Vampiric Visits

The day was Friday, and I hadn't seen Gastov since that horrid Tuesday night. The short kiss we shared was constantly on my mind, but I still had room for other things. I had felt a small amount of guilt when I saw Nate again on Wednesday. After a few days, especially with the weight of Gastov's visits lifted off my shoulders, I felt more relaxed around Nate.

We had barely known each other for a week, yet Nate and I had already grown so close. May was rather encouraging, always trying to think of ways to get us to be alone. She kept planning dates for us, but I never let her tell Nate about them.

May started dating one of her childhood friends; a man who had graduated the year before and was starting his Freshman year of college next year. I had congratulated her, and all she could do in response was blush and look at her feet.

"So, who asked who?" I couldn't believe that I was actually curious.

"He asked me," she mumbled, a lost expression on her face. "He's so..." She trailed off, most likely not knowing how to continue.

"It's so great that you two live so close together, and share such a strong bond." May smiled at me, nodding.

"Come on, let's get to class," Nate said, suddenly appearing behind us. I laughed a little out of surprise, and as soon as notebooks were procured from our lockers, we walked to our first hour English class together.

May bent to whisper to me, "How is your relationship with Nate going?" I elbowed her.

"Be quiet about that," I whispered back quickly.

"I am being quiet!" May threw her arms up in exasperation. "God, you never tell me anything!"

It felt like she had punctured my heart with a knife. The statement was almost completely true: I didn't tell her anything anymore. I certainly couldn't tell her about all of the mythical creature nonsense, could I? She would definitely think that I was crazy, and probably never speak to me again. I shook my head lightly. I could never tell May, my best friend for five years, that I had suddenly learned that I was not human.

"Well, I don't think that there's anything to report," I told her, hiding my frown. Besides, I was still feeling confused about my kiss with Gastov; I wasn't sure if I wanted to be in a relationship with Nate. And everything was happening so quickly, anyway! I shouldn't feel anything for either of those two after only knowing both of them for barely a week.

"Will you promise to tell me about anything that happens?" I turned to look at Nate, who seemed to not be paying any attention at all to the conversation. A book was laid open on his desk, and his eyes darted from side to side as he devoured the words on the pages, shifting his hand occasionally to turn the page.

I let out a heavy sigh. I knew that I would eventually end up allowing him into my life the way he wanted to be in it. Gastov and I could never be together, but Nate and I could get married, have children, and grow old together.

Nate glanced up from his book, flashing me a heart-warming smile. I smiled back at him, feeling strangely and genuinely happy in that moment.

"Yes, I promise that I'll tell you if anything goes on between us," I answered, turning back to face her. With the smile still present on my face, May ended up smiling as well.

"Hey, May?" I asked.

"Yeah?"

"Let's do our best to make the remainder of the school year- and our summer- the best we've ever had, okay?" I felt my smile grow as I looked at her and waited for a reply.

"Yeah; that sounds great," she let out a small, joyous laugh. "And you'll get to know Nate even better!"

"May!" I protested, pointing out that she hadn't been whispering then.

"Oh, sorry!" she laughed, clasping her hands over her mouth. Nate glanced up, smiling as he realized what we were talking about.

"So, you want to get to know me better over summer?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. I rolled my eyes and lightly covered my mouth with my fingers in an attempt to hide my smile. "I see you grinning there." All three of us laughed.

Yes, that summer was going to be good.

When lunch rolled around, Nate told may that he needed to speak to me in private, and then dragged me away to find such a place. i wondered what he wanted to talk about this time.

For some odd reason, Nate decided to drag us into an old, unused janitor's closet. He made sure that no one had noticed us.

"I've known about the vampire," he said suddenly, startling me a little.

"You... do? I mean, how do you know?" I asked, feeling a little puzzled. I had always thought that he'd know about Gastov, but I could never work out a reason behind it.

"It's not visible to human eyes, but I can see the scars left over from where he bit you." He didn't seem to disapprove at all, though he did seem disappointed that I hadn't told him about it before.

"How can you see them?" I asked again, still feeling puzzled. "I've looked in the mirror several times, searching for any visible evidence that he truly did come to visit me at night."

"You have to train your eyes to see the world the way a Faerie does, Anna," he smiled, reaching up to gently brush his fingers against my cheek.

"So... does that mean that anyone can?"

"If they work hard enough toward it, yes," he mumbled, and I didn't notice that he had leaned closer in the darkness of the closet. "You already can see some of the things I do, since you're also a Faerie."

"Does it bother you that I know Gastov?"

"The vampire? No; I know that he's nothing to worry about."

"You..." I trailed off when I felt the light pressure of a pair of lips covering my own. Shock rushed through me: Nate was kissing me. Many thoughts flipped through my mind.

Gastov was worried about my friendship with another Faerie, but Nate wasn't at all worried that Gastov could have killed me if he had wanted to. I didn't know whether or not I should express concern for the matter.

On the other hand, my heart was ready to explode with the way it was hammering in my chest. If Nate had been Gastov, I would have worried that he'd be able to hear my heart. Nate wasn't a vampire, though. I was pretty sure that Faeries couldn't hear that well. Wasn't it just a predator-like thing, to tell if their prey was nearby?

"Sorry," Nate pulled away then, realizing that I wasn't giving any sort of response.

"Oh, um," I stuttered, backing away from him a bit. My back hit the light switch on the wall behind me, and suddenly I could see the small smile on Nate's face. "No, I'm sorry..."

"You have nothing to be sorry about, Anna," he sighed, seeming a little disappointed. "Things are just happening way too fast for you, right? I'll back off a bit, but I will get you to kiss me back eventually." He winked at me, and I was left speechless. A strange sense of joy washed over me at the fact that he would not be giving up.

"Come on, let's go get some lunch," he slipped his fingers through mine and led me back out of the closet, turning the light off and closing the door behind us. I didn't pull my hand out of his this time.

I made a small note to tell May about what had happened. Was there truly something blooming between Nate and I?