The Vampire Mate

Chapter 03

Today has been never ending; I've had constant glares by the one and only Damien Young, king of the school who nobody must talk to because we aren't good enough, and more people are noticing me due to the argument we had at lunch.

I was walking down an empty hallway when the bell rang signalling for my second last lesson. I would be relieved as the day was soon to be over but hundreds of students filled the corridor and I still hadn’t figured my way around the school yet.

Then, one brown haired blued eyed boy bumped into me dropping my bag. I glare at him as he laughs and walks off. I hate Damien.

"Just ignore him," Alex says helping me up.

"Well duh," I say with an eye roll. I pull out my timetable to see what lesson we have next and I am blessed with my favourite lesson of all - sarcasm.

"What lesson do we have now anyway?" Alex leans on my shoulder to inspect my timetable, probably because I had mine out and his was most likely stashed away somewhere deep in his bag.

"Maths," I say, "with your dad"

"Don't you sit behind us?"

“Pretty sure you sit in front of me.”

The maths class was nearly empty when we walked in which meant I had a moment to myself before I had to sit next to Gary. Maybe he wouldn't come in at all, if that was the case I'd feel like the luckiest person in the world. He probably wasn’t that bad, maybe if I got know him I wouldn’t feel as creeped out but then, when he sat next to me, and stared at me with no words, I realised it didn’t matter if I got to know him or not. I’d always feel uncomfortable.

What made it worse was the look on Damien’s face when he walked in. His eyes swiped between us and then to his father’s empty desk. He mouthed the word f**k and squeezed his eyes shut, then he sat down at his desk in front of us followed by his brother who had no reaction at all to the seating arrangements.

Eventually, Mr Young came in, apologising for being late again, and got straight into the lesson. I wrote down everything he said, not because I didn’t know it already or because I wanted to be a good student, but because it was the only thing that could distract me from the beast sitting on the chair beside me.

Then, as if my fear was his air, he shuffled closer.

Notes, notes. I wrote more notes. My pen was loud against the paper, my handwriting was a mess from the speed. One page, two pages, then three.

I could feel his breathing on my arm.

I wrote notes I remembered from yesterday and linked them to today. Mr Young wrote questions, I wrote and answered them.

My hand stilled. Gary’s hand inched closer to me. So slow, not slow enough. He raised a finger to brush my skin until—

“Move, now.” Damien’s eyes blazed a colour I hadn’t seen from them before. They were darker, almost purple, as if red settled beneath the surface. A vein bulged at his temple and ran down to his sharp clenched jaw.

Gary stiffened, then a wicked feline smile stretched across his lips. Mr Young quickly glanced over but continued with the lesson as if he hadn’t seen anything.

“Why?” Gary said, smile still splitting his face.

Damien spoke with only his eyes. I didn’t know what the words were, but I felt every threat beating from them in my blood.

Alex turned back to face us, he watched Damien carefully before saying to Gary, “Perhaps it would be best if you listened to Damien, for your sake, of course.”

“Perhaps it is a common trait in the Young family to get involved in matters that don’t concern yourselves.”

"Don't you dare talk about my family," Damien sneers. I turn to face Alex who looked more serious.

Gary smiled. He leaned back onto my desk and rested his cold hand on top of mine. I tried to pull back, but his hand wrapped around my wrist. "I heard you at lunchtime, you're pretty cool." Damien looked like he was about to dive over the desk and kill Gary. I wondered if I would stop him.

I pulled my arm again, this time he let go. "Touch me again and I will stab you." He smiled again and looked at the three of us. His eyes lingered on Damien for the longest who stared him down let a lion to a rabbit.

Gary looked like a child who was winning Monopoly. His eyes twinkled with the same greed and victory as he dragged his finger down my arm. He watched Damien for any sort of reaction, but he stayed as still as stone.

I reached over the table and grabbed a pencil. Gary’s eyes widened and his smile slipped from his face the moment I stabbed his side with it. Wooden splinters shot from the pencil when it made contact with his body, and I was left with two broken halves.

"That's enough, Gary," Alex said.

Gary pulls his eyes away from Damien to glance at Alex and then me. "Of course," he agreed and then let go of me whilst he looked towards Damien.

Damien stood from his chair and walked to Gary. Without any exchange in words, Gary stood too and took the chair that was previously occupied by Damien.

Gary turned to face the front of the class and I looked at Damien. He turned to me from his phone and raised an eyebrow. When I didn't look away, he shrugged and began to write down what his father was telling the class.

He ignored any attempts at a conversation I tried to make during the lesson but, by the end of it, I didn't care. I could be sitting next to Gary and now I'm not.