Chapter Two
Desiree
"So what are you getting for lunch? Everything looks so yummy it's hard to choose." I made a disgusted face, because some of the food looked days old. But there were some things that looked good.
"Umm, the pizza looks like one of the only good things, what about you?" He grabbed the two biggest pieces there. I guess he must be hungry.
"Pizza to, there's not a lot I like here." I grabbed my piece and we went to the same table as yesterday. "So how was gym?" I took a huge bite of my pizza, I was starving! Oh no! That reminded me I hadn't feed for at least four days, which was dangerous for everyone around me. Okay as long a no one started to bleed I'd be okay and so would they.
"It was good; we're doing volleyball right now which is fun. That basketball and football are my best sports. How was English?" He had already finished one piece of pizza; I wasn't the only one that was hungry!
"It was good. So do you always eat this much or are you just really hungry today?" I started to giggle because he had a puzzled look on his face. Then he looked down and realized how much he'd eaten and started to laugh to.
"I didn't eat supper last night, that's why. Sorry I'm probably acting like a pig." He looked a little embarrassed.
"It's fine I didn't eat either. But my brother, cousin and friend are way worse than you!" I started to laugh. We were all family, but Nate and Brooke weren't part of the family at all. Chase and Casey were distant cousins. Nate and Taylor had been a couple since they had first met; they had run into each other one night at a party. They made a cute couple but sometimes they were gross about it.
"At least that makes me feel better." I started to think about Dwayne and Ace's sister Ashley. I hoped they were happy together. I hadn't even seen her, but I could tell she was right for Dwayne.
"So does your sister Ashley really like my brother Dwayne?" I was curious because I wanted them to be happy together like how I felt happy around Ace.
"Yes she does she won't shut up about him. Then again I don't think I shut up about you last night either." Now that made me blush big time. He was so sweet, I felt like I had known him longer than just two days. It felt like we had been together for years instead of trying to be friends. Which I don't think would last too long. "Ace do you want to come over to my house after school? Like ride in my car with me?" I wanted to get to know him better, so then later on we would get along if we possibly went out.
"Yah, let's go find my sister and your brother so I can tell her not to wait for me and to tell our mom." We were done our lunch so we dumped our trays and ran off to find Ashley and Dwayne.
"Kay I'll tell mom. She'll be happy you finally met a girl and a pretty one at that!" Ashley burst into a fit of giggles. She was about my height with almost black hair, brown eyes and she was really pretty.
"Thanks for calling me pretty but your brother could get any girl he wanted. Anyways, just a hint for my moron brother, you should invite Ashley over or she should ask you over. Just a hint but you both like each other, it's obvious." The look on Dwayne's face was priceless! This had to be the best moment of my life; I got to ridicule him and got to let the girl he likes know he likes her. It was the best of both worlds.
"Desiree's right, Dwayne you should come over. Can you tell your parents Desiree? Because our mom wouldn't mind him coming over, in fact she'd be happy." Ashley had grabbed Dwayne's hand and he went bright red. Ace and I were trying as hard as we could to hold back all of that laughter.
"Yes I can, and if you'll excuse us Ace and I have class in a few minutes." Now it was my turn to grab Ace's hand. And it was Ashley and Dwayne's turn to try not to laugh at Ace's look. He looked happy yet surprised.
"Well bye, take good care of my brother!" Ashley said as we walked away.
When we got to computers the teacher said if we were all done our work we didn't have anything to do. And what do you know, we were all done. So we hardly even looked at the computers because we were talking about what were going to do after school.
"Well I practically live in the woods so we can go for a walk? Or go for a drive, or go to my room and listen to music."
"How about we go for a walk then listen to some music. What bands do you listen to?"Everyone else was still doing their worksheets, we were the only ones done so we were the only ones really talking. Most of the people were looking at us, we decided to whisper so everyone wasn't listening in.
"Paramore, Evanescence, Flyleaf, Mayday Parade, and a ton of other stuff, is that okay?"
"Of course, I listen to those bands to." The bell rang and we left together to Math. I hadn't realized that we had been talking all hour. The rest of the day went by very fast. The next thing I knew we were getting into the car.
