Vampyre

Chapter Three

I wake up to a knock at my door. I slowly get out of bed and open the door to see Mikah wearing a grey t-shirt, dark denim jeans, and black converse. I can feel my cheeks getting hot. ‘He’s so beautiful. I wonder if he feels the same pull towards me.’ I thought to myself.

Mikah clears his throat pulling me from my thoughts.

“Hi.” I speak.

“Hey.” He replies.

Rubbing my eyes I say, ‘what’s up?”

“Uh, it’s six-thirty. School starts in about an hour and everyone is gathering in the dining hall for breakfast.” He states rubbing the back of his neck.

“Oh, hell yeah! Let me get ready and I’ll meet you there.” I exclaim as my stomach rumbled.

Mikah chuckles, “okay, the dining hall is through the kitchen to the right!”

Walking into my large closet I tap my chin, “okay, J. First day, first impressions are important. I need to look cute and presentable.” I begin rummaging through my clothes. I find a pair of white skinny jeans with rips down the legs, an olive-colored form fitting tank top, a black denim jean jacket, and a pair of black Doc Martens.

After putting on my outfit, I make my way to the dining hall. Once I find it, I push through the double doors. Everyone is eating and chatting away. I look around taking in the room. It’s a lot bigger than any other dining hall I’ve ever seen. With its large ceilings and stained-glass windows, it looks like you can fit two football fields in here. I try looking for Mikah, but I don’t see him. I feel a tap on my shoulder, so I turn around, but I don’t see anyone. I raise an eyebrow.

“Hi, sorry! You must be Jade.” Someone said giggling.

I look down towards the voice. A sweet girl stared back up at me smiling. I smile back at her. Her smile is very contagious.

“Yeah, that’s me. What’s your name?” I ask.

“My name is lily, but everyone calls me Mouse.” She answers.

I chuckle. I can see why. She stands at about four foot six, her hair is a silver grey, and her eyes are pitch black.

“I like that. It’s nice to meet you, Mouse.”

She smiles, “Mikah said I would like you. He is so right!”

“He told you about me?” I ask feeling the crimson of my cheeks starting.

“Yup! He sure did. He hasn’t shut up since you got here. Come, I’m starving! You can sit with us.” She says linking her arm through mine and pulls me towards a table in front of one of the many windows.

She scoots into one of the booths and pulls me down next to her, “now we wait for pancakes!”

My stomach rumbles as people come into the dining hall with carts full of pancakes, eggs, sausage, toast, pastries, and all kinds of condiments.

“Oh my god, it smells so good!” Mouse exclaims as a cart rolls next to our table.

“Me too. I honestly didn’t realize how hungry I was until now.” I laugh.

Mouse began to stuff her face with a fork full of pancakes when a thought pops into my head, “hey, Mouse?”

“hmmph?” she manages with a mouthful of pancake.

“I thought we only drink blood.” I say with embarrassment.

She chokes a little and then giggles, “no, we eat food too. You’ll learn more about it in one of the classes you’ll take.”

I sigh in relief. I’m getting ready to take another bite when eucalyptus and sage makes its way into my nostrils. I take a deep inhale.

“You smell that?” I ask Lily.

“Smell what? All I smell are these absolute mouth-watering pancakes. What else would I be sm-“ she trails off as someone enters our peripheral vision.

‘Mikah. Is that his scent? It smells stronger.’ I think to myself.

“Dude, she’s cool. I swear. So be nice. I know new people aren’t really your thing, but she needs some familiar faces. I guarantee Mouse introduced herself already.” Mikah says walking up to the table.

“I was right. See!” He says to the guy beside him before sliding into the booth across from us.

“Mikah! Freddie! Finally. I was beginning to think I was going to have to eat breakfast for y’all.”

“Mouse, you turn into a rat with how much you eat.” The guy named Freddie says laughing.

She grabs her chest like she’s grabbing her heart, “oh, Freddie boy. I love when you’re mean to me. Your accent makes it so much better.”

“I don’t have one. You do.” He says rolling his eyes.

“Okay, okay.’ Mikah laughs, “you’re from different countries so you’re going to think each other has an accent. Anyway, Freddie. This is Jade. Jade, this is Freddie.”

Freddie sticks out his hand for me to shake. He looks a bit uncomfortable with gesture so opt for a fist bump instead. Which he gladly returns with a smile of appreciation.

“Nice to meet you, Freddie.” I say taking the last bite of my pancakes.

He nods and digs into his food.

I lean over to Mouse and ask, “why did you stop mid-sentence when they walked up?”

She just shrugs and says, “no reason.”

I sigh and finish my food as I listen to them talk about a project in one of their classes.

“I am so stuffed,” Mikah sighs out, “car-pooling to school, right?”

“Duh! We always do.” Mouse replies.

“I call shot gun!” Freddie shouts as he jumps up and runs for the door.

“That’s not how it works!” she exclaims running after him.

I laugh and follow Mikah out of the dining hall and towards the garage. We finally catch up to Freddie and Mouse standing beside a red nineteen-eighty-four Jeep Wrangler.

“Guess I’m driving.” Freddie says dangling the keys.

“Shot gun!” Mouse yells climbing into the passenger seat.

I look at Mikah. He shrugs and laughs as he gets into the backseat. I follow in after him.

