2Saturday night, Sophie stood in front of her closet and stared at all of her clothes and realized she had absolutely nothing to wear. She didn't want to wear a dress, but she liked none of her skirts, and it was definitely too hot for pants. Which left her with nothing.
In the end, she decided on black shorts and a light blue vee-neck tank top paired with black heels. Well, in theory she would wear the heels, but for now, they were going in her bag, and she would wear flip-flops for the walk over.
By nine o'clock, she was dressed and ready. Her parents had left an hour ago to go to a party of their own. Almost as soon as she had finished her makeup, she heard a knock downstairs. She ran down the stairs in confusion, wondering if Alex had decided to pick her up after all. She froze as she opened the door. Riley stood there, dressed in low-slung blue plaid shorts and a light blue polo. He smiled as he looked down at himself, and then at Sophie.
"We match," he said. "Are you the mind-reader?"
She laughed as she ushered him in. "No, blue is just my favorite color. Hold on, let me get my bag and stuff." She would not think of how good he looked, or of how good they probably looked together.
When she came back to the living room, he was drinking from a flask. She raised an eyebrow. "Starting early, are we?"
"No, just preparing. Blood is not exactly intoxicating." He suddenly looked thoughtful. "I suppose if the person were drunk, then it would be." He put the flask in his back pocket. "Are you ready to go?"
The evening was pleasant and had cooled off nicely from the hot and humid day. It took them about ten minutes to reach Greg's house, a huge white brick mansion. The party was in the den, which was large enough to be a whole different house. Greg's parents had built it mostly for his use, as well as a basketball court off to one side and a patio outside.
Music was at a nice background level, not overbearingly so where one had to shout to be heard. Many of their classmates were already there, red solo cup in hand. Sophie was pleased to notice that it did not seem so segregated. Old and new students alike were mingling and drinking together. She also realized she must not have been the only one nervous about entering the party with Riley, because he detached himself from her and made his way over to a small group of pale students to say hello. Sophie needed to find Alex anyway.
She saw Mike, the small running back, refilling his drink from the keg. "Hey Mike, have you seen Alex?"
He turned and grinned at her. "Hey Soph! Uh, no I haven't seen him. You know this house is a freaking maze. Maybe try him on his cell?" He shrugged, then turned away.
Alex knew she'd have been coming around 9 or 9:30. Where was he? The guys weren't in the basketball court, nor were they in the den, or out on the patio. She finally did give up and called him, but he didn't answer. Frustrated, she stormed up the stairs to the first level of the house while composing an annoyed text to him.
Upstairs, Sophie was never more happy to see Amy walk into the kitchen, looking absolutely stunning in her mini jean skirt and green halter top that dipped low on her back.
"Hey, where's Alex?" Amy said. "I thought he'd be glued to your side like a puppy since he begged you to come. Where are the drinks?"
As they went downstairs, Sophie explained that she hadn't been able to find Alex. Amy had mixed two vodka tonics in the red cups and handed one to Sophie.
"Cheers, dearest," Amy said. She clinked her cup against Sophie's, then took a deep drink. She made a slight face. "Might be a bit strong."
Before Sophie could respond, she felt arms encircle her from behind and lips pressed against her cheek. She smelled Alex's cologne and smiled.
"Hey, where have you been?" Sophie said, trying not to sound whiny as she turned in his arms. "I've been here for half an hour and I called you."
"I'm sorry, you know how bad the service is in Olson's house," Alex said. He leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips. "Glad you made it over okay."
"Well, I actually walked over with Riley," Sophie said, trying not to sound guilty. "He didn't know the way, and he only lives a street away apparently."
"Good, I'm glad Ashby got you here safe. Here, let's go say hi." Alex grabbed her hand and led her over to where a group of BD minorities were standing off by themselves.
They turned to look at Alex and Sophie with what Sophie thought was suspicion until their faces smoothed over to politeness. Riley's arm was around a petite blonde.
