He put in the DVD and turned out the lights, and we snuggled together in the darkness. I picked SnoCaps and he chose a pack of Sprees. The popcorn rested between us on the couch.
Dracula was getting ready to take a bite out of Lucy when Alexander gently pulled my face away from the screen.
He stared me at with his deep midnight eyes. He leaned toward me. And he kissed me. With passion. He kissed me! He finally kissed me! Right there in front of Bela Lugosi!
He kissed me as if he were drinking me in and filling my heart and veins with love. As I took a breath, he began kissing my ears and gently nibbling them. I giggled like crazy. His lips and teeth made their way down my neck, his mouth filling me with total passion. His soft biting on my neck tickled. I was so into his spell, I stretched my legs out clumsily on the coffee table, spilling Alexander's glass and then the popcorn over him. Alexander, startled, sunk his teeth into my neck so hard I screamed.
"Oh, no! I'm sorry!" he apologized.
Popcorn was scattered everywhere and I held my neck, which was pulsing like my heart.
"Raven, are you okay?"
The blood rushed from my brain, and the room began to turn one way then another, and my stomach felt nauseated. I did what any overexcited, sappy girl would do. I fainted dead away. It seemed like hours later, but it was only seconds. I awoke to Alexander calling my name. Dracula was still in Lucy's room. The only difference was the lights were on.
"Raven? Raven?"
"What happened?"
"You fainted! I thought that only happened in old movies!"
"Here, drink this." He put my glass to my lips, like I was a baby.
Alexander's pale face was even paler. He took some ice that had spilled on the table and placed it on my neck. "I'm so sorry! I never meant to--"
"That's cold!" I cried.
"I've ruined everything," he said, holding the dripping ice on my neck.
"Don't say that. This happens all the time."
He looked at me skeptically.
"Well, just with you."
"I never meant to hurt you."
I could feel his fingers tracing the wound. "It's just a flesh wound. I didn't break the skin."
"You didn't?" I asked, almost disappointed.
"This is bigger than the mosquito bite. You'll have one major hickey!"
"Bela would be proud," I said, hanging on Alexander's reaction.
"Yes," he said. "I guess he would." "I want to ask you something," I said nervously, as he walked me to my door. I was running out of chances to invite him to the dance, and I realized if I didn't ask him now, I never would.
"You don't want to hang out anymore? Listen, Raven--"
"No, I mean...I just wanted to say..."
"Yes?"
"Umm...I found a place to dance," I began.
"To dance? In this town?"
"Yes."
"Is it cool?"
"No, but--"
"But if you go there, it must be the trendiest place in the world."
"It's my school."
"School?"
"I thought you would think it was totally lame. I shouldn't have mentioned it."
"I've never been to a school dance before."
"Really? Me neither."
"Then it'll be the first time for both of us," he said with a sexy and suddenly confident grin.
"I guess it will. It's called the Snow Ball. I can wear a woolen scarf to cover my bite," I joked. "I'm sorry--it was an accident."
"It was the best accident that ever happened to me!"
He leaned in to kiss me and stopped suddenly. "I better not."
"You better!"
He leaned in again, and this time our lips melted together, his strong hand gently holding my chin.
"Until we meet again," he said, kissing me one last time. He blew me a final kiss when he reached the car.
I touched the mark where he had bitten me. I knew I was already changing. But I wanted to look in the mirror to see for sure.
The following day Becky and I went to Evans Park immediately after school. We opened our backpacks in a darkened corner of the empty rec center. My camera, my journal, and a compact mirror lay before us. Finally Becky placed a Tupperware bowl that held a clove of garlic and a cross wrapped in a leather pouch on the floor.
"Ready to see the bite?" I asked.
"Is it gross?"
"It's my love wound," I said and carefully unwrapped the black scarf I'd been wearing all day.
"Wow! He has a big mouth!" she said, wide-eyed.
"Isn't it cool?"
"I can see teeth marks. A few scrapes, but I don't think he punctured the skin. Does it hurt?" "Not at all. It's like getting your ears pierced--it stings at first, but the pain quickly goes away."
"Did you faint when you got your ears pierced, too?"
"Don't get smart!"
"And the mark will go away, too, won't it?"
"That's what we're here to find out. Get the camera."