Cold wind hit my face and blew through my hair as my hands gripped the metal chains tightly. I kicked my legs out as I went high up in the sky. I tucked my legs back in as I came back down to the ground at the same time, I felt a funny tickling feeling in my tummy. I like that feeling a lot. Repeating the action with my legs I went back up in the air and back down just as fast. Each time I went up, soaring through the sky, it felt like I was flying, and I sort of was. I was flying high because I was swinging.
It was afternoon recess, which happens an hour before we go home. As weird as school seemed to be on my first day, I found out that recess could be nice. It was fun. It was fifteen whole minutes of free outside play with no teachers to get my name mixed-up. That was the best part of all of recess, not being called the wrong name by adults.
I pumped my legs, making my swing go faster. Zoey was on the swing next to me and did the same.
Both of us were going up, up, up into the sky. I put my head back, letting the few rays of sun that were peeking through the clouds touch my face. The sun felt like a warm blanket and that was very nice. Without opening my eyes, I knew I was sparkling like a million shiny diamonds. I love to sparkle.
"Oooo. Your skin looks so beautiful in the sun." Zoey admired as we continued to swing in unison.
"Thank you." I smiled, not opening my eyes.
For a couple of minutes, I was swinging with my head back and my eyes closed. Just enjoying my time on the noisy playground. I was having fun on the swing set with my new best friend.
"Laa, laa, laa, laa," Zoey sang happily, stretching out each sound she made.
She had a beautiful singing voice. I liked it and her melody too.
"That's very pretty, Zoey." I said as I opened my eyes.
"Thanks." She smiled at me and went back to her melody.
Her little tune was sweet and kind, very lively and playful all at the same time. It was lovely and if it were a color, it would definitely be pink. Because that's the best happy color there is. As she sang her melody while we swung on the swings a little song popped into my head. It danced in my mind, and I couldn't get it out even if I tried. But I wasn't about to try. I liked it too much.
Earlier, before we decided to swing, Zoey showed me how she makes up cheers. It was fun as she made up a cheer about friendship for us. I copied her moves and we had a lot of fun. Now I wanted to show her how I make up songs just as easily as she comes up with cheers.
"That's nice but I think it needs words." I said and quickly started to sing. "Cherry pop bubble gum, cherry pop bubble gum, I am in the sky with my best friend. I am here and so is she, we're flying like angels in the sunny sky. Cherry pop bubble gum."
"Oh! I like that, Nessie." She said in amazement.
Grinning, I mouthed her the next words so she could sing with me. When I was done, she nodded her head.
"Cherry pop bubble gum, we're eagles in the sky." We sang in unison as we swung higher. "Cherry pop bubble gum, we're beautiful miscreations that dazzle and shine. Cherry pop bubble gum, you're my best friend "
We sang until our made-up song was done. Then on the count of three we both jumped off the swings. On the playground that's covered with brown wood chips I landed gracefully on my feet, but Zoey didn't. She ended up flopping to the ground like...well, like a zombie. All floppy and out of shape. I went over to her, holding out my hand to pull her up.
"Lesson number one, zombies don't land on their feet like vampires do." She said shyly, grabbing my hand. She stood up, letting go of my hand and began dusting herself off.
"That's okay. Sometimes I fall too." I admitted. I have been known to be a little on the clumsy side. It's very embarrassing and everyone says I get the clumsiness from my mommy.
The look on her face was so disbelieving it was funny. I wasn't sure why.
"Seriously, I do." I said, and added, "I once fell down while bending over to tie my shoes. I tumbled over and ate grass, and I still don't know how that happened." I really don't. Things like that just happen to me sometimes and there's no explaining why.
"Sounds like a silly story." Zoey said slowly.
"It's a true story, Zoey." I insisted. "If you don't believe me, you can ask my Aunt Alice, she was with me when it happened."
Zoey's eyes went big and wide. She then ended up giggling like crazy as we walked over to the grass and sat criss cross applesauce. Her giggling made me giggle too.
"But I thought vampires are like cats." She looked at me. "I mean, vampires are graceful and always land on their feet, right?"
