I think this is the worst chapter... hah. I am in the progress of 20 odd critiques! Been a very slooow few weeks, I really do apologise to those who've done my critiques to no reply! Gah!
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ELLEN
Of course Armel and Celeste did nothing but ignore me and glare holes into the back of my head every lunch – every lunch I spent alone. After yelling at Kassie I appeared as a liar, and nobody would even speak to me anymore, which I was beyond fine with. Every morning as I stepped off the bus I expected to see Jonah laughing and joking with his brother, but they always came alone, riding in – I presumed – her Porsche. Sleek and orange, always with the hood down, it made a mockery of the collection of three-door vehicles filling the parking lot, most older than a decade, most inherited from stingy parents.
The week was boring, to say the least, and my guilt grew with each passing minute. He never showed up to Webpage Design, leaving me partnerless – I deserved that at least – and alone at lunch, which only added to my consuming guilt. Every afternoon when I took the bus, impatient for my car engine to be fixed, I scoured the students for his familiar face, but it never showed.
“Alone again, are we?” Miss Hale dropped into the seat beside me. I shrugged, closing down my internet page and opening a word document. She leant closer so I could smell her.
“Miss Hale, did your boyfriend give you your perfume?”
Her lips curved upwards. “Why yes, he did. His mother used to fill bowls with rose petals once a week and it caught on I suppose.”
“It’s lovely.”
“Thankyou dear. Do you know if Jonah will be joining us again?”
“I don’t know, to be honest Miss Hale. He was fairly traumatised by this week. To show up here again would be too hard, I think.”
“Oh, well, if you see him tell him I hope he recovers. He’s lucky though.”
“How so?”
“To have a friend like you. You may not realise it but you’re the only person he speaks to nowadays, other than his siblings. I’ve heard all the gossip this school creates over the years and his arrival has literally blown all other predecessor gossip-collectors out of the water. Nobody talks about anybody like they talk about Jonah. To have a friend like you is good for him. Loyal and faithful.”
“I doubt he needs me now.”
Miss Hale’s face softened slightly, her smile replaced by a sympathetic frown. “I fear while that might be true now, he’ll come back to you.”
On Monday morning they were there, sliding out of the Porsche as usual. And at lunch they were there, sitting in their usual silence with her leg draped over his knee, he hand on top. They picked at the food until the bell rang, when they jumped to their feet and followed everybody out, dumping leftovers into the bin.
“Armel, I didn’t do it.”
He looked up at me, his handsome face, framed by blonde bangs, unusually harsh.
“I’m not the one you should be telling.”
“Tell Jonah it wasn’t me who put the posters up.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t do it!”
He grabbed my wrist and hauled me out the cafeteria door, leading me all the way down the hallway until we were alone. His eyes were so black I could see myself perfectly in them.
“You have no idea how deep you hurt him. For us there is only one woman, and for him it’s you. As ridiculous as that sounds, it’s the truth.”
“I know.”
“You obviously don’t! The second we arrived here he smelt you and that was it – you were his. He will kill whoever stands in his way now, he’s that obsessed with you.”
“Right,” I grunted.
“He didn’t go home for three days Ellen - we were terrified he’d done something to himself.”
“And for that I am terribly sorry, but I only made the list.”
“Of what?”
“Vampirish things – look, after that night in the forest I wasn’t going to tell anybody, and I sure as hell aren’t going to now.”
“Then why the list?”
“It was a joke. Kassie was the one who did the posters; she was the one who went too far.”
“Did you tell her anything after the night in the forest?” He demanded.
“Only that his eyes were red. She was just as surprised as I was to put it toward anything mildly logical and I guess she went internet-hunting and figured it out.”
“She doesn’t actually believe it, does she?”
“I’m not sure, but I don’t want Jonah to believe I was the one who did that to him.”
“He never wanted to believe it, Ellen, so I guess this should make him happy,” Armel sighed.
“I did try to tell him, and I wouldn’t have come to you unless I was certain you could make him understand.”
“You like him, don’t you?”
I shied away, blushing until he squeezed my shoulder. “When I first met Celeste she was absolutely positive I was the one for her, even when we hadn’t seen much of each other. Her friends sent me a letter supposedly from her, telling me she no longer loved me and she was going to tell everyone I was a vampire.”
“What happened?”
“I got angry just like Jonah has, and then her friends came up to Jonah and told him to tell me. But I was so worried about the truth coming out I couldn’t face her, not until she came up to Jonah and Jonah told me she really meant it. So I will tell him, but if he’s going to accept that or not, I can’t promise.”
“Thankyou Armel.”
~
“Where do you think you’re going?” A smooth, easily recognisable voice crooned from behind me.
“To the bus that should take me home.” I didn’t want to believe he’d reconcile so fast, so I pretended it wasn’t him speaking to me.
“Why?”
“Because I need to go home?”
He stood closer to me than I imagined and when I turned around I gasped, leaping back automatically, my body curving around the back of the blue car behind me. His smile disappeared; hurt reflecting in his shiny black eyes. At least he smelt good today – chocolate cologne.
“Sorry, you just scared me.” I unfolded from the car and hitched my bag further over my shoulder, battling the urge to reach out and push his lips back into a smile.
“I’m that scary?”
“No, not really.”
“Well, I believe your coach is waiting.”
