Dark Love

musicankane

I blew a monkey once.
Joined
Dec 30, 2004
Posts
15,638
The day Elizabeth Annabel Worthington came into my life was the day I knew things for me would never be the same. Before Elizabeth (or Eliza as she preferred) my life was the normal boring drab you might expect from an eighteen year old normal guy. I was an average student, my friends were average students. I had a perfectly average life.

My name is Jason Stanson I live in a small county of Ventura, California which sat on the very northern tip of what could still be considered Los Angeles. I lived in a small house that sat just off the highway that led up to Lake Casitas. The house was tucked against the woodlands that began here and led up into Sequoia national forest much further northeast.

My father Sam, and I moved here about ten years ago just after my mother Emily passed away from breast cancer. I was only seven at the time and most of the things I know about her I had to learn second hand from my father. He started his own plumbing and carpentering business upon moving to Ventura and was well known by the locals. My father had always been good with his hands and was the only man I knew who enjoying working dirty. Personally I’ll pass.

Ventura itself is a medium size town of at least 150,000. Yet despite the size it always had a kind of small town feel, everyone knew almost everyone. The town nestled against forest and led right out to the California coast, it added a diverse culture to the people here. One of my favorite things to do with my friends was to hang out down by the beach and watch the surf. I wasn’t a surfer but my friends were, I usually just watched and waved at them when they caught a good swell.

Ventura High School held a whopping 689 students across five grades which meant a little over a hundred kids per grade and all of them spread out amongst themselves at lunch time. However the student body was still large enough that a new student wouldn’t cause that much of a fuss, sometimes nobody even knew about a new kid until they showed up in class.

Eliza Worthington was not the case. She showed up on a Thursday which alone was odd, but the whole school was alive with chatter about this student. It was just two weeks before Christmas Vacation so she would be fresh for the second semester come January. Girls in the hall already talked about hating her for her looks. The jocks whispered about seeing the most beautiful girl they’d ever seen.

My best friend Tim Brand, we just called him TB to get a rise out of him, and I saw no sign of this girl except the impact and buzz she had started among the student body. That changed when we got to fifth period. Tim and I had the same math class for fifth period which we both hated equally. Not only was the class boring because our teacher looked a hundred years old but also acted like it, but he sat across the room from me so we couldn’t even toss answers at each other or snicker behind the teachers back. Snickering was a past time of ours, like baseball.

Anyway I sat in class waiting for the bell to ring, doodling on a spare piece of notebook paper. I glanced up when the class suddenly went silent. There handing our teacher Mr. Hoover a registration note was the new girl, Elizabeth Worthington. My breath caught in my throat and I fought against myself to not stare but couldn’t control myself. The entire class was doing the exact same thing.

When the murmurs in the hall said that this Elizabeth was gorgeous they had been grossly understated how truly magnificent she really looked. Her skin was a soft pale perfect, with a slight hint of rose in her cheeks. She had long wavy raven black hair that fell around her shoulders perfectly. Her body looked like it was carved from stone to be forever perfect, her every movement held an uncanny grace that only a ballet dance ever could hope to achieve. Yet her eyes are what called to me more than anything else, they were the most amazing color of brown I had ever seen. A brown that was almost a flat gold, they pulled me in like they fueled life itself.

I instantly was in love with her. I guess not true love, more like a crush, but still the fire for something more burned in my chest waiting for only a single spark of hope that she would acknowledge my existence to ignite it to a passion.

I watch as she got her slip signed by Mr. Hoover and tucked it into the pocket of the black book bag she had slung over her shoulder. She shifted the weight of the bag and straightened out the white blouse she was wearing. The color of her top brought out the rosy color in her cheeks even more, and her black skirt revealed flawless legs from blow mid-thigh.

Mr. Hoover pointed her to an empty seat and I inhaled sharply when I noticed it was right next to mine. I tried to watch her walk toward me without staring but I failed miserably. My eyes still hooked on hers as she walked down the row of seats toward her new desk. She held herself with confidence, seemingly unaware of all the eyes on her as she walked through the room.

Until her eyes met mine.

She stopped short when her gaze met mine and something crossed her thoughts that made my chest swell in happiness. I’m not sure if it was amazement or shock, but maybe it was a little of both, perhaps it was even interest. I had to force myself to look away, I didn’t want to freak her out or appear like a tool bag. I poured fake interest in the chapter of the textbook we would be looking at today.

I remained aware of her gaze still on me as she slowly took her seat. It was a hard fight to not glance at her every five seconds throughout the class. I never concentrated on Mr. Hoovers lecture so hard in my life, but I did it. Elizabeth didn’t seem to have that same fear of appearing foolish; I felt her eyes on me the entire lecture. Unsettling as it was, it didn’t completely bother me. It built my confidence, I would ask to sit with her at lunch after this period ended and guessing by how she never took her eyes off me she had to be interested.

The bell finally rang and I turned to ask Elizabeth to hang out at lunch. When I turned in my seat to look at her, she was already gone. I looked around, catching a glimpse of her just as she left the room. How had she gotten there so fast? I frowned and stuffed my books into my backpack and left class.

