by Logan Byrne
My father walked inside wearing his uniform. It was olive green with insignia showing he was of a higher rank. He hugged me and gave me a kiss on my forehead as he proceeded to kiss my mother.
“James is coming tomorrow night for dinner,” my mother said to him.
“Well, that’s great. What are we going to have?” he asked.
“Do you know what he likes, dear?” my mother asked.
I started to panic. I had to think of something fast as their eyes focused on me waiting for an answer.
“Well, nothing too big. He is on the wrestling team and trying to make weight so he is on a diet,” I said, running out of breath.
I couldn’t believe I just said that to them. It was almost as if some emergency system came on in my brain and blurted out this random excuse. I was still trying to backtrack after I said it to make sure I even remembered it.
“He is on the wrestling team?” my father asked.
“Oh, yeah, he is pretty good too. Didn’t I tell you two before?” I asked, trying to confuse them.
“No, I don’t believe so,” my father said with a confused look on his face.
“Oh, well he is. He needs to make weight this weekend so he has been trying to drop a few pounds. So we should probably make it a lighter dinner. I don’t want to make him jealous with us eating a bunch of food.”
“We can do that,” my father said. “I love a sports man. I’ll have to ask him about his season when he comes over.”
“Oh, yeah, I’m sure he will love that,” I said half sarcastically and half nervously.
I noticed that my lies often times got me further into trouble. I just hoped James wouldn’t hate me for telling my father that he was some great wrestler. I was just hoping he would be able to play along and answer my father’s questions.
I went upstairs to finish off my homework. I had this strong urge to do it all. I guess it had something to do with the fact I did so well in school earlier. I wanted to do well, and this was the first step.
I logged onto my computer to find some homework helping sites, and saw that Marcus was online again. His status was still away with the same message. He was never away, especially for this long. Was something wrong with him? Why would it still say this message after this long?
“Hello?” I typed to him hoping for a reply.
I waited for five minutes with no reply. His away message just popped up immediately after I sent my message, letting me know that he would see my message when he returned from being away. I started to get worried about him. I still wanted to keep my friendship with him and didn’t want him to change. He was great the way he was.
I moved forward with my homework help waiting for a reply. I kept the screen open in hopes of him messaging me back that everything was fine. I just wanted to hear it from him. I wanted to see that he was fine and that it was just some stupid away message.
I finished my homework an hour later with no reply still from Marcus. His away message sat there untouched. Not even so much as a single character was typed from his computer. I sighed and shut my computer. I guess I wasn’t going to be able to talk to him tonight.
I went downstairs to get a snack. I decided to skip dinner and just graze a little. Dinner didn’t sound too appetizing, and I didn’t want to talk to my parents and tell them some other farfetched story about James that wasn’t true in the slightest.
While I ate my crackers, I started thinking about my life with James. Maybe I wouldn’t have to run off anymore. Maybe my parents would like him and we could eventually get married and be okay. We could move away and not feel like we were running from our problems.
My father could walk me down the aisle and give me away to James. Doing this would symbolize my leaving the nest and starting a family of my own. I could kiss my parents goodbye and leave them on a good note. I knew I wouldn’t be able to see them again, though. I knew that I would have to look them in the eyes and say goodbye even though I was terrified deep down of losing them.
We had gotten close over the past week or two and I had dreamt of that my entire life. To leave right when we were getting close seemed like a knife to the back. I almost felt in a way that I was betraying them and their love for me.
I had to get over those thoughts, though, because I couldn’t hold back from James. I couldn’t be without him, and he couldn’t be without me. We were meant to be together and both of us knew it. Our souls were connected together and there was nothing that could break that bond.
I had to talk to James tomorrow about making the best impression he could. I had to have their blessing and leave them on good terms. I couldn’t hurt them.
I was more nervous when I woke up the next morning than I had been in a long time. Today could make or break the rest of my life. If my parents love James, then I will be okay when I leave them. If they can’t stand him or are suspicious of him, I would have to leave them on bad terms, which would destroy not only me but them also. That wasn’t something I was prepared to do.
I went to school with my palms sweating thinking of talking to James. We were going to have a very important conversation, and I was hoping that he could take it well.
I got to school and found him as usual by my locker.
“We need to talk,” I said.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing. I just need to talk to you about tonight.”
“Oh. I thought you were going to break up with me or something.”
“No! Never! I just accidentally told my parents you were on the wrestling team.”
“The wrestling team?” James asked, laughing.
“Yeah, I know it’s crazy. I panicked though when they asked why you couldn’t eat a lot and I told them you were on the team and were trying to lose weight for an upcoming match.”
“Well, I guess I will have to brush up on my wrestling terms then before tonight,” he said, laughing.
“I really want tonight to go well. It has to so I can feel okay when I leave them.”
“Leave them? What are you talking about?”
“Well, you said when you turn into a vampire you have to leave your family and friends. I want to change someday to be with you forever. When I leave them I want to make sure everything is on good terms,” I whispered to him.
“I’ll try to be the best I can,” he said while grabbing my hands.
“Why are you so amazing?” I asked him.
“Because you make me a better man,” he said, gazing into my eyes.
I grabbed his shirt and pulled him down to me to kiss him. I could feel his lip quiver as I caught him by surprise. I had finally caught him off guard.
“I should get to class,” I said to him with a pouty look on my face.
“I’ll be at your house at five tonight. I’ll try to learn some wrestling moves,” he said while lightly laughing.
“You better,” I said, laughing back.
I gave him a hug and started walking to class. I ran into Tawny on the way and we talked while walking to math.
