Chapter 27: Chapter-24

-Previously in DiT-

"I knew it! Those kids are spreading nasty rumors all around the school." He said. "They need to shut up or someone has to make them shut their mouths."

"I don't really care about them. They just don't understand the seriousness of the matter." I shrugged.

"Umm...you should go meet Chloe now." He said. "She had a breakup with her boyfriend. She is kinda devastated."

That sounded like a very mundane problem to me. But I knew if I had a normal life, this would really be a highly prioritized problem.

"Okay, see you later, Shawn." I said.

"See ya,"

He waved at me and walked away, whistling quietly.

***

"I've been around a long time, and life still has a whole lot of surprises for me."-Loretta Lynn

Chapter-24

-Karen-

"He said I wasn't giving him enough time. Like hell!" Chloe's face became red. "He is the one who is aiming to go to New York after his college, not me."

I just listened to her talking about her ex-boyfriend. He was in the college, studying law. They had been dating for two years, and according to what I heard from Chloe, they were pretty serious too. If meeting with each other's parents counts as serious.

Chloe was sad but she was angry too. I think she was rather angry than being sad. I wasn't the right person to give her a speech on relationships or break-ups, so I remained quiet. Maybe, talking to someone would ease her pain.

"I can't believe he blew up everything in just one talk. He called me and ended our relationship." She said. Her voice grew thin. "Can you believe it? He called me. He couldn't even care to meet me in person and say whatever he had to. And he is the one who says I don't have enough time for him. He knew that I'm graduating this year and I'm busy for god's sake. How can boys be so cruel?"

"Chloe, first of all, calm down. I can understand what you're going through and I know it's hard but sometimes things don't work out the way we want them to." I did my best to handle this. Even though I had no idea what I was going to say next. "Everybody has their priorities and responsibilities. And not everyone puts themselves in other's shoes to understand them."

"I get it." Chloe looked down and forced a smile on her face. The girl was a fighter. "I shouldn't have gotten so serious over this relationship"

"It's not your fault." I shook my head.

"Ugh! Whom am I supposed to go with to the dance?" She let out a sad laugh. "It is just some weeks away and I don't think any boy is going stag."

Jon was going with Maya and other boys had probably chosen their dates already. These types of things kind of happened real quickly.

"Who is your date?" She asked.

I was caught off-guard.

"Umm...I haven't decided yet." I stammered. "But I won't go with you. That's for sure."

Chloe laughed. It was good to see her cheerful again.

"Oh, you just broke my heart, Karen." She laughed. "Are you going with that guy who came here that day to see you? What was his name? Victor?"

"Oh no, no I—I don't know. I mean I haven't asked him for the dance. I don't think he will have time for this." I bit my lip.

"What does he do?" She asked. "I suppose he is in college. He looked little older than us."

College—I tried to imagine Victor sitting in the classroom during a lecture with a very bored face, constantly rolling his eyes. It was a cute image, to be honest.

"Yeah, he is in college. He is a...literature student." Whoa! Where did that come from? I tried not to burst out laughing. I kept a straight face. "He has been my friend for a while."

"I can tell he really likes you from the way he was looking at you and he totally panicked when you weren't feeling well." Chloe smiled. "Are you sure he is just a friend?"

Was he just a friend? Okay, maybe he was more than a friend.

"Yup, he is a very good friend who cares for me a lot." I exhaled.

"Then bring him. What are you waiting for?" She asked. "I don't think he'll say no to you."

He would never say no to anything. He was crazy and a jerk.

"I'll manage, don't worry. We need to focus on you right now." I said, with a small smile. "Who is going with Shawn?"

"Shawn? He is going with—" Chloe went into a thoughtful mode. "I can't remember if we talked about this. We talk about his photographs all the time. I think he has no one to go with."

"Ask him before it's too late," I exclaimed. I had a weird feeling that Shawn liked Chloe. "He will be happy to go with you."

"Why do you say that?" Chloe asked, confused.

"Well, you know, he really appreciates your efforts towards your work and he is really nice." I said. "Plus you'll look good together."

"I'll ask him," Chloe nodded. "I hope he says yes."

I smiled. This was a great beginning.

"Now, let's get back to work. You lifted up my spirits again." Chloe said, "Let's check the posters they are making over there."

It felt nice to walk around and help other kids in preparing the posters and stuff. It was relaxing. But when the period ended and I had to get back to the class, I felt the never ending school day begin again.

