He held her hand like he would hold a gun. Firm, stable, and knowing she was at his disposal in any way he wished—Kyson Conway—the guy that would send any girl's heart racing just to pass him in the school hallways. Now he had his "claws" around a tall blond. His "poisons" clogged all her brain cells that had anything to do with normal functioning. Her smile now flashed all the glitter she felt inside, but she was nothing more than a toy to him as all the girls in this school were. In fact, every relationship anyone ever had with another human being on earth was just for mere selfish fulfillment. Well, I didn't need any of it. I didn't need anyone.

Kyson was now walking by me, dragging his ditzy, easily won prize along with him. His intense, brown eyes set upon mine as he passed by. They were like deep puddles of dog poop—the same color as his dark perfect mess of hair. I figured that it took him hours to rearrange each random spike.

I sent daggers back to meet his stare, yet he only smirked. Of course, he was strongly attracted to me, since I was a supernaturally beautiful girl. My looks only came from the survival genetics all vampires were born with. But that wasn't something I had to worry about…for now. But one day, or so I was told, I would need to give in to the vampire way and if not…I would die. But for now, I had a good mind in my head and brains with more sense than all this school's students put together.

After the satisfaction of slamming my locker shut, I headed to the cafeteria. Nervous looks always came my way everywhere I went. I rather liked the fact that over half of the glitter glam girls in the school thought I would murder them in their sleep. Sure, there were emos at school that wore dark clothes like me, but I was even too weird for their groups. But I wanted it this way. I didn't wish to be a part of those groups or any others.

The clanking of my pant chains on my metal chair caused a few heads to turn my way. Newcomers. 

They would soon learn who I was—the lone girl, who always took the corner table. This was my spot and everyone knew it, and no one ever dared trod on my land.

I turned my head to see the new inspectors as they brought their food to a table. One guy had shaggy blond hair. His light, gray-blue eyes set on mine as he passed by. They stuck out like a full moon in a dark sky. He seemed to try to smile. The other guy and girl only looked away awkwardly. They all sat down—the blond guy with his back to me. My eyes traced his anti-muscular back. 

The girl, being the unlucky one, got stuck on the side of the table with a clear view to me. She tried not to look, but her eyes wandered to me from time to time. I was just too weird to resist. My determined eyes kept looking their way. The more I glared, the more nervous she appeared. Time for action.

I walked up to them slowly. The girl clearly tried to avoid eye contact.

I kept looking at her as I spoke. "You guys new, huh? Bad luck for you. But don't worry. If you ever feel a dark presence following you, just keep looking forward. And you shouldn't be hurt…too badly."

The girl's eyes almost bloated out of her skull.

Walking away, I turned to hide my exploding smile. These were the few fun parts of my life. I looked back to the table. The blond guy's thin body seemed to shake as if he were laughing.

I heard another girl next to them speak.

"Oh that's Avery, she's like a witch or something. I would just keep away from her."

The blond guy turned to me…and smiled.

The words from my math teacher were quickly dissolved by my analyzements of why the blond haired guy smiled. Did he feel sorry for me, thinking I didn't have any friends? Or maybe he thought I was a poor child with abusive parents? A human being that was actually unselfish and caring seemed unlikely. My mind drifted off to other things. At least I only had to suffer another year of this, but another year would only bring me closer to something worse.

Walking home, as always, I stopped at a corner store to get a bag of Hot Cheetos and a few chocolate bars. The best thing about being a vampire was that I could eat all I wanted and still maintain an ideal body weight.

The slight warm and humid air met my skin as I left the store. My eyes squinted up to the cloudy sky. It would be raining soon. 

I stopped at the playground not far from my house. Thankfully, no one was here today. Sitting on the far right swing, I ate my snacks. My black boots kicked the abused ground underneath me as I gently swayed back and forth. By the time I finished eating, water drops started to spray my bare shoulders. It didn't take long till the rain fell full upon me, drenching my black pants and tank-top. I leaned back and lifted my face to the falling rain. Each drop that hit my cold skin made me feel somewhat alive.

Darkness was soon to take over the sky. Better head home. A faint glimmer of orange smeared with the gray clouds behind the thick Massachusetts trees. I wanted to see a real sunset, one that didn't hide behind all the gloom.

The view of my house emerged from the rain. Its white walls and small porch were all too familiar. The sweet, musty smell greeted me as I entered. Only one far, hallway light in the house was left on. A note with a small jar of blood was left on the counter.

It read: Out till late tonight - left you some cow, Aunt Lil

Rolling my eyes at the fact that she left out the word "blood," I yanked the jar from the perfectly clean, white marble counter and tossed the note in the trash. My aunt wasn't a vampire, but she knew about them. Her brother, my "father," had been married to one.

Thoroughly brushing my teeth, I stared back at my blank reflection. Large smears of black ran down my face. Makeup was so troublesome. I removed it, glad to have my normal face back.

Once changed into my long, multi-colored, polka-dotted pajama pants and a fresh black tank-top, I sank into my fluffy, purple camo comforter with my arms above my head. My body relaxed fully, and I stared at my wall that was thoroughly covered by drawings. 

