Эллен Шрайбер - Love Bites

“What’s up?” Alexander asked him, tripping him out of his trance.

Sebastian was silent.

“Hello…. Are you in there?” Alexander prompted again. “Is something wrong?”

“I don’t know,” Sebastian said. “I’ve never felt like this before.”

“Are you sick?” I wondered.

“I think…I’m in love,” Sebastian announced, as if it was just occurring to him.

“With who?” I asked. “Dixie?”

“I can see why you like it here, dude,” he said to Alexander. “You found your soul mate, and now I’ve found mine.”

“Who are you talking about?” Alexander asked.

“Becky.”

I laughed. But then I could see that Sebastian was dead serious.

“She has a boyfriend,” I said.

“She does?”

“Yes,” I said emphatically.

“Of course she does. Someone as pretty as her. But does that matter—in the long run?” Sebastian mused.

“It matters. Besides, she’s not really your type.”

“AB negative? I like all kinds.” Sebastian didn’t seem to be joking, but Alexander broke a smile.

“It’s not funny,” I said. “I think it’s time to go—”

“I’m not laughing,” Sebastian said. “It aches in here,” he said, pointing to his heart.

“That’s not love, that’s indigestion,” I said. “Hatsy’s is known for it.”

“I can’t shake it.”

“We can stop at the pharmacy and get you some Rolaids,” I offered.

Sebastian faced me intently. “This isn’t heartburn. Don’t you see?”

“All right,” Alexander said, putting his hands on Sebastian’s shoulders. “It’s time we head out.”

“Did you see how into me she was?” Sebastian asked. “Asking me all sorts of questions?”

“She was just being polite,” I told him.

“I like that. Most girls I meet are into themselves. Can you give me her number?”

“Her number?” I asked, alarmed. “But she already has a boyfriend!”

“Something I can overlook. For now.”

“I really don’t think…”

“One cannot dodge Cupid’s arrow,” Sebastian proclaimed.

I rolled my eyes. “Cupid isn’t the only one with an arrow.” I scowled.

Alexander rubbed my neck. “It’s okay. He’s just playing.”

We got into the Mustang, and as Sebastian drove me home, the ghostly duo boisterously sang to tunes blasted from his speakers. I pretended to not be disturbed by Sebastian’s off-key singing or his sudden proclamation.

Sebastian waited in the car while Alexander escorted me up the front steps.

“Why didn’t you say anything about Becky?” I asked when we reached the door.

“He’s harmless. He falls for girls all the time and whines when they don’t fall back. I was surprised he didn’t declare his love for you.” Alexander fingered my belt loops and drew me to him.

“Yeah, why didn’t he?” I asked, gazing up at him.

“I’m sure he did,” he said, brushing my hair away from my face. “He just knows what I’d do to him if he did anything about it.”

“You think he’d really like me?”

For a moment, I too was as giddy as Becky had been. Not because I liked Sebastian but because I liked the idea of being admired. I spent so much of my life in Dullsville being ostracized, it was exhilarating to know that

I might be attractive to the male species, especially when the male species was the vampire kind.

“How could he miss the most beautiful girl in Dullsville—or the world, for that matter?” Alexander asked.

“He’d have to be blinder than a bat.”

My boyfriend stared at me, his chocolate eyes burning through me. He leaned into me and gave me a five-star kiss.

5

Grave Situation

The following morning, I was lumbering around my room in a towel and Jack Skellington slippers like a lost zombie, vacuously trying to figure out what to wear to school, when I heard Becky repeatedly blast her truck’s horn. I threw on the first thing I saw, a charcoal-colored T-shirt dress, and layered it with a ripped Wicked

Wiccas tank, gathered my backpack, and haphazardly dragged myself out of my house. When I got into her truck, Becky was sporting an overblown grin.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“He texted me like a hundred times.” She blurted out the words as if she’d been holding them in for a decade.

“Who?” I asked. But I already knew the answer. “Sebastian?”

She tried to hide the smile that crept across her face by chewing on her sparkling pink lip and drove us toward school. “How did you know?”

“A hundred?” I asked flatly.

“Well…not exactly. But I’m going to have to buy more minutes.”

“What did he say?”

“He wanted to know what I was doing…what I liked to do…what were my favorite flowers.” Becky beamed.

“Did you answer?”

“I did until Matt texted in. Then I told him I had to go.”

“You shouldn’t be texting Sebastian.”

“Why?”

“Why? Because you have a boyfriend.”

“I know that. But it’s no big deal.”

“Are you kidding?” Becky was as serious as she was naive. She was so amazed that Matt liked her, she couldn’t fathom that another guy might possibly feel the same. “Texting another guy? In some countries you could be jailed.”

“Raven, I think you’re totally overreacting.”

“Me? Overreact? Promise me you won’t text him anymore.”

“He was just being nice.”

“He’s not being nice. He’s dangerous,” I blurted out.

“He’s a criminal?” Becky squealed.

“Of course not,” I said, and sighed.

Becky was being unusually stubborn. I knew it was because she simply didn’t think I wasn’t going to leave her in the dark anymore. I had to use all my ammunition.

“He’s dangerous for different reasons than you think. He’s in love with you!”

Becky almost slammed on the brakes. “You’re joking.”

“No—it’s true.”

“No one’s ever been in love with me. Not even Matt.”

“What? Of course Matt loves you.”

“Well, he’s never said it.”

I was surprised. I figured Matt told her all the time, as Alexander told me.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I would have told you the minute he told me.”

“I just assumed he already had. But clearly, he doesn’t need to. It’s written all over his face.”

“You think so?” she asked with doughy eyes. “You know how I feel about him.”

“Of course he loves you. That’s why you have to stay away from Sebastian. So you don’t spoil your relationship with Matt.”

“I’d never let that happen. But I don’t believe you about Sebastian. Truly, he was being totally innocent.”

“Guys don’t want to be just friends. Haven’t you seen When Harry Met Sally?”

“No.”

“Well, perhaps it’s time you watched it.”

“I’ll rent it tonight.”

“Perfect. Then we’re done with the subject,” I ordered. “He’s supposed to be leaving soon anyway, so there’s no need to mention his name.”

“Mention whose name?” she asked with a cute grin.

Becky parked the truck in the student parking lot. We dashed up the front stairs through the bustling hallways and hurried to our lockers. She opened hers to find a glass vase tied with a white ribbon and filled with tiny pink roses.

“Wow—Matt never gave me roses before,” she exclaimed. “Didn’t I tell you I had the best boyfriend ever?”

My stomach tied itself in a bigger knot than was on her bow.

“My guess is they aren’t from him,” I mumbled.

“What?”

“Uh…nothing. Is there a card?”

“Oh…” She picked through the flowers. “Here it is. ‘Until we meet again…Sebastian,’” she read aloud.