My bloodsucking best friend

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Part I

Senior prom night is supposed to be the best night of your entire high school career. Most American families spend more than a thousand dollars on it nowadays and kids blow it up like it's more important than a wedding, causing them to plan, shop, prepare and freak out months before it actually happens. Especially the females, of course.

I wasn't that extreme, but I won't deny that I was excited about it every single day from the very moment I held my ticket in my hand for the first time. The graduation ceremony wasn't that memorable and other than the fact that we all received the diplomas we had worked our asses off for four years and finally got stereotypical photos in robes we'd never wear again, but always keep, it wasn't very eventful and we didn't care too much about that part and could barely stand the great agitation that had built because of the big party that would follow a few days later.

With parents who didn't care too much about what was important to me, I'd had to get a job to pay for my dress, but I had excitedly saved every single dollar from my few weeks as an employee at Dairy Queen solely for the purpose of buying that perfect blue gown that was strapless and long enough to cover my entire legs, but not too long to hide the expensive black high heels I could barely walk in. The job had thoroughly been a nightmare, but when the night of the nights arrived, none of that mattered anymore and I almost couldn't wait for the limousine that had been a shared investment amongst everyone riding it to roll up my driveway.

Andy and his date, unsurprisingly a cheerleader, had already taken over one side of the padded leather seats, but the guy who'd asked me out was sitting on the other side and shakily pulled out my corsage when I climbed into the luxurious car with a wildly beating heart.

Themed as a starry night, the local gymnasium's walls and ceilings were entirely concealed by midnight blue fabric covered with glowing faux stars and LED light spots, and additional to the large buffet, countless gallons of punch had been organized that were already rum-spiked when we arrived. The loudly blasting dance music was awful, but that didn't lower my mood one bit and I could barely keep myself from freaking out and jumping up and down on the spot, but even before we went inside, I noticed that there was something weird about Andy. He never told me when something was wrong, but I always knew it was anyway, and that night wasn't different when it came to that. 

"I just really need a drink," he claimed and I didn't dig deeper, but knew it wasn't the truth because as amazing as he looked in his perfectly fitting suit and tie, I couldn't help but worry because his eyes were bloodshot, his movements unnaturally frantic and hectic and his skin unhealthily pale and cold, but he kept telling me he wasn't sick, so I shut up about it and enjoyed the night I had dreamt of for so long.

Unfortunately, though, both our dates were nothing we had expected. Andy's girl was abnormally annoying and couldn't shut up about things nobody cared about outside her Barbie world and my boy who had attended a few classes with me and had asked me after history at some point during the school year was so boring that I could fall asleep listening to him speak, so we ditched them both after a short while and got drunk together. When it was time for the photos, we were already tipsy and didn't mind doing the couple shot together and when the camera man got ready, Andy turned to me, his red eyes blurry from all the alcohol because he'd had even more than me, and without a warning or sign, he grabbed and kissed me when the camera flash lit up.

Shocked by his unexpected decision after four years of friendship, I immediately pulled away and dragged him to one of many dark corners to avoid a scene in front of the photographer or the couples waiting in line to get their photos taken. "What the hell was that?" I immediately needed to know and staggered a bit, but my brain still realized that there was something very off about this.