Vampire Lies (Blood and Snow Season Book 1) (8 page)

Sydney walked me around the school
, taking me to the cafeteria, the auditorium, and the gymnasium. She even showed me where my locker was.

“This isn’t a bad spot.”
Sydney flipped her hair and turned around. She wore tight jeans, a long peach shirt that was see through and had a tie around the hips. Underneath was a white tank top. On her feet were gold ballet flats. She looked cute. But I noticed she wasn’t nearly as friendly once we’d left the office.

“I like your shoes. Where’d you get them?” she asked as I tried to open my locker.
I didn’t respond right away, trying to figure out Mr. Butters’ chicken scratch. He’d written left 32, right 12, left 7 so I had an idea what I was supposed to do, but I couldn’t seem to get the locker to open.

“Bloomingdale’s,”
I said, spinning the knob filled with lines and numbers.

“Shopping in New York. Nice.” Sydn
ey voice seemed to bubble with excitement. She scooted me out of the way. “Let me help you.” She twisted the knob the opposite direction I’d been spinning it. “What’s the combo?”

I remembered that Mr. Butters said not to tell anyone so I hedged. “Uh, um.” I glanced at the yellow paper with sticky stuff on one end.

“It’s okay, Jack. I won’t tell anyone.” 

I really needed he
r help, so I decided it was fine. I showed her the paper.

“Didn’t your school have lockers in Las Vegas?”

“Yeah, but they were different.” I grabbed a piece of hair and twisted nervously.

“Okay, well this is how our lockers work.” She glanced at the yellow paper again. “
Left 32.” She turned until it reached a line two after thirty. “Right 12.” She spun the knob to the right, going all the way around once and then stopping on the line two after ten. “Left 7.” She turned to the line two after five. Then she pulled up on a silver lever and the locker opened. “See, easy.” Her blue eyes twinkled.

I had a feeling it wouldn’t be as simple as Sydney made it look, but I nodded. “Thanks.”

“Sure. Did you want to leave your backpack?”

The inside of the locker had two hooks and a shelf but was otherwise empty. “No. I’m going to keep it just in case I need something.”
I patted the nylon strap.

“Cool.” She shut it and leaned in
to my side. “What’s your first class?”

“Creative Writing.”
I tried to inhale a quick breath, not wanting to drool at the scent of her blood so close. Hers wasn’t nearly as sweet smelling as Cam’s or Mr. Butters’. It was weird. Everything about this morning was weird. Humans seemed much more touchy-feely than I’d thought they’d be. I wasn’t used to having my personal space invaded unless it was by my parents and more recently, Laeddin.

“Who with?”

I showed Sydney my paper.

“Ah, Miss Riplinger. You’ll like her. She’
s also the cheerleading coach.”

I had no idea what a cheerleading coach was
but I copied Sydney’s word and said, “Cool.”

“Her room is
on the fifth floor. I think she’s likes it up there because it makes her students have to work out. She’s always telling us we’re getting too flabby.” Sydney patted her flat stomach. “You’re lucky you don’t have to worry about your weight.”

She took in my body. I felt the urge to cover up, but held still. “I do try to eat healthy.”

She snorted. “Yeah, which probably means you only have one donut instead of two?” She raised an eyebrow and slapped my butt. I yelped, surprised. “You’d be perfect on our cheerlead
ing squad. You have a great ass. Maybe second semester you should try out.”

“Try out?” I had no idea what she meant.

“Yeah. One of the girls got herself knocked up. Our coach, Miss Riplinger kicked her off the squad. Safety issues or something, which means we’re a cheerleader short.”

I was getting frustrated. What was knocked up? I didn’t want to ask Sydney though. So I just said, “Sounds fun.”

“It totally is.” She linked her arm with mine. “Come on. I’ll walk you to your class.”

We went up several more flights of stairs. Sydney chatted about all sorts of random things. I didn’t pay much attention until she said my name.

“What?” I asked, snapping out of it.

A look of impatience crossed her pert face. “The cheerleaders and the sports boys sit together at lunch. You can join us if you’d like?”

It was an invitation and I wanted to accept. I had a feeling spending time with Sydney and her group would give me the exact teenager lifestyle I was looking for.

“Does Cam sit with you?” I asked, hopefully.

She shook her head. “No, Cam’s all right, but he sits at a different table.” She stopped walking, pulling me to a stop with her. “You’ll figure out soon enough who you should spend time with if you want to have any fun in high school.” Leaning in, she whispered, “I’ll give you a hint though. My group is
the
group and I’ve decided you’d be a perfect fit.”

I wondered how she could tell I’d be great for her group. She didn’t know anything about me. Was it the clothes I wore? The way I did my hair? That always seemed important in the magazines. Or maybe it was because of my body. The way a person looked meant something to humans. I recognized that pretty easily. And I should be glad Sydney thought I fit into the human category where I had the right look. But what about Cam
? Surely he was perfect for their group too.

“Here’s your
class.”

“Thanks.”

“Where’s your cell? I enter my number in your contacts and text you so you can find us at lunch.”

I looked away, grabbing my elbow. How hadn’t I remembered I needed a cell phone. My uncles all had them.

“Your parents won’t give you one, huh?”

“Yeah. Jerks.” I glanced at her from under my lashes.

“Well don’t worry. You aren’t the only one.” She waved and walked away. “I’ll find you.”

“See ya,” I returned
, glad she didn’t think I was too horrible for not having a cell phone. Facing the door, I placed a hand on the knob and was about to twist when it flung open and smacked me in the forehead, knocking me backward so that I fell on my butt. “Ouch.” I rubbed my forehead. It smarted, but I knew there wouldn’t’ be a mark. I healed too quickly for that.

