Diary Of A Vampeen Part 3

The bell rang and I rose to gather my blank papers. I was mentally occupied with my life and therefore had neglected the lecture entirely today. I slid my arms into my backpack and turned towards the door. I suddenly jumped back startled to have almost run into Mike.

"What's up?" I asked, looking up at him.

"Um. Well..." he paused looking to be gathering his thoughts.

"Well?" I prompted c.o.c.king my head to the side a bit as I peered up at his seemingly dazed face.

"Well, I guess I'll talk to you after school. I mean I'll call you," he fumbled to piece together.

"Ok. I take it you're not walking me to my last cla.s.s?" I chuckled softly. Why was everyone acting so weird?

"Um, did you want me to?" He seemed so unsure of himself. He usually walked me to every cla.s.s with the exception of second period and that was only because his cla.s.s was on the other side of the school.

"Don't worry about it. I'll talk to you later," I offered as I made my way out the door to catch up with Mel.

"What was that all about?" Mel inquired once I was within range.

"I have no idea. Between my parents and Mike, even Kellan, I don't know who's acting more eccentric at the moment. It's just been a weird day for me. Well, a weird two days if you count last night," I noted.

"True. They all do seem a tad off when I re-examine the situations."

"Is there a full moon tonight or something?" Even I was beginning to act strange. I was searching the halls and on the prowl for anyone else out of place or acting out of character.

"Not that I know of. Maybe the birthday G.o.ds are in motion right now," she suggested with a smile. I chose to ignore her.

Moments later we took our seats having carefully avoided eye contact with any part of Kellan. I looked up at the clock to see how long I had before the final bell rang; I had roughly three minutes. Just enough time to ask him yet would be saved by the bell should he refuse.

I stood up and made my way to his desk. I started fidgeting with my hands right away out of nervousness. I'd never asked any guy, friend or not, out.

"Uh, hi Kellan," I said.

"Hi," he replied, staring up at me expectantly.

"Um, so I guess your parents know my parents and well my mom called me and I guess your mom wants you to get out more and so I was just wondering if you wanted to do something this weekend..." I slurred everything together in one breath as an extra-long sentence. I couldn't even look at him. I looked everywhere but into his brilliant green eyes. I felt my cheeks color as I waited for him to answer. My heart was about to beat out of my chest. I was mortified. My mother definitely owed me after this.

A smirk crept up on his face as I continued to wait. He checked the clock and made me stand there and wait until seconds before the bell when he finally said, "Sure."

I knew he'd done it on purpose. He had to have seen how uncomfortable I was. I cut my eyes at him as the bell rang and I made my way back to my desk. I was definitely ready for school to be over.

"Ok cla.s.s. Today we are doing something slightly different. No new lessons; I am instead giving you this entire period to get a head start on your monologue due next Thursday. I don't mind if you bounce ideas around in groups but there is to be no copying or plagiarism," Mrs. Henderson stated sternly. "You may begin now."

Mel turned around in her seat to face me. "So do we really need to buddy up on the monologue or are you ready to talk birthday party planning?" she inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"How about neither?" I suggested hopefully.

"Oh come on Lex. It'll give you an excuse to buy a new outfit," Mel tried to reason with me in her whiny, antagonistic voice.

"I don't want a new outfit, and if I did I wouldn't wait for a party to buy it. Plus you know I hate shopping."

"Such a waste," she grumbled. "At least tell me how it went with Kellan," she urged.

"It was painful, torturous, every adjective you can think of along those lines. My mom couldn't pay me to do it again," I sighed.

"That bad?"

"Worse."

"At least it's done and over with and you have an obligation free weekend," she beamed.

"Oh no, he said yes. I don't know whether that's good or bad at this point."

"Yikes," she winced. "You'll have to let me know how it goes."

"Of course," I said before she turned back around in her seat.

I sighed turning my attention to my notebook to begin my a.s.signment. Caught in the moment with Mel, it took me by surprise when Kellan spoke.

"So how do I get a hold of you? You know so we can meet up," he interrupted my gaze for that all important pry.

"Oh, um. Here's my cell," I fumbled while writing my phone number on a piece of paper and pa.s.sed it to him.

"I'll call you later tonight then," he confirmed before returning to his desk. As soon as the coast was clear Mel turned towards me again.

"Hmm. Why do I have the feeling there is more to this than meets the eye?" she grinned.

I rolled my eyes dramatically. She chuckled and turned back to her own papers though I doubt she was actually working on the a.s.signment.

Chapter 4.

Surprisingly the last hour seemed like eternity but I was finally free to start my weekend. I tossed off my tennis shoes and dropped my back pack at the door.

"Hey Mom!" I yelled as I walked towards the kitchen. When I received no answer instantly I called again, "Mom, are you home?"

