Bitten – Episode 20

Chapter 20 ♀

 

Are you sure you can do this?”

 

“I’m sure.”

 

“Are you positive?”

 

“I’m positive.”

 

“Are you sure you—”

 

“I’m sure! ” Vincent growled, whipping his head around to glare at me. “Stop asking the same damn thing over and over again!” I blinked at his sudden outburst. “I-I… Sorry.”

 

“It’s not your fault,” he muttered after a second, returning his attention to the outside world.

 

 

My eyes lingered on him for a moment longer, the corners of my lips turning up into a small smile before joining his gaze. We were parked in front of my high school, waiting for Fiona and Joel to show up. Every now and then Vincent’s brows furrowed together as he stared up at the massive structure. He had to be nervous. Heck, even I was nervous— and I’d been going to that school for four years.

 

“It’s not as scary as it looks,” I told him.

 

He snorted. “I’m not scared.”

 

“You look like you’re scared.”

 

His head swiveled around again, his face twisted into mock horror. “Oh no! Teenagers! Look, I’m not like you and almost drop dead at the sight of another species.”

 

I glowered at him. “Yeah, well at least humans are supposed to exist!” A flat look crossed his face. With a gasp, I realized my words. “Wait, I’m sorry—” “Stop apologizing.”

 

“I’m sorry— crap!”

 

He rolled his eyes. “What’s wrong with you today?”

 

I bit my tongue, turning my back to him. That was my question. What was wrong with him? Why was he being so much nicer lately? Surely being out of his house couldn’t have made such a drastic change of attitude, could it? I glanced at him again, narrowing my eyes.

 

“What now?” he asked, his eyes sliding over to mine. “Nothing,” I muttered, snapping my head forward again. “Turn toward me again.”

 

Curious, I rotated my head once more; jerking my head back when I realized how close Vincent’s was to me. “W-what?”

 

“Your hair,” he muttered, reaching a slim hand toward me. “This piece here is sticking up.” He put his hand on the top of my head, running it down the front of my bangs.

 

My heart stuttered in my chest at his unexpected gesture. “T-thanks…” “No problem,” he responded, keeping his hand on my head. “Er… what are you doing?” I asked after a moment.

 

He grinned evilly. “This.” Before I could protest, he ruffled the hair on my head roughly; messing up the perfect part it’d taken me five minutes to complete this morning.

 

“Vincent!” I cried in outrage, shoving his hand away. “What is wrong with you?”

 

 

He laughed— impossible, I know— and pulled his hand away. “What’s wrong with you?”

 

.

 

.

 

“My hair!” I snapped angrily, yanking down my visor to use the mirror to fix my

 

hair. “Ugh, it looks like crap now.”

 

“It looks fine, stupid.”

 

I glared at him from the corner of my eye. “No it doesn’t, you jerk.” “Whatever.” He shrugged, looking out the window again, an amused smile on his face.

 

After huffing out a burst of angry air, I tried to repair the damages he’d done to my hair. Fortunately for him, I was able to do so more easily— otherwise I would have murdered him. Even if I didn’t exactly know how to do so. My gaze wandered back to the school building, where class was probably already in session. Mr. Don’t-wake-me-up-early-unless-you-want-to-die had slept in for half an hour, causing us to be half-an hour later. And now we had to wait for Fiona and Joel, who were also running late. It was an awkward five minutes of silence before an unfamiliar, black BMW rolled up next to us. As I peered into the driver’s side window, Joel’s face suddenly appeared in it, his nose squished to the glass as he grinned at me. I jumped back in shock, not expecting it.

 

“Finally,” Vincent groaned, unlocking the doors.

 

“That’s really inconspicuous,” I mumbled sarcastically, feeling as though my out-of-date Mitsubishi was trash compared to his car.

 

Vincent paused, his door on the handle. “What is?” “Your cars. They’re so fancy. How Twilight .”

 

“If you were around for thousands of years, you’d be rich too,” he retorted, wrenching the car door open. “It’s okay to be jealous.”

 

I ignored his comment, pushing my door open as well. Not even five seconds after I climbed out of the car, Fiona nearly tackled me to the ground in a hug. “I’ve missed you!”

 

“I’ve missed you too,” I replied honestly, squeezing her tightly. It’d only been one day, and yet it felt like forever. Sebastian floated through my mind for a moment, causing my heart to clench. Who knew spending a week with people could make you feel so strongly about them? “How’s Sebastian?”

 

Fiona chuckled, releasing me. “He’s good. He says the mansion is too boring without you.”