I hesitated, staring at his face for as long as un-intrusively as possible. But he stared right back expressionless; his eyes were wide now. The school door was still fairly close.
“Armel told me what you told him yesterday.”
“You believe me?” I stammered.
“My brother has never been surer of much else in his life. You convinced him damn well.”
I took a tentative step around him, remembering the agony on his face last week and wincing.
“I didn’t do those posters.”
“Promise?”
“But I did the list – I did it with Kassie – I confess that much.”
“Why would you do that?” He captured my hand in his, yanking me toward him so I was pressed to his chest.
“It was only a joke. We began it after we saw this vampire program on television and we had another list of potential vampires.”
“How did I get on it?”
I opened my mouth, though closed it quick. I can’t tell him how horrible Kassie is, he’ll want to rip her limbs from her body. But then I can hardly lie…
“Honestly?”
“It’s all I ask from you now, my love.”
“Honestly…” I began, struggling to find the words, until Jonah pressed his lips to mine in a gentle kiss. It was like he’d breathed life into my body.
“Whatever it is, I cannot hate her much more than I do right now.”
“Sure?”
“Sure.”
I heaved a sigh. “Do you promise to keep your hands to yourself?”
“As long as I can have you between them on occasion.”
With a roll of my eyes I told him. “Since the minute she saw you she’s hated you.”
“And that is supposed to make me mad?”
“I don’t want to say it because… well, being honest, I agreed with her. Guess.”
His black eyes widened before they narrowed.
“My skin? She’s that shallow?”
“She even surprises me. Anyway the second she saw you she hated you because you have a ‘contagious skin disease’. You only gross her out – and you come into it because she’s always wanted an explanation for the skin, to have something to reassure her you won’t pass it to either of us.”
“She’s a bitch.”
“No shit.”
“She knows?”
“No, she’s assuming because it explains your skin. And who’s going to believe her? Last week people did nothing but ask me about it and I denied everything Jonah, trust me I denied everything they asked me about the posters. I asked Kassie to destroy the list but she didn’t and then this… I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s my fault.”
“I don’t see...”
He shrugged. “I condemned myself when I saved you.”
I struggled to contain the hurt his words inflicted.
“But I would rather it be this way than the alternative,” he added hastily, offering a weak smile as he moved forward. “And I don’t hate you for it. I’m sorry for being so cruel to you and not letting you say what you had to say last week.”
“Why did you come back?”
“I needed to hear you out, and after Armel promised me you were telling the truth I couldn’t just end our friendship that way.”
“We’re friends?”
“I guess we could be classified as mates, soul mates, a couple… even lovers amongst my kind.”
“Lovers?” I gulped with alarm. Okay, stop thinking about him naked, it does nothing for the situation.
“Is hasn’t crossed your mind?”
“Can’t say it has until then.”
“Don’t look so guilty! You’re not admitting to a crime, my love.”
“You’re a vampire,” I hissed.
He watched me, as if to assess me for my reaction, but I forced my face to remain calm.
“And you’re not frightened?” He asked gently.
“No.”
“Can I ask why?”
“No. But can I ask you a question now?”
“Shoot,” he squeezed my shoulder.
“Why did you save me, that night in the forest?” I lifted my eyes to meet his.
“I love you.”
His lips descended back down onto mine to press lightly, the passion easily transferred into my body until my fingers twisted in his hair, my arms lifted to clutch his neck, my body bent up against his and I was clinging to him.
“I must feed again, soon,” he growled after he’d managed to untangle our bodies.
With his left hand he motioned across the car park to where a white Hatchback sat alone, flanked by three empty spaces either side. Its shiny body glimmered.
“Is it safe?” I pretended to be frightened, giggling at his angry frown.
“It is safer than most cars in this parking lot.”
“Oh, out of the three here?” Laughing at him, I shuddered. “It’s so hot! Wow, the sun hasn’t stopped shining all day!”
He frowned again. “I’ll take your jumper; you have enough things to carry.” He extended his hand and I eagerly draped it over his arm.
I eyed him suspiciously, noticing his clothing for the first time. He was cloaked in a black trench coat, his scarf pulled up higher than usual. I’d seen him slide on his sunglasses but until I’d actually looked at him with them on, I hadn’t noticed how they concealed so much of him, and even with the wide-brimmed hat he pulled from beneath his coat, unlike anybody else, he didn’t look goofy or out of place at all, in fact they just made him even handsomer.
I’m in way too deep, I thought, feeling my temperature rise automatically. He just smiled, pulling his scarf further up, somehow managing to conceal his chin and mouth, despite the fabric being thin and wispy. I followed him, taking cautious steps, trying to, and reasonably failing, to not gape at the white leather interior, diamond cross hanging from the rear-view mirror, and spotlessly immaculate condition.
“Don’t look so stunned – I’m a perfectionist, and I refuse to drive in anything less than the best.”
“You think this is the best?”
“Of course not, but you like clean cars I’m assuming?”
“Yes.”
“Thought you would.”
Sliding into the passenger seat I banished all expectations, all assumptions and all desires from my mind, locking them in a thick metal box for later. Right now I just wanted to be with him, knowing he wanted the same.
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I don't mind what you do!
*shrugs* But yes, I'm sorry, I just had to comment on that...
hehe, maybe not that because that sounds nasty but you know what I mean =]