Mania

Chapter 2

“No I’m not!” Jesse protested. “I’m just like you. I sparkle in the sun and everything.”

I laughed. “You read too much Twilight,” I told him. “We don’t sparkle. We actually just bake if we stay in the sun too long. Literally. That’s why I’m so tan.”

“Promise you won’t tell anyone?” he begged.

“Tell anyone what?”

Hunter and Julia had walked up to us.

“Ooh, who’s that?” Julia asked me. “He’s so hot.” Hunter elbowed her in the ribs and she let out a very zombie-like hiss.

“His name is Jesse King,” I said. “He’s new. And human.” 

“Cool!” Hunter gushed, and Jesse glared at me.

“You said you wouldn’t tell anyone!” he hissed at me.

“These people are my family,” I told him. “I’d trust them with anything.” He relaxed a bit. Just a bit. He still looked on edge.

“Oh, and by the way,” I said, “this is Hunter, my twin brother, and Julia, his girlfriend and my best friend.”

“Do you realize how lucky you are?” Hunter asked in amazement. “There’s only, like, five hundred thousand humans in the whole country.” 

“You’re not going to eat me, are you?” Jesse asked, taking a step back.

“Oh, yeah,” I said. “Of course we are.” 

“You smell tasty,” Hunter added.

“I got dibs on a leg,” Julia said, licking her lips.

Jesse stepped back, ready to run. We burst out laughing, though. Hunter literally fell to the ground and rolled a little bit.

“It- it was a joke!” Julia gasped out. Jesse looked like he was about to cry.

“You guys are mean,” he said, and started to walk away.

We all stopped laughing. I caught up with Jesse.

“I’m- we’re- sorry,” I said to Jesse. “We didn’t know you’d get upset.”

He kept walking. “Jesse,” I said softly, and he stopped. The bell rang.

“If you want, you can ride the bus home with me and I can tutor you there.”

“Why would I want to do that?” Jesse asked quietly, still mad.

“I don’t have time for this,” I snapped impatiently. “I’ll wait for you outside school. If you don’t show up then I’m leaving.”

“We’re really sorry, Jesse,” Julia apologized again. “It was a really dick move.”

“Yeah,” Hunter said. “See you later.”

~ ~ ~

All I could think about for the rest of the day was Jesse. I didn’t know that little joke would scare him so much. He should’ve known that vampires and zombies aren’t attracted to human blood/flesh. It was like he’d been living under a rock since the Happening ten years ago. 

Oh, well. I guess some people react differently.

The bell finally rang, and I leaped up out of my seat, but not before tripping over some invisible force and landing on my face. I ignored the pointing and laughing and grabbed my backpack, glad to be released from the cold, cruel man known as Biology.

Will he be there? Is he going to come home with me? Jesse Jesse Jesse Jesse-

I got to the front of the school. Jesse wasn’t there. Disappointment washed over me so heavily I staggered back as if I’d been hit.