Doing my question face with one eyebrow up, I eyeballed her. I wanted to give her an answer but what she said made me have questions that needed answers.
"I've never heard that one before." I started slowly. "But if vampires are graceful like cats, like you say, then what does that make zombies?"
"We're like dogs in that way." She teetered.
"Really?" I wondered, rubbing my hand over the prickly grass.
"Yeah, sort of." She replied. "Zombies are not elegant at all." She shook her head. "When we jump, we tumble and fall just like dogs do. At least that's what Puppy does when she jumps off something high and so do I."
Puppy is Zoey's dog that her big brother's girlfriend Addison - who is a human high school cheerleader - gave her as a surprise a long time ago. She told me all about her dog and how she always has beautiful bows in her white fluffy fur. That's too make her look beautiful and cute.
I loved hearing about Puppies because I love animals. That's why it was so fascinating to hear about her cute little dog.
"What high object does Puppy jump from?" I wanted to know.
"The refrigerator." She answered automatically.
I stared at her expressionless.
How in the world could a dog get up on the refrigerator? That didn't make sense to me. After all, I knew from reading her mind with my touch gift that Puppy wasn't very big. She's too big to fit in a purse but small enough to sit in your lap, and she's very, very cute. I really want to meet her so I can give her a giant hug.
As if Zoey knew what I was thinking, she leaned over and grabbed my hand.
"Dad put the doggy beacon treats up on top of the fridge one day. That was because she was eating too many of them and wanted more. But dad said she couldn't have more and put them up where he thought she couldn't get them."
"How did she get up on top of the refrigerator?" I wanted to know.
"Well, Puppy couldn't resist. She got up there when we weren't looking, ate the rest of her treats, then sat there barking for us to get her down." She explained.
"Holy guacamole!" I shouted. "Seriously?"
She nodded her head.
"But how?" I blurted out.
She shrugged. "I don't Know. That part is a mystery. At least she wasn't hurt."
"That's good." I said and she agreed.
"But she did flop to the floor like a sack of potatoes." She clarified. "At least Zed left his backpack on the floor and that's what she plopped on."
"That was good." I nodded.
Zed is her big brother who is on the high school football team, and sometimes he's messy and leaves his backpack around the house, even though her dad tries to keep their house tidy. I knew all that from reading her mind.
I knew a lot about her family, her dad, brother and puppy from reading her mind. But when I asked why she never thought about her mom she got quiet for a long moment. She then told me that her mom died when she was born and didn't know her. So, her dad and brother are all she has. I thought that was sad and gave her a hug. I couldn't imagine not having my mom in my life.
But back to her messy big brother. It sure sounded like Zed's messiness saved the day with Puppy. That's a good thing.
"So," I said, trying to get my mind back on track with what we were originally talking about. "Cats and dogs? Zombies and vampires? You think they are similar?"
"Yup." She grinned.
"Please explain." I needed more to figure out why she thought this way.
"Well, I've seen cats jump from rooftop to rooftop in Zombie town," Zoey said, going on with comparing us to cute fuzzy animals. "They never fall, just like vampires. That's why I say vampires are like cats and clumsy zombies are like dogs. We always fall down if we jump, same as dogs."
"Obviously you haven't seen me play jump rope." I said with a laugh.
Now it was time for her to make a question face and I felt my face get spotting and red. When I'm embarrassed, I don't fully blush like a human, but my face does get red spots like polka dots.
"We just met today. How could I see you play jump rope?" She was confused.
"Well," I said, drawing out the word. "I can be quite clumsy. Trust me. I fall down all the time and break stuff. So, you're not the only klutzy miscreation."
"Mmm." She raised her eyebrows.
I could tell she wasn't sure if she believed that. After all, how many clumsy vampires or vampire hybrids are there in the world? Not many, that's for sure. I think I'm the only one. As my dad always says, I got that part of me from my mom who was very clumsy as a human. That's one of the things he really liked about her, so I don't really see my falling down all the time as a bad thing. Unless I get hurt then it's very bad.
"Alight. Enough about being clumsy." Zoey said. "I like that song you made up when we were on the swings. "
I smiled my crooked smile.
"How did you come up with it?" She asked.
