Heather Brewer - Tenth Grade Bleeds

Henry pulled him away from the lockers and slammed him against them again. When he spoke, it was more of a growl than actual words. “I’m nobody’s pet. Now get lost before you make me angry.”

After Eddie disappeared out the front doors with wide, terrified eyes darting back to Henry with every step he took, Vlad gave Henry’s shoulder a squeeze. “Dude, that was awesome. Thank-”

Henry shook him off. “Yeah, don’t mention it. Just leave me alone.”

VLAD BUTTONED THE BOTTOM BUTTON on his black vest and regarded his reflection in the mirror. While Nelly had fought him tooth and nail on wearing skinny black pants, a white dress shirt with black pinstripes, a black vest, a black jacket, and tennis shoes adorned with tiny skulls to the Snow Ball, Vlad thought even she would agree that he looked pretty good. He slipped his jacket on and brushed his black hair from his dark eyes. He was cloaked in shadows from head to toe. This was going to be a night to remember.

Downstairs, the doorbell rang out in an ominous tone. Moments later, there was a soft knock on Vlad’s door. Vlad checked his jacket pocket for ChapStick and said, “Come in.”

Henry opened the door, and Vlad’s smile deflated. He was dressed in the same outfit he’d worn to school that day.

Unwilling to entertain the notion that his best friend was ditching him again, Vlad said, “Dude, you do know that this is a semiformal dance, don’t you? Snelgrove will never let you in wearing that.”

“ That’s okay.” Henry cleared his throat against his fist, then took a deep breath, as if whatever he was about to say required an enormous bout of bravery. “I’m not going.”

Vlad stiffened-it wasn’t like Henry to miss a dance, let alone this dance, and they’d been talking about going as recently as last week, the day he stood up to Eddie, the day Henry had stormed out in a huff. The Snow Ball was a huge deal to everyone-from the goths to the jocks. It was just about the only time the two groups could mingle in the same room without any snide comments being tossed around. Vlad couldn’t imagine Henry missing out. “What about Kylie McAuliffe?”

Henry shrugged vacantly. “I called her a couple of hours ago and canceled.”

Vlad just about choked. “Why?”

Henry stood there for a long time, despondent. He seemed to be bursting with things to say, but holding them in, as if he didn’t want to taint Vlad’s mood with his own. Finally he sighed and dropped his gaze to the ground. “It’s just a stupid dance, Vlad.”

Vlad tightened his jaw, resisting the temptation to read Henry’s mind. “Is it because of Melissa?”

Henry shoved his hands in his front pockets, his eyes still on the ground. Finally, in a gravelly tone, he said, “If you really wanna know, it’s because of you.”

Vlad blinked. He wasn’t entirely certain he’d heard Henry right. He squeaked out, “Me?”

Then Henry’s hands were out of his pockets, his eyes blazing, his face red. “I’m so sick of it, Vlad!” he yelled. “You think you’re so special because you can float through midair and read people’s minds. You think you’re so great because you can order me around and I have no say at all. I’m sick of it! I’m sick of you!”

Vlad was shocked into complete silence. Every word slashed through his heart like a knife, until his insides were nothing more than a pile of goo. It hurt to hear these things-but it hurt a thousand times more to hear them from Henry.

Though it pained him to do so, Vlad took in a slow, deep breath, licked his dry lips, and forced his mouth to form words. “For one, I don’t think I’m all that special. Most of the time, my abilities just make me out to be some kind of freak. And since when do I order you around?”

“At lunch a few weeks ago. And there were other times.” Henry’s eyes were red and shining, as if he were fighting back frustrated tears. “I don’t get a choice. You made me your drudge and didn’t even ask me, didn’t even tell me what it would mean.”

Vlad’s own eyes filled with tears, and he shook his head, hoping the action would clear his vision. “How could I have told you? I didn’t know, Henry! Not until Otis told me two years ago. This is nuts. You’re acting like a crazy person.”

Henry met his gaze. His words were crisp, cold. “I’m tired of being your slave. I want out.”

Vlad felt as if every ounce of air had been sucked out of his lungs, and he nearly staggered in an effort to catch his breath. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. It was like his best friend had been replaced by one of the pod people. He shook his head, confounded. “You… you really don’t want to be my drudge anymore?”

Henry didn’t reply. Vlad fought the urge to weep uncontrollably and instead pushed his anguish deep down, where he could pretend it didn’t exist. He didn’t speak for a very long time.

Then finally, once his heart had completed its explosion, throwing shards of itself up against the walls of his rib cage, he choked out, “I read something about releasing a drudge in the Compendium of Conscientia. If you’re serious-”

Henry’s glare said that he was.

“-I’ll brush up on the details.”

Henry stood there silently. Vlad was beginning to wonder if he’d ever speak again, when he blurted out, “Do it soon.”

Something inside Vlad snapped, and his anguish turned to fury. “If I didn’t have a dance to go to with my girlfriend, I’d do it right now!”

“Good!”

“Fine!”

Henry stepped out of the room and slammed the door. Vlad could hear him as he stomped down the stairs and banged the front door shut. Tears were streaking Vlad’s face when another soft knock came at his door. Not meaning to, he snapped, “What now?”

Nelly cracked the door open and peered at him with a look of pity that made Vlad’s tears fall faster. She rarely came to his room, so he knew she’d overheard at least part of the argument. “Henry seemed pretty upset when he left,” she said softly. “What happened between you two?”

Vlad wiped his tears with the back of his hand. When he spoke, his voice shook with exasperation. “Have you ever thought you knew somebody better than anyone and then they just changed out of the blue into somebody else entirely?”

Nelly slipped inside and sat on his bed, nodding with understanding. “Your mother, actually.”

Vlad flashed her a curious glance and sank down onto the mattress beside her. “Really? What happened?”

Nelly sighed, as if the memory was almost too much to bear. “One day we were sharing all our secrets and spending all sorts of time together. The next day she needed time alone and couldn’t tell me what she was doing when she was away. It was a horrid period in our friendship. We argued a lot. I shed more than a few tears, convinced I’d lost my best friend forever.”

“But you made up, right?”

Nelly smiled, but her smile was tainted with a strange sadness that Vlad wasn’t sure he would ever understand. “Eventually. One day, Mellina came to visit me, and she brought with her the man of her dreams-that’s what she called your father, the man of her dreams. Once she and Tomas explained the situation-that he was not human, and that they were expecting a child-I understood her reasons for secrecy. Everything was fine after that, and our friendship was as close as ever.”

She met his eyes, her gaze aching with concern for him. “My point is, Vladimir, that there is almost always a reason for people to act as Henry is acting. Your job as his friend is to be kind, to be available when he needs for you to be, and to understand, no matter what those reasons may be. That’s what a good friend does.”