"So?" He raises an eyebrow
I point a finger at him, "Look I just said that to save your ass. Unless you wanted a repeat from lunch? For weeks at a time of course" I cross my arms and look at him daringly
His eye slightly twitches, "No, I'm fine"
I take a seat next to him, "That's what I thought. Why the twitch though? I'm sure that getting attention from pretty girls isn't all that bad"
I start taking out my book and turn to look at him
He raises his thumb as if counting, "First, I don't like blondes. Second, girls usually can't take a hint when I tell them no. All they see are my looks and think I'm playing hard to get so they become persistent. And third, well, I have you now so I really couldn't care less about them" he shrugs
I feel a blush tainting my cheeks which makes him chuckle. He knows what he's doing
"I saw how happy you got when R&J was mentioned. You like it?" He taps the book in front of him
"I do, pretty much anything that has to do with fictional romance I love, especially since I was around when this play was at its peak years," I say matter of factly
I feel a few stares from the people around me.
Probably shouldn't say things like that around humans
"So you're into romance? Good to know. I'm pretty sure you don't even need to read the book then?" He puts his book away
I shake my head while smiling feeling kind of proud of myself
"Good because I don't have a lot of patience and didn't want to wait for my partner to read it"
I send him a confused look. I swear, he didn't speak English for a second. Doesn't he have to read it anyway?
"You see, I like romance too. Romeo & Juliet is one of the origin stories, of course I would know it by heart"
My face switches from confusion to shock
"I've never met a guy, aside from my dad, that likes romance" This secretly excites me
"And I hadn't met a girl that knew even the brand of cars. There's a first for everything, love" He does a lopsided smile and winks
I look at him blankly and shake my head, "Don't try too hard Jackie"
He laughs. He has a very nice laugh, it's kind of deep but not deep? It sounds light. I want to hear him laugh more often.
Wait. Why the fuck am I thinking about his laugh? I'm becoming a creep, ew
"Are you alright Alexandra" I snap out of my daze and focus on Jackson after he snaps his fingers in front of my face
"Huh?" I don't usually space out but when I do, I forget everything around me. My mind quite literally zones everything out
"I asked what you want to do now since we don't need to read"
I stand up from my seat, "We could go talk with-"
He grabs my wrist, "Sit"
I look at him challengingly, "I'm not the dog here so don't order me around" I smack his hand away
"I just want to spend time with you, that's all" He tries to amend in a softer tone
I look over at Sammy and Dari. I'm sure they've been listening to us this whole time.
Sit, they both mouth to me
I roll my eyes and sit back down, crossing my arms
"I have a question," Jackson says, changing his seat so that he is now sitting in front of me
"Shoot" I lean back
"Are you ever going to stop calling me a dog? I mean, I prefer that over mutt but still"
I bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing, "Just so you know, I got both nicknames from Twilight, yes ironic, I'm aware. On a different note and to answer your question, no I'm not, you are somewhat a dog, or am I wrong?"
"Technically you aren't, I guess. Fine, I'll let you call me that-" As if I what he said would change what I did or didn't do
"I was going to do it anyway" I voice my thoughts
"If you tell me you're free Friday afternoon"
"Again, I was going to anyways but I think I am, why?" I unwind my arms and put them back on my desk
"You're very dense for someone that likes romance, I'm asking you out on a date" He stares at me
I form an o shape with my mouth, "Yeah well now that I think about it, I have something to do with-" someone covers my mouth but before I can bite it off, Sammy speaks
"She'll love too, just let her know time and place" She smiles down at him
I'm deciding whether to bite her hand or lick it. I go with the latter trying to be friendly and knowing she'll dislike it more
"Als what the hell!" She yanks her hand away
I snicker, "Don't interrupt me or cover my mouth" I wipe my chin with my sleeve
She rolls her eyes and goes back to Dariana whose shoulders are shaking from silent laughter
"You said you'd give me a fair chance" He grabs my hand like in lunch
I look at our hands for a second, "Ugh, fine. As Samantha said, time and place so I know what to wear"
Not like I'm going to dress up anyway, I'm just asking to make sure sweats aren't too informal
"We'll leave from school and you can just dress casually"
"But where are we going?" Why does he have to be so cryptic
"Don't worry about that, just trust me" That's a big word for him to be using right now
"I don't know if I can do that just yet though" I mutter under my breath
"Oh c'mon it's just a date Alexandra" I hadn't noticed until now that I was playing with his hand. It is strangely soft and warm
I pull my hand away, "I said yes, didn't I? I'm going so don't worry I kind of have no choice but to trust you"
"Good. I'll be right back then" He stands up and starts walking towards Mr. Lopez
I take my phone out and scroll through social media when I feel a presence in front of me
"Well that was fa....who are you?" I lift my head to find a redhead instead of dark brown curls in front of me
"Hi" He smirks at me
"Hello?" I try to ignore him and go back to my phone but he starts talking again
"My name's Karma. I noticed your little banter with the Lord's kid, he giving you trouble? You could always ask for my help of he does anything" He winks. Looks more like a small seizure on him but let's call it a wink
What is it with everyone thinking I need saving from Jackson? Can I not argue with someone in peace? Also, if he winked for the reasons I think he did it's better to crush his hopes now
"No he isn't, thanks for worrying" I say nonchalantly. I don't want a fight going on and if Jackson hit Cole, his own friend, for putting his arm on my shoulder, I don't want to know what he will do to this kid and I don't like drama.
