Hunting me

9

I started to lose the notion of time, and soon November was coming to an end. All the days had been more or less the same. My old friends would say a word to me from time to time, but none of them wanted to have a full conversation with me. I was fine with that.

I had befriended Mary Judith, a girl my age that pretended to be goth so she could anger her very catholic parents. I hadn't cared for her in the past, founding her boring. I hadn't been completely wrong, but she was a better companion. She never asked me about my secrets, or complained when I didn't talk to her for a couple of days.

Mary Judith, or Morrigan, as she insisted I called her, was a sickly girl. I suspected she had been really ill at some point, and never fully recover. From time to time she would start coughing blood. Rotten blood. But not like Charlie's, who every day looked and smelled worst.

I didn't ask my new friend about it, I knew she appreciated that. She was drawn to me, like bugs to the light. I was sure she saw me as some sort of guarding angel. The white knight who rescued her each time someone made fun of her. I did want to protect her to some extent, I felt sorry about the weak girl. But I sure wasn't that good or kind.

Nate had found a girlfriend, which made me proud, but disappointed that I m had found out by earsdropping two girls in my class. One of them claimed to be the girlfriend's cousin. She didn't mention her name, and I wasn't curious enough to ask. Or to talk to him.

A week later, he approached me while the class ended, followed by Minnie and Tom. They all looked sorry, but I didn't feel any compassion for them.

"¿Do you want something?" I said, with a neutral tone.

"Yes, we want to apologize." Tom said, coming closer to me.

I didn't step back or become nervous. That part of had been dead for a long time. Their faces didn't move me, even if they apologized, the damage was done. Forgiving them wasn't something I was obliged to do, now matter how much they regretted their actions.

"¿Why now?" I asked, wary of them.

"Whe have realized..." Minnie struggled to find the words.

"Ignoring you wasn't fair." Tom completed.

Nate's only action was nodding. Very typical of him to just listen and react. He was never a leader, but neither a follower. He didn't like speaking up, and avoided confrontation.

"This was between Charlie and you.", Minnie spoke more confidently, " It was wrong of us to take a side."

"Okay." My face remained expressionless.

"¿That's it? ¿You forgive us?." Tom's eyes were full of relieve when he spoke.

"Not really. If you want to feel better about yourselfs, fine, I do forgive you. But stay away from me."

"But..." Nate started.

"No buts. I don't want to be around you at the moment. Maybe in a few days."

They all nodded, accepting the situation. They were about to leave, when a question popped in my mind.

"¡Wait!", they all turned, "¿Does Charlie know you're talking to me?" They struggled to answer. I knew I was right. They were cowards who weren't even able to tell their leader something she wouldn't like.

"I have changed my mind. Get her to talk to me. Then we'll be friends again."

"Okay.", Tom said, "But don't pretend you have done nothing wrong. There are many things you're not telling us."

"¿And why would I do that? You have abandone me like I'm trash."

"Our bad actions don't justify yours." Nate said, as wise as ever. From time to time he would prove how intelligent he was.

After those last words, they left to go outside, it was time to go home. I waited for Morrigan, she would always be one of the last to leave. I didn't mind the waiting. I like looking at the students, getting more familiar with they smell. It could be useful if one of them was my stalker.

As always, Eric's smell filled the air before he was on my sight. He walked with Bailey by his side, but he wasn't holding her hand anymore. They had been officially dating for a week and a half, but they didn't seem passionate now. He looked pissed, as she was saying something in a low voice, so nobody around her would hear her.

That didn't work with me, I could hear every word she said, if I focused only in her voice. I was surrounded by loud teenagers, who didn't make the task easy.

"... I don't a understand it. She was my friend, not yours. You should be on your girlfriend's side, not hers. She's bad. You have said it so many times, and you're acting as if..."

I stopped listening, focusing in the outside noise, and hurt by her words, and what she had implied. They passed in front of me. Bailey was so focused in what she was saying she didn't look at me. Eric gave me a little smile. Small things like that made my lust for him even bigger. Even if he constantly proved to not care about me.

"Hi, sorry for making you wait." My new friend said, passing a hand through her black dyed hair.

"No problem." I had become used to it. "¿Anything worth telling?"

Morrigan was a great gossip. "Not really, nothing special. Oh, well, Bailey and her new boyfriend were arguing. I don't know why."

"I wanted to know the juicy stuff, not something irrelevant." I said, trying to conceal my annoyance.

"Then I guess there's nothing to discuss." She shrugged, and looked disappointed at herself.

" I forgot to ask. ¿How was that boy you haven't met yet?" I asked curious.

"I have met him." She said back, blushing.

"Not in person, so it doesn't count." I founded that topic entertaining.

"You know he lives far away."

"You know he could be lying and actually be your neighbor." I said, it was fun to slightly annoy her.

"Oh, Eve. You're going to jinx it."

I changed the topic to something lighter, this new book she desperately wanted me too read. I would have listened to her, but it was a vampire book. I wasn't ready to read a romanticized version of my curse. I didn't want to read about how being a vampire was a gift, and not the reason why I my life had fallen apart.