Braced to Bite (2 page)
Authors: Serena Robar
Tags: #Vampires, #Fiction, #Horror, #Horror & Ghost Stories, #Schools, #Juvenile Fiction, #School & Education, #High schools, #Fantasy & Magic
“It’s a game day. Where is your school spirit?” I asked, reviewing her black hooded sweatshirt, torn jeans and black combat boots.
“I am loaded with team spirit.” She smirked and pulled her hoodie up to reveal a very faded T-shirt emblazed with our school mascot, the Eagle.
“I stand corrected. For a minute there I was afraid you had an eagle tattooed on your stomach.” Which wasn’t such a far-off thought considering Piper had a row of piercings in her ears and one in her nose. She may even have had her tongue pierced, but I couldn’t be sure.
“Tattoo the memory of this lame school on my skin forever? Hah!”
“What’s wrong with our school?”
“It creates a bunch of zombies that just go with the flow and don’t have an original thought in their heads.”
It was an ancient difference of opinion that stemmed from the beginning of the end of our hanging out together. That and the fact that I didn’t own anything black.
“Ah yes, you’re battling ‘The Man,’ ” I retorted. “I keep forgetting how oppressed you are, what with living in the poor part of town and all.”
This was a sore point with Piper. Her parents were loaded with cash earned during the booming computer era. They were die-hard Republicans and she lived in the nicest house on the golf course.
“Humph.” Piper snorted and kicked the fallen leaves as we walked. It was tough to debate the facts when I had eaten so many snacks in her kitchen overlooking the greens of the fourth hole.
“So, pretty weird about all those attacks, huh?” I asked after a moment of silence.
“I’m not supposed to be walking to school anymore.”
“Yeah, me neither.” I was pretty sure that was what my mother was implying when she left the newspaper on the table.
We continued to walk, side by side.
“Aren’t you a little worried?” I ventured.
“Me? No way. You should be, though. All those other girls were Barbie dolls, just like you.”
I nodded at her. “Nice one. Didn’t even see that coming.”
“I try. Seriously though, the last three girls to be harassed all had long blonde hair.”
“Yeah, but they weren’t seriously hurt, though. Someone was just messing with them.” I tried to sound confident.
Piper rolled her eyes at me in that superior way of hers that bugged the crap out of me.
“You are so clueless,” she said and kicked a rock out of the way.
“I’m sure that summer in Europe with your parents last year has matured you more than any of us at this lame school,” I snapped back icily. Maybe walking with Piper was a mistake. I picked up the pace to pass her.
“He’s building up his courage,” Piper murmured softly.
I slowed down and looked at her. “What?”
She cleared her throat and replied, “He is building up his courage. First he just scares them but then he’ll get bored with that and take it to the next level.”
“Like pushing someone down?” I asked, thinking of the last girl attacked.
She nodded. “Exactly.”
“So now you’re an expert on attackers?” I said derisively, maybe because it frightened me that she was actually making sense.
“It’s what they all do.” She stopped, pulled her backpack off and opened it. I peeked inside and saw a stack of books. On the top was one about serial killers.
“A little light reading before going to bed?” I asked her, eyes wide with surprise.
She zipped the pack shut and swung it back on.
“I like to be informed.” Her eyebrow arched delicately as she said it, as though to imply, “Unlike you.”
We started walking again.
“Hey, I’m all for education but isn’t that a little morbid thinking? After all, no one has been seriously hurt.”
“Yet,” she pointed out.
We walked a couple of more paces while I absorbed that bit of information.
“When did you get so dark?” The question I was thinking popped out before I knew what I said.
“When did you get so stupid?” She looked at me meaningfully.
“I’m a 4.0 student, taking all advanced placement classes, Piper. I am far from stupid.” I glared at her, more offended that she thought I was stupid than ignorant.
“You
are
book smart. But you’re completely clueless about life.”
are
book smart. But you’re completely clueless about life.”
She said this with such a patronizing tone, as though she had seen all the world had to offer and could get by just fine, but
I
would be gang fodder on the streets in mere minutes.
I
would be gang fodder on the streets in mere minutes.
“Thank you kindly for your psychoanalysis. Next time I need the opinion of a Goth burnout, you’ll be the first one I call.” It was unfair and childish of me, but she made me so mad sometimes.
She just smirked at me and I resisted the urge to kick her. Exchanging barbs with Piper was like sneaking up on a porcupine. It was kind of interesting until you got stabbed.
The back of the school yard came into view and she surprised me by saying, “Seriously, you should be more careful.”
I answered her in my most snarky voice. “I’ll take it under advisement.”
She muttered, “Whatever,” and crossed the trail to the school. We both knew I wasn’t going to stop walking to school via the backwoods. Nor was I going to run to our library and check out the Green River Killer’s biography. I firmly believed I was no more likely to get attacked walking to school than any other person. Blonde hair be damned. This morning I walked with Piper. There was safety in numbers. And besides, there was no way I would risk my reputation by arriving on school grounds emerging from a big yellow bus. Nada. None.
Once I was sure Piper was far enough away from me, I turned toward the school as well. The length of a football field separated us. I would arrive at school through the back door and she would arrive using the side entrance. No one would know we spoke and I was fine with that. Not that I considered myself too good for Piper. At least she wasn’t like that awful Rebecca Conway, the self-appointed leader of the Goths.
Rebecca, who currently referred to herself as Diva Raine, was my arch nemesis. Raine had inky black hair, white skin and probably bought more black eyeliner and lipstick than anyone in the Eastside. Walgreen’s had to give her a frequent buyer discount.
