Better Than Revenge

Renesmee had been staying with her parents so I drove to school alone and she was going to be going with Rosalie. I was the first of our group to arrive and I spent my few minutes of solitude immersed in the pages of L.J. Smith’s world of The Vampire Diaries. I knew that I got enough vampires on a daily basis but I was as obsessed with those books as my mom had been with House of Night.
“Well this is a surprise,” Alec said as he plopped on my picnic table across from me. “You’re usually surrounded by the Cullens.”
“Was there something that you actually wanted? Or were you just coming to be a grade A jackass?” I asked coldly without taking my eyes away from my book.
“You know exactly what I want, Andrea. I want to make your mother’s life miserable for ruining my sister. You’re simply a means to an end.”
I narrowed my brown eyes at him. “Stay the fuck away from my mother,” I hissed, even shocking myself with the f-bomb.
“Drea!” Dylan’s voice called from across the quad. I slid from my seat and ran up to him. He was glaring behind me at the vampire but he was only shaking a little and I knew that he wasn’t about to phase. “Hey. Are you all right?”
I shrugged and stuffed my book in my bag. “I’m fine. He’s not going to do something in front of so many witnesses. But I am glad that you’re here now.”
He smiled his thousand watt smile. Serious, how was he still single? He was totally sweet and cute even if he wasn’t exactly my type. “Glad I could help.”
Nessie and Rose showed up right at that minute. Dylan stiffened for a second but he really was getting this wolf thing under control. My cousin threw her arms around his neck and my breath caught in my throat. God she was an idiot sometimes. “Dylan! I’m so glad that you’re back! It’s been so lonely with just Drea and Aunt Rose.”
She pulled back and smiled at him. Their eyes met and I saw Dylan’s grow wider. He just stared at her like they were the only two people in the entire world. It was like he’d never seen her before, like a blind man seeing light for the first time. A slow grin spread over his mouth and I could tell that he was struggling with his rampart feelings.
I went slack-jawed. “Holy crap. Hey, Ness? Can I talk to Dyl for just a minute? We’ll be right back.”
I grabbed my best friend’s arm and dragged him toward the forest. I didn’t stop until we were in the cover of the trees and I was sure that neither of the other girls could hear.
Dylan was a little pale when I turned to him. “Wh-what just happened?”
“Dylan, you imprinted,” I explained excitedly. “The easiest way to explain it is like love at first sight but a million times more powerful. You and Nessie are destined for each other. Aww! I’m so happy for you!”
“Please don’t,” he said. He was just a little embarrassed which of course made me smile wider.
“It’s cute. I promise I won’t say anything. But I can’t promise that when we phase I won’t be thinking of it. I am so going to start watching everything you two do and say around each other. That’s just fair warning.”
I was grinning manically when we returned to the others. For as long as I could remember Dylan, Nessie, and I had just been best friends. But now I could totally see them getting together. Ness shot me a look that said she wanted to know why I looked so insane. I couldn’t help myself though. I couldn’t think of two people that deserved each other more.
“I’m sorry. I forgot something in my locker. I’ll meet you guys in class,” I said quickly before I could blurt out the thing with Dylan. With that I dashed quickly away and burst into a fit of giggles when I was far out of earshot.
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
I spun to face the owner of the silky voice. I was in such a good mood that not even Alec, who looked totally confused as he stared at me, could ruin it. “It’s absolutely nothing. And even if I told you, you wouldn’t understand.”
He leaned against the lockers so that he was hovering extremely close to me. I felt as my face heated up like an inferno and my mouth was suddenly dry. What. The Hell? I so should not be reacting this way to freaking Alec. But oh, god, he just looked so good the way he stood there so carelessly. Like a modern James Dean.
“You’re acting weirder than normal. I’m beginning to think that your brain might just be more dog than human.”
“Screw you,” I snapped. Um, what? Why did this guy have me sounding like my mother? “Look, today was starting out as actually a pretty good day. Please don’t ruin it for me or I’m going to have to kick your butt. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get to class.” I shoved past him. I could feel his gaze on me as I walked down the hall to my first hour and it took everything I had not to look back.
“Hey, what’s up with you? You’re all flushed and stuff,” Nessie accused when I got to English. I put a hand to me cheek and felt that it was warmer than usual. Well crap. “And you smell like him. Why were you with Alec?”
From the corner of my eye I saw Dylan’s head snap in my direction. “I was not with him. He cornered me at my locker. It’s all good though. Sorry I was a little loony earlier.”
My cousin cocked her head to the side so her gorgeous waves tumbled down her shoulders in that way that made me instantly jealous. “Yeah, what was up with that? Did you do something to her?” she asked Dylan who sat directly in front of me.
He shook his head quickly. “N-no. It was just some wolf stuff she had to explain to me,” he mumbled so only we could hear.
Renesmee pursed her lips in a very Bella-like fashion. “I know about all the wolf stuff, you know. Just tell me.”
I smirked slightly and buried my nose in my book. I concentrated on the words leaping from the pages instead of the pre-blooming romance of my two friends.
That’s it, Drea. Just ignore that nosey side that wants to tell Ness about Dylan’s imprint on her. Think about the gorgeous Salvatore brothers. Think about Italy. Think about the Renaissance. Think about a couple of devil-may-care vampires. Think about…
Think about Alec.