Tainted Love

Chapter 18

Above: Maggie and Tyler

Rose's POV

We made it down the hallway without anyone even seeing us, but halfway down the elevator we were stopped on the third floor. Tyler and Maggie appeared, now dressed normally.

"Well, look who went shopping," Maggie joked. We all greeted them as they walked in. Tyler elbowed me. "Nice job on that first test, I wasn't expecting that girl to live."

I wouldn't taken that as a compliment... if he hadn't added that last part.

"Where you guys off to?" Tyler asked. Abby smiled. "We saw this club by the mall and thought we'd check it out."

"We're going no there, too!" Maggie said with enthusiasm. "We can show you around. I mean, Academy kids get a lot of heat from Natives."

"Natives?" I asked. Tyler nodded. "Natives are the people who were born here. Why do you think they're aren't many older people here? If your born a vampire, you grow until your 21, then your forever young. It's annoying. They act like royalty. Anyway, just watch out for them, because you guys will get a lot of crap if they know you're Ones."

We nodded. If anything happened tonight, I didn't want to get angry at anyone. I can't control myself when I get angry. Getting in a fight with a Native was not on my to-do list.

We walked out of the Academy. I took out my umbrella, though I desperately wanted to feel the last rays of the sun. So much for meeting Reynold. We didn't deserve the chance to talk to each other, anyway.

The club, which was empty an hour ago, was now full of life, with a line starting to grow outside. A guard stood at the door, checking their ID's. It was then I realized we didn't have ID's. How were we supposed to get in?

Maggie strutted towards the guard, completely ignoring the line. "Watch this," Tyler whispered. We watched as the guard and Maggie started laughing, which was followed by more laughter and Maggie motioning us to come. We passed the guard, who merely gave us a nod, not checking our ID's.

"What did you tell him this time?" Tyler asked Maggie. She grinned and looked at us. "The guard's a friend of mine. Academy people don't have ID's until they're Fives, so we can get in only if I tell him a joke. Works every time. This time, I joked about you guys being wannabe Ones. Don't worry, I didn't mean it."

Tyler hugged Maggie. "This is why your my girlfriend," he whispers. Maggie shoved him. "You know you love me."

Abby and I shared a glance. We hadn't realized they were dating. Waving, we went our own way while Maggie and Tyler ran off with some other friends.

"Want a drink?" Grace asked. Abby quickly shook her head. "I'm underage."

Rylee laughed. "You're a vampire, and by the people over there, they're not checking."

I sighed. I don't drink. I didn't even drink before I turned. It just wasn't something I enjoyed doing. "I'm not going to drink, but I'll come get a water with you."

Abby nodded, happy I was on the same page as her. "Same."

*******

Abby and I sat at the bar, with blaring music making it difficult to hear each other speak. Rylee had disappear a while ago after a few drinks, and Grace went to go find her, but never came back. It's been an hour since we've seen either of them.

Abby sighed. "Let's go look for them. I kind of want to leave. Everyone's getting super crazy now," she said, though it was muffled by the music.  I nodded and stood up.

Abby and I held onto each other as we pushed through the crowd of dancing people. That's when we heard the sound of shattering glass, followed by a scream. Grace. Abby and I quickly followed the sound. People nearby had stopped dancing, while others were too drunk to care.

Grace was covered in what looked like red wine. Someone had literally thrown their glass at her.

"What's your problem?! I'm just grabbing my friend!" Grace screamed at a group sitting on a couch. Three girls were surround one green eyed guy with shocking white hair on top of brown roots. I almost gagged when I saw who was sitting right next to him. Rylee was giggling, not even processing anything.

"Relax, Grace! It's just a joke," she slurred. The other girls giggled. All of them had a wine glass, except for one, which was obviously the one who had sent hers flying at Grace. They all seemed so relaxed. Grace, on the other hand, was fuming.

"A joke? I just got glass thrown at me! What part of that was a joke?!"

The guy stood up, walking towards Grace. "Maybe we've started off on the wrong foot. They thought you were trying to join the group. Clearly, you're not. I'm Holden." Holden held  out her, but she ignored it.

"What group?" Grace scoffed. Holden laughed, as if her not knowing was funny. "My group of side chicks," he said smoothly. With that, Grace slapped him. Hard. The four girls on the couch, including Rylee, giggled.

Holden's green eyes started to glow. "Is that how you treat me? Do you know who I am?!"

"No one cares," Abby coughed. Immediately, she covered her mouth, and I grabbed her arm. Holden snapped his head up toward Abby and me. "Oh I see, you girls are from the Academy. And I'm assuming you're too rookie to understand the rules here."

He held up his hand, causing Grace to flinch. Everyone started laughing. That's it.

"Back off!" I yelled, quickly stepping in front of now-frightened Grace. At the same time, Abby reach out to grab me, but only managed to reach Grace.

Holden looked at me. "Or what?" he hissed. I think he expected me to show cowardice at this remark, because he seemed confused as to why I hadn't flinched. Like I said before, anger blocks fear.

I ignored him, purposely bumping him as I walked over to the couch, where I picked up a very woozy Rylee. I gently carried her to Abby's open arms. As Grace and Abby carried Rylee to the exit, I turned to join them, but something stopped me.

With no thought, I turned and punched Holden flat in the jaw, causing him to stumble backwards as I stormed out of the club, intending to never go there again.

********

Rylee passed out the moment her body hit her bed. Somehow, we had managed to lift her onto her top bunk. Everyone else did the same.

Abby shook her head as I changed into my pajamas. "You're really something, Rose," she commented. "You literally just sucker punched a guy you've never meant."

I shrugged. "He was going to hurt Grace. Also, he was manipulating Rylee. What kind of person does that?"

"The kind that get punched by a girl," Grace said while walking into the bedroom, finally getting the wine off of her.

"And slapped," I added. We giggled.

We cuddled up in our beds. In the silence of our room, my eyes popped open. There was something I needed to do.