"If you have good friends, no matter how much life is sucking, they can make you laugh." - P.C Cast
Luna/Alissa POV
I arrive at school with time to spare. Rain is leaking from the clouds above, turning pot holes into small ponds. I search, unsuccessfully, for Cara, Ari, or Kiera. Instead, I'm rewarded with Ranger's presence.
"Last night was a-" he begins, pulling me into a shadowy corner.
"A mistake, you made that pretty clear." I roll me eyes, turning to walk away. Ranger's face drops.
"I didn't mean to act that way. But, Alissa, your a vampire. It's against the law!" He explains, earning no respect.
"I don't think that law really matters, after we kinda broke the main one by revealing our species to each other." I argue, receiving a sigh from Ranger. "Tell me that you didn't feel anything when we kissed. Tell me that time didn't stop for you." I am barely shouting, letting all my emotions run wild and process me. I don't want my first kiss to be for no reason, to a guy who just shrugged it off.
Ranger's hand grabs my chin, so I'm look him straight in the eyes. His face moves much closer to mine. His lips softly brush mine, and I lean forward, I wrap my arms around his neck, drawing him much closer to me. Stop, Luna, for God's sake! Why am I going along with this? But once again, I get the strange feeling that time has stopped.
The bell goes, and I automatically pull away from Ranger. "I have to go, I have science with your sister." He understands, nodding.
"At break we should meet up and talk." He says, pulling me close once again and kissing me briefly.
"Okay, I really need to go." I say, blurred by a muffled laugh. "So are we like going out?" I ask, feeling insanely stupid.
"At break, Alissa, at break." He says, marching away from me. His soft voice remains, indented into my memory and echoing along the cream corridor. This is wrong. I'm in so much trouble.
"So, you and my brother." Cara hints, winking at me. I try and hide my blush , burying my head in my hands. "Your so in love with each other." I stare up at her, wide-eyed. She's curled her hair today, it's clearly not natural-the magical work of a curling wand-but she looks gorgeous. I expect she always does.
"I've known him for less than two days, and for part of yesterday, I was certain he hated me." I explain, pouring the chemical liquids into a beaker-as soon as my teacher had told me their names, I'd forgotten them.
"How many times have you kissed?" I slap her arm, probably to hard to count it as playfully. "Ouch," she complains.
"Sorry," I apologise, looking as guilty as sin.
"It's okay, it's just at the moment I'm weak." Cara's intrigued into what we were discussing this morning, and I reveal all, explaining how Ranger wants to talk at break.
Once I've finished talking, I tell her, "Ranger told me what you are." Cara gasps, almost spilling the bottle of acid. I catch it with my ultra-fast reflexes.
"How did you -" I search my mind for my best excuse.
"Practice." Practice, seriously? Well, my mind is just as useless as a heater on a boiling summers day.
"Well, I'm sure our P.E teacher will adore you," she says nervously. Something in her mind is telling her not to trust me, I can tell. "I'll show you to the Sports Hall after Science, I'm pretty sure we'll be in the same class."
"Right, girls get in a line along the yellow line. Boys get in a line on the red line opposite the girls." I stand beside Cara, unsure where this class is heading. Cara had explained earlier that the boys class and the girls class never mix; they may share the sports hall, but that's as far as it goes. The boys and girls share the same P.E kit-black shorts and a black t-shirt. Ranger moves opposite me, surrounded by his friends. They each wave to Cara, triggering an eye roll from her. Ranger waves at me and I wave mockingly back. Cara looks from him to me, before smiling gleefully.
"Okay, everyone, welcome to self defense class." Ranger sniggers, looking from the ginger-haired, small teacher to me. I am pretty certain I'll get a good level in this. "With the student opposite you, find an available mat. Ranger has moved beside me before the teacher has even finished talking. He grabs my hand, leading me to a large, square, blue mat in the corner of the room. Cara is being dragged to a mat across the room by a golden-haired boy, who she seems extremely happy to be working with.
"Okay, I want you to try a flip first. See if you can work out how to do it, then I'll teach anyone who is unsure." Miss orders, speaking loudly from the corner of the room. Ranger runs a hand through his short brown hair, smirking.
"Come on then, Dracula, let's see what you can do." Ranger orders me forward by a hand gesture. I'm pretty sure the nickname 'Dracula' will stick. I retaliate proudly,
"don't encourage me, Tinkerbell."
Just before we start fighting, Cara runs up tp Ranger, whispering something in his ear. He nods, smiling. Cara squeals in excitement, rushing back to her lonely partner. Should I ask him what she whispered? No, Luna, don't get involved.I argue with myself back and forth until Ranger interrupts. "For that, I'm not going to go easy on you." I giggle, childishly. For the first time in years, I feel genuinely happy.
"I wasn't planning to go easy on you, anyway."
I charge forward, only to be caught in Ranger's arms like a net. He pulls me up against him, flipping me so I'm on the floor. I dive upwards onto my feet, Ranger chuckles sinfully. I stand up straight, in my usual battle stance. This time, Ranger runs towards me, moving his arm in a pre-punch warm up. I duck the blow, slicing my hand across his legs, causing him to slam into the mat. I giggle, standing over his motionless body. He sits up, grabs hold of my hand, and pulls me on top of him. We're both laughing wildly like school children. Ranger kisses me softly, before flipping me over so he's on top, pinning my arms down. He rests his head between my ear and my shoulder. "Don't let your guard down," he whispers, each word so perfectly executed. Then I realize that for the past few minutes, only me and him existed.