You know the feeling when you wish something to end early but it seems like it is intentionally being dragged on, only to piss you off. I was going through the same feeling. Kids were still gossiping about Beth and I had to keep my anger in control. Gladly, it worked.

P.E was real pain. The gym was filled with kids working for the graduation so, coach had decided to makes us work out in the football playground. I swear he would make us jog even if it was the end of the world.

Jon kept his eyes on me while jogging with his basketball buddies. The players of the different sports were already two laps ahead of us. It was unfair; they spent most of their time in running. Surely they could run faster than us without breaking a sweat.

"Keep up, Michaels." Coach yelled at me. "Or make it double."

"Sure thing," I shouted back and then realised that I was jogging so slowly that it seemed like I was running backwards.

It took about half an hour to complete the laps coach had asked us to run. One-third of the kids passed out on the bleachers and some had already faked dehydration during the laps.

I raked my hands through my sweaty hair and groaned. My legs were on fire. They still seemed to be running even when I was sitting on the bleachers. What a heck of a day!

"Hey, Karen," I heard a sweet voice.

For a second, I wished I was dead and it was an angel's voice.

I looked up and saw Maya White smiling at me. Her dark blue eyes stared at me. Her blond hair was tied into a simple ponytail and she was wearing plain red tank top and white shorts.

I was suddenly ridden with self-consciousness. I was covered in sweat from head-to-toe and possibly smelled like a skunk while she had that I'm-a-princess look. She looked damn fresh even at the end of the day. How did some people manage that? Someone please bring me the invisibility cloak.

No wonder why Jon chose Maya to be his girlfriend instead of me.

"Oh, hey, Maya," I said, scooting a bit away. "How was your day?"

She sat down next to me and I gave her a stupid smile.

"I haven't talked to you since 9th grade, I think." She said with a tone of guilt in her voice. "I thought you wouldn't even remember me."

"It is okay, Maya. I've a good memory. I remember you."  I replied. "Is everything okay with Jon now?"

"I wanted to thank you for whatever you did for me. That day he wasn't ready to talk to me and I really am thankful to you for asking him to talk." She smiled brightly. "I—uh wanted to ask you if...you are really a...witch."

My eyes went wider than they were supposed to. Oh! Of course, Jon had told me that he had told Maya everything. It made me want to choke him to death.

"It's okay if you aren't comfortable while talking about it. I just wanted to know that I'm not going crazy. I thought the conversation between me and Jon was a dream or something." She looked ahead at the playground, her eyes thoughtful. "I'm happy that Jon let out whatever was bugging him, but I couldn't believe him. It's not usual to know that your boyfriend is going to turn into a werewolf."

"Yes, I'm a witch." I said. Jon, you owe me. "And I know Vampires too."

Maya's head snapped in my direction.

"So, it's true." She sounded cool. "At first, I thought Jon was kidding but he kept on insisting and I knew he won't lie to me. I just wanted to make sure that I am not insane, you know."

"I get it. It's kind of hard to believe in such things." I nodded in agreement. "But trust me; there are lots of supernatural species around us."

"Now, you're scaring me." She said.

"I'm sorry." I grinned.

"You know, I always wanted to talk to you but never got a chance." She paused for a moment. "No offence but I was kind of jealous of you."

The famous, most beautiful girl in our grade since forever was jealous of me?

"None taken but why were you jealous of me?" I asked.

"I always thought that you were closer to Jon than I was, and that made me really jealous," She said. "But now, I think it's a great thing that you're closer because you know him more than I do."

And I hated this girl for no reason. It turned out all cheerleaders aren't rude.

"He loves you a lot." I said. "Don't leave him when he becomes a werewolf."

Her face suddenly became brighter. She laughed out loud.

"I don't know what weirder, knowing that your boyfriend is a werewolf or knowing he will turn into a werewolf." She shook her head, smiling. "So, what powers do you have?"

"I don't know exactly. I've never really used them." I said in low voice. "But I can blast energy balls with my hands. Pretty much like Scarlet the witch from The Avengers and time slows down for me like for Barry Allen. I hope I'll be able to move things without touching them in future like—"

She opened her mouth and then did say anything. I realised she didn't know what I was talking about.

"Sorry, I lost you." She said finally and let out a chuckle. "Jon told me that you're a comic books enthusiast."

Damn you, Jon! I was so going to kill him after this. He didn't have to give my life history to her. What else had he told her?

"So, the vampire brothers are here?" She asked. Wow, just freaking wow. "I want to see what real vampires look like."

