Bloodlust (The Blood Series #1)

Chapter 29

  I freak out. "Why is he pulling us over?"

Nathan shakes his head, as confused as I am. "I don't know. Maybe because you were driving like a grandma", he then teases and I leer at him. There is a demanding knock on the window next to me and I jump a little but obediently roll it down. The cop is about forty years old, has black stubble on his chin and his eyes are sharp gray like two razors.

"Licence and registration", he urges me. I nod and Nathan digs the registration from the glove box, gives it to me and I hand it over to the cop along with my driver's licence. He looks at both of the documents for a long time, shifting his gaze between me and my licence as if trying to decide whether I'm the girl in the picture or some pathetic impostor.

"This car is registered to one Nathaniel James Blood", the cop finally speaks up.

"Yes, that's me", Nathan says.

He looks at us suspiciously. "Have you been drinking?" he asks Nathan directly.

Nathan shakes his head. "No, sir."

"Then why is she driving your car?" the cop continues his interrogation. I fight the urge to ask him to mind his own damn business. Is it really that boring to be a police officer? You have to pull up young drivers and intimidate them just to keep yourself entertained? That is truly sad.

"Because she wanted to", Nathan answers still politely but with an irate edge to his words. I entwine our fingers behind my purse so that the cop can't see it but Nathan can feel it. I give his hand a light squeeze to keep him calm. The cop is being a jerk but if we sink to his level he'll make up a reason to drag us to the police station. And I for one cannot let that happen. Whereas Nathan's parents probably wouldn't be that fazed to pick their son from the police station, my mom would go absolutely ballistic.

The cop turns to look at me with his sharp eyes. "Is this what happened, miss?" he asks me sternly. What is his problem? What does he care about two high school kids who are driving at the posted speed limits? There is no one on the road but us and this whole situation feels pointless. We weren't doing anything wrong, for crying out loud! Why did he pull us over?

I force my tone to be polite when I answer: "Yes."

"You shouldn't be out here this late", the cop continues then sounding very condescending. Just because you have a badge doesn't mean that you get to dictate what people do in this town, dude.

"We were just heading home", I say then in a neutral voice. Would he just let us go already? It's obvious he just pulled us over to act like some freaking Mr Big Shot.

"You mean that you are driving home where you'll be dropped off and then he will drive to his own house from there", the cop insists. I'm suddenly reminded of the movie Mean Girls and their gym teacher who keeps telling his students that if they have sex, they'll get pregnant and die. That dude and this guy would most certainly hit it off. Anger boils inside of me. It's none of his business if Nathan is coming to my house to spend the night or not.

Nathan notices my irritation and gives me a look. I look down and hold my tongue, just nodding at the idiot cop's words even though I almost feel like telling him no, actually Nathan and I are headed to Vegas to get drunkenly married and then have crazy monkey sex till the end of time. But I know better than to wise off to a cop. It's no secret that in our town the cops are not always the mighty protectors of the innocent that they should be. They are more like easy-to-bribe clowns dressed up as police officers.

"You can go now. But from now on you should really reconsider who you are associated with, Ms Roberts. People talk", the cop says when he hands me back my licence and the registration. My jaw drops at his audacity and I'm about to snap at him when Nathan presses the window closed. The cop gives us one last scolding look before getting into his car.

I turn to look at him. "That was so incredibly unprofessional! I know the police in this town is more like a practical joke but still! He had no right to say that!" I rant. I'm hopping mad at the cop first of all for being so rude and second for saying all that with Nathan sitting right next to me. What kind of person says something like that to someone's face? He's free to think narrow-mindedly if that's what he wants but not to say those things out loud. What he just did was simply obscene.

Nathan's voice is very quiet when he replies: "Haley, it's all right."

I shake my head furiously. "No, it's most certainly not all right! How dare he?"

"I'm used to it. People don't like me or my family and maybe they shouldn't", Nathan says and shrugs like it's no big deal but I can tell that even if people have been giving him dirty looks all his life it still hurts.

I don't know how else to comfort him so I just kiss him and hope that he can feel how much I regret for ever being prejudiced about him or his family. Our kiss is cut short when the cop revs his engine to get us to move. I let a curse word slips from my mouth which makes Nathan chuckle, stunned about me cursing. I'm surprised as well since I don't really swear. But a lot has been changing in me lately, this just might be the next item on the list.

"Guess we better go", I sigh when the cop's engine roars again. I start the car and try not to let it annoy me that the cop follows us all the way to my house. Who does he think he is, part of the vice squad or something?