The three them reach for the AUX but Mouse grabs it before either of the guys. I giggle and then gasp.

“I don’t have any of my stuff Carter got for me for school!”

“Everything’s in the trunk.” Mikah says with a reassuring smile, and I smile back.

The rest of the ride was a blur of laughter and jamming to Mouse’s ‘Driving to School’ playlist.

***

“I promise this tour is going to be easy. You’ve been here before so, you know where everything is really. The basics though are first year and second year classes are on the first floor, third year on the second floor, and fourth year on the third floor.” Mikah says as we stand in the middle of the courtyard.

“Why do third and fourth years get their own floor?” I ask him.

“Third year is where take classes on different species. Fourth year is where you take classes on careers to choose.” He answers.

“Oh okay. That makes sense.” I bite my lip.

Mikah takes my hand, “let’s go get your schedule. I want to make sure you get a few classes with Mouse, Freddie, and me. So you have some familiarity.”

“Are we they same year?” I ask as he leads me to headmasters’ office.

“Technically, no.” He says plainly.

“Technically?”

“I’m supposed to be a third year. But I took a year off school and was “held back” if you will.” He answers as we walked in the office.

I just nod, not knowing what to say.

“Hey, Mikah!” a young girl at the desk says.

“Hey, Sammi. Is Jeffers in his office?” Mikah asks leaning against the desk.

“Yes, he is. Is there anything I can help with?” Sammi asks smiling at him.

“Not unless you can rig my schedule so I can be in the same class as someone.”

She blushes a little and giggles. I roll my eyes and clear my throat. That’s when Sammi notices me, and her smile drops.

“I’ll call him and let him know you’re here.” she states flatly picking up the phone.

Mikah looks at me and I roll my eyes again. A door opens and a someone walks out.

“Mikah! Please tell me you brought that lovely girl you’re always talking about with you this time.”

The girl, Sammi, scoffs and rolls her eyes.

I’m about to speak my mind to her when Mikah grabs my elbow and pulls me towards the older gentleman.

“Jeffers, this is Jade. Jade this is Jeffers. He’s the headmaster for the night class. He’s an asshole but he can be cool sometimes.

Jeffers ushers us inside his office and shuts the door behind us. Mikah points to a chair for me to sit in. We sit and Jeffers opens a folder on his desk.

“So, Jade. Tell me what you were taking when you were in day class.” Jeffers says to me.

“Advanced English, Science, and History. Algebra two, Theater, and culinary arts.” I answer, fidgeting with a string on my jeans.

“Smart girl you’ve got there, Mikah.” Jeffers chuckles.

“Dude. Stop. Focus.” Mikah says.

Jeffers clears his throat, “right. So, night school only has theater. So, I’ll put that on your schedule.” He taps some keys on the computer.

He pulls the paper off the printer, puts it in the folder, and hands it to me.

“If you ever need anything, Jade, just let me know. I’ll gladly help in any way I can. Your schedule is in there. Mikah is in theater with you, so you both don’t have to worry there. He will also show you to your first class.” Jeffers says as he smiles at me.

I smile back, “awesome. Will do, thank you.”

“I’ll be right out, Jade.” Mikah says as I walk out the office.

“Dude, what the f**k?” I hear Mikah say as I shut the door.

I sigh, ‘great. Now I must wait out here with Ms. I-want-Mikah. She doesn’t even hide it. f*****g bitch.’

“Can I help you?” Sammi asks.

“What?” I reply.

“You’re staring at me. So, can I help you? Do you need something?” she says rolling her eyes.

“Oh, sorry. No, I thought I saw something weird on your face. Turns out it was just your eyebrows.” I state.

Mikah grabs my elbow, pulls me away from her, and into the hall as I hear her gasp.

“What was that?” he asks as we walk towards my first class.

“What do you mean?” I ask him.

He laughs, “you just said her eyebrows are weird. Why?”

“She wants you.”

“Are you jealous?” he asks.

I scoff, “absolutely not.” Yes, and I don’t know why.

He laughs and stops in front of a classroom, “okay, your first class is with Professor Bird. He teaches writing. You’re going to learn about authors that are actually vampyres so don’t be alarmed when an author you may know is mentioned, okay?”

I nod, “okay. I’ll try not to freak out if Colleen Hoover is a vampyre.”

“She is.” He says as he opens the door.

I’m speechless. My favorite author in the entire world is actually a vampyre. Mikah nudges me in the room and laughs as he shuts the door and leaves me standing there with my mouth open.

“Jade?” Professor Bird says my name.

I shake my head, “yes? Sorry.”

“Take a seat class is about to start.” Professor Bird states almost annoyed.

I nod, head to the back of the room with the only empty seat, and open the folder Jeffers gave me.

1st period: Creative Writing – J. Bird

2nd period: Intro to Vamp Culture – K. Jacobs

3rd period: Theater – M. Minx

4th period: Vamp Specialties – A. Styx

5th period: Forbidden and Bonds – K. Clouds

Clouds. K. Clouds, that looks so familiar, I think to myself. I shrug, it’s going to be an interesting first day. I can’t to go to theater. Hopefully, second period will go by fast.

It doesn't. It drags. As soon as it's over though, I practically run to the theater room and get settled in for class to begin.