The Vampire Pirate's Daughter (4 page)

Andrew looks at me shocked while I decide to
stop being such an idiot. I always thought love would be simple,
but this is complicated. I realize that although he is my first, my
perfect crush, it would be too difficult to have a relationship
with someone outside of my community and now he is looking at me as
if I am a freak.

Drinking my juice silently, I notice Andrew
looking at me every now and again with puzzlement in his eyes. I
can see the questions burning in them.

Carmine chatters non-stop with Peter and
Martin, not including Andrew and me. The silence between Andrew and
me is awkward and I see him become restless. For some stupid
reason, I feel so sad. It comes from the general direction of my
stomach.

I lean toward Carmine. “I have to leave.
Will you get your own way back?”

Carmine smiles toward me and then she smiles
sweetly to Andrew. “Ya. Andrew will give me a lift home.”

He laughs suddenly. “You cannot just
assume.”

She pouts. “But you will, won’t
you?”

He smiles brightly, and I see their eyes
meet.

I say goodbye, but Andrew only looks up at me
briefly without saying a word.

Carmine slides into the space I just vacated
and she asks, looking up at me, “See you tomorrow at school?”

I smile down at her. “Okay.”

“Bye, Susie,” she calls after me. The good
thing from all of this is that I made a friend, at least.

As I walk away, I hear Andrew say to Carmine,
“Nice dress. Did you just buy it, because I’ve never seen it
before?”

I have lived so long and never before have I
ever felt this total, absolute sense of hopelessness.

Carmine rushes toward me the next day at
school, and I sigh inwardly. Although she would make life easier
and I would be able to fit in faster, she was silly and inane at
times. She never stopped talking and I wondered amused whether she
ever thinks about anything. If her jaws are always moving, surely
she could never contemplate the deeper things in life.

She seems overly excited and she says, “I
cannot wait for this weekend. I am looking forward to Andrew’s
party and I am glad you are also coming.”

I say apologetically, “I won’t be able to go
anymore. I forgot we are going away for the weekend.”

“That’s very depressing. I was looking
forward to you also going,” she sulks.

I am not looking forward to it, because house
parties are usually seriously boring and predictable, but I reply
kindly, “I completely forgot. My brother likes stargazing, and this
weekend there is a new moon, so that means he can see the stars
clearer, without the glare of the moon interfering.”

She asks, “Do you have to go with?”

“I do. It is like a family tradition
already.”

She smiles acceptingly, shrugging it off and
then she notices Andrew walking up the corridor. She yells
excitedly, “Andrew!”

Damn, being friends with her is going to make
me cross Andrew’s path daily and I was hoping to only look
longingly at him every now and again. Besides, Shayne and Amanda
have been nudging me toward Ethan for the last ten years. I do like
Ethan, but I would not want to literally spend eternity with
him.

Andrew smiles when he sees Carmine and he
walks toward us. He looks at me and then smiles in greeting. He
tickles Carmine in her waist and laughs delighted when she shrieks
away from him.

“Hi, Carmine,” he laughs.

“Hey. You are here early today.”

“Ya, we had cross-country training this
morning.”

He punches her lightly on the arm. “You know
this, you goose.”

I just stand there looking at them.
W
hen he looks back at
me, I feel foolishly inhibited.

We walk together to our registry class and
the rest of the morning drags by.

During lunch break, I go to the office. The
smell of percolated coffee is overwhelming and fills the entire
administrative office. They decorated the entrance with modern
furniture and it looks like a picture in an interior design
magazine.

I ask the receptionist behind the high
rosewood desk if she could give me details of the cross-country and
she smiles friendly while she opens one of her filing drawers and
takes out a stapled pack of papers.

She hands them to me over the desk, while
smiling friendly. “There you go.”

I say, “Thank you,” politely and then I walk
out the door and back into the sunshine, away from the air
conditioning. I do not get hot or cold, but I do sense a change in
weather and I can feel a difference in the air between warm or
chilly.

