The Warmest Heartbeat

1: Elise

I am sitting at my dining room table, slurping that ramen that comes in boxes.

It's a Tuesday evening, the last Tuesday before senior year starts up, and my parents are in Manhattan at some kind of rock concert.

My older brother Nick is at one of his new friend's houses for dinner, so I have our house to myself.

Well, that is, except for Richie, Nicky's calico who cares about food more than pretty much everything else.

"Richard, please," I say as the cat leaps onto my chair next to me. "I already fed you."

"Elise not feeding you enough, Richie?" a young woman's voice says behind me, and a tiny shriek slips out of me as I jump and turn around.

"You're so cute when you're scared," a girl my age with long brown hair and very pale skin stands inside my front door, her hazel eyes twinkling as she giggles softly.

She's wearing a long-sleeve blue flannel and black jeans, and perched on top of her head is a pair of red-tinted sunglasses (despite it being 9:30 at night).

"Claire!" I jump out of my seat, Richard hot on my heels.

Despite my best efforts, I practically throw myself into the girl, and she laughs again, (the most beautiful sound I've ever heard, might I add) grabbing me with both arms and squeezing me tight. (She's a lot stronger; she could probably crush someone if she tried.)

I finally make myself pull away, but I'm still holding tight to her upper arms. "What are you doing here? I haven't seen you in weeks!"

"Elise, I don't live that far away from here," Claire says, her hands on my back. "I thought you were on mission from the Veil; I would've stopped by sooner."

I shake my head. "I convinced them to let me break for the summer. Wait- how did you get in? I'm pretty sure my dad changed the code on the digital lock."

Claire smiles slyly, her hands finding my waist. "I have my ways."

She pushes my hair behind my ear, which is down instead of in its usual braid. I raise my eyebrows at her, then pull her head closer as I press my lips to hers. "You're suspicious."

"I know," Claire leans forward, kissing me again.

"Are you hungry?" I ask when we pull apart, making my way to the kitchen.

Claire tilts her head to the side. Richie jumps into her arms.

"Not like that," I say. "I mean, like, food food. Or, sorry, you know, like-"

"It's okay, Elise, I get it. It's fine. I'm not hungry. I do need to feed, though..." she stokes Richard's back. That cat likes her more than me or any of my family members.

"Let's go, then," I say. "My family isn't home."

"Are you sure? Elise, you know it's not safe."

"I don't care. I don't like you going there alone."

"But I go by myself all the ti-"

"Come on," I've already finished putting my hair into a messy braid, (don't ask how, I can do it really fast) and I grab Claire's arm, pulling us towards the door. Claire puts Richard on the floor. "Be good, Richie," I add. "Don't get into the cabinets." (That happened once.)

"Um, I kinda walked here..." Claire says.

"Really?" I ask. "That's okay. I can drive."

I unlock the doors to the Subaru, that I may have borrowed some of my brother's money for (Legacy, 260 hp; a nice enough car in my opinion) and Claire gets into the passenger seat as I climb into the driver's seat.

Claire hooks her phone up to the Navigation. 

"Here we go," I say, and pull out of the driveway towards our closest Blood Bar.