Tim was waiting for me in the hall as usual with a dumb grin on his face. He fell into step beside me as we made our way to the cafeteria. The eleventh and twelfth grade students had a separate lunch period than the rest of the school to prevent over crowding at the lunch lines, so the halls weren’t that crowded as we headed down to the lunch lines.

Tim was bursting with excitement. “Oh man. Can you believe her?” He asked me. “The hottest of all hotties in our class. I can’t believe your luck, man. I mean she sits right next to you.”

Tim was a great friend, the kind of guy that would always get your back no matter what the odds. He only had one flaw, a maturity of a ten year old, most of the time. Tim could be really deep and mature when he wanted too, but most of the time he was a joking big mouth that sometimes could rub you the wrong way if you didn’t know him well enough. He was a tall guy, standing a good five inches over my five foot ten inch tall self. He had short dirty blonde hair that he kept spiked, and never wore anything other than surf T-shirts and blue jeans. Today his shirt was yellow with a picture of a large wave on it.

I shrugged. “I’m sure she’ll enjoy being called a hottie.” I said flatly.

“Of course.” Tim said with a grin. “Chicks love compliments. Hey I saw her staring at you in class, did she talk to you at all?”

I shook my head. “She was staring at me?” I asked in ignorance.

“Yeah dude, I don’t think she looked at the board once. I know these things, cause I was staring at her.” He laughed and slapped me across my chest. “Hey you should ask her out tomorrow night. Take her to a movie or something like that. Bloodlust opens tomorrow.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, right man like a horror flick would be a perfect first date.”

“Of course man. It’s so simple, look, you take her to a scary movie and she clings to you every time something scary happens.” Tim explained.

I’ll be honest, it did sound like a good idea. Bloodlust was supposed to be the scariest vampire flick in the last decade. I was always on the lookout for a good vampire film, or book. It was kind of my secret hobby I suppose. I kept it to myself though, not even Tim knew about my dirty little secret.

We got our food and headed to our usual table where our small niche of friends waited for us. Max Newton, sat on the left. Max was a very big, very round fellow who tended to be the most down to Earth guy in the group. Whenever we had a crazy idea or something dangerous, Max was always there to say “Don’t be stupid.” Despite his love of safety he never felt like a bummer to us. Left alone we’d probably all would have broken bones and a mental disorders by now. Like usual he wore a flannel button of shirt and large slacks.

Next to Max sat Stacy Wilson and her boyfriend Todd Carmander. Stacy was a petite little red head with a kind face and pretty freckles. She kept her hair curly and short, since I’ve known her I don’t think I’ve seen her hair once fall past her chin. She was the best dresser of the group and as the only girl she should have been. Today she wore a casual pink dress and flip flops. It looked good on her, everything she wore looked good on her. I only dressed so I wouldn’t come to school in the nude.

Todd was a short stocky guy with dark brown, almost black, hair. He kept his hair short and neatly trimmed mostly because Stacy would never let him go out looking like a circus clown, as she so called it. Todd was usually dressed by Stacy and as a result was the best looking out of us guys. He wore a dark grey button up shirt and black khakis.

“Hey guys.” Tim said cheerfully as he and I took our seats across from the rest of our group.

“Hi, Tim. Hi Jason.” Stacy said. She always greeted us individually, she said it was a sign of respect and friendship.

I smiled but kept quiet as I sat down.

“Have you guys seen the new girl?” Todd asked us. “Oh my god, she’s gorgeous.” He winced as Stacy elbowed him. “Oww, but it’s true.”

Stacy smiled. “I know, I just wanted to keep your mind on me.” She said cheerfully.

Tim nodded. “Yeah she’s in our math class. You guys are never gonna guess who she as a crush on.”

Max grunted. “Been in school less than a day and already infatuated with a jock. Typical.”

Tim grinned. “Not exactly.” He threw his arm around me. “She couldn’t keep her eyes off this guy!” He cried excitedly.

Stacy’s eyes went wide and Todd looked amazed. “Really?”

“Naw, he’s exaggerating.” I said simply.

Tim nudged me. “Look whatever man, she likes you. I was watching her the whole time in class.” He said turned his attention to the cafeteria obviously looking for the subject of our conversation. “She didn’t look away from you for a second, so don’t give me that crap. There she is.” He said pointed toward the back corner of the room.

We all looked over. Sure enough in the far corner of the room Elizabeth sat looking disappointed in the school food on her tray. She seemed uninterested and unconcerned with the looks people gave her as they walked by.

Tim elbowed me. “You need to go over there and talk to her.” He told me. “Go ask her out to the movie.”

Stacy ever the matchmaker agreed with him. “Yeah Jason you should. You two would make such a cute couple.”

I shook my head. “No I can’t, come on. What would I say to her?” I wanted more than anything to go over and talk to her, but at the same time I was scared of what she would say. What if Tim was wrong about why she stared at me? What if I smelled bad or something and she just wanted me to go away?

“Saying ‘Hi, I’m Jason’ would be a good start.” Stacy said rolling her eyes. She kicked my shin under the table. “Just go talk to her.”

I stood up. “Alright love connection. Take it easy I’m going.” I got up and turned toward the table where Elizabeth sat. I took a deep breath and started toward her.

“Good luck.” I heard Stacy say behind me.