Someone clears their throat, "Thanks for keeping her company bud, you can go now"
Jackson lifts Karma up by his collar and sets him away from our chairs
"Hey man I was talking to her," I would really shut up if I was him
"Yeah, and that's over so go back to your partner," Jackson gives his back to Karma and intertwines his fingers on top of his desk
"I know you guys aren't actually together so stop acting like she's yours" Karma sneers
I mentally face-palm, is he dumb or just stupid? I want to hit him myself
"Listen here buddy..." Jackson starts getting up from his seat
Ugh I hate this
I grab his hand and pull him back down before shaking my head letting him know it's not worth it
"Not so tough around her? Scared she might run off once she sees your true colors? Wouldn't blame you." Karma scoffs
Ok that's it he's getting annoying
"Look. Karma was it? I'm the one holding him back because I really do pity you. Stop provoking him for no reason and go back to your seat because if you don't, it's not him you should be worrying about. Then again if you don't mind not having children in the future, by all means, keep yapping" I glare at him
He chuckles, "Feisty, I like it. We'll talk later babe" This time it's Jackson who pulls me down before I commit first degree murder
I roll my eyes and turn to look at Jackson
I swear I see blue-ish color under his eyes. The whites of his eyes are also becoming black, is he ok?
Wait that means…
I stand up abruptly with Jackson's hand still in mine and drag us both out of the classroom
Once we are outside I let go of him and turn around to get a good look
The whites of his eyes are now fully black and the brown is darkening by the minute, he has blue veins popping up under his eyes. He's also the slightest bit taller and I can see the faint stubble on his chin growing
I reach my hand out slowly up to his cheek, looking for any signs indicating that he isn't ok with me doing this. I start tracing the veins with my thumb as he leans into my hand and closes his eyes. This seems to relax him because when he opens them again they are back to their natural white and chocolaty brown color
"Better?" I ask as I drop my hand
He just nods and looks at the ground
He's resembles a child sometimes. A pouty, spoiled child.
"Sorry you had to see that" He half-says, half-whispers
I shake my head but remember he isn't looking at me, "There's nothing to be sorry about. What was that anyways?" I think I have a fair idea of what it was but I want to be certain
He looks up at me and I get sucked in to the beautiful brown of his eyes. He looks almost scared
He doesn't answer me. Maybe he is scared.
"Are you scared somehow Jackie?" I try to lighten up the mood
He averts his gaze again. Ok, epic fail
"Jackson, c'mon, what's wrong" I try getting closer to him but he steps back. Well that's new
"If you're all better now and there's no reason for me to be here I will be heading back inside," I try to walk past him
I see his hand twitch towards me, showing what he doesn't want to say
"Unless you want to say something?" I crouch down to meet his eyes
"Can we go somewhere?" He straightens up suddenly
"Um, I mean, we are still in school, but once we are done sure" I have never skipped class and don't plan on starting
"No, I mean right now. If not I know I'll lose the courage"
I hear the urgency in his tone so I purse my lips and nod
We start walking towards his car and I take out my phone to text Sammy and Dari
Me: Guys I'm going somewhere could you take my things to my house?
