Star, Starland Vamp Series, Book 1 (12 page)

He smiled widely. “Great!” he said stopping at a cafeteria table filled with about eight students, mixed with both guys and girls. Zac went around the table introducing me to his friends. A few of the girls smirked a smile, while others were genuine, while many of the guys seemed cordial. But there was one girl, Sandra, who greeted me with a broad smile. Zac went through everyone’s names quickly, but I knew I’d be able to keep them straight. Vamps have perfect recall, after all.

“Welcome!” Sandra said with a broad smile.

I nodded, returning the smile. “It’s nice to meet you,” I said, then turned my attention to Zac sitting beside me.

Alicia, a girl with light brown curly hair cut into a bob, with heavy makeup and chewing gum loudly, smirked at me. “So, you’re the flavor of the month?”  Big mistake.

I raised an eyebrow.

Beside me, Zac glared at her. Everyone at the table held their breath watching the exchange, awaiting my response.

“No, honey,” I replied with my own smirk, looking her directly in the eye, my green eyes flaring slightly. “I’m the full fledged dinner and desert. What were you, the appetizer?”

“Whoa,” someone at the table said and everyone laughed appreciatively.

Alicia had no comeback ready. She glared at me, fuming, then ripped her tray from the table and marched toward the exit.

“Guess not.” I replied under my breath, then turned my attention toward the others with a sweet smile.

“Sorry about that,” Zac said, then changed the subject. “I’ll get you a Mountain Dew.”

“Thanks,” I said, smiling as I watched him walk away.

Sandra smiled, then moved closer to me. “Don’t mind her,” she said. “She likes Zac, but he didn’t return her … um … advances. Now she’s jealous of anyone he talks to.”

“No problem,” I replied smiling. “And thanks.”

“No problem,” she returned.

“So, does Zac have many girlfriends?” I couldn’t help but ask. Actually, it was none of my business. But, somehow, I wanted it to be.

Sandra looked at her Coke for a minute, then replied, “Actually no. I’ve never really seen him with anyone. This is a first.”

I smiled, feeling my heart flutter at the thought. It surprised me that there was no one special for Zac, as wonderful and gorgeous as he was.

Sandra and I talked animatedly for a few minutes, waiting for Zac to return. I liked this girl. In another life, I knew we could be friends, but I wasn’t here to make friends.

“There you go,” Zac said, placing a Mountain Dew on the table before me.

“Thanks,” I replied, taking a drink of the golden delicious liquid. I don’t know what it was about Mountain Dew, but I didn’t question it.

Sandra brought Zac and me into the conversation with ease as we dug into our salads.

“So do you like it here so far?” Zac’s azure eyes met mine, looking into my soul as my heart stopped.

“Yes, I do,” I replied, smiling, looking into his eyes. We talked and laughed casually with everyone, just a nice lunch with friends. No pressure. Some of the guys were football jocks, too, and threw teasing barbs at Zac, and he threw them right back as I laughed. I also talked to Sandra. She was a nice girl who didn’t seem to let much bother her. She was so easy to talk to.

Zac cleared away our tray and salad containers when we finished, quite the gentleman. It had been a while since I’d had a salad and it tasted pretty good. My throat didn’t even burn being around the humans since I had such a good breakfast this morning, thinking of the cougar and white-tailed deer.

Then the bell rang loudly and we said goodbye to everyone as we all headed off to our next classes. 

“What class do you have now?” Zac asked as we walked, taking my hand. And this time I didn’t pull away. I cringed, thinking he would notice the differences in our body temperatures, but Zac appeared not to notice.

“Advanced English Lit,” I answered. “And you?” 

“The same,” Zac grinned. “Since you’re an advanced student, too, we’ll have a lot of the same classes together.”

I was counting on it. As we walked, I kept a lookout. Even though there were no other vamps around, I knew if one could find him, then others could, too. It made me nervous to leave him alone tonight at his home, but I had to go to the city to find out what I could. And if we were going to a vamp club, it would take all three of us. I made a vow to myself to go by his house to check on him later tonight.

