“Make a spark, break the dark, find a light with me.” -Lose It -Oh Wonder

“So he’s not a vampire,” Payton verifies.

“Yep.” Izze frowns while sipping her cafeteria boxed milk. “But he could be lying. Who would mean, who’s going to admit they’re a vampire in a class full of humans?”

“If he really is lying, I think the place isn’t what’s keeping him from telling the truth.” Pay nibbles her chocolate chip granola bar.

“It’s Page,” Izze answers, squeezing her mini chip bag until it explodes.

“What are you talking about?” I hear a loud ‘Pop!’ and Doritos burst across the table. “I’m a vampire. It’s only natural to tell a fellow vampire you’re one.”

Izze slides her half empty chip bag to Pay.

“No offense, but I don’t think he believes you are a vampire, Page.” Payton bites a chip.

“What are you saying?” I ask, my throat tight.

“He probably thinks you just can’t handle sunlight and are born with sharp teeth. Plenty of people are born with these things, Page. For all he knows, you might just have been dropped on the head when you were a baby.”

“Oh, that’s nice,” I bite. “Is that what you guys think of me?”

“Truthfully?” Payton tentatively responds. “We don’t know what you are.”

Wow.

“Babe, if you are a vampire,” Izze snatches back her chips, “you better suck some blood. There are many types of vampires but one thing they all have in common are fangs. Why? To suck blood. Why? To survive. You have fangs, but you have never sucked blood. And yet you’ve managed to survive. Like a human has without tasting any blood.”

“What are you saying?” I roll my tongue like Lee. But I do it when I’m extremely nervous.

“We’re saying you need to suck some blood,” Payton says, looking at Izze instead of me.

“Really?” I squeak.

“Really.”

“Really.”

…

I climb into the passenger seat of the family cruddy truck, feeling perfectly cruddy myself.

I must be radiating cruddiness because as soon as I’m inside, Lee asks, “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.”

“Homework? I can help with that.”

“No.”

“Boy trouble?”

I stare daggers at her and she puts the car in drive. We bounce our way home, and I wonder when this car will collapse on us.

My eyes flicker at my sister, focused on the road ahead of us. My attention drops to her neck and I scowl.

Ew. The idea of my mouth touching her neck is repulsive.

I turn to the passenger window and glare at the pedestrians. Could I drink a stranger’s blood? Probably not. Aside from the fact that they’re strangers and it goes against my code of treating my first bite as special as a first kiss, I could get sued for assault. Hell, I’d sue someone for assault.

I would never bite Izze or Payton. That’s almost as invasive and personal as using my sister.

I plant my forehead into my palm. I won’t deny it-there is someone that comes to mind. But if push ever came to shove, I’d never do it. And all I can do is remember the last time I saw him, laughing as if I had told a joke. No. Damien is a no good.

But I’m a vampire. I am.

Aren’t I?

…

It’s a cold gray evening. The clouds look so obese I expect them to explode rain.

I wasn’t thinking when I left the house. I didn’t have a destination in mind. Not Izze, Payton, just to…drive. Clear my head someplace far away from the ghosts of past memories.

My house is haunted with conversations I’ve had with my friends, my father, and Lee about being a vampire. But my truck, odd enough, is a safe haven. Lee’s made a few snide comments, but that’s about it. No Sherlock Holmes analyzing.

For once, I want to ignore the fact that I’m a vampire. I want to escape. Think about something completely irrelevant.

My mom. What’s she doing? How’s business? Is she coming by anytime soon or is she gone for good?

I turn on the radio, thinking maybe music would be the best way to drown out my gloomy thoughts. Apparently I can’t seem to come up with anything happy.

Maybe it’s the gloomy weather.

Weirdly enough, Fleetwood Mac swims through my car, The Chain ringing in my ears. I’m not looking for sad music, but I don’t change the station. I’ve grown to be very superstitious. Damien appeared in Chemistry when Izze said he might, that’s disregarding the fact that it was this very song Damien played in his car when he drove me home.

I take a sharp turn right.

Rain starts tapping on my windshield, persistent and growing more urgent. Seconds pass and it’s showering outside. I’m essentially blind.

A shadow of a person appears jaywalking across the road. I honk and hit my break, but my tires aren’t known for the best grip against water.

I slide forward until I hit a bumper. No, wait…that’s the pedestrian.