My pulse began to race again the closer I got to her. She seemed to not notice me approaching, I watched as she continued to play with the stack of French fries on her tray. She had them stacked into a little house, obviously completely uninterested in eating them.

I figured I’d start with a joke. My sense of humor was my best quality I think. Maybe it was just annoying. Either way I was nervous, and I joke when I’m nervous.

“You know with a little ketchup you can almost hide the taste of the cardboard.” I said with a smile.

She didn’t answer me and I panicked. My heart thudded heavily in my chest and I noticed her tighten her grip on the plastic fork she was holding.
Cleared my throat and forced another smile on my face.

“I’m Jason. You sit next to me in math.” I said. “I know it’s hard being new and all, so I was wondering if you would maybe like to go see a movie or something with me.”

She was silent for a long time her hand crushing the plastic fork in her hand. “No.” She hissed. “I can’t.”

I took a step back and my stomach lurched. She sounded angry and hurt, the feeling in my chest tightened when I thought that it was mostly likely because of me that she was so angry. Yet at the same time her voice, oh her voice was like music to my soul. In three words I learned that her voice could make my entire being sing with joy.

“Ok,” I said roughly, trying to recover from the shock her voice had hit me with. “I’m sorry. Uh, if you change your mind, I sit right over there with my friends.” I said jerking a thumb toward the table where we all typically sat.

She nodded only slightly and said nothing else.

My mood back at the table was empty. I suddenly had no care about anything, I wasn’t hungry, I was empty. I grabbed my tray off the table without saying anything to my friends and stalked off.

“I guess that didn’t go so well.” Tim said to the others as I walked away.

I tossed my lunch in the trash and left the cafeteria as fast as I could force my legs to go without breaking into a run. I couldn’t be in the same room with her, not right now. Even from the table my friends hung out at I could feel her pull. It was subtle but constant, like someone was gently tugging on the back of my shirt, not hard, but enough to always be on my mind.

I felt better when I got outside, the fresh ocean air and sun finally breaking through the mornings fog all helped calm me. I took a walk around the campus. Ventura High had a large wide open from campus, with an elegant fountain in the center. The found almost never worked but even dry it was still a nicely carved image of a man teaching a young student. The child on the fountain was facing the teacher and everyone assumed it was a little boy because he wore a baseball cap. This week the fountain was working properly and the small sound of running water echoed across the campus.

When the bell rang for sixth period I was myself again. The rest of the day seemed to drag and I found myself looking forward to the next day in math when I’d be able to apologize to Elizabeth for my behavior. I don’t know what exactly I did wrong it just felt like it might be a way to make amends with her if I apologized.

That night my dad made Linguini and meatballs for dinner. I ate slowly, my stomach not feeling quite right yet. I cleaned my plate though and washed the dishes. I needed the extra task to keep my mind off of that girl. Every time I turned around though I could see her almost golden eyes staring back at me. If my dad noticed anything he thankfully kept quiet. We were both men and I was nearly eighteen, my birthday not even a month away, but even still it was hard to talk to each other about some things. If I was ill my father would be on top of it, but if it was something social that ate at me, he tended to let me be and get over it on my own. Tonight I honestly was glad he did that, I couldn’t imagine having to tell him I fell for a girl at first sight and she seems to hate me.

I tossed and turned with a nightmare that night. I dreamt I was chasing someone, I couldn’t see who. It was pitch black, only the occasional oil lamp hanging over the cobblestone street gave off any light at all. It didn’t matter; I could see my prey as clearly as if it were high noon. The buildings around me as I pursued where old, centuries old it seemed the street beneath my feet an old cobblestone. I turned a corner to come upon my prey stuck at the end of an alley with nowhere to hide. The fear on her face excited me, the panic made her blood race and my desire boil over. She was wearing a dress that had to have been from the 1800’s, her corset restricting her breathing and stifling her rising hysteria. I came upon her, slowly. She had nowhere to run so there was no reason for me to rush things. Even if she screamed it would not make a difference, I would have her anyway. In front of her now, I could smell her breath; feel the terror pouring from her bright golden eyes. I licked my lips and a single name came out of me in a breath. “Elizabeth.”

I gasped and jerked awake. My breathing came in heavy gasps as it took a moment for the dream to fade away. When it didn’t linger in my mind I let out a sigh of relief. I rolled out of bed a sweaty mess and yanked my towel of my desk chair before heading to the bathroom.

After my morning routine I felt better. The nightmare long forgotten and washed away in the warm water of the shower, cleansed by my body soap. My mind began to plan out my day, or more specifically, how I would confront Elizabeth today to make my amends. I decided I would grabbed her attention right before class got out to make sure she didn’t dart out the door as quickly as she did yesterday. At lunch I would have the time to tell her how sorry I was and how I hoped that we could still be friends.

The day started slow, my clunking old blue pick-up truck was a hand-me-down from my dad and always had trouble making up the hill to the student parking lot. He had gotten a big diesel pick up to help his expanding business. As a birthday present he gave me his old truck. I was just thankful I had a car to drive. It was like an escape pod, I could leave whenever I wanted and my dad never gave me grief about when I needed to be home. I guess so long as I didn’t come home drunk or high he was happy and willing to trust me with whatever I was doing.

