Vampire Shifter Academy, page 5
“So, how does everything work around here?” Eva asked, feeling a need to switch the topic to something more neutral.
“What do you mean?” Bella didn’t understand.
“I mean, the school, and what are the cliques like?”
“Oh, that!” Bella laughed. “You mean, is it something different, or maybe even better than at other high schools?”
“Kinda.”
“Yeah, I wish,” Bella snorted. “It’s the same shit. You’ve got cheerleader bullies, you’ve got jocks, nerds, goths, the usual teams.”
“Which one do you belong to?”
“I hate labels, but if I have to be labeled somehow, I’m a nerd, I guess,” she shrugged her shoulders disinterestedly. “But, you’re really pretty. I’d watch out for the cheerleaders if I were you, especially Katrina. She hates competition.”
“Katrina?”
“Katrina Hampton. The head cheerleader. Head bitch, too. Thinks she owns the place and everyone in it, and acts like it.”
“Oh, I’ve seen my fair share of those.”
“Trust me, this one is unlike any you’ve seen before.”
“If she pushes me, I’ll push back. I’m not gonna be anyone’s doormat. I had enough of that back in my old school.”
“Just a friendly warning. If you can, just try to stay away from her.”
“I don’t plan on making enemies on my first day.”
“Sometimes, enemies find you,” Bella told her, but Eva could sense that there was no ill will behind it. It was just a warning.
The conversation took on a very grave tone, and Eva was reluctant to talk about it any longer. Instead, she suggested they get dressed, so they could head out together. It was best to get this show on the road, and see where it would lead.
Chapter 6
The moment Eva walked into class, she could feel the fiery, burning stare of all eyes present, resting right on her. They didn’t even try to hide it. Some whispered noiselessly to each other, still looking her way, as she walked past small, wooden desks, trying to get to the available one all the way in the back.
“Don’t pay attention,” Bella said, not realizing that she was only making it worse, while increasing Eva’s anxiety.
Eva didn’t reply. Instead, she just quietly sank down into the free desk, and tried to make herself look as little as possible; hopefully, invisible but it didn’t work.
A few minutes later, their teacher walked in. She was a surprisingly sunny person, the type which Eva didn’t expect to see in what she just found out was a vampire academy, centuries old and unknown to regular humans. She looked like she was in her early 30s, with a yellow and red striped blouse, a black pencil skirt and dark flats. She had a bright yellow sunflower brooch on her chest, which sparkled when it caught the light. It looked old, like a family heirloom. She was wearing no make up, and yet when she smiled, she illuminated the whole room.
“Good morning, everyone!” she chirped, and the whole class got quiet.
Eva was surprised to see that. She didn’t seem like the type of teacher who had much authority. She appeared to be one of those friendly, you-can-talk-to-me-about-anything types, which she saw back in her old school. Those, sometimes had authority issues, exactly because of their type of approach to teaching.
“I hope everyone had a pleasant weekend,” she looked around for approval and there were a few nods here and there, so she continued in the same tone, “I realize we have a new face here.”
She eyed Eva, bent over her desk in the back. At first, Eva didn’t react. A part of her hoped she wouldn’t have to do anything, but tough luck.
“Maybe you’d like to introduce yourself?” she asked sweetly.
Everything about Eva and her body language said that she would like to do no such thing but Eva knew that this was just part of the procedure. The new kid always had to do this, whether he or she liked it or not. Better just get it over with and try not to say anything stupid.
“Sure,” Eva got up, taking a deep breath as she did so. “My name is Eva Miles, I…” she paused a little, thinking how to word the next thought, “I just got transferred here this weekend, so I’m still adjusting to the new place. But, it looks great. I enjoy reading and swimming in my free time, and I’m a fan of Freud.”
When she said this, she could hear a few giggles from the front row, then two pairs of eyes turned around to take a better look at her. She hoped this was enough.
“I guess that’s all,” Eva finished, silently begging for permission to sit back down.
“Freud!” her teacher exclaimed happily. “It’s so nice to see young people interested in his ideas, even though they are a little unorthodox. Thank you, my dear, you may sit down.”
Eva nodded in silent gratitude. Bella, sitting on her right, waved at her.
“That was good,” she whispered, giving her the thumbs up, and then it was time for everyone to take out their notebooks.
The class ended uneventfully and Eva welcomed the sound of the bell. The first class was always the toughest one. Every subsequent one would be easier and easier. She couldn’t wait for the end of the week, though, and the chance to talk to her grandparents again. She missed them so much it hurt.
She walked back to her locker with Bella, even though they didn’t have the same class after that.
“It wasn’t that bad, was it?” Bella asked, picking out the books she needed from her locker.
