Bloody Little Secrets

by Karly Kirkpatrick

  Chapter 10

  I caught sight of Drake in the hallway the next morning and I couldn’t tear my eyes away. I sighed. His face was gorgeous, his dark hair hanging over his eyes, and his blue eyes burning bright. Is it possible he looked more handsome this morning?

  “Good morning, sunshine,” Drake said. He walked up, sliding his arm around my shoulders. His smile nearly blinded me. The other girls nearby turned to look at the both of us and whispered to each other.

  “How are you feeling today?” I glanced up at him.

  “Like a million bucks! So, the bad news is, I’ve got to work tonight. But if you want to come in at the end of my shift, we could have some pizza and start making our little list.” He wiggled his eyebrows up and down.

  “Ew, don’t do that!” I laughed, slapping him in the stomach. He gasped and doubled over.

  “God, you hit hard.” He gasped for air.

  “Sorry, I forgot.” I giggled.

  “Number one on the list…super strength.” He rubbed his stomach.

  We headed down the hall to Mrs. Evon’s English class. I’d managed to read the required chapters of Dracula the night before, which I rather enjoyed while sipping a few bags of blood. If only Mrs. Evon knew. I almost chuckled to myself just thinking about it.

  I joined Drake at his lunch table after sneaking out for a quick snack in my car. I made sure to keep an eye out today and was happily unmolested by the parking lot monitor.

  “How’s the iron stomach holding up today?” Monty asked as I sat down at the table next to Drake. Drake’s arm slid around my waist. Lauryn’s and Callie’s eyes registered it and they glanced at each other.

  “Just fine!” I replied with a smile. “How about yours?”

  “Oh, it’s all good. I’m totally ready for a rematch whenever you want.” He patted his stomach.

  “A rematch? Sure, why not. But you’ll have to wait until next month. I don’t want to start putting on the pounds just to beat you at downing the Kitchen Sink.” I laughed and patted my own stomach. I winked at Drake.

  “So, what are you guys up to this weekend? Did you hear Morgan is having a big party?” Ernie asked, arriving to the table with a heaping tray. Callie, Monty, Drake, and Lauryn each fished something off of it. Drake offered her half of a snack cake.

  “No, I’m good.” I waved it away. “Still full from yesterday. So what, Ernie buys everything and you guys eat it all?”

  “Naw, we take turns. Then we don’t all have to wait forever in the lunch line. We like to think we’re being efficient.” Drake took a bite of his snack cake. “It’s my turn on Monday.”

  My own stomach flipped a little. Stupid food. I never actually had to use the bathroom unless I ate or drank human food.

  “I’ll be right back,” I said, excusing myself and rising from the table.

  “Are you going to the bathroom?” Callie asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay, we’ll go with you.” She grabbed Lauryn’s arm and jumped up from her seat.

  “Sure.” I added a smile on top of it, but unsure of why they were so eager to join me.

  I wove through the tables, listening to them talk about Morgan’s party.

  “Hey, Vicky, you’re coming to the party, right?” Lauryn asked.

  “Um, I don’t know. I don’t really know Morgan.” I did kinda know her. She was the one that had sent Drake the note. I’m sure she’d be thrilled if Drake came to the party. Me, not-so-much.

  “It doesn’t matter, everybody goes, invited or not,” Callie said.

  We walked into the bathroom and met at the sinks a few moments later.

  “Wait, Vicky, we have to ask you something.” She chewed on her bottom lip. Her eyes darted towards Callie.

  “What’s up?” I tried to read their faces.

  “What’s going on with you and Drake?” Callie asked.

  “Oh, uh, I don’t know.” My mind raced. At least I didn’t have to try and explain last night to them. They couldn’t have seen anything that had happened in the minivan, could they?

  “Well, it seems like he really likes you,” Lauryn said, the words rushing out of her mouth. “He won’t tell us anything.”

  “Look, the reason we ask is that the last girl he dated, ahem, the whore, totally ruined him.” Callie twisted her hands. “I don’t think we could stand to see him so upset again.”

  “Yeah, after her, the stupid skank, he was in a funk for months. Until you showed up last week. Now he’s like himself again,” Lauryn said.

  “No, I really, really like him. And I would never do anything to hurt him.” Maybe just suck his blood, but at least we both seemed to enjoy that. I tried to force the thought out of my mind. This was not a time to get distracted.

  “So what did the stupid skank whore, if that’s her real name, do to him?” I moved aside as a group of girls entered the bathroom.

  “He didn’t tell you about her?” Lauryn asked, looking at Callie. Callie nodded.

  “Nope. Not a word.” I wondered why he hadn’t told me, but then again, I could understand why someone might not want to talk about the past. Every time I was forced to think about or talk about my past, it was like ripping open fresh wounds. As much as my blood was able to heal my body and fuse my skin back together, it could do absolutely nothing for my soul.

  “Her name is Allison,” Lauryn said.

  “Whore,” Callie added.

  “She and Drake were together for the last year. Until he found out that she’d cheated on him—”

  “And by cheating, we mean she slept with four other guys,” Callie said.

  “Yeah, with four guys. Can you believe it?” Lauryn shook her head. “Yuck.”

  “He found out about it in August, right before school started. Since then he hasn’t gone out or done anything. Just school and work and that’s it. We were so shocked that he wanted to go out for ice cream the other night. It had been such a long time, we’d almost given up on him.” Callie nodded at Lauryn, who nodded back.

  “Wow. Does this girl still go here?” I inspected the females around me. Could one of them be the one who caused him so much pain?

  “Yeah, she does, but she keeps her distance. To make matters worse, she acts like he doesn’t even exist. I think that’s why Drake doesn’t want to go out. He hasn’t wanted to run into her anywhere whoring it up with her new boy toys.” Callie walked out of the bathroom. I guessed the conversation was over.

  “Thanks for letting me know.” I walked along side them through the lunchroom.

  “Just don’t say anything to him about it,” Lauryn said. “We don’t want him to know we told you, but we just wanted to make sure you were in it for the right reasons, or we’d have to chase you off.” She chuckled, but I didn’t take it for humor. These girls were serious. And protective. And it was much better to have them on my side, that’s for sure. Good thing I had no intentions of leaving Drake.

  As for this Allison super skank whore, she better hope I never run into her in a dark alley. It might just be her last day on this planet.