“So, I see you and James are cozy again,” she said, smiling.
“Yeah, it’s going pretty good,” I said, trying to contain my excitement.
“You two are really great together. I bet you’ll end up getting married.”
“I sure do hope so.”
We walked into Mr. Oliveri’s class and took our seats. The class flew by quickly with no problems. We had a pop quiz that everybody groaned about, but I knew I aced it. The formulas were floating around my head as if I had mastered them completely. I knew I would get a great grade.
I impatiently rushed through the rest of the day. All I wanted to do was get home and get ready for James. I wanted him to be blown away when I came down those stairs. I wanted him to think I was the most beautiful girl in the world.
I got home to my mom starting to prepare dinner.
“You’re cooking already?” I asked her.
“Of course, dear. I want to make a nice big meal and I had to start
now to be done in time.”
“I told you not to make a lot of food. I don’t want to upset him.”
“I’m sorry, dear, I forgot.”
“Whatever,” I said as I stormed upstairs.
It made sense that this night was already ruined before it started. I went upstairs and started getting ready. I was determined to do my hair, makeup and nails to blow him away. I wanted to look like a person he had never seen before. I wanted to take his breath away.
As I was finishing getting ready, I could hear a knock at the door downstairs. I looked at the clock to see it was already five. I quickly finished my hair and went down the stairs to see James standing at the landing with my parents. He looked up at me coming down, and I could see the look in his eyes. He was smitten with me. I succeeded in taking his breath away.
“You look beautiful,” he said in awe.
“Thank you. You look handsome,” I said, trying to hold back my gigantic smile.
“James, this is my father Arnold and my mother Katherine.”
“Nice to meet you both,” he said as he went to shake their hands.
I panicked but looked to see he was wearing gloves. After shaking their hands, he casually took them off. He really had thought of everything to make this night go great.
“Juliet, I need a little help setting up. Could you please help me?” my mother asked.
I went in the kitchen and left James with my father in the living room. I could overhear them talking about wrestling and how the season was going. James didn’t avoid any questions asked and actually surprised me. He knew about wrestling and I could tell by the conversation that my father was falling in love with him as he vibrantly talked with James.
“Time for dinner,” I told them as I waited in the doorway.
My father and James both stood up, laughing, and walked to the kitchen. James smiled at me as he walked in. Nothing could ruin this night and this dinner. I knew everything was going to turn out all right.
We sat down to a ton of food on the table. I felt a little nervous, but James tapped his foot against mine and smiled. He could tell I was nervous and he was nonverbally telling me not to be.
We all put some food on our plates, but James had more meat than anything else.
“A man that loves his meat,” my father said. “You’re a man after my own heart,” he said, laughing.
James politely laughed as my mother started asking him questions.
“So James, do you live close by?” she asked.
“I live about a half hour away,” he replied.
“Oh my, that is far. Do you drive to school then?”
“Yes I do. It’s a long drive, but the education I receive is worth it.”
My parents looked at each in approval. They were impressed that such a well put-together boy was there and that I had landed somebody like him. I could tell they approved of the person he was. If only they really knew.
“How is your season going?” my mother asked.
“It’s going well. We are doing a great job. Everybody pitches in and does their very best. Hopefully we will make state this year and we can bring home the trophy.”
“Oh, I hope you do. We will have to come to one of your matches sometime.”
James and I both casually looked at each other with a look of caution. We didn’t want the conversation to progress any further in that direction. If they showed up to a match and asked where he was, we could be looking at doing a lot of damage control.
Dinner progressed without a hitch after that mishap. James ate some food, although not all of it. I could tell that it disgusted him to eat it all, but he did it for me. He wanted to blend in and not give any suspicion to anybody about who he was.
“Do you want any more, James?” my mother asked with a smile.
“Oh, no thank you, Mrs. LaVoe. I have to watch my weight,” he politely said.
“Such a dedicated boy,” my mother said as she started clearing the table.
“Come on, James, let’s let the women clean up while we go talk sports,” my father said as he motioned for James to follow him.
I winked at James and started to help my mother clean up the table.
“James sure is a nice boy,” my mother said as we were cleaning the dishes.
“Yeah, he’s great,” I replied with a smile.
“Do you see this going anywhere serious?” she asked.
“I’m not sure,” I replied nonchalantly.
In reality I was ready to marry James now. I would drop everything and marry that boy if he asked me. I was ready to devote my life to him and be the perfect wife I had always dreamt I could be. It was just a matter of time before I could make this dream happen.
After my mother and I were done washing dishes, we walked into the living room to join the boys. My father was laughing and having a great time talking to James. He had no inkling at all that a vampire was sitting in his living room. If only he realized they were normal people, maybe he wouldn’t try hunting and killing them.
We sat there laughing and talking about school and life before it started getting late.
“I should probably get going soon,” James said.
“Yeah, it’s getting late and you still have to drive home,” I replied.
“James, you are welcome here any time,” my father said with a huge grin on his face.
“Thank you, Mr. LaVoe, I had a great time.”
“Please, call me Arnold!” my father exclaimed with excitement.
James was like the son he never had, and he only knew him for a couple hours.
I got up to walk James to the door. He shook my parents’ hands as they stood with their arms around each other, smiling like he was the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Just as James was putting his jacket and gloves on, there was a knock on the front door.
“Who could that be at this hour?” asked my father.
I opened the door and was speechless. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I stood in complete shock as my parents nudged in to see who was at the door.
It was Marcus. He was at my front door and he was a different person. He was changed. He looked human.
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Book Two, Homecoming, is located here:
Homecoming Book Two
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