I shared advanced creative writing with her and every assignment was the same thing from her: death. Death is beautiful, death is release, death is another state of the living, blah, blah, blah. IMHO, if she liked death so much she should do us all a favor and take it to the next level so we wouldn’t have to hear her jabber about it anymore.
I reached my locker by the first bell and glanced around for Aidan. Lots of students were jostling about, laughing and getting ready to start their day, but no Aidan. I checked my reflection in the locker mirror and decided to touch up my lip gloss. Just then Raine walked by with her lemmings and purposely bumped into me, hoping to smear my gloss. Luckily, I was able to avert disaster.
“Oops, Diva Raine didn’t mean to bump you, Cheesy.” I couldn’t figure out what was more annoying. The fact that she had nicknamed me Cheesy (which was hardly a far stretch since my name was Colby, after all) or that she referred to herself in the third person. The chick was weird. Out-and-out weird.
“No problem,
Rebecca
,” I said, stressing her full name. “I can’t imagine you see very well with all that black eyeliner. Reminds me of our football team.”
Rebecca
,” I said, stressing her full name. “I can’t imagine you see very well with all that black eyeliner. Reminds me of our football team.”
I brightened with dramatic delight. “Why, what a wonderful way of showing your school spirit on game day,
Rebecca
.”
Rebecca
.”
I applauded her with a huge grin on my face. Others watching the exchange began applauding too. Pretty soon Raine’s face was no longer white, but red from outrage. She hissed at me and stormed off amid the laughter.
I don’t know what she was thinking, trying to one-up me on my own turf. Was she truly that delusional? I took one last glance around for Aidan, then at my locker clock. There would be no opportunity for flirting this morning. I would update my BlackBerry to fit it in at lunch. If I didn’t get to it, how could I expect Aidan to ask to drive me home after the game tonight? Or better yet, take me to an after-game party?
I grabbed my trig book and notebook before shutting the locker door to go to class. I passed Raine by her locker and pretended I didn’t see her. Her eyes practically bore holes in my back. If looks could kill, I would have been a goner. But then, if that were true, I would have died a thousand times by now. It may seem cool to wax poetic about eternal sleeping and the undead but it took real courage to embrace life and actively seek out success. What was life if one didn’t live it fully? Seemed like a big waste to me.
I sat down in trig next to my best friends Marci and Rachel. Both were cheerleaders and both took AP classes too. Marci was a brunette with soft curls and Rachel wore her auburn hair short and chic. We made a pretty impressive sight when we were shopping at the mall or cheering. In fact, no matter where we went, we attracted a lot of attention.
“Where were you last night?” Marci asked me as I sat down. “I didn’t get your homework e-mail until really late. Look at these dark circles.” She gestured to her sparkling brown eyes and flawless skin. She looked fine to me, so I shrugged.
“I did the homework last night. It was just a little tougher than I planned.” It took me an extra hour to do, which really messed with my study schedule.
“Fine, at least I got it,” she grumbled and I had to stamp down a little annoyance. I was flattered at first when Marci asked me to tutor her, but when we got together we would end up going shopping or rearranging each other’s closets. It was easier just to let her review my homework so she could see the work on any problems she didn’t understand. But now I think she was blatantly copying all my homework and not even trying to do it on her own.
Rachel was asking my opinion on her new eye shadow when Aidan walked into class. Everything else sort of melted away and all I could see were his broad shoulders and highlighted hair. His eyes were so blue, where mine were closer to gray. We would make such a perfect Homecoming King and Queen.
I turned away from Rachel to smile at him as he walked by.
He nodded to me with a half smile. “’Sup?”
He passed by and slid into his seat at the back of the class.
My classes went by in a blur, and I finally came across Aidan at the end of lunch. I was sure my smile was brilliant and food-free since I wasn’t eating much and I always brushed my teeth after lunch, no matter how little I ate. It kept my breath fresh and my smile sparkling.
When you live with an orthodontist, the first thing you learn to do is keep your smile in great shape. My father tended to stare at my teeth when I was talking. I learned when I was twelve and first started wearing braces that Dad’s intense focus when I talked had nothing to do with what I was saying and everything to do with analyzing how quickly my teeth were being corrected.
If I had to quote advice from my father to take into the “real” world it would have to be, “Don’t forget to floss.” Yeah, flossing is big with my dad.
“Hey, Aidan.” I smiled as I leaned against my locker.
“Hey.” He nodded toward me and I almost sighed when he raked his hand through his blond hair to keep it out of his clear blue eyes. We’d hooked up at several parties and now it was time to make our “relationship” more official. At least, that was my plan.
“Big game tonight. You guys ready for it?”
Okay, so I sounded kind of dorky. I wasn’t used to small talk. I’m a person who likes to get to the point right away but high school is not like that. There are rules.
“Yeah! Those Bulldogs are goin’ home with their tails between their legs. We’re gonna kick ass!” His fellow players, who usually surrounded him, whooped and hollered while chest-slamming each other in excitement. A chorus of “Go Eagles” echoed down the hall.
“Go Eagles!” I reciprocated to the mob and turned my attention back to Aidan.
“So, what’s the 411 on after-game festivities?” I tried to sound nonchalant. A guy didn’t like to be chased. He needed to pursue me, but I could nudge him in the right direction.
“Depends on if we win or lose. How about we hook up after the game and go from there?”
I nodded thoughtfully, but inside my stomach was doing flip-flops. “It could work. Let’s play it by ear.”
“That’s cool,” he responded. In teen talk, we had just made our first unofficial date. Things were progressing right on schedule.
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