Onyx Roses

Chapter Nine

"That's looking pretty good," I said as I glanced over Lucian's shoulder. He had neat handwriting and he seemed to withhold a lot of information and then compy them perfectly onto paper again.

He smiled. "I have motivation to make this perfect," he replied as he underlined the word "kidney" and then drew a perfectly straight line to my okay-looking kidneys.

I rolled my eyes and then laid back down on the couch, pulling my knees up to my chest and closing my eyes.

"You tired?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Just thinking."

"About what?"

I shrugged. "Stuff."

"What kind of stuff?" he asked.

"You're nosey," I said, opening one eye to look at him.

"Nope, just curious," he said, smiling at me.

I sighed. "I'm thinking about Callie. I mean, I always saw her as more of a popular crowd kind of girl, but I never expected her ditch me and Kari for them," I said.

"Things never remain the same, Lissa," he said. "I guess she just thought that the populars understood her better. What she really shoudl have paid attention to was who treated her better. She'll experience more crap with them than with you two."

"I know, but she's a modern-day teenager being pressured by society's expectations," I said. "It's sad, really."

"It is, but that just shows she isn't as strong as she should be," he said simply.

"Can you blame her?" I asked, sitting back up. "Society has gotten crueler and crueler to adolescent women with each decade. I hate watching the implications."

He set his pencil down and looked at me. "Let's stop talking about this, please," he said. "I'd rather hear more about you. After all, I'm sure you have lots of interesting experiences."

"I do have lots of interesting experiences," I answered.

"LIke?" he prompted.

I shifted my body so that I could face him. "You know the Interview with the Vampire books?" I asked.

He nodded. "I've read them," he answered.

I smiled. "They're true. Lestat is just as he was described. The author actually interviewed Louis," I said.

He smiled too. "I figured as much," he said.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Okay, fine. I once had brunch with Princess Diana," I said.

That caught his attention. "Really?" he asked.

I nodded. "She was a kind soul, and it's a shame she wasn't immortal..." I said, trailing off.

He laughed and I glanced up at him.

"What?" I asked.

He shook his head, still laughing. "For someone who hates immortality, hearing you wish someone was immortal just cracks me up for some reason," he said.

I punched him playfully in the arm and then scooted closer to him, looking down at the paper again. I frowned. "Where are the descriptions?" I asked.

He rolled his eyes. "Reading them from a diagram would be childish, wouldn't it? I figured we memorize our parts and then read them aloud while pointing to them," he explained.

I blinked. "That's... genius," I said.

He smiled. "Do I get reward for that?" he asked.

I looked up at him, glancing down at his lips and then back up into his eyes. They flashed with excitement and he leaned in, but I pulled away. "You'll get a reward when we pass this," I said, laying back down.

He narrowed his eyes at me. "You're evil," he said.

I shook my head. "Nope, just immortal," I said and let a crooked smile play across my lips.

He laughed and patted my knee. "You are one strang cookie, Lissa," he said, and then turned his attention back to labeling while I closed my eyes to doze off a bit.

†

"Lissa," Lucian whispered, gently nudging me.

I opened my eyes slowly, blinking a few times and trying to focus my sleepy vision. On the thrid blink, I couldn't open my eyes again and I felt myself being pulled back into sleep.

"Alissa," Lucian said a little louder, shaking me until I was finally able to keep my eyes open. "Finally."

I rubbed my eyes. "What?" I asked.

"You fell asleep," he said, smiling.

I blinked. "So? Sleeping is natural," I said, sitting up.

"You snore," he said, laughing a little.

"I do not!" I exclaimed, narrowing my eyes at him.

He laughed harder and nodded. "Yes, you do, but I think it's cute," he said.

I felt my cheeks heat up and Iooked away. "Is that why you woke me up?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No, I woke you up to let you know I was leaving. It's dark outside and my dad called asking me where I was," he said.

"You could've just left, Lucian. You didn't have to wake me up just to tell me."

"I figured I would that way you wouldn't wake up and miss me," he said in an innocent voice, sticking out his bottom lip like a child.

I laughed and rolled my eyes. "Go on home," I said. "I think I'll live."

He slapped a hand to his chest and let his jaw drop open in mock-shock. "You mean to say...?" he said. "That you don't... miss me...?"

I gave him an incredulous look. "Lucian, I see you everyday in school," I said.

"So, if you didn't see me everyday... would you miss me then?" he asked.

I stood up and stretched. "That depends," I answered.

He stood up too. "On what?"

I shrugged. "Haven't decided yet. Now get home before your father comes looking for you," I said, motioning towards door. "I'd hate to open my door to another vampire hunter."

"My dad isn't a vampire hunter," he said.

"But I thought you said...?"

"Yes, he kills vampires, but he kills other things too. And... well... so do I," he said gravely.

I stepped closer to him and put my hand on his arm. "You know," I began. "You don't have to."

"What are you talking about? I have no other choice," he said angrily.

I squeezed his arm gently.  "Of course you do, Lucian..." I said in a low voice. "I didn't have a choice to be a vampire... but you have a choice whether or not to be a vampire hunter."

"It's what I'm expected to be," he said, pulling his arm away from me and taking a step back.

"So? Like it makes a difference--"

"It does make a difference!" he snapped.

I flinched and looked down at the ground.

He exhaled sharply. "You just don't understand, Alissa," he said, and then spun around, snatching up his bag. "You never will."

My head snapped back up and I lurched forward, grabbing his shoulder and spinning him around. "And you don't understand what it's like to be a monster, Lucian," I said, jabbing a finger into his firm chest. "You will never understand."

He looked at me with cold, hard eyes. Without a word, he turned around and stalked towards the door. Feeling bad, I followed, grabbing his arm and opening my mouth to apologize, but he only jerked his arm away, tore open the front door, and slammed it shut behind him. I stood there, raking a hand through my hair as I heard the screech of the tires on the pavement as he sped out of the parking lot and down the road.

Tears brimmed my eyes, but I wiped them away angrily and started stuffing everything back into my bag.