Chapter 6

The Date

Dex didn't beat me, even with his head start.

When we got back to my house I showered and put on fresh clothes. Showers are not usually necessary for vampires, but I have always been a clean freak and I had elk blood and dirt all over me. It only took me forty-five seconds to shower but it was long enough for Dex to complain.

"C'mon man the G-men are about to play, you know I hate watching football alone." He shouted from my living room. I took another fifty seconds to get dressed only because I could not decide what to wear. Not that I usually cared but I knew I would wear this outfit to see Aubrey and I wanted to look nice. I settled for my cream colored button down and a pair of American Eagle jeans that Stacy had bought for me. They looked like new since I had only worn them once before. I flew down the stairs and landed on the couch. Dex rolled his eyes as he stood next to the couch and flipped on the game.

"What, I'm here." I said confused by his reaction.

"Why do you always lay on the couch during the game, why can't you just stand like a normal vampire?" "Because Dex," I explained for the five hundred and sixty-fifth time. "I get bored standing all the time. And I only do it here. I stand at your house."

"That's because I don't have a couch." He chuckled.

At seven thirty I kicked Dex out, which wasn't so hard since he said he had to go meet Cassandra. I glanced at myself in the mirror in the master bathroom, it was floor length and it came with the house. It was also the only mirror in the house. I used it only two or three times a year when I wanted to be sure I looked ok, otherwise I hated looking in the mirror. Seeing what I have become still bothers me.

As a human I was handsome, not unusually so but enough to catch the attention of a few of the women in town. But now I am a monster, masked by this beautiful stone body. Now when humans look at me they see a beautiful man, one who must be out of their reach. They have no idea what I have done, what I am. There is no doubt in my mind that if they did they would all run for the hills, as they should. That night I looked in the mirror and as always was disgusted by what I saw. I was nowhere good enough to go hang out with Aubrey. She did not deserve to be around something as hideous as me, no matter how distorted her perception of me was. I fixed my collar and flipped off the light in the bath room.

I reached the pool hall with ten minutes to spare. I pulled my Sentra into a spot not far from the door and waited. In the time it took for Aubrey to pull up in her Focus I had decided to leave eighty-two times, each time I convinced myself to stay. The last and most effective reason was that it would be rude to leave Aubrey with no companion for the night. She was a nice girl and it was not her fault that I was confused about whether or not I should be there. She did nothing to merit being stood up. I got out of my car quickly, for a human anyway, and hurried to open her door for her. She looked up at me with a big smile on her face.

"Hey Chris." She slid out of her car.

"Good evening Aubrey." I shut the door for her.

"Did you find the place ok?" She shrugged on her sweater and pulled it tight around her body. I of course didn't notice it was cold at all.

"Yes, your directions were perfect." Just like the smile she was treating me to; it was reaching her eyes again.

"Thanks." She said quietly. "Well I'm freezing, should we go in." She turned her body toward the entrance. I place my hand on the small of her back hoping she could not feel how cold I was through her layers.

"Yes let's." I followed her in. Once inside she loosened her grip on her sweater and shook in the warmth.

"What do you think?" She asked turning to me to see my reaction.

The place was about the same size as the bar but instead of one pool table there were six. There were small tables for two or four against the walls, and a small bar at the back of the room. The atmosphere here was much less smoky too, which I liked because it made it easier to admire Aubrey's beauty. Five of the tables were already being used though one of the games was about to end. The patrons in here were also different from the night before, for one thing they were all much younger between eighteen and twenty-one, one other couple and me being the exception. The other thing was I was the only vampire in the room.

"It is nice." I said wondering again if I should stay.

"I'd have to say this is my favorite place in town. I come here a lot and have started to get to know the regulars. Unlike with my friends, who I love by the way," She looked me in the eyes to stress this point. "They treat me like an equal here, not like the baby." I could see that she wanted very much to be seen like the lady she was and not the child her friends made her out to be. I could relate. Stacy always treated me like her baby brother, and she always would, but Dex treated me like the man I was when I died and the vampire I had become.

"I can understand that feeling." My response seemed to surprise her. "Shall we sit?"

"We shall." She said mocking me and heading toward a booth in the back corner near the empty pool table. Almost as soon as we sat our waiter was upon us.

"Hey guys, how are you doing tonight?" He paused for us to answer but I don't think he was listening to anything I had to say, Aubrey on the other hand he watched with longing. I sized him up; he had short red hair and was maybe a head shorter than me. He was handsome by all the right markers and he seemed very interested in Aubrey's drink order. This was the type of person she should be with. Especially since he was indeed a living breathing person.

"Hey Max," she said her voice soft and friendly. "I've been alright, never can complain right." She smiled at him, but not the way she smiled at me. I have to say that made me feel good, even though I knew in the perfect world I would not exist and she would be free to date Max. He mumbled a response I chose not to hear, he was insignificant in my life and he had not even really acknowledged my presence so why should I pay him any mind. "Yeah I know how that goes," she said in response to his comment. "So how has it been tonight, busy?" They scanned the room at the same time before looking at each other again.

"I guess, we've had a few new people in tonight." He took the opportunity to glance in my direction, his friendliness not following his gaze.

"Oh Max, I'm sorry." Aubrey said "This is my new friend Chris; we met last night at Bug's." She smiled at me and I was happy to see the alarm and jealousy in Max's face.

"Last night at Bug's?" He looked at Aubrey trying to find the sense in that sentence.

