Half Vampire: Fights for love

Chapter 11

The boy moved on down the hallway and went out of sight. Dimly, I realized the bell was ringing. Denise was tugging on my arm.

"What?" I asked.

"I said, 'Here is your schedule. We've got classes on the second floor right now. Come on!"

I allowed Denise to push me down the corridor, up a flight of stairs, and into the classroom; I slid into an empty seat automatically and fixed my eyes on the teacher at the front without really seeing me.

He walked right by. Without a glance, they all looked, at least. Some whistled. Some stopped to talk. Some just stared.

Ms. Ryan passed out trigonometry books. I took mine and wrote my name inside, still wrapped in thought.

"He is looking at you," Denise whispered.

"Who?" I asked. I was still focusing on the board.

"Chase." Denise said.

The shock that came to me at that moment was a big one. Oh, Chase, Chase Parker. The guy I like but I can't be with or the world will destroy. Last week, Chase was mad at me, and now I don't know if he still is.

"Is he still staring?" I asked.

Denise looked at me and sighed. "Look Inez, you should talk to him. You didn't come to school yesterday and the day before. Chase didn't either, and his grades are getting poor. I heard his dad came yesterday and chatted with the Principal."

I stared at him and saw his eyes on me. Immediately, I looked away. "I don't know Denise... I think he and Jada are back together, and I don't want to be a third wheel."

"Are you minding Jada? He likes you, Inez. Look at the way he looks at you."

"Okay, I will talk to him," I said.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, I will."

The bell rang, and everyone flooded out of the classroom. I paused in the doorway. I bit my lip, scanning the river of students flowing through the hall. Then I spotted Chase's friend Larry."

"Larry! Come." I gestured my hand at him, calling him over.

Larry came eagerly, his face brightening.

"Listen, Larry, I need you to pass a note for me."

"To whom?"

"Chase, well, I've treated him badly and I want a do-over," I said, and gave the note to him.

Larry looked surprised for a moment, then grinded and nodded. "You should. Chase is a good guy, and you shouldn't make my best friend feel this way. Anyways, I will give him the note."

"Thanks." I watched Larry leave.

"You know, you are crazy." Denise's voice said, in my ear. "When you said you were going to talk to him, I didn't expect the note."

"I feel bad for treating him that way, and I feel he will ignore me if I decide to walk to him."

"Hmm, so you want him to walk to you, clever," Denise said calmly.

I gave a light smile.

...

Dear Diary,

I have five days left to feed or I die.

The council said I do, but I don't believe it because I'm not a believer of these things.

I don't know why, but I feel something awful is going to happen. There's this new boy. He looked mysterious, and I could feel the aura that came through him the moment he came down from his car.

He looked very powerful, and I don't know if I'm strong enough to save the world as the council claimed. The Book of Supernaturals has been glowing recently. I don't know what that means, but I think it knows where I can find the wendigo. That's a good thing, right?

I haven't told Mom about him yet because I still have to witness it myself if he is human or not. It's crazy, I know, but I am the chosen one and I have to risk my life to save the lives of people.

Earlier this morning, I gave Larry a note to Chase for me. I wanted to work this friendship thing out with him, and at least we can be friends.

I stopped writing and put my diary in my bag.

At the lunch bell, I nodded in greeting right and left as I walked to the cafeteria. Jada was outside, posing casually against the wall with her chin up, shoulders back, and hips forward. The two boys she was talking to fell silent and pushed each other as I approached.

"Hi," I said, briefly greeting the boys.

Jada rolled her eyes. "Ready to go in and eat?" she said to Maddie.

Jada's eyes barely flashed towards me, and she pushed her blonde hair out of her face.

"Okay," Maddie replied as they walked into the lunchroom together.

It was a relief to see Denise. I felt my cheeks cool as I selected my lunch and went to join her. I will not let Jada upset me, I will not think of Jada at all.

"I got it," Denise said, waving a piece of paper as I sat next to her.

"What did you get?"

"Inez, listen to this. He is in my chemistry class, and I sit right across from him. His name is Corner Miller. I don't know where he is from." She sighed. "He is romantic. A girl dropped her books and he picked them up for her."

"Why are you telling me all this?" I asked as I chewed my food.

"I don't know actually."

I looked over at the sheet of paper Denise gave me and bite my lip. "He's in my seventh period. Anyone else have that class?"

"I do," Denise said. "And I think Chase does, too. Oh, and maybe Jada."

"Marvelous!" I said. "It looks as if the seventh period is going to be interesting."

~~~

Corner was glad the school day was almost over. He wanted to get out of these crowded rooms and corridors, just for a few minutes.

So many minds. The pressure of so many through patterns, so many mental voices surrounding him, is making him dizzy.

One mind, in particular, stands out from the others. He cannot read it, but he knows she had been among those watching him in the main corridor of the school building. He didn't know what she looked like, but her personality and aura were powerful.

He feels sure he will recognize it again. So far, at least, he will survive the first day of the masquerade. He will use the power only twice, and then sparingly. But he is tired, and he is, he admits ruefully, hungry. The rabbit hadn't been enough.

Worry about that later. He finds his last class and sits down. And immediately he feels the presence of that mind again...the one he couldn't read.

The aura coming from her is powerful, and for the first time, he can locate the girl it's coming from. She's sitting right in front of him.

She turns around, and he sees her face. It's all he can do not to gasp in shock. Princess! But of course, he can't kidnap her and take her straight to the shadow world right away. He knows he will complete his mission the moment he takes her to the king, but one part of him wants to see what befriending the princess will be like.

She fixes her eyes on him and smiles.

He looks down from the smile quickly. He has no feelings about her at all, he keeps telling himself this as he sits.

He can smell a subtle hint of some perfume. And her slender white neck is bent over her book.

In anger and frustration, he recognizes the seductive feeling in his teeth. It's hunger, a specific hunger.

The teacher is pacing about the room, asking questions and Corner deliberately focusing his attention on the man. The questions keep coming. And just now, he finds another victim, a small girl with black hair. Corner watches as the teacher pesters her with questions. She looks wretched as he turns away from her to address the entire class.

Corner can feel the fear in the student's mind. They are all afraid of the man, except for a boy sitting across the window.

"All right, let's try another era." The teacher asks the same girl he'd been questioning. "During this Renaissance, the Europeans and Native Americans had various religious viewpoints and practices. In your opinion, did religious diversity encourage conflict and violence between Europeans and Native Americans?"

The girl swallows hard. With a weak smile, she looks away, embarrassed.

"Excuse me."

The quiet voice stops the teacher. Everyone turns to stare at Corner.

"Go on," the teacher says.

Corner removes his glasses and stands up. " Native American religions, from the indigenous peoples, lived by certain ceremonial ways and beliefs based on spiritual stories in their tribes, mostly related to allegories related to certain experiences, travels, and animals. They were monotheistic, polytheistic, animistic, or could even combine these options. They passed on their traditions orally within their communities." He says. To the teacher, he adds. "Maybe you shouldn't focus on one person when asking questions."

The students are grinning, even Chase. The teacher's face becomes red, and he's sputtering. But Corner continues to hold his eyes, and after another minute, it is the teacher who looks away.

The bell rings.

Corner puts his glasses on quickly and gathers his books.

Inez watches him as he walks out of the class.