The Vampiric Housewife (5 page)

    
His mother did not soften as he expected. “Why didn’t you tell your teacher?”

    
He shrugged. The silver pad lock on the pantry door suddenly caught his attention. The pantry was only locked when they kept a human in there. He stared at the door, that gnawing hunger arising inside him again.

    
“Harry!” his mother yelled snapping his attention back to her.

    
“I don’t know. I’d only get it worse later. They’d gang up on me if they knew I tattled.”

    
Valerie shook her head, looked at the pantry door, then back at Harry again. “So was the bully picking on Bobby Miller too?”

    
“Huh?”

    
“Was Bobby hiding in the bathroom with you?”

    
He nodded.

    
“The teachers checked the restrooms for you boys. Harry, you just lied to me.”

    
Harry wasn’t quite sure what to do next. He was surprised by how smart his mom had gotten. He kind of liked it. More of a challenge. But first he had to get out of this trouble before he could get into trouble again. He had two choices. Cry or tell the truth. He was getting a little too old for the crying.

    
“I was bored,” he said flatly.

    
“Excuse me?” Now she seemed caught off guard.

    
“I’m bored in school. I already know everything. I’m sorry I lied to you. But I didn’t think I could tell you the truth.”

    
“You can always tell me the truth. But skipping class because you’re bored is no excuse,” she scolded him but seemed less upset now.
    

    
“I’m sorry.”

    
“Well, no human blood for you.”

    
“But—“ His eyes went back to the pantry door.

    
“No. We’ll discuss this more when your father gets home. And if I see you trying to get into that pantry or discover any bite marks, you will not have any more human blood until you’re married with children of your own. Now, go to your room. Don’t leave it until I call you for dinner.”

    
He was about to protest but decided against it and turned to leave. He wished he would just get a paddling or be grounded. That would have been fair. But no human blood—that was cruel and unusual punishment.

    
“Harry,” Valerie called out in a softer voice. He turned. “I’ll talk to your teacher. Maybe we can get you into some advanced classes or something, okay?”

    
He nodded. He didn’t want advanced classes. He wanted blood.
 

Chapter Five

Young Vampire Love

    
In the margins of her calculus homework, Amelia doodled, her hand on her chin, her dark hair falling over her shoulder.
Mrs. Drew Sanders
, she wrote in dreamy, loopy letters.
Mrs. Amelia Sanders. Mr. and Mrs. Drew Sanders. DS+AM
. Around the initials she drew a perfect heart with a red pen. It was much more pleasant to daydream about Drew than work on her equations. Next to the numbers and mathematical symbols, she began sketching his face in red ink. That strong, rectangular chin, the slightly pointed nose, those narrow dark eyes that glistened in the moonlight . . . the lock of white blonde hair that always hung over his high forehead. He was handsome. Beyond handsome. There weren’t even words for him.

    
It wasn’t about the way he looked though. Amelia wasn’t so shallow. He could have been scarred and deformed, and she would have still felt the same way. Maybe he didn’t make the best grades, but that was only because he made no effort in school. He was kind of a trouble maker. Truancy. Vandalism. Back talk. But he was intelligent, knowledgeable. Especially about history. Though she had never seen a book in his hand, he must read a lot to know so much. She could picture him stowed away in his bedroom reading
Anna Karenina
where no one could see how uncool it was, pushing that blonde lock of hair out of his eyes as he read.

    
She sighed and began another sketch of his face, this time from a three quarter profile. Drew had transferred to Sangre Valley High two years ago and had become instant friends with John. They were both on the football team together and hung out nearly every weekend. But he had barely noticed Amelia. She was just John’s kid sister. A nonidentity. Weird. Quiet. Always skulking around in the shadows. He liked girls like Stacy Andrews—the first girl he dated after transferring. A senior cheerleader—which of course propelled him into instant popularity and completely out of the league of Amelia Murray. Stacy was a flirt and, well, had a reputation. Drew seemed to only date girls with reputations. Amelia had never even been kissed.

     
So he had a bad boy image. That was part of his appeal too. She could admit it. But Amelia argued that there was more to him. It was in his eyes. There was pain there and a longing, an appreciation for . . . life? Beauty? Something, she just wasn’t sure what. It was a bit of a mystery. That was what had entranced her. The handsome exterior and bad boy cockiness was just a bonus.

    
She knew what attracted her to him. What made him suddenly take notice of her? Was it the conical bra she made her mother buy? Or maybe there was some sorted rumor about her floating around school? She cringed at the thought of being considered loose. That was highly unlikely though. Someone would have to notice her first to begin a rumor about her. Maybe . . . it had been her art. That was what she liked to think. One night when she was hanging out with her brother and Drew in the rec room, a sudden shadow had fallen over her as she sketched. She looked up and there was Drew standing over her, his soulful dark eyes on her sketch pad. It was just a rough drawing, certainly not her best work, just a girl sitting in a window sill watching the moon rise as her hair danced in the wind. He told her, “that’s pretty cool,” then smiled at her. Not the devious smile she usually saw when he and John were up to no good, or when he was flirting with some girl in the hallway. A genuine smile. She’d never forget that smile as long as she lived.