"Ranger, Alissa, stop fooling around. This is a lesson on self defence, not Sex Education." I blush, unable to move from under Ranger. I notice Cara, in the far corner of the hall, laughing recklessly. Ranger kisses me once more, before standing up. He helps me up, but when I'm firmly on two feet, he doesn't let go of my hand. "Now, I suggest you two love birds find different partners." I look at Cara, ready to pick her, when an unknown girl steps forward.
Her blonde hair is so burnt, nothing has the strength to remove it from it's perfectly straight form. Her blue eyes are like the ocean crashing against the sandy shore. She's skinny-a stick compared to me-and beautifully put together-with the help of fake tan and make-up. "I don't mind working with Ranger, I don't have a partner." Her voice is a high-pitched melody. Ranger tugs me towards him.
"Miss, we promise not to mess about, just let us stay together." He pleads. Gosh he must really hate this -
Kelly. This fake, orange mess is Kelly.
"No, Ranger, you can work with Kelly. She'll make sure your doing exactly what you should be." Miss says, sending us both off to our doom. Ranger tenses, kissing me on the head then returning to the mat. Kelly follows like a lost puppy dog. "Alissa, go sit on the bench, you can wait until the lesson ends. If you promise to behave though, I will allow you to work with Ranger next lesson." I thank her quietly. I walk over the wooden bench-an uncomfortable, thin strip of dark wood.
Out of curiosity, I concentrate my hearing, across the room, towards Ranger and Kelly. Flipping her hair back, she asks him, "what's the deal with you two?" She can't seem to move her gaze from his emerald eyes.
"I'm not really sure, yet." Ranger responds. I'm not offended, we haven't spoken about dating in detail; like Ranger explained earlier, 'Alissa, your a vampire. It's against the law!' Kelly punches Ranger, but he blocks it.
"Well, that's a real shame. Your way out of her league." Hatred. That's what I feel. Hatred in it's most evil form. He is out of my league-he's gorgeous-but she has no right to say that. I notice Ranger has his fists clenched.
"You don't know her. She may surprise you." Kelly rolls her eyes,
"I doubt it, not if looks are anything to go by."
"Don't judge her without getting to know her, Kelly."
"She's been here a day, Ranger, and your already all over her! Look at me, I've been here for the two months you've been here and yet you've never kissed me." The air surrounding Ranger has turned cold, I don't have to be stood right next to him to realize that.
"Maybe because you beat-up my sister. I'm shocked you still have the nerve to talk to me." Kelly gasps, stepping backwards. To Kelly's delight, the bell goes, but before she can leave with her minions, Ranger pulls her back and whispers in her ear. It takes me more effort, and is slightly painful, but I manage to catch what he's saying. "Don't mess with Alissa, Kelly. You'll regret it."
I walk towards Ranger quickly. When I get there, he puts his muscular arm around my waist. Kelly demands her friends wait for her to catch up. Ranger kisses my head. "I know you were listening." I blush, startled at his observation.
"Was I that obvious?" I ask, waving to Cara up ahead, who stops and waits for us to catch up.
"No, I can just read you like a book." I laugh,
"god help me when I learn a secret." Ranger laughs, causing my heart to flutter.
"Who does she think she is? I don't have a partner, I don't mind flirting with Ranger for awhile." I giggle at Cara's spot-on impression.
"I don't mind really, I know he doesn't like her." I try and sound calm, but Cara can tell I'm really not.
"Don't lie, Ally, you want to kill her." I halt for a moment. She Is alarmed,
"What's wrong?" She says, with real concern.
"Nothing, it's just I've never been given a nick-name before." I tell her.
Outside the grubby changing rooms, Ranger is stood leaning against the far wall, with his hands tucked away in his pocket. I walk over to him, with Cara. His hand firmly grabs mine, and he pulls me into a long kiss. Cara leaps with joy, clapping her hands together. "This is great," she announces. "You've been here a day or so and you already fit in perfectly!" I giggle, leaving Ranger and hugging her tightly.
"I've never been happier." I admit, waving to Kiera and Ari as they dance down the corridor.
"We will meet you on the field after you talk. Yes, Ranger, she told me about this morning." Ranger punches me playfully, scolding me with a look. I shrug apologetically.
We walk along the path beside the field in silence. I want to reach out and hold his hand, or kiss those perfect lips-but I can't. After what seems like a lifetime, Ranger breaks the silence. "Alissa, I really like you, honestly I do. But I'm worried about you. Look what Kelly did to my sister, imagine what she'd do to my girlfriend. This morning was nothing-trying to get me away from you-she can do so much worse." I laugh, partly because I'm uncomfortable, and partly to calm my shaking hand.
"Ranger, I'm pretty sure I can handle a weak human girl." I responded, slightly irritated at his doubt in me. Surprisingly, Ranger laughs,
"off course you can-that's one of the things I love about you." I blush, staring down at the ground.
"I've known you for little time, yet I already feel something for you that I've never felt before; frankly it scares me, but it gives me hope. It's played on mind since I made the decision to attend human school-changing my life completely-that I might fall in love with a human boy who either won't love me, or will make me turn him into one of my kind. Then I met you. You've grown up like me, and I feel this weird connection that non of my books can explain." I am aware I'm rambling, so I stare at the ground.
"I feel exactly the same. And now, thanks to that speech, your officially my girlfriend." Ranger places a finger under my chin and lifts my head up, catching my lips as we continue to walk and entwining his hand with mine.