Chapter 20: :Inject Me Sweetly: Chapter Nineteen

I could tell at once my dad didn’t like Vincent. The moment he entered the house, he dodged my hug, opting to head straight for Vincent. They both sized each other up for a few minutes before my dad faked a punch. Well, I didn’t know he was going to fake it, so I’d cried out in protest, but Vincent didn’t flinch. My dad didn’t like that. Vincent folded his hands over his chest, his eyes twitching in annoyance as my dad attacked him with thousands of questions. How old he is, what bad things he’s done, what his grades are in school, what’s his family like, does he have any siblings, how he knows my aunt, and a lot more.

Now Vincent was glaring at me, as if it was my fault my dad was acting like the Spanish Inquisition.

“Emily?”

I twirled on my heel, coming face-to-face with my mom coming through the front door, two bags of groceries in her hand. “Mom!”

She smiled as I basically threw myself into her arms. “How was vacation?”

“Ah, interesting,” I answered honestly. “I met some pretty cool people…”

Her eyes went from my face to Vincent, who was still being barraged by questions. “This young man included? Wow, he’s handsome.”

I smiled dryly. “Mom… Don’t inflate his ego.”

“It’s not like he can hear me,” she retorted.

“You never know,” I muttered, glancing back at Vincent and seeing the corners of his mouth lift up into a smirk.

“What are you smirking at?” my dad demanded.

Vincent dropped it. “Nothing, Mr. Brown.”

Now it was my turn to smirk. He was speaking so formally— it was amusing.

“Call me Jack,” my dad ordered.

“Sure, Jack.”

My mom sighed lightly. “Jack, ease up on the boy. You don’t want him to hate you.” She walked over, holding out her hand. “Hello, Vincent. My name’s Mary.”

“Nice to meet you,” he responded, stiffly placing his hand in hers.

“Would you mind helping me with the groceries?” she requested, not waiting for an answer before shoving the bags into his arms. “You look like a strong lad.”

Vincent smiled tensely. “No problem.”

I stared at him for a few minutes, awed by his amiable personality. He was a pretty good actor. It never occurred to me he would be this friendly. I wondered briefly if Solomon threatened him. Probably, I thought with a grin.

Humming to myself, I followed my parents and Vincent into the kitchen. As my mom instructed Vincent how to put everything away and where it went, my dad turned toward me. For a brief second he surveyed me, raising an eyebrow. “Have you been a hermit these past few days?”

“Er… No? Why?” I responded, furrowing my eyebrows.

“Well since you went to California, I assumed you would get some sort of tan. To show off to your friends, you know?”

Tanned? Crap! I didn’t think about that. “Oh, I-I just did more inside stuff this time… Usually I go to the beach and stuff but this time I preferred shopping.”

My dad nodded. “Well, you are a teenage girl.”

“By the way, honey, you have to go pick up your car,” my mom interjected, her brows pulling together. “I don’t know why you left it in the parking lot of that building, but it might be towed if you don’t get it soon.”

I nearly gasped. My car! With wide eyes, I turned to Vincent. My keys were at his house…

He noticed my alarmed expression and smirked. “Don’t worry, I grabbed your keys for you. I can’t believe you were going to leave them on the kitchen table, stupid.”

I forced out a laugh. “Silly me…” I trailed off, narrowing my eyes at him.

“Well, why don’t you go get your car? And while you’re at it would you mind stopping at the ice cream store to buy a carton for here? Chocolate would be best.”

“Sure,” I responded, happy to go retrieve my car— happy to drive again.

My mom smiled brightly. “Thank you! Take Vincent with you too. Show him around a bit.”

My expression fell the tiniest bit. “Er… Okay.”

“Make sure he doesn’t steal your car,” my dad said in mock seriousness. “Or kidnap you.”

“Again,” I muttered.

“What?”

I smiled at him. “Nothing!”

Vincent gave me a sharp look. “Ice cream sounds good,” he commented stiffly.

“Ask your brother if he wants some too,” my mom commanded, nodding her head toward the stairs. “Tell him I’ll pay for it.”

“Will you pay for mine too?”

