Frustrated, he pushed back his black hair, his earrings catching the moonlight.
"Don't say that--you've brought me a life I never knew existed. Adventure, belonging. True love."
His sullen eyes sparkled.
"Well, if you don't act normal, we'll have your parents, friends, and the whole town questioning your behavior," he argued.
I gnawed on my black fingernail. "But they already do."
A sweet smile came over his pale face. Then he furrowed his brow.
"Besides, you can do what I can't--attend school. That's where Trevor will be, if he's not already turned. Then you'll have a shot at convincing him to stay away from Luna."
I felt a sudden surge of pride. "You're entrusting me with a secret mission?"
"You'll be like a gothic Charlie's Angel."
"What if Jagger finds out I'm at school?" I asked. "He may wonder why I'm out in the daylight. I've never seen any vampires attending Dullsville High."
"That's the exact reason Jagger and Luna will never find out. Since they'll be hidden from the sun, they won't ever be able to see you," he reassured me.
"But what if Trevor or his soccer snob friends tell Jagger they saw me at school?" I pressed. "They won't have proof," Alexander said with certainty. "Jagger isn't likely to believe what he hasn't seen. And he did see me bite you, or pretend to bite you," he admitted, "at the drive-in."
Alexander walked me to the door. He leaned in to me and gave me a long good-night kiss. "While you're at school, I'll be fast asleep dreaming of you."
Alexander blew me a kiss, got in his car, and drove down the driveway. When I turned to wave, he had already vanished from view.
That night, as I lay in bed, I tried to calm my anxious nerves. I closed my eyes and imagined Alexander alone in his attic bedroom, skillfully painting a portrait of us at Dullsville's carnival, blasting Korn from his stereo.
I wasn't sure Alexander could remain so calm, knowing Luna and Jagger were in Dullsville. After the sun rose, I wouldn't be able to see my vampire-mate until nightfall. As Alexander slept the day away, I would return to school and find Trevor on my own.
The next morning, I awoke to the sun scorching through the cracks between my curtains like a burning torch. I pulled the drapes tightly closed, covered myself with a blanket, and tried to go back to sleep. But I kept thinking about my mission--to save my nemesis from a thirsty vampiress. I was in my bedroom scrounging for clothes for school when I heard the sound of a honking horn.
"Becky's here!" my mom called up to me from the kitchen.
"She's always ten minutes early!" I barked, pulling black-and- white tights over my legs. My best friend had always kept farm hours, but now that she was dating Matt, Trevor's former silent shadow, she insisted on arriving at school even earlier.
The sound of a horn blasted again. "You'll see him for the next six hours!" I murmured to myself.
"Raven," my mom called again. "I can't take you in today. I have a meeting--"
"I know! I'll be down in a minute!"
The truth was if Alexander was waiting by the bleachers for me at Dullsville High each day, I'd set my Nightmare Before Christmas alarm clock for five thirty, too. But as I put on a black miniskirt and a torn Donnie Darko T-shirt, all I could think of was handsome Alexander sleeping in his darkened bedroom. I would face the sunny day without him.
As Becky impatiently honked again, I covered my already blackened, tired eyes with charcoal eye shadow and eyeliner. Finally I grabbed my backpack and waved to my mom, and climbed into Becky's truck.
"I'm disconnecting that horn immediately," I said in a grumpy tone as I climbed into Becky's pickup.
"I'm sorry, Raven, it's just that--"
"I know, I know. 'I'm meeting Matt by the bleachers before school.'"
"Am I getting annoying?" she asked. "I'd be the same way if Alexander was waiting for me at school, instead of Trevor Mitchell."
"Thanks for understanding."
Becky passed a yellow bus loaded with preteen students heading for Dullsville Middle. Several students gathered at their windows. Some gawked at me, while the others pointed and laughed. I would have been surprised and perturbed, except that they did that every day.
"Well, speaking of Trevor...I have some major dirt on him."
"What's the buzz factor?"
"On a scale of one to ten, it's a nine and a half."
"Bring it on," I said, checking my ghoulish makeup in her broken visor mirror.
"Trevor has a girlfriend."
"You mean Luna?" I said, slamming the visor back.
"Luna?" she asked, confused.
"I mean, luna...tic. She's got to be a lunatic to date him. Anyway, who told you?"
"Matt said Trevor was seen with a goth at the carnival. I thought he meant you until he said she had ghost white hair."
"Goth? That's what people are saying about her?"
She nodded her head. "Yes. And that she's a major hottie. Matt didn't say that, of course, but he said that's what the soccer snobs are saying. You know how guys are, checking out the new girl."
"But Trevor despises anyone not sporting school colors." "Yeah, but she dotes on him like he's a prince. She and her brother worship him. So it's like he's captain of the soccer snobs and the goths. His head is going to explode.
"He probably likes her," she went on, "but it's you he really loves. It's obvious he's had a crush on you since you were kids. He can't have you, so he's trying to get second best."
I rolled my eyes and pretended to gag. "Thanks for the compliment," I said sarcastically.
"The good news is maybe Trevor will stop torturing you."
If Trevor became a vampire, his bite would be worse than his bark.
"Apparently she showed up at their soccer practice last night, cheering for Trevor," Becky continued.
"She did? I was afraid this would happen."
"Afraid of what?"
"Uh...," I began, stalling. "That Trevor would be popular again. After we've worked so hard to expose his inner monster."
"Without Matt by his side, no one cares what he says or does anymore."
"But who knows what..."
"We have our own lives now," Becky said proudly. "So who cares if he has one too."
I looked out the window and reflected on the rivalry Trevor and I had had since childhood. Deep down, I knew Becky was right, but I felt torn. Even though I detested Trevor and I was in love with Alexander, there was still a teeny competitive part of me that didn't want Trevor to be popular and have a girlfriend--vampire or not. Becky and I arrived late at the soccer field and spotted Matt walking down the bleachers, listening to his iPod. Becky raced over to him as if he had just disembarked off a military vessel.