By the time fifth period rolled around I was a wreck. My knees wouldn’t stop bouncing as I sat in my seat staring at the door. I felt a rush of disappointment for every person that walked in who wasn’t Elizabeth. The bell rang and still I watched the door.

Elizabeth never showed.

I felt defeated and I put my head down on my desk, only to get a swift bark from Mr. Hoover to wake up and pay attention. I woke up as he commanded, but didn’t pay attention. My mind was someplace else, thinking of a new way to get back in Elizabeth’s good graces, if I had ever been there in the first place.

The bell rang and Tim met me in the hall. His T-shirt was bright green today, and had the same logo on it that his yellow one had from yesterday. I figured his must buy them in variety packs.

“Who the hell misses the second day of school?” He demanded in my ear. Clearly he was just as aware as I was of Elizabeth’s disappearance. “It doesn’t make any sense to me.” He muttered when I didn’t reply.

Our friends greeted up at our usual table. Stacy frowned at me and reached across the table to pat my hand. “Hey Jason, how are you holding up?” She asked me, like a sister full of concern. Stacy and I had a bond like family. I imagine if things had only got slightly different for us it would be me instead of Todd who kept his arm around her. From early on in our relationship though we became more like family than friends and it worked out for us.

I took a breath and nodded in reassurance. “I’m alright. I was gonna apologize to her today, but it looks like she isn’t in school.”

Max raised his eyebrow. “What?”

“She wasn’t in class today.” Tim stated.

Max laughed. “Ever hear of new student orientation?”

Tim and I both looked at each other. “You saw her today?” I demanded.

Max nodded. “Sure, actually if you two boneheads would turn around. I think she’s coming to us.”

My head whipped around so quickly I think I gave myself whiplash. Tim joined me and I heard Stacy giggle and mumble something to Todd. My heart jumped when I saw her, the living beauty walking toward our table with uncanny grace and pose. I suddenly pictured her in the dress from my dream. The style fit her like she belonged to it. I shook the image out of my head. Elizabeth actually wore a short skirt and matching red blouse today. Her stockings came up past her knees and prevented anyone from staring too hard at her nimble legs.

She looked at me as if I were her target, completely ignoring everything and everyone else around her. Tim must have seen her gaze, intent and almost cold, but completely meant for me and he slid himself out of her way.

She stopped in front of us, all stunned and maybe honored by her very nearness. “Jason right?” Again her voice filled me with a warmth that made me feel better than I’ve ever felt before.

I nodded. “Yeah.” I breathed, my voice lost in my throat.

She heard me though. “Can I please speak with you?” She eyed the rest of my friends, her eyes passing over each of them only once before her focus was once again on me. “Alone.”

I was only to eager to climb out of my seat. I turned back to the table quickly. “I’ll be right back guys.”

Stacy mouthed, “Good luck.” And gave me a hopeful smile.

I turned back around to face Elizabeth but she was gone. How did she disappear every time I glanced away? I needed to put a bell on her or something. I found her heading out into the front courtyard and darted after her. Outside the fog bank was yet again just barely starting to burn off and the cool mist filled my lungs with every breath. I took several full gulps of the fresh moist air. I needed to slow my pulse and calm myself.

Elizabeth sat on the edge of the fountain her legs politely crossed while she waited for me to gather my nerves. I took a final breath of the cool misty air and went to meet my fate with Elizabeth.

“Hey Elizabeth. It’s good to see you.” I said.

She looked up at me, her golden eyes looking into my soul yet again. “I, uh.” She paused and looked back down at her hands. She twisted her fingers nervously in her lap. “I’m sorry about, being so rude yesterday.” She said.

I blinked, why would she apologize to me? I was the jerk that bothered her. “No, it’s my fault. Really, I shouldn’t have bothered you like that.” I told her.

She laughed, a glorious musical sound to me ears. “Why do you have anything to be sorry about? I was a bitch.”

“No.” I said. “Never. I just figured you probably had a lot of harassment already that day. My buddy said he saw you staring at me in math and thought you’d be interested. That’s really all it was.”

She looked away from me, glancing over at the other students wandering around the campus. “He caught that huh?” She asked.

“Yeah, but hey it’s ok. From someone as beautiful as you, I welcome the attention.” I winced, what a cheesy thing to say.

Again she laughed. “You are something else.” She told me. “I’ve never met someone who could make me laugh so easily.”

“You show see my Woody Allen routine.”

She raised her eyebrow. “I’ll pass.” She said with a chuckle. “Listen, I’m going to need help in math. Obviously I’m behind. So I thought maybe we could get together at your place or something tomorrow and catch up.”

Inside my head I was dancing with joy. My imaginary self was screaming and laughing hysterically as he threw himself around in a pathetic attempt to dance. Outside I kept as calm as I could, no reason to freak her out.
“Elizabeth.” I started.

She raised her hand and stopped me right there. “Eliza, please. Elizabeth makes me sound so seventeenth century.”

I agreed. “Eliza. I’d love to help you in anyway I can. Want to meet up at my place around noon?”

She nodded and stood up. “Deal.” She said with a smile and put her hand on my cheek. Her hand was cool against my cheek and again I felt my pulse begin to race. Then she was walking away, I stood there savoring her touch like a happily petted dog.

