When Angels Cry Blood

“Okay, you take a right at the next road, you’ll come to a red light about a mile down that road, then you turn left, and you’ll be at the parking lot of Salem Heights High School, and to get there from the apartment all you have to do is follow the road you live on and you’ll get there,” Gabriel explained.

“Okay, and when will you come back for reporting,” I asked.

“Whenever you call,” he said before walking into the building.

“Good luck,” he said as the door closed upon him.

“Goodbye Gabe,” I said as I returned to my car and followed his directions.

Everything was just as he said, the road, the traffic light, even the parking lot, I was probably an hour late for my study hall, but I found out from Gabriel that it was okay to skip those. I can sign myself out after my third block class. So, school will be a snap, easy, and all I have to worry over is how my new neighbor will become my best friend so I can protect her from those evil blood-sucking fiends.

I walked into the school only to be wowed again for the third time today, the school was huge, the walls were white, and the floor was made of fake black marble, but beautiful none the less. The ceilings were high, and the doors a beautiful oak color. I walked into an office that had a set of matching brown chairs and a beautiful oak coffee table. The woman behind the counter was on the phone with someone, so I took a seat in one of the very uncomfortable brown chairs, and waited.

About five minutes later she hung up and turned to me. She had curly, dull copper colored hair that hung well below her shoulders. Her chocolate eyes appeared to scan me over as if she suspected me of something. I guessed she was in her forties from her short-sleeved black button up blouse. “What did you do?” she asked in a bored tone as she maneuvered a pen around her fingertips.

“Nothing, I’m a new student,” I answered.

“Oh you’re the girl from the home schooled place right,” she asked curiously.

“Yes Ma’am,” I answered.

“Wow, okay then you have a lot to do. I know they told you that you have two study halls and two classes because your tutor, Professor Jackson told us about how smart you are, but we need you to take a test regardless of his request to place you,” She explained.

“You will also need to fill out these papers,” She said as she handed me a stack of differently colored papers.

“Okay so what do I do now,” I asked dumbly trying to be human.

“Just take a seat there and fill those out while I get the test that you have to take. It's all the way on the other end of the school, which is probably like a mile long or something, but I’ll be right back,” she answered.

I reluctantly took my place back in the brown chair as I filled out the papers which were basically contact information forms. I put the number that Gabriel had forced into my head before I dropped him off on the sheet, and the address I had written on my palm. I knew he gave the man at the apartment complex a fake name, but I didn’t know what Gabe had told the school attendants. I put down the same name that Gabe used earlier hoping it would correspond.

It was almost half an hour later when the woman returned. “I’m sorry for the wait. I got caught up talking to some other teachers. My name is Mrs. Burton, and you are Elizabeth Kronin correct,” she asked.

“Yes,” I stated. I’m glad that I like the name Elizabeth. If anyone asks; I’ll say my name is Liz because my mom named me after Liz Taylor. Jac is going to get a kick out of this.

“Okay Elizabeth, please take your time. This is just a test to see where you are,” Mrs. Burton explained. She handed me a test that was probably twenty-five pages long with had two hundred questions on it, but I didn’t mind. They were simple questions. I mean, I was already on a college level and these were simple high school questions. I finished the test in half an hour.

“Are you sure you’re finished,” Mrs. Burton asked astonished.

“Yes ma’am,” I said politely.

She sent the test booklet back into a grading room. The person who graded the test came back out in twenty minutes and said I had everything correct, so I got my promised classes, as the bell rang for what Mrs. Burton said was second block. She got me my class schedule, and I was off to Mr. Turner’s calculus class.

“Ah, I see that we have a new student,” Mr. Turner said as I walked into the classroom, I was a little late considering this school is humongous.

“You must be Elizabeth,” he stated.

“Yes sir, but could you please call me Liz,” I asked.

“Of course, it's either Liz or Miss Kronin whichever comes to mind first,” he stated with a professional grin.

“So tell us can you solve this equation,” he asked as he wrote a simple equation. I answered the question correctly, and the girl sitting in front of me turned around to face me.

“I’m glad someone near me under stands this stuff,” she whispered.

Her voice was soft, but she sounded like one of those punk rocker girls that have been getting rejected a lot. I could see why Xavier was interested in her because she was just his type. The girl turned around and faced the front again. Then I turned to my left and recognized the guy sitting next to me. He was smiling as if he had just finished laughing. That’s when it hit me. He must help her with her homework and studying.

