1Willa woke to a soft tapping at her door and warm sunlight on her face.
"Willa? Are you awake?" came the soft whisper of her father's deep voice.
"Yes daddy, I'm awake," she said, sitting up.
Her door slowly opened and her father peaked his head in as if trying not to wake her if she had been lying and still asleep. She smiled at him as best she could. He then opened the door fully to reveal an already dressed man. He walked over to her bed.
"How was your night? Not too late I hope," he said in that fatherly tone.
"I was home pretty early, daddy. I wanted to get some sleep for my exam," she yawned.
Stalling for time he said "Where did he take you?"
"My favorite Italian restaurant," she smiled weakly, remembering the past night's events and wanting to crawl back into the covers.
Sitting down on the edge of her bed, he smiled at her, his big teddy bear eyes sparkling the way they did, he said "Princess, I just want you to be happy with what's best for you. I don't want you to turn out like, your mother," he said with the ache of honesty in his eyes.
"I love you, daddy," she suddenly longed to be five years old again, to crawl into her fathers loving arms.
"I love you too Princess, but you do know I have to get back to work. Have fun today, go to the beach with Anna-Michelle or something," he said as left her alone in her room. Willa got up, went to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. She returned to her room and went to the window and threw it open, crossed the room and opened the other window. The breeze was warm. Maybe today wouldn't be a total waste of time. Willa walked to her closet, pulled out a denim mini-skirt, and a white back tie halter top. She pulled them on and began digging for shoes, finally finding the white high heels she was looking for. She strapped them on, and brushed her hair. Then she walked to her bed, picked up her purse and walked down stairs to the kitchen.
"Good morning whore bag," came her mother's voice from behind paper.
"Good morning mother," Willa didn't feel the need for a petty comeback.
Just then her phone started to ring. Willa looked down at the Caller ID, not Julius, but Mickey.
"Hello,"
"Hey hun, how's it going?"
"It's going okay, you want to do something today? Like shopping or hitting the beach," Willa secretly pleaded.
"Sounds like a plan. I'll pick you up in twenty?"
"C-ya then,"
Then the line died. If Julius wasn't going to call her, she didn't care. Ten minutes later Willa was on her way to Mickey's house. Mickey lived in a not so rich neighborhood, where the doors stay locked all of the time. When Willa got there, Mickey was standing outside as usual. Willa stopped the car so Mickey could get in.
So, how was your date last night? Did you get any?" rarely did Mickey think before she spoke.
"To be honest, I'm trying to keep off of that subject at all costs today," Willa said.
Mickey, as if reading Willa's mind, turned up the radio full blast. Some old Beastie Boys song was playing as they sung along. They soon pulled into the mall parking lot and noticed a group of guys they knew from school. Willa quickly swung her car around into the spot closest to the boys. As she shut the engine off, the boys were already surrounding the car. "Hey Will!" one boy named James shouted. He was the school's star soccer player.
"Hey James, how goes it?" she smiled back.
Willa and Mickey got out of the car they giggled and started walking towards the mall. Once they got inside, it was hectic getting to a store in one piece. The mall was full of Saturday morning shoppers. After twenty minutes of pushing through crowds, they finally made it to Willa's favorite store, Hollister. Willa was looking on one side of the store with only a group of three snobby girls close by. As Willa was bending over, looking at some shoes on a shelf, the girls bumped into her hard, trying to shove her over. Willa tripped and fell backwards. It was to her surprise when she fell into strong, cool, arms that steadied her. She quickly turned around to me the emerald gaze of the waiter from the Italian restaurant.
"Hey, I remember you!" Willa said in that too fast way she often spoke when she was nervous. "You were our waiter," she stopped.
"Yes, my name is Riley. Those girls were pretty rude just then. Are you okay, or do I need to call an ambulance? Because I will," he said in his amazing voice.
"Um..." she said, searching his emerald eyes for her lost words, "Oh, my name is Willa, and I guess I'm okay, you just surprised me. I didn't see anyone else over here...Thank You," she said finally.
"Oh, I was just, I'm kinda hard to notice sometimes," he stammered, "Can I buy you some coffee or something?" he asked hopefully.
