Star, Starland Vamp Series, Book 1 (7 page)

“Oh, you can count on it,” I said, broadening my smile. Oh, you could definitely count on it.

“Well,” Rick turned toward me. “I guess you can take it from here. Do you have everything you need, honey?”

When I get home, you just wait …
I was thinking abusive retaliation for Rick when I finally answered, “Sure, Dad. I’ll be fine. You just go on home and don’t worry.” I was really going to kill him. Of course, this show was for Mr. Hartrell.

Rick was suppressing a smile. “Okay, Lisa. I’ll be back later to pick you up.”

“Great, Dad
!” I smiled sweetly. “I’ll see you later then.” Of course, he wouldn’t be back to get me. I could actually run home much faster.

“Aren’t you going to give me a hug, honey?” Rick was really pushing it.

“Dad!” I feigned embarrassment. “Not in front of people!”

The principal smiled sympathetically, then replied to Rick, “Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of her.”

“I’m sure you will,” Rick said, then departed through the glass front door.  Rick didn’t tell him that he would most likely be the one needing protection from me.

When Rick left and Mr. Hartrell and I were alone, he said abruptly, his plastic smile gone, “Come on and I’ll show you to your homeroom.” Oh, so he was one of
those
!
He had a parent face and demeanor, and a student face and demeanor, and the later was not the best.

We said nothing as we walked, until we arrived in front of a classroom door. “In here. And don’t be late tomorrow.”

“Why thank you very much for all of your help and professionalism,” I said with all the sweetness I could muster, then added, conspiratorially lowering my voice, “especially in front of my father.”

Mr. Hartrell turned about five shades of red before turning on his heel and walked back the way he came without another word.

I quickly looked at my schedule memorizing it instantly. I really only needed it for a prop now.

My first class was with Ms. Parks for Government. From the other side of the door, the voice of a kind, but no-nonsense robust, African American woman rang out, “Now, take your seats. The announcements are on
!” I looked to the front of the room, where students were smiling and talking animatedly on the morning announcements broadcast across a Smart Board that covered most of the wall within the classroom. Ms. Parks caught my attention. If I was a terrorist, she would have been dead before she even noticed me. “Now, who do we have here? Come over here now, honey. Don’t be shy.”

Regrettably, I handed Ms. Parks my schedule and walked to the front of the room. Quickly, I scanned the room, but didn’t see Zachary. Damn. If this continued, I would have to visit Ms. Sutherland tomorrow, after her mind had a chance to heal itself from Rick’s mind control earlier. She would have a slight headache tonight. Too much mind control in one day could damage the synapses within her brain, and it wasn’t my intention to fry brains.

“Class, this is Lisa Miller,” Ms. Parks announced, reading from my schedule. “Can you tell the class a little bit about yourself?”

“Not really,” I said, causing the class to laugh.

“Ahhh, come now!” she persisted, overlooking my sarcasm. “I know how hard it is coming to a new school. Don’t be shy! Just tell us something about yourself. Anything that comes to mind. Anything at all.” She was way too perky.

Sure, I’m a CIA agent that was sent here to protect one of your fellow classmates from being killed by psychotic vamps. By the way, I’m a vamp, too, and a shape shifter to boot. The class would either think I was a nut or would run out screaming. Tempting. I took the high road. “Hello, everyone,” I began. “My name is Lisa Miller and I just moved here from West Palm Beach, Florida, where I attended Lake Worth High School. I love writing and hope to become a journalist one day.” Typical canned answer.

“Very good!” Ms. Parks encouraged, unwittingly treating me like an imbecile. She was way too perky and patronizing, but I’m sure with the best intentions. “Now, you can find an empty seat,” she said, as her eyes searched mine.

“Thank you, Ms. Parks,” I replied and took one of two empty seats toward the back of the room.

The students were typical, average high school students, looking for the approval of their peers, hoping the teacher wouldn’t call on them, or was busy texting their friends under the desk.

Every guy in the class watched me as I walked to my seat. Men never change. Although I had perfect recall, once in my seat I removed a notebook and pencil from my backpack to make it look good, then turned and smiled at the boys who were still gawking. They quickly averted their eyes. That’s more like it.

A few minutes later, the door opened and who walked in? Zachary Davis. This was my lucky day, after all. Ms. Sutherlands’ neurons were safe for another day.

“Sorry I’m late, Ms. Parks,” Zachary said in a low voice. “I was cut off by some idiot out there and couldn’t find a parking space.”

Ms. Parks smiled sweetly. “Not a problem, Mr. Davis. This time.” The later was a warning. “Now,” the sweet demeanor returned. “Go take a seat.”

He nodded, then hurried to the vacant seat next to mine. This just kept getting better. I said nothing, but watched inconspicuously. I was 5’4”, but he was much taller. 6’2” to be exact. My sense of measurement was perfect, having experience over the years. He had broad shoulders that fell to a narrow waist and hips. I could tell he had nice legs under his trousers and arms that bulged from over training and years of playing sports. His sun-streaked hair was cropped short on the sides and the back like in his picture, was parted inconspicuously toward the side and fell lazily over one eye, just like in his picture. He wore tan khakis and a nice white dress shirt. A bit dressy for a student, but on him, the look was very becoming. And I wasn’t the only one to have noticed. When he took his seat, every girl followed him with their eyes, but he was completely oblivious to it. Quickly, he pulled out a binder and a pen, then listened attentively.

I watched him, taking in his mannerisms, studying his little habits, in essence, trying to get to know him through body language. My heart pounded within my chest in response. I pushed the thoughts aside, telling myself that he was in my charge. As I watched him from the corner of my eye, it was easy to see why half the girls in the class were in love with him. He was truly one of the most beautiful humans I had ever met. And I’d met many, stars included. But it was his demeanor that was the most attractive. He was totally oblivious to his golden good looks, focusing instead on the task at hand. I kept my eyes averted forward, so as not to be conspicuous.

