Eleventh Grade Burns(22)

Vladimir Tod was going to pay.




Like the villain in an old movie, Joss glanced back, meeting Vlad’s eyes. And in that moment, that microsecond, Vlad’s question was answered. They were no longer friends. Joss was here to finish what he had started their freshman year. And what’s more, the guy code was only upheld between friends. There was no longer reason for him to stay away from Meredith.

Time picked up again, and the car passed Joss and Meredith by. As Henry pulled into a parking space, he said, “Sorry about that. I didn’t know Joss was walking her to school or I’d have said something. I didn’t even know he’d talked to her yet. Man, that guy moves fast.”

Vlad reached up with his hand, touching it lightly to his chest, remembering that glint of silver in the light of the moon. “Yeah ... he does.”





8





A LESSON LEARNED


VLAD FOLLOWED HENRY’S LEAD, opening the door and getting out of the car, even though what he really wanted to do was to sink down in his seat and wait for the first day of school to be over. Henry and his fabulous car were immediately surrounded by curious students, so Vlad walked across the parking lot to the school’s front doors alone. Every step seemed to take an hour, but finally, Vlad pulled open the front door to Bathory High and stepped inside to the usual chaos of the first day of school. Several new freshmen were wandering the halls, looking lost and scared. He slipped around them and into the gym long enough to grab his locker number and combination, then ducked back into the front hall to locker 133. He’d just opened it and dropped his backpack inside when he heard a familiar giggle to his left.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Vlad turned his head. About ten lockers down stood Meredith. Joss was whispering something in her ear. Something that made her cheeks flush pink. Something that set Vlad’s face on fire with jealousy. Joss paused long enough to smile at Vlad over Meredith’s shoulder, then went back to whispering.

Vlad slammed his locker door shut and was two steps on his way to shoving Joss into next week when Henry grabbed him by the sleeve. “Chill, Vlad. Don’t give him what he wants.”

Vlad pulled away, his furious eyes on Joss. “He’s going to come after me anyway. At least right now I’m ready for a fight.”

Henry sighed and stepped into Vlad’s view. “You’re angry and jealous and in the mood to do some forceful dentistry. So you may be ready to fight, but you’re not ready to win. Not against Joss. You need a cool head for that, and you know it.”

Vlad glanced over at Meredith, who was chatting friendlily now with his mortal enemy (well, kinda mortal—Vlad was a vampire, after all ... well, half-vampire, anyway), and tried to let Henry’s words sink in. His friend was right, no matter how much he wanted to beat that smirk off Joss’s face. So instead, he slipped quietly inside Joss’s mind and made Joss bite his tongue hard. He slipped back out again. Maybe next time he’d make him walk into his locker door or something. With a deep breath, he turned away and followed Henry down the hall to first period.

Once he could no longer see Joss’s face—or that hint of smugness in his eyes—Vlad immediately felt better. Maybe it would be a good idea to keep his distance from Joss. After all, that kind of negativity couldn’t be good for Vlad’s already frayed nerves.

Then again, neither could trigonometry first thing in the morning. But at least he had Henry to keep him company.

Mr. Evans was already scribbling things on the board when he and Henry walked in. He paused long enough to offer them a polite smile, but then went right back to jotting equations down—equations containing so many numbers and letters on either side of the equal sign that they made Vlad’s stomach flip over with unease. He and Henry found seats near the back and sat down as the rest of the class filed in. Thankfully, Melissa Hart was nowhere in sight. Vlad didn’t think he could stomach watching Henry make moon-eyes at her every day, all year long. Unfortunately, Eddie Poe was there instead, happily cradling his camera and staring at Vlad with an intensity that made him squirm.

Then, as if it were any other day, just a run-of-the-mill class day, the first hour of his first day as a junior commenced. And Vlad was immediately bored out of his skull.

The rest of the day flew by, and he hardly saw Joss at all. Even lunch was blissfully Joss-and Meredith-free, though it was tainted by the occasional annoying click from Eddie’s camera. It was starting to look like a pretty great day, and Vlad’s last class was taught by his favorite teacher—probably favorite person—on the planet. Otis Otis, ultracool uncle and vampire extraordinaire. Nothing could stain the day now.