Эллен Шрайбер - Vampire Kisses

"Well, we'll just see about that, won't we?"

"I'm leaving," Matt shouted from the car. "Are you coming?"

"Thanks for the ice cream, psycho," Trevor said, getting into the Camaro. "But next time remember, I prefer Rocky Road."

I watched my double-dip Chocolate Attack screech away.

"I'd offer you mine, but I know you don't like pure vanilla," Becky said consolingly.

"Thanks, but I have bigger things than ice cream to worry about. Like getting a date!"

Every time the phone rang, my heart jumped. Was it Alexander? And when it wasn't him my heart would break into a million pieces. It had been two long days since I had seen my Gothic mate. I was so preoccupied with Alexander, dreaming of the next time we'd be together, nothing else mattered. I didn't wash the spot where his tender love lips had pressed against my flesh. I was acting like I was straight out of a Gidget movie! What had happened to me? I was losing my edge! For the first time in my life I was really afraid. Afraid of never seeing him again and afraid of being rejected.

If I asked Alexander to the dance, he might freak out. He might say, "With you?" or "No way, not a lame, school dance. I'm so beyond that! And I thought you were, too."

I was beyond that, even though I'd never gone to any dances to actually get beyond them. I wouldn't be going to homecoming or the prom or any of the other dances scheduled throughout the school year. I would stay home with Becky and watch the Munsters on TV. But Trevor's challenge had forced me to fight back, with a weapon that I didn't even have: Alexander.

This feeling of not being able to eat or sleep was new to me. To hang my heart on every ring of the phone, to scream at the top of my lungs for Billy Boy not to tie up the line with his addictive web surfing, not to be able to watch Nosferatu without crying, or to listen to a silly, sappy, drippy, lovesick Celine Dion song without thinking she had written it just for me—I wanted it all to go away.

I think some people call this love. I called it hell.

And then it happened. After two long, torture-filled days. When the phone rang, I thought it was for Billy Boy, and when Billy Boy called my name, I thought it was Becky. I was ready to pour my heart out to her. But before I could speak, I heard his dreamy voice.

"I couldn't wait any longer," he said.

"Excuse me?" I asked, surprised.

"It's Alexander. I know guys aren't supposed to call right away. But I couldn't wait any longer."

"That's a stupid rule. I could have moved."

"In two days?"

"It was only two days?"

He laughed. "It seemed a year for me."

His comment was like a love letter sent straight to my heart.

I waited for him to go on, but there was silence. He said nothing more. This was the perfect chance to invite him to the Snow Ball. The worst he could do was hang up. My hands were shaking and my confidence was oozing out with my perspiration. "Alexander…um…I have something to ask you."

"I do, too."

"Well, you first."

"No, ladies first."

"No, guys are supposed to do the asking."

"You're fight." There was silence. "Well…would you like to go out? Tomorrow night?"

I smiled with delight! "Go out? Yeah, that would be great!"

"So what were you going to ask me?"

I paused. I can do this! I took a deep breath. "Would you…"

"Yes?"

"Do you…"

"Do I what?"

"Like to dance?"

"Yeah, but I didn't think this town had any hip clubs. You know of one?"

"No…but when I find one, I'll let you know." I was such a wimpola!

"Great! Then I'll see you tomorrow at my house, after sundown."

"After sundown?"

"You said you lived for the darkness. So do I."

"You remembered."

"I remember everything," he said, and hung up the phone.

17 Dream Date

My first date! Becky said my first date was dinner at the Mansion, but I didn't agree. Tonight we would be going out: to watch a movie, to play miniature golf, to share a soda at Shirley's. I spent all afternoon talking with Becky, speculating about where he'd take me, what he'd be wearing, and when he would kiss me.

I was so excited, I ran the whole way there. I had to meet Alexander at his iron gate. My mom would have freaked if she had known I had a date with the guy who lived in a haunted house. I couldn't bear the thought of his showing up at my door and my dad's asking him questions about tennis players and his plans for college. So I had to meet my Romeo on his balcony.

And there he was, leaning against the iron gate, sexy in his black jeans and black leather jacket, holding a backpack.

"Are we going on a hike?" I asked.

"No, a picnic."

"At this hour?"

"Is there a better time?"

I shook my head, with a smile.

I had no idea where Alexander would take me, but I could imagine the response from our fellow Dullsvillians.

"Doesn't this bother you?" I asked, pointing to the graffiti.

Alexander shrugged. "Jameson wanted to paint over it, but I wouldn't let him. One man's graffiti is another man's masterpiece." He took my hand and led me down the street without any hints of our plans for the night. And I didn't care where we were going, just as long as it was a million miles away and he never let go.

We stopped at Dullsville's cemetery.

"Here we are," he said.

I had never been taken out on a date, much less a date to a cemetery. Dullsville's cemetery dated from the early 1800s. I'm sure Dullsville was much more exciting as a pioneer town—tiny dress shops, saloons, traders, gamblers, and those Victorian lace-up boots that were totally in.

"Do you bring all your dates here?" I asked.

"Are you afraid?" he asked.

"I used to play here as a child. But during the day."

"This cemetery is probably the most lively place in town."

The rumors were true. Alexander did come to the cemetery in the dark.

The creepy gate was locked to ensure uneasy access for Dullsville's vandals.

"We'll have to climb," he said. "But I know how you like climbing gates."

"We can get in trouble for this," I pointed out.

"But it's okay to sneak into houses, right?" he asked. "Don't worry. I know one of the people."

Dead? Alive? A corpse? Maybe a cousin of Jameson's worked the graveyard shift—literally.

Alexander turned away as I struggled to get over in my tight spandex dress.

After we both dusted off, he took my hand and led me down the middle path, where gravestones were lined up for miles. Some of the grave markers signified a plague that devastated in the 1800s. Alexander walked briskly like he knew exactly where he was going.

Where was he leading me? Who did he know here? Did he sleep here? Had he brought me here to kiss me? And would I become a vampire?

I slowed down. Did I really want to be a vampire? And call this my home? For all eternity?

I tripped over the handle of a shovel, which sent me tumbling forward. I started to fall into an empty grave. Alexander grabbed my arm in the nick of time.

I hung over the empty grave, staring down into the darkness.

"Don't be afraid. It doesn't have your name on it," Alexander joked.

"I think I'm supposed to be home," I said nervously, brushing graveyard dirt off my dress.

But he led me further into the cemetery with his strong hand.

Suddenly we were standing atop a small hill beneath a giant marble monument.

He picked up some fresh daffodils that had blown away and replaced them tenderly at the foot of Baroness Sterling's monument.

"I'd like you to meet someone," he said, looking at me gently and then at the grave. "Grandma, this is Raven."

I didn't know what to say as I stared at the marker. I had never met a dead person before. What was I supposed to say—"She looks just like you"?