Vampire Twins Meet The Pack (Book One)

Chapter Sixty Two

I couldn't believe that Bishop actually liked Sleeping Beauty. Yes, I know, I'm sixteen, too old for little kid movies, right? Nope. For some reason I had always loved Sleeping Beauty. And I'll admit that when I was younger, okay, sometimes even now, I'd sneak out to a forest and hum the "Once Upon a Dream" song while I danced by myself. I still knew every word of that song.

So I laid there on my stomach on my bed with him there next to me. I found that even though I knew exactly where he was and I felt when he even moved the tiniest bit, I was still able to focus on the movie, letting all that knowledge slip to the back of my mind. Thank heavens, too, or it would have been very awkward for me.

I grinned like a fool through most of the movie. I loved everyone in Sleeping Beauty, even Maleficent. She was one of my favorite Disney villains. I especially loved Prince Phillip's jolly, short, chubby father. He was so funny and sweet. I laughed as Phillip picked him up and danced him around in a circle.

And just like always, when Flora, Fauna and Merryweather freed Prince Phillip, I lunged for my teddy bear, knowing what came next. For some reason I always clutched something when he fought Maleficent in her dragon form. Bishop laughed at me, and I shot him a half-hearted glare before returned my attention to the movie.

Prince Phillip and Princess Aurora were just dancing off into the clouds when my bedroom door opened. I groaned and pulled my attention from the happy ending to whoever had decided to intrude on my peaceful movie time. Well, besides Bishop.

It was Lanie. "Oh hi," she said when she saw Bishop laying next to me. And then she saw what was on the TV. "You watched Sleeping Beauty and you didn't tell me?!?!" she exclaimed. Lanie was my Disney movie pal. When she was littler, we'd watched all the Disney movies together. Now, we watched one whenever I felt like it, or whenever she felt like it. Nothing could ever compare.

"Sorry, Lanie," I quickly apologized. "Bishop kind of stole your usual spot."

"I saw that," she said with a faint smile. I rolled my eyes. Ten year old girls should not be allowed to show facial expression sometimes. But I loved her all the same.

"Do you want to watch Peter Pan?" I asked her.

"The Disney version or the one with the real people?" She knew that I had both versions sitting on the shelf by my TV.

"Disney," I answered without missing a beat.

"Okay," she agreed, and she grabbed it and slipped it into the VCR.

"You don't have to watch this one if you don't want to," I told Bishop, not sure if I wanted him to stay or go. We hadn't talked much about the whole kissing, him asking me out thing after Ariana had gotten better. Everyone had been preoccupied with if she would relapse or not, and I had used it as an excuse to avoid talking to him.

"Nah, I'll watch it," he said as Lanie squeezed in between us and settled down.

~~~

After the movie Lanie and I headed downstairs to get a snack. We put vanilla frosting on graham crackers and ate them, dying the frosting blue. Patricia always made sure we had frosting on hand expressly for that purpose, or in case I decided to go on a cupcake making spree, which sometimes happened.

Jenni joined us, and then Sam and Cole. We used up two thirds of the can of frosting, and I tucked it back into the refridgerator before we could wipe out any more. There was still half a plateful sitting on the table, but I had already eaten five so I decided to go for a run instead of staying there with them. I hadn't been out in a couple of days.

I found myself heading for the tree house and smiled. Lounging around and reading a book sounded good too. I stretched out my legs and let the familiar rhythm carry me off. When I reached the tree house I took my human form once again and scaled the ladder. I snatched a random book off the shelf that didn't look too long and started reading. Turns out, it was a story about a dragon. A good one, too.

After about half an hour, I took my book and climbed down from the tree house, making my way to a meadow that was a short distance away. I stretched out in the grass, feeling the sun warm my back, and let the book pull me away from reality once more. I lost all track of time as I read.

I only looked up when I finished the book. Then I checked my watch. It was three o'clock. I took the book back to my tree house and then returned to the meadow. Laying out in the sun felt too good for me to just give up on it.

Of course, that's when I felt the urge to waltz myself around the meadow again. Rising slowly, I cast a quick glance around to make sure that no one was around, and began to sing to myself as I started to dance.

"I know you, I've walked with you once upon a dream. I know you, the gleam in your eyes so familiar a gleam," I sang to myself, spinning about. Anyone who saw me would probably have thought me crazy. "Yet I know it's true that visions are seldom all they seem. But if I know you, I know what you'll do, you'll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream." I continued to hum the tune even after the lyrics had run out, the sun and fresh air and patches of clover and wildflowers weaving a spell that I was reluctant to break. So I sang it again.