 

 

“That’s what I said,” Vincent interjected, an annoyed expression on his face. Joel elbowed him in the ribs. “Aw, you jealous?”

 

“No,” he said, shoving Joel away from him and into the BMW.

 

I winced, expecting a dent. “You can’t do that in the school, Vincent.” “I’m not stupid.”

 

“Vivi!” Joel cried, looking at him in mock horror. “You’re still insulting her? You’d think after your first night together you’d—” Fiona gasped. “First night together?”

 

“Not like that!” Vincent and I said at the same time, my eyes giving Joel and accusing look.

 

Vincent was a safe distance away from me at night— not that I thought he was going to kill me in my sleep or anything, but my dad thought he might try something, so he placed a lock on the guest room door. I covered my mouth quickly to stop myself from bursting out laughing. Vincent was

 

not happy with that. We both knew he could easily break the door if he wanted to, but it was still amusing. He wasn’t allowed to leave his room at night.

 

.

 

.

 

“So, Emily,” Joel said, breaking the silence that had settled. He threw an arm around my shoulder, dragging me closer to him. “You’re a human. Show me around this place!”

 

“Well since you guys are new, I think you have to go to the office first to get your schedule…” I trailed off, my mouth drying. Why hadn’t I thought about that? The chances were high that we wouldn’t have any classes together! “What happens if you guys don’t have classes with me? What are you going to do?” Joel clapped me on the shoulder. “Sebastian took care of that!”

 

I was afraid to ask what he meant by that. Deep down, I knew I already knew, but I didn’t really want to hear it out loud. “Wait, don’t tell me…”

 

“Every single class!” Fiona chirped. “Why?” I cried. I was going to go crazy!”

 

Vincent sighed heavily. “Stupid really is a fitting nickname. Why are we here again?”

 

I faced him, putting my hands on my hips. “To make sure I don’t get into any trouble.”

 

“Now, pray, tell me how are we supposed to do that if we don’t have classes together?”

 

“Uhhh…” I hesitated, a sheepish expression crossing my face. “Good point.”

 

 

“Yeah. Now let’s go.” Without waiting for any of us, Vincent began stalking off in the direction of the school.

 

Fiona watched him for a moment, a dissatisfied look on her face. “I thought getting him out of the house would make him ease up a little bit… Generally when we go out he loosens up.”

 

I frowned at her. So he wasn’t acting weird after all. He really did act different outside of the manor. “He was kinda like that before, but when you guys showed up…”

 

“It’s me!” Joel gasped dramatically, retracing his arm. “I’m a bad influence.”

 

“You’re his best friend,” Fiona pointed out. “Aside from Sam. He wouldn’t change

 

his attitude in front of you.”

 

“Then it’s you.”

 

Fiona quietly snorted. “Yeah, right.”

 

“Well, whatever. Just let him be moody. He’ll scare all the girls away this way,” I said, starting for the school building now. Vincent was already at the entrance. “Come on.”

 

Joel threw me a sly grin. “You don’t want the girls all over him?” “No,” I grumbled.

 

“Ouu, do you have a crush?”

 

I did my best to keep a straight face. Was it that obvious? Couldn’t I just not want girls all over him? I grimaced. No, I couldn’t do that. “No,” I finally lied smoothly. “It’d just be annoying to have all the girls around him when he has to be around me all the time. That means the girls will be there too.”

 

“Ahh,” Joel responded, nodding his had understandingly. “That could get annoying.”

 

Fiona cocked an eyebrow. “If girls surrounded you when Vincent was around?” “Well for me it would be other guys,” he clarified.

 

“Vincent!” I shouted, waving my hand frantically at said man. “Wait a second! I’ll show you where to go!”

 

He turned back to me, his lips pressed into a flat line. “I can figure it out myself.” “We can all go together. Our excuse for being late could be I had to go pick you guys up because you couldn’t find your way.”

 

.

 

.

 

“Whaaat? We have to be on time every day?” Joel asked, looking at me in distaste. “Ew.”

 

 

I smiled patiently at him. “You could be late at that… whatever school you guys went to before?”

 

Joel, Vincent, and Fiona nodded. “We’re from the royal family,” they chorused.

 

“Well lucky you,” I responded with a forced grin. Stupid royalty.

 

Vincent pushed open the doors to the school as we reached it, allowing us to enter first before he shut it. Together we traversed down the main hallway, littered with lockers and display cases. Joel was looking around with wide eyes, Fiona had a nostalgic expression on her face, and Vincent just frowned. They were going to be one very interesting trio.

 

“Miss Brown!” Ms. Scully, the office person, greeted me loudly, a smile crossing her plump face. “Long time no see! I bet there are the new transfer students you’re tugging along with you!”

