Hide and Seek in the Dark (Being Rewritten)

Chapter 7

7

"You wanna get something to eat before we head home?" Daren asked as we cut across the football field to the student parking lot the next day.

"What do you have in mind?"

"How does pizza sound?" he grinned down at me.

"Sounds great," I reply, smiling back at him and dug into my front jean pocket. "Just let me grab my phone and text my mom real quick- shit!"

"What?"

I rifled through my messenger bag, through the pockets, in between pages of notes and homework. "I think I left my phone charging in class."

"I'll go get it," he said and jogged a step back to the building before I grabbed on to his wrist and managed to stop him.

"No," I said. "It's my phone, I'll get it. Okay?" Daren opened his mouth to say something, but I stopped him. "I'll be back in a second. Go wait in the car, get it all warmed up." He continued looking at me and I knew what he was gonna say. He didn't want me to get near Gabriel, and for good reason. "I'll be right back," I promised and, handing him my bag, ran back the four flights to the classroom.

As I reached for the handle I could hear Gabriel and Mr. Lance inside, talking casually.

Mr. Lance spoke first. "You should be nicer," he told Gabriel. "He's your sister's oldest son, after all."

"Exactly. He's my sister's son. Not mine. Therefore, I shouldn't have to be nice to him. I can't play favorites."

"C'mon, now. You barely like me more than any other human on this earth," he chuckled. "You give Luna hell every time she sets foot in your room. and you've lived with her how many years?"

"Too many. And that's because she chewed my books and shed all over my bed." Gabriel groaned, obviously recalling the memory. "Do you have any idea how much I payed for those books? Thousands of dollars- just for them to be ripped up and slobbered on by that damned mongrel!"

Now my teacher was laughing. "Oh, you can't be so mad over that. She said she was sorry, didn't she?"

"Sorry doesn't put twenty-two hundred dollars back on my wallet, now does it?" From where I stood I could hear a small   click followed by the smell of cigarette smoke a moment later. Of course he'd smoke in a school. Why wouldn't he?

"No, I suppose not. But if you look at it, she is  family."

Gabriel was silent for a moment and I could just imagine the look he was giving Mr. Lance.

"Alright, alright," he conceded. "Vampires and wolves, not official family but still."

What? My mind shrieked. Mr. Lance knew about the vampires!

I felt someone grab my shoulder and I nearly screamed, I was so scared. Whipping around I looked up at Noel. I didn't even know he went to this school.

He was grinning. "What are you doing?"

"Shh!" I quickly covered his mouth, hoping that Gabriel and Mr. Lance hadn't heard him. Luckily they didn't.

"Jeesh, if you wanted me that bad all you had to do was ask," Noel teased, his breath on my ear.

Automatically I inched away from him. "As if, i thought I made that clear yesterday when I nearly crushed your balls," I whispered harshly. "Besides, I have a boyfriend."

"Yeah, the star quarterback. I know." He sounded uncaring, as if Daren couldn't possibly intimidate him since he was a vampire. He probably couldn't, I didn't know.