The Week I Was A Vampire (2 page)

             
“You have to promise not to laugh,” she said.

             
Daniel straightened up and saluted her before giving his word that he would not laugh.  Satisfied, Jude explained.

             
“It’s short for Judith,” she said.

             
Daniel, she had to admit, made a valiant effort at keeping a straight face, but it didn’t take long for his shoulders to shake, betraying the laugh he was desperately trying to conceal.

             
“You promised you wouldn’t laugh!” she said.

             
Daniel threw his hands up in surrender as she glared at him before huffing and crossing her arms over her chest.

             
“In my defense,” said Daniel, “I didn’t laugh out loud.  And your name is not why I was laughing.  Judith is a perfectly respectable name.”

             
“It’s the name of an eighty year old woman,” Jude lamented, but Daniel seemed to disagree.

             
“There’s a Book of Judith, you know,” he said, but Jude clearly didn’t know, so he elaborated.  “There’s debate as to whether or not it’s legitimate, but nonetheless, there’s a Book of Judith.”

             
“Is that supposed to mean something to me?” Jude said.  While her family made a show of attending church most Sundays, she didn’t consider herself particularly religious.  Oddly enough, it was Lux who was the more religious of the two, a fact that surprised most people.  Then again, Lux did have an alternative way of dressing and was convinced her mother had been a witch before she settled down and married a dentist.  But still, Lux had a brand of faith that could move mountains.

             
“Judith killed an Assyrian commander,” Daniel said.  “Beheaded him in his sleep, if I remember correctly.”

             
“Great,” said Jude.  “Not only am I named after an eighty year old woman, but now I share a name with a murderer?”

             
“Warrior,” Daniel supplied.  “I think the term warrior is a little more politically correct.”

             
Jude cocked her head to the side and stared at him drolly.

             
“I know sometimes you can’t help the first impression you make on someone, but I doubt anything in the last ten minutes has even hinted at the fact I’m a warrior.”

             
Daniel smiled and leaned against the window, angling his body so he could keep Jude in his line of sight.  It pressed their knees closer together and forced Jude to adjust her position as well.

            
 
This seat is definitely not made for two
,
she thought now that her legs were practically in Daniel’s lap.  He didn’t seem to mind, though, so she wasn’t about to complain.

             
“People change,” he said.  “Teenagers especially tend to change almost overnight.  Young people never stay the same.”

             
“Young people?” Jude said.  “Yeah, because you’re so much older than I am.”

             
Daniel smiled.

             
“What I meant was, you might turn into a warrior yet.”

             
“I’ll let you know when I start beheading people.”

             
He laughed.

             
“You’re not going to let that go, are you?”

             
Stubbornly, Jude shook her head.

             
“It’s not everyday a cute English guy draws a comparison between me and a woman who killed an army commander.”

            
 
Shoot.
 
Jude ducked her head as she realized she’d called Daniel cute to his face.
 
What a Lux move.
 
Although Lux could pull off flirty comments like that because nothing in the world could catch Lux off-guard.  Embarrassment was not something she did.  She was, wholly and irrevocably, the most unflappable person Jude knew.

             
“Hey,” Daniel said.  He pressed a hand against her shoulder and she tilted her head to look up at him.

             
She was struck by how dark his eyes were.  Always a fan of brown eyes and the way they caught the light, she was a bit disappointed to see that Daniel’s eyes were matte and nearly black.  Maybe it was the sketchy lighting of the boathouse.

             
Jude reached up and grabbed Daniel’s hand, pulling it away from her face, but hesitating to release it.  His fingers curled around hers and while they didn’t say a word, she felt as though they were having an entire conversation.  So long as Lux didn’t hear her say something like that, she wouldn’t care how cliched it sounded.

             
“Well isn’t this touching.”

             
Jude released Daniel’s hand like it was a burning coal and looked up at the towering blonde glaring down at her. 

            
 
If that’s not the living definition of ‘if looks could kill’
,
Jude thought
,
then I don’t know what is
.
  She briefly wondered if this was Daniel’s girlfriend, an idea she wasn’t overly fond of, but her curiosity was quickly put to rest as Daniel greeted the latest invasion to Jude’s sanctuary.

            
 
Person
,
Jude told herself
,
not an invasion.  You are not a country.  You cannot be invaded.

            
 
“Jemima,” Daniel said, “I was wondering where you’d disappeared to.  This is Jude Carstairs.  Jude, this is my sister.”

             
Jemima, who would’ve been the epitome of a blonde bombshell had she still not had the slightly waifish figure of a sixteen year old, looked down her nose at Jude with a barely repressed sneer.  Actually, if Jude was honest, that sneer was out in full force and looking to reduce her to a pile of ash.

             
“Nice to meet you, Jemima,” Jude said.  “Daniel said you’re homeschooled?  I know I’m a little older than you, but if you’d ever like someone to hang out with, my friend Lux and I would be happy to show you around Holden.”

             
Jemima scoffed and Jude couldn’t decide if the scoff was directed to their age difference, or the offer to be shown around town.

