Drink, Slay, Love

Chapter Twenty Three

Armed with a stapler, Pearl prowled the high school halls in search of bulletin boards. She had a stack of flyers under her arm with the new junior prom location and date. She felt as if she were succeeding in the greatest jewel heist of all time, or more accurately, blood heist. She grinned as she passed classrooms and lockers.

Pausing at a bulletin board, she stapled three flyers across random ads and on top of sign-up sheets. She added a fourth one for good measure over a set of fire-safety regulations. The theme of the prom was "A Night to Remember," which Pearl loved for its delicious irony. If everything went as planned, none of the students would remember a thing, but she would be remembered in her Family's history for centuries to come: the day walker who delivered the feast.

She caressed the words in her mind as she continued on toward the school library. The library door was flanked by bulletin boards. As she posted flyers on the first bulletin board, the library door opened. Pearl didn't bother to glance at the student-until she realized the student hadn't left.

Arms crossed over her chest, Bethany blocked the second bulletin board. "You returned home," Bethany said.

"They forgave me," Pearl said. Instantly she wished she hadn't spoken. She didn't have to defend her actions to anyone, especially a human.

"And you forgave them? Just like that? Pearl, I know you can't see it, but that environment . . . I'm sorry to say bad things about your family, but you know I'm right. You can't stay there. You aren't like them."

Pearl slammed the flyer onto the bulletin board right next to Bethany's head. Bethany flinched. "Yes, I am," Pearl said. Instantly she wished she'd held her temper. The last thing she wanted to do was provoke suspicion. She softened her voice. "I can't leave my family. They're part of who I am."

"They're part of who you were. You've changed, and that's okay," Bethany said. "You said yourself: 'Anything that fails to transform'-"

The bell rang, and students began to pour out of the classrooms. "I have to finish up before next period starts." Pearl strode away from Bethany, but the persistent girl galloped after her.

Students waved and smiled as Pearl passed.

Bethany gawked at them. "Zero to hero? What happened? Just a few days ago you were the girl who stomped on cars."

"Another power shift," Pearl said. "Didn't you feel the earthquake in second period? Administration approved the change in venue and date for the junior prom." She waved the flyers at Bethany. "It'll be a night to remember, or so it says in print. And print never lies."

Bethany wrinkled her nose at the flyer. "You're organizing prom?"

"To save it from a sheer pathetic outcome," Pearl said. "It was slated for the school gym. I must be developing Evan's hero complex."

Behind her, Evan said, "I do not have a hero complex." He plucked a flyer out of Pearl's hands, and she let him. She felt a pang inside her rib cage as she inhaled. He smelled especially good today. He must have used a new soap, instead of his sister's shampoo. She thought of the smell of the sheets on his bed and the night she'd spent listening to him breathe in the darkness. "You had us worried," Evan said. "All the time you were out organizing prom?"

"She also returned home," Bethany put in.

Zeke and Matt joined them before Pearl could reply. They scooped the flyer out of Evan's hands and read it together. "Hey, does this mean you are going to prom?" Zeke asked. At the same time Matt said, "Whoo-hoo, date night is on!"

Uh-oh, she had to think of a way out of this. She couldn't attend prom with two wannabe vampire hunters at her side. As inept as they were, that was too much risk. "I don't-"