Vampire Boys Of Summer (Completed!)

Episode 23: Friends By Association

I sat in the guidance counselor’s office awaiting my turn. When we arrived, Chinatsu had marched right into the inner office and declared in a loud, cheery voice, “I did it,” which I’m sure threw Miss Thomas off her guidance game. I looked over at Angela, who raised both eyebrows and made a gesture that let me know she thought our new friend was crazy. When she emerged from the room, Chi was feigning sadness with a drawn down frown, but as she passed by me she gave a thumbs up and said, “I got summer school, too! Isn’t that killer?!”

At first I thought, who uses phrases like ‘killer’ these days? Certainly no one in rural America. She looked Asian, and the fact that I just recently met two Asian guys, my mind was screaming she was of the same family. Did that mean she was a vampire, too? And how in the hell were they all walking around in the daytime like all they had to worry about was a light sunburn?

“Cool,” I replied, as she headed towards the hall. She threw her hand up in a wave and smiled so bright you‘d think she was advertising for a toothpaste commercial.

Miss Thomas poked her head out of her office and saw me. “Ah, Miss Williams, come on in.“ I got up while Angela fumbled with her cellphone . I knew she was watching YouTube videos, probably some new Korean boy band. BTS, EXO, NCT, or some such.

“Have we made a decision?” Thomas asked, as I sat down in front of her desk.

“Yes, Ma’m. I’ll do the summer school.”

She clapped her hands together. “That’s great, Nora. I know you can pull your grades together with this. You are a smart girl.”

“Thank you.”

She opened her desk drawer and pulled out a folder. She rummaged through the papers it held, making sure everything was there, and then handed it over. “You’ll find everything you need to know right here. You won’t be alone. Several students will be attending this summer. Just concentrate on your work and we’ll see you pass this grade.”

I took the folder and got up to go.

“Question, Nora.”

I looked at her and waited for it.

“Do you know the young lady who was here before you? The tall Japanese girl?”

“Yes, I suppose so. Her name is Chinatsu.”

She paused a moment as if turning over information in her head. “Hmm, okay,“ she finally said. “Something about her seemed strange.”

“Like what, Miss Thomas?”

She shook her head. “Oh, I don’t know. She just seemed to be playing at this. Like she doesn’t really want to go to school, but has to.” She paused for a beat. “Oh well, since you know her, please tell her that study is important, and nothing goes further than a good education. “

“Yes, I will. Thank you.”

Angela was out in the hall getting impatient. We had first period together and it was getting late. We both ran down the hall to our class. If I thought the beating of Amanda Trump would be the only highlight of the day, I was mistaken, for something bizarre awaited us in our first class.

Odd enough, I have never done well in World History. Until a certain thousand year old vampire showed up, I didn’t even think much about it. It was just a class to try and breeze through the best I could. Angela didn’t do too bad in it. That’s one thing I could say about her: boy crazy or not, she got excellent grades in every class she was in. No summer school for her.

When we both strolled into history class, word had already spread about Amanda Trump. A lot of people were in awe of Chinatsu’s knockout punch, but there were still a lot of students who were concerned about the famous Trump retaliation. Many were saying Chi was going to have one messed up face when Amanda was done with her.

Angela and I had our seats next to each other by the window. We tried to get there without anyone saying anything, but because Chi had come to my defense, it was assumed we were best friends. Everyone reasoned that the Trumps were going to ruin me so bad no one would ever associate with me again. I hadn’t thought of that. It was becoming clear it might have been better for me to take an ass kicking from Amanda.

A couple girls we knew kept looking at us in the same way people looked at car accidents. It was a little awkward, but I had to keep a brave face about me. I wondered if people would have behaved this way if Chinatsu had this class. Other kids were snickering behind their hands in almost anticipation of the upcoming slaughter. But everything went silent when the door slammed and a feminine voice cleared its throat. “Front and center,“ it said.