 

“Yep,” I told her, moving toward the desk. “I brought them here to get their schedule. We all just arrived.”

 

She smiled warmly at Vincent, Fiona, and Joel for a second before returning to me. “I’ll write you guys a pass in a moment. Let me just find these guys’ schedules. You’re just in time for second period…”

 

“Second period?” Joel whispered loudly. “That’s so gross. Why do we need to know that?”

 

My eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. I whipped around quickly, dragging a finger horizontally across my chest. Fiona giggled, whispering something in his ear. He grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. “Oh! Whoops…” “Idiot,” Vincent sighed.

 

I rubbed my temple with my forefinger and middle finger. It was going to be a long day. What subject were we starting off with? I racked my brain for a moment before remembering with a crushing weight that second period was math. A groan slipped through my lips.

 

“Something wrong, dear?” Ms. Scully inquired, waddling back to the main desk with papers in hand. “Here are your schedules… Fiona? Vincent? Joel?” She nodded to each as she said their name, handing them their schedules. “I hope you have a great first day!”

 

“Thank you!” Joel and Fiona chirped together while Vincent just muttered his gratitude.

 

“We have math first,” I told them glumly as we trudged out of the office after receiving our late slips. Joel was looking at his schedule in confusion, so I stole a glance at it. I did a double take when I noticed his second period was physics. “Wait, what?”

 

 

Fiona tapped me on the shoulder, thrusting her schedule in my face. “I have Asian Civ. second period.”

 

I blinked again. “What?”

 

“I thought we all had the same schedule?” Joel spoke up, turning to Vincent. “Right, Vivi?”

 

He shrugged. “Apparently not if yours says different.” “But then who’s going to watch Emily?”

 

“I have math second period,” he replied, waving his schedule.

 

I yanked the piece of paper out of his hand, scanning it briefly. Vincent almost had every subject with me— everything but Chemistry and English. “Fiona, do you have English period four or chemistry period five?”

 

“I have English sixth!” Joel said excitedly. “Vivi’s not in it?”

 

“No, and don’t call me that,” Vincent growled, narrowing his eyes threateningly. “I don’t want to hear it again.”

 

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Joel smirked. “Sure, Vivi.”

 

“You son of a—”

 

“I have chemistry fifth,” Fiona interjected, shooting her brother a flat look. “So we have you covered throughout the day… Do we have any classes all together?”

 

I glanced over all their schedules again, frowning a little bit. “Art, history, and Spanish… And lunch.”

 

She beamed brightly. “Yay!”

 

“Well, we better get to class,” Joel said, smiling expectantly at me. “Which way am I going?”

 

I pointed to the yellow hallway that was next to us. “Follow that all the way to the end and it’s the last door on the right.”

 

He saluted me. “Ay ay! What about history?”

 

“Someone from class will show you the way,” I assured him, praying someone

 

actually would . One of the girls had to— Joel was way too cute to pass up giving

 

help to. “Are you all set, Fiona?”

 

“Nope!”

 

I sighed. “Just follow the stairs that are around the corner to the top floor and it’s the middle door on the left in the green hallway.” She nodded. “Okay.”

 

“Then go for it. Don’t be afraid to ask someone for help if you get lost!” I called as they started walking away. “I’ll see you next period!”

 

 

They both waved me off. I watched them for a second, my stomach twisting uncomfortably. Was this how it felt when mothers send their children off to school for the first time? I almost laughed at the simile I made. Fiona and Joel were not my children. My nerves were probably coming from the fact I just sent out two vampires into a human school… Two overly zealous vampires.

 

“Any day now,” Vincent said, knocking me gently on the head. “Are we going to class or not?”

 

I studied his face for a moment, frowning. What were the students going to think of Vincent? To me he looked pretty normal (well, besides being abnormally handsome), but what if to other people he looked fake? Would they figure out something was weird…? No, there were cuter guys than Vincent at this school (if only by a little bit), so his looks probably wouldn’t be a problem. He wore normal clothing— blue jeans and a black t-shirt that fit him pretty well. Even his skin didn’t look as pale as it usually did.

 

Vincent suddenly crossed his arms over his chest, faking an embarrassed look. “Stop checking me out!”

 

I pulled myself out of my thoughts, shooting him a dirty look. “I wasn’t! Come on, let’s go!”

 

“Sure you weren’t,” he responded skeptically. “Don’t worry. I’m used to it.”

 

“That’s a good thing.”

 

“Hmm?”

