Chomp

Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12: 

My eyes were red from lack of sleep and my entire body felt sluggish. My legs and arms were heavy as I spun the combination on my locker, getting it wrong until the third try. I heard her before she even appeared around the corner, her voice ringing through the hallways and causing me to cringe. It felt like rocks had been dumped into my skull and then shaken up. 

"Leonardo Vasquez!" I groaned, thumping my head against the cold metal. 

Lizzie stopped at my locker, her arms folded across her chest and her face drawn into a deep frown. "Look, I'm really not in the mood this morning."

"Not in the mood? Not in the mood!" Her cheeks flushed pink as she pointed an accusing finger at me. "How dare you think that you can just kiss me and then act like it meant absolutely nothing! Do you have any idea how humiliated I feel knowing that you snuck off this weekend with that she-devil?"

Why did word have to travel around so fast? People could never just keep their mouths shut. I straightened up and mimicked her stance, crossing my arms and letting a scowl contort my features. 

"Lizzie, seriously," I began pinching the bridge of my nose, "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything, but you and I are never going to happen. Besides, you shouldn't listen to the rumors because Ray and I have nothing going on." Except she likes to nibble on my neck sometimes when I'm only wearing a towel. 

As though the morning couldn't possibly get much worse, none other than the she-devil herself comes striding down the halls. Everyone around is watching and whispering in hushed tones in the hope that some drama is about to ensue. I silently prayed that she would just breeze by without Lizzie taking notice, but she immediately followed my gaze and frowned. Kill me now.

After Ray had dropped me off at home, I'd re-lived what had happened in her room a thousand times over and asked myself, had I really wanted her to bite me? My answer was no but that stupid voice in the back of my head, or maybe it was just teenage hormones running rampant, thought that getting bitten was a lot better than Ok. I hadn't been in the right mind set to ask my mom anything or tell Theo or Uncle Hector a word of what had happened. My night had been plagued with sharp teeth, blood, an unmoving Claire, and plush wine carpet. Hence the reason I hadn't slept well.

I suddenly felt feverish when Ray sent me a playful smile, my face burning up. She wore a pastel yellow skirt that barely covered mid-thigh and was hiked up to her mid-section, the white blouse tucked in and buttoned up just enough to be considered decent. As always, she wore heeled boots on her small feet, walking with confidence that caught everyone's attention. When Ray's eyes landed on Lizzie, her white smile only brightened, pink lips drawing back further. 

"Hi Lizzie," Ray said in a voice that could charm Mother Teresa into sinning. Lizzie was having none of it.

Surprisingly enough, Elizabeth Miller was quiet for the first time in her life. Well, not counting the week before when I'd kissed her. She simply gawked at the chocolate haired brunette in disbelief with everyone around us watching expectantly. I was too tired and embarrassed to care much. 

"What do you want," I bit out. Ray's smile didn't falter and she tood a step towards me. Lizzie went into instant action, her eyes widening. 

"You have some nerve, sister!" she accused wagging her finger at Ray who gave her a look of utmost innocence. If I hadn't been caught in the middle of their bullshit as the subject of conflict, I may have actually believed her well-done performance. 

"Give it a rest, Elizabeth," I said using her full name for once. It felt weird in my mouth. I snapped my gaze back to Ray who was giving me this strange look. 

"Hey, let her be. She has a right to speak her mind," Ray defended.

"You're darn right I - wait . . . I do?" Lizzie stared at Ray with a baffled expression. I took the prolonged silence as my cue to try and scurry out of there before things got ugly. 

Of course Ray noticed, but we had a class together so finding me later wasn't an issue. If only I could get to class and ensure that we sat nowhere near each other. Not only that but her behavior wasn't helping with the school gossip, and I was rarely ever part of gossip. This was Theo's area of expertise. 

Senior year was going to be so long. . .

>>>>>

There was no letting up in English. I was surrounded by students and Ray came into class a minute bfore the bell rang. Even then, she managed to convince someone to switch seats with me using her dimpled smile and honey gaze. Robby hadn't even stood a chance and obediently got up practically drooling when Ray threw a soft smile his way, asking in a polite tone to manipulate him. 

"Well if it isn't my favorite halfling," Ray grinned. It was just my luck that Mr. Johnson decided to have a sub today, and a lenient one at that. 

"Oh, I'm so flattered," I replied dryly.

Ms. Whatever-her-name-is passed out our assignment sheets for the first project we'd be doing, so of course I was stuck partnered with Rayna Belvoir. Several other students offered to switch with me and I would have gladly agreed and jumped for joy except the blood-sucker wasn't having any of it. She politely declined every time and gave me a dangerous look when I attempted to open up my mouth. 

"You're inviting me to dinner again tomorrow night," she stated ignoring my sarcasm. 

"You shouldn't keep popping up at my house, especially on Monday nights. My mom will expect it to be a regular thing," I said with a snort just as the instructions for our project was laid on my desk. 

Ray stood up and moved her desk so that we were right beside each other. I hated when she was so close. "Actually, that's the plan. With hunters around you'll need my protection."

My jaw dropped. "Are you insane? I'm sure that if you just disappeared they wouldn't even bother to bump me off. They're hunting me down because of you. If you'd just thought to lock the door at Jacey's . . ." 

"No," Ray answered in a hushed tone, "It doesn't work like that, and unfortunately I hadn't given locking the door a second thought. On the other hand, they know about your mother and grandfather. They would have found out eventually anyhow."

"But that Celtic guy says I'm human," I countered with a frown. 

"You're only half, and judging by the way you'd healed from the bite, you've got quite a bit of power in you. I haven't sensed anything from your brother but it wouldn't surprise me if he was in the same boat," Ray explain leaning in so that only I could hear her, "Celtic has connections to some powerful people, and if what he says is true, then you're definitely going to need both of us."

"If I'm so powerful, then why would I need either of you? Especially if my mom knows what goes on in your . . . world, " I demanded through gritted teeth, "And like I said before, my grandfather died before Theo and I were even born."

"Your mother was in love with a human," Ray said with a disgusted sneer. That only served to piss me off even more. 

"Don't you talk about him that way," I said a little too loudly. Most of the class turned to look at us including the substitute. I didn't care. I needed to take a walk before I planted a fist into something or someone. 

Standing up, I snatched up my backpack and slung it over my shoulder. People moved their desks out of the way and made a path so as not to set me off. It had been a long time since I'd stormed out of a classroom in a fit of anger but I couldn't sit there and listen to Rayna Belvoir disrespect my dad. The substitute called after me and I heard Ray call after me before I slammed the door shut. 

Yup, definitely gonna have to add pictures at this point. :)

-LRS