She sighed lightly. “I suppose, since you’ve been gone for awhile.”

I waited patiently as she went into her wallet and pulled out a twenty-dollar bill. Thanking her, I gestured for Vincent to follow me out of the house. It was nearly night now. The last golden rays of sun were fading into the horizon, creating a deep purple and soft pink sky. It brought a warm smile to my face. In that little vampire world Vincent lived in, it didn’t ever seem to stop raining. I hadn’t realized how much I missed the sunset.

“Don’t you have to get ice cream from your brother?” Vincent inquired, breaking the silence.

“I’ll text him when we get there… I just realized my car is like twenty blocks away. Maybe we should take my mom’s car—”

“I’ve got it,” Vincent told me, disappearing from my view in the blink of an eye.

I stood idly by the side of the road, unsure what Vincent meant by that. Hopefully it was something helpful. He seemed to have a better personality now— but that could be because he was forced to by his father. Whatever the reason, it was pretty nice. And it meant I didn’t have to do the dishes.

Suddenly the roaring of a car engine resounded in the air, scaring the crap out of me. My head snapped in the direction of it, surprise filling me when I realized it was my car. It was barreling straight toward me. I stumbled back into my driveway, watching as Vincent slammed on the breaks, skidding ten feet down the road before coming to a halt. After idling for a minute as I gaped at him, he honked the horn impatiently. I hastened to the car immediately, wrenching the driver’s door open.

“What are you doing?” I demanded angrily. “You can’t speed down the street in my car!”

He cocked an eyebrow. “I believe I just did.”

“Vincent! Do you even have a license?”

In a flash he produced the small plastic card with his picture. “Yeah, I do. Get in.”

“You’re not driving.”

“Get in before I force you to.”

Grinding my teeth together, I stomped to the other side of the car, sliding in the passenger’s seat. “No speeding.”

He rolled his eyes. “Wussy.”

“It’s my car! You can do whatever you want in your car but since this is mine what I say goes— Ah!” I cried out as he slammed on the gas, causing me to slam back into my seat.

“Relax, stupid. I’m a great driver.”

I clutched my door for dear life. “No, you’re reckless. Do you even know where we’re going?”

He gave me a flat sidelong glance. “It’s not like I live in a hole. I do leave the mansion.”

“Well from what I gathered while there you stay home all the time.”

“That’s because I had to watch you,” he responded, rolling his eyes. “I thought you could figure that much out.”

I scowled. “Whatever, jerk.”

“So your family seems interesting.”

I turned to look at him. He was going to start small talk? That was unusual. “Um, yeah, I guess. It’s nice to see them again. It really makes a difference when you think you’re never going to see someone again and then you do.”

“It’s funny how your dad thinks he can intimidate me. I could snap his neck in a second.”

“Please don’t,” I responded, grimacing. “And don’t talk like that either, Vincent. That’s my family.”

A short laugh left his lips. “Okay.”

Laugh? He laughed? I stared at him, my eyebrows furrowing together in bafflement. “Are you… okay?”

“Yeah,” he drawled, glancing at me again. “Why?”

“You rarely laugh,” I pointed out.

He sent me a sly look. “You only know the home me.”

I cocked my head. “What?”

“Can I ask you a serious question?” he inquired, ignoring my question.

“Um, sure.”

“Are you stupid?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “That’s not a serious question! No, I’m not stupid! And I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t call me that! I just asked one question, Vincent! I didn’t know what you meant by ‘home you’!”

He smirked. “You really are riled up easily.”

I groaned in frustration, crossing my arms. “And here I thought you actually became nicer.”

“I mean at home I’m one person, but out of the eyes of my parents and Sebastian, I can actually be myself.”

“Oh,” I responded in realization. “I’m the same way!”

“Except you don’t have to act like a prince at home,” he added flatly, “so sorry if I don’t live up to your expectations outside of that place.”

A frown flitted across my face. “I never said that…”

“Text your brother,” he ordered, pulling onto Main St. where the ice cream parlor was. “Tell him to set up that movie for when we get back too.”

“You really want to watch it?”

He nodded. “I can’t wait to watch your reactions.”

