Run, Little Vampire. Run!

Ch. 4: Senior Year Begins

(Jessie’s POV)

The rest of our day went by without incident and we wound up having a great time at the zoo. I added a few new plushies to my growing collection and even got some new pens for school. I found these really cute pens with a variety of fuzzy animals on top in all different colors, some new stationary, and a couple of animal-shaped erasers I really liked.

I also got myself a new snowglobe with Siberian Tigers in it. Mom isn’t the only one who loves big cats. She doesn’t know it but I got her one for Christmas too.

Sunday we stayed home and just hung out in our pool. Dad grilled again but we were taking it easy since he was so worn out from yesterday’s trip to the zoo. I was getting worried about him, in fact. He hasn’t seemed his energetic self these past few weeks and I'm worried about his health.

Of course, he kept telling mom and me he was fine. Finally, we talked him into seeing a doctor. I felt some relief but I wouldn’t feel totally better until we knew for sure he was okay. His appointment was for next week. Mom's going with him.

Monday and Tuesday were actually pretty chill. Mom and dad went to work and I stayed home alone watching TV and swimming. I loved our pool. It would be getting winterized soon enough, though, and that thought made me sad.

But today? Today was Wednesday. Dooms-day. Also known as the first day of senior year. Yayyyy. Can you feel my joy?

I wonder if they’d notice if I just skipped the entire year?

Probably. I mean… maybe. I’m pretty much invisible, so who knows?

I just sighed as I grabbed my lunch and headed out to my car. My little Volkswagen Beetle. I loved my little Beetle. It represented freedom to me. Anyway, off to school I went.

When I got there, I was a little early, so I just went inside and headed for my first period class. I bypassed my locker, seeing that I never really used it. Lockers weren’t actually for books, anyway. They were metallic blackholes that sucked all your personal belongings into the abyss never to be seen again.

As I made myself comfy in the back of the classroom, my day went from bad to worse. You guessed it. Mason walked in. And along with the mamba-snake himself were, of course, the dingo and the komodo-dragon. Because a poisonous snake like Mason always needs back-up when picking on people half his size.

And right on cue…

“Well, well, well. Look who’s all ready for her first day of school.” Nate sneered as he walked toward me. I just rolled my eyes and remained quiet. “What? Cat got your tongue? We ain’t good enough to talk too, now?” Like he was ever? I don’t need this already. School hasn’t even technically started. “Leave her alone, Nate. We've got better things to do right now.” I just glanced at Mason. He’s never done that before. Rescued me from his friends. Weird.

But Nate wasn’t quite done yet. He had already made it over to my desk at this point and had leaned in close to my face. I didn’t so much as flinch, I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. He, however, didn’t seem to care. He just leaned in closer and whispered in my ear. “One of these days I’ll teach you how to use that pretty little mouth of yours properly.”

I wasn’t entirely sure what he meant, but I could guess. And the thought repulsed me. But I didn’t show it, I just stared straight ahead like he wasn’t even there. He stayed like that for a solid minute before suddenly pulling away when Mason said, “Nate?! I said leave the dweeb be! Help me find my d*mn keys so we can get outta here before the f**kin bell rings.”

His keys? Why the h*ll would his keys be in here?

My eyes scanned the room and landed on a set of car keys over in the corner, under a desk, next to a girl's hair tie. I just rolled my eyes, sighed softly, and said, “Mason?” When he looked over at me, I motioned with a nod toward the keys but said nothing more. He went over, grabbed his keys, and left without a word. So much for manners. “You're welcome, a**hole.” I muttered under my breath.

A few minutes later, the bell rang. Some kids started to filter in, so I started to take out my books. That’s when Michelle Edwards walked in decked out in her cheerleading finest. This girl put the blonde in bottle, the b**b in b*tch, and the ooooh in wh*re. Yet she thought she was the queen of England or something.

