Bad Boy From Hell

Chapter Three

 Nina sat next to me on the couch, reading a fairy tale themed romance book. I was reading a graphic novel about a girl finding a whole world in the forest. The gray protagonist and the colorful forest fascinated me. Glass shattered, and I looked up from the graphic novel.

 Nina stood at the table behind the couch, with an expression of shame. She swept it up with two sheets of paper. I watched her practically run to the kitchen and throw it in the trash. She came back, with the guilt written on her face.

 "I'm so sorry."

 "It's okay. We'll get another one."

 "Are you sure?"

 "Yeah. Just don't break anything else."

 She awkwardly sat back down on the couch. I continued reading my graphic novel. The protagonist was led by a tiny white orb of light to the forest at night. Surprisingly, she wasn't attacked by anything. 

 I glanced up from the page and noticed Nina staring at me. Holy shit. For a minute, it felt like her hazel eyes could see right through me. She didn't blink once. 

 "What's the book about?"

 "A girl who discovers a magical world in the forest," I said.

 "That girl is lucky. The most magic I've ever seen was my mom disappearing as soon as she got a boyfriend."

 "That's tragic."

 Honestly, I wasn't expecting her to say that. Since she hadn't talked about her mom much, I just assumed she was dead or something. She snuck a glance at the page. Her sad expression was replaced by a small smile.

 I continued reading and turned the page. The mermaids at the waterfall were beautiful in the most ethereal way. Somehow, that felt familiar to me. I wanted to jump into that book, and see the mermaids up close.

 Nina gasped. I stayed quiet, while imagining myself swimming in that waterfall. Even when I turned pages, the scenario replayed in my mind. A hand waved in front of my face, and it wasn't Nina's.

 "Hello? Mya, are you there?" my mom asked.

 I turned my attention to her. "Yeah. I'm here."

 "Then, why are you so spaced out?"

 "I was just thinking about something."

 "That's fine. Just stay connected to reality, okay?"

 "Okay, mom."

 She walked out of the room, holding a glass of white wine. I closed my novel and let out a sigh. Nina took her eyes off it, and started staring at me again. We didn't break eye contact. Until I blinked.

 "Ha! I win!" Nina exclaimed, clapping her hands.

 I chuckled. "I don't know how you do it."

 "I'll show you if you want."

 "Sure. I'll think about it."

 That was a lie. The mere thought of not blinking unsettled me. I didn't want my eyes to dry up and fall out of my face. Ew.

 Anyway, Nina laughed and ran upstairs with her phone in her hand. I practically tiptoed after her. It was simply a coincidence that I ended up in my mom's bedroom. I put my ear to the dark green wall. Nina dialed someone's number.

 "Hello?" Stanley answered.

 Nina giggled. "Hey. I just called to say I missed you."

 "Yeah. Why?"

 "Can you send me a photo of your neck?"

 "Sure. Why?"

 "Because it's your prettiest feature."

 "Oh. Thank you, I guess."

 Then, I heard a flash. Something was obviously wrong with Stanley. But I never thought he'd make a request that weird. I shuddered.

 Nina's phone chimed. She laughed. Nothing funny was said. So, why did she laugh?

 Before I hear the rest of the conversation, I suddenly ended up back in the living room. What the fuck? I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Nina sat back down on the couch, shoving her phone in her pocket.

 "Do you want go to my room?"

 Nina nodded."Yeah. I'm bored just sitting here."

 "Cool. I have something to show you."

 We went upstairs to my bedroom. I closed the door behind us. She stood by my window, staring at the tree outside. I took the novel I finished the other night and gave it to her. The rosebush on the cover made her smile.

 She would've loved this book. I watched her read the first three pages. She seemed like she already loved it.

 "Thanks, Mya. I can't wait to read the rest of it."

 "You're welcome. This book reminded me of you."

 "That's nice."

 She held the book to her chest with a small smile. My phone chimed from my pocket. I sat on my bed and took it out. A message from Alicia appeared on the screen.

 What's up?

 I looked up, and noticed Nina sitting at the bay window. She was reading the book. I sent a reply to Alicia.

 Not much. I just found out that Stanley is a vampire.

 There couldn't be any other reason why Stanley asked Nina to send him a photo of her neck. I wasn't going to just let this information stray to the back of my mind. My phone chimed again. Another message appeared on the screen.

 How so?

 I sent her a reply explaining Nina's conversation with Stanley. Nina wasn't in here when I looked up from my phone again. I got up and ran out the room. Where did she go?

 After I searched every room up here, I went downstairs. She was in the kitchen, talking to my mom. Thank God. I would've been so pissed if she ditched me a second time.

 "How's your dad?" my mom asked.

 Nina rubbed her hands together. "He's fine. Just really busy."

 "We'd love to have dinner with him when he has some time off."

 "He's off tomorrow."

 "Great! You both can come here tomorrow night at 7:30."

 "Cool. I'll tell him."

 "It's nice actually seeing you."

 My mom bumped into me before going upstairs. Nina typed something on her phone. She didn't hide her surprise when she saw me. I realized I was standing a little too close to her and took a step back.

 How did I not notice that before?

 She probably thought I was obsessed with her or something. I wanted to hide. I couldn't, while she was still here. I heard a high pitched scream.

 "Did you hear that?" I asked.

 Nina furrowed her brow."No, I didn't hear anything."

 "That's weird I thought I heard a scream."

 "It could've been in your head. I hear screams in my head all the time."

 At least, we can relate to each other on something. I didn't know whether to be happy or worried. She probably wasn't dealing with magic the way I was.