I crawl over to Nathan's side of the car, sit in his lap and kiss him passionately. "Goodnight", I smirk and it makes me way too happy to know that the cop in the car behind us can effortlessly see it all. I'm not usually one to want an audience for tender moments but this time it's different. That guy really pissed me off with his patronizing and stupid or not, I want to show him that I don't care about his prejudice. I'll kiss whoever I want to kiss and there's nothing some ignorant pompous little man can say about that.

"You're playing with fire, babe", Nathan says, his voice a little unsteady after our heated make out session. I laugh and wink at him when I slide off his lap and out of the car.

"'If you never play with fire, then you'll never keep warm'", I recite before blowing him a kiss and walking up to our house. I can feel the cop's eyes on me as I walk away and hope that Nathan realizes to leave before the guy starts lecturing again. Sure enough I hear the BMW's engine softly start and catch a glimpse of a black car leaving the scene.

My mom is at the door when I hop the steps up to our house. "Haley! Where have you been?" she exclaims as soon as she lays her eyes on me. Her urgent tone surprises me and I feel my eyes widen.

"Out with friends. Didn't you get my text? Why, is something wrong?" I ask suddenly worried. Million possibilities run through my mind. My life has quite recently gotten a lot more troublesome so there is also a whole new set of worries that I must carry with me at all times. But today with Nathan and his brothers I've forgotten to grieve about everything and as life often does, my newly found happiness is immediately tested.

"No, it's just that I woke up in the middle of the night and went to check on you and when you weren't in your bed I got so worried", Mom explains. I let out a relieved sigh. I had already thought that Oliver had come by the house to spook her or something.

"No, I'm sorry for staying out so late. I just lost my track of time", I apologize. I'm usually pretty free to go as I wish as long as I notify her of my plans but I can understand how scary it'd be to find my kid's bed empty in the middle of the night.

"Oh, it's fine. No need to apologize. I know you're a smart girl, that's why I don't really put out many rules. I overreacted, that's all. I should have checked my phone before panicking", Mom says rolling her eyes. I smile understandingly and say goodnight with every intention to fall on my bed and crash but don't get very far.

"So I'm having someone over for dinner tomorrow", she calls out when I start for my room. I stop halfway in the stairs and wait for her to continue. "It's... important to me that you'll be there for that."

"Finally", I exclaim when she comes clean and run back down to hug her.

She seems a little taken aback and just pats my back awkwardly. "How long have you known?" she asks incredulously.

I let out a tired chuckle. "Mom, you aren't exactly sly. With all the late nights and the food you kept bringing home I figured something was up. I'm a teenager, not a moron although adults frequently confuse the two."

My mom laughs softly. "I guess I'm much more transparent than I thought I was or my daughter is very perceptive."

"I'm thinking it's the combination of those two. After all, I am unusually intelligent, even the shrink implied so", I joke.

Mom smiles at me. When she smiles, all the worry wrinkles on her forehead disappear and it's suddenly easy to see how she could have been head cheerleader during her time in high school. Most of the time knowing that my mom was super popular in high school makes me kind of embarrassed to talk to her about my life because I always feel like I'm somehow less than her. I'm not popular and definitely not head cheerleader material and Mom has never even insinuated that she thinks that I should be but it has still put a strain on our relationship. I know that it's ridiculous but you try having a mom who makes being perfect look so effortless.

"Yes, I spoke with Dr Ascalpus. He's really nice, don't you think? Just an exceptionally compassionate human being", she says completely oblivious to her interesting choice of words.

"He is... something else", I admit and a small smile plays on my lips when I say that.

"He seemed to be very impressed with you. My daughter, the brainiac. Where does all your knowledge come from, anyway? I sure as heck couldn't have taught you all that", she says playfully.

At first I stiffen at her words. It's obvious that I haven't inherited much from her aside from her thick hair. We are completely different people, my mother and I. She's drop dead gorgeous when she allows herself to be, is very ambitious despite her current occupation and capable of doing million things at once. Then I tell myself that I'm being ridiculous. Mom is trying to compliment me and here I go, making it into something it's not. What is the matter with me? Why can't I just take a compliment like normal people?

"Books, mostly", I snicker then and she smiles. "And National Geographic."

"In any case I'm very proud to call you my daughter", she says on a whim and although I whine and beg her to stop embarrassing me, my insides are turning to mush. I have always known that my parents are very content with my academic success but hearing her say the words makes it all more real. I skip the stairs to my room and go to sleep with a smile on my face.