The next day I was sitting in class, bored. Math was too easy for me, and I whipped through all the work. Now I had nothing better to do. I looked around the room and noticed a couple people goofing off and talking to each other. I sighed. Nothing made school worse like being friendless.
I wish I could be back in New York. At least there I had friends, and I wasn't just some lame-o new girl. My depressing thoughts were interupted when someone walked in the room.
It was Amelie. She looked very out of place in a school. "I need to speak to Emma." She said to the teacher. He nodded crazily, looking very nervous.
All eyes were on me as I walked to the front of the room to meet Amelie. "Return to your studies." She said as we exited the room.
"I'm not complaining or anything, but why are you here?" I asked while we walked down the hallway.
"We'll talk about it once we're in private." She replied.
I looked around. There was absolutely no one in the hallway would could overhear. I didn't mention that, though. Instead I just followed Amelie until we were in an empty classroom. Well, empty except for Myrnin.
"Emma, how're you today?" He asked, smiling a crazy smile at me.
"I'm fine. How're you?" I asked, feeling a little awkward.
"I'm fantastic, actually. I have you to thank for that."
"Me?" I asked, not completely understanding. "What did I do?"
"It's not really what you did, more what you are." He said, pointing a finger at me and continuing to smile that smile.
"What am I?"
"Yes, Myrnin, what do you mean?" Amelie asked. She was obviously just as out of the loop as I was.
"Something amazing, that I've never seen before. That I never even thought was possible!" He explaimed. "You, my dear, are half vampire, half human! Isn't that wonderful?"
"How is that even possible?" Amelie asked, looking baffled.
"I'm not sure. That's why I need you to come with me." Myrnin said, stepping towards me. "I need to run a lot of tests. Nothing like the simple blood test I did yesterday. That only told me the what, I want to know the how."
"Myrnin, calm down." Amelie said firmly. "You can't just dissect the girl."
"Oh, I won't need to dissect her. Just run a few tests, maybe take some skin samples, check her regeneration skills, her reactions, whether or not her body is able to fight diseases like ours, or if she actually gets very ill..." He said, trailing off, looking like a child in a candy store.
"I don't think so." I said, shocked. "You can't just give me diseases to see if I can fight them off. That could kill me!"
"But don't you see? You're one of a kind! The first ever! We must explore that." Myrnin said happily.
I sighed loudly. "Look, Myrnin. I know you're excited. How about I let you run a few tests? But only the ones that don't hurt me, okay?" I tried to negotiate.
Amelie gave him a look that clearly said she wasn't going to allow him to choose anything else.
"Fine." He said, looking hugely disappointed.
"Can I go back to class now?" I asked.
"Wait a moment." Amelie said. "I have something for you.
I took the little box that she was handing me. I opened it. Inside was a small, pretty bracelet with a weird symbol on it. "What is it?" I asked, confused. I slipped the bracelet on.
"It's a way of saying that I give you my protection. While wearing that bracelet no vampire will touch you without fear of my retaliation." She told me. "But if people find out who, or what, you are, that bracelet probably won't be of much help. I trust that you haven't told anyone about any of this?"
"Only Jason. Oh, and Eve and her friends. Only because Jason promised that I was able to trust them. Other than that, no one else knows but Richard, and you already knew that." I replied.
"Jason? You mean Eve's brother?" She asked, her usually calm face showing a hint of surprise.
"Yes."
"Interesting company for a young woman such as yourself." She said, sounding a little disproving. "Are you sure you should be hanging around with him?"
Suddenly I got defensive. "You don't really know him, do you?" I asked.
"Trust me, child. I know more about Jason Rosser than even he knows about himself." Amelie said, looking me straight in the eyes. "All that I ask is that you be catious. Technically, you're the only family I have. I'd hate to see that change."
Her words didn't frighten me at all, but still I nodded, just to make her happy. She waved towards the door, clearly my dismissal.
Walking back into class, things had suddenly changed. Everyone looked from my face to the bracelet on my arm. Suddenly people were smiling at me. Even the teacher seemed to be being more nice to me.
After class, some girl stopped me in the hallway.
"Hey." She said, smiling. She had two other friends walking with her, all dressed very similar to her. "You're the new girl, Emma, right?"
"Right." I said, my eyebrow knotting in confusion. "Can I help you with something?"
The girl laughed. "Totally. You can tell me where you got that super hot dress." She said, meaning the tight, black, short dress I was wearing, with the light blue belt that brought out the colour in my eyes.
"In New York." I told her, feeling confused. Why was she talking to me?
"Is that where you're from? That is so cool." She said with a huge fake smile.
"I've got to go. I have work." I said, using it as an excuse to leave. I really did have work, but I mostly just wanted to get away from this girl. I wasn't trying to be rude, but I could tell she didn't actually want to talk to me. There was nothing real about the way she spoke or smiled at me.
I walked by myself all the way to Common Grounds. I actually enjoyed the walk. Today wasn't too hot out, like it usually was in Morganville. At work, my coworker was there. It was the first time I'd met him. His name was Tyler. He was really nice, and had a cute smile that he used on all the girls that he served. He got big tips.