She had all the guys fallin'… strike that… She had all the guys. Period, full stop. Of course, she must have something goin' for her because they kept comin' back for more and she kept giving it out like it was candy on Halloween. Eventually, all those guys are gonna realize her treat was nothing more than a trick when they all turn up with g*norrhea or something.

That thought made me laugh to myself. I had my head down, digging in my backpack, when a well manicured hand with brightly polished nails that were so ungodly pink, even pink would wanna puke looking at them, landed on my desk . “So I hear little miss perfect here has finally given up her V-card fellas. Who was it, Jess?” I just looked at her like she was nuts.

What the actual f**k is this b*tch even talkin about? “Oh come on. You can tell us. No one will judge you for being a sl*t or anything.” She said all sweetly. I just rolled my eyes and sat my bag down on the floor. There was no way I was going to even acknowledge this nonsense.

When she finally realized I wasn’t going to answer her, she made a show out of laughing at me before saying, “The little sl*t doesn’t wanna say. Isn’t that cute?” Then she leaned in closer and I had the unfortunate punishment of having my only view become her nasty cleavage. Which, I might add, she seemed to need to shave.

I was just at the zoo, folks. I've seen baboons with less hair on their a**es than this b***h has on her chest. She reeked of perfume so bad, it actually made my eyes water and I had to stifle a gag as she was saying, “You can do any guy in this school you want. But stay away from Mason.”

Oh, that was too much. With that, I burst out laughing and said, “Nooooo problemo!”

(Mason’s POV)

I was still standing out in the hall when I heard her mutter, “You’re welcome, a**hole.” I just smirked. A quick glance at the guys and I knew they weren’t even paying attention to her anymore , so it was all good. Now I just had to wait for Gary to bring me my stuff before going back inside.

I was pleasantly shocked to find her in my first class of the semester. I was suddenly looking forward to my mornings. Just as a smile started to curl my lips at the thought, the bell rang. D*mn, Gary is late. As usual. That means all the good seats will be taken now.

I was standing there waiting with the guys when I heard Michelle’s snide comments and frowned. No way Jessie just had some random hook-up. She ain’t the type. That’s definitely more Michelle’s personal lane than Jessie’s. Still, I couldn’t help but wonder who she might have been with.

Jessie never uttered a word, though. One thing I always admired about Jessie was her ability to keep her cool and just ignore her bullies. Unfortunately, because of me, she had plenty. That was never my intention, but there was also nothing I could do about it without exposing the fact that I actually wish I could be friends with her. Though, ever since I saw her again the other day, friendship hasn’t exactly been the thoughts running through my mind.

I was pulled from my rather X-rated thoughts when I heard Michelle warn Jessie off me and that, of all things, finally got a reaction out of Jessie. I immediately got p*ssed. How dare she laugh like that at me? But what made me even more p*ssed was that Michelle thought she had a f*ckin right to warn anyone off me?! What is she? My mother?!

Before I even knew what I was doing, I stormed back into the room, grabbed Michelle by her bleach-blonde ponytail, tilted her face to mine as I towered over her, and snarled, “What the f*ck gave you the idea you could decide who I f*ck and who I don’t? Just because you will f*ck anything with two-f*ckin-legs doesn’t mean every other girl in this school will! As for me f*ckin that dweeb? I wouldn’t f*ck her with YOUR d*ck. So don’t ever put me and her or me and you in the same f*ckin sentence again, wh*re. Or trust me… you’ll regret it!”

“Is there a problem here, Mister Cromwell?” I heard the teacher ask as he came into the room. Mr. Thompson was normally a cool guy, so I didn’t think this would be an issue and just said, “No, no problem Mr. Thompson. Right Michelle?” and as I spoke in a low, firm voice I let go of her hair. She was all teary eyed as she gulped and answered, “No sir. No problem at all.”

Mr. Thompson waited maybe a second before sayin', “Yes, well… if there's no issue here, then would you all please take your seats.” I turned to leave the room so I could meet Gary when Kraig handed me my backpack and whispered, “Gary showed up just as you stormed in here. What the f*ck was that all about, anyway?” “Nothing, man. Tell yah' later.” I said as I turned to find a seat.