I snapped out of it in time to turn and see Eliza about to turn a corner. “Wait! You need directions right?” I called out to her.

“I know where it is.” She called back to me.

I couldn’t believe it, I had a study date with Eliza Worthington. I felt unbearable pride and my chest was swollen with it when I walked back to my lunch table.

Stacy beamed up to smile. She must have seen the huge grin on my face from across the room. I sat slowly down purposefully not saying anything just to mess with her.

“Well?” She finally demanded.

I looked around the table, all my friends awaiting my response. “I have a study date with her tomorrow. She’s coming to my house at noon.” I said happily.

They all cheered Tim elbowing me and cheering at me. “You lucky bastard.” He cheered.

“That’s so cool Jason, I’m happy for you.” Stacy said, gripping my hand affectionately.

I blushed and accepted their praise willingly. It wasn’t everyday I went out on a date, in fact my last one was in eighth grade and it was with Patty Jones. What a spoiled little monster she was. Now ironically Patty was on the cheerleading squad and still spoiled, maybe even more so now that she was the center of attention all the time.

The rest of the day seemed to crawl. Nothing could have been better than the conversation I had with Eliza at lunchtime. Not even watching a movie in history about the Civil War staring Mel Gibson. Oh, wait history was a nightmare!

As usual Tim met me in front of the parking lot and we walked to our cars together. “Man I can’t believe you have a date with Elizabeth tomorrow. I’m so jealous.” He told me.

“She likes to be called Eliza actually, and I can’t believe it myself.” I said. “I don’t know man, I think I’m already crazy about her.” I admitted. I had to tell someone, and Tim would at least let me get it off my chest without too much razzing.

We got to his Mom’s Mazda first and he said. “Well, I wouldn’t get too far ahead of yourself there champ. See what she’s like outside of school then tell me what you think.” He held up his hand to his face as if talking into a phone. “Call me Saturday night. Or Sunday morning, if you’ve really got a horseshoe up your butt.” He laughed and climbed into his car.

I waved goodbye and walked to my truck. I stopped short though as I saw what was parked next to my ratty out truck. Sitting in the space next to mine, with loud rock music that took me a second to recognize as Flyleaf, was a bright red Porsche Cayman S. As I walked behind the car to get to my truck the music went silent and Eliza poked her head out of the car.

I should have expected it was her car. A gorgeous car for a gorgeous girl, it seemed perfectly fitting for her. I wondered where she, or her parents mostly likely, got the money to blow on a car like that. Maybe her dad was a lawyer or something.

I smiled and tossed my back pack in the truck and looked back at her. “Nice car.” I said.

She grinned. “A little homecoming gift I got.” She said patting the door gently, as if she didn’t want to risk denting the fiberglass. “Nice uh, truck.” She said politely.

I shook my head. “No it’s really not, but thank you.”

She laughed. “So, I figured I’d just follow you home. That way I’ll know how to get there, your up on Casitas Road right?”

“Yeah, how did you know?”

“Your friend Max is in my last class.” She explained. “I got a little info out of him.”

I rolled my eyes. “Nothing good I hope.”

“Nothing at all.” She agreed with a sweet smile. “Now get going.”

I shut the door and fired up the truck. I rolled the window down to lean out and tease her. “I hope that little red thing can keep up.” I called.

She just winked at me and darted out of the spot. Her car didn’t even slow down as she hit the street and took off. I figured she would meet me near Casitas Road to find which house was actually mine, so I pulled out of the lot and went home as fast as I could get the truck to go.

As I thought I passed her car waiting for me just before Casitas to follow me. She let my poor truck pass before she pulled back onto the road and followed me the rest of the way home. I pulled into my driveway and killed the engine, I heard Eliza’s car behind me purr to the side of the road and the engine shut off.
She met me on the driveway next to my truck as I dug my backpack from under the seat where it had fallen during the trip home. I saw her eyeing the home with a simple nod. The house wasn’t much, built like a rectangle and painted a flat green color in a futile attempt to blend in with the trees and forest behind it. We had two bedrooms and one bathroom, which was more than enough for me and my dad to share comfortably. The kitchen had been redesigned by my dad shortly after we moved in and was outfitted with the best stainless steel appliances on the market. My dad didn’t mess around with interior design or cooking for that matter. I was never much of a big eater despite the amazing things my dad could whip up on a given night.

“Nice little place.” Eliza said. “I like how it sits right back against the forest like that.”

I nodded and hefted my backpack on my shoulder before slamming my truck door shut. If you didn’t slam it, it wouldn’t stay shut. It was kind of a bad thing because my dad always knew when I saw home.

Thinking of the devil, my dad’s big heavy duty truck pulled into the driveway right next to mine. “Oh my dad is home.” I said with a little disappointment. I had been hoping for a little more time with Eliza today.

Eliza jumped back and waved at me. “I gotta get some errands done. I’ll see you later, I know how to get here now.” She said and darted back to her car.
My dad came around just as Eliza fired her car up and zipped down the street with a roar of her engine. “Who was that?” My dad asked, his tool belt squeaking as he walked.