I am not planning on stalking Andrew, by
enquiring about cross-country. I did have a real interest in
running. After all no one else could run long distance like I
could, and never get out of breath.

Here students do not leave school at lunch
break and we have to spend break together. There is no cafeteria
where kids can go to sit down for lunch, but there is a tuck shop
where they can buy a warm lunch and then they all scatter
throughout the corridors and sports field – doing what they do in
their respective groups.

I sit down in my usual corner and then I
page through the documents the receptionist gave me. Usually I
would read one of my books. I enjoyed reading and these days I
enjoyed reading the various vampire romance books, which were
dominating the bookshop shelves. I loved the idea that people
thought there was a possibility that someone like me could have a
relationship with a human boy. Never before have I had the
slightest inclination or attraction to a human boy, until the first
time I saw Andrew. He had some magnetic hold over me. Without
speaking to me, I knew I would delight in his touch. It should be
so simple - it always is in movies, but in movies, you cannot see
the conflicting emotions and pain.

The bell rings and I automatically walk to my
next class. Carmine bounds toward me. “Where have you been? I was
looking all over for you.”

Carmine smiles toward Andrew. “Susie cannot
come on Friday. Pity isn’t it.”

I must be fooling myself, but I thought I
saw disappointment in his eyes. Yeah, right!

In Business Studies, Mr. Williams tells us to
form groups of four. I see Carmine rush toward me and predictably,
Andrew and John come with her.

Mr. Williams explains that he wants us to
work on a project about the impact the internet has had on the
world and the fact that the world has literally shrunk due to the
information now available at each person’s fingertips. He tells us
that we can start immediately and we drag our chairs across the
floor and the scarping noise is loud and irritating.

Carmine, John, Andrew and I sit around the
table and Andrew is sitting across from me.

I start the discussion, “I think that the
internet has not shrunken this country, because although the
population exceeds fifty million, only about ten percent have
access to the internet.”

Andrew retaliates, “But they are building
that fiber-optic cable under the sea. This will escalate the use of
the internet dramatically.”

I laugh sarcastically. “No. The people in
charge are too greedy to make it cheap enough for everybody to use
it. Besides, if you had no food, would you…”

Andrew interrupts me rudely, “You have only
lived in this country for a short while and as usual your kind has
all the answers!”

I gasp insulted. “My kind?”

“Yes, your kind! You come here from your
first world countries and then you think you can solve all our
problems. All over the world, there is racism against colored
people. In America, in Australia, but because the Europeans in this
country gave it a name, it became such a great sin. Around the time
they introduced apartheid into South Africa, was about the time
slaves where hung and persecuted in America. Do not come here and
pretend to be high and mighty!”

“How did we get from the internet to racism?”
John asks embarrassed at Andrew’s outburst.

Andrew knocks his chair over as he gets up
hurriedly and then he walks toward the exit door of the class
without excusing himself.

Mr. Williams calls him back, but Andrew
ignores him and slams the door when he walks out of the class.

John gets up from his chair slowly and he
picks up the chair from the floor. He walks to Mr. Williams and
asks him if he could go after Andrew.

Mr. Williams is red in the face. He is an
aged teacher, with grey hair neatly brushed back over his ears and
the centre of his head looks as smooth as a baby’s bum. He is most
probably three years away from retirement. He says irate, “Tell him
to either come back immediately or to meet me at the principal’s
office after school.” Mr. Williams mumbles to himself, while John
walks out to follow Andrew.

Carmine whispers to me, “Phew. That was
unexpected. I have truly never seen Andrew carry on like that.”

I frown and start to doodle. Carmine looks
over toward my notebook and she laughs softly. “You scribble
vampire teeth!” More excited she asks, “Have you seen that new
movie, the one with…”

Mr. Williams interrupts her, “Carmine, do you
want to join Mr. Andrew Muller in the office later today?”

