Blood Like Poison For the Love of a Vampire - By M. Leighton Page 0,3

his football pads, looking attractively sweaty and mussed.

"Hey, babe, can you get a ride home with Trinity or Summer today? Josh wants me to go with him to pick up some parts for the Mustang after practice," Drew explained.

"I'll just walk," I said, swallowing my frustrated sigh. "No biggee."

That was the one bad thing about letting Drew drive me to school. If he changed his plans, I got screwed. Luckily, I didn't live far and I never minded walking when the weather was nice. It was like a mini vacation.

"You sure?"

"Yep." I nodded to further reassure him and reinforce my answer.

"You're so awesome," he said, winding one arm around my waist to pick me up and smash his lips playfully to mine.

"I am?" Even as I so coyly - teasingly - asked the question, I thought of my nickname, "T". Maybe the girls were right. I couldn't help the frown that accompanied the thought.

Setting me back on my feet, Drew just grinned mischievously and shrugged. "That's what they say," he taunted as he turned and jogged back across the field to his own practice.

Turning back toward the bleachers, I wiped the frown from my forehead and forced my mind to return to the task at hand. "Alright, let's get this toss down."

Grumbling and complaining, the girls reluctantly descended the stands. I watched in wonder as they dragged themselves to the field. It was probably a mystery to almost everyone how such a motley crew managed to make it so far in competitions. We didn't look very dedicated or energetic.

As the last of the girls walked past me, heading back out onto the grass, I couldn't stop my eyes from flickering back to the fence. I was curiously hungry for one more peak at the stranger. He was still standing there, too. He just stared at me, as motionless as a statue.

Though he was backlit by the setting sun, I could see his eyes clearly. They were a dark, rich brown that seemed almost black in his pale, pale face. The spark of interest shone in their depths, but beyond that, there was something else. Danger? Determination? Sadness? Fear? Satisfaction? Was it him, or was I simply seeing a reflection of my own inner demons? After all, I'd always wanted but never found someone with whom I could share the real Ridley. Was I imagining that I saw such a person in the face of the stranger? I couldn't be sure what it was, but something in those eyes felt strangely familiar.

The longer he held my eyes, the more I felt like he was touching me in some way, almost physically, tangibly. Much to my surprise, my belly did a little flip, excitement dancing along my nerve ends.

We watched each other for a second or two longer and then, dismissively, he turned and walked away.

********

Later that evening, Summer and I sat cross-legged on my bed, making flash cards for our Anatomy and Physiology test. We were both taking college preparatory classes and Mr. Richardson, our A&P teacher, gave us only four grades in the whole year. We had two major tests, a mid-term exam and a final exam. If you bombed any of the four, you really didn't have a snowball's chance in Hell of fully recovering your grade.

Summer was probably my best friend, though that didn't mean as much as it used to. Much as had happened with almost everyone else, I'd grown apart from her over the last three years. But still, she was the lesser of the evils as far as friends went. I mean, confiding in Trinity was completely out of the question. Having her as my best friend would be like keeping a pet barracuda in my bathtub.

"If I tell you something, will you promise not to tell?" Summer didn't look up at me, just kept writing on the back of the card marked Alveoli.

"Of course."

"Trinity wants me to help her get revenge on Devon. Well, sort of."

Devon was Trinity's ex. If she had anything close to a weakness, he'd be her Achilles heel.

I put down my marker. I could sense a storm on the horizon, a nasty plan birthed in the sick mind of Trinity and it deserved my full attention. They didn't