_A vampire-hating human suddenly becomes best friends with a vampire. What could happen! ______________ _ “Yeah right, like that’s ever going to happen!” My friend Marget laughed, her hand slapping her knee. I grumbled at her, my eyes closing from the embarrassment. I had just described to her my favorite author, speaking lovingly about how one day I’d meet him. She continued to chuckle at her own words, I averted my eyes to hers. Glancing up to notice the group of girls passing by us. “You know, you’re being too loud right now.” Between chuckles, she mumbled her words, apologizing for not being able to catching her breath long enough. “It’s just too funny,” she finally spoke, “He goes by an alias dummy! it would take a miracle for you to-“ “Excuse me,” a charmed man spoke, his eyes glistening with charisma. My friend and I both turned to each other, we locked eyes and looked back at the handsome man. “Can you show me where this class is?” He pointed to a piece of paper in his hands. My friend spoke first, a simple “Sure thing,” and then looked to me after glancing over the paper. “Looks like you two have the same class, lucky-lucky.” I adjusted my glasses and blinked hard at the paper. “Uh, yes!” I gathered my things and cleared my throat. Before long, I found myself walking side by side with a sparkling personality of a man. His appearance guided too many eyes our way, making me feel more and more like a zoo animal just for the pleasure of eyes. “So,” I spoke to ease the feeling of being watched, “You’re new here?” He smiled brightly, burning a hole through my glasses. “How did you know?” He asked as we turned a corner. “Well, you needed help finding a class right?” “Ah, yes I did, didn’t I?” He seemed to gloom at my remark, stopping in the halls. The bustling was starting to fade as it neared class time. I cleared my throat. “Not only that, though,” I turned to face him, “I think I’d remember if I saw that bright of a smile.” I smiled, myself. His ears perked up, like a little puppy dog. His smile grew strong, but an uneasy eerie feeling erupted when I noticed he’d bitten his lip enough to bleed. I then quickly turned back around. Maybe I just fueled the ego of someone I shouldn’t have. __ _ We made it to his class despite the feeling remaining present._ _ _When I heard the bell ringing, just in time for me to make it to my own class, he suddenly stopped me by the hand and spoke, “Thank you for taking me to my class, I hope to see you around.” __ _ I hope I do, too. Time passed pretty quickly. _ _ We’d become such good friends I considered him my best friend. _ _ _For as long as I could remember though, the uneasy feeling remained. My body felt weak. I would be fine until we were near each other someplace, then the feeling would return in an instant. You know what they say, when someone is bad for you… your body feels it first. So I tried to push him away…. Despite my feelings. I avoided him. “I told you to stop!” I tried shoving his hand away, but it only resulted in his grip tightening. “Why do you hate me?” He brought my hand to his lips, an unexpected expression grew from ear to ear; a frown. I sighed. “…Sorry, you’re right, I’m overreacting. Please let go of my hand, I don’t feel good.” He loosened his grip enough for me to snatch it back. “Are you running a fever?” He asked, placing the back of his hand against my forehead. I sighed again, my eye brows furrowing beneath his hand. “I don’t know, I…” he moved his hand away, listening intently. I suddenly became nervous. His piercing eyes gave me chills. He suddenly spoke, “You don’t know?” His eyes captivated mez “Huh? Oh yeah, I don’t know if I have a fever.” “….Not that,” he glanced around us, and leaned closer to me, the strands of his hair curled slightly when it touched my face. He was so close. I suddenly realized, why I felt so uneasy. A thinly-stringed necklace hung around his neck, and dangled just below my nose. Garlic. I quickly covered my nose, whipping my head back to distance myself. My vision warped momentarily when I breathed in. “Why do you…” He gripped my wrist. “Now I know,” he ripped the cord of his necklace and tossed it to the ground. “We’ve been such close friends, but you really never realized?” “R-realized what? That I’m—“ “A vampire.” The word echoed in my head. I need to tell him he’s crazy. I need to push him away right now, and tell him I don’t know what he’s talking about. My head was clearing from the garlic, but now my head spun for a different reason. “You don’t know what you’re talking about—!” Suddenly and abruptly, he… hugged me? “I’ve been trying to deter you from me this entire time,” he spoke, his words sounding serious. “Even though you were dizzy, and uneasy… and uncomfortable, you still stuck by my side this entire time. Why?” My heart suddenly fluttered. “I don’t…” “Don’t say you don’t know, give me an honest answer,” he pulled apart the hug to look me in the eyes, searching them to find the truth. I can’t tell him the truth, what if he doesn’t see me the same way? What if he doesn’t like that I’m a vampire… “You’re my best friend… and—“ “Just friends?” He asks, without letting me finish my sentence. His eyes looked hurt, but most importantly I could feel the warmth of him grow all around me. He pulled me in, and… kissed me. “I think we’re more than that now.” “W-what..” His eyes glanced at the stringed necklace he’d tossed aside. “I hate vampires,” My heart sank momentarily, until he pulled me closer to him, nuzzling his head against the top of mine. “But you can be an exception.” Suddenly in that moment I realized, I really did have feelings for my best friend.