Beechwood Academy

chaptee five

The next day, Sammy waited until Daisy was within his reach to grab her arm and pull her behind a column right outside of the economics class that she had just exited. He wasn't really worried about other students seeing them together but there was one person he was hiding from and that was enough to keep Sammy on high alert when he was with Daisy. The girl cried out in surprise but once she saw who had grabbed her she let out a sigh of relief, slapping Sammy's arm.

"There are simpler ways to get my attention." Daisy mumbled, furrowing her eyes at Sammy's expression. "What's the matter?"

"You know. . .about me?" Sammy asked, his eyes scanning hers with a helpless hope that she didn't know anything. The butterflies in his stomach felt like they were clawing at his immobile heart, trying to get him to feel anything other than fear.

"I've gone to this school for a long time. I'm an outcast without a single friend. I see things and you don't hide it well, not to mention Jared can't keep a secret." Daisy shrugged. She looked at the boy in front of her, he was taller than her — as he was to many others — and his eyes told her everything he couldn't say aloud. "I'm not going to say anything, but I do have a question."

"Yeah. . . alright," Sammy nodded for her to continue. Everyone at Beechwood was friends with Jared King so the fact that she brought him up wasn't a huge shock to Sammy, he let the thought slip from his mind. He peaked around the column just to make sure nobody was listening before meeting Daisy's eyes once again.

"Who did this to you? How long have you been like this?" Daisy didn't hesitate nor did she regret what she asked after seeing Sammy's reaction. Her curiosity was nothing to be ashamed of.

"I'm eighteen but forever sixteen." Sammy shrugged, hoping she'd forgotten the first question. Daisy raised her eyebrow expectantly and Sammy sighed. "I can't tell you who did it."

"And why not?" The girl asked, furrowing her eyes.

"Because she'd kill you, and Duncan, and Rudy. She's made that very clear and I'm not willing to risk it." Sammy peaked around the column again.

"She's here, at Beechwood?" Daisy asked, joining Sammy into looking around the corridors. Sammy pushed her back and cleared his throat, not answering the girl. "Student or teacher?" Daisy pried, Sammy stayed silent. Suddenly, a body turned towards the column, startling Sammy so badly his heart nearly began to beat. Susie looked back and forth between Sammy and Daisy before smiling.

"Rudy was worried about you. He said you didn't show up to drama and wanted me to come find you while he got an early dinner." Susie stated, still shifting her gaze back and forth between the two in front of her.

"I spent that period with Duncan, he's still shaken up so I wanted to make sure he was alright. I'll find Rudy later." Sammy shrugged, watching Susie and not daring to look at Daisy.

"Ah, well tell Duncan that he's going to have a main role in this year's play." Susie said and Sammy nodded. She turned to leave and Sammy turned to Daisy but the brunette was gone.

* * *

Sammy slipped into his dorm only an hour later to find Duncan sleeping soundly for the first time since he'd arrived at Beechwood. Usually when the boy slept he'd be restless, kicking, mumbling, groaning, screaming even, but now he lay on his stomach with his right arm hanging over the bed. Even his face looked peaceful right then. Sammy dropped off the assignments Duncan had missed that day on Duncan's desk and exited the room, not wanting to disturb his roommate. He made his way towards the drama room ignoring each and every student he passed. He pushed open the door to Miss Drake's office and stepped inside, finding the pristine woman sitting at her desk that was covered in casting papers for this years play. When she saw Sammy she smiled.

"Mister Frost! We missed you in class today," she exclaimed standing from her seat and crossing the room to where Sammy stood. Her heals made the most obnoxious clicking sound as she did so.

"I didn't miss anything did I?" Sammy asked, avoiding the woman's eyes.

"We've decided to do Dracula for this years play, and you'll be Dracula," Miss Drake examined Sammy up and down, watching his body tense at her closeness before she leaned down to meet his eyes. She was one of the few people at Beechwood that was taller than Sammy and that made her even more intimidating. "You weren't in my office yesterday, were you?"

"No, I was in the drama room." Sammy swallowed hard and cleared his throat. "Why?"

"Someone made a mess of one of the blood bags I had reserved for you. I was hoping you were just hungry so I wouldn't have to find who did it." Her eyes narrowed as if she was trying to make out what Sammy was thinking.

"Oh. Yeah, sorry, that was me. I was craving a smoothie and when I pulled open the drawer it went everywhere." Sammy said frantically waving his hands for emphasis. He swallowed again and smiled innocently before adding, "Sorry."

"Ask me next time," Miss Drake said flatly, returning to her desk. She pulled open her bottom drawer and slid out a bag of crimson liquid, walking it over to Sammy. He took it, nodded at her as thanks and exited the room as quickly as possibly with the blood bag hidden in his coat. Before he could even climb the stairs a hand wrapped around his shirt and pulled him backwards, causing him to slam against the wall and face his attacker.

"Miss Drake?" Daisy practically screamed.

"Shh! You're going to get yourself killed!" Sammy whispered to the brunette, pulling out of her grasp and making his way back to the staircase he'd been rudely pulled away from. Daisy followed him, whispering questions and accusations and anything else she could think of as Sammy tried his best to zone out and leave the annoying girl behind him but she was surprisingly fast for someone with such short legs.

"Is the blood human or animal?" She asked, examining the bag of crimson that Sammy let her examine in a failed attempt to keep her quiet.

"I don't know," Sammy mumbled.

"How do you hide it from Duncan?"

"He respects privacy."

"How many bags do you drink a day?"

"None! Please, Daisy, leave me with some peace and quiet!" Sammy snatched the bag of blood from her hands and slid into his dorm room, slamming the door in the girl's face before she could follow him inside. When he turned around, Duncan was looking at him from where he was seated at his desk with one eyebrow raised.

"Ladies can't get enough of me." Sammy smirked, hiding the blood bag behind his back. Duncan rolled his eyes and returned to his schoolwork.