Carmine answers apologetically, “No,
Sir.”

She takes out a book and then she starts to
makes notes on what we should discuss regarding the project.

The bell rings after what seems like
hours.

Later that afternoon my phone vibrates in my
pocket and when I answer it, it is Carmine. She says, “Hi,
Susie.”

“Hello.” I did not feel like talking to her.
I have never been friends with someone like her and she will take
time getting used to.

“I thought I would keep you updated about
Andrew.”

“Why? I could not be bothered with what
happens to him.”

“His dad is the principle, so his punishment
is always more harsh! It is SO unfair.”

I do not reply. He was rude and attacked me
for no reason.

“He is on community duty for the rest of the
week and at home he has been grounded, so now his party might be
cancelled on Friday.”

Feeling sorry for Carmine, because I can hear
the disappointment in her voice, I say, “You were looking forward
to that. I am sorry, because indirectly I caused it to be
cancelled.”

Carmine hesitates for a moment. “You could
make it up to me and have it at your house.”

“No. I told you I am going away this
weekend.”

“
Cancel. Tell your brother you are sleeping
over at my house and then we can have a great party at your house
without any adult supervision.”

“No, that would just cause more trouble.”

She sighs. “Fine. Anyway we are meeting at
his house tomorrow to work on the project.”

I say determinedly, “I am not going to his
house.”

“
Why won't you come? We have to work on
this anyway, you know? It has to be finished next week.”

“
I’ll be busy tomorrow. Carry on without
me; I do not need the marks anyway.”

“
You are just being silly now. Do you want
him to think you are taking anything he said seriously?”

“No.”

“Well, then you will come tomorrow
afternoon.”

I sigh irritated. “Fine, I’ll see, but I
have to go now.”

I remember something and quickly I ask
before she hangs up, “The principal is Mr. Van Heerden and Andrew’s
surname is Muller, yet you said they are family.”

Carmine laughs. “Yes, poor Andrew was
adopted. He could have chosen a better dad, don’t you think?”

Amanda calls me, so I apologize to Carmine
and end the call.

I walk to the kitchen and sit down in one
of the chairs around the breakfast table. I watch Amanda pensively.
She is making ice-popsicles, but not your usual popsicles, though.
These popsicles are A-grade steak, cut into equal square
rectangles. She pushes a longer than usual cocktail stick into one
end and then she puts it into the freezer to freeze. It is very
refreshing on a summer’s day.

Amanda usually leaves all of this for the
weekends, but this weekend we are going away. We are going hunting.
We always go when there is a new moon, because then the night is
pitch black, especially in the rural areas. This will be the first
time we are hunting in this particular area, but it adds to the
excitement. In a year or so, it will be commonplace and boring
again.

I ask, “You called me?”

“Oh, just to chat. Were you busy?”

I grunt, “No, not really”

Amanda asks without looking up. “How is
school?”

“Stupid question!”

Amanda laughs exuberantly. “It sounds as if
you are having problems with some of the humans?”

I reply stubbornly, “This one boy and I are
having a difference of opinion. He seemed like such a goody-two
shoes, but today he just stormed out of the class. I also learned
that his father is the principle and trust me that man is scary,
even to me.”

“So this boy is a rebel without a clue?”

I laugh with her, although this has
completely changed my perception of Andrew. It made me want him
more.

I get dressed comfortably in black jeans and
a black sweater. We will be leaving from our house and now we are
waiting for Ethan to arrive.

Ethan has liked me for as long as I can
remember, but there is something about him that makes me feel
uncomfortable – small, little things that get in the way of me
liking him. At times I would think, I could grow to like him, but
then he would say or do something silly, insignificant, and that
would change my mind. Shayne and Amanda always try to include Ethan
in our hunts, because they are looking for a mate for me. In
moments when they felt serious, they would wonder what would happen
to me if something ever happened to them. According to them, Ethan
would be the best replacement for them.