“Uh, it’s the new girl Eliza.” I told him. “She is coming over tomorrow to study, and I’m gonna help her catch up.”

My dad smiled. “Oh, so a new girlfriend.” He laughed. “Man that’s good to hear kiddo. Why did she take off so fast?”

I shook my head. “Said she had some errands to do.” I looked at him. “And please don’t call her my girlfriend dad. I don’t want her to hear you say that.”

He frowned at me. “You don’t like her?”

“No I do, it’s just I rather not scare her with the girlfriend word until it’s a bit more true.” I told him.

He laughed. “Teenagers. Alright well let me go get washed up and let’s go grab some dinner out tonight to celebrate.” He patted me on the shoulder and walked into the house.

My father loved to celebrate for everything. I think it was just his excuse to not cook once in a while. He always cooked, no matter how tired he was, but when he could find something to celebrate he took us to dinner at one of the many restaurants by the mall.

Tonight we went to the California Pizza Kitchen, a popular little sit down place that served what they called “gourmet” pizzas. I like the place though they had a pretty good tomato and basil pizza that I always got along with a small Caesar salad. Fortunately my dad didn’t talk more about Eliza and we had a comfortable and mostly silent meal.

When we got home my dad went into the living room to watch TV, asking if I wanted to join him.

“I can’t dad, I gotta study so I can help Eliza tomorrow.” I told him. “Math isn’t exactly my best subject.”

He nodded. “Alright, but don’t work to hard.”

I assured him I wouldn’t and headed to my room. More than likely my mind would wander and I would get caught up in a silly day dream or something foolish like that. I walked into my room and shut the door behind me, when I turned back around I nearly jumped out of my skin.

Eliza was sitting in my leather desk chair, reclining all the way back reading one of the vampire novels I kept on the bottom shelf of my bookcase. In her lap sat nearly every other vampire novel I owned. Most of them where all part of the same long running book series but there were some classics there as well. Eliza had her nose in ‘Interview with the Vampire’ by Anne Rice currently, chuckling softly as she glossed over the pages.

“How did you get in here?” I asked keeping my voice low. My heart trying to slow down from the fright she gave me. Yet just having her in my room was enough to keep my pulse racing.
 
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No the basic idea is that your 360 years old and for some reason are fasinated by this mortal boy. In addition you are being pursued by a coven leader who wants to bound you to him and make you his bride slave.
 
Eliza

“How did you get in here?” I asked keeping my voice low. My heart trying to slow down from the fright she gave me. Yet just having her in my room was enough to keep my pulse racing.

I didn't bother answering his question. There were certain things that mortals shouldn't know about, one being that I was a vampire. That was off limits, that was the reason I came here, to L.A., here where the myths about vampires were plentiful and abundant. Hell, I probably could've auditioned for Twilight or something and gotten the role.

In reality though I was 390 years old but I looked at the least 18 years old which was very beneficial when applying to go a mortal highschool. I was on the run though, from a dark coven who wanted me to marry their leader. He'd been after me for about 300 years. In fact, 2 months ago he'd nearly gotten me. This was another reason I wanted to reside in L.A.

What intelligent vampire would come looking in a place where anything is real, including zombies, talking killer dolls, and ghosts. Finally, I looked up at Jason with what some might call an enchanting smile. "This book is very....interesting. Do you read it much?"
 
I was a little confused when she ignored me. Her nose stay buried in the book and I was left with little more to do then stand there and stare at her. Ok I needed to look away, despite how beautiful she was, and despite the fact that she had come to me, I needed to look away. So I focused on getting myself ready to do my homework.

I sat on my bed, since she was sitting at my desk, and opened my history book. We were studying the Civil War, one of those things that throughout one's school career you had to study ten times at least. The short version was that the racists lose.

I was answering the questions from the end of Chapter 3, honestly feeling very uneasy with Eliza here. She seemed to appear out of nowhere and now sat in my room in complete silence. I wondered if I should say something, maybe figure out why she had come back.

Then she spoke, holding up the novel and looking very amused. "This book is very....interesting. Do you read it much?"

I frowned and shook my head. "I've only read it twice. It's a good book." I told her.
 
“Hm..” I said softly, shaking my head at the book again. It was very irritating how mortals made vampires look…like monsters, though with the exception of Anne Rice. Still, it was very insulting. I cleared her throat which even then sounded like a graceful cough, if there were ever such a thing.

I returned the book to its rightful place, hidden behind the sports magazines. It seemed that he had a fascination for vampires but didn’t want his friends to know of this odd fascination, though most mortals did. I sat on the bed, still not answering his question from earlier.

“So then, I take it you’re one of those…people who have odd fantasies about vampires or do they just intrigue you?” It would be in my best interest to know what I was getting into before as mortals call it, jump the gun. There would be no need to put this mortal in danger.
 
"Well I uh," I stopped. Did I have a fascination with vampires? I suppose I did, er do I guess but how would she take that. It wasn't exactly normal to be into something as far out as vampires right? I needed to appear normal or I'd chase her away. As suprised as I was that she was in my room, I didn't really mind it. Who would?

"I enjoy vampire books is all." I told her. "It like a little secret fantasy I guess. I mean I can't be the only one who read vampire books or they wouldn't get published right?" I raised an eyebrow at her. "Do you like vampires? Or are you just trying to see how weird I am, cause I have to warn you I am well, nevermind."