Of course, the only seats left for us were next to Jessie. Only her seat was now empty. Even her bookbag was gone.

I frowned as I sat by Kraig and Nate sat on the other side of him, leaving me as the closest to Jessie’s now empty seat. Mr Thompson took the role and began his intro to the class, what we should expect this year, etcetera. We were about halfway through the class when Jessie finally returned and silently took her seat again. As she walked toward us with her head tilted downward, I got a good look at her.

She was wearing a red top with black polka-dots in varying sizes with smileys on them, a pair of ripped, acid-wash jeans, and those wedged sneakers she had on the other day. The shirt was tucked into her jeans so you could see her curves better even though she tried to hide them with about a dozen belts in varying sizes and designs, all in gold, black, and/or red. I liked the look.

She sat back down and I just looked straight ahead without a word. So imagine my shock when the girl who has never once taken the initiative to speak to me, suddenly whispered, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have laughed. I just found her comment utterly absurd when everyone in the school knows how much we hate each other. But no matter how we feel about one another, my laughing was wrong. And I’m sorry.”

Well f*ck. Now I feel like a real a** for what I said about her to Michelle. But I was also curious about what happened, so I asked, “Is what she said true? Did you do the deed with some random guy?” I could sense her rolling her eyes and caught the movement as she shook her head. “Not that it’s any of your, or anyone else's, business, but no. It’s not true. Not that it matters. The damage is done and I’m sure you and your besties will make the most of it, one way or another.”

There was disgust in her voice, there at the end, and it broke my heart. I guess I deserve to have her think so low of me at this point. If only it didn’t have to be this way. But it did. So I forced myself to smirk at her words, then just let it all drop.

When the bell rang, I gathered my stuff and got up to leave, but had to stop and wait for the guys. Nate was dragging his feet and I sighed, “Come on, Nate. Move your godd*mn a** will yah.” “I’m comin, geez! Keep your f*ckin shirt on.” As he was answering, Jessie passed me. She kept her gaze down as she walked by, trying to be invisible. I didn’t let my gaze follow her, even though I wanted to.

I looked back at Nate and suddenly he was in a hurry to leave. I just rolled my eyes, especially when he taunted, “Well come on slow-poke. F*ckin rushing me then just standing the f*ck around like we got all d*mn day!” We all laughed as we headed to our next class.

(Carl’s POV)

Well, this is just lovely.

Our illustrious queen has decided to throw her brat a huge “Who’s my mate?” bash. I guess we’re supposed to be just one big happy family, yeah right. Cut me a f*ckin break.

Normally, I wouldn't give a flyin-f*ck. She's always finding every excuse she can to throw a party or spend money. Anything for one of her gossip sessions. She’s such a useless excuse for a queen!

However, if he finds his mate before I can get him to give up the crown, I’m sunk.

That crown should be mine, to begin with! But because my st*pid mother had to go and get herself killed, I got downgraded. What f*ckin good is it to be a prince if you have no f*ckin power? It’s not like Mason would know what to do with all that power anyway.

Thankfully for me, Mason doesn’t want to find his mate yet. He’s more interested in having fun, partying, and hooking up. Sooo much like his mother. Useless! He won’t make any better of a king than his mother makes as a queen. I shudder to think who his mate would be.

No, with me as king, I'll rule the vampire kingdom the way it should be ruled. With an iron fist. My people will learn their place. And if they don’t? Well… I’ll just bring back public executions. Then they’ll learn. Or at least think twice before going against me.

There won’t be any more useless parties, or over indulgences. That’s for sure. Unless there's some sort of reason, or advantage, to throwing a party, it won’t be happening on my watch.

Actually, now that I think about it, I just might be able to use this party to my advantage. I just need to play my cards right. I slowly smirk as I mutter to myself, “Maybe things are looking up, after all.”