Destined to Die (The Briar Creek Vampires, #3) by Jayme Morse & Jody Morse (19 page)

Lexi sat outside for a few minutes before
anyone passed her. When someone did, it was the person who she
least wanted to see. Well, besides Veronica.

Craig walked along the brick path, as though he
were going to go inside. Suddenly, he stopped and turned around.
“Why are you upset, Lexi?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “How do you know
I’m upset?”

“Two reasons,” Craig replied. “I’m really good
at reading people. It’s like I can read auras, except I don’t
actually see a color. I can just tell, somehow, what someone’s
feeling. The other reason is because I have a really good sense of
smell. I could smell your tears. They have sort of a salty
scent.”

Lexi sniffed a little. “I’m in love with this
guy . . . and I thought he loved me, too. But I just caught him
with Veronica Hart.” Just saying the teacher’s name made her feel
angry all over again.

“I’m sorry, Lexi,” Craig replied, sitting down
on the bench next to her. “It might not feel this way now, but I
think you deserve someone better than that. You deserve someone who
will love and respect you.” He glanced over at her. “You don’t
deserve to be cheated on.”

“I know you’re right, but it still hurts.” Lexi
wiped away a tear with her sleeve.

Craig looked down at his hands, which were only
centimeters away from Lexi’s own hands. “I know what it’s like to
be hurt. The best thing that I can tell you right now is that you
shouldn’t dwell on it. You should find ways to keep yourself
occupied so that the pain doesn’t eat you up. I know they tell you
to cry, but it only makes it harder to waste your time
crying.”

Lexi sighed. She was going to try really hard
not to cry too much over this, but it wasn’t because it would make
things worse for herself. It was because she didn’t want to cry in
front of Anna. She didn’t want to tell her what had happened; she
didn’t want to admit to anyone, even herself, that Veronica had
won, fair and square.

“Why don’t you do something fun with me
tonight?” Craig asked. “It’s Saturday night. You shouldn’t spend
too much time cooped up inside your dorm room. Live a little. I
promise I can keep your mind off of it.”

Lexi remembered that she had promised Anna that
they would have a girls’ night as soon as Austin and Gabe left to
find her dad, which was probably right around now. “I’m sorry. I
can’t. I already made plans with somebody else.” She didn’t mention
that she wished she hadn’t.

“Fair enough,” Craig said. It was dark out, but
in the glow of the dim light, Lexi was pretty sure that she noticed
a pained expression on his face. “If you change your mind, my room
is right next to the North stairwell. Room 114.”

“Okay,” Lexi replied. As Craig got up and began
walking away from her, she yelled, “Craig? Thanks.”

Craig beamed a big smile at her. “No
problem.”

When Lexi got back to the room, Anna was
pulling her nail polishes out of the drawers. There was also a
collection of chick flicks lying on the bed. The movies included
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
,
The Proposal
,
Mean
Girls
, and
John Tucker Must Die
. They were all some of
Lexi’s favorite movies. If she absolutely had to endure this girls’
night, at least Anna didn’t want to watch really lame movies. With
Anna’s seemingly eccentric tastes, Lexi figured that she would pick
out something really strange to watch. It surprised her that she
actually had good taste in movies.

Lexi sat down on the bed. “So, I guess they
left already.”

“Yep,” Anna said, turning around and looking at
her. She had pulled her purple-streaked hair into a floppy bun on
top of her head. “What happened between you and Gabe before they
left?”

“N-nothing,” Lexi stuttered, sure that she
wasn’t doing a good job at convincing Anna that nothing had
happened. “Why? Did he say something?”

“Well, he said that he wanted to talk to you,”
Anna replied. “He seemed sort of shaken up and not like himself at
all. Did he ever get to find you before he left?”

Looking down at the floor and trying to hold
back more tears, Lexi shook her head. She knew that if Gabe and
Austin were gone for too long, she was going to blurt everything
out to Anna. There was no way she could keep this much inside for
too long. Anna was the only person she felt comfortable in
confiding in – besides Mary-Kate.