I made a face. He wasn’t interested in seeing the movie. He was interested in seeing me scared. For a split-second, my mind wandered, thinking he’d find my fright cute, but I forced that away quickly. The only thing he’d think of would be something to tease me about. Sighing, I reached in my pocket for my phone. When my hand met nothing, my heart skipped a beat.

“Wait, where’s my phone…” I trailed off when my eyes landed on it. It was on the floor of my car, dead. I almost slapped myself. How could I forget I’d left it in here the other night? “Um, Vincent. My phone’s dead. Can I use yours?” Did he even have a phone?

After a positive grunt, he dug his hand into his pocket, producing an iPhone. He tossed it to me. “Put your number in there when you’re done.”

“You want my number?”

“In case something happens.”

“Like what?”

“We get separated somewhere,” he clarified.

The corners of my mouth turned down. “Wait… That sounds like you’re planning on following me everywhere?”

“Duh,” he replied. “That’s what I was ordered to do.”

“Follow me everywhere? You mean I get no privacy?”

“Would you rather have privacy or die?” he shot back. “Look, I don’t like this just as much as you.”

My stomach shifted uncomfortably as I typed out a quick text to my brother, sending it and then adding his contact to Vincent’s phone. Was I an annoyance to Vincent? Probably. I was ruining his regular life because of my stupid abnormal mind. Even if I considered us friends, he could still view me as a troublesome brat. I typed in my phone number, saving the contact under Stupid.

“All set,” I responded, clicking the button that brought the main menu back onto his phone.

“Now text your phone so you have my number.”

“Okay,” I mumbled, returning my attention back to his phone. A part of me was really tempted to look at his texts and contacts, but I didn’t want to intrude on his privacy, so I stopped myself.

Vincent pulled into the ice cream parlor parking lot, parking carelessly, and cutting off the engine. I gave him his phone back and together we climbed out of the car, heading inside. The bell on the door tinkled, announcing our arrival.

“Hello!” a bright voice chirped before a very familiar face came into view. Her mouth dropped open. “Oh my god! Emily!”

“Alli!” I cried, throwing my arms out as my best friend came barreling toward me. “Long time no see!”

“You think?” she snorted, pushing her ginger bangs out of her eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me you were going to California?”

I smiled wryly at her. “It was kind of a last minute thing. I forgot to mention it.”

She nodded understandingly. “I guess you forgot to mention it to our boss too, huh?”

“Aha… Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” she responded with a laugh. “More money for me. Now… I see you brought a friend?” Her gaze turned to Vincent, who was standing by the door still, looking at us with a bored expression.

I gestured for him to come toward us. “This is Vincent. Vincent, this is my friend Alli.” I tried to give him a look that said ‘be polite’.

“Hello,” he greeted smoothly, holding out a slim hand to her. “It’s a pleasure meeting you.”

Resisting the urge to role my eyes at his Sebastian-like greeting, I watched as Alli gave him the eye of approval. In other words, she thought he’d make a suitable boyfriend. Silently I begged her not to say anything. Usually she didn’t, but sometimes…

“So did you guys meet in Cali then?” Alli questioned, heading back to the cash register as a customer came up to pay.

I nodded, following her. “Yeah, my parents are taking him in for a while.”

She gave him a curious look. “What did you do?”

“I kidnapped someone.”

The woman at the register snapped her head around to look at him so fast, I was surprised she didn’t get whiplash. Vincent kept his face dangerously expressionless while I started panicking on the inside. What was he doing? He couldn’t say that!

Finally Alli laughed, breaking the tension. “Good one. So I’m going to guess that you got really into drugs?”

“No,” Vincent sniffed.

My mind raced, trying to find a plausible excuse. What were some common misdemeanors? “Umm, he actually—”

“I stole a lot of stuff,” he said, cutting me off. “So I was shipped here to correct my ways.”

Alli looked impressed. “And your parents agreed to this?”

“Er, yeah.” They really didn’t have a choice.

“Well, that’s cool. Will you be attending school with us, Vincent?”

He nodded. “Starting tomorrow.”