"So is your house big?" We were buckling up and I was starting the car.
"A fair size, what about your house? Oh and my room might be a mess just to warn you." I was turning onto the road that led to my house.
"It's okay, not super big, but good enough for my family. And that's okay my rooms a mess to."
"Oh and to warn you my family will make fun of you big time! But don't take any of it seriously." It was true but Chase would be the worst. He was a good big cousin, but he loved to tease us at any chance he got. But they would all be careful not to do anything that would give us away. Hopefully, but the things Chase said at times were hurtful.
"That's okay I don't mind. My sisters and brother are just as bad and their all younger than me, Ashley's the closets to me, she's almost a year younger." Now I was curious to find out about his family.
"How many brothers and sisters do you have? And how is she the same age as you if you're related?" There were two ways, they could be twins or his parents had her right after him.
"My parents got pregnant with her right after me so they just put us in the same grade, even though she's almost a year younger than me. Let's see, there's Carter and Massie who are thirteen their twins, and Ashley who's seventeen. So I have three siblings. What about you?"
"Well Dwayne and Taylor are my brother and sister and Taylors sixteen, and Dwayne and I are eighteen. Chase and Casey are our cousins and we live with them and our aunt and uncle, their mom and dad. Nate and Brooke are just friends of Chase and Casey. Nate is sixteen and he and Taylor are dating. Chase is turning nineteen, Brookes turning nineteen too, and their dating. Casey just turned nineteen. We only live with them because our parents died a long time ago. With Nate and Brooke, they were put up for adoption and they were friends with Chase so my uncle decided to adopt them. So there you go I only have two other siblings the others are cousins and friends." I was exhausted just saying all of that; it was just too much to say!
"Okay well that explains why you don't all look alike. Because you Dwayne and Taylor all have dark hair and green eyes, the rest of them all have lighter hair and blue or brown eyes. So do you like living with your aunt and uncle?" We were almost to the house now, I could see my aunts car in the drive way.
"Their nice, but I miss my parents; they were the best anyone could have had. They were caring and nice, and they spent every free moment they had with us. Then one night they took us out for a drive, there was a drunk driver and he hit us. Dwayne, Taylor and I all got out with a few major bruises, cuts and a few fractures. Our mom and dad died on the scene. Taylor was ten at the time and took it the worst I think. We moved in with our aunt and uncle when we got out of the hospital and have ever since." It was still hard to talk about, Taylor and I had both gone into some sort of depression after the accident. It had taken a while to get us back to normal. But I wasn't going to tell him about how I had come so close to dying so soon after. But that was the story about how I had turned into a vampire.
"I'm so sorry. I don't know what I'd do if my parents died. You must be really strong if you can handle that and moving around." It was really nice of him to say that, no one else had. It was always 'Oh, well that's not cool. So you want to go out some time?' people just don't always understand.
"Thank you. By the way we're here, what do you think?" My house was a fair size, it was white with wood, and it had a couple of big windows. We had a big back yard, and just over the fence were the woods. The woods were the most peaceful place in the entire world, I loved them. Sometimes at night, when I was upset or just feeling alone I would go out there and read or look at the stars, nobody knew this and they never would.
"It's beautiful, I love it. So is your room very big?" My room was huge; all of us had big rooms. I thought mine was the best, the colors were all my favorites; purple, blue and black.
"Yes it is. So we'll listen to music for a while and then go for a walk, is that the plan?" I couldn't help myself from looking at his lips. I had to stop myself from thinking like that. But he was just so perfect it was unreal!
"Yah, if that's okay with you? Which I'm sure it is. So we're going to wait to try something else besides friendship?" He suddenly grabbed my waist and pulled me close. I gasped from the shock of being so close to him. He even smelt great! Our faces were only inches apart, I felt the urge to lean in and kiss him, but I couldn't, we were going to be friends first, we had to, at least I thought.
"Well, I want to be more, but we've only known each other for…" he suddenly kissed me on the lips. It felt really nice, in that moment I changed my mind completely. I didn't want to be just friends; I wanted to be more now. It was like we were meant to be together.