“It was okay, I guess,” Eva gave a half shrug, doing the same. Just a few more hours and she would be able to close the doors to her dorm room and hide in her bed with a book.
“Hold on to your horses,” Bella suddenly said, slamming her locker shut and looking somewhere behind Eva, “it’s about to get a whole lot worse.”
Eva couldn’t understand what she was referring to, until she smelled heavy perfume coming from behind. She heard the sound of rhythmical footsteps and then, three girls stepped in between her and Bella. They looked like a bad replica of some old, 60s girl group, with a little too much makeup and hair spray, not to mention the perfume. Even their scarves were arranged to color match. It was ridiculous.
She could immediately guess who the leader was. Katrina Hampton. The tall, overly skinny, overly tanned, self-proclaimed beauty. She was chewing gum in the worst way possible, loud and obnoxious, her mouth half open, making annoying sounds, which would make anyone cringe. To her left was a short, slightly chubby girl, who would have looked better in a size bigger clothing. This way, skin oozed from the sides of her hips, even though there wasn’t really that much of it. It just looked bad and disproportionate. The girl on the right was the most normal looking. She just had a tad bit too much make up, for Eva’s taste. But, all three together were a disaster.
Bella had told her before and she believed it: these three ruled the school. The reason for this was probably the right combination of enough money and putting out, but Eva was brought up better than to say such a thing out loud, no matter how annoying these girls were.
“So, tell me, new kid,” Katrina addressed Eva, as if they’d been friends for ages. “You probably know this one. Why did Sigmund Freud cross the street?”
“Why?” Eva asked, knowing what would follow was probably some stupid, overly chewed up joke.
As it turned out, she was right.
“To get to the mother side!” Katrina exclaimed, dramatically, and the two girls burst out laughing as if that was the funniest thing they’d ever heard.
Bella raised her eyebrow, and Eva knew exactly what she meant. It was too stupid to even comment on. Cheesy.
“I thought you’d know that one, new kid,” Katrina shook her head, pretending she felt sorry for her.
“No point in remembering a washed out joke,” Eva gave a dismissive half shrug.
The look in Katrina’s eyes was priceless. She didn’t expect any back talk, especially not from the new kid.
“You should watch your mouth, new kid, otherwise you’ll be washed out before you even start,” Katrina approached her menacingly, trying to show her who the boss was.
“I highly value my personal space, so I must warn you,” Eva spoke calmly, with total control of her voice and her piercing gaze, aimed at Katrina, “I have a black belt in karate and I occasionally train at boxing. I wouldn’t make idle threats, if I were you.”
Bella was on the verge of clapping. The girls at Katrina’s sides were waiting for Katrina’s next move. The tension in the air was palpable.
“Listen, new kid…”
“No, you listen,” Eva interrupted her, “this is my first day. I haven’t done anything to you. So, please, just move aside and let me get back to my day. Unless you want to see if I was telling the truth about that karate thing.”
Eva had a staggering look, and she knew she couldn’t look away first. This was all about establishing her identity, and she wasn’t going to let some push over bully make this even worse than it was. She had more than enough on her plate, and she wasn’t too eager to add a bully problem to it.
A few seconds passed, when Katrina finally released an annoyed puff.
“I don’t have time for this,” she rolled her eyes. “But, this isn’t over, new kid.”
“Yeah, this isn't over!” the one on the left repeated.
“Not by a long shot!” the one on the right added, and all three stormed down the hallway.
Bella watched them walk away, then turned back to Eva, with a victorious grin on her small, round face.
“That was freakin’ awesome!” she awed.
“I really didn’t want to do that.”
“What are you talking about?” Bella praised her. “That was monumental! No one ever spoke to her like that!”
“I lied about the karate thing. I mean, me and my dad did some boxing, but that’s about it. I could throw in a few mean punches, but I’m not sure how I’d do in a real fight.”
“She doesn’t know that,” Bella replied.
“Yeah, but maybe I made it even worse,” Eva wondered. “I don’t know. You told me to stay away from her. Maybe you’re right, but I just didn’t want to be the target from day one, you know. I was a nobody in my old school, people made fun of me. I guess I just wanted a clean slate here, to create myself as I am, not as I was.”
“I can understand that.”
“Well, we’ll see what I did,” Eva sighed. “I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it again.”
“Don’t worry, I got your back. See you after class?” Bella asked.
“Of course,” Eva smiled.
She already liked Bella. Principal Rannulf made a good decision pairing them up. She almost wanted to thank him.