“Oh god.” I hop out of the car, repeating those two words repeatedly until I reach the injured person.

“Please be alive,” I beg as I kneel beside them. I have to put a hand over my eyes to clear my vision.

“You really are a bad driver,” the voice moans.

“Excuse me?” I say, moving back. The voice, albeit wounded, sounds dreadfully familiar.

“It’s me, Da-”

“Damien?!” I gasp and push the black hair from his wet face.

“Shit!” I curse, unsure whether I’m angry that I hit Damien or that Damien’s here. “I’m so sorry.”

“Did you just swear?” he questions, stunned.

“Can you get up?” I ask, dismissing his question.

“Um, I don’t know. Maybe.” As I try to help him, he cries, “Ow! Ow! Stop!”

“Sorry!” I release him, dropping him hard onto the road. “Oh! Shit, sorry!”

With his assistance, I carefully pluck his limp body and drag Damien back to my truck.

I throw open the passenger door and help him inside before jumping into the driver’s seat and starting the car.

Damien falls over and rests his head on my lap.

“Oh no.” I try to push him of. “No.”

“It hurts.”

I stop trying to shove him and let him rest.

Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain has ended and been replaced by a song and band I don’t recognize.

“Lee was right.” Damien cringes as we dip into a pothole.

“Right about what?” I ask, trying to focus on the road; I can’t afford to hit anymore people. I don’t have the space.

“You are a terrible driver.”

“Hey, who was the one jay walking? Did you even know that was illegal?” I argue. “Because people who do what you did do et hit. Even killed.”

“Okay, okay. So you’re a bad driver and I’m an idiot.”

“We already knew that.” I sigh.

“That was mean. Say you’re sorry.”

“No.” I glance down for a split second, seeing him staring at me. My heart stutters. “What were you doing there anyway? In the middle of nowhere? There’s no stores or homes or anything.”

I feel him shrug then stop suddenly.

“Ow,” Damien whispers.

“Tough it out. It’ll be awhile before I get to the hospital.”

“No, don’t,” he responds immediately.

When I look at him suspiciously he adds, “My dad will kill me.”

“I think he’ll understand.”

“Please.”

The sound of his voice, so soft and pleading, breaks me.

I sigh. “Fine. Where do you live?”

“I can’t go there either.’

“Then where else can you go?” I ask, irritably. “Do you have a friend’s place you can stay at?”

Damien stares at me in silence and I laugh uneasily.

“No way. Definitely not my home.” It’s beyond a terrible idea.

“Please?”

“You’re a terrible actor. You’re fine!” I say out loud, more to convince myself than him. I want to believe that he’s feigning injury to get into my house but, honestly, who would go so far? Who would risk their life?

Damien’s not psychotic.

But I don’t want him there.

“You hit me. You owe me.” Damien’s normal cocky self-returns. I almost say no, but the irritating, compassionate side of me out shadows my own selfishness.

I turn the truck and inch my way to my house.

…

“Jesus!” Lee exclaims as I reveal Damien laying in our truck. “What did you do to him, Page?”

“Nothing.” I chew my nails.

“She hit me with her car,” Damien argues weakly.

Lee whips to me with red eyes. “You hit him?”

“He way jay walking!” I protest, panicked as we carry him into our house. “I tried using the brake but you know how the tires are on water! They don’t work!”

Lee considers this and admits, “You are a bad driver, but the car is trash. I’m sorry Damien. Is there anything wrong with you? A few broken bones?”

We lay him on our couch.

I cross my fingers.

He winced and replied. “No, I think its just some bruises and cuts.”

I breathe with relief.

“Well I’ll go get some band aids and ice. Hang tight.” Lee leaves the room.

I stare down at Damien as he beams at me.

“What?” I ask, jittery.

“You’re wet.”

“Because it’s raining.” I sigh wearily. “Did you hit your head?”

“I might’ve.”

“I’ve got to take a shower,” I say, walking backwards. Being around him just drowns me in guilt. “I don’t want to catch a cold. I mean, I’d let you take one but you know how weird it’d be if you took a shower in someone else’s house…”

“Don’t be silly.” Lee walks in. “Damien, you should take a shower. My bathroom is on the second floor.”

“Thank you.” Damien allowed Lee to help him.

“Page, aren’t you going to take him to the bedroom?” She asked.

No!