He broke away very suddenly, and had a questioning look on his face. "Okay would you be mad if I said I want to be more than friend's?" I kissed him again, pulled back and laughed at the happy look on his face.
"Nope, I am totally fine about that. Because I've wanted it since I first laid my eyes on you. Although it seems a little weird since we've known each other for what two days?"
"Okay, so we're going out now? Oh and let's go to my room, everyone will be home soon." I opened the front door and pulled him up the stairs.
"Yes I guess that means we're going out now. Man, all the guys at school are going to hate me when they find out." He started to laugh and then he kissed me again.
"Well, all the girls are going to act the same. But I really don't care, well this is my room."
"I like it, interesting colors. It's really cool though. So where's your stereo?" Ace started to look around my room, searching for the stereo and my stacks and stacks of CD's.
"Umm, it's over on my desk, right in front of you. Are you blind or what?" I walked over and put in a Paramore CD. It ended up that the first song was a slow one and Ace came over, grabbed my hand, then we started to dance.
"Your pretty good at this Desiree, have you ever taken lessons?"
"Yeah, I did, my parents made me. But it was a lot of fun, Dwayne and I took them together." It had been fun, Dwayne had been horrible when we first started and stepped on almost every girl's foot but mine when he danced with them.
"Was Dwayne any good?" he started to laugh. I'm sure he was visualizing him right now.
"No, but he's really good now. Because of me that is, so now he's an expert." I couldn't help but laugh, it was just so funny to think about the little Dwayne dancing so many years ago. Life had been at its best then, then years later the accident happened. I had to come back to the present.
"I bet that you taught him all he knows." I sighed and leaned in close, I touched my lips to his and then I heard my door open. Chase, great just great, I didn't care I finished our kiss and then pulled away glaring at Chase.
"Well, well Des look who's making out in her room in an empty house. That's bad behavior Desiree Peters. I can't believe this, total black mail!" he broke out in laughter. I went up and punched him in the face. Blood trickled down his mouth and he laughed even harder.
"Get out; you know you aren't allowed in my room without my permission. Why did you even come up here?" I was glaring up at him, and then Ace came over and grabbed my hand, calming me down. I hadn't realized, but Ace had turned off the music when I had punched Chase in the face.
"I heard music and talking and I knew no one was home, so I came up and saw you two just as you locked lips. Wait till everyone hears this; tough old Des making out and getting all soft with some guy." He made a fake disgusted look, and then turned to go down stairs. I grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back. I spun him around and looked in his face; I made the most menacing look I could (which was pretty good).
"Go ahead, but just know that if you say something that isn't true or tell anyone about this, posters will be all over school about you and Brooke, and believe me I have some pretty fabulous info." I smiled menacingly, and pushed him out of my room. The look on his face was priceless when I said that, finally some pay back!
"Umm, I'm not sure I want to know that info. But that was pretty good, you were very convincing." He grabbed me around the waist and pulled me close.
"Your right you don't want to know about what I know about them; it's kind of traumatizing. And thank you I try to be convincing with this family." Oh, boy he didn't know how hard I had to try to be tough half the time. I was hard as rock Desiree, the one who could never be broken. But that wasn't true, I was just a scared little girl on the inside who wanted to be held and told it would be all right. I tried being tough for everyone's and my ones sake. It was hard to admit it, even to myself; but it was the truth.
"So where were we?" I giggled and he leaned down, we started t kiss and then I heard the door open. I was so fed up that I growled and turned towards the door. There, in the door way stood Nate, Taylor, Casey, Chase and Brooke. Oh now he was going to get it!
"Chase I'm going to kill you!" I picked up some throw pillows (ironically enough) and threw them as hard as I could at him and only him. He stepped to the side narrowly dogging the missal pillow. He started to laugh and they all stepped into my room. Ace backed away frowning deeper with every step. They were all laughing and pointing at me except for Taylor and Nate. "Looks like you're over Jonathan, never thought that would happen. Then again maybe you're just using him." Chase just wouldn't give up.