“What are you doing tonight?” I asked, but from the look on his face, he thought I wanted to get together and do something. “Not much, homework mainly. What about you?”

I decided that telling him at least some of the truth was best. And I wanted to tell him the truth. Something about Zac made me not want to keep secrets from him. I sighed, then replied, “Going to the city with my father.” I didn’t add that Annie was going, too.

“Oh,” Zac replied, looking at the circles he was drawing on the top of my hand. “Do you need a ride home this afternoon?”

I smiled to myself, thinking. “Yes,” I replied. “That would be nice.” I would get hold of Annie this afternoon and have her meet us at the house. I paused by the door outside our English Lit. class, leaning against the wall.

Saying nothing, Zac looked me directly in the eye. Funny how he felt no aversion to me whatsoever. Like I said, usually humans kept their distance. I’d been a lone wolf for a while now and it felt good to have human contact again. To have friendship again, too, and I thought of Rick and Annie.

His deep azure blue eyes bore into mine, causing my heart to flutter, as a strand of his sun-streaked hair fell lazily over one eye. He raised a muscular arm and gently touched the side of my cheek with his hand as I moved the strand of hair away from his eyes. I could stand here looking into his eyes all day. They were so beautiful, so deep, as if his eyes held the key to all the secrets of the world.

He moved closer to me, causing my heart to pound and my throat to burn. His gorgeous cerulean eyes never left mine as he moved closer, placing a gentle hand on my cheek.

Then the bell rang.

“Well,” Zac said, leaning on the wall behind me. “I guess we’d better go in.”

“Yeah,” I replied, taking a deep breath, needing a moment to control the burn now prominent in my throat. “I guess we should.” But what I really wanted to do was to take off with him and never come back. There would be only he and I, no rogue vamps wanting to kidnap him and hold him hostage, just us. I felt myself falling for him. But why now? In the middle of an assignment? And with the object of my protection?

He slid his hand gently down my shoulder to my hand, raising goose flesh on my arm, then twined his fingers into mine. “Let’s go. Shall we?”

“Sure,” I replied, tearing my eyes away from his, and it was all I could do to go into class as he followed.

Zac led us to desks next to each other in the back of the room and we took our seats. Even though I was listening intently, I could barely tell you what the class was about. The electricity was thick in the air, crossing the aisle between us, making concentrating virtually impossible.    

Throughout the class, I stole glimpses of him and he was watching me more than the teacher. But either Ms. Ross didn’t care or didn’t notice, because she said nothing, thank goodness. And from the look on Zac’s face, he was having a hard time concentrating, too.

What was I doing? I really needed to focus on this assignment, yet there was another voice that told me that I could do both. I knew I would have to leave him one day. I sighed. But that day wouldn’t come for a while. Who knows? Maybe I could stay here for a while. Then again, Zac deserves a life. A human life. And with all my riches, wealth and power, that was something I couldn’t give him.

I sighed, spending the entire class considering the possibilities.

To me, the time seemed to drag, feeling the electricity between us that just grew stronger. I wanted to carry him away, and spend hours with him, and share his blood and his body, but that would come later. Images of the taste of Zac’s luscious human blood sliding down my throat came to mind and I forcefully pushed them away, but they kept creeping back to the forefront of my mind. Then images of him taking me into his arms and sharing my blood filled my mind. Yes, I wanted to share my blood with him, and I’ve never wanted to share my blood with anyone. I could just imagine piercing my own neck, then Zac taking me into his arms, placing his sweet full lips to my throat and gently sucking, all the while pulling me closer …

Then the bell rang, bringing me back from my reverie.

“What were you thinking just now?” Zac asked, with a slightly amused look on his face.

I took a deep breath, steadying myself, coming back to reality, and felt a slight blush on my cheeks. I haven’t blushed in years! What was I doing? It was so confusing. I wanted to be with him, but then again, I was his protector, his bodyguard. I had his life literally in my hands. I shook my head, shaking off the illusions clouding my mind, forcing myself to focus.  “Oh,” I replied, gathering my things from the desk. “Nothing. Nothing at all.”