"Hey guys," Alex said. "What's all your names?"
Sophie couldn't keep track of all of the names, but she did remember the blonde's name was Leia. Sophie took a deep drink from her vodka tonic. She didn't like how the other girl casually rested her hand across Riley's torso, or how she looked Alex up and down. Sophie also didn't like how Riley had his fingers looped through Leia's back belt loop.
Alex was talking to the two big guys Riley had mentioned before, Nick and Ian.
"Yeah, you know tryouts were at the end of summer, but I think Coach would make an exception for a late tryout," Alex said. "Our one blocker pulled his hamstring, and another is getting knee surgery."
Ian was nodding his head. He was at least six foot three, had his red hair shave closely, and his biceps looked ready to burst from his black t-shirt. "I'd love the chance. We played a lot at our school, but I'd like a college recruiter to see what I can do."
"Would there be anything special you guys need from our sideline medics?" Alex asked. His voice was easy and relaxed, as if he were asking if an asthmatic needed an inhaler.
"Just a few vials of blood, in case we don't measure it correctly," Nick was saying. He was even taller than Ian, at six foot five.
"You can let our medics know what they need to know," Alex said in a serious tone.
Sophie was getting bored and drinking more. She looked around the den and saw Amy sitting on a couch and talking to James. He was leaning in close to her, his hand on her knee. Sophie excused herself to make a new drink, a cranberry and vodka this time. She was already beginning to feel a slight haze from the alcohol.
When Sophie returned to Riley and his friends, Alex was gone. What was with him tonight? He wasn't being attentive whatsoever. To make matters worse, Ty came down the stairs with an arrogant smirk on his face.
"Shit," Sophie said to herself.
Riley followed her gaze and his face became thunderous. But much to everyone's relief, Ty went into the basketball court with his drink in hand.
"I wonder where Alex is," Sophie mused more to herself. "He just disappeared on me."
"He said he had to go look at Greg's new video game," Riley replied, though his voice held doubt.
"You don't believe him." Sophie drank from her cup. "Well, I do. He's always been truthful and honest to me, even said he wouldn't smoke this weekend for me."
"He was telling me that cock and bull, not you," Riley pointed out.
Sophie peered into Riley's cup. "What are you drinking?"
"Rum and Coke," he answered.
"I hate Coke and Pepsi," Sophie said, making a face. "In elementary school, everyone would bring that for the class snack, and it would sit in the classroom all day. We didn't have refrigerators or anything, so by the time we drank it, it was warm and gross."
Riley was looking down at her in amusement. "You don't say. It's the American drink, though."
Just then Amy came over, pulling James along behind her. Besides his swollen nose and bruised face, James was a very good-looking kid with charming curly brown hair and wide green eyes that did not leave Amy.
"Hey you guys," Amy said, raising her cup in the air. "The party just got started with Ty's arrival!"
James's face became just as murderous as Riley's had been a moment ago. "If he comes near me, I swear there's nothing that'll keep me from breaking something on his body."
"James." Riley's voice held warning in it. "We are guests. Do not ruin a good night."
"Oh, I won't. As long as that jackass keeps his mouth, and apparently his hands, to himself." He was staring pointedly at Sophie.
"I'll grab the kitchen knife if he even takes a step towards Soph," Amy promised, winking at James. "You know, I did that once to a guy last year, a college guy. Let's just say he was never so confident to whip anything out of his pants again."
Sophie laughed as the two boys stared in horror at Amy. "You see why I love this girl. But there is one person I am not loving at the moment. Where the hell is Alex?"
"Let's go upstairs and check," Amy suggested, grabbing her hand.
Sophie looked back at Riley and smiled apologetically before Amy had hauled her inside.
Once they were upstairs on the first floor, Amy stopped and turned to Sophie. "Isn't James just so cute?" she said in a hushed voice. "And his mouth looks so soft, I can't wait to kiss him."
"Are your intentions honorable?" Sophie asked teasingly.