I was about to put my foot in my mouth and that wouldn't be good for anyone.

"So what made you come back and hang out in my room? To see what kind of weirdo I am?" I asked her.
 
"Ah..." I said softly. Well good, there would be no way to put him in danger...as long as I keep my distance and not get too close to the mortal. I smiled at his question, this time deciding to answer it. "If I didn't know any better, I would assume you didn't wish for my prescence." I smiled flirtaciously at him.

"And to answer your first question, I can't say that i do like vampires very much. I also think that the description of a vampire is much better suited then the real thing....would be.." Oh dear, I think I was beginning to talk too much. Trying to quickly change the subject and hoping he didn't notice my near faux paus, I asked " So, what sort of extracurriculars does our highschool have? Anything interesting...that isn't blood related. I get...sick near blood you understand."

There was nothing wrong with innocently flirting, especially if it was a subtle flirt. "But to answer your question directly, no I did not come to see what kind of freak you are...though I do have to admit, I have a thing for....freaks."
 
I didn't know what to make of her responses, she answered my questions in a quick succession and one of her answers caught my curiosity but I kept my mouth shut until later. What did she mean that books didn't get vampires close to the real thing? I dismissed it, figuring that maybe she had her own idea of what a real vampire would be like.

She gave me a little smile and if I didn't know better I would think that she was flirting with me. I again dismissed the thought of this beautiful girl thinking of me in any kind of flirtaious way. She looked at me in a weird way though, first in class it was like I was her long lost lover, then here in my room she seemed to watch me with a kind of amusement as if I was a lab rat to her that did something interesting.

I shrugged and tried to think of an answer for her question. I wasn't into extra activities at school, hell during the day I wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of school.

"I guess they have anything a normal school would have, chess club, band, that sort of stuff." I said.

I sat in silence for a while, not really knowing what to say. It was kind of a suprise to find this girl, who I thought hated me that first day in school, in my room reading through my stuff. Now she simply sat there looking at me with an amused smile on her face. As odd as it was it did allow me to get a better look at her.

She was a vision of untold beauty, err well not to sound like an 18th century nobleman, but she was absolutely stunning. Her hair was long and a delightful chestnut brown, her eyes haunting and beautiful, and I can't speak of her body without leading to naughtier things. Trust me, the body is rockin.

I glanced at the clock and realized we had been sitting in my room for hours! It was ten o'clock. I jumped in suprise. "Wow it's late!" I said looking at her. "Maybe we should uh, call it a night? Or err, you know we have school in the morning."

She didn't seem the slightest bit tired, as if she could sit there and watch me all night long.
 
Chess club that was a definite possibility, though I wasn’t that interested in chess. It seemed like Jason didn’t really know much about the extracurricular activities. I would have to do research on my own. I thought that maybe if I blended in without the crowd it would be hard for the coven to find me. It was a definite possibility.

Then, Jason mentioned that it was late. Being a vampire it was hard for me to remember what late had actually been.

“Hm? Oh, yes..I suppose you’re right.” For some odd reason, I didn’t want to leave though, unsure of why because no mortal had captured my attention the way Jason had. “I will see you tomorrow, then.” Slowly yet, gracefully I stood up, trying to control my movements from moving faster than any human was used to seeing. I’d almost lost my covers a few moments ago, it would do me no good to do so again.

“Goodnight, Jason. Sleep well…” I climbed out of the window, landing perfectly on my feet then ran off at the speed of lightening.
 
Did she seriously just hop out my goddman window? Why did I feel like I was suddenly in the middle of some teenage romance movie?

"Hey wait a second." I called and darted to my window but it was too late, she was already gone. I looked around but couldn't find her anywhere, it was like she just vanished. I frowned and went back to my bed, suddenly feeling the effects of being up this late.

I fell onto the bed and fell asleep as soon as my head hit to pillow, my dreams however were instant. I dreamt of Eliza of course, running down a coblestone street. It was dark outside, the area seemed to appear as if it were in the 1800's and someplace south with lots of fog. I got the feeling we were in New Orleans, she ran and screamed and I chased her. I was powerful in the night and she was my prey, I pinned her in an alley after she made a wrong turn and I calmly walked to my prey. Her eyes were wide and her chest heaved as she breathed.

I leaned in and sunk my teeth into her neck.

My alarm made my eyes burst open and I sat upright, breathing quickly. The effects of my dream already fading away. I groaned and climbed out of bed slowly. Then I thought of Eliza and eagerly got myself ready to go to school so I could see her. Maybe I'd ask her to a movie tonight, after all it was Friday and she seemed to have at least some slight interest in me.

Man my friends would be jealous if I told them I had a date with Eliza. I laughed at the thought and went to school.
 
I stood by my extravagant car. My ‘brothers’ had told me once, long ago that it was much too expensive to show off at a human high school but it was the only way to blend in for me, to buy things that any normal person was unable to buy. Instantly, I knew Jason was there before even turning to look at him. I could just sense his presence before he even hit the school grounds, which was odd. That was only supposed to happen with mated vampires or vampires who were destined to mate with one another and normally it happened when they were close to the vicinity, very odd but then again Jason was odd wasn’t he.

