Chapter 10
10
Esther
E sther’s thoughts pulled in a million directions. When she’d agreed to this “life-changing secret,” she hadn’t prepared herself for it to include a short-circuiting kiss. Ashley being a vampire—a vampire!—was more on-brand with what she saw coming. Definitely lived up to the hype, so bravo to Ashley on that front. But she hadn’t expected any life-altering reveals about herself .
“You really never thought about it before? How old are you?” Ashley’s question broke through the hurricane of thoughts flying through Esther’s mind.
“How old am I? I’m twenty-five. And you’re twenty, so really this is highly inappropriate.”
“That’s what you’re going with? My age is throwing you off? Because I’ll have you know that by romance standards our age gap is not even remarkable enough to warrant a trope tag.” Ashley looked skeptical, which was a reasonable reaction because Esther was not being reasonable. It wasn’t Ashley’s age that was a problem, though she had no idea what she meant by “a trope tag.”
The vampire reveal followed by that kiss had broken something loose in her head and she was still reeling trying to get her thoughts back on track.
Ashley had kissed her. She kissed Ashley.
The girl from class who was practically perfect in every way. With the cheerful smile and the strong arms. Who knew everyone’s name and everyone wanted to be around, and she had kissed Esther—of all the forgettable people in the world.
And also, Ashley was a vampire. How did that fit in with what she was feeling?
Ashley stood. “I’m pretty sure I know what the issue is here, and it’s not my age—which is not inappropriate by the way.”
“How old are you? Like really?”
Apparently, her mind was stuck on the age thing. It was the least of her problems, but that was what made the topic so appealing. It was safe. Talking kept Ashley here, and what she wanted most was for Ashley to stay where she was, framed by the lake, the moon making her blond hair glow. She was beautiful and powerful, and she’d kissed her.
But also, Esther knew nothing about her. “How long have you been twenty?”
Ashley scowled. “You can’t win me over with Twilight references.”
Esther made a note to watch this movie the second she got home. She scooted on the log and patted the spot next to her—hopeful. Ashley was making her hopeful. For what, Esther had no idea, but something in her said if Ashley just sat, they could talk this through and the world would stop spinning so fast. Ashley looked to the distant dock, as though debating leaving her here, but she sat down.
“So.” Esther took a second to collect her thoughts, snagging the first one she could put to words. “Vampires are old, right? The moon landing, Civil Rights Movement, the Civil War and the Revolutionary. Did you cross over from Europe, or were you born here?”
As she listed events, the anthropologist inside her took out a notebook and pen. A firsthand account of the big moments in history that were fading from living memory. This was the opportunity of a lifetime.
Ashley chuckled. “A ‘where are you really from’ question. As blond as I am, I haven’t experienced one of those before. Well, I was born in Iowa and grew up in the time when our solar system had nine planets and 150 Pokémon.”
“Pluto?” Esther did the math in her head, but Ashley cut her off.’
“I’m a nineties child. Born in ’88 and changed 2008.”
“So, wait.” Esther computed again. Her list of historic questions shrinking exponentially. “You’re thirty?”
“Okay, 32, and I don’t think I like the tone you just took.”
“You’re only seven years older than me.”
Ashley shrugged. “I could tell you where I was during 9/11.”
She wasn’t ancient at all. Vampires were still made in the twenty-first century? Strange this was her first thought when she’d only just discovered vampires were real. As though Esther had thought herself an expert in vampire lore, and Ashley was crumbling all her assumptions.
“And you thought I was too young for you.” Ashley smirked. “Like I said, if this was a romance novel, we wouldn’t even qualify as an age gap.”
“So that’s how Twilight and Pluto and…” Esther’s words faded as she fit the pieces together.
“ Holes !” Esther jumped at Ashley’s outburst. “They quote that poem in the movie. With Shia LaBeouf. Did you ever watch that one? I loved the book and the movie. I basically had it memorized.”
Esther shook her head, barely listening. This was a lot. All of it. Vampires were real.
And also, Ashley had kissed her, and…maybe Esther liked it?
Did that make her a lesbian? She pulled up childhood celebrity crushes. Legolas, Rick O’Connell, Ryan Gosling, several interchangeable abs from the Avengers franchise probably named Chris. Yup, those still did it for her. Maybe she needed to call Uther and talk this through. But that thought scared her too. Since when had her casual study buddy and check-in-to-make-sure-she-wasn’t-murdered friend become the first person she wanted to talk to when an identity crisis popped up?
“Hey.”
Ashley placed a hand on Esther’s shoulder, and Esther’s attention snapped back to her. Phantom sparks traveled down her jaw where Ashley had touched her. Would she kiss her again? Esther’s heart beat at her chest, and her entire being channeled a forward motion. She was the sea and Ashley the moon.
“I’m sorry about how forward I was just now. I guess I was reading into something that wasn’t there. But don’t worry.” She hopped up from the log, jostling Esther from her trance. “I promise not to do that again.” She reached a hand down to Esther. “In fact, I was hoping we could start over. I’d like to be friends. Unless you’re uncomfortable, in which case it’s totally cool. I can back off. I just find you fascinating, and I think we could be good together. Even in a strictly platonic sense.”
Esther took her hand without thinking. But Ashley just pulled her up and let go, an impenetrable wall of a smile on her face.
“Okay. Friends.” Friends. Esther could be friends.
They started toward Esther’s house—the streets empty at this time of night—and the whole time, a gnawing feeling in the pit of Esther’s stomach told her she’d missed an opportunity she’d soon regret.