Эллен Шрайбер - Vampire Kisses

We got my salad to go as I couldn't chew on it and the tennis metaphors at the same time.

I was greatly confused. I didn't know what to do. Hit the ball or wait for it to come to me? My father was lollygagging with a friend when I heard a voice say, "You play a mean game, Raven!" I turned around and saw Matt leaning against the front counter.

"I can't play at all!" I replied, surprised. I looked around for Trevor.

"I'm not talking about tennis."

"I don't understand."

"I'm talking about school, about Trevor. Don't worry, he's not here."

"So, are you trying to start something with me?" I asked, clutching my racket. "Here at the club?"

"No, I'm trying to end it. I mean, what he does to you and Becky and everyone. Even me. And I'm his best friend. But you stick up for everyone here. And you don't even like us." He laughed. "We're mean to you and you still get Trevor back for all of us."

"Are we on Spy TV?" I asked, looking around for hidden cameras.

"You bring spice to this town, with your funky clothes and your attitude. You don't care what people think, and this town revolves on what people think."

"Is Trevor hiding in the gift shop?" I asked, peering over.

"The Snow Ball really changed a lot of people's minds. Trevor used the whole school, and in the end he made fools of everyone. I think it was our wake-up call."

I realized there were no hidden cameras or hiding Trevors. Matt wasn't joking.

"I wish Alexander could hear you say this," I finally said. "I haven't seen him, and I'm afraid I never will again. Trevor ruined everything," I said, my eyes starting to well up again.

"Screw Trevor!"

Several people looked over, as it wasn't polite to swear at the club, even though they did on the court after they missed a shot.

"Gotta run, Raven—see you," Matt said as he took off.

"I'd like you to meet an old acquaintance, Raven," my father said, approaching with a strikingly suntanned man after Matt left.

"It's nice to see you, Raven," he said. "It's been a while. You look so grown-up now. I wouldn't recognize you without the lipstick. Do you remember me?"

How could I forget him? The first time I entered the Mansion, the basement window, the red cap. The warm kiss on my cheek from the handsome new guy trying to fit in.

"Jack Patterson! Of course I remember you, but I can't believe you remember me."

"I'll always remember you!"

"How do you two know each other?" my father asked.

"From school," Jack answered, with a glint in his eye.

"So what are you up to now?" Jack asked me. "Rumor has it that you're going into the Mansion through the front door these days."

"Well, I was, but…"

"Jack recently moved back to town and took over his father's department store," my dad said.

"Yeah, stop by sometime," Jack said. "I'll give you a discount."

"Do you sell combat boots and black cosmetics?"

Jack Patterson laughed. "I guess some things haven't changed!"

Matt suddenly returned. "Ready to go, Matt?" Jack asked.

"You know Matt?" I asked, surprised.

"We're cousins. I'm glad I moved back—I have some reservations about the crowd he hangs around with."

21 Darkness and Light

It was Saturday evening. I was dressed in my Cure T-shirt and black boxers, watching Dracula in slow motion. I paused the part where Bela leans into a sleeping Helen Chandler and recalled the time Alexander kissed me on his black leather couch. I stared longingly at the screen and grabbed some more tissues.

The doorbell shocked me out of my self-pitying trance. "You get it!" I shouted, and suddenly remembered my family had gone to the movies.

I peered through the peephole but saw nothing. Then I looked again and discovered tiny Becky standing on the doorstep.

"What do you want?" I asked, opening the door.

"Get dressed!"

"I thought maybe you came here to apologize."

"I'm sorry, but you must believe me! You have to come to the Mansion—now!"

"Go home!"

"Raven, immediately!

"What's going on?"

"Please, Raven, hurry!"

I ran upstairs and threw on a black T-shirt and black jeans.

"Hurry!"

I ran back downstairs. She grabbed my arm and pulled me out the door.

I bombarded her with questions as we got into her father's pickup, but she refused to tell me anything.

I imagined the Mansion covered with graffiti, its windows shattered, Trevor and his soccer snobs having it out on the hill with a bloody Alexander. And then another horrible image, but a silent one. A for sale sign in the yard and not even the dark curtains hanging in Alexander's attic window.

Becky didn't park at the Mansion, but a block away.

"What gives?" I asked. "Why don't you park closer?"

But as we jumped out, I saw several cars parked along the curb leading up to the Mansion, unusual for the desolate street.

In the distance I spotted two women dressed in black like they were going to a funeral. But they were swiftly walking, holding lighted torches.

My heart sank. "We'll never make it!" I shouted.

Worse still was seeing a man, also dressed in black and carrying a lighted torch. I freaked. Everything stopped inside of me. It was just like the ending of Frankenstein —where the townspeople gather to burn the castle and cast out poor Franky from his home. Only this was a smaller mob. I couldn't believe it had come to this. I could already smell the smoke.

"No, no!" I shouted, but the man had already turned the corner toward the gate.

My darkest imagination could not have prepared me for what I laid my eyes upon: A small crowd of Dullsvillians had gathered on the Mansion grounds. Conservative townspeople dressed in vampire black? Everyone was so dark I thought I must be wearing sunglasses, but a glowing Becky convinced me I was seeing a perfect picture. There were lively people hanging outside the front of the usually lonely Mansion—and they were all having a blast!

I didn't understand any of it. The gathering was more like a party, but it made no sense. Was it just another sick joke? And then I saw the banner on the open gate that made everything wonderfully clear: WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

"Better late than never," Becky said.

Red streamers also hung from the gate, and lawn torches lit the hill.

"Hey, girl, don't ignore us!" someone called as Becky and I entered the grounds.

I turned around. It was Ruby! She was dressed in a skin-tight black-vinyl dress, and thigh-high black-vinyl go-go boots.

"I've gotten a date out of this outfit already, Raven. You'll never believe it—it was from the butler!" She grimaced like a smitten giggly school girl and fluffed her dyed black hair as she checked herself out in her compact. "He's older, but he's kinda cute!"

By the looks of Ruby, she had been pulled straight off a Paris fashion runway. Even her white poodle was wearing a studded black leash and a black doggie sweater.

"Recognize me?" It was Janice in a black mini and combat boots. "Think it's my color?" she said, revealing her black nail polish.

"Any shade of black will do!" I said.

"I tried to tell you not to come to the Snow Ball," Becky began quickly as we walked up the driveway. "But Trevor blackmailed me. You're always there for me when I need you and I wasn't there for you. Will you ever forgive me?"

"I was so caught up, I didn't listen to your warnings. And you're here for me now." I took her hand. "I'm just glad you're not under Trevor's spell anymore."

As Becky and I continued to walk up the hill of party goers, we ran into Jack Patterson wearing a black turtleneck and jeans.

"I've been waiting all these years for the right moment to pay you back," he confessed. "I've outfitted the party. There's nothing black left in the store!"