inside a boy's room.

"Let me go!" I exclaim.

They go inside and drop me in the center. Ouch, that hurt. They look at me expectantly. I look at them puzzled. Dave checks that there is no one else in there, and then locks the door. Oh, shit, this is where they ask me for the truth.

"Are you Judith Merlotte?" Bastian asks me. What?

"Yes…" I answer, unsure of what they are playing at.

"When is my birthday?" Dave asks.

"December second" I say,

"When did I move here?" Bastian asks.

"Was it when you were twelve? Back four years ago?" I ask. They look at each other.

"Okay, since we already established that this is you and that somebody did not replace you. What has gotten into you the last few days?" Dave prompts.

"Oh, come on, every girl wants to have a bit of fun every now and then" I say to them. They keep staring at me. "You guys are joking, right?" Apparently not.

"First you start talking about vampires, have you not heard enough about them? Then you tell me about a 'shadow'" he actually did quotation marks in the air when he said that. "And now you're going crazy about some distant cousin?" he finishes up.

"Okay, I told you about my godfather, geeez. You can forget the whole shadow thing because I am not gonna explain it. And he's my crazy first cousin, only less crazy than his mother" I say.

"Why hide?" Bastian asks calmly. I do not like that they trapped me in here like this, and it probably means that they will not let me out before they get answers.

"Because he scares the shit out of me" It is true, in part.

"Okay." Dave says. "part one settled. I perk an eyebrow at him.

"One of how many?" I ask. "Because I am gonna be late for swimming" I say and cross my arms below my chest. Bastian looks at me, so I quickly uncross them again.

"Just three or four" Dave smiles at me.

"Okay." I say.

"Point two: are you a lesbian or not?" Bastian asks. I try very hard to not roll my eyes at him.

"As I already told you once. I simply never liked boys and I have an ex girlfriend in Ohio." I say to him. Dave seems bored that Bastian needs to address that.

"Point three." Dave states. I look at him. I am bored of lying the dirty floor, but am too lazy to get up. I look expectantly at him. He gives me a smug smile. Oh, no. "Who are you going to the prom with?" I saw that coming.

"I already answered that" I say to him. His eyebrows go up. "None of your business" I say.

"Well, maybe that would explain why Erika and Piper are being such bitches" Dave insists. I sigh, it would not.

"No, they reason they are pissed is because Piper found out that she was second choice to go to the prom with, not first" I say, well, at least that is my interpretation.

"What?" Dave says, he does not know the trouble he caused for being a gossip.

"Who did you tell?" Bastian asks me. I roll my eyes behind my eyelids, this was not gonna be pretty.

"Two people: Dave and Delia" I inform them. "How about you?" I turn the question back around to Bastian.

"A few more people… I guess that is my own fault." He says. Dave just saved himself.

"I'm sorry" I say. "Did Piper turn you down?" I ask concerned.

"Well, she told me she would think about it, then she heard about me asking you first and got all offended" he says. She said no. He did not exactly say that, and I do not need to read his thoughts in order to figure that out.

"Anything else, my kidnappers? Before this hostage gets herself out?" I say sarcastically.

"Who is your date for prom?" Bastian says. I cannot answer that to him, because it would mean confessing that I had lied.

"None of your business, all I can say is that it is not a guy." I say. "Yeah, I said no to Quentin too" I say. He had sent a not very enthusiastic message that simply read. Hey, Judy, if you are not taken, care to go to the prom with me? Why is everyone making such a big mess of such a small dumb thing anyways?

"Do you want me to ask you too?" Dave says sarcastically.

"Only if your intentions are not noble" I say mischeviously. He smirks, I laugh.

"Oh, Judy, will not you go with me to the prom or ball that I cannot go to without you to go with?" Bastian and I laugh.

"Can I go now?" I ask.

"You haven't answered him" Bastian points out, still laughing. Dave is trying to keep a straight face.

"Can you endure it without me? I already said yes to a pretty girl." I say bittersweetly. He shakes his head and nods. He pretends to look let down for a second, then recuperates.

"Please tell us who you are going with, otherwise we might think you are making this up just to not go." Dave asks nicely. I have half a mind to tell him, but I am still unsure.

"Lyn" I finally spill.

"What?!" they exclaim together.

"Isn't she with Sean?"

"Lyn, Lyn? Your crush Lyn?" they speak too jointly for me to understand both.

"She broke up with Sean yesterday" I tell them.

"Was that before or after you asked her to prom?" Dave asks.

"Well, what makes you think I did the asking?" I inquire. Dave's jaw drops but he picks it up quick enough.

"You played it well" he says impressed.

"Just kept watching the sidelines until there was a window." I reply sneakily. "Can I go to swim practice now?" They nod and make quickly for the door.

I do not see my cousin anywhere. I find Delia quickly and tell her about him. She looks everywhere but at me when I tell her.

"What is going on? First vampires following you yesterday and now this." She sends electricity around. I take a step back and try to tell her my point of view.

"I don't think that the two things have anything to do with each other." I say. "Julien Norris had no idea of what had happened yesterday. And I am sure that Jonas is here for the pack. They just think that the best way to find Dad is through us, and if necessary through us in desperate need of him." I say, trying to make sense of this.

"Then why don't we just tell them that he died?" she huffs. I roll my eyes.

"I have sincerely no idea." I confess.

