You Are the Shell to My Tortoise | ✓

56

My stomach was in giant knots, and they only seemed to tighten as the seconds passed.

I'd been sitting on my bed for the past couple of hours, trying to wrap my brain around what I'd just learned tonight.

Nolan had been hiding the fact that he was a vampire the whole time we'd been hanging out. He hadn't even wanted to tell me that he was one. If I'd never chanced upon him changing from his bat form into his human form, I doubted that he would have ever told me on his own accord.

I still couldn't believe it. He'd lied about going to the forest once a week because he needed to feed.

Wait, didn't that mean that I basically took away his chance to eat every time I accompanied him into the forest?

Groaning, I rolled onto my back and stared up at the ceiling.

I couldn't believe all the signs I'd missed the past several months.

Now that I was looking back at them, they were all so glaringly obvious.

The first time I flashed the light into his eyes in the darkroom, I'd thought his reaction was overkill. I had never seen anyone react like that before, and I couldn't get why he was being so melodramatic about it.

The first time he came to gym, it was when it was held at the indoor pool. Why hadn't I noticed something off about that?

Then again, why would it ever have occurred to me that he could be a vampire?

Letting out my billionth sigh for tonight, I grabbed Georgie and squeezed his little paws.

"What am I going to do, Georgie?" I asked him, swinging him around by the arms. "What should I do?"

Was there anything to do?

Nolan was still my friend, after all. It wasn't as if I made the discovery when he tried to eat me or something.

I checked my phone for the time again.

It was two in the morning, and my brain was going into overdrive. I couldn't believe how long I'd been lying here, just trying to gather my thoughts.

Despite technically knowing that he was a vampire, I still couldn't believe it.

Had he always been one? If he hadn't, when did he become one?

Was he the kind that lived forever?

I'd seen him eat human food several times now that he was joining us for lunch almost every day, so what did he mean when he said that he couldn't eat regular food?

The questions swarmed around in my brain, making sleep an impossible task. Knowing Nolan, I likely wasn't going to get the answers to most—if not any—of them.

The thought of going to class tomorrow morning filled me with dread.

I really hoped he wouldn't avoid me.

Then again, would I even be able to face him normally?

Heaving another large sigh, I turned around and closed my eyes.

I'd just have to deal with it tomorrow.

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Nolan was already at his desk when I entered the classroom in the morning.

I stared down at his sleeping form.

He looked asleep, but maybe he was simply pretending so that he wouldn't have to talk to me.

When I sat down beside him, he didn't seem to move a muscle.

He didn't wake up until the end of the lesson, and then when he did, it was to walk right out of the room.