Part 4 (2/2)
”You're right.” Her eyes narrowed. ”I didn't think of that.”
”I'm not just a pretty face,” I said jokingly.
”Not even a pretty face!” She laughed. ”How about I come over to the hotel?”
she suggested. ”We can go on to the movies from there, and I can tell Mom that's where we met.”
”Okay,” I said, and told her my room number. ”But not too early,” I warned.
”Wait until five or six, when it's pretty dark.”
”Okay.” She tapped her foot on the doorstep. ”Well?” she said.
”Well what?” I replied.
”Aren't you going to ask?”
”Ask what?”
”Ask me to go to a movie,” she said.
”But you just -”
”Darren,” she sighed. ”Girls never ask boys out.”
”They don't?” I was confused.
”You're clueless, aren't you?” She chuckled. ”Just ask me if I want to go to the movies, okay?”
”Okay,” I groaned. ”Debbie - will you come to the movies with me?”
”I'll think about it,” she said, then unlocked the door and disappeared inside.
Girls!
CHAPTER SIX.
Evra was watching TV when I got in. ”Any news?” I asked.
”No,” he replied. ”Mr. Crepsley didn't miss me?”
”He barely noticed you were gone. He's been acting weird lately.”
”I know,” I said. ”I need a feed of human blood, but he hasn't mentioned it.
Normally he's pretty fussy about making sure I feed on time.”
”Are you going to feed without him?” Evra asked.
”Probably. I'll slip into one of the rooms late tonight and take some blood from a sleeping guest. I'll use a syringe.” I wasn't able to close cuts with spit like full vampires could.
I'd come a long way in a year. Not so long ago, I would have jumped at the chance to skip a feed; now I was feeding because I wanted to, not because I'd been told.
”You'd better be careful,” Evra warned me. ”If you get caught, Mr. Crepsley will have a fit.”
”Caught? Me? Impossible! I'll breeze in and out like a ghost.”
I did, too, at