In the locker room I change into my swimsuit fast and then head out with Delia on my heels. She then makes herself comfortable in the benches to the side of the pool. I lose her quick enough when she starts pretending to read a textbook while she looks at the tight muscles that the guys on the swim team show off.

"Hey, Judy" Allan comes up to me. I smile meekly and continue stretching before diving in.

"So… what have you been up to lately?" he asks me. What the hell is wrong with the student body? This is a good idea, she's pretty but not popular, nice too, it's a safe bet and if we have sex afterwards… that would be nice too.

"Studying, and you?" I reply as I stretch my arms over my head, for a second I wish I had not lasered my armpits just to show him something disgusting about me.

"Well, nothing too interesting." He says. I reach my hands to my toes and then do a few lunges to stretch. He is still besides me. "Wannagotopromwithme?" he asks.

"I'm sorry, Allan, I already have a date." And that makes four people that have asked me, Dave does not count.

"But that girl over there seems to be looking for a date" I point discreetly at Delia. He looks at her.

"Uh, please… if I did not have a shot with you, how will I have a shot with someone popular and beautiful as her?" I shrug.

"You never know until you try" I smile as I pull over my goggles and dive. The water is ice cold and I start kicking after two seconds of bliss underwater.

I tried not to think, but I still find it funny that last night, Bill was counting in his head. I wonder what it is exactly that he was afraid to wonder off to in his mind that he did not want me to hear. That was the only explanation I could think of.

I swam gracefully and felt warmer in seconds. After eight hundred meters to warm up, I started joining people doing hundreds and fifties being timed. I worked side by side with Marie and Pearl. They were giggling every other two laps about something, so I just kept to myself.

By the time I come out, Delia was flirting with a guy, I think his name is Edward, and broadcasting loud and clear. Edward is in her year too, the probably have a few classes together. He has ugly muscles along his neck that make him look stiff.

I go up to her and say hey to both. Delia looks at me.

"You ready?" she says.

"Gotta change" I say and continue to the lockers, she stays talking.

"Well, yeah, I'll definitely go with you to prom" she says. She is confused and fascinated by the idea. I pretend to be wondering in my own head when she turns to me expectantly. Her smile seems to made out of gold, it shines so much.

"Eddie asked me to prom" she says, nudging him.

"Congrats" I smile.

"Okay, see you tomorrow, Eddie" she says to him and we walk away.

"So, that was easy" she says.

"Yep, when you want a date that is pretty easy to find." I say, a bit unenthusiastically, she notices.

"What?" she says. I sigh, I might as well tell he before the silent treats me until we get home.

"I got asked to prom… again" I say.

"Wow, someone is finally being noticed." I roll my eyes, I still do not want to be noticed.

"Ugh, first Bastian, then Quentin, now Allan." I say. "I mean, the school is not so big. If I turn down someone because I am already going with someone else, wouldn't the gossip go?" I say, mostly to myself, but she is listening.

"So, your friend, an X guy that you have talked to twice and a hot guy from the swim team. Why would they walk in the same circles?" she says rhetorically, I get her point.

"So then I should wait until a guy from chess asks me? Or somebody else that is not a friend of any of those?" I ask.

"Well, since you are suddenly getting all this much attention I would not be surprised." She considers me lucky, I feel anything but. She wonders off in her own mind about prom and I keep out. We get in the bus and stay together, it is the least we can do. I plug in some earphones and tune out. But something catches my eye. There, leaning on a rental car and smoking (ugh, so last century) is Jonas. I duck in my seat, because I can see that he is scanning the buses, the cars, everything, to see if he sees either of us. I pull Delia down too.

"What?"

"Jonas, at five oclock," I say. She peeks a bit and then crouches again.

"Yeah, Jonas and Julien too."

"You think we should go home?" I ask.

"Yes, act naturally, that is what Bill has been prompting us to do" she resolves. As soon as the bus gets moving and we are outside of the school, I start to wonder.

"Why are we lying?" I say out loud. "What kind of trouble are we in" I murmur, barely above a whisper.

"It's almost dark" Delia says. Yes, and I am glad. Today has already been a long day as it is.

We get out in our stop and walk home. The sky is a raging magenta as the sun sets in the horizon. I look at it for half a second, in the other direction I can see the moon.

Delia is about to put her key in the holder when I hear something. I grab her hand and pull it back slowly.

"She's still here" I say. Delia gives me a questioning glance.

'Crystal, can't you smell her?" I ask. She sniffs and nods,

I listen in closely. I don't know who is thinking it or saying it: Make the girls come soon.


This is so not where i was going with the story, but just sort of flowed. this day ended up being too too loing, even though that i promised longer chapters, well, i cannot wait to finish this day to post it completely. hope you guys enjoy it and leave behind any comments. Anyways, please drop me a line so I can improve. Since i am in vacation, chapters will probably come much easier, though i kinda lost my muse sincenew episodes are far away... and the books i am done with too. Will have to reread in order to find new things... don't worry, i still have some ideas to write out.

two questions to those that are reading:

Should i leave the Lyn and Judy story line inside and tell about how they fare until prom? because i am considering that it is becoming too much original fiction between them, so i am strongly considering leaveing it just a to as a back story.

Other thing, more vampires or not? I've been thinking of Bubba and eric, even inventing a King of northwest U.S., not just Washington cuz i already said how unorganized that is..

Anyways, please consider this. And, again, thanks for reading.