Thinking about her half-sister made her feel
sort of empty inside. She had always wanted a sister, especially
during those holidays and vacations where her mom was never really
around. And here, she had a half-sister, who she wasn’t even able
to get to know. Lexi knew that Austin said that it would be a bad
idea for Mary-Kate to come to Huntington long-term, but what about
for the day?

“Can you do me a favor?” Lexi asked Anna. “I
want to call someone, but I don’t have a cell phone. Do you think I
can use yours?”

Anna hesitated. “Who do you want to
call?”

Lexi sighed. “I want to see Mary-Kate.” Anna
made a face. “She’s my sister. It’s really weird, but . . . I don’t
want to lose the bond that we were starting to have just because I
came here. So, I want her to visit. Just for the day. Will you let
me call?”

Anna sighed. “I guess.” She handed Lexi her
cell phone, which was covered by a hot pink zebra print cover. Lexi
remembered that she didn’t actually know Mary-Kate’s phone number
when Anna picked up a duffel bag and pulled out a piece of yellow
paper. “He left me a list of all the important phone numbers in
case we need to call them when he’s gone.”

“Thanks,” Lexi replied, smiling up at Anna. She
dialed the number that Austin had scribbled down on the list in his
chicken scratch handwriting. Mary-Kate answered her phone on the
first ring. “Hello?” she asked hesitantly.

“Mary-Kate? It’s Lexi.” She wasn’t sure why she
was whispering, but she hoped that if anyone was nearby, they
wouldn’t be able to hear her voice through the phone.

“Oh, my gosh,” Mary-Kate replied. “Is
everything okay? Is you-know-who okay?”

“Austin?” Lexi asked. “Don’t worry. He’s fine.
I’m just calling because . . . I just missed you.” She really hoped
that she didn’t sound lame, but what did it matter? She did feel
lame right now. Her sort-of-but-not-really-boyfriend would rather
be with their teacher. Anna was the only friend she really had, and
she couldn’t even tell her about it. Not that she would tell
Mary-Kate either, but it would be nice to hang out with someone
besides Anna for once.

“Aww, that’s sweet,” Mary-Kate chirped. “I miss
you, too. I hope that this whole ordeal can be over really soon so
we can work on being friends again.” She lowered her voice. “And
sisters!”

“Do you want to come see me? Sometime
tomorrow?” Lexi asked.

“Where are you guys staying?” Mary-Kate
asked.

“Huntington High,” Lexi replied. “There’s tight
security, though. If you can meet me outside the school around one,
I’ll get you in. If you want.”

“Of course I want to see you! And I want to see
Austin, too.”

“Oh, umm, Austin’s not here, actually,” Lexi
said apologetically. “It’s a long story, but he’s out looking for
my . . . I mean, our, dad.”

Mary-Kate paused. “Why? What happened to
him?”

“We don’t actually know,” Lexi explained.
“That’s what he and Gabe are trying to figure out.”

“Oh, well, I still want to see you,” Mary-Kate
said. Lexi couldn’t help but notice a tone of disappointment in her
voice, but she chose to ignore it. If their roles had been reversed
before Gabe had cheated on her, she probably would have felt the
same way if she really wanted to see him.

“Okay, great. I’ll see you tomorrow around one,
then,” Lexi replied. When she turned to Anna to give her cell phone
back to her, she was gone. Groaning, Lexi got up and grabbed her
key from the top of the dresser. She went into the hallway and
began looking around, but she didn’t see Anna anywhere. Lexi
guessed that she had probably annoyed Anna somehow because she
hadn’t devoted all of her attention to her.

Lexi went back into their dorm room and climbed
into bed. She glanced at the clock. It was only nine o’clock p.m.
Deciding that sleep was probably the only thing that could possibly
help her feel any better right now, she rolled onto her stomach,
shoved her head into the pillow, and drifted off to
sleep.

****

Chapter 13

Veronica smiled down at her. Her lips looked
particularly red as she flashed one of her cruel smiles. This time,
Lexi noticed her fangs. Getting down on her knees, she sunk her
fangs into Gabe’s flesh. Lexi heard him moan. Veronica looked up at
her, the blood dripping down her lips.