"Get out all of you! Why are you trying to ruin this for me, do you all hate me that much?" A few tears trickled down my cheeks as I walked out of my room. I couldn't take them talking about Jonathan that way, like Ace was going to be the new him. He wasn't like Jonathan, Dwayne could see that and so could Taylor and Nate.
I climbed a tree just to feel the bark under my hands, and to be up high. "Desiree, I'm sorry they said anything about Jonathan, they shouldn't have. Ace and Nate are with me, we don't care about Jonathan anymore. They were just laughing at Chase, and he shouldn't have told them- us- but we aren't going to bring him up again. Please come down, Ace wants to see you and I thought we could go for a walk."
I climbed down and they were astonished to see I was smiling. I went over and took Ace's hand. "Guy's it wasn't that big of a deal, I mean sure I'm going to get back at Chase but I just needed some air. I'm totally fine. Now, let's go for a walk, I've heard the forest is beautiful this time of year."
"Hey Desiree I'm sorry but I'm glad your okay, I thought it was awful what they did to you. And if you need someone to beat up Chase for you I'll be glad to do it." Nate had come up and put his arm around me, smiling a secret grin that meant he really would do it. Chase had done the same thing to him and Taylor for so long they finally stopped listening.
"Thanks, but you should have seen his face when he first came up, I told him I'd put up posters around school of him and Brooke. It was priceless, even ask Ace!" I burst into laughter because it was just so funny, but the thing was that I really would do it I was just so sick of him and so was everyone else, even Brooke at times.
Everyone started to laugh. Chase and Brooke had been married years before so they obviously did things a married couple did. Thinking about it made me sick, sometimes Chase would brag and talk about his sex life, which was a little disturbing. Brooke would get mad and sometimes wouldn't talk to him for days at a time, but she never stayed mad for too long.
"Well we don't want to get into that, so are you two going out know?" Nate was holding Taylor close to his side staring at Ace and me. Ace had his arm around looking at the forest around us.
"Yes" We said in unison. This was fun; I was finally getting some time alone with my sister, her husband, and my boyfriend Ace. It was weird to think that my little sister was married. She had fallen in love so quickly, but at least it was with the right person.
"Well that's good I'm happy for you Desiree. It's nice to see that you found someone, and I assume that Dwayne found someone to since he's not here." He had that all too knowing look of his on his face know. Taylor and Nate had been worrying about us for so long because we hadn't found anyone in so long.
"Yeah, my sister Ashley, they seem pretty happy together." Ace looked like he was about to go into hysterics. It was funny because all they did was looking at each other in that weird little kid way.
"Well that's good. So what do you guys want to do?" we had been walking around for quite a bit now.
"How about we go back to the house, get one of the cars and go somewhere to eat?" This was Ace's suggestion, and by the sound of his stomach growling he was really hungry. So we all headed back and got in one of the cars. We decided to go to the Chinese restaurant on the way out of town.
"The food is good here; at least that's what I've heard." I was feeling better now that we were away from the rest of them. We had sat down to order our food a few minutes ago. Things were going well; all of us could get along great. I just wished that Dwayne and Ashley could be here to. And just as I was about to say it I noticed a couple in the back kissing, and as I looked closer I saw it was really Dwayne and Ashley!
"Um, guys look back there at the couple, its Dwayne and Ashley." They all turned at the same time and dropped their jaws. I got up and started to walk towards them and Ace came up behind me and put his arm around my shoulders.
"So, you're getting pretty cozy aren't you Dwayne?" He turned towards me and turned bright red.
"Um, um, yeah, seems like you are too. Is that Taylor and Nate over there?"
"Yes, come on and join us, you to Ashley." I grabbed her hand and brought her over to the table. "Taylor, Nate this is Ashley, Dwayne's girlfriend. Ashley this is Dwayne and mines sister Taylor and her boyfriend Nate. He lives with us."
"Hi, nice to meet you two, Dwayne was telling me all about your family." She had a spark of fear in her eyes. No, no, no! I was going to kill him! He told her, he had known the girl for how long and was telling her our most valuable secret, the secret that kept us alive.
"Dwayne can I see you for a minute?" I grabbed his arm and dragged him down the hall towards the bathroom before he could answer. "Did you tell her? Because she had a look of fear in her eyes Dwayne and you know that's not the best idea, at least get to know her better!"