Oh well, you know, they look handsome, alluring and sometimes cute too but there's a catch; they can be very dangerous when they are angry. Or hungry.

"They look as normal as we do." I said instead.

"They really have those fangs, right?" She asked, sounding excited.

"We're talking about vampires here. You must be terrified, Maya." I frowned.

"Jon said they are pretty harmless."

"Yeah but they are pretty intimidating too."

"Hmm...so, you're bringing one of them to the dance?" She asked.

Not this again.

"Yes, whoever is the best dancer will get the chance to accompany me to the dance," I said with a fake huge smile on my face. Deny, deny, deny wasn't going to work here.

"Do they truly turn into ashes in sunlight? Is that why they can't come here during daytime?" She asked. "Can they survive without blood?"

"Yes, yes and no. They are not exactly what some books have depicted them as but they are somewhat close to what the writers made them." I replied to her questions. "I still don't have any clue about the reflection in mirrors."

Maya kept nodding her head, listening to me. She looked interested. Then when I stopped she glanced at her watch.

"I've to go to my next class, Karen. It was nice talking to you." She got up hurriedly. "I'm glad you're Jon's best friend. You're so nice."

I got up too. I had another class to go through before the school ended.

"And I'm glad that you're his girlfriend." I said.

"We should hang out more." She laughed. "You're not boring."

"You thought I was boring?" Now, I was offended.

"Nah, Jon said you're boring."

"Those will be his famous last words then."

She laughed again. We walked to the hall together and she went to her biology class. Maya was an intelligent student. That's why she was perfect in every sense. I walked to my math class alone, thinking about the dance.

Shall I ask Victor? No, that will make his ego blast off to the moon, if it wasn't already there yet.

Jon was waiting for me outside the class with a smug smile on his stupid face. I wanted to hit him for all those stupid things he had told Maya.  And how dare he call me boring?

"You're a dead man, Jonny." I whispered to him.

"What happened? Your meeting with Maya didn't go well?" He asked.

"You knew I was talking to her?"

"She said she wanted to talk to you. I saw you guys on the bleachers." He shrugged. "Did she bug you with her questions? She is always keen to learn and go deep into matters. Guess what, she wants to become a surgeon. I don't know if her patients are going to survive."

"I don't know about them but I know about you." I glared at him. "You, Jonathan Carlton, aren't going to survive."

"What the hell did I do?" He made a fake scared face. It reminded me of one of the scared meme faces.

"You said I was boring?" I counted on my finger. "Wait—that's the biggest reason you aren't going to make it alive."

Soon one of his arms came around me.

"Hey, Karen you're not boring." He said. "You're my best friend."

"Huh, like this flattering is going to save you." I retorted.

"Can you go home by yourself today?" He asked. "Mom called. I have some stuff to buy from the supermarket."

"Sure, I can go by myself." I replied.

"Promise me that you won't get into any trouble." He said seriously. "You'll go home and give me a call."

"I'm not a little girl, Jon." I rolled my eyes.

"Little girls aren't the ones who get into trouble with vampires these days," He rolled his eyes in response. "With God-knows-what things luring out here, you've to go straight home and call me."

"Okay, stop being a chicken now." I punched his stomach lightly.

The math class was not a torture but it slowly became unbearable when I lost the track of questions the teacher made us solve. Our final exams were near and they wanted us to score good marks, I get that, but this was pure...sadism.

After the school ended, I complied on Jon's statement and walked straight towards home. I didn't want to take a bus. It was better to watch people walking than sitting. The whole day at school had gone like that, with kids sitting with faces that screamed 'Spare us please'. I wanted to walk.

"Karen." I heard a whisper in the air as I crossed the traffic.

What—

I turned my head sideways and saw the tall figure on the other side of the road. The vehicles were passing fast but I saw him clearly. He had his hands in the pocket of his jeans. His calm face somehow told me that he wasn't as calm as he looked from the outside. I waited for the traffic to come to halt.

Nate was staring at me intently.

A/N Hello! How are you?

You wanted Nathan? Here he is. Now, stop hating me. Don't boycott your likes and comments.

ASK THE AUTHOR: For people, who haven't asked me anything yet, please do. Comment your questions and I'll answer them at the end of the book. E.g. who is the celebrity I wanna date...yada, yada. C'mon, guys, I expected you all to be fun, not ghosts!

Thank you, and have a rocking day.

-M_M

P.S. Only two or three chapters are left for this book. Phew! :')