Chapter 7: The Vampire Pirate's Daughter by Lynette Ferreira
Carmine chatters non-stop with Peter and Martin, not including Andrew and me. The silence between Andrew and me is awkward and I see him become restless. For some stupid reason, I feel so sad. It comes from the general direction of my stomach.
I lean closer to Carmine. “I have to leave. Will you get your own way back?”
She turns her head to Andrew and then she smiles sweetly. “Andrew will give me a lift home.”
He laughs suddenly. “You cannot just assume.”
She pouts. “But you will, won’t you?”
He smiles brightly, and I see their eyes meet.
I say goodbye, but Andrew only looks up at me briefly without saying a word.
Carmine slides into the empty space I just vacated, and she asks, looking up at me, “See you tomorrow at school?”
I smile down at her. “Okay.”
“Bye, Susie,” she calls after me. The good thing from all of this is that I made a friend, at least.
As I walk away, I hear Andrew say to Carmine, “Nice dress. Did you just buy it, because I’ve never seen it before?”
I have lived so long and never have I ever felt this total, absolute sense of hopelessness.
CARMINE RUSHES TO me the next day at school, and I sigh inwardly. Although she would make life easier and I would be able to fit in faster, she was silly and inane at times. She never stopped talking and I wondered amused whether she ever thinks about anything. If her jaws are always moving, surely, she could never contemplate the deeper things in life.
She seems overly excited and she says, “I cannot wait for this weekend. I am looking forward to Andrew’s party and I am glad you are also coming.”
I say apologetically, “I won’t be able to go anymore, I forgot we are going away for the weekend.”
“That’s very depressing. I was looking forward to you also going,” she sulks.
I am not looking forward to it. House parties are usually seriously boring and predictable, but I reply kindly, “I completely forgot. My brother likes stargazing, and this weekend there is a new moon, so that means he can see the stars clearer, without the glare of the moon interfering.”
She asks, “Do you have to go with?”
“I do. It is a family tradition already.”
She smiles acceptingly, shrugging it off and then she notices Andrew walking up the corridor. She yells excitedly, “Andrew!”
Damn, being friends with her is going to make me cross Andrew’s path daily and I was hoping to only look longingly at him every now and again. Besides, Shayne and Amanda have subtly tried to nudge me in the direction of Ethan for the last ten years. I do like Ethan, but I would not want to literally spend eternity with him.
Andrew smiles when he sees Carmine. He looks at me briefly. He turns quickly and tickles Carmine in her waist, laughing delighted when she squirms away from him. “Hi, Carmine,” he says with a wide smile.
“Hey. You are here early today.”
“Ya, we had cross-country training this morning.”
He punches her lightly on the arm. “You know this, you goose.”
I just stand there looking at them. When he looks back at me, I feel foolishly inhibited.
We walk together to our registry class and the rest of the morning drags by.
During the lunch break, I go to the office. The smell of percolated coffee is overwhelming and fills the entire administrative office. They decorated the entrance with modern furniture, and it looks like a picture in an interior design magazine.
I ask the receptionist behind the high rosewood desk if she could give me details of the cross-country and she smiles friendly while she opens one of her filing drawers and takes out a stapled pack of papers.
She hands them to me over the desk, while smiling friendly. “There you go.”
“Thank you,” I say politely and then I walk out the door and back into the sunshine, away from the air conditioning. I do not get hot or cold, but I do sense a change in weather, and I can feel a difference in the air between warm or chilly.
I am not planning on stalking Andrew, by enquiring about cross-country, I did have a real interest in running. After all, no one else could run long-distance like I could and never get out of breath.
Here students do not leave school at lunch break and we must spend break together. There is no cafeteria where kids can go to sit down for lunch, but there is a tuck shop where they can buy a warm lunch and then they all scatter throughout the corridors and sports field – doing what they do in their respective groups.
I sit down in my usual corner and then I page through the documents the receptionist gave me. Usually, I would read one of my books. I enjoyed reading and these days I enjoyed reading the various vampire romance books, which are dominating the bookshop shelves. I loved the idea that people thought there was a possibility someone like me could have a relationship with a human boy. Never have I had the slightest inclination or attraction to a human boy, until the first time I saw Andrew. He had some magnetic hold over me. Without speaking to me, I knew I would delight in his touch. It should be so simple—it always is in movies, but in movies, you cannot see the conflicting emotions and pain.
The bell rings and I automatically walk to my next class. Carmine comes rushing in my direction. “Where have you been? I was looking all over for you.”
Carmine smiles at Andrew. “Susie cannot come on Friday. Pity, isn’t it?”
I must be fooling myself, but I thought I saw a look of disappointment in his eyes. Yeah, right!
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