"No, no I didn't, I swear. She's just nervous about meeting them." That came as a relief; I didn't want to have to get into a fit with the two of them. But he couldn't do that so soon, he had to at least wait for a few weeks to months, or even years if it came right down to it. I knew the causes if this happened, especially if the person wasn't really a person, but something far from it. In that moment I had told him all had broke loose. And I didn't have to remind Dwayne about this, he had been there right in the middle of it with me.
"Okay good, because you know how badly it went last time," we both shuddered at the reminder.
"Yeah I remember all too well, and Des I wouldn't be as stupid as to tell a girl about us right after I met her, even if she is my girlfriend."
"Ha, I knew it! Ace and I are dating to, and I'll have to tell you what Chase did when we get home." Dwayne's face went from happy to horror in seconds flat. I silently shook my head, he knew it meant not now.
"Tell me what happened right now Desiree." We had dropped off Ace and Ashley at their house just minutes ago.
"He just caught Ace and me kissing, made fun of us, went and told everyone, and then brought them up to make fun of me. And he may have brought up Jonathan." I decided to say the last part as quietly as possible.
"He's dead; I'm going to officially kill him. He's done this how many times over the past, what fifty, sixty years. Anyone new and he's the funny guy. I'm getting Nate and we're going to have a little talk with him outside." He balled one hand into a fist and smacked it into the other.
"Fine, but I'm coming with you. It's not going to be as violet as you hope, because believe me if you hurt him too badly, Brooke will be the one breaking you." I sighed and we walked out of the room to get Nate.
"Nate come on, we're going to hurt Chase for what he did to Des." They both had a menacing grin slowly creeping onto their faces.
"Good, because if you hadn't suggested it, I would have, it's so unfair to do this to her."
"Um, hello in the room standing right next to you two! Is there truly anything up there boys?" they both turned to me with impish grins, and their eyes crossed. As hilarious as it was, I wanted to get down to business.
"Careful how you talk to us sis, we're the ones protecting you. Now come, Chase is going to pay." He started to laugh like a villain from a cartoon. It started to get creepy after a while, so I cupped my hand over his mouth and pulled him forward.
"CHASE, come here we need to talk!" Nate yelled as loud as he possibly could, which to anyone else, would have made them lose their hearing.
"What, I'm kind of in the middle of something." He winked at us sickeningly. His hair was ruffled, face flushed and his shirt askew.
"I don't care what you were doing, you sick pervert. Come outside right now so we can have a little chat." Dwayne grabbed him roughly by the arm and dragged him out the back door into the back yard.
"What is this for? Oh, ha, is this about what I did to Des this afternoon with her little boy toy?" Chase started to chuckle, a low throaty sound.
"Yes it is. Why did you do it, do you have no respect for people? How would you like it if I walked in on you and Brooke and made fun of you? This is sensitive for Desiree; you know how hard it's been for her the past couple of years and for you to bring up you know who." Nate and Dwayne had dumped Chase on the hard, rough ground.
"Oh, you mean Jonathan? I thought you were over that Des, maybe not but he did try to kill us all. Or did you plan that with him and when he screwed up you killed him? I always wondered about this subject, but it was oh so hard and terrible to even talk about with poor little damaged Desiree. Something always seemed suspicious about you killing him." That was when I lost all control.
"SHUT UP just shut up! You know he was going to kill us all, I had to and I loved him, I thought he loved me to." I punched Chase in the face then. When he fell to the ground I started kicking him in the gut, he would never talk about him again.
"Desiree, stop, stop its okay! I need you to stop hurting him please." It was the first time Nate had spoken since we go out here. I turned into him and started to cry quietly. An unbearable pain started in my chest right where my heart was.
"Please take me inside and away from him. Will you stay with me please Nate, with Taylor?"
"Of course, I'll take you inside and then I'll get Taylor." Nate began to walk me inside as Dwayne helped Chase up. I glanced behind me at Chase and noticed that I had kicked him the face a few times when I meant to kick his gut. Oh well, he needed someone to kick his ass every once in a while.