Okay...continuing. And from now on, yeah, I don't need to mention who Alejandro's human connection is. It's becoming obvious. Thanks for reviewing, Ali6132 (you mentioned that in another review), pirateships45 (well, the more time they spend together, the more power he wields over her) and DarkQueenOfWonderland.
Thursday passed just as Wednesday had. On Friday, Heather remembered it was her weekly feeding day, and she whispered it to Dakota. "Any idea who I should head for tonight?"
Dakota looked around, and then smirked. "You know who I think you should take?" she said. "You should go for Gwen's boyfriend. Besides, didn't he say you were the hottest girl in school in freshman year?" She looked around again. "Not that he's even in school today. Then again, when is he in school?"
Heather's eyes settled on the goth girl whose boyfriend they were talking about. "Good idea, Kota."
She was pretty stealthy that night, enough to get in, feed, and get out okay, but he woke up halfway through the feeding and only didn't question her because he was unconscious by the time she was done. However, the next morning, Alejandro received a call fairly early, about half an hour before he usually started on getting his seven to eight hours of sleep.
"Hola?"
"Look, if you're going to turn someone, make sure they keep the f*ck away from me!" an angry voice said.
Alejandro raised an eyebrow and said "I'm not sure I follow."
"Well, I don't think it's a coincidence that I thought I saw Heather in my room last night, and then I wake up and I happen to be pale!"
Alejandro gave a sigh. "Look, I haven't mentioned you properly to her. But I'll tell her." He cut the call off.
Since it was a Saturday, Heather was still asleep. Their sleeping patterns usually conflicted at this stage, where Heather's human sleeping patterns had her waking up about an hour before he went to bed on weekdays, and half an hour after on weekends – which were her planned patterns in immortal life.
Alejandro gently touched her shoulder. "Heather, I have to explain something."
Heather opened her eyes and gave a sigh. "It's too early." she whined in a cute voice.
"Sorry, but I just received a phone call from a connection of mine." Alejandro told her. "He says you...visited him last night, and he insisted that I let you know that he isn't too happy about it."
Heather rolled her eyes. "Tell him to get over it. It's not like I'm ever going to take any of his blood again. Besides, it tasted like tar and green chilli curry – not a good combination. I'm not even tempted to go back." Suddenly, she narrowed her eyes. "Wait a minute...your connection is..." she suddenly laughed. "Oh yes, you told me last month that some friend you had used to date Courtney. How did I not pick up on that?"
Alejandro raised an eyebrow. "So why did you choose him?"
Heather shrugged. "Dakota suggested it. She reminded me that he said I was the hottest girl in school a few years back."
"Well, I know I wouldn't dispute that..." Alejandro said, his voice suddenly switching from casual to seductive.
Heather raised an eyebrow herself. "Cut the act. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's the way you constantly flirt with me. Hello, I'm living here! Haven't you already won?"
Deep down, Alejandro couldn't help a sense of pride at what he had accomplished. He'd found a strong-minded, stubborn girl, who, instead of melting in seconds, refused to budge until he used compulsion in order to even get within touching distance of her. Now, the girl was living in his house, no longer human, deeply in love with him.
But it wasn't enough. She loved him, he knew it, but she refused to admit it. He wanted her to be a slave to the love she felt, not the other way around. He wanted her to want him so much, that he could do what he liked with her and she would love it. He wasn't going to stop until that happened.
Of course, he didn't say that to Heather. He just wrapped his arms around her and murmured "It's not about whether I win or lose, mi angel. It's about being with you."
Heather instinctively leaned back into his embrace and enjoyed the feeling, making a mental note of something she'd talk to Dakota about on Monday.
When Monday came, though, she didn't have time. Lindsay sat with them in the lunchroom, and although they could whisper and she wouldn't notice, Courtney also invited herself, and she would notice.
"Courtney, get lost." Heather said, not looking up from the table.
Courtney surveyed her curiously, then said firmly "Not until you tell me why you don't have a food tray."
"Because I'm done with these disgusting school lunches!" Heather said. "Now you can go."
Courtney rolled her eyes. "That's a really pathetic cover-up. We all hate these lunches. Never stopped anyone eating them before. It's a simple question – why aren't you eating? You're not getting anorexic, are you?"
Heather looked up at her, and snapped "Why would I be anorexic? Are you implying that I may think I should lose weight? Only pressured girls that are overweight to start with start getting anorexic. I'm not pressured or overweight."
Courtney's eyes suddenly widened, and she said "Wait a minute...you do have something. Are you living on mints or something?"
Heather's eyes lit up for a moment. She knew Courtney had seen her fangs, but she'd mistaken them for mints. "No, I am not!' she snapped, trying to sound annoyed. "I just forgot to bring my own lunch today."
Courtney narrowed her eyes. "I know there's something different about you, and I am going to find out what."
"Leave her alone, Courtney." Dakota spoke up. "If she doesn't want to have lunch, I understand. This crud is not going to help me look good for the paparazzi. I'm only eating it because I'll feel faint if I wait until after school."
"Which doesn't happen to me." Heather said. She gave Courtney her signature death glare. Unluckily, the brunette made a point of ignoring it and only smiled annoyingly.
Things got worse. Just before the bell rang, Courtney's smirk grew.
"What?" snapped Heather.
"Oh, nothing." Courtney said lazily. "Just that I realized what I thought are mints are rather pointy – and attached to your gum. Are your canines on steroids or something?" She giggled. "Maybe it explains why you've been missing so much school. The vampire hype is going to get you accused."
Heather raised an eyebrow. "You don't suspect the same thing?"
"No way!" Courtney said. "Vampires don't come out during the day. You should know, shouldn't you – you were the one everyone was saying met one."
Heather let her next words spill out of her. "Well, yes, I did meet a vampire, and he told me that your ex-boyfriend told him to drink from you and that your blood tasted like sour cherry ice-cream. Remember when you had those puncture marks?"
Courtney paled, her freckles showing up. "You – he said – and D – betrayed – you're lying!" she shrieked at Heather.
"Calm down, Courtney, you're making a scene." Heather said calmly. "And it's true."
At that moment, her head echoed with Alejandro's voice again. Heather? I know how tempting it is to antagonize Courtney, but be careful. If you say any more, she'll guess about you for sure.
Heather gave a sigh. All right, I'll leave her alone.
To Courtney, she said, "Luckily, I have better things to do than talk to you about the time you were a snack to a vampire that you don't remember, while I actually got to keep a memory of one and got to talk to him about his latest conquest. And if you say a word about my tooth sizes, I swear, you'll be off the student council before you can say 'social suicide'."
"You made that whole thing up!" Courtney screeched after her. But as the dark-haired girl left, Courtney gave a little sigh, furious that she hadn't been able to keep her temper in check. It was getting harder to control herself every day.
Heather had to wait until Tuesday to ask Dakota her question. But that afternoon, they were at their own table, alone, and Heather asked it. "Kota...have you ever had a crush that you wouldn't admit to, because admitting to it would be like admitting defeat?"
We'll pick up on that in the next chapter. Please review!