"Of course not. And Riley is pretty hot, too. A lot of the guys seem to look to him and listen to him when he says something. He's got that sexy, commanding thing about him."
Sophie rolled her eyes. "I don't need to be hearing or thinking about Riley's sexiness. I just need to find my missing boyfriend."
As they went upstairs to where Greg's bedroom was, Sophie's heart sank. She smelled something. She heard laughter and loud voices at the end of the hall. She heard the click of a lighter. And with her mouth set, she stormed up to the door and flung it open. To her satisfaction it banged against the wall with a loud crack, making all of the boys jump. Alex jumped the biggest.
"What are you doing?" Sophie said, trying not to breathe too deeply in the smoky room. They'd opened the windows so as not to set the fire alarm off.
Alex looked extremely guilty, which was emphasized as he stumbled across the room to Sophie. "Hey babe, I'm sorry, I just took one hit, that's all," he said.
"You told me you wouldn't!"
"It was a stressful week! And the whole thing with Tyler just threw me over the edge, along with worrying about you."
"Come on, Soph, lay off him a bit," Greg said, lounging in his chair and looking at her through half-closed eyes. He started laughing a little. "Or maybe you should lay on him. He wouldn't mind!"
The other guys began snickering and making jokes. Alex was looking at her through heavy-lidded eyes.
"I really am sorry," he was saying. "It'll be just this one weekend, and I won't do it again." His eyes then took in Amy. "Hey, looking hot tonight, Amy!"
Amy's eyes narrowed. "You're a lying bastard," she said.
"Is this what you've been telling all your friends?" Sophie said slowly as they were still laughing and joking about Greg's earlier comment. "That you're not getting laid? That I'm a prude?"
"No, Soph, of course not," Alex said, his voice full of hurt. "You know how much I respect you and like you."
"I can see that, since you respect my opinion on pot. Why respect my opinion on sex, too?"
"Soph, don't do this, not right now."
"I'm sorry." Sophie turned away, taking a deep drink from her cup. "I'll let you get back to smoking. In the meantime, you can take comfort in your stupid pothead friends, not your prudish ex-girlfriend."
Alex grabbed her arm roughly, desperately. "Don't do this. Let's talk it over when we're both sober."
She struggled to wrench out of his grip, but he was strong. More bruises for the next day.
"Don't throw something good away over one little misdemeanor," he whispered pleadingly.
She looked straight into his eyes and said, "Fuck you." She took advantage of his surprise to free herself, turn on her heel, and slam the door shut behind her.
The party was in full swing when Sophie went back downstairs. It seemed like the whole school was at Greg Olson's house, drinking and having a good time. Sophie wanted to punch someone. She could not believe how foolish and trusting she had been. She was angry. So she drank more. Amy knew how to mix the drinks strong. Before long, Sophie knew she was drunk, but she didn't feel happier or better about the situation.
She needed to go home.
But first she needed fresh air. She stepped out onto the patio and tried to calm her reeling head. Before she knew it, she was huddled in a corner, kneeling, hyperventilating, and crying. She felt stupid for overreacting, for being a drama queen. She knew it was one little lie, one little "misdemeanor" as he called it. But if he could easily break her trust and go behind her back about pot, what else would he lie about? No one would understand her point of view since most others did not see the great crime in smoking a little pot. Sophie herself wasn't a fanatic about it; she just didn't like it. Maybe she could find out he was cheating so she could break up with him and not look like a whining bitch.
Ironic that she was the cheater.
Suddenly, she felt gentle hands on her back and shoulders. "Sophie? You need to calm down."
She shook her head wordlessly, not turning her head. She knew it was Riley, and she felt embarrassed that he was seeing her like this.
He was kneeling beside her, and she grabbed her chin with cool fingers to force her to look at him. "Sophie, take a deep and slow breath," he said firmly. "Calm yourself."
