Chapter 11 #3
“So it’s not a written exam? How do I pass?” I knew they raided a club last time, but I didn’t know how they were scored. How many vamps they killed? I chuckled at the thought.
“You have to kill two vampires to pass.”
My eyes bugged.
Technically, Asher already did that on our wild night running for our lives.
“In the presence of an academy professor and a licensed hunter,” she added. “ And you can’t use wafers.”
Damn. There went my chances. I realized then that Asher really had sacrificed his test to come after me.
He killed the vampire chasing me through the club, but then he left the test to check on me before he could record his second official kill.
That had happened in an alley away from the eyes of his professors.
And then he’d taken wafers. We both had. So all bets were off.
“Listen, Stella.” Celia placed a hand on each of my shoulders. “I know you’re new, but I’ve seen you in a few hairy situations already, and your instincts are gold. That can’t be taught. I have faith you can do this with a little training.”
I swallowed hard and nodded. “Okay. One month.”
Sure, why not? Throw me to the bloodsuckers in thirty days.
After that, Celia said goodbye to Harper and left. I walked through the bathroom to the girls’ room next door, knocking on the frame.
“Come in, Stella. You don’t need to knock,” Harper told me.
Luna walked over to me, a slight frown on her lips. “I’m sorry.”
“What, why?” I was confused. Her mom was gone, and it was just us girls.
“I saw you talking to Asher, and then Daphne walked up and… I think they’re back together,” she hedged.
“Oh, right.” That. “It’s fine. She seems nice.”
“She’s cool…yeah,” Harper said, but there was something in her voice.
“But?” I asked.
Luna and Harper shared a look.
“But they’ve been off and on for years . It’s getting old. I thought this time was real,” Luna stated.
Years! That was a lifetime at our age.
Harper nodded. “Unhealthy at this point. Just move on already.”
“But they can’t. They trauma bonded,” Luna added.
“Wait, what? Trauma bonded over what?” I was trying to keep up.
Luna frowned. “Asher’s and Daphne’s parents both died in the New York massacre. I heard Daphne saw him at the memorial yesterday in the city. They probably made up there.”
My stomach dropped. When Asher was bringing flowers to his parents, Daphne was too? It was almost romantic.
I hated it.
“She lost her parents too?”
They both nodded. “After the attack, Asher and Daphne were both in a counseling class the school made them take, like group therapy. I think they got close there.”
My heart twisted. “Well damn.” They sounded like they were meant to be. And I needed to stop envisioning myself with a guy who was taken.
“There are a lot of hot guys here,” I said, and both Luna and Harper perked up at that.
“Now we’re talking. Let’s make a crush list.” Harper rushed to her desk and grabbed a piece of paper and pen.
“Crush list? What are we, thirteen?” Luna asked.
“Kiss, marry, kill. Come on,” Harper begged her.
I smiled, sitting on Harper’s bed as I witnessed a genuine, healthy, innocent friendship.
No stealing each other’s things and fighting about it, no sneaking out in the middle of the night or cutting each other down with ugly remarks.
All the things in the group home I’d been exposed to.
I felt like I was in a movie, and at any minute, the credits were going to roll.
“Kiss…Professor Marcus,” Luna said and her face went bloodred.
“ What? ” Harper shrieked.
“What? He’s only twenty-three. It’s not crazy.”
“Oh, you’ll never live this down,” Harper promised.
“Marry Byron, of course,” Luna said.
“Of course.” Harper wrote it down.
Luna then said she wanted to kill some guy named Jansen Reeves.
“Okay, Stella. Kiss, marry, kill?” Harper asked me.
I sighed. Kiss Asher, marry Asher, kill Asher for having a girlfriend?
“Hmm, I don’t know anyone’s name yet. Can I take a rain check until next week?” I asked.
“Okay, so kiss Asher Voss. Got it.” She wrote that down.
“No!” I shrieked and tackled her, trying to rip the pen out of her hand. We were both laughing as Luna chanted “Fight, fight, fight.”
Then it came, like a thief of joy just waiting to intrude.
The feeling of unworthiness. Like I didn’t deserve this and they were going to stop being my friend and leave because everyone always leaves.
I rolled off Harper and stood. “Oh man, I’m tired. I’m going to lie down until dinner.”
Harper frowned. “Okay. Are you sure you’re okay? I’ll totally cross that out about Asher. I was just messing around.”
I smiled what I hoped was a genuine smile, embarrassed they knew something was up with me. I hated that they seemed so normal and I had issues.
“Totally. Just haven’t slept much in the past few days.”
“Okay, rest up!” Luna chimed in as I retreated to my solo room, closing both bathroom doors between us.
When I saw the pretty blue bedspread that Celia had gotten me, I felt even more like I didn’t deserve this. They didn’t even know me. Everyone was being so nice and welcoming, and I was grateful, but when they got to know me, they’d probably drift away.
There was no instruction manual for this part of life.