As I reached the kitchen I saw the note attached to the fridge.

Lexi, Your dad and I have gone to Myrtle Beach for the night. I deposited extra money in your account for pizza; the number is on the post-it by the phone. We should be back by 11am tomorrow.

Call me if you need anything!

Stay Safe! Love you, Mom I sighed and looked around the empty s.p.a.ce. I never enjoyed spending time alone in my house the way most teenagers pined for. I secluded myself most of the time but I felt secure knowing someone was nearby.

We had a rather large house for the neighborhood. It's a grand two story home with a colonial design spread over thirty-five hundred heated square feet. There were five bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms. Two bedrooms were on the first floor, my parents master and another they reconfigured into their office. I had the upstairs master and adored having my own attached bathroom. The other rooms were set as guest quarters though we'd had zero guests in the last seven years actually stay here.

Reluctantly I made my way to the phone and ordered my pizza. The guy said thirty minutes for delivery so I trudged upstairs to my room. I grabbed my MacBook and plopped down on my king size bed. I checked my e-mail prior to the daunting task of updating all of my networking sites. How did these things become so popular again? Mys.p.a.ce, Tagged, hi5, Facebook, twitter... it feels like a ch.o.r.e!

I quickly logged my activity in Facebook, Tagged, hi5 and twitter. Last was always Mys.p.a.ce. Never failing in consistency were my friend requests from new foreign bands claiming to be local or upcoming rappers messaging event invites galore unavoidably annoying! And don't even get me started on the survey bulletins of random unimportant questions. Who cares what you're first thought is when 'yellow van' is mentioned?! Ugh. Needless to say I saved the worst for last I guess; at least it's a million times easier to navigate than Facebook, but the equivalent to being entertained by a dog sometimes.

I logged in. Surprise, surprise! - new friend requests. "What band is it today?" I asked out loud as I clicked on the 'new friend requests' alert.

"Oh," I gasped. Kellan sent me a friend request. I quickly accepted and clicked to view his profile. His background was a woodsy landscape of forest and mountains in a dark setting under a full moon. His 'about me' section was simple reading: My name is Kellan. I'm from Seattle and just moved to Charleston, SC. I'm quiet. I enjoy the peace I have within my mind. If you want to know something, just ask me.

I clicked his photos link; he had five photos posted. The first was of Kellan along a jogging trail it looked like, though he clearly wasn't jogging in jeans. I gave him the benefit of the doubt though; Seattle is far different from Charleston. The second was him and, I was guessing, his best friend in Seattle; attached was the caption 'Me & Craig'. He was just as gorgeous as Kellan; the same build and beautiful blue eyes matching messy wind-blown blonde hair. The third picture was of Seattle, a city scape with the s.p.a.ce needle. The fourth pic was of Kellan in the backseat of a car, I a.s.sumed it was his parent's. The caption read 'On the drive from Seattle to Charleston'.

The last picture was a group photo. The description read 'Family Reunion August.' I looked at his family. Everyone was beautiful. Aunts, uncles, cousins, they all stood flawlessly on the page. They seemed related in some fas.h.i.+on; their features were different yet united. They all adorned the same flawless complexion despite the dark and light hues of their mostly toned bodies.

It took me a minute to recognize the pair. I gasped. There in the back row were my parents. Unmistakably my dad had his arm around my mother, as did many of the other men with their spouses. That's impossible though. Mom and Dad were supposed to be in Spain. This doesn't make any sense. Why would they lie to me about Spain?

I jumped at the sound of the doorbell. I checked the time on my phone. Sure enough it had been half an hour. I scurried down the stairs to open the door.

I decided to watch TV as I ate my pizza in the family room. I flipped through channel after channel on the satellite finding nothing of interest. I eventually settled on the cla.s.sic movie 'Roman Holiday' with Audrey Hepburn. I enjoyed cla.s.sic shows and movies; the new stuff was entertaining but just doesn't compare to the wholesome appeal love carried in earlier decades.

I grabbed a second slice of pizza as my phone rang. Without checking the caller ID, I answered, "h.e.l.lo?"

"Hey babe, what's up?"

"Not much. Eating pizza and watching a movie," I replied. "What about you?"

"Just chillaxing," he stated hesitantly. There was a good two minutes of silence before he spoke again, rather reluctantly. "Lex, can I ask you something without you getting weird on me?"

"Sure. What's going on?" I was trying to be nonchalant but my interest was piqued if only by his strange aura today.

"Um. Well, I'm not really sure how to word this right so I'm just going to ask it," he explained.

"Okay. Just spit it out," I encouraged.

"Do your parents like me?" I knew he was building to something.

"As far as I know," I offered in slight confusion.

