Chomp

Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7:

It was nearly impossible to get my mom off my back all day. All I wanted to do was sleep, but I forced myself to complete the homework Theo brought for me. Yay, more Trigonometry. Cole stopped by after my brother’s dramatic tale of how I just appeared at the house with a messed up shoulder and covered in grime. The worst part was that no one seemed to remember me walking through the door. 

I had a hunch that the girl had had no trouble carrying me either up the stairs or through my window was more likely. There was no effort or strain when she’d tossed me like an old rag doll. Cole sat down at the edge of my bed, his arms crossed over his broad chest. He was obviously waiting for my explanation. Nothing ever got past this guy. 

“So what happened?” he asked with a raised brow. 

“I don’t even remember. I was upset and stormed off last night,” I shrugged like it was nothing. This wasn’t news to him since he already knew about my little ‘temper-tantrums’, as he liked to call them. 

“And you came stumbling in looking like you got jumped this morning?” there was an amused smirk on his face. 

“I wish,” I replied with a snort, a habit I’d picked up from Uncle Hector, “I was at the park and then this girl from Jacey’s party was there. She bit me.” Cole’s expression twisted into one of doubt and then bewilderment when I turned my head to show him the display of bite marks. They were healing fast but still visible. 

“What the . . . who was the girl?” 

“I don’t know,” my cheeks flushed, “I caught her sucking on Claire’s neck in one of the rooms at the party. She had the same marks.”

Cole let out a loud laugh, his eyes tearing up a little. “Girls these days, man. They get freakier every day!” I couldn’t help but to crack a smile. On the inside, I knew it was more than that. It was the first conclusion I’d come to as well, but a human girl her size would never have been able to lift and toss me the way she had. Either way, I was getting to the bottom of things. 

We chilled for a while, talking about how crazy Lizzie was trying to find me all day and followed Cole around like a lost puppy. A yapping lost puppy at that. Then Cole went on to ask for the description of my attacker, but I wasn’t really in the mood to talk about that. Plus my mom wouldn’t know the meaning of privacy if it shot her in the face. She was constantly popping her head into the doorway, supposedly “checking up on me”. 

I was glad when she finally left us alone to play video games. I kept getting sniped and my head really wasn’t in the game anyway. How could I concentrate on a screen when I just kept thinking about the girl who’d bitten me. The worst part was that a thought kept reappearing in my head: Was she a vampire? If she was, would I turn into one and do what she was doing to Claire? I shook away the thoughts, glancing at Cole from the corner of my eye. His thick brows were drawn together in concentration, eyes narrowed to focus on reaching the next round. 

My attention was snagged when I heard my mom calling for me. Before I could respond, the door opened and she walked in closing it behind herself, an enormous smile on her face. I couldn’t remember the last time she smiled like that. 

“Why didn’t you tell me about Ray?” she squealed, her hands clasped together. 

Cole and I exchanged a look of confusion. “Mom, what are you talking about? I don’t know a Ray.”

“Of course you do,” she insisted, her smile causing her to glow, “Her full name is Rayna Belvoir and she goes to school with you. She said she just wanted to make sure you were okay since she has you for a class.”