“You’re writing a song? That’s so cool. I want to hear it.”
“It goes, ‘Safer in a coffin, and if your brother doesn’t leave, he’ll be in one, too.’” Billy just frowned.
“It’s okay, man,” Alexander said. “What’s up?”
“What are you doing in my room?” I snarled at Billy. “I’m one step away from bringing back Nerd Boy.”
My brother wasn’t bothered by my threat. He was under the Alexander spell. Like a kid in the company of a professional athlete, Billy was enamored by Alexander’s presence. Alexander was the big brother Billy never had.
And in kind, Alexander was always attentive to my brother, as kind and focused on him as he could be.
“Isn’t it past your bedtime?” I finally asked.
I could see Alexander had a longing for my younger sibling, as if he was missing one himself. He seemed delighted by the attention.
I let the two talk for a few more minutes before I led, or rather pushed, my little brother out of my room. Alexander and I had enough distractions to deal with and I wanted my precious alone time with him.
I thought now would be a good time to bring up what I’d learned from my conversation with Luna at Hatsy’s Diner. I sat on the bed with Alexander and entwined my fingers with his. “Sebastian really likes Luna,” I said.
“Yes, I can see that.”
“No. I mean they’ve talked future and everything.”
“Yeah. .?”
“I think they are going to get married.”
Alexander laughed. “Sebastian? I don’t think so.”
“Luna seems to think so. And the way he drools all over her, I wouldn’t be surprised. . ”
“You don’t know Sebastian that well then.” Alexander continued to laugh.
“Well, maybe he found the right one,” I said.
“For today.”
“I think this is different,” I tried to tell him.
“How?”
“Because he bit her.” I looked him straight in the eyes. But Alexander wasn’t impressed.
“But didn’t he say the same thing about Becky? That she was different?” Alexander asked.
“I guess. .”
“Do you know how many times I’ve heard him say that?” Alexander said with a grin. “That’s what vampires do, they bite.”
“But you don’t.”
“Not yet. .” He lifted my hair from my neck and nibbled it, sending me into giggles.
Then he took my hand. “Sebastian’s only heard me say I was in love once. About a girl I met when I came to this town.”
My heart melted. Alexander was truly dreamy. His soulful eyes stared into mine and I kissed him with all my love.
When we finished our embrace, I thought again about our conversation. “But with Luna — Sebastian seems to be sure this time,” I said. “And he’s acting on it — though impulsively,” I lamented.
“Raven, I don’t live my life based on what everyone else is doing. I never have. And I thought you didn’t either.
That’s one of the reasons I’m so attracted to you.”
He was right. Why did I have to live my life differently — or expect things for Alexander and me because of anyone else? I’d been living according to my rules since I was born. And now, because Luna came to town, I was going to adjust my whole existence to keep up with hers? And worse, I was trying to do the same for Alexander.
But I couldn’t get past her. She struck me to the core. It wasn’t rational but emotional.
“It’s normal to be jealous sometimes,” Alexander said. “But what are you jealous of, really? A guy who meets a girl and, without a thought, bites her at a party? What if Sebastian goes to another party? How will she feel then?”
I guess I was jealous that Luna was a vampire and I was still a mortal. That she was bitten and I wasn’t. And that she thought she was getting married. . and I still wasn’t sure. But was I brave enough to say all those things to Alexander? To confront him out of fear and not out of love? And because of one impulsive person and another shifty one, to make him prove things to me he might not be ready to prove?
Alexander pulled me to him and took my face into his hands. “I hope that biting you isn’t the only way I can convince you of my love for you. It’s not that I don’t want to. And it’s not that I don’t think about it every day. I’ve loved you from the first moment I saw you.”
He stared so deeply into my eyes that I could see myself in them. For a moment, I was saddened, realizing he couldn’t see his own reflection in mine. And if I was turned, I wouldn’t be able to see myself in his anymore.
But not seeing reflections didn’t seem to bother him. He wasn’t asking me to change. He loved me the way I was, and no guy had ever done that before.
He drew my face to his and kissed me deeply, kissed the jealousy away, and I was flooded with a sense of love and an even deeper eternal desire.
Jagger asked us to meet the following night not at the Crypt but at the soccer field. It was an odd sight, to say the least: a bunch of vampires hanging out on the bleachers at Trevor’s soccer game. I would have loved to have hung out at the Crypt, but it was Jagger’s plan for the girls to get out and drum up buzz for the club.
Luna had her hand on Sebastian’s leg the entire time, but it was clear to me that she was staring at Alexander. I wondered deep down if she was involved with Sebastian to get back at or to get close to Alexander. But Alexander didn’t appear to care or even notice. He had his arm around me and was as captivated with the game as any one of Dullsville’s students was.
Becky seemed to be preoccupied with her phone and occasionally glanced at Sebastian.
Scarlet beamed. Her face flushed to match her dyed hair. She honed in on Trevor and, as much as it turned my stomach to see her lust after my nemesis, I was moved that she was so happy to watch Trevor.
“I’d like some popcorn and a drink,” Luna directed Sebastian with a flirty gaze. Back in Romania, Luna had grown up as a mortal, and a very popular one at that. Soccer games were nothing new to her.
While I sat with Onyx and Scarlet, Becky stood at the edge of the bleachers holding her cell phone.
“Who are you texting?” I asked her. “I’m here and Matt’s on the field.”
“I’m not texting.”
“Then what are you doing?”
“I never got that picture of Sebastian. And since this isn’t the Crypt, I can take as many pics as I want. I’d like to add it to the scrapbook for Jagger.”
I rose. I didn’t know what to do. She had her camera poised and aimed at Sebastian.
“I don’t think—” I said. But it was too late. I heard the click click click and saw flashes as she snapped away.
Onyx and Scarlet must have noticed, too, as they whispered together.
Becky returned triumphant. “I made sure I saved them this time. Let’s take a look at them,” she said.
“Hey — watch Matt,” I said. “He’s on his way to scoring! Maybe you should be paying attention to him and not Sebastian,” I hinted. “I think he’s working extra hard for you.”
“Really?” she asked. She watched her boyfriend as he ran down the field, kicking the soccer ball. “Go, Matt, go!”
Becky forgot about her pictures and for the rest of the game was entranced by Matt’s athletic abilities.
After the game, Prada-bees inched away from us, and we got a ton of stares. But when Trevor, sweaty and charged up from a win, came and talked to Jagger, and he hung out for a few minutes with the soccer team, the onlookers gawked even more. But when they noticed that Trevor liked these goths, then they looked at them like there must have been something worthwhile about them — like a new purse from an up-and-coming designer.
It was the first time in my existence in Dullsville that I wasn’t the only outsider. I was in a crowd of girls and guys and it looked like I belonged to their club.