A Vampire Novel: Reach Before Dawn: Inspired by a true story (A Dark And Seductive Horror Story) Read Online Free Page A
Author: Camden McInnis
-to-toe and glumly staring down at her mac 'n' cheese and moving it around with her fork but not actually eating any of it. The last time I remember Ali wearing nothing but black—Ali literally wears her emotions. If she’s happy, which she generally is, she looks like she’s dipped herself in a rainbow. But if she’s sad, out comes the blacks and grays—her grandmother had died. I kind of dreaded sitting down across from her because I knew our lunchtime conversation would consist of me playing 20 questions with her as she sighed and sniffled. If I had any common sense whatsoever, I’d turn tail and head back into the cafeteria and avoid this whole mess. But I guess I’m just a sucker for punishment.
“Hey,” I said as I sat down, stuffing a quick bite of mac into my mouth before I attempted to pry whatever woe she’s suffering from out of her. “What’s with all the black? Did another one of your relatives die?”
She stared up at me, fixing on me with her crystal blue eyes and narrowing them like she was going to jump up from her seat and take a bite out of my neck for even having the audacity to speak to her. But her gaze almost immediately softened and cloud over with barely contained tears.
“What’s wrong?” I asked with real concern. Ali may wear her emotions, but she rarely, if ever, expresses them.
“You haven’t heard?” She asked, her voice crackling with emotions.
“Heard what?”
“I broke up with Steve.”
It was almost like someone had punched me really hard in the chest and knocked all the wind out of me. Never in a million years would I ever think that Ali and Steve would ever not be together. Seriously, they were like Peanut Butter and Jelly, Nachos and Cheese, Bacon and Eggs, whatever and whatever.
“What happened?” I asked after the initial shock of what Ali had said washed over me.
“The stupid asshole was cheating on me!”
“What!”
“Yeah, it was with some girl in Riverside. The fucking jerk got her pregnant! Can you believe that?”
Ali started crying and I rushed over to her side of the bench, slinging my arm over her shoulder and pulling her into me. We sat like that for 15 minutes, me playing the part of the comforting best friend and Ali playing the part of broken-hearted girlfriend. But, to be honest with you, on the inside I was jumping up and down with joy. Not so much because I wasn’t going to have to put with all the cuddly cuteness of Ali and Steve, but because Ali was single again for the first time in 3 years.
You see, like Billy and Stan, I’ve known Ali my entire life. In fact, I’ve known her even longer than that because our mother’s were best friends in high school and remain so to this very day. For the longest time, Mine and Ali’s mom constantly joked about sitting us up in an arranged marriage. When we were little, we would both make funny faces and both say eeeeemwwww when our mothers brought it up. I mean, when it comes right down to it, we’re about close to family as either one of us have. But the thing is when we started to develop and our mothers would make their time-worn joke, we stopped being grossed out by it and we started eying one another like we were pieces of meat.
At least until Steve entered the picture. After that, we went back to pretending we were grossed out by one another. And I know that I should only be thinking of Ali at this particular moment as nothing more than a friend in need of comfort. That I should forget about how good her hair smells or about how soft her skin is. I shouldn’t be thinking about her standing in front stripped down to nothing but a pair of six inch high heels. But I can’t help myself, because, at this extremely vulnerable moment, all I can think about is my future with Ali in it.
“Hey, look,” I say as she wipes the last of her tears away, “Fuck that guy, he doesn’t deserve you.”
“I know … It’s just,
“Hey,” I said as I sat down, stuffing a quick bite of mac into my mouth before I attempted to pry whatever woe she’s suffering from out of her. “What’s with all the black? Did another one of your relatives die?”
She stared up at me, fixing on me with her crystal blue eyes and narrowing them like she was going to jump up from her seat and take a bite out of my neck for even having the audacity to speak to her. But her gaze almost immediately softened and cloud over with barely contained tears.
“What’s wrong?” I asked with real concern. Ali may wear her emotions, but she rarely, if ever, expresses them.
“You haven’t heard?” She asked, her voice crackling with emotions.
“Heard what?”
“I broke up with Steve.”
It was almost like someone had punched me really hard in the chest and knocked all the wind out of me. Never in a million years would I ever think that Ali and Steve would ever not be together. Seriously, they were like Peanut Butter and Jelly, Nachos and Cheese, Bacon and Eggs, whatever and whatever.
“What happened?” I asked after the initial shock of what Ali had said washed over me.
“The stupid asshole was cheating on me!”
“What!”
“Yeah, it was with some girl in Riverside. The fucking jerk got her pregnant! Can you believe that?”
Ali started crying and I rushed over to her side of the bench, slinging my arm over her shoulder and pulling her into me. We sat like that for 15 minutes, me playing the part of the comforting best friend and Ali playing the part of broken-hearted girlfriend. But, to be honest with you, on the inside I was jumping up and down with joy. Not so much because I wasn’t going to have to put with all the cuddly cuteness of Ali and Steve, but because Ali was single again for the first time in 3 years.
You see, like Billy and Stan, I’ve known Ali my entire life. In fact, I’ve known her even longer than that because our mother’s were best friends in high school and remain so to this very day. For the longest time, Mine and Ali’s mom constantly joked about sitting us up in an arranged marriage. When we were little, we would both make funny faces and both say eeeeemwwww when our mothers brought it up. I mean, when it comes right down to it, we’re about close to family as either one of us have. But the thing is when we started to develop and our mothers would make their time-worn joke, we stopped being grossed out by it and we started eying one another like we were pieces of meat.
At least until Steve entered the picture. After that, we went back to pretending we were grossed out by one another. And I know that I should only be thinking of Ali at this particular moment as nothing more than a friend in need of comfort. That I should forget about how good her hair smells or about how soft her skin is. I shouldn’t be thinking about her standing in front stripped down to nothing but a pair of six inch high heels. But I can’t help myself, because, at this extremely vulnerable moment, all I can think about is my future with Ali in it.
“Hey, look,” I say as she wipes the last of her tears away, “Fuck that guy, he doesn’t deserve you.”
“I know … It’s just,
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