She smelled the alcohol on his breath, saw his dilated pupils especially well in his glowing blue eyes. But his voice was clear and steady and his gaze serious and worried. She found herself breathing in and out slowly, deeply, never looking away from Riley.
"Would you like me to walk you home?"
Sophie nodded.
"Well, well, if it isn't the bloodsucking vampire and the slut who cried no," a voice said behind them.
Sophie straightened quickly, but immediately regretted it as blood rushed to her head and she swayed on her feet. Riley steadied her while he focused on Tyler O'Conner. He'd had a lot of drinks and a few hits from the bong. His voice was slurred and his skin flushed.
"Tyler, go back into the house," Riley said while keeping a firm arm around Sophie's waist.
"Wouldn't you guys just love it if all of us human guys were out of the way so you can steal our girls, make them one of you, and fill the population with your freakish people," Ty sneered. "Sophie, get away from him. He'll only use you."
Sophie glared at him. "I don't see that as a race or species thing," she said coldly. "I see that as a male thing. You stick around till you get what you want, which is sex, and once you get it, you leave. And if you don't get it fast enough, you still leave. So fuck all of you, I'm going home." She tried to pull away from Riley, but he did not let her go.
"You sluts are all the same," Ty growled, advancing on them. "Promise everything, and once it comes time, you keep your damn legs rubber banded together. One of these days a guy isn't going to play nice and is going to take what he wants from you."
"To hell with you, Ty," Sophie snapped. "I hope you fall down a black hole and we never hear from you again." Then she turned to go up the steps, ignoring Tyler's comments and curses
In the driveway, she stumbled over something, but Riley was there to catch her. She hadn't even heard him follow her.
"Thank you," she said, bracing herself against him.
And then she felt it. She felt Riley's heartbeat under her hand and through his shirt. It was erratic at the moment. "Are you going to be okay?"
"I'll be fine. Let's worry about getting you home without you falling into any ditches or getting run over."
And within a span of a few seconds, Sophie felt his heart slow down slowly, sluggishly, as if it were struggling to beat. He began to look even more pale than usual.
"Riley, do you need to drink . . . something?"
"I'll be fine. Come on." He dragged her up the steps and out into the dark street.
"But your heart – all of the adrenaline. You must need something."
He growled in frustration. "If you keep this up, I will be sorely tempted – " He cut himself off and stomped off a few feet.
Sophie stopped in the middle of the street, staring at him. He made a mysterious and threatening figure in the dark, lit dimly by a few street lamps. His fists were clenched, and he was looking up at the sky, as if hoping to find answers there. Hollywood could not have captured a more perfect or menacing picture. But she was not afraid of him. In the back of her mind, she wondered how smart this was, egging him on when she was drunk, he was drunk, and she was in anger and revenge mode against Alex. But she did want to know more about Riley, about his people, about what was truth and fiction. Wikipedia had not been all that helpful.
Riley had come back to her and was glaring down at her. "Do you want me to be the monster I am?" he shouted. "Do you want to see that? Do you want me to hurt you? Do you really want to see the freak I am?" He was trembling, but with rage, hunger, or something completely different, Sophie wasn't sure.
"I want you to be who you are," she whispered at last. "I don't want you to be a monster or a freak or a Hollywood fictional vampire or anything. If you need something so important that your health depends on it, then take it." That came out pretty eloquently, considered the numerous drinks she'd had tonight.
His breathing was becoming hoarse and he was shaking even more than before. He squeezed his eyes shut and raised a clenched fist up to his mouth.
"Sophie," he said very slowly and carefully, "may I please see your arm?"
"What, you're not going to go for the jugular?"
Riley did not reply, but merely held out his hand. Sophie swallowed, suddenly anxious. Though she knew fiction was just fiction, it had been ingrained in her for her entire life, whereas the ensanguious people had become nonfiction only a few years ago, and very highly doubted nonfiction at that.
