Vampire Boys Of Summer (Completed!)

Episode 33: Two Trumps

I nearly made it through a school day without trouble, but as Angela said, it was Friday. We were heading out to catch her bus, when she grabbed my arm. “Uh oh, Trump alert,“ she said.

Coming around the side of the building were the two remaining Trumps. Amanda must have still been nursing her broken nose. They came up to us so close we could smell their hooker perfume.

“Your Kung Fu girlfriend isn’t always going to be around to save you,“ Kari said.

“Even if it takes all summer,“ Chrissie added. “You are dead meat.”

“Being dead meat is better than being dead weight,“ I snapped back. Angela’s jaw dropped. She couldn’t believe I said that. Neither could I. I must have gotten instant nerve during all that kissing the night before.

“What did you say?” Kari asked, astounded.

“It must be hard for you to walk today,“ I replied. “Seeing its Amanda who usually carries both of you.”

Again, a shocker from my lips. The boldness was starting to frighten me a little, then I saw both of them clenching their fists. If they launched at me together, I was dead meat for sure. But, they didn’t attack. I guess they thought it more prudent to bide their time and wait for their fearless leader.

“You’re talking big now,“ Kari said. “We’ll see how big you are this summer. We’ll catch up to you, maybe at a party, maybe at the pool…”

“Now that’s what I can’t wait for,“ someone said from behind us. “To see you sexy ladies at the pool.”

We all looked. Luhan was standing there, running his fingers through his hair as if primping for a beauty contest. He looked at me and grinned. “Oh, and you too, Nora,“ he added. He glanced at Angela and raised an eyebrow. “You could take them all,“ he whispered with a flirty wink.

Even though I welcomed the intrusion, I didn’t want the Trumps to think I always needed someone to save me. “It’s okay, Luhan. I don’t need your help.”

He put his hand to his chest as if he were hurt or wounded. “I wasn’t coming to help,“ he said. “I was just going to watch and see how you do with those new moves Chinatsu taught you. Have at it.” He reached in his back pocket and brought out a tiny dustpan and brush. “I’ll sweep up the pieces.”

Chrissie and Kari looked at each other, not sure how to take all this. I wondered if I should go into a martial arts stance to further freak them out, but I didn’t. In a way I felt sorry for them, but not too much. They glared at me, and I knew that once Amanda was back, it was going to be on. For now though, they were backing down, saving their retaliation for another day.

“Humph,” Kari snorted, and turned on her heel and walked away. Chrissie spared me a little longer look, and then she grinned. Deep down, I think she knew it was all a ruse. I didn’t know any new fighting moves. She smirked and followed her friend. I knew I was going to regret all this and have to duck and hide all summer vacation unless I put some action behind my new bold mouth.

“Where the hell did that come from?” Angela asked on the way home.

The bus was filled with screaming teenagers. It seemed more kids came to school on Fridays than any other day. Perhaps that’s because they knew it was the weekend. It gave us something to celebrate. Plus, teachers seemed to be a bit more lax on Fridays. Yeah, they could assign butt tons of homework, but you had two extra days to do it, so that was cool.

“I don’t know. I’m just tired of putting up with their crap,“ I answered , knowing she had been referring to the verbal altercation with the Trumps.

“Well, I hope Chi is going to be around this summer to bail you out.”

I shrugged. “I’ll be in summer school most of the time. The Trumps breeze through their classes like it is; I can’t imagine their parents even wanting them to go to summer school. The shame would be too great.”

“In the meantime I would ask her to give you fighting lessons.”

“Who? Chi?”

“Yeah. You’re going to need them.”

I turned my head and looked out the window. Watching the landmarks and streets of Chelsea Valley drift by, I wondered if I’d ever get out of this mess of a town. All my life I had been dreaming of escape, and now that freedom was almost here, I really didn’t want to go. Now there was something worth staying for. Haru.

I thought about last night and how it had been the most magical time ever. It was the stuff of romance novels and K-dramas. Things like that didn’t happen on the average, and certainly not to someone like me. You’re pretty, I try to tell myself. You have deserved this. But still, riding on this bus, I felt like neither. Last night, I had been the princess of passionate dreams, but now, away from Haru, I felt like a slug again. What the heck did he see in me anyway? What could he possibly find redeeming in me? And then, there was the question of his vampirism? Did he really kill a girl as callously as Ryo said? I guess that was a question I needed to ask, but how do you approach that? Excuse me Haru, before you kiss me and make me quiver all over, have you ever killed a girl as if it was nothing?

“Hello, Nora. Earth calling Nora.”

It was Angela, of course, breaking into my deep reverie to inform me we were at our bus stop. We had taken my bus, so we wouldn’t have such a long walk, but now, for some reason I was feeling weak, as if just thinking of Haru was draining.

We walked to my house from the bus stop. Angela seemed to be walking faster than usual, with me just trying to keep pace. I guess she either was hoping Haru was still using my shower, or she really wanted that Babymetal shirt back pretty bad.

We stepped into my yard and I found myself looking across the street at The Winston House. I wondered what had happened to that kid I had seen stumbling around there yesterday. Before I could dwell on it much, movement along the front walk caught my eye. I stopped short. It was Mrs. Winston, and she was working in the flower beds that lined her walk. I hadn’t seen her since Ryo had moved in over there, and I was beginning to think he had done something to her, and now here she was toiling among her flowers. It struck me as odd though, because she was of the age that if she got down on her knees to work, she may not get back up. Last I saw her, she was hobbling along with strained effort, but now she was moving from bed to bed, from knees to feet, with no problem at all. In fact, she moved around the yard as if she were thirty.

“Everything okay?” Angela asked.

I looked at her and shook my head. “Mrs. Winston. Doesn’t she seem unusual to you?”

She laughed. “That old bat always seems unusual to me.”

I stood there watching the elderly lady for a moment, and then dismissed it with a shake of my head. “Yeah, that’s for sure,” I said .

“I don’t see Haru out next door, maybe he’s still here, “ Angela said. She sounded hopeful ,and I followed her gaze over to his yard. True, he wasn’t to be seen. In fact, there didn’t seem to be any activity at all next door. Perhaps being the middle of the afternoon, they were all sleeping the sleep of the undead.