Disclaimer: I do not own The Lost Boys. Sheryl and Wanda belong to me.
A/N: Thank you all for your reviews and patience!
---Chapter Five: Just a Kid
"How could you?"
Sometimes David wished he could just come out and explain everything, but he had promised not to mention Max to any of his pack members unless they had already become a vampire. He'd hate to see what would happen if Star got the bright idea to kill Max in an attempt to reclaim her humanity. Hecared about the girl, andhe certainly didn't want her dead.
"She's fifteen at the most. Even Marko was older than that!" she continued, rousing David from his thoughts.
"Hey, leave me out of this!" the cherub-faced vampire snapped.
Star's eyes were suddenly upon him, and Marko was tempted to smack himself. The last thing he wanted was to have her scream at him about something he had no control over.
"None of you are going to do anything?" She sounded disgusted and shocked. "Wanda has her whole life ahead of her, and you're going to take that away?" Her eyes narrowed. "And what about her mother? She has a family, David! You can't separate them because you want to have Wanda in our pack. It isn't right and you know it."
"Damn it, Star, what do you want me to do? She drank my blood already. She has no choice now, and nothing will change that!" David firmly grasped her upper arms and glared down at her terrified face. "If you really want her to grow up and have a life, then why the hell didn't you stop her? Why'd you just stand there and do nothing?"
Dwayne, Paul, and Marko quietly slipped out of the cave. They didn't say a word until they were father up the beach and away from the arguing lovers.
"They'll be there all night," said Paul, shaking his head. "I mean they're bound to kiss and make up…"
"Shit, they're gonna do more than just kiss." Marko rolled his eyes. "Anyway, so what are we doing tonight?"
"Do you remember that concert we went to last week?"
"Don't tell me they're playing again. They were worse than the one that went on last night!"
"Babe, you're insane!" Paul laughed. "We liked them, and we're going to that concert."
Marko stared at them in bewilderment. "Then what am I supposed to do?"
"I don't know," Dwayne muttered, shrugging. "Find Wanda?"
"I'm not baby-sitting."
"She's only a couple years younger than you. You make it sound like she's a little kid."
"She is a kid!"
They fell silent, suddenly stung by the impact of Star's words.
"I'll…I'll see you guys later." Marko vanished out of sight.
---
"Are you going to eat that or stare at it some more?"
"Why? Do you want it?"
"No. You do realize that probably isn't even meat, don't you?"
Marko and Wanda stared down at the cheeseburger in disgust. They had met up at a food stand near the amusement park; he had basically been loitering and she had been buying something to eat. After seeing so much grease ooze out of the burger she had ordered from the diner, she decided to try her luck elsewhere…which hadn't worked. Now the two of them were lounging on the far end beach, leaning comfortably against log in front of a roaring bonfire Marko had made.
"Well, that was a waste of money." Wanda's eyes narrowed as she took a closer look at it. "Ew. Is that mold?"
"Give me that." Marko grabbed it out of her hands and chucked into the fire.
"So tell me…how'd you wind up by yourself?"
"Dwayne and Paul went to the concert, and I don't even want to know what David and Star are up to."
"Then I'm just a last resort to give you someone to hang out with?" asked Wanda, cocking an eyebrow.
"No." Well, kinda.
Wanda smiled sadly and looked away; she could probably tell he was lying. "Thanks though, even if you'd rather be somewhere else."
"Why are you thanking me?"
"I've never really had a friend before. Well, there's my mom, but I don't think that counts." She cringed. "Not your problem. Shit, I'm sorry."
"Hey, it's cool. I've got nothing better to do. Rant away." He offered a friendly smile, one that she slowly returned. "You said you've never had friends. Start with that."
She blushed a little. "I didn't get along with anyone at my school. They were popular, and I was -God, I can't think of a word for it- the apartment version of trailer trash, I guess. There were some pretty degrading rumors about my mom all over town, and they passed down to me. I can't even count all the times one of my classmates called me a slut."
"Wait, wait…why'd people think you're mom was a slut?"
"Single parent," she answered simply.
"What happened to your dad?"
"Oh, I don't know." She frowned and looked away. "That depends on how long they put you away for raping a hooker."
"Sorry…I shouldn't have asked." He was beginning to consider leaving; he didn't want to be around if she suddenly got all weepy on him.
"You didn't know. We only had the money to move here because my rich grandma kicked the bucket, and Mom got a big chuck of inheritance out of it. That's my story." She stood up and started to walk away.
"Where are you going?" Marko called after her.
"Home."
"You're gonna walk?"
"Yeah."
"Forget it!" He jumped up and jogged to catch up with her. "I can give you a ride."
An odd look crossed Wanda's face, like a mixture of anger and regret. "If this because you feel sorry for me, or if you're just trying to be nice to a little kid…" She paused when she saw him flinch at the 'little kid' part. "…Save it."
Without another word, she ran across the beach and disappeared from sight.
---
A/N: I'm so sorry about the wait. School's taking a big chunk out of my time; other than that, I'm just flat-out lazy. I was thinking about having Wanda go through her first phase of blood lust in the next chapter, but I'm afraid that's rushing things. If you have any ideas, please let me know. And, incase I didn't make this clear…no, the boys do not like Wanda this point. I still have no idea whether that's going to change or not. Like I said, tell me your ideas if you have any. Thanks.