“Hey, I’m sorry.”

I glanced up at the sound of the deep voice and into the eyes of a very gorgeous guy. It was the same one who’d been kissing the girl outside Mr. Butters’ window. I blushed at the memory of his hands under her shirt, even as I wondered what that would feel like.

I quickly stood. “No worries. I’m fine.”

He grabbed me by the elbows and scrunched down, peering at my forehead. “It hasn’t started bruising yet. But are you sure?”

I nodded, trying not to concentrate too much of the heavenly scent coming off him. It was a combination of blood and sandalwood.

He stepped back, releasing me. I tilted a little sideways. His hands came back out to steady me. “Maybe I should walk you down to the office where you can lie down with an ice pack.”

I’d just come from there.
“No, really. I’m okay. You mostly just startled me.”

“Are you in Miss Riplinger’s class?”

“Yeah,” I said, trying not to sound shy.

“Awesome. Well my name is
Troy.”

“I’m Jazz… Jack
.”

He smiled and stuc
k a finger under my chin. “Jack, huh? That’s adorable.” He started jogging down the hall toward the stairs. “See ya round, Jack.” He waved.

I returned it. Then faced the door and took a deep breath. “Here goes nothing.”
Just the first great moment in my life as a normal teenager attending high school
, I thought.

Chapter 12

It turned out Miss Riplinger was fun,
just as Sydney said, but she was mostly flirty. She strutted around like a peacock on the prowl. The guys ate it up. The way she’d lean over them, her V-neck top exposing cleavage. The girls giggled like they thought it was funny, but I got the feeling it actually irritated them.

When I first went in, Miss Riplinger introduced me and had me take the only seat available, which was in the back. 
Then she continued with whatever she’d been saying before I interrupted and I spent the remainder of class playing catch up. Luckily the book they were discussing was
Wuthering Heights
. I’d read it more than once so I had that going for me.

She asked us to pair up with a partner and answer some questions on a worksheet she passed out. The girl in front of me turned.
Her hair was a honey brown and cropped short so that it curled around her ears. She had dark hazel eyes and a friendly face. “Want to do this together?”

“Sure,” I replied, grateful.

“I’m Abby.” Abby wore a light blue t-shirt. On the front was a blue horse with a rainbow-colored mane and tail. It said VINTAGE RULES across the front.

“
Jack,” I said. It was getting easier to remember my fake name.

“
Your parents named you Jack?” She gave me a strange look.

“Well, no. It’s Jackie, but I like Jack.”

“Cool.” She grinned.

“Thanks
.”

The teacher handed me a book. “You’ll need this for the final.”

I took it from her. It was a paper copy of
Wuthering Heights
.

“Have you read it before?”

“Actually, I have. A few times.”

She sniffed. “Good.”

When the teacher was at the front of the room, Abby turned back and laughed.

“She’s a real sweetie.”

“Yeah.”

“So you’ve read the book before?”

“At least ten times. Have you?”

That seemed to surprise her. “It’s only one of my favorite books
ever.”

“Mine too,” I whispered excitedly.

We spent the next fifty minutes discussing why Heathcliff was the greatest character ever written, and when Miss. Riplinger called time and told us to face forward I felt like I’d actually made a real friend.

“
Make sure your name is at the top of your page and pass your papers to the front of your row.”

I quickly wrote
Jack Ryder at the top of my paper and handed it to Abby. When the bell rang everyone stood and filed out.

“What’s your next class?” Abby asked, coming up beside me.

“PE.”

“I have that next too.”

A deep sense of relief settled within my stomach. “It’s on the first floor. Come on or we’ll be late.”

We shuffled along the crowded hall, down lots of stairs, until we reached the main floor. While Abby and I walked, we talked. It was so different than the conversation with Sydney. With her I’d felt like I needed to be something I wasn’t. With Abby, I could just be myself.

“Did your family just move here?” Her face was inquisitive. A small dusting of freckles covered her nose. She wore no makeup but didn’t need any. Her skin was so smooth.

“Yeah,” I nodded, un
willing to go into more details. No sense trying to explain that my mom and dad were in a different realm known as Sharra and that my mom was the Vampire Queen. That would be awkward.

She turned to face me more fully. “
Did you hear about the dead guy they found in the woods last night?”

“What? No.” I leaned away.

“Everybody’s talking about it.” She picked up her phone and then continued, “But I figured what with you being new maybe you hadn’t heard. I guess there was blood everywhere, like he’d been beaten to death.”

“That’s awful
.” My mind was reeling. “Does this happen a lot?”

A gu
y with strawberry blond hair and the creamiest brown eyes I’d ever seen fell into step next to Abby. He seemed to know exactly what we were talking about. I was surprised Sydney hadn’t mentioned it. “They’re saying it’s the most brutal murder Salem has ever seen. At least that’s what I heard.” He reached across Abby and stuck out his hand. “The name’s Charlie.”

“Jackie
.” I awkwardly took his hand and shook it. He flipped my hand over and looked at it. “Your hands are so soft. You must eat right.”

I choked on a snort. “Sure.”
If eating right meant drinking blood.

“So why’d your family move to this hell hole?”

My heart sped up. What was I supposed to say? I sighed like I was bummed I was there. “It’s my mom. She had family that lived here.”

“Oh,” Abby said. “What’s the name?”

“Uh,” I started, unsure what to say.

Luckily,
we reached the gym. Charlie waved good-bye and we went inside the locker room.

There was a thick stench in the air, but that wasn’t what had me most worried. It was that all the girls were in various stages of undress.