“All right class you did well today, I’ll give you the last ten minutes of class since it is a special occasion. Be nice! No fighting over the new student, and you may leave when the bell sounds,” Mr. Turner explained. The girl turned back towards me.

“Hi I’m Alex, sorry for not telling you that earlier. This is Zane, my boyfriend. Yes he’s hot, so hands off,” She stated simply. I laughed as Zane blushed crimson.

“It’s nice to meet you both, I’m Liz.” I said. I smiled to myself as I thought of the name I’d given myself.

“Liz Taylor,” Zane said automatically without thinking.

“If you had darker hair, and more of a purple tint to your eyes you’d look like her,” Zane said.

“No she looks like a recent version of Avril, if your hair was a little lighter with pink highlights you’d so pass for the coolest punk chick in America,” Alex explained.

“That’s um…awesome,” I said smiling at the compliments trying to fit in.

“You two could pass for models any day though. I couldn’t compete with either of you,” I said trying to be nice in return.

“No way! You are way hotter than me, isn’t she Zane?” Alex turned to him.

“I agree with her! We could be models,” he said trying not to sound conceited, and trying not to make her mad at the same time.

“Good answer!” I told him, and Alex hit his arm playfully.

“You should let us introduce you to some people. You never know, we might get you the hook up before graduation,” she joked.

“I don’t know about the hook up, but I guess I could hang out with you guys. At least until I find someone cooler,” I said adding a bit of playfulness to my voice on the last part.

“No one is cooler than me,” Alex said mocking being offended.

“That’s what you say now,” I said in mock meanness.

“Ouch that hurt,” Zane joked with us. Soon the bell rang and Alex took my schedule.

“You have all my classes. Zane has music next, he is learning the guitar, and we have English 4,” she said happily.

“All right nice meeting you Zane. See you have after English, which is where,” I asked.

Alex hugged and kissed Zane good bye before she said, “Come on it's this way,” as she began to walk down the hall. I quickly followed her into a classroom not too far from the one we exited.

“Mr. Guinn this is Liz Kronin,” Alex said to the man. He reminded me of Gabriel only his eyes weren’t that same bright cheerful green. They were a dark green, and he had almost that exact same caramel brown hair, only there were bits of gray fading into it.

“Hello Miss Kronin, nice to see that a smart person is in this class,” he said warmly.

“Excuse me,” I asked not sure if he was joking or not.

“Oh Mrs. Burton gave me a copy of that test you took this morning. Well, at least a copy of the English version and it seems you are familiar with a lot of the classic authors as well as the new range of them. Not to mention your writing is exceptional,” he explained.

“Well, in that case thank you,” I said as I smiled at him. English was a breeze, even though I had to stand and introduce myself to the class, a few of the guys starred at me but I didn’t mind. I was half use to it.

“I’m Elizabeth, call me Liz, and I am from here. I’ve just been home schooled since middle school,” I said when Mr. Guinn asked me to introduce myself.

“Very well, let’s get started on an assignment. I want you all to write a religious paper. Tell me your religion what you believe in, why you believe it. The paper only has to be five paragraphs, it is due by tomorrow,” he explained. I mentally groaned.

“I hate papers,” Alex stated.

“Me to,” I agreed as began to explain my beliefs.

I was extremely careful not to go into too much detail of why I believed. I mean, for goodness sakes…I am an angel! It's there, I should know. In my paper, I explained that I did believe in heaven even though there was actually “no proof” that it was real because sometimes you just have to have faith in something that you can't see or understand.

‘I could think of something to come up with if he asked me to elaborate,’ I thought to myself. I finished my paper just as the bell for fourth block rang. I turned in my paper as Alex and I were walking out.

“So you have Study hall next right,” she asked.

“Yep,” I confirmed.

“Good, so do me and Zane. We can all go back to my place and hang out or something. Or maybe it can be just a girls day today considering you know practically no one,” she said thinking of different things we could do.

“Sounds fun,” I reassured her as we walked towards the office. Zane was waiting outside the door for Alex.

“So, we are hanging out? Or do I get to go hang with some friends while you introduce Liz to everyone,” Zane asked.

“Oh, is it bad that I have a new friend,” Alex asked in mock sarcasm.

“No it’s great, I’ll hang with the guys then,” Zane said as he waved to a group of guys with skateboards.

“Kay, we'll be at my house if you get tired of them,” Alex joked. Zane laughed before giving her a small kiss then walking to the guys.

We made it to the building that Gabriel had shown me earlier with no problems. Well except one tiny detail.