The Vampire's little Mate (Sequel)

CHAPTER: 2

Driving to school did not take long, it never did. Where Tanya lived was, for the most part, a speck of a town. Her family had resided in Vancouver Island-Canada, for many generations. According to her mother, this had been where her great-great-great grandparents grew up. It had once been nothing but forest, mountains, and rivers until a small group of people began using the area for cattle farms. From there, it slowly developed to what it was today. Although small in comparison to most towns, they had a small shopping center with an old movie theatre, a grocery store, and of course, they had schools. In the last couple of years the Island town had started to develop more and more, and yet somehow it managed to retain its old-world charm, making the town look beautiful. The snow-capped mountains in the distance towered over the town, and much of the forestry continued to exist throughout. 

  760,000 people lived on Vancouver Island. As Tanya turned into the school parking lot, she switched the music station to something more recent. Whatever the song was, she didn't like it. Being late, the high school parking lot was full, and she had to park away from the school building. In her rush, she had forgotten to carry an umbrella, so she carried her book bag over her head as she sloshed through the puddles on her way to the school door.

Fortunately, the water was not deep enough to soak through her shoes. She rushed through the front doors, her sneakers skidding slightly on the polished flooring. The front hall was empty, aside from the caretaker, Mr. Jason, who was mopping up puddles and muddied spots. Tanya apologized earnestly for making more of a mess as she ran to her English class.

The teacher scolded her for being late, shaking her head as her gaze followed Tanya to her seat. Her name was Mrs. Emma Taylor, and she was by far her least favorite teacher. It was unfortunate because English was her favorite subject. She was a middle-aged woman with spectacles that reminded Tanya of those you would see on a little old lady.

It took Tanya a few minutes to realize what the assignment was, but once Mrs. Taylor said about Shakespeare and the book Macbeth that they were supposed to be reading that day, Tanya was instantly on board. It was the first time that Shakespeare was brought up in this class, and Tanya was a big fan of him, so this caught her attention. She realized she didn't have a book with her.

She raised her hand sheepishly.

"Yes, Miss Peter?" the teacher said coldly.

"I don't have a book," she replied and noticed everyone had turned to stare at her. Her cheeks instantly grew red.

"You can read from my copy," Mrs. Taylor walked over to her desk and flopped the worn-out book onto the wooden desk.

"Thanks," Tanya said meekly and began flipping through the book until she found the right page. She had become engulfed in the story, unaware of how quickly time was passing. She jumped when the bell rang as if she came out of a trance, and reluctantly put the book down.

"We will continue reading next week, Miss Peter," Mrs. Taylor said as she pried the book from her hand.

"Right," Tanya murmured and noticed that the classroom was deserted aside from them. She rushed out of the room and headed towards the Biology class. She barely paid any attention to what was happening as the teacher droned on about the heart vessels and the Circulatory System. and other things that Tanya didn't care about. 

Next was lunch break, and she was beyond excited to get out of the classroom. 

The cafeteria was packed full of students. After gathering her tray of food, she walked slowly towards her usual table. Sitting there were two of Tanya's closest friends, Jack and Kiara.

Kiara was a typical teenage girl, who loved to shop, to flirt, and gossip. Somehow, however, she and Tanya got along very well. They had known each other since they were toddlers and had lived as neighbors for nearly eleven years before Tanya's mom decided to relocate to the current residence.

Kiara was tall, stick-thin, with green eyes and perfectly straight blonde hair, that she either wore in braids or a ponytail.

Jack, on the other hand, was somewhat different from the typical high schoolboy. He was smart, but Tanya wouldn't classify him as a geek. He enjoyed sports, had a love for literature, art, and most of all partying. Jack was almost a jumble of every high school stereotype put into one. Jack and Tanya had been friends for nearly as long as she and Kiara had been. They met in kindergarten, and since then the three of them became inseparable. While some girls considered him highly attractive, he was just another guy for Tanya, possibly because of their close friendship. He was slightly shorter than Kiara, for which Tanya often used to tease him. He had a slightly muscular build. He had very long, brown hair with the faintest tinge of golden highlight. His eyes too were a shade of brown that reminded her of chocolate.