She raised her left arm out to him her palm facing up. Riley reached a hand out and took her hand in his, his trembling fingers sliding up and down her arm. He turned it so that it faced up, and his fingers pressed into the soft flesh at her elbow. She shivered with anticipation and excitement.
He lowered his face to her arm and breathed in deeply, then pressed his lips to her skin.
"You don't want me to stop being who I am," he said, his breath warm, his lips grazing her skin as he spoke. "Are you so sure still?"
Sophie nodded. "Go ahead," she whispered. "Just leave some leftover for me."
She heard a low rumble of a chuckle. And then she felt her skin pierced, as if by two needles, that quickly entered and exited her skin, followed by the warmth and softness of Riley's lips and a slight pressure as he sucked. She felt her own warm blood trickling down her arm and Riley's tongue following the red path. She was completely fascinated as she watched his blonde head bent over her arm. And she knew why the whole vampire thing seemed sexy. It had nothing to do with supernatural powers or hypnosis. It just had to do with Riley's soft mouth and tongue massaging her soft flesh.
"Why choose the arm? Why not my neck?" Sophie suddenly wondered after a few minutes.
Riley's flickered his eyes up at her and pulled his mouth away, licking his lips. He pulled out a handkerchief and applied pressure to her arm.
"So many questions you have," he said. He now seemed more in control and relaxed. "The neck is a sensitive and sexual spot, and I thought you would be more comfortable if I took it from your arm. And you people think anything oral is sexy. If there's a mouth, tongue, and flesh, your Hollywood directors have to capitalize on that and make it sexual as hell." He suddenly looked sly. "I can make it more sexy if you like."
Sophie laughed, and it came out sounding nervous. She was feeling even more lightheaded than before from a combination of alcohol, blood loss, and being turned on. "Oh, no, you don't have to do that," she said quickly. "Just continue with how you're comfortable.
"But you want me to," he murmured confidently.
Suddenly she remembered where they were. "Not in the middle of the street, buddy," she said sharply.
Riley was smirking at her. "Keep pressure on the spot, so you don't bleed more. And once you get home, you need to drink lots of water and eat something."
Then they continued walking. Just like that.
"I think we just jumped from comfortable strangers to something else very quickly," Sophie said, trying to smile.
"We normally don't trust so quickly. Or, that is, others don't trust us so quickly. But you don't have the common sense God gave a sheep."
"If a lesbian wanted to kiss me, I'd let her, even though I'm not one."
"So now you're comparing me to a lesbian. What next? Aforementioned sheep? Or perhaps the Lock Ness Monster."
"I'm just saying I don't care if you're different. Do you care that I'm different?"
"Yes."
That honest confession surprised Sophie that she stopped in the street again and dropped his hand. "You do?" she said in a tight voice, trying not to let the hurt seep in.
He sighed as he ran long fingers through his hair. "I care because now I'm in your debt," he said. "You offered me your blood when I needed it. I'm afraid I will someday take advantage of you."
"What, like blood rape or something?"
Riley winced and she clapped a hand over her mouth, closing her eyes. But she quickly reopened them as she felt the world spin behind her eyelids. "Sorry," she said. "I seem to say really stupid things in front of you all the time."
"What happened that upset you so much?"
"Alex. He lied to me. He told me he wasn't going to smoke pot, and he did it behind my back," Sophie said bitterly. "I guess it's a good excuse to finally break up with him. I didn't see this going anywhere anyway. I liked him, but I got bored most of the time. I mean, he's okay, he's not a bad guy. He just doesn't make good decisions, and we're not going in the same direction. It seems like a waste to put so much time and effort into something that's going to end at graduation anyway, or even by Christmas." She took a deep breath. "So you and Leia. She seems nice." Her voice held little inflection.
Riley chuckled. "Yeah, Leia and I have been an on and off thing for a few years."
"And now you're on."
"Guess so."