He sighed quietly before continuing. "I don't want to sound like a p.r.i.c.k but why did your mom push you to ask another guy out? That's just shady s.h.i.+t parents pull when they don't approve of their daughter's boyfriend."

I instantly understood and felt guilty. I couldn't blame him for his perspective; it made sense when dealing with most families, but not mine. My parents weren't like that; particularly my mom. She didn't have a problem expressing her disapproval and, thus far, she'd shared none over Mike.

"I know how it looks and I don't blame you for thinking that, but my mom isn't conniving. My parents have known Kellan's since I was a baby. I really do believe it's just my mom's way of helping welcome them to the area. I don't think she meant any harm. Plus, I agreed that we could make it a group thing. It's nothing Mike, really. I promise."

I could feel his tension start to slip away. I knew he didn't completely believe me, but it did no good to push further. My parents hadn't done or said anything to make me think Mike was right in any way. Likewise, he didn't know of anything they'd said or done to imply he was right so we were at a dead end.

"Sorry. I just, well, I didn't expect any compet.i.tion I guess."

"What's that supposed to mean?" My heart sunk a little. I knew he didn't have any compet.i.tion. He never did and probably never would, but hearing him say it hurt. I felt like he'd just stabbed me with a short, sharp blade and awaited my reaction.

"Hey! That's a trick question."

"How so?" I sat up on the couch, having abandoned my pizza long ago, antic.i.p.ating his reply.

"Ok, so I maybe stuck my foot in my mouth back there. I didn't mean it the way it sounded. I don't expect to keep you forever-" he fumbled before I abruptly cut him off.

"Come again!" My mind was reeling. I was struggling to take in his whirlwind of misguided destruction.

"I, d.a.m.n it," he huffed in frustration. "I just meant that I didn't expect any compet.i.tion so soon. I thought I'd have you to myself for a little while before I had to fight for your attention again."

Well, he did come up with a nice save. It still didn't erase the unease I felt inside. We usually say things we mean when we speak without thinking; they just tend to get us in more trouble because they lack the editing that softens the blow or avoids the point.

It had me questioning how he truly felt about me. I mean I knew Mike cared about me to a certain degree, but even the best of friends could be the cruelest of judges.

"Um, I think I'm just going to go for now."

"Babe, don't go. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean it; you know that," he pleaded.

"It's ok. I'm not mad." It was the truth. I wasn't mad; I was upset and disappointed. Mike was always the one lifting me up, never cutting me down. He'd never made a joke about my weight or offhand comment about my imperfections. Until now, I thought he liked me just the way I was, but now I was wondering if he liked me simply because he knew no one else would. Men are territorial, just like dogs. Am I just a p.i.s.sing contest to him?

"I don't believe you."

"I'm fine, really. I just want to watch the rest of my movie. I'll talk to you later." I tried to inject as much enthusiasm into my tone as possible praying it would be enough to convince him.

"Uh, ok. I'll call you later?" he asked rather than declared.

"Sure. I'll talk to you later."

I quickly hung up the phone to avoid any more awkwardness. He'd officially destroyed the confidence I'd had in our relations.h.i.+p. I knew it was sad that one phrase could demolish a month of dating and five years of friends.h.i.+p, but I was weak. Ok, perhaps I was more pathetic than weak. I just didn't have any solid reasons to believe in myself and questioned my once concrete beliefs in the idea of 'us,' especially now that Kellan was absorbing most of my mental concentration.

I felt even worse when I started to cry. It wasn't even that time of the month, but I felt overly emotional over the situation. Maybe I put Mike on too high of a pedestal. He'd always been the picture of perfection as a boyfriend. He walked me to three out of four of my cla.s.ses, was openly affectionate with me regardless of the audience, called me every night to wish me sweet dreams; he rea.s.sured me around every corner and solidified my belief in the idea of love and a happily ever after, and I fought hard to believe it, but no one person can truly live up to that image forever. No one person can solely hold up a relations.h.i.+p, and lately I'd been questioning ours.

I'd just started to regain control over my heaves when my phone rang. I wasn't familiar with the number, but on the off chance it was my parents calling from the hotel, I answered it.

"h.e.l.lo?"

"Um, hi Lexi. It's Kellan."

"Oh, hi" I answered trying to clear the lingering effects of crying from my voice as I quickly wiped the last of my tears from my cheek and allowed one last quiet sniffle to escape.

"Did I call at a bad time?"

"Oh no. No. It's fine; I'm fine. Sorry," I stumbled.

"Are you ok?" I was surprised at the genuine concern that lit his voice.

"Yeah. I'm good, thanks. Want to catch a movie tomorrow?" I changed the subject. I was trying to sound chipper, but the chip never quite made it.

"I like horror. Are you up for 'Diary of an Axe Murderer'?" he asked.