Valentine's Day Sucks (A Young Adult Romance Novella)

by Juli Alexander



  Valentine’s Day Sucks

  (A Young Adult Romance Novella)

  by Juli Alexander

  Copyright 2012 by Juli Alexander

  All the characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living, or dead is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of the book may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in encouraging piracy of copyrighted materials in violation with the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  Author’s Note:

  Thank you for downloading this short novella. As noted in the retail description, this novella is approximately 62 pages long or 16,000 words. Keep reading at the end for a sample of Stirring Up Trouble, a novel currently available at all major retailers.

  Chapter One

  At times like this, I was grateful that I hadn’t sprouted fangs. My parents would have freaked! Things were bad enough around here with my mother angry about staying home for New Year’s Eve.

  “You haven’t used your gift cards from Christmas, yet,” Mom said, handing me another china plate to dry. “I’ve never known you to hold off on shopping for six whole days.”

  “I don’t know what I want,” I said as I carefully stacked the plate on the table. I knew exactly what I wanted, of course. Blood, blood, and more blood. I’d thought of nothing else in the months since I’d turned.

  I almost smiled as I imagined 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 mother said giving gift cards robbed her of the joy of shopping. She agreed to give them to me only after giving me guidelines on my shopping choices. I didn’t have the luxury of worrying about little, insignificant things like whether my wardrobe was too grungy 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 mall with a joyous expression. The holidays had not gone well for me. Today had been one more insufferably long day. My mother was losing patience 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 prompt me to lose control of myself and my disconcerting appetites.

  “Your father better plan an amazing Valentine’s Day. We’ve always gone 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 clamor of excited voices from the media room gave me an idea. “Should I take Dad and Uncle Jerry some more beer?”

  “Go,” Mom said without looking 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 Mom wanted her champagne and dancing. I ran to the fridge, grabbed two bottles, and left the kitchen. It wasn’t convenient for me either. I’d suffered through days of holiday activities and family traditions. Tonight should have meant freedom for me. My parents should have been out celebrating. And, did I mention that all I could think about was blood?

  In the media room, I stepped over my two younger brothers who were lying on the floor to watch the game. Dad, Uncle Jerry, and my oldest brother, Travis, had hogged the media chairs. I set a beer by each of the adults, glared when sixteen-year-old Travis tried to snake Jerry’s half-empty old one, and left the guys to their football.

  Once upstairs in my room, I relaxed. I felt in control when I was in my room. Everywhere else, I struggled 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 my personality. I glanced over to see that the drawers of my dresser were all firmly closed. I had purposely left the middle left drawer slightly open, and yes, I did all my own laundry. So the parents had taken time out from our family weekend to search my bedroom. Again.

  Mom and Dad had decided their fifteen-year-old daughter was on drugs. How else could they explain the way I’d started keeping my distance from my family? It would never occur to them that I was staying 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 paranoia made it difficult for me to feed. I couldn’t keep anything in my room, my purse, my backpack. If I could just chew the anti-craving gum or suck on the lozenges that the other vampires used, I wouldn’t be in agony listening to the beating hearts of my family as the blood pumped through their veins. I could deal. I could be around them. Unfortunately, their determination to attribute my weirdness to drugs meant that I couldn’t use the tools to minimize my weirdness.

  The soft knock on my window could not have come at a better time. I jumped up, parted the curtains, and opened the window for Matt.

  “Thanks for remembering to knock,” I said. I didn’t like when he just barged in. Last night, he’d come in ten seconds after I’d changed into my nightgown.

  Matt handed me a water bottle. “You were pretty clear that my life was in danger if I forgot.”

  I didn’t bother to answer. I just unscrewed the cap and chugged the synthetic blood in a few seconds. I handed him the empty bottle. “Is that all you brought?”

  “I didn’t think you would have room for more. Didn’t you eat a massive dinner?” Each word sounded delicious with his Georgia 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 rumbling cadence could make my heart beat faster.

  “Waste of space,” I grumbled, struggling 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’d made a habit of spending time down by the lake. Sneaking out 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 human blood. Matt had given her dinner but failed to watch her drink it.