When he saw me sitting beside him, he did a double take, which pleased me, but why would I care? “Hello,” he said in a low voice. “I’m Zac.”

“Lisa,” I said, nodding. So, he goes by Zac. It suits him well.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Zac replied with a half smile.

I nodded, then averted my attention toward Ms. Parks, playing hard to get. 

He turned back toward the front, as well, but looked at me out of the corner of his eye.

Ms. Parks lectured on the three branches of government: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. Then she divided the class into three groups and assigned each group a branch. We were doing a Jigsaw, within which she gave each group two separate articles about their branch, but gave a copy to each of us. It was then up to each group to become the “expert,” presenting the collected information to the class. Zac and I were in the same group, with a little push from me. Ms. Park’s brain could handle it. No one in the class noticed.

“You ready?” Zac asked me, chivalrous, then proceeded to move his desk next to mine.

I smiled sweetly, as the other students moved their desks around ours.

As a group, we decided to split up each page into sections. Then, two of us would work on each section, picking out the main idea and important supporting details to present to the class.

“You want to work together?” Zac asked hopefully, turning to talk only to me, much to the chagrin of the other females in our group.

“I’d love to,” I replied, giving him a dazzling smile.

He smiled broadly, showing perfectly aligned pearl white teeth; a stunning smile.”Here,” he said reading the articles while moving closer to me. I could smell his cologne, Obsession, which caused my heart to flutter again. It usually never beat that much; only three beats per minute. My heart was having a workout today. “The Legislative government is made up of the Congress and the …”

“Senate,” I finished, not taking my eyes from him as he read. He was very masculine, despite his age. He reminded me of the men from my era, the Revolutionary War; a true gentleman with powerful good looks.

He dazzled me this time with another smile, then continued reading. I read it all as soon as the papers were passed, so I let him take the lead, watching him intently. For research, I told myself. He was kind to others, helpful, and very considerate. And his parents had taught him well, as he treated a lady like a lady, something I haven’t experienced for a while. Okay … back to work.

As I listened to Zac, I stole glances around the room. Everyone within the confines of the room was human. There were no vampires. Everyone seemed to be studying attentively. No one seemed to be paying particular attention to Zac.

Satisfied, I decided to change the subject a bit. “Zac, may I ask you a question?”

He froze, astonished, then replied, “Sure.”

I nodded. “How long have you lived here?”

“In Cooperstown?”

I nodded encouragingly.

“Well, we moved here about four years ago.” There was a faraway look in his eyes, thinking back to a time not as pleasant. “I was a freshman and moved from D.C. and had to make friends all over again.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, listening attentively. And I truly was. I could tell it was hard on him and still hard to talk about.

He quickly shook it off. “Don’t be,” Zac replied with another dazzling smile. Whew
! I was going to have to get hold of myself. “I made friends quickly and now I’m a senior and the captain of the football team.”

I smiled, nodding. “You’re very outgoing,” I said, unable to believe the direction our conversation had taken. “I’m sure making friends wasn’t a problem for you.”

His eyebrows pulled together, thinking. “It wasn’t a good time for me.”

I nodded, then proceeded gingerly. “Not to pry, but why? What else happened?”

Zac looked directly into my eyes, surprised. I was trying to get too much information too quickly.

“Forget I said anything,” I responded, looking back at the paper.

“No, it’s okay,” he replied, still watching me. “I was just amazed.”

“At what?” I asked shyly.

“At your directness,” Zac replied, then shook his head, looking down. “I don’t even know you, but now I’m telling you my life story.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry …”

“No,” Zac corrected, looking directly into my eyes again. “That’s not what I mean. You’re so easy to talk to. I’ve told you more about my life than some of my closest friends.” This surprised me. “I feel like I’ve known you all my life.”

My heart swelled within my chest, listening to his words and looking into his mesmerizing eyes. And the wild part was that he didn’t realize the effect he had on people. “We can change the subject …”

“No,” Zac interrupted, looking into my eyes. “Where are you from?”

“I’m originally from Boston, but moved to Florida recently,” I replied, thinking of all the places I’d been within my lifetime, almost every major city and certainly every continent in the world.

“Does your family move around a lot?” he asked, truly enthralled.

“Yes, we’ve lived in many different places, but I’m here with my father now,” I continued. I hadn’t planned to give him so much information. “My mother died when I was little.”

“I’m so sorry.” Zac’s eyebrows pulled together in concern.

I shook it off. “Don’t be. I was very young and it was a long time ago. I never knew her.” I shook my head, then smiled.

“What?” he asked, his eyebrows pulling together.

“I was just amazed because I’d never told anyone that before,” I admitted. “You’re so easy to talk, too.” And I knew it was true.

He smiled his dazzling half smile. “So are you.”

“Okay everyone,” Ms. Parks announced, calling us to order. “Time to present your information to the class.”

“Sorry,” Zac whispered. “I’m afraid I’ve kept us from reading very much of the text.”

The corner of one side of my lips rose. “Don’t worry. I’ve got your back.”

Zac smiled, while three other girls in our group gave me a dirty look. I smiled at them sweetly.

Soon, it came to our group. Other members of our group presented their information nervously, hoping they found everything within the text, not wanting to lose face before their peers. Then it was our turn.

“You start, then I’ll take over,” I whispered into his ear, low so no one could hear.

Zac nodded, his eyebrows pulling together. “The legislative branch of our government is made up of two governing bodies that help in making our nation’s laws.”