“Sure,” I force a smile, wrapping my arm around Damien’s waist and helping him up the stairs. Now that the rain isn’t smothering us, I can smell him. He smells musky, like campfire. If I stand on my toes, I could reach the lower half of his neck.

I inhale sharply and ignore my ridiculous fantasy.

As soon as Lee and I help Damien into her bathroom, I shoot away to take my own shower. Whoever showers first gets the hottest water.

…

“You hit him?” Izze cried through the line. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

My bedroom phone was sweating.

“Yeah, don’t joke. It’s not funny,” Payton agrees.

“I’m not kidding you guys.” I sigh. “I was driving-”

“In this weather?” Izze asked incredulously.

“It wasn’t raining at the time,” I say defensively.

“Where were you going?”

“Nowhere.”

“Then why-”

“Iz!” I snap. “Will you please let me finish?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.” I inhale. “And the idiot whose Damien was jay-walking and since my truck is crap on wheels the brakes weren’t working on the water. So I ended up…you know…”

“Hitting him,” Payton finished.

“Yes.”

“What else happened?” Izze asked.

“Well, he insulted me for one. Then he refused to go to the hospital or home so I took him here.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Where is here? Your place?” Izze pushed.

I winced. “Yeah.”

“Seriously! You brought a boy into your house?”

“Yeah but he’s injured and had nowhere to go-”

“Please. That’s the oldest excuse in the book, Page,” Izze snorted.

“Yeah,” Payton agrees. “Do you realize what happens when a boy is in a house with a girl? And it’s Damien.”

“What are you suggesting? That Damien will…”

“Yes!” they shout.

“Well, he won’t,” I say with certainty. “And I won’t. And Lee is here so-”

“Page?” I look and see Damien wearing one of my dad’s old jeans, the hem covering half of his feet because Dad was so tall. Damien has a black zip up hoodie of my father’s on, and he looks actually pretty good in it.

He’s holding a wet white towel in his right hand under my bedroom doorway.

“Where do I put this towel?” He asks nonchalantly, acting as if he lives here.

I swallow.

“Was that Damien?” Izze’s excited voice burns into my ear.

“I think it was,” Payton responds when I don’t answer.

“Um, you could’ve just left it in the bathroom,” I tell Damien.

“Is she talking to us?” Izze wonders.

“No, she is not talking to us,” Payton says.

“But you can just leave it here,” I add to the guest.

“Oh. Okay.” Damien throws the towel and I catch it one-handed. When he turns, his back asks, “Is it okay if I watch some television downstairs?”

“Um…sure.”

“Thanks.”

I watch him walk away, dazed. He doesn’t seem like the wounded bird I picked up off the street anymore.

Can I kick him out now? Do I have the strength to? For some reason, his attractive level just notched up ten levels just by being in my house.

“What’s going on?” Izze whines.

“Sorry, I was talking to Damien.”

“About what?”

“Hey, Pay?” I jump and turn to my new guest.

Lee stands in Damien’s place, her eyes aglow. “I know we’ve got a guest and all but I forgot I have tutoring session I set up months back. I can’t cancel.”

“You can’t?” my heart drops. “But…you’re leaving me with Damien!”

A boy!

I sound like a scared little child. How pathetic.

Lee’s face softens in understanding. She steps towards me and places a gentle hand on my own.

“I know Damien and I know you. I trust you’ll be fine, but I’ll leave my phone and have it by my side just in case.”

“The weather is terrible. Totally undriveworthy,” I point out.

“The rain’s died down.”

The light in my eyes die.

“Did it now?” Of course it did.

“You’ll be fine. I already told Damien.”

“You can’t take him with you?” I stand as she begins to walk away.

Lee looks at me incredulously. “Page, he’s an injured man. Just relax. I’ll be back soon.”

I stare helplessly after her, hearing female voices from a distance cry out for my attention.

Reluctantly I bring my cell back to my ear. “Yeah?”

“Now you two are alone!” Izze sings and I close my eyes.

“Shut up,” I growl.

“Now, now,” Payton cooed. “You need to relax, Page. Just make sure things don’t get too intense.”

“Nothing’s going to get intense,” I hiss.

“Why not?” Izze moped on the other side. “Don’t you remember our conversation? You need to bite someone. Now’s your chance!”

“Not. Happening,” I assure.

“You sure about that?” Payton asked.

This is my cue to hang up.