Sophie felt her phone vibrate in her bag, but she ignored it. They had reached her house, and she unlocked the front door, throwing her bag onto the floor and leaving her phone in there. She collapsed onto the couch in the family room and pulled the handkerchief away from her arm. Two small holes dotted her skin, and it was slightly bruised. Well hell, her entire body felt like one big bruise after Tyler's rough treatment.
Just another ordinary weekend in Penn Valley.
She felt the couch dip next to her as Riley sat down. He handed her a cup of water and some crackers from the kitchen.
"Eat," he said."
She automatically took the offered things and shoved the crackers in her mouth, carelessly chewing.
"So Alex betrayed you," Riley said.
"I'd rather not talk about it anymore. Or him. Or anyone from Penn Valley. I'm so sick of high school!"
"Keep eating those crackers. I understand. You're waiting for something bigger than this, something better."
"Yes." Sophie had finished all of the crackers in record time and was now downing the water. She set the glass down on the coffee table with a resounding thud, then leaned back against the couch, as well, and turned her head towards Riley. His eyes were so blue, though his dark pupils were taking over.
"Riley," Sophie whispered, "the other day you kissed me." In the back of her mind, she knew she never would have dared to say that sober. The wonders and freeing power of alcohol.
His eyes widened, and his shoulders tensed.
"I wanted to know why," she continued. "I mean, I didn't mind it. Actually, I really liked it, though it was kind of strange in the middle of the school day. Though I guess Alex does it all the time and it kind of embarrasses me since I'm not big on PDA. But we barely know each other – "
Riley leaned in with an exasperated look and kissed her. Sophie's breathing quickened. He was a very good kisser, though she had little to compare him to. In make-out sessions, Alex was wet, sloppy, and too aggressive with too much tongue and saliva falling into her mouth. Sophie always felt like he was raping her mouth. And this was so not appropriate to think about while she was kissing Riley, whose mouth was gentle and caressing, whose tongue was not jabbing into her mouth and against her tongue in an invading and threatening way.
At last they came up for air and Sophie could only stare at Riley.
"I think kissing you is the only way to get you to stop talking," Riley said seriously.
"Okay, so we just went from comfortable strangers to something else to something extremely else very quickly," Sophie said breathlessly.
"I would say so. I know what I want."
"Oh really?" She furrowed her brow. "You wanted my blood before and you didn't want to take it. And I am really tactless."
Riley tried to laugh, but he just ended up looking uncomfortable.
"Sorry," Sophie said as she leaned back against the couch again. "I hope you don't mind my asking this – "
"Go right ahead," he said dryly.
"What does blood taste like to you? I know it tastes metallic, but does it taste different to you, like writers always say? Does it taste really good? Like wine? Or fruit?"
Riley sighed and did not reply for a few moments. Sophie fidgeted on the couch as she waited.
"No, it does not taste like wine, or forbidden fruit, or ice cream or anything like that," he said at last. "It tastes like it does to you or anyone else. I wouldn't go around eating pennies or iron or anything. It's hard to explain."
"And it's not a turn-on."
"Is eating chicken or apples a turn-on to you?"
Sophie grinned. "No."
"I think the reason many associate sex and my people together is because when we are in a sexual or highly excited state, the blood does run faster through our bodies, and gets used up much more quickly, kind of like flooring it in a car. You use up more gas that way. So it's not that the actual act of taking blood is sexual, it's that we need it more when we are feeling sexual."
"So the two really do go hand in hand," Sophie said.
"I suppose so, yes."
She began to laugh, and when Riley looked at her in bewilderment, she said, "Hollywood gets at least one point right!"
A/N: So if you haven't noticed by now, I changed Eric's name to Riley. I've always loved the name Riley, and Eric is a bit overused, I feel. I hope things don't feel too rushed or sudden in this story, but I feel, anything is possible when dealing with teens and hormones. I hope you are enjoying the story so far as I try to incorporate vampiric things in with normal, everyday life of a high school student. I promise you, though, more drama is on the way, and I can only ask that you remain patient. Thanks!