Chapter 10 - Starting Over (Posted 3 October 2011)

Benny and Ethan walked together back to the cafeteria. When they reached the table, they took their same seats again, with Benny between Rory and Raoul, and Ethan across from them next to Sarah.

"Hey." Raoul said sheepishly as Benny sat next to him.

"Hi." Benny answered. "Um, Ethan has something he wants to say to you."

"Oh... okay..." Raoul turned and faced him, appearing to brace for the impact of what he was about to say.

"Look," Ethan said as nicely as possible, "I'm really sorry about how awful I've been to you. I've had a rough day but I had no reason to take it out on you. It's your first day here and I feel terrible for making it harder than it already was."

"Wow... uh... thank you."

"I mean it." Ethan said. "I mean, I get it if you don't forgive me, but..."

"No, it's fine." Raoul said, a small smile reaching his lips. "Thanks. I appreciate that. Maybe we can be friends?"

"Sure." Ethan nodded.

"Awesome!" Benny said, happy that they were getting along. "We should all do something after school. Like laser tag."

"I love laser tag!" Raoul said excitedly.

Benny grinned. "Great! What about you guys?" he looked at the other three.

"I'm down for shooting lasers at random kids." Rory said with a mouthful of sandwich.

"I'll go if Ethan goes." Sarah said.

They all looked at Ethan, being the deciding factor. "I'm in."

"Then it's settled. We'll all head over there right after school."

"Well, actually..." Raoul interjected, "I'll have to call my parents and ask them first. I'm sure they'll let me, though. They'll be really happy I made so many friends on my first day."

"Okay, well do you take the bus?" Ethan asked, trying to be friendly

"No, I'm going to walk." Raoul answered. He was feeling a little more comfortable around Ethan.

"Well you can call them before we leave then." Rory said. "Do you have a cell phone?"

"Yep." Raoul dug into his pocket and pulled out a slim piece of plastic. "I could actually text them now." He began pressing buttons, looking at the screen intently. About a minute passed before it buzzed. "They said I can go!"

"Sweet!" Benny exclaimed. "Can I see your phone?"

"Uh... sure... I guess." Raoul handed him his phone and watched as Benny tried to figure out what all the buttons did. "What are you doing with it?"

"I'm putting my number in." Benny pressed a few more buttons before turning the phone around and smiled into the camera lens. He took his photo and gave it back to Raoul. "See, now my picture will pop up when I call you or text you or something."

"Thanks." Raoul said. "I'll text you so you can have my number."

"Okay." Benny received a test reading Bonjour and added the number to his contacts. He snuck a picture of Raoul while he was taking a sip of his milk and then proceeded to send back Hola.

Raoul got the text and laughed. "That's Spanish, Benny."

Benny shrugged. "Spanish isn't one of the languages you speak?"

"I know a little bit."

The rest of the lunch conversations consisted of a few more stories about Raoul's travels. Which, Ethan admitted silently, were actually pretty interesting.

X

After school was over, they all met up outside the front doors.

Without really thinking about it, Benny pulled a black bottle out of his bag and took a sip.

Again it caught Raoul's attention. "Is anyone going to tell me what's in those bottles?"

And again, everyone stared at him.

"Um..." Benny said nervously, knowing he'd messed up.

"Is it alcohol?" Raoul asked. "You can tell me, I promise I won't tattle."

"Well, it's..." Benny was about to lie and say that yes, it was indeed alcohol, but he didn't want to lie to Raoul. That's no way to start a new friendship. But what else was he supposed to say? He couldn't very well tell him it was...

"Blood?" Raoul said with wide eyes as he leaned in and sniffed the contents of Benny's bottle. "You guys are vampires too?"