Fangs (Young Dracula)

Chapter Three

Days past by, and I became better and better at hiding my true identity and pretending to be a normal human. Slowly but surely, the days grew into weeks and soon a whole fortnight had past. It was only a couple of days until my sixteenth birthday, and some aspects of myself had begun to change, getting ready for the transformation, I supposed. My eyesight and hearing had improved drastically, and my speed and strength soon became legendary around the school.

The boy from before - Vlad - seemed to be everywhere! I had hardly noticed him before, but now it was as if he was determined for me to acknowledge his existence every minute of my waking life. At least, that was what it felt like.

"Lauren?" Ruby's voice cut through my thoughts, bringing me back to reality. We were queuing up outside the Chemistry classroom once again, for the third lesson this term. "Come on," she said. "We can go in now."

Everybody filed inside the classroom and stood behind their desks.

"Good morning class," the teacher said as we waited, most people patient, some not so much. She called out the names of everybody in the class as she took the register. When she had finished, she looked up at us from behind her tiny glasses.

"Today we are going to be doing a practical, and I will be putting you into new pairs," she explained as everybody took their books and pencil cases out of their bag. This was met with a mixed reaction - some people loved doing experiments, and others, like me, not so much. I wondered who I would be paired with. Probably Ruby, as I was nearly always with her.

She went down the list of names, calling out two names each time. It seemed like she was doing it at random, so I decided that I would probably be put with someone I barely knew. Great. More awkward situations to deal with. I had had enough of them already, what with being the new girl.

"Georgia and Leo," the teacher read out, and a red-haired girl with freckles splashed across her nose and a short boy with dark hair went and sat next to each other at one of the benches. She went through a couple more people before she called out, "Vlad and Lauren."

Oh no. It's not enough him staring at me from across the halfway half the time. Now I have to actually talk to him? Ruby grinned at me as I made my way over to the desk and I rolled my eyes at her and then turned my back and ignored her.

"Hi," I said shyly as I sat down next to him. What was wrong with me? I was a werewolf! Werewolves didn't do shy!

"Hi," he replied, giving me a sideways glance. There was uncomfortable silence, which was broken by the teacher giving out instructions for the experiment we were going to be doing.

"Today we are going to be doing an experiment on reduction and oxidation. You will need a piece of copper, tongs, a heatproof mat and, of course, a Bunsen burner." She smiled around the classroom as pupils began hurrying to get the best equipment before it had all been taken. My blood ran cold at the last few words. A Bunsen burner. Werewolves were deathly afraid of fire - it was one of our greatest enemies.

I must have looked frightened, as Vlad gave me a worried look. "Are you alright?" he asked me.

"Um, yeah, yeah, I'm fine," I replied quickly. Too quickly. I could see from his face that he didn't believe me, but he let it slide. "I'll get the copper and the tongs."

"Okay," he agreed.

I used the few precious seconds I had while I collected my pieces of equipment to take a couple of deep breaths and clear my head. I needed to keep it together. The reason he was paying such close attention to me might be because he had noticed something strange about me, and if I freaked out now, he might become even more suspicious. Anyway, I was sure that lots of people were cautious around fire - I could just ask if he could light the Bunsen burner.