Chapter 7
Eva was picking up some books from her locker, and Bella’s cheerful face popped up as Eva slammed the door shut, with a loud bang. She always wondered why these lockers made so much noise, as if the kids’ chatter wasn’t loud enough. Sometimes, she could barely think in the hallways.
“Oh, crap, you scared me!” Eva jumped with fright upon seeing her friend. She pressed her hand against her heart. It was beating like crazy.
“Guilty conscience, eh?” Bella winked, as the two started walking to the gymnasium.
“Not really, just jittery is all,” Eva explained.
“Well, after all you’ve been through lately, I’d consider myself lucky to be just jittery. You could have gone totally, batshit crazy,” she said, with such sincerity, that Eva almost burst out laughing.
“And miss all this drama?” Eva eyed her sideways. “You must be crazy!”
The two girls burst out laughing. All around them, students were headed the same way, busily chatting to those they were with. There was excitement in the air. It was almost palpable.
“So, this game is a big deal, huh?” Eva asked, looking around her.
People were wearing t-shirts and jerseys with the school name or pictures of the school mascot and waving the school flag.
“Can’t you tell?” Bella raised her eyebrow, gesturing all around them. “We’re playing the yearly game with Pleamore Academy,” she explained matter-of-factly.
“Pleamore Academy?” Eva repeated.
It didn’t ring a bell. Then, it occurred to her that, of course, it wouldn’t. It was probably another secret school for vampires or something like that.
“Werewolf Academy?” Bella told her, with a surprised tone of voice.
“Werewolf Academy?” Eva felt like all she was doing was just repeating Bella’s words. “Seriously?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Werewolves really exist?”
Eva couldn’t wrap her head around it. First vampires, her being a Halfling, and now this. She felt like it was all a little too much. A little too crazy. Definitely more than she could handle right now.
“Of course. Why wouldn’t they?” Bella answered, and then, seeing the look on Eva’s face, started laughing. “Boy, they really kept you under a rock, didn’t they?”
“What do you mean?”
“I guess your dad really wanted to keep this entire world away from you until he thought it was the right time to introduce you to it.”
The thought of her father brought sadness. Eva felt that same heaviness of heart, like she couldn’t breathe properly. Bella noticed it immediately.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…” Bella bit her tongue. She felt bad. Sometimes, her mouth was faster than her mind, releasing words before she thought them through.
“It’s not your fault,” Eva smiled, “and besides, what you said really makes sense. I guess he wanted to show me this world himself, when he was ready or when we were both ready. Unfortunately, now I have to learn all about it by myself.”
“You have me,” Bella reached for Eva’s hand and squeezed it. “Now, let’s go kick some werewolf ass!”
Eva laughed and allowed the general euphoric feeling of excitement which reigned in the air to wash all over her. They reached the gymnasium quickly and found good seats. The place was packed. It was noisy but no one seemed to mind. Everyone was cheering for their own team, trying to give them extra courage. For a second, she almost forgot that these were vampires and werewolves, and not just two regular human teams playing basketball.
Eva noticed that there were two separate sets of bleachers. One housed Ridgeview Academy supporters and the other one students wearing and waving emblems and flags of Pleamore Academy. They didn’t mix.
“Why are we separated?” Eva leaned in and asked Bella.
She almost had to shout in her ear, because everyone around them was so loud that they were barely able to hear each other.
“The werewolf boys, they um… cheer a little hard, and also play a little hard,” Bella tried to explain.
“Is that fair?”
“Of course not,” Bella shook her head, “but, that’s how they are, even in human form. Of course, no special skills and powers are allowed. No transformations. Just good old, human basketball,” she laughed.
Then, she leaned over, taking a long hard look at the opposing team’s supporters. A few seconds later, a guy’s head was popping out in the same way, looking their way. He had bushy hair and a square face. Bella blushed a little, waved at him, then sat back down, hiding from his sight.
Eva watched all of this with curiosity, then turned to her friend, waiting for an explanation, but not really saying anything. At first, Bella pretended not to see or feel the burning gaze Eva was sending her way, but then she finally gave in.
“He’s... just a friend,” she tried to wiggle her way out, still blushing a little.
“Oh really?” Eva eyed her skeptically, with a wide grin on her face.
“Fine!” Bella hissed playfully. “He’s kinda like my boyfriend, or other…”
“Kinda like your boyfriend or other?” Eva couldn’t prevent herself from laughing.
“Yes,” Bella rolled her eyes, but it was obvious that the girls were enjoying this conversation, and despite her weird way of replying, Bella had no problems sharing this secret with her new best friend. “But, you can’t tell anyone.”
“Why?” Eva wondered. “Aren’t we all on the same side here? Unless we’re playing the game, of course,” she tried a joke but Bella didn’t seem to hear it.