Dariana: Where are you going? Are you with Jackson?
Samantha: Is he ok? Why are you guys skipping? :3
I roll my eyes and get in the passenger seat
"Do you want the girls to get your stuff and give it to Cole?"
He stops mid-nod, "What are they doing with yours?"
"They'll drop it off at my house"
"If they could, can they take my things too? I'll just pick them up when I drop you off"
I shrug, "Sure"
I go back to my phone
Samantha: Helloooooo. Don't ignore me Alexandra
Me: Sheesh Sammy I was just doing something. Idk what we are doing he said he wanted to go somewhere, sounded important enough
Dariana: Sure mama I'll take your things, have fun
Me: Oh! Could you please also take Jackson's things?
Samantha: Yeah, yeah, go and have fun ;)
Me: We aren't doing anything
Samantha: Uh-huh sure, keep telling yourself that boo
Dariana: Samantha, shush. Alex, bye
Me: Bye guys thank you
"Done. Now, are we going to talk about what happened?"
He stiffens a little, "Can we wait until we get there?"
"Where exactly is there?" I'm going to try to lighten up the mood again, I don't like this awkard, serious mood we have going on
"You'll see" He says curtly
"How do I know you aren't taking me somewhere to kidnap me? Look Jackie someone with your looks could use them for evil. Luring young women to allies, forests, and doing who know what. I would prefer not being on the receiving end." I put my hands in the air in a 'you never know' gesture and notice a tiny smile playing on his lips, "Just sayin'"
He breathes a chuckle, "You know I would never hurt you Alexandra"
He looks more relaxed. Good
I lightly shove his shoulder, "I got you to laugh didn't I?"
He looks at me for a brief second and smiles. The genuine type, the one where you can see his dimples
The tension that had me suffocated dissolved just like that and I relax against the seat of the car
I see movement from the corner of my eye and notice Jackson subtly moving his hand towards mine
I stifle a scoff. I reach my hand out and grab his as I intertwine our fingers and put them in between us
His smile turns into a grin
"Gotta be bolder than that Jackie or I might just get bored with you" I joke
"I need to get you comfortable first, love. You'll experience everything at its own time," He turns to me and smirks
I roll my eyes and turn my head towards the window to hide the blush I feel creep up my face
After I don't know how many minutes of driving, we pass a fence that says private property and turn into a dirt road. We don't go for too long before he stops the car and starts getting out, I follow suit and catch up to him
He looks troubled again
I grab his hand again and give it a reassuring squeeze
He leads me through the massive trees and it feels as if I was in a movie. The leaves are mixes of green and the sunlight that comes in through the gaps make the forest look alive and vibrant. The patch of trees ends and we come into a clearing with an massive dell of water
The view is amazing, a blue lake that looks bottomless and shines like it's filled with little diamonds under the sun. There are splotches of greens all around the lake and it makes it seem like something straight out of a painting
I didn't notice I was smiling until I closed my eyes to take in the silence and peace around us. I breathe in and out as I hear chirping birds, the rippling of the water, the air hitting the leaves, the fluttering of different birds. It is all so…natural
I feel a gentle tug on my hand and turn my head to look at Jackson
"Hmm?" I hum in acknowledgment lazily
He mumbles something, I only catch grey
"Huh?" I let go of his hand to tie up my hair, the sun is at its peak so it's very hot right now
"You have grey eyes, I thought they were blue"
I blink a few times lost on what he said for a second, "Oh, yeah most people think that. I forget it myself sometimes since they only look truly grey under the sun,"
The thought that has been nagging me in the back of my head suddenly becomes prominent. Why exactly are we here?
I guess Jackson notices my realization because he sighs in dreading
"How did you know I was trying to hold my lycan back in school?"
I sit down crossing my legs while I stare out at the lake before, contemplating my answer
"To be honest, I didn't exactly know you were trying not to turn, I just knew you weren't yourself and needed out. It happens to me sometimes," I shrug and he takes a seat next to me, "you saw the gist of it yesterday at the party. When I get riled up my vampire side comes out to play. I usually try to act as human as possible and considering I'm part it, I'm able to keep up the facade but when I get too emotional, specifically angry, that all goes down the drain. I have some real anger issues just in case you didn't know. All I can hear is the heartbeat of every human around me, I can hear the blood flowing through their veins, I can see the vein in their neck just tempting me to bite.