"You do remember the man I was with, don't you?" she hinted.
"I do, I remember him well. It's just coffee, not a marriage proposal," he smirked.
She stood looking into his emerald eyes, obviously a mistake, trying to remember his question. When he finally looked away, she smiled and looked down.
"Yes, maybe coffee would be alright, for the man who saved my desperate excuse for a life," she smiled.
"Good, I'm happy you decided that way. I mean, I did save your life and all," he said with honesty filling his words.
"Oh, but my friend Mickey-"
"She can come too," he cut her off.
She smiled her sweet smile, "I'll get her," she said. Willa turned away and let her smile spread over her smooth features. She walked over to where Mickey stood.
"What? Did Julius call or something? I knew he would, he loves you too much to stay mad at you like this, especially over something stupid like some guys eyes," Mickey said, not looking away from the jeans she had picked out.
"Um...Mick, his eyes are emerald and um,"
"What she is trying to say is: Would you like to join us for a cup of coffee, Mickey," came a smooth voice from behind Willa. At that, Mickey looked up, very surprised.
"Um, I- I don't think so, you two go ahead. I have a lot of trying on clothes, that I can't afford, to do,"
Willa was shocked. She must know. She must see his deep emerald eyes, she has to know this is the guy. She was also very grateful, and Mickey must have seen it in her eyes, because as soon as the boys back was turned, she smiled a deviant smile and gave Willa a two thumbs up.
They walked for a few minutes until they came to Mocha Joe's, in the South Wing of the mall.
"Hello, Welcome to Mocha Joe's. What can I steam up for you today?" the lady behind the counter said specifically to Riley.
"Willa, what would you like?" Riley said, never taking his eyes off of her.
"Um... a bottle of water please," she said to the lady.
"And for you?" she said, again to Riley, never even acknowledging that she had heard Willa.
"A small decaf, that's it." he said in a nonchalant tone. Willa was busy watching the people walking through the mall, hoping that Riley didn't realize she was distracting herself from his gaze.
"Three dollars and ninety-four cents please," she returned with their drinks. He handed her a five dollar bill and told her she could keep the change. The two walked over to a two-person table and sat down.
"Willa, are you in love with Julius?" he said suddenly in a very important tone.
"Wh-What? Why are you asking me this?" she asked surprised, and suddenly very paranoid.
"Willa, look at me, Julius-"
"How do you know his name? I never told you his name. Not once did I ever say his name!" she interrupted, her voice suddenly growing louder. She didn't know what it was, but something about Riley speaking Julius' name, wasn't right, she could feel it.
"Willa, I need you to look at me, and listen very carefully to what I have to say. Just do that for me," he paused for a moment, to gather his thoughts. "Willa, he and I are vampires. He is losing his control over the thirst. He wants your blood!" He hissed.
Willa stopped, regret choking her so badly she thought she might be sick. She began to feel dizzy. "We are done. Take your water back, I don't owe you anything. I never want to see you again." She was rambling, and she knew that but, she had to get away. "Good-bye Riley," she said and walked away. She called Mickey and told her to be at the car as soon as she could because they were leaving. When she got to her car, she looked Mickey in the face and told her to get in the car as she climbed in.
"Willa, What happened?" Mickey said in that overprotective tone she got when something was wrong with Willa. Willa's tired spun as she sped out of the parking lot.
"WILLA! SLOW DOWN!" she was yelling now. Willa threw a fierce look at Mickey then back to the road. The speedometer slowly began to decrease, 115... 105... 95... 80... 70. Then Willa hit the brakes so quickly that it flung Mickey forward, as the car slid onto the shoulder of the highway. Willa began to cry. Mickey was in shock but, she hugged her best friend any way. Then, Willa sat up, wiped her tears, and threw the car into drive quickly making her way into the lane. Mickey, still holding her arms out, laid them down and mumbled something under her breathe that sounded a lot like "bipolar". The next thing she knew, they were in front of Mickey's house.
"Good-bye Mickey. I will see you at school," Willa said without looking away from the windshield.
"Willa...call me if you need to talk," with that, she got out of the car. Willa pulled up at her own house, got out of her car, and began to look around the yard again. The gardener was gone now.