Most were random designs mingled with made up creatures. They all had names and personalities in my mind. My eyes went from each face as I finished the blood. It didn't taste like much, but I only knew I needed it to live. I balanced the little, empty bottle on my forehead and fell asleep with the light on.  

4 A.M. came too soon, and my loud, repetitive alarm went off. I wasn't too tired and noticed the bottle was still on my head. Setting it aside, I rolled to the floor and grabbed my notebook from under the bed.

I wrote: I didn't move an inch in my sleep. Is this because of strange vampire traits or am I just weird?

The next few hours I spent lying on the floor finishing homework, drawing random things on the papers as I went along. I was sure my teachers would really appreciate that.

Sunlight started to peek in through my one small window on the one wall painted black. The other three walls were a light blue.

My ribs started to ache, so I rolled on my back, holding my homework up and continuing till my arms got sore.

Easy, boring, easy, blah. I scribbled some random lines. Okay, enough of that. I threw my pencil onto my mostly spotless floor. There was nothing else in my room but a bed. It was easy to make since I never slept under the covers. All my clothes were in the closet, so I didn't need a dresser.  

It didn't take me long to shower and redo my thoroughly applied eyeliner, basically racooning myself, as well as putting on black lipstick. My flawless skin and dark eyelashes needed no aid. Most girls would die to have my looks, but honestly, it meant nothing to me. There were many other things that meant so much more… Things I could never have.

Once dressed in new, dark, gothish-emo clothes, I ate a few breakfast bars as I walked to school.

Making my way to my locker, a few girls waddled away at my coming, avoiding any eye contact. Their miniskirts looked like they might pop right off at any moment. As soon as my arm reached in my locker, I felt someone tapping my shoulder. I turned. Kyson… My eyes automatically turned to slits.

"Hey Avery," he said with a smirk, leaning his muscular body against the lockers.

"Don't you have other girls to flirt with, Conway?"

He seemed amused that I called him by his last name. "You're cute, you know that?"

Ignoring the comment, I turned back to my locker. People started coming. Kyson left. Our conversations were never long.  

At lunch, those same three new teens sat together again. The blond boy looked around the room till his eyes met mine and then paused while a slight smile formed. I raised my eyebrows as if to say, "What's your problem?"

I got a better chance to study him this time. His face and nose were long and thin, and he had an angular jaw. He finally looked away, stretching his arms behind his neck. He probably found me hot. Well, who didn't? To keep the lions from pouncing, all I could do is dress and act weird, but that might not be enough for some.

After finishing my food, I took out a drawing pad and started to scribble a scene of my bunny, Alexander. He, of course, always looked much cuter in real life.

I looked up for a moment. The boy was gone. Why was I even looking? I went back to drawing.

A shadow formed over my table. I looked behind me. The boy stood there. I almost flinched, but didn't—instead he did. His mouth flattened and his shoulders went up as if to give an awkward apology. 

"Uh…I'll take that for you," he softly said as he grabbed my tray and walked away in one swift movement.

I remained silent. Selfish boy…

I actually got home before dark this time, though there was no need to since it was a Friday night. Walking inside, I was greeted by the scent of cow. My aunt came walking into the kitchen in dirt covered pants. By now, I almost liked the smell. It seemed to mix with something friendly—the only thing to reach out to me. My aunt was a very clean person but somehow was okay with getting dirty from working at a small, cow farm.

"Hey sweetie, just got home from work. How was your day?" She said, rummaging in the kitchen cupboards.

"Great, just wonderfully perfect, amazing in every way," I said in a dull tone.

I headed for the living room and got out my black and white bunny, Alexander. He was definitely of higher rank. Lying on my back on the black leather couch, I held him high above my head.

"I think you're losing weight, you aren't depressed are you?" I spoke to him. His black eyes only stared out blankly. "Is there something you're not telling me?" My eyes squinted suspiciously at him. "Oh, there's a girl, isn't there?"

My aunt's smirking head peaked out from the archway, interrupting my private conversation with Alexander.

"I forgot to tell you." She disappeared behind the wall again then spoke louder. "Your father got you a birthday gift, it's on the table."

Almost laughing, I brought the fluff ball to my chest and slowly took a finger down his soft back.

"My birthday was a month ago," I said but not specifically to her. There was a pause, then my aunt fully entered the living room. Kneeling by the couch, she put a gentle hand on my arm. My gaze went up to the wooden ceiling as she spoke. 

"Sweetie, sometimes people run because of fear, not hate."

Was she talking about my father or me? I pulled my arm away from her warm touch.

"Well, tomorrow I will be gone most of the day, but there is plenty of food left and," she paused, "…drinks. And you just have a fun weekend, okay?" 

My aunt stood there a minute before my awkward silence drove her away. Emptiness took over as the echoes of her ascending the stairs faded off.

I hoped she didn't think I hated her; I never wanted that.  It's not like I wanted it to be this way, but we both knew it was for the best. I knew I was just an obligation anyway.

A moment later, I entered the kitchen, eyeing the small box on the table. What could my father possibly have gotten me?

Just to content my aunt, I took the box and threw it in my closet. After dressing in rubber ducky pajamas, I sat on the corner of my bed while drawing for the rest of the day with music to drown the outside world away. This was my world, and it liked me.