"Hey, Tanya," Jack said with a grin until he noticed her disappointed expression. "What's wrong?" 

"It is nothing," she said quietly, but she knew he would pry it out of her one way or another.

"I am not letting you off that easy," he objected.  

"Fine," Tanya eyed the food on her tray before pushing it away, "Mom left." She tried to stop herself from breaking down and falling apart, as she spoke the words out aloud for the first time.

"What?" Kiara piped in, having previously been distracted by one of the boys across the room, which was typical of her.

"She took the job in North Surrey, 21 km from Vancouver, that I was telling you about last week," She studied their faces while she said it. "Don't worry. I am not going anywhere."

"Where are you going to live?" Kiara frowned, wrapping her arms around Tanya in a sympathetic hug. "You can come to stay with me if you need to. My parents have always said that you could stay whenever you wanted."

"No. It's okay." Tanya said, while her disappointed look evolved into a half-hearted smile. "She gave me the house..."

"You have your own house?" Jack gaped.

"I guess so." Tanya grinned. "She is paying for it, too."

"Wow..." Kiara whispered.

"So, when is the first party?" Jack smirked.    

"I don't think I will be throwing any parties anytime soon, Jack."

"Come on...I will do all the work!" he pleaded. "I will make the invitations, get the food...you just have to provide the place!"

Tanya laughed. "I will think about it."

Her appetite finally came back, and she was able to down a glass of juice before the bell rang again.

"I will see you two in the gym." Tanya waved as she walked off to music class.

Her friends knew she was in music class, but as far as they were aware she hated it. Music was her passion, though. But she had her doubts that anything would ever come from it in terms of a career. Simply listening to a piece of music, or inventing her own, was enough to make her happy. Unfortunately, her mother could never afford to buy her a piano of her own, so most of Tanya's practice was done at school. 

There was also a period of her life where she took piano lessons, but after her father left she lost interest in it as well as many other hobbies. After a few years, she came to realize that her father Mark Peter wasn't returning, and she had to carry on with her life, and thus she rediscovered her joy of playing. She didn't know why she felt so compelled to keep her love of classical music a secret. Maybe she was worried her friends would tease her for it, as they had done with other kids. She walked briskly into the class, excited to practice on the piano again. She had been improving greatly, and she was looking forward to getting her fingers on the keys.  

To Tanya's despair, they had a substitute teacher that day, who didn't appear to have a clue what he was doing. 

"Mr. Brian Thompson, won't be in today," the teacher announced when the class was seated. He had a bulging round belly, and his pants were held up by suspenders. "My name is Mr. Steven, and I will be filling in as best as I can, but I must apologize ahead. I am an astronomy teacher and have never touched an instrument in my life. It was short notice, however, and being close friends with Mr. Thompson, I offered to take his role."

"Then what do you expect us to do today?" The words came out of Tanya's mouth before she had the chance to stop herself. This wasn't uncommon for her, and she had been scolded on the habit far too many times, in fact, enough for her that she should have learned by now to keep her mouth shut.

"I, well..." the substitute stuttered, ignoring her rudeness, and his cheeks reddened. "I suppose you can just play whatever music you want until the bell rings," he replied with a shrug of his thick shoulders.    

The class laughed, Tanya included. She then shrugged and walked over to one of the pianos, there were two of them in the classroom, as well as a keyboard. The one Tanya selected had obvious wear to it, no doubt donated to the school by an employee or some foundation. This was usually the one she chose to play on. Something about it lured her to it the very day she began this class. She placed her hands on the keys feeling comfortable and at ease as she gently ran her fingers along with them. She played an unfamiliar tune, something that simply came to her as her fingers did their magic. She noticed that everyone had their eyes in her direction, and she stopped abruptly.