  “I’ve been bitten by preschoolers before, but that was my first fifth-grader.” 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 convince me. Out of guilt. He was also trying to justify to himself that he had not told his parents. They didn’t know about the bite, and they didn’t know about me. “You’re boring me,” I said, desperate to make him stop.

  Matt smiled. “I’m boring you.”

  “Yes,” I said. “Get interesting or get out.” I couldn’t manage the last without a grin.

  “Well, aren’t you Miss Hoity Toity vampire.”

  “You
swore you would fulfill my every need.”

  He nodded. “I did. I remember promising you would never do without. Of course, I meant food. And guidance. Your entertainment requirements never entered my mind.”

  Matt was a junior and didn’t exactly run in my circles. Before I’d turned, I didn’t know him as anything other than Ashley’s big brother, who was very cute but way out of my league. Now he was my best friend, and my only way to avoid munching on innocent people for sustenance. I hated being dependent on him, on anyone. I loved having his attention, though. In fact, I was pretty sure that my crush on him was ninety-percent of what kept me going.

  I stood and smoothed my t-shirt. “Let’s go ahead and go. I’m hungry.”

  “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 window. “Ladies first.”

  “Hang on.” I scribbled a note to Mom and left it on my pillow. I told her I had walked two neighborhoods over to visit my friend who was babysitting.

  “Will that work?” Matt asked.

  “No.” I texted my friend and got a green light on the alibi. “She doesn’t let us leave the house on New Year’s Eve. Too many drunk drivers. This won’t keep me out of trouble. It will just keep her from calling the 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 familiar trail toward the lake. Matt caught up with me, and took my hand in his.

  I jerked reflexively at the unexpected contact. Glancing over at him, I shot him a questioning look through the darkness.

  “You’re not alone,” he said, keeping his hold on me.

  It wasn’t exactly a declaration of his undying love for me, but he did care about me. And holding his hand made me feel safe and a little lightheaded.

  We didn’t talk anymore as we climbed down to the lake. When we got to our spot, I sat down on a log, and he let go of my hand to rummage in the brush for the rest of our dinner. He pulled out a backpack.

  “How much did you bring?”

  “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 champagne glasses. The whole gesture would have been perfect except that he’d refilled a 2-liter soft drink bottle with synthetic blood. He handed me the glasses and poured the liquid. Then he took one and held it up. “To a wonderful New Year.”

  I clinked my glass against his. “To the future.” I groaned inwardly as I realized I sounded like a dork.

  We each took a long sip of our drink. Then he sat next to me as I watched the moonlight dancing on the quiet lake.

  “How’d it go tonight?”

  With a sigh, I said, “My mother is getting suspicious about my gift cards. She can’t figure out why I haven’t used them yet.”

  “You’re worried about going to the mall?”

  “Yeah. I mean, school is hard enough. At least there I’m distracted by trying to keep up with chemistry and algebra II. But the mall. You know what 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 minute, sipping from his glass. 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 know will fit. You don’t really want the clothes anyway, right? You just want your mother to quit pestering you.”

  “True. I could order shirts and tops and stuff.” Socks, undies, a couple of nightgowns. I thought my mother might like it if I ordered a few bright colored sweaters. Mom had mentioned counseling more than once, and I know she took my recent behavior as a possible sign of depression. “Thanks,” I told him. “You’re getting good at solving my problems.”

  “That’s me,” he said, lifting the bottle to refill our glasses. “Synthetic blood deliveryman, fashion consultant, parental advice provider…”

  “Good friend,” I said. I wanted more, but I couldn’t exactly say, “Slurpalicious hottie.” I mean, I didn’t have the guts.

  “To good friends,” he said. He raised his glass but didn’t wait to complete the toast. Instead, he downed his in one gulp.

  The cold was creeping out of the log and up through my jeans into my buttocks. “I need to move around a little.” I stood up and did some marching in place.

  Matt rose. “Should we go? I didn’t think to bring a blanket.”

  “No. I don’t want to go. Let me just get the blood flowing again.”

  “Don’t tempt me,” he said, attempting to look intense and frightening but failing miserably.

  I laughed and stopped marching. “Are you going to bite me?”

  He stepped closer to me. Then he licked his lips and moved close enough that I could feel his breath on my neck. “I might,” he whispered.