"A few years back I lost full control of who I was. I can't really remember those times so I don't know why I did what I did or what led me to it, but I think I have an idea. Hundreds of people, dead. For no reason but a blood-thirsty vampire with anger issues that didn't know how to reel herself in. I'm very grateful to my family for sticking with me though, we are part of those few that decide to not drink human blood and opt-out for animals instead so for them to stick by me even after I killed a bunch of people and drank their blood meant the world to me. That's why my family is the one thing in my life I don't accept to lose, not any more at least" My thought try to go somewhere dark so I shake my head and turn to him
"My point is, I knew you needed to get out of there so I did just that" I send him a half-hearted smile
He nods and now it's his turn to look out to the rippling water
"Thanks" he starts standing up and reaches out a hand for me. I take it and stand up, putting my hands in my back pockets
"For?"
"For telling me that, and for what you did. Someone would've probably died if you didn't drag me out the door"
"I wouldn't have complained. I could've, by accident of course, let your hand go and you could've also broken a few of Karma's bones," I say honestly
"Wouldn't want an audience for that, and I'm sure you would've loved to do that yourself" He gives me a side glance
I giggle. Ew, what the fuck was that
Another thing pops up in my head when I look back to our conversation at school
"You said you wouldn't do something if it wasn't now, what was it?"
He's not looking at me. He's debating what to do, it's getting easier to read him
"Were you scared?" He asks out of nowhere
Huh?
I turn my head, slightly confused
"When you saw me like.....that"
"Oh," I don't have to think twice about this, "no I wasn't"
He nods slowly
I start putting some pieces together. He looked scared back at school. Was he scared of how I would react? I mean, to an average person it might've been scary and they probably would've run off so I see why he would be worried, but I've seen worse. Done worse.
"Did you bring me here to show me how you look fully transformed?" I can't help but ask
He finally turns to look at me, "Do you want to see me like that? Think very hard about it" He's using the same tone he used last night, meaning this is not a light topic for him and he's not joking around
"We are surrounded by trees, so I can't escape. Shouldn't it be now or never?" I joke, probably not the best time, I need to fix that with myself. I have the worse timing for things
He exhales slowly, "Are you sure? Alexandra, you said you hated lycans. You've known me for 2 days. I know I'm going against what I've told you before but I'm sick and tired of regretting this choice, but at the same time, I think you should see sooner than later. It might not sound too serious but it's not something pretty, some people describe it as something out of a horror movie and I don't think I can handle you thinking of it like that but you need to know who you're getting involved with, even if it's a bet. So, are you sure"
I let all of that sink in
Yes, I still haven't completely changed my mind about lycans but that doesn't mean I have to or can keep denying the bond that's obviously between us. It doesn't mean I'm quite ready to accept it yet but he is right, I should know about all of this. I've seen a lycan before, this was confirmed by my aunt, but I can't remember it so I can't assure him of how I will feel but I do want to see his true nature even if I'm just getting involved with him by a bet
He's most likely getting anxious by me taking so much time to think about it
"I'm sure" I let him know truthfully
"Please promise me you won't run away. If you don't feel comfortable with it just say it and I'll turn back right away,"
I nod because even if I won't admit it to him I am kind of scared. Not of him or what he might do, but because I don't want anything to resurface in my mind and I don't want my voice to give me away
He closes his eyes. At first, I don't see any difference but then I notice the subtle blue under his eyes, he's also slowly getting taller and I can see that his face is getting harrier. He then opens his eyes and it's like I'm staring into oblivion. They aren't white with their brown irises in the middle, his eyes look pitch black with nothing else.
I slowly lift my hand up to his cheek like earlier. He jumps slightly but then leans into my palm. I trace his every feature with my other hand
He stills looks like Jackson, that much is obvious. His face just isn't as smooth and his eyes aren't brown. From afar the veins under his eyes could be seen as eye-bags; one of the only prominent things is his height. He grew a few inches, and even though he wasn't super tall compared to my height now I'm having to crane my neck to be able to see him
I let my hand fall limply at my side as I feel a sharp pain next to my ear and images pop up in my head