Vampire Lessons (Completed)

Chapter 31 Attack

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Early update... Are you happy?

As for  the Monday update it is dependent on the reactions to this one. Check out the author note at the end of the chapter.
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Chapter 31 Attack

I walked past the reception counter. Mrs. Linda called to me to stop, she reached out, grabbed my arm, I jerked away. I stormed into Mr. Rashes office. I didn't wait for him to put down the phone.

"I fell asleep in Mr. Bridges' class. I was rude. I yelled at him. I may have called him stupid, I don't remember." I shrugged my shoulders. I dropped into the seat in front of his desk. He disconnected the call with a promise to call back soon. "I know I wasn't," I sighed and shrugged again, leaving the sentence unfinished.

"Ms. Stone," he looks at my eyes. His fingers folded over one another on top of the desk. "You have always been one of the best students. Lately, despite your grades, you've gotten into a lot of trouble. Is there something going on at home? Problems?"

"What? No. Mr. Rashe, I'm just stressed. Um... Girl things." I gripped the seat and scooted forward. It wasn't like I could tell him the truth. He would think I've gone crazy, maybe he'd think I was on drugs.

"You know my office is a safe place. If you choose to tell me something I wouldn't tell anyone. I would do almost anything to help you."

"Mr. Rashe, really, it's not like that. I'm fine," I conceded recognizing the doubt on his face. "Okay, not fine, but I'm dealing. I'm stressed about where my life is going, who I am, who my real parents are. I wonder if my parents will still love me or think I'm some kind of freak. I'm not even sure I have a choice what I do with my life." I was absolutely sure I said too much. But words continued to spill from my mouth. "Sometimes, I feel everything all at once and I'm completely overwhelmed. I'm dealing with it but it's not easy. It's hard and no one else knows what it's like." I bit my cheek in an attempt to stop the flow of words.

"I see." He nodded, solemnly. "I bet you feel you're the only teenager feeling like this. I want to assure you you're not. While it's true not many can say they were adopted and wonder about their birth parents, there are others who can. As for your parents they will always love you. Who your biological parents are won't make a difference to them. You'll still be the daughter they raised."

"How would you know? Are you adopted? I'm not the perfect daughter they thought they were signing up for." Even to my own ears my tone was disrespectful. I realize I wasn't being reasonable but there were those nagging doubts in the back of my mind. I wasn't even human. I was a monster straight out of legend. How could a parent not —

"My daughter is grown now. We adopted her when she was two." He smiled fondly and reached for a wooden picture frame. He turned it to face me. A blond female with dark brown eyes had been frozen in the photograph. Her mouth was open, a small chip darkened one of her otherwise perfect teeth, amusement sparked in her eyes. Her yellow hat sat lopsided on her thick hair. "Her name is Seanna. There isn't a thing in the world she could do or say that would cause me not to love her."

"Not the same thing." I mumbled softly to myself. She's probably human.

"Your parents will always love you. There may be times when they don't agree with you but they'll still love you." He turned the picture back to face him. "As for choices, we always have choices."

"Like a queen born to be a queen." I said softly.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Stone, I missed that." He leaned closer, like he was really interested in what I said.

"Like a queen born to be a queen." I repeated louder. I let my tone say exactly how much choice I thought she had. "She may not choose to be queen but she can choose what kind of queen she is." I had heard that enough lately.