I began to fix my hair, though I wasn’t quite certain as to why I was fixing my hair since I hadn’t ever needed to do anything about my looks after being turned…

I tapped my foot, he was closer. I could sense it, once again that bothered me not because he was closer to the school grounds but because I knew he was closer to the school grounds. This only left one question in my mind, who was this man?
 
I walked past the parking lot, my gaze running over all the cars in the lot hoping to spot Eliza's shinny Porche. It wasn't hard to find, her car stood out of the crowd like a shinny new penny. Eliza was leaning against the door with her arms crossed and her gaze on me as if she'd been watching me since I'd left my house.

She loooked kind of pissed too, like i had done something to irritate her. I felt a tinge of panic, had I done something last night to piss her off?

I sighed and walked over to her with a smile that I'm pretty sure was too eager. "Hey Eliza, goodmorning." I called as I walked up to her. "Listen I was wondering if you had any plans for the night."
 
I snapped out of my reverie as the sound of Jason’s voice came echoing in my ear. I turned to look at him and smiled, brushing away any thoughts of being irate. After all, it wasn’t his fault that I could sense him. Though, I couldn’t really think of whose fault it could be at the moment. “Good morning.” I said with a smile.

“Am I doing anything, tonight?” I pursed my lips, “No, not until 10. Why?” I desperately needed to feed, it was hard just being around Jason, without pouncing on him at that moment. His scent was so…intoxicating, it took all of my will power to resist.
 
I shrugged and looked down at my feet. I was nervous, asking out a girl was not something I had a whole lot of experience with and last time I tried to ask her something she had shot me down a bit hard.

I took a deep breath and looked back up at her beautiful golden brown eyes. "Would you, maybe, want to come see a movie with me after school?" I asked, "We could get a quick bite before hand." I said with a smile.

I thought we could see a scary movie too, because in my head Eliza would cling to me in fright and I could be a rock for her to hold onto. It would be romantic and she would like me more for it.
 
“A movie?” I recalled him asking me that the other day but after not hunting it was sort of hard to be in his presence for so long without attacking him. “I suppose…” I said hesitantly.

I’d never really gone to the movies before. I didn’t want to indulge myself in human activities. Plus, I didn’t want to attack an innocent. I mostly drank from robbers and thieves.


“I suppose. What sort of movie did you want to go see?” I said, as I put the weight of my bag more on my shoulder. It was as light as a feather but I was struggling to seem more normal than I really was.
 
I beamed with excitement. She wanted to go out with me! I couldn't believe it, I was fully expecting her to refuse like last time and that would be the end of it. But she said yes! I wanted to leap for joy.

I grinned at her and said. "Well there's a new vampire movie opening today. I figured it would be funny to see since our conversation from last night. But we can see anything you want." I told her, not telling her that I was hoping to movie would scre her so I could feel her cling to me in the dark theater.
 
A vampire movie? I restrained the urge to groan. It would probably be interesting to see how someone else described a vampire. I gave Jason a small smile, looking around to see if any of his friends were around because I still got that feeling that he didn’t want them to know about his vampire obsession.

“A vampire movie? Are you certain you don’t have some weird fixation on vampires?” I held my smile for a moment then said, “What’s the movie called? Is it something I’ve heard of? And what time did you wish to go to this movie?”
 
I shrugged and said. "Well maybe I like vampires a bit, but if you don't want to see it thats cool. We can always pick something else. It's called Underworld Rise of the Lycans. It's about how the war between werewolves and vampires began. I figure we could leave here after school, grab an early dinner and check out the movie around 6 or 7." I explained hoping she would like the plan enough to still want to go. I could sense she was on the fence about going with me still.

I crossed my toes hoping she would agree. Then maybe, just maybe after tonight I'd finally have myself a girlfriend.
 
I really didn’t need to see a movie based on a history that I had seen, been there to experience but pulling out some sort of enthusiasm. “A vampire and werewolf..historyish type movie huh? It certainly sounds interesting.” I paused and looked into his eyes. “And we would get to make fun of the movie?”
The first bell rang signaling time for class.
 
I grinned and nodded. "Of course we can." I found it weird that she would call a vampire movie of any kind a historical film. I figured that she just meant that the movie was a period piece as it was set in the early 1300's.

The bang rang and I felt a wave a disappointment knowing that I would not get to speak to ELiza until forth period Math. I frowned and said. "I guess I'll see you in Math." I told her and began to walk toward my class, not knowing for sure if I had done the right thing.

Should I have hugged her then? No we weren't dating yet, that was for later. Maybe tomorrow or tonight. I smiled and put a little skip in my step as I headed for class.
 
"Okay." I gave Jason one last smile, not even paying attention to my faux paus. I walked towards my next class and zoned out on the information given to me. It was things I had learned ages ago, and kept learning over and over again.

After that, it was time for math and I slightly felt a bit excited, a little overwhelmed. He was in the classroom, I could sense it...again. I wasn't supposed to sense where he was at. After all, he was just a mortal. I quickly shook off the thought and walked over to my seat, next to his.

"Hello.." I said to Jason with a smile.
 
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