"Yeah my friend Cassie and his friend Dex had a date and they dragged us both along." She explained and the confused look slipped off Max's face, now all that was left was the jealousy he felt toward me, though I'm sure Aubrey did not notice.

"Let me guess you and Chris hit it off?" He tried to sound casual but I heard the bitterness in his tone.

"Actually it is Christopher, and that has yet to be seen." I said winking at Aubrey.

"I see." Max said not looking at me. "So what can I get you to drink beautiful?" He asked Aubrey, her cheeks flushed from the compliment the same time I felt a wave of anger and a release of venom. Even with all that had been revealed this boy had no idea that Aubrey and I were not on a date. And even though we were not on a date it was very rude that he would assume that he could call my companion beautiful. Even if she was. I knew that was not the real reason I was upset though I tried to convince myself it was. He took both of our orders and disappeared. Finally.

"You are you know." I said breaking the short silence we were experiencing.

"I am what?" She said unsure.

"Beautiful." I said leaning just a fraction closer to her. The color in her cheeks deepened and she looked away for just a second.

"Thank you." She said as she looked back to me, her eyes twinkling. "Did you want to grab anything to eat, or did you just want to play."

"I'm sorry but I already ate," I lied. "My sister Stacy insists upon eating with me every night. We are very close." I figured I would cover my bases for any meals to come.

"Oh you have a sister." She said sitting up a little straighter. "Tell me about her."

"Well her name is Stacy." I chuckled at her interest. "She is about five years older than me, and she is the only family I have left. Unless you count Dex who I have known so long I consider him family."

"What happened to your parents?" She asked.

"They died." I said simply

"Oh I'm sorry." She reached her hand across the table to hold mine, but I pulled away before she could reach. She looked away. "Well then let's play a game or two if you're not hungry." She said dropping the subject.

"Ok," I said as I slid out from the booth and headed to the pool table closest to us. "And don't be sorry about my folks, they died a long time ago."

She nodded and followed me to the table. I selected two cue sticks from the wall as she racked the balls.

"Do you wanna break?" She asked removing the triangle.

"How about ladies first tonight." I handed her the lighter of the two cue sticks and watched as she positioned the white ball.

As the night wore on we talked about all the things you are supposed to talk about when you are getting to know someone. Like what she did for a living, worked at a bookstore, where she went to college, the local community college, and what she was studying, Criminal Justice. I tried successfully to keep the conversation on her always. Not that she did not try to gather just as much information about me, but I kept my answers as short as possible and responded with more questions for her.

We were playing our third and final game of the night, each game was taking about forty-five minutes because instead of trying to win I was trying to make it as hard as possible for her to get her shots. I loved watching her asses all of her options and how to best execute her turn. I let her win the first two, the last one I planned on winning. Her friend Max, who had been glaring at me and pining for her all night, stepped up to the table.

"Maybe you should go for the nine-ball." He said offering her unnecessary advice. She was already lining up to take the best possible shot, which was for the five-ball.

"Uh, I could." She said really processing his suggestion. "But if I hit the five it will set me up to hit the two, and then maybe I can try for the nine." She explained her plan and I swear I saw drool coming from his mouth. Not that I blamed him, watching how confident Aubrey was in her moves was certainly something to be seen. She awakened parts of me I forgot existed. Take the part of your brain that develops crushes. I had not used mine in a millennia or two. But there I was playing pool with a girl who I thought was amazing, and I have to admit I had a crush on her. Something very futile though, I knew I could nip it in the but if I wanted to. But I did not want to.

"Oh I see what you mean. I guess that's why you beat me every time we play." He chuckled though it was filled with uncertainty and he looked to Aubrey to see if she would laugh; and she did.

"I guess so." She took her shot and hit the five ball, which as she anticipated set her up to hit the two ball. "What time are you off tonight."

I was not exactly sure why but the boy perked up at this question.

"I'm here 'til one, that's when we close." He had this goofy grin on his face that I still did not understand. "What are you doing after this?" He asked nervously. I understood then that he was hoping she would make plans with him after I left. I was getting very aggravated with Max at that moment. Again what if Aubrey and I had been on a date; did he really expect her to jump from one date to another. What type of girl did he think she was? I cleared my throat and he shot me an angry glance. Perhaps I should try to look more dangerous. This boy had no respect for me, which is something I was not used to. Aubrey looked a little worried by the tension between Max and me.

"Actually Max." she said bringing his attention back to her beautiful face. "This was going to be my last game; I really want to be in bed by ten thirty. I have an early class and need to catch some shut eye." She smiled at him warmly but his shoulders drooped a little.

"Oh, well maybe some other time then." He said before slinking away.

"Definitely." Aubrey replied. I hoped that she would not take him up on his offer any time soon.

Once I beat her in the last game of pool I walked her to her car.

"You know what." She said turning on me suddenly.

"What." I asked truly curious.

"You didn't tell me much about you tonight." She pulled her sweater tighter around her body like before."You just let me go on about myself the entire time."

"I find your life more interesting than mine." I said simply.

"Yes but you barely answered my questions." She headed to her car again.

"No, I am very sure I answered every question."I knew I was being difficult.

"That's fine." She said unlocking her door and tossing her bag onto her passenger seat. "You know why?" She leaned into me.

"Why?" I asked softly.

"Because, I know what you are." Her lips broke into a huge smile.

"And how would you know." I asked.

"Cass told me." She was full of confidence, but there is no way she could know.

"And how would Cassandra know." I prodded.

"Because silly," She tapped my arm lightly. "Dex told her."