             
“I can find my own friends, thank you very much,” Jemima said.  “And I certainly don’t need friend
s
a little olde
r
than me.”

             
“That’s enough, Jemima,” Daniel said, his tone sharp.  “I’d appreciate it if you’d be polite to my friends.”

             
In a classic teenage move, Jemima rolled her eyes before agreeing to her brother’s request.  Or, at least that’s what Jude thought Jemima did, but couldn’t be sure as the girl turned on her boot clad heel and disappeared into the throng of dancing high schoolers.

             
“Charming,” Jude said just as Daniel apologized for his sister’s behavior.  “Don’t worry about it, I have an older brother.  Who, speak of the devil, is dancing with your sister.”

             
Daniel rose slightly from his seat, catching sight of his blonde baby sister dancing with Jude’s older brother, who was dark featured and gangly to the point their mother still called him a beanpole, a name she’d started calling him back when he had been twelve.

             
“Don’t worry,” Jude said.  “Simon may pretend like he’s some older, mature guy, but he’s just a nineteen year old boy who plays video games all the time and dances at the local studio.  I’m surprised he hasn’t spontaneously combusted now that a girl is actually paying attention to him.”

             
“Jemima’s attention isn’t anything special,” Daniel said before quickly amending his statement.  “That was impolite.  I shouldn’t speak about my sister in such a way.”

             
Jude waved him off.

             
“I won’t tell if you don’t,” she said.  “Besides, that’s what siblings do.  We talk crap about each other, but we’ve always got each other’s backs when push comes to shove.”

             
Daniel looked at her quizzically.

             
“Is that what your relationship is like with your brother?”

             
Jude snorted in a very unladylike manner, but didn’t have time to be embarrassed as Lux came barreling through the crowd.

             
“Your brother is dancing with a chick,” Lux said, disregarding Daniel’s presence.  “Like, a smoking hot chick.”

             
“Lux,” Jude said, “meet the Smoking Hot Chick’s big brother.”  She gestured to Daniel and Lux smiled sheepishly before holding out a hand.

             
“Lux Reading,” she said.  “I’m Jude’s better, more stylish half.”

             
“A pleasure to meet you,” Daniel said and took Lux’s hand.  She pulled back almost immediately, the flush from dancing draining from her face until she was left looking almost as pale as the snow outside.

             
Jude looked over at Daniel who looked slightly concerned beneath an otherwise stoic mask.

             
“Hey Jude,” Lux said, “could I get your help for a minute?  Braids are not conducive for dancing and I was wondering if you could help me rework them?  I’ll give you your pencil back.”

             
Daniel frowned as Jude rose, and she pointed to her hair.

             
“I use a pencil to twist my hair into a bun,” she said.  “I’ll be right back.”

             
Lux lead the way through the crowd, keeping a vice like grip on Jude as she marched them towards the bathroom which was surprisingly devoid of even the usual kissing couples.

             
“Okay, Tiger Lily,” Jude said, “let’s get your hair taken care of.”  She reached for one of Lux’s braids and jolted back when her friend slapped her hand away.

             
“What are you doing?” Jude said.

             
“I could ask you the same thing,” Lux fired back.  “Were you aware you’ve been hanging out with a vampire all evening?”

             
Jude choked on a laugh at Lux’s expression and braced herself against the sink.

             
“Vampires,” Jude said, “really?  I know I said I’d believe you if you could show me one, but Daniel isn’t a vampire.  His sister, however, might be a soul sucking harpy, but I think she was just born that way.”

             
Lux glared, obviously unamused, as Jude continued to laugh.

             
“Supernatural creatures recognize other supernatural creatures,” Lux said.

             
“You’re not supernatural,” said Jude, but Lux cut her off.

             
“My mother was a witch!”

             
“And your father is a dentist,” Jude said.  “Does that qualify you to clean my teeth?”  She turned to head back to the party, but Lux grabbed her arm and jerked her back with zero effort.  Sometimes, being the petite girl with a tall best friend who liked to play football with boys and had killer muscles from dancing had serious drawbacks.

             
“Did you touch his hand?” Lux said and Jude frowned, remembering the coolness of Daniel’s hand.  It had been a pleasant sensation in such a hot and humid room and not something worth freaking out about like Lux so clearly was.

             
“So his hands are a little cold,” Jude said.  “My hands get cold a lot too.”

             
“Not in a room with an atmosphere like the tropics,” Lux said.  “He’s a vampire, Jude, believe me.  He’s going to turn you into his midnight snack.”  There was a slightly panicked edge to Lux’s voice, which Jude caught for only a moment before it disappeared.  Maybe Lux wasn’t as unflappable as she had originally thought.

             
“What makes you so sure of that?” Jude said and watched with annoyance as Lux’s face took on a distinctly pitying look.

            
 
Unflappable?  Maybe.  But she’s definitely being an Ice Queen right now.

             
“You are kind of naive and way too trusting,” Lux said, “which I mean in a totally nice way.”

             
“Could’ve fooled me,” Jude said.  “Come on, Lux, you told me to have fun.  The night before my birthday and I meet some cool guy who seems to like me.  Can’t you be happy for me?”