 

I glanced back at him. “Girls will be staring at you all day…” For a brief second jealousy washed over me, but I shook it away. I’d be worried if girls didn’t stare. Besides, I didn’t have anything to be jealous about— Vincent probably wouldn’t give anyone a second look.

 

Abruptly a hand enclosed around my upper arm, effectively yanking me to a stop. Surprised, I turned my head to look at Vincent. “What?” “Look down, stupid,” he ordered, looking irritated.

 

I did as he said, my eyes widening when I realized we were at the stairs. I hadn’t eve noticed! Letting out an embarrassed chuckle, I slowly eased my arm from his grip. “W-well, what do you know…”

 

.

 

.

 

“Pay attention,” he demanded, brushing by me and descending the stairs. “I can just imagine what my father would say if you died from falling down the stairs.” “I wouldn’t have died,” I responded, hurrying after him. “Take a right down this hallway,” I added, tugging on his arm. “First door to the left.”

 

 

He grunted in response, allowing me to pull him with me. “How long is a school day?”

 

“Six hours.”

 

He froze, making me body jerk as I came to a stop. “What did you say?” I raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t know school was six hours?” “No!”

 

“Well it is. How long was… v-school?”

 

“V-school?”

 

I flushed, narrowing my eyes at him. “You know! The word I can’t say.”

 

“It was three hours every day,” he responded grumpily. “We have to sit through six

 

of human high school now?”

 

“Technically it’s six and a half…”

 

“Kill me,” he groaned.

 

I dropped my gaze to the floor. “Well if I knew how…” “I’m not telling you.”

 

My shoulders sagged in defeat. “Whatever. I wasn’t that curious anyway. Let’s go to class now.”

 

Vincent sighed heavily before I heard the sound of his footfalls following me. My heart began to race as we grew closer and closer to the classroom door. I had no idea why I was feeling so nervous. It’d only been about a week and a half since I’d been out, and everyone thought I’d been in Florida— no big deal. Sweat covered my palms as I clenched the late pass in my left one, right before the door. After taking a soothing best, I turned toward Vincent. “Are you ready?” “No,” he deadpanned.

 

I breathed out a nervous chuckle. “Here we go…”

 

Bracing myself, I pushed open the door. Immediately twenty pairs of eyes snapped to Vincent and myself. I smiled awkwardly back at them, making eye contact with a few of my closer friends. When they sent me bright smiles, I began to feel more relaxed. Ms. Schott, the math teacher, looked up from her notes to scowl at us for a moment. She didn’t like interruptions.

 

“Ah, Emily, you’re back!” she cried after a few more moments. “Good! Now you can play catch up. And I’m assuming this is Mr. Rutherford?”

 

At the sound of Vincent’s last name, whispers burst through the class, as if every had just noticed Vincent. I took a quick peek at him, taking in his bored expression. A small smile slipped onto my face as I returned to look at Ms. Schott. Vincent wasn’t even looking at the other students. “He’s hot.”

 

 

My head automatically shot toward the girl, Jessie, who’d uttered the words. Of course, that sparked an automatic reaction from everyone else who had to get their opinion in. I didn’t have to turn around to know Vincent was smirking now. He was probably basking in the attention.

 

“Please take a seat and start today’s notes then,” Ms. Schott continued, making me realize I hadn’t heard one thing she said in the last minute. “Have Mr. Rutherford sit next to you since you’re both behind quite a bit.”

 

I nodded, gesturing Vincent to follow me to the back of the room where our seats were. A few people whispered greetings to Vincent and myself. As expected, most of the girls, and even some guys, couldn’t keep their attention off him. I slumped into my chair wearily. It hadn’t even been ten minutes of school and I was already tired.

 

“Emily!” my friend Hannah hissed, waving frantically to get my attention. “Who’s your friend?”

 

I stared straight ahead, pretending I couldn’t hear her. Ms. Schott didn’t like people talking in class anyway.

 

“Emily!” another voice whispered.

 

I focused intently on the board.

 

“Em!”

 

“Emily!”

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“Guys, shut up!” I hushed quietly, glaring at the three girls bothering me— Hannah, Grace, and Stephanie. If they wanted to ask questions about Vincent they could do it later, or ask him directly.

 

“Today we’ll be learning about radicals,” Ms. Schott suddenly announced, making eye contact with me.

 

“What’s a radical?” Vincent muttered, leaning back in his seat. He wore an uncomfortable expression, revealing to me that the seats didn’t please him. I did my best to keep my energy calm. After a few more seconds I gave up, dropping my head onto my desk. “I don’t know, Vincent. I don’t know

 

Tbc