Bite Me 1: All Change

Chapter 1

  As she walked into class heads turned and followed her. She heard some comments and not all were nice, but she ignored them. She sat in her usual seat near the front and spent the morning studying and understanding World War Two politics. Her teacher seemed pleased with her work and attention, but as she left for the lunch queue, she overheard the woman telling another teacher that the moment a girl puts makeup on is usually the moment they stop studying and turn their attention to boys. She laughed as she walked away, no chance, she thought.

"Hello puppy," a boy said. He was draped over a nearby table, and he was looking at her.

"Sorry?" She asked, confused; her heart was beating fast suddenly.

She did a quick scan of him; black hair, blue eyes, sharp and cold, tall, broad, and strongly built, dressed in black with heavy boots that thumped the ground as he jumped up off the table.

"Don't be sorry puppy, I won't tell anyone," he winked and smiled as he sauntered off, looking ultra-confident and gorgeous in a hard as ice kind of way.

Saffron's heart thumped against her chest, and she stood there watching him disappear down the corridor. That smell, she frowned; was that his smell? She took a deep breath and coughed; aftershave lots of it, toothpaste, blood, and something darker that reminded her of death. She could smell fresh human blood. She knew what he was; there couldn't be anything else that smelled like that, surely. A vampire at her school, how was it possible, are they allowed to go out during the daytime? Her thoughts were flashing between films she had seen and his gorgeous if cold face. He'd called her 'puppy', he must know.

She joined the queue for lunch with her stomach growling. She heaped her tray with food, buying twice as much as she usually would. Her thoughts were still running wild when she heard a deep voice say 'sit'. She slid her tray onto the table opposite his. She picked up her knife and fork and made herself busy, so she didn't have to look up.

"I've never seen you here before puppy," he drawled, then took a bite of his burger. "Have you transferred in, or are you new to the freak show?" He asked, taking another hungry bite.

"I don't know what you mean," she answered, although she had a good idea what he was talking about. She could detect bitterness in his voice, but it didn't seem to be directed at her.

"Whatever; have it your way," he said, pushing his empty tray to the side and leaning back, making a pretence of looking anywhere except at her.

"I've been at this school since year seven," she answered, putting her knife and fork down. She'd eaten the bland, beef curry so fast she didn't even remember doing it. She picked up her bottle of water and downed it just as quickly, then polished off the slice of cake.

"Come on, let's go for a walk," he said. She grabbed her apple, chocolate bar, and crisps before following him. When they reached the playground, she breathed in the warm sweet air, relieved. She realised that his smell was quite unpleasant to her newly sensitive nose.

"You're not so sweet smelling either, pup," he said, as he turned to face her.

"Don't keep calling me puppy," she said, it was making her anxious, and she looked around, but they were not within earshot of anyone.

"No one would guess I'm calling you puppy because you're a werewolf," he laughed.

"Shush!" She flapped her hands; she had never fitted with people's expectations, but she didn't want to risk putting herself further out there by being announced publicly as a werewolf.

"Tell me your name then," he said, leaning against the school fence looking cool, but she suspected that was exactly the look he was going for.

"Saffron," she said. "So what do I smell like?" She asked, trying to smell her wrist discreetly.

"Peanut butter," he replied and laughed; she laughed too. "No, a bit like dog, a bit like fields and forests, and a bit like pretty teenaged girl." He smiled, showing brilliant white teeth, but no fangs.

"So how come you can walk in the sun? I thought your type would either go crispy or sparkle depending on what movies you like to watch," she asked, feeling more relaxed, her confidence returning with her curiosity.

"Saffron," he said, shaking his head. "You watch too many movies," he laughed and walked away, just as the afternoon bell went. He called out to her from over his shoulder, "my name is Arthur by the way."

Then he was gone, disappearing into the shaded building leaving no trace of smoulder or sparkle. She was smiling as she walked back to class.

After school, she had expected to see him, or maybe she had just hoped, but he wasn't there, and she walked home quickly because of her grumbling stomach. As she stepped inside the house, she found her step-dad in the kitchen making coffee. He asked if she wanted a drink, and she asked for hot chocolate and took three biscuits from the tin. As he handed her the cup, she got a whiff of perfume, and it wasn't her mother's scent or his usual soapy smell.

"Are you wearing aftershave, Mike?" She asked as she turned toward the door.

"No Saff, can't stand the stuff, you know that," he replied. "Why, can you smell some?" He asked as an afterthought.

"Maybe," she called behind her as she climbed the stairs to her room. It wasn't aftershave she could smell; she was sure of it. It was a cheap, tacky perfume that reminded her of someone, but she couldn't think who.

She tipped the contents of her bag out and got stuck into her homework, finishing it quickly. She'd found her homework much easier this past couple of weeks, and her grades were better than they had ever been. She wondered if this was a werewolf thing.

"Knock, knock!" Laura called and flounced in looking happy. "Dad said I could come and see you; it's been so long since I had a friend," she smiled and sat upon the bed.

"Cool," Saffron replied, and then told her about meeting the vampire. She sat still, quietly transfixed. Laura hadn't actually seen a vampire, but she'd known about them and had heard that some vampires were day walkers, but she didn't know much about them. She'd heard that they were dangerous and couldn't be trusted.

"I must tell you my news," Laura said. "My Dad contacted a few of the local werewolf communities and told them about you, we all have to be on the register, and new members must be added immediately after their first change. There is a woman with a son of our age, and they want us to meet and socialise if we get along we might be able to change together."

"That's great news," Saffron said, suddenly feeling like she belonged to something.

"I like the black makeup and the dark lipstick," Laura said. "I live in an old-fashioned house, with old-fashioned stuff, and I don't feel like I belong to this world at all. Dad said the cottage was my Mother's and was handed down from her Grandmother along with the furniture, and most of the clothes, I would think. I didn't really know what I was missing until recently." She tugged a handful of the dusky pink skirt and sighed.

Saffron went through her wardrobe and pulled out a pair of skinny jeans, and Laura's face brightened. After an hour, her room was a mess with clothes tossed everywhere, and makeup was spread all over the dresser. Laura was dressed in blue jeans and a white vest top and was sitting with her face lifted as Saffron applied makeup to it. Saffron didn't choose dark like her own, but brown, beige and peach; the result was subtle but effective. She looked older, and no one could accuse her of being old fashioned.

Saffron's mother called the girls to dinner, and Laura was educated once more. Saffron found it hard to believe the girl had never eaten pizza before. It looked like there were going to be a lot of new things in both their lives.

"You girls must be working hard at school, if your appetites are anything to go by," her mother said. The girls just laughed and scraped their plates.

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