“Oh?” Zac asked, still wearing the same amused look on his face.

“What?” I feigned innocence. There was no way I was going to tell him what I was thinking.

“Nothing,” Zac replied, smiling, shaking his head as he gathered his things.

“Why? There’s no nothing now,” I said, amused.

“It was just that you looked so far away, but so content,” Zac answered.

I laughed. Yes, I was content. “Come on, let’s go,” I said, getting up and walking for the door.

“What class do you have now?” Zac asked, shifting his backpack onto his shoulder.

“PE,” I replied, thankful it was the last class of the day. I needed time to clear my head, and time to think. Zac seemed to cloud my mind, and I could feel myself falling for him already. But if I fell, there would be no going back. “What class do you have?”

“French,” he replied, looking a bit crestfallen. I smiled, liking his reaction.

“Well, I’ll see you later then?” I asked, forcing myself to pull away.

“Yeah,” Zac said with smoldering eyes, taking my hand into his, obviously not wanting to let me go.

This pleased me. I stared into his azure eyes as he pulled me into his arms. I didn’t push away. He reached a hand to my cheek, as I leaned into his touch.

“I’ll wait for you,” Zac said as his beautiful blue eyes bore into mine. It was such a simple statement, and I hoped it was true in more ways than one.

“Okay,” I said softly, forcing myself to pull away. But, as I walked away, I stole one last glimpse of him over my shoulder.

He simply smiled his sexy half smile, and held up a hand, watching me as I walked away.

Away from him, I took deep breaths to clear my head. Being near him was a heady experience, intoxicating. I ran down the hall—perhaps a bit faster than human speed—to the gym. I needed to run, to exercise, to clear my head. I needed time to think.

Inside the gym, I ran down the stairs and into the girl’s locker room, my head still filled with Zac. What was I doing? I thought as other girls ran around the locker room in various stages of undress, preparing for gym class. Ignoring them, I quickly ripped open my backpack and pulled a gray T-shirt and navy shorts from it—not as sexy as I like, but typical gym attire, as thoughts of Zac assaulted my mind. How could I let Zac have this affect on me? I sighed, leaning my head back against a locker door, not sure I had a choice anymore.

“Hi!” a familiar, perky voice said. Sandra. “You have gym now?” She asked, clearly excited, already dressed and ready to go.

I half smiled, pulling off my shirt, for vamps really had no modesty. Modesty was for the insecure and vamps were very secure in themselves. Or, at least, most were. Soon, the other girls rushed out toward the gym in an effort to be on time.

I didn’t want to tell Sandra that the answer to her question was obvious. She was a very nice girl. “Yeah,” I simply said with a smile, as I pulled the hideous gray T-shirt over my head.

“Well, great! So do I!” Sandra replied, a bit intimidated by my semi-naked body. I continued dressing, slipping off my skirt and pulling the navy shorts over my tanned legs. “I’ll … uh … I’ll just wait for you upstairs.”

“No, don’t leave,” I replied, catching her verbally before she ran out. “I mean, you don’t have to go. I’m almost ready. But, then again, I don’t want you to be late.”

“That’s okay,” Sandra said, looking out the door. Within a second, I changed into my tennis shoes and was ready to go.

Then I thought of something I just had to know. “Zac really hasn’t had another girlfriend?” I asked, looking her straight in the eye, seeking the truth.

“No,” Sandra answered, never taking her eyes from mine. “Not that I know of, anyway.”

“Okay,” I replied in disbelief. I’ll be damned. “As attractive and self sacrificing as he is, it’s a wonder some nice girl hasn’t snatched him up yet,” I replied, knowing I could trust her.

Then Sandra looked at me with very serious eyes. “Well, maybe he hadn’t met the right girl yet.”

I thought for a moment, then gave her a half smile. “Yeah, maybe you’re right.”

“What about you?” Sandra asked, sincere. “Do you have any boyfriends?”