“Leah will be excited,” Alli commented with a smirk. “Have a nice day!” she added as the female customer left, eyeing Vincent suspiciously.

I immediately understood the innuendo. To my annoyance, it sent a shot of jealousy through me. Vincent was handsome— I wasn’t going to lie. I wasn’t going to be the only one who thought so either. Once he went to school tomorrow and all the girls saw him…

“Your brother wants vanilla,” Vincent announced, breaking my thoughts. “Hurry up.”

Rolling my eyes, I went to the register. “I guess we’ll get a pint of vanilla, two pints of chocolate, a pint of mint chocolate chip, and…” I trailed off, waiting for Vincent’s choice. “What do you want, Vincent?”

For a minute he looked taken aback, like he’d never been asked what kind of ice cream he wanted before. “Birthday Cake,” he finally responded.

Before I could stop myself, I burst out laughing. “Birthday Cake?”

“Shut up,” he snapped, shoving his hands into his pockets. “It’s good.”

“I’ve never had it, so I can’t say if I agree or not, but it totally doesn’t suit you.”

Alli cocked an eyebrow at me, pausing with an ice cream scoop in her hand. “Since when does ice cream suit people?”

I looked at Vincent pointedly. “Tell me honestly if you saw Vincent that would be the ice cream you’d think he liked.”

“Hmm. Maybe not.”

“See?”

Vincent shook his head. “You’re stupid.”

“Whatever, birthday boy.”

He mocked laughed. “Very funny.”

“Are you guys dating or something?” Alli inquired, leaning down to scoop the vanilla ice cream into one of the cartons. “I’ve never seen Emily so flirty.”

“I’m not being flirty!” I protested.

“We’ve been dating for a week,” Vincent notified her.

“Ah.”

I whipped my head around to her. “Alli! Don’t believe him so easily. We’re not dating.”

Vincent gave me a smug look when Alli didn’t look convinced. “You shouldn’t lie, Emily.”

The use of my name caused my mind to blank for a moment. I really liked the way it rolled off his tongue… Shaking my head to rid myself of those thoughts, I frowned at Alli. “Seriously though, I’m not dating him. I wouldn’t date a…”

“A?”

“Arrogant ass,” I burst before I could stop myself. I kind of regretted it, but it was better than saying vampire like I was going to. But would that statement even be correct? When Sebastian asked me if I’d ever be romantically involved with a vampire, I never gave him a clear response. My first instinct was no, but…

Alli slammed the ice cream cooler shut with a noisy pop, snapping me out of my thoughts. “Your total comes to 18.52,” she told me, going over to the cash register.

I handed her the twenty. “Keep the change. Vincent, would you take the ice cream?”

“Sure,” he responded, surprising me. “Since you paid for it.”

I smiled. “Are you going to say thank you?”

“No.”

Alli snorted, a grin appearing on her lips. “I think I’m going to like him.”

“You’re only saying that because you like people that poke fun at me,” I complained. “It’s always like this! You always—”

“Let’s go,” Vincent demanded, cutting me off. “I want to watch that movie. We’ll see you tomorrow, Alli.”

She waved. “Bye-bye!”

After returning her wave with a flourish of my hand, I turned and followed Vincent out of the parlor. “You know you don’t have to be so rude.”

“You’re different too.”

His response threw me off. “Wait, what?”

“You’re different than when you were stuck at the mansion,” Vincent informed me, frowning. “More social and…”

“And?”

“Not afraid to be annoying.”

“Thanks,” I muttered sarcastically. “It might help that I’m actually around people I like.”

He thrust the bag of ice cream into my hand when we arrived at the car. “I’m sure my family would be hurt upon hearing that.”

I slipped into the passenger side, deciding not to duke it out with Vincent in public. He could drive home. “That’s not what I mean. I like them, but I’m not as comfortable around them, you know?”

“I guess,” he replied vaguely.

“Have you been to school before?” I asked, deciding to change the topic.

“Yeah, but not a human one.”

I turned toward him, interested. “There are schools for vampires?”

“How do you think we learn?”

“Uh…”

“I’m guessing it’s not much different than human high school. We just learn different subjects.”

