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Chapter One
At tis My parents would have freaked! Things were bad enough around here withhome for New Year’s Eve
“You haven’t used your gift cards fro me another china plate to dry “I’ve never known you to hold off on shopping for six whole days”
“I don’t knohat I want,” I said as I carefully stacked the plate on the table I knew exactly what I wanted, of course Blood, blood, andelse in the months since I’d turned
I alined my mother’s expression if she read that Christmas list
“Remember that you promised me you wouldn’t just order a bunch of sweatshirts and t-shirts, Natalie”
My ift cards robbed her of the joy of shopping She agreed to give the choices I didn’t have the luxury of worrying about little, insignificant things like whether y in her opinion I had real problems
I knew my mother was irritated with my behavior She couldn’t understand why I hadn’t rushed out to the one well forday Mypatience with me, and if I wasn’t careful, she’d lose her temper Luckily, I could control mine I had learned to be as apathetic, as close to the I-don’t-care line, as possible Any strong emotions could pro appetites
“Your father better plan an aone out for a romantic New Year’s Eve”
Whatever, I thought I’d never been a big fan of Valentine’s Day The truth is that Valentine’s Day sucks
A claave me an idea “Should I take Dad and Uncle Jerry some more beer?”
“Go,” Mo at me
My uncle’s visit had ruined my mother’s plans for New Year’s Eve My father and uncle were having a blast, but Morabbed two bottles, and left the kitchen It wasn’t convenient for h days of holiday activities and faht should have meant freedo And, did I mention that all I could think about was blood?
In the er brothers ere lying on the floor to watch the gaed the lared when sixteen-year-old Travis tried to snake Jerry’s half-euys to their football
Once upstairs in my room, I relaxed I felt in control when I was in led to behave like a normal person
I plopped onto my bed Normal As if I hadn’t actually pulled it off My parents were “concerned” about the changes in lanced over to see that the drawers of my dresser were all firhtly open, and yes, I did all my own laundry So the parents had taken tiain
Mohter was on drugs How else could they explain the way I’d started keeping my distance fro away to protect them They couldn’t fathom the truth--I didn’t want to accidentally eat them Or more accurately, drink them
My parents’ misdirected paranoiain my room, ues that the other va hearts of h their veins I could deal I could be around them Unfortunately, their deters meant that I couldn’t use the tools to minimize my weirdness
The soft knock on mycould not have come at a better time I jumped up, parted the curtains, and opened thefor Matt
“Thanks for reed in Last night, he’d coown
Matt handed me a water bottle “You were pretty clear that ot”
I didn’t bother to answer I just unscrewed the cap and chugged the synthetic blood in a few seconds I handed hiht?”
“I didn’t think you would have room for more Didn’t you eat a ia accent Not the fake Southern accent they always had on television A Georgia accent was cultured and confident, and in the right guy, the heat of the ru cadence could make my heart beat faster
“Waste of space,” I gru to stay with the conversation “You really didn’t bring more?”
“I was hoping you could slip out later I left some down by the lake”
We’dout tonight would be risky, but I didn’t have a lot left to lose “Sure”
Matt sat on the floor in his usual spot, his back against the wall I knew this was his effort to respect my space and make me more comfortable I sat back on the bed, in my usual spot
“God, Natalie, I’m so sorry I never meant for this to happen” Head bowed, hands in his hair, Matt repeated what had become his mantra since the incident in November
“Shut it, Matt” I didn’t like to talk about it, and I especially did not like to think about it Matt hadn’t turned me His little sister had She was nine and insisted that she didn’t need a babysitter Matt’s parents had gone out of town for the weekend, and Matt was responsible for dosing her with synthetic blood so that she would never thirst for huiven her dinner but failed to watch her drink it
“I’ve been bitten by preschoolers before, but that was rader” And my first vampire
“She will never do that again, Natalie You should have seen her after She was horrified”
“I know, Matt” He was still trying to convinceto justify to himself that he had not told his parents They didn’t know about the bite, and they didn’t know aboutme,” I said, desperate to make him stop
Matt s you”
“Yes,” I said “Get interesting or get out” I couldn’t rin
“Well, aren’t you Miss Hoity Toity vampire”
“You s
wore you would fulfill my every need”
He nodded “I did I re you would never do without Of course, I uidance Your entertainment requirements never entered my mind”
Matt was a junior and didn’t exactly run inother than Ashley’s big brother, as very cute but way out of ue Noason innocent people for sustenance I hated being dependent on hih In fact, I was pretty sure that
I stood and sry”
“You’ll get there, Nat You’ll learn to cope”
I didn’t believe him “Feed me”
He shook his head in frustration Then he stood and motioned to the“Ladies first”
“Hang on” I scribbled a note to Mohborhoods over to visit
“Will that work?” Matt asked
“No” I texted ht on the alibi “She doesn’t let us leave the house on New Year’s Eve Too many drunk drivers This won’t keepthe police”
Ten minutes later, Matt pulled off the road and onto a dirt path About twenty feet in, he stopped and killed the motor I climbed out of the car and started down the faht up with me, and took my hand in his
I jerked reflexively at the unexpected contact Glancing over at hih the darkness
“You’re not alone,” he said, keeping his hold on me
It wasn’t exactly a declaration of his undying love forhis hand htheaded
We didn’t talk anyot to our spot, I sat down on a log, and he let go of e in the brush for the rest of our dinner He pulled out a backpack
“How ?”
“Not as much as you probably want” He pulled out a tiara that read “Happy New Year”
He held it up for my approval
I laughed
“May I?” He asked gesturing to my head
With a nod, I consented Matt stepped into my personal space as he placed it on my head He stood a few inches taller than me, and his hair was as dark as mine
Then he pulled out a large bottle and two plastic chaesture would have been perfect except that he’d refilled a 2-liter soft drink bottle with synthetic blood He handed lasses and poured the liquid Then he took one and held it up “To a wonderful New Year”
I clinked roaned inwardly as I realized I sounded like a dork
We each took a long sip of our drink Then he sat next toon the quiet lake
“How’d it go tonight?”
With a sigh, I said, “My ift cards She can’t figure out why I haven’t used them yet”
“You’re worried about going to the mall?”
“Yeah I h At least there I’ebra II But the mall You knohat they have at the mall?”
“Lots and lots of clothes?”
“Lots of blood Hundreds of people filled with gallons and gallons of blood”
“Good point” He was quiet for a lass Then he said, “Why don’t you just order some stuff online?”
Huh “I didn’t think about that I usually need to try everything on”
“Order stuff that you knoill fit You don’t really want the clothes anyway, right? You just want youryou”
“True I could order shirts and tops and stuff” Socks, undies, a couple of nightgowns I thought ht colored sweaters Mo more than once, and I know she took n of depression “Thanks,” I told hi my problems”
“That’s lasses “Synthetic blood deliveryman, fashion consultant, parental advice provider…”
“Good friend,” I said I wanted more, but I couldn’t exactly say, “Slurpalicious hottie” I uts