"I like to make up songs just like my dad does." I happily explained. "Sometimes when he and my mom come home from school he goes right to his piano and composes a song that he has been thinking about. I think of songs a lot too, but I like to write mine down."
"School?" She wondered, looking very confused. "I thought your mom worked at the music store that always plays the song Calling All the Monsters, and your dad works at the movie theater that always shows Halloween Town?"
Aha! Now I understand the reason for her confusion. She couldn't understand why my parents were in school since they were parents. After all, her dad isn't in school, he works. But it's different for my mom and dad because they are teenage vampires and there's rules here in Seabrook that are reinforced by the mayor.
Which is, that all vampires under the age of eighteen have to be in school. Since both of my parents are seventeen, like I told Zoey earlier, they have to go to high school for the rest of forever.
My aunts and uncles don't because they are older than my mommy and daddy, so they just have to go to college or work. However, my parents have to work too because they have me to take care of. The working part is one of the rules that the mayor of Seabrook has about vampires, that vampires that have children have to go to work to make money.
"Yeah, they are high school students during the day," I said, nodding my head. "And by night they work at their part time jobs and take care of me."
"Interesting." She blinked. "It's almost like living a double life."
"Hmmm." I tapped my chin. I had never thought of it like that before.
"Yup." I agreed.
A group of kids ran across the field, yelling and kicking a ball at that point. Both Zoey and I didn't pay attention to them. We had more important things to talk about.
"Halloween is next week," Zoey said, speaking about a very important matter.
"I know. The whole school is decorated for it." I spoke.
"I'm going as a rainbow witch with a broomstick and everything." She said happily. "What are you going to dress up as?"
"I'm going as a candy corn witch. I have a broom that goes with my costume too." I answered her in a very joyful tone.
"What are the odds that we are both dressing up as witches?" She wondered with a giggle.
"I don't know." I admitted. "But would you want to go Trick-or-Treating with me?" I asked, hoping she would say yes. She didn't say anything, so I added more, "My parents are busy on Halloween so I always -"
"Why are your parents busy on Halloween?'' She interrupted me.
"Because Halloween is their anniversary. Next Sunday they'll be married for eight years." I explained in a dreamy voice. True love makes me get all dreamy.
"Oh." Is all she said.
My parents got married when I was two. It took them so long to get married because they had to wait until we were safe from the three evil vampires, who first wanted my mom and then me. My Uncles took care of those sneaky vampires in the summer of that year and then months later on Halloween night, mommy and daddy were married in Las Vegas. Because that's what people do when they are in love, they get married.
It was a really fun wedding. I know because I was there. I was the flower girl dressed like a princess in a pink dress. I tossed the flowers on the floor in the chapel before my mom walked to my dad. I remembered I fell down a lot and everyone had fun.
But sometimes I don't think my parents thought through with what they were doing. Well, at least not with the date that they got married because Halloween is for kids, not for them to have a fun night by themselves. Yet, they do. I don't complain since they spend the day with me, carving pumpkins and watching Halloween movies that I like. Then when night time comes they go out by themselves, and I go Trick-Or-Treating with my Aunt Rosalie and Uncle Emmett.
Thinking about my aunt and uncle taking me Trick-Or-Treating made me remember where I had been going with this question. There was something I needed to ask her.
"Like I was saying, before you interrupted me," I made a fake mad face at Zoey, and she smiled shyly. "I go Trick-or-Treating with my Uncle Emmett and Aunt Rosalie and my Sour Patch Kid, Ryland too. He's going as Superman."
"Awe. How cute." She cooed. I had told her all about my cousin and she had said he sounded adorable.
"So?" I prompted. "Would you want to go Trick-Or-Treating with me?"
"Sure! And since Halloween is on a Sunday our school is having the Halloween dance next Friday. I'm going, are you?" She wondered.
I love dancing so much that I didn't have to think about the answer to that question for more than two seconds.
"Yes!" I said a little too loudly.
My loudness made Zoey laugh and I did too. Our girl talk came to an end a minute later when the bell rang. It was time to go back inside.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
We have one more chapter to go.
Thanks for reading.
Please review. :))