For a brief moment I debated about asking him what he learned, but decided against it. It would probably be best I didn’t know. “Are you sure you’re smart enough for human high school?” I joked.

He gave me a quick, complacent look. “I’m smart enough for human college.”

“Really?” I said skeptically.

“I’m royalty,” he stated, as if it explained everything.

Sighing, I dropped the subject. The sky was completely dark now; reminding me of the Halloween night I’d been kidnapped on. How long ago was that? A week and a half? I could just imagine how much math homework I’d have… I wouldn’t be able to have a social life for a week.

When we arrived back at my house, I ordered Vincent to park my car on the side of the road. He obeyed and even took the ice cream when he climbed out of the car. It took me a second to realize he was only doing it to impress my parents. We walked into the house and he went straight to the kitchen, handing my mom the bag. I trailed along after him, letting out a long yawn.

“Your brother is set up in the den,” my mom told me. “Why don’t you bring him his ice cream? I think he’s watching a movie.”

“We’re watching it too,” I replied, moving to the drawer we kept our silverware in and grabbing three spoons. “Then I’m going to bed.”

She nodded. “Good idea. School will be rough tomorrow. You’ll show Vincent where the extra room is, right?”

“Yup.”

“Please make yourself at home!” my mom chirped, sending a sweet smile to Vincent. “Let Emily, Jake, Jack, or I know if you need anything.”

Vincent returned her smile with one of his own. “Of course, Mary.”

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Seeing Vincent so polite was kind of creepy. “I’m going to the den now… Come on, Vincent.”

My mom bid us adieu as I led him out of the room and down the hall to the den. The lights were off and Jake was already sitting on the couch, watching the previews before the movies. When he noticed us, he scooted over on the couch to make room. I sat down next to him, handing him a spoon. “Vincent has the ice cream.”

Vincent took the last seat on the couch, next to me, before handing Jake’s ice cream to him. “Here.”

“Thanks, Vivi.”

“Look, you little brat—”

Jake cocked an eyebrow. “Little? I do believe I’m older than you.”

“Really?” Vincent responded dryly. “I’d bet you a million dollars you aren’t.”

“Vincent,” I said warningly, giving him a sharp look.

He glared at me for a second before letting out a huff of breath. “Whatever.”

Jake grinned triumphantly. “That’s what I thought.”

“Just play the movie,” I interjected before Vincent could open his mouth again. “So I can prove to you that I’m not afraid of vampires anymore.”

“You know, fears don’t just disappear in a week,” Jake mentioned, clicking the play button on the DVD player remote.

I shrugged. “Well it depends.”

He gave me a dubious look. “Depends on what?”

“On…” I trailed off, feeling heat rise to my face. What was I going to say? It depends on how nice they are? How kind Sebastian is? How amusing Solomon is? How silly Fiona is? How surprisingly sweet Vincent could be? Yeah, right. “Just play the movie,” I finally mumbled.

A smug look crossed his face. “I already started it, stupid.”

“Vincent, didn’t I—” I cut myself off when I realized I’d said Vincent’s name instead of Jake’s.

Jake gave me a suspicious look. “Vincent?”

“What?” Vincent glanced at him. I could tell he was holding back a smirk.

“Nothing,” I said quickly, trying to avoid further embarrassment. “Let’s just watch the movie…”

“You might want to block your ears, Vivi, she’s really loud when she screams.”

“Oh, I know.”

Jake paused, his head snapping back to Vincent. “What do you mean by that?”

I flushed at his innuendo. “Not like that, Jake!”

“Or is it?” Vincent added.

Jake scowled. “It better not mean that. Not with my little sister, you delinquent!”

“I’ll let you think what you want.”

“Vincent! Jake, he didn’t mean that.”

Jake still didn’t look convinced. “I’m watching you two.”

I sighed. Great.

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Wooo update! Lately I've been hanging out with my friends and getting home at like 10 and having just enough time to do my math homework (giving up half way through) and then going to bed. Lately writing has been sort of… blah to me. I don't know why. It's becoming more of a chore than fun… Dx I don't know what's wrong ):

Today's song is Head In Hands by Valencia

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