    
Or maybe nothing had changed. Maybe he was just being nice to his best friend’s sister that night. Maybe she was still John’s homely little sister and John had talked him into the idea. Thought it’d be a laugh. Or perhaps both John and Drew had taken pity on her. Poor Amelia sitting home alone every Friday night. Poor Amelia who always sat by herself at lunch. Poor Amelia who never had boyfriend. She couldn’t bear the embarrassment if her brother or Drew truly thought that.

    
It wasn’t that Amelia was really unhappy. She rather sit alone than have to listen to the mindless prattle of other girls about how unfair it was that their skirts couldn’t be more than an inch above their knees or how dreamy Elvis was, or pretend to take interest in their self-induced drama. She’d rather read alone and drink her blood. Nor did she want to go to a party just to watch kids get drunk on fermented blood, dance without rhythm, and basically make fools of themselves. It was stupid. She didn’t want to be popular like John with rallies and assemblies to attend. It would just be nice to have
someone
. . . to talk with, to understand her. She thought she had a secret understanding of Drew. Maybe he had a secret understanding of her too.

    
“Amelia and Drew sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g! First comes love then comes marriage then comes a baby in a baby carriage . . .” John sang into her ear, suddenly standing next to her.

    
“Get away!” she cried elbowing him in the stomach with all her might.

    
“Ouch!” he exclaimed laughing. “Don’t have a cow! I thought you’d be happy.”

    
“I’m
mortified
. I thought I was your sister. I thought you loved me. Then you have to humiliate me by forcing your friend—“

     
“Geez Aims, you really don’t give yourself enough credit. Or give me too much. The only reason boys don’t ask you out is because you’re quiet. You don’t know how many noses I’ve bloodied in locker rooms because I heard some jerk talking about you in an inappropriate way.”

    
She continued to stare at him. She knew her brother would defend her honor. But she highly doubted any boy would defile that honor.

    
“I know I kid you, but . . . Drew approached me.”

    
“What exactly did he say?” she demanded crossing her arms. Her heart raced waiting for his answer.

    
“He said that he kind of noticed that you had grown up and gotten . . . I won’t use his word. I warned him not to use it again. But he wanted my permission to take you out.”

    
“So I need your permission to date?”

    
“You don’t. He does. The double date was my idea though. I know the stories he tells in the locker room. And he’s not just exaggerating like most guys. I don’t think he’d try any of that stuff with my sister because he’s my buddy, but I’d like to keep an eye on him myself.”

    
“This really isn’t a pity date?”

    
“First off, Drew is not the type to pity anyone. And second, I wouldn’t do that to you, Aims.”

    
“I don’t know.” She liked him. She wasn’t quite sure why she was so reluctant to say yes. How many nights had she prayed for Drew Sanders to ask her out?

    
“Come on, it’ll be fun.”

    
Truthfully John really did not want to go on a double date with his kid sister, especially not to the drive-in. Not because he held anything against Amelia. He had tried to get her to hang out at his lunch table and invited her to parties with him. He always said hi to her in school. She just didn’t want anything to do with high school life, and everyone in school knew it. Even if she was a self-inflicted outcast, Amelia was still cool. He could always count on her. Confess how he flunked a test on Shakespeare without her finking to the parents. Or tell her how he tried a cigarette for the first time after a basketball game in the parking lot one night. He had pretended to like it to look cool but told Amelia that it tasted disgusting. She wouldn’t judge him one way or another. They could share those kinds of secrets. But there were also secrets he did not want his little sister knowing about.

     
He was in love with Lisa or was pretty sure that he was. She wore his pin after all. He thought about her incessantly—not only about having sex with her either though he thought about that a lot too. He loved the way she smiled and cheered him on at football and basketball games. He loved the way she felt in his arms. And how he could tell her all he wanted for the future—to play college ball, go into engineering, see something outside of Sangre Valley, then settle down and have a family. He couldn’t tell his sister that or, more importantly, about how he got to third base with Lisa last weekend. Or about the lustful, depraved dreams he had every night. About the embarrassing erection he woke up with every morning. What an aphrodisiac a backseat and a scary flick were . . . He really did not want his sister anywhere near that situation. Not when he was so close to finally doing
it
.

    
But when Drew told him he was interested in Aims, his true Friday night plans had to be postponed.
Sexy
, that was the word he had used to describe his sister. It was Drew’s favorite word. Everything Drew liked was sexy—a cool car, a good movie, a party. John could admit that his sister was pretty in her nerdy way. Enough of his friends had said so. But she was not and never would be
sexy.
There was nothing that connected Amelia with sex and John would be damned if Drew became that link.

    
“She’s not easy,” John had warned his friend with an edge to his voice. “She’s not that type of girl.”

    
“I have no doubt about that,” he said with a smirk. John did not like that smirk.