"Did you hear about the open mic night tonight?" He asked my during a break in the line.
"I did, but weirdly enough, not from Oliver. A friend told me. You'd think, being an employee and all, I'd have heard of it first." I said with a smile. "I was actually planning on performing myself."
"Really? I can't wait to see that." He said, smiling back at me.
The rest of the day went by pretty uneventfully. I made coffee, took money, smiled, and shared small amounts of conversation with Tyler. When it got darker out, more and more people started coming in.
"These people are all here for the open mic night?" I asked, shocked. Maybe performing wasn't such a good idea. There was a lot of people here.
"Michael Glass is kind of a big thing here." He said, and pointed to a table where Michael, Eve, Claire, and Shane were sitting. "That's him, over there."
I nodded instead of pointing out that I already knew that. "You might want to go get ready if you're planning to get up there." He said. "I'll cover for you."
"Thanks." I said warmly.
I went into the back room and looked in the small mirror there. My make up was fine. My outfit was fine. I just had to get my guitar out of the case. I had brought it here before school. Oliver said it was fine to store it in the back, so I did.
My guitar was one of my most favorite possessions. I didn't play as much as I'd like, but I loved it when I did.I played a few notes to make sure it was tuned properly, then set it down. I took a big breath.
"You going to hide in here all night?" Came a voice from the doorway. I looked up to see Michael smiling at me.
"Yeah, I was just tuning my guitar." I said quietly.
"Nervous?" He asked.
"A little. I've never... I've never actually played for this many people before." I admitted to him.
"You'll love it. Trust me. There's nothing like the joy of the crowd loving you." He said, then laughed and added, "If you're good, that is."
"That makes me feel so much better." I said sarcastically.
"How about you watch me, then you go on?" He offered. "See that it's not so bad."
"Alright." I said, nodding.
We left the room. Michael walked up onto the little make-shift stage that Oliver had set up while Tyler and I were working.
Everyone clapped when he sat down on a chair and pulled the microphone towards him.
"So, here's a song I wrote about someone really special to me." He said, and sent a huge smile to Eve. I watched, amazed, as he captivated the entire audience. His song was beautiful, and so was his voice. When he was done, I joined in while everyone else clapped like mad.
And I was supposed to follow that. Suddenly I felt like throwing up. I tried to sneak back to the back room. Before I could make it all the way, I felt someone grab my arm. I turned around to see Jason holding onto my arm.
"Where are you going?" He asked.
"I was just... getting a drink." I lied.
"Aren't you supposed to go next?" He asked.
"Uh, well, I was, but you see, I can't now because... um... I think I have a fever. Just randomly came down with that. No point getting on stage, right?" I said, trying to weasel my way out of it.
Instead of replying, Jason dragged me to the stage. Michael was still up there with me. He took the micrphone off the stand.
"Everybody! This is Emma. She's new here, so let's be nice to her. Okay?" He said. Everyone laughed and clapped.
Oh god. I felt like I was going to die. Michael put the microphone back on the stand. I went up to it, holding my guitar.
"Um, this is a song I wrote a while ago. Um... alright." I said.
I closed my eyes to stop myself from getting even more freaked out.
I can feel the magic floating in the air
Being with you gets me that way
I watch the sunlight dance across your face and I've
Never been this swept away
All my thoughts just seem to settle on the breeze
When I'm lying wrapped up in your arms
The whole world just fades away
The only thing I hear
Is the beating of your heart
I opened my eyes and felt everyone staring at me. I kept singing, but felt a sinking feeling in my gut. Suddenly my eyes rested on Jason. He was staring at me, unblinking. Something in his face made my hold it together.
'Cause I can feel you breathe
It's washing over me
Suddenly I'm melting into you
There's nothing left to prove
Baby all we need is just to be
Caught up in the touch
The slow and steady rush
Baby, isn't that the way that love's supposed to be
I can feel you breathe
Just breathe
In a way I know my heart is waking up
As all the walls come tumbling down
I'm closer than I've ever felt before
And I know
And you know
There's no need for words right now
'Cause I can feel you breathe
It's washing over me
Suddenly I'm melting into you
There's nothing left to prove
Baby all we need is just to be
Caught up in the touch
The slow and steady rush
Baby, isn't that the way that love's supposed to be
I can feel you breathe
Just breathe
Caught up in the touch
The slow and steady rush
Baby, isn't that the way that love's supposed to be
I can feel you breathe
Just breathe
I can feel the magic floating in the air
Being with you gets me that way.
I put my guitar down, and finally looked away from Jason. I stood up, waiting for something happened. Nothing did, until one person started clapping. Then the entire place was full of clapping people, smiling up at me.
"Thanks." I said into the microphone quickly. I practically ran off the stage.
a/n Okay, so obviously the song used in the chapter wasn't an original song or anything. All rights belong to Faith Hill. Not much really happened in the chapter, but trust me, the next one is going to be interesting. Hopefully. We'll possibly get to some really romantic stuff soon. I've been waiting for the right time, you know? I didn't want to rush it but I'm just so impatient. You might just be surprised by the romance stuff, though. ;)
Also, REVIEW PEOPLE! Come on.