“He wants me, Lexi. I can do things for him
that you will never be able to do. You can never give him the same
pleasure that I can. You’ll never be good enough for him as long as
I’m alive.”

Lexi bolted upright in bed, panting and
shaking. The clock said that it was ten o’clock p.m., and she was
in her dorm room. It had all just been a bad dream . . . a
realistic and terribly frightening dream.

Climbing out of bed, Lexi glanced across the
room. Anna had sprawled out on her own bed and was snoring softly.
She probably wouldn’t even notice that Lexi was gone, which was
good because Lexi didn’t want her to know where she was
going.

Closing the door gently behind her, Lexi
followed the narrow hallway until she had reached the North
stairwell. Room 114.

She knocked gently on the door. It took only
seconds for Craig to open it, almost as though he had already been
waiting for her, like he knew she was coming. Lexi wrapped her arms
around his neck and pressed her lips against his, kissing him with
more passion than she had ever kissed anyone and let all of her
problems be washed away.

*

The next morning, Lexi woke up against Craig’s
smooth, tan chest, which looked like it belonged on the cover of a
romance novel. Sharing a bed with him had been much different than
sleeping with Gabe. With Gabe, she always felt like she was
protected and in love; with Craig, she felt a lot of sexual
tension. She wasn’t really sure who she felt more attracted to
because they were both different in their own way. Lexi just felt a
certain attachment with Gabe because it felt like they had been
together for so long. Spending the night with Craig was so new to
her.

“Oh shit,” Lexi muttered out loud, thinking
about Anna. How was she going to explain not being in the dorm room
if she had woken up without noticing her? Quickly, she climbed out
of bed. She felt glad that she hadn’t taken any clothes off last
night, so she didn’t have to worry about having to get
dressed.

“Hey,” Craig said, stirring in his bed and
smiling at her. “Where are you going?”
Lexi walked over to him and kissed him gently. “Back to my dorm so
my roommate doesn’t notice I was gone.”

“Okay,” he said, sitting up in bed. “Will I see
you later?”

“Maybe.” Lexi smiled at him before walking back
to her dorm. She liked that, even though he was her teacher
(again), things were pretty simple between them. Aside from the
time she had caught him drinking Mary-Kate’s blood, things really
weren’t all that complicated between them.

Not as complicated as they were between her and
Gabe, at least. Craig hadn’t tried to kill her yet, even if it was
for her own good. There also weren’t any jealous ex-girlfriends or
vampire creators that Lexi knew about yet. It felt like being with
Craig was the closest thing that she could have to a normal
relationship . . . if it ever got to that point.

Lexi just hoped that it wasn’t a bad sign that
the only time she ever got involved with Craig was when she was
trying not to think about Gabe. She didn’t think it meant that she
liked him any less, and technically, things might have worked out
before if he hadn’t caught her with Mary-Kate. It wasn’t her fault
that Gabe had come back and seemed really genuine for a
while.
Lexi felt a twinge of guilt about cheating on Gabe, but that
obviously hadn’t stopped him from cheating on her with Veronica.
Lexi figured that two could play this game; if Gabe wanted to fool
around with their teacher, Lexi could certainly do the same. Not
that she was spending time with Craig just to piss off Gabe when he
got back. She really did like him.

Having two guys in her life who she was
interested in made her feel sort of slutty. She vowed that she
wouldn’t be a total slut; she would at least stay a virgin right
now. She wasn’t ready to lose her virginity to Craig – or Gabe, for
that matter. Lexi wasn’t going to have sex with just anyone; it had
to be someone who could prove that they were special first. So far,
neither Gabe nor Craig had.

When Lexi was back in their dorm room, she
found Anna in the same exact spot where she had left her. She
breathed a deep sigh of relief. Glancing at the clock, she realized
that Mary-Kate was going to arrive soon.

Lexi changed into a pair of dark wash skinny
jeans and a daffodil yellow sweater with a lacy white camisole
underneath. She brushed her long blonde hair, noticing that she
really needed a haircut. Not that she could just walk into a hair
salon and get it done that easily. There would probably be a
“Wanted” ad on the hair stylist’s mirror that would send her
straight to state prison or into the arms of someone who just
wanted to drain her of all her blood.