  For a minute, I thought I would be okay with him biting me. In fact, I wouldn’t have minded nibbling on his ear.

  “Are you afraid?” he asked softly.

  I didn’t move except to breathe.

  Then he scared the crap out of me by yelling “Roar!” in my ear.

  I would have fallen over if he hadn’t grabbed me.

  “You idiot!” I hit him as best I could. “I think you popped my eardrum.”

  “Did I scare you?”

  “No! You hurt my ear!”

  He pinned my arms at my sides to keep me from further battering him.

  “Sorry,” he said. “It was getting too intense, and I deflect with humor when I’m nervous.”

  “You do?” He had never shared anything so personal.

  “Lame, huh?”

  His eyes were mere inches from mine. “Not lame.”

  “Do you promise to stop hitting me?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I said.

  When he removed his arms, I realized I should have said, “No. “

  “It’s New Year’s Eve,” he said.

  I thought we’d already covered the subject. “I’m pretty clear on the date,” I said. Then I messed with my tiara to make sure it was straight. “Thanks for making it a party.”

  “I usually sit up with my parents and watch the ball drop.”

  “Sounds fun.”

  “I like this better.” He motioned to the lake and the moon. Then he pulled out his phone which was vibrating. “It’s almost midnight.”

  “Oh no. We should go!”

  “Not yet. We have to do the countdown.”

  He held his phone up for me to see.

  “Ten,” he said.

  “Nine,” I said with him. Weren’t we supposed to kiss at midnight? Is that what he had in mind? I was pretty sure everybody kissed somebody at midnight.

  “Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one,” we said in unison.

  “Happy New Year,” Matt said and hugged me.

  A hug was better than nothing. “Happy New Year,” I said, awkwardly hugging him back.

  “I have a great feeling about this year.”

  I had a pretty good feeling about the hug, but I didn’t say so.

  “Ready to go?” He leaned down and collected our things.

  With a sigh, I admitted, “I should probably get home.”

  He held out the soft drink bottle. “Still hungry?”

  “Always!” I said, and reached for the bottle.

  “You can have the rest.”

  �
�Are you sure?”

  “Go for it.”

  I unscrewed the cap and took a big swig. When I glanced over at Matt, he was smiling at me.

  “What?” I said.

  “Nothing,” he said, but he kept grinning.

  Chapter Two

  When I climbed back in my window, I saw the note on my pillow. Mom had written a message on the reverse side. “You are grounded forever, missy!” When she called me missy, I was in trouble.

  I crumpled the paper into a ball and tossed it on the floor. I crawled into bed, and pulled the covers over my head. Great way to start the New Year.

  Somewhere amid the tossing and turning, I heard the beep of my cell receiving a text.

  I dug around the covers to find my cell and saw that it was from Matt. It said one thing, “Call.”

  My first middle-of-the-night text from a guy. I called.

  “Are you up?”

  “Now I am. I’m grounded forever by the way. What’s up?”

  “Tomorrow night. Well, tonight. At dinner. My parents want to meet you.”

  I was suddenly wide awake. “You told your parents about me.”

  “Not exactly. My little sister did.”

  “Why would she do that? Why would she tell? What did your parents say?”

  “It’s fine, Natalie. Really.”

  My lungs weren’t functioning right. I struggled to breathe. “How could it be fine!” I gasped. “You’ve been lying to them for months!”

  “They busted me for sneaking out. My sister heard the arguing, and she tried to save me from being punished.” He sighed. “I guess Ashley’s been feeling pretty miserable about the whole situation for months now.”

  I couldn’t summon any pity for her.

  “She told them. Are you in trouble for lying? Is she in trouble for…”

  Ruining my life.

  “I expect them to hand down a pretty harsh sentence for Ashley. As for me, we didn’t get into that yet. My mom and dad were more concerned with you.”

  I did not like the sound of that. “Me?” Fear gripped my chest. “What are they going to do to me?”

  “They are going to protect you, Natalie. We’ll talk about this tonight.”

  I wasn’t so sure. Why all the secrecy if they were going to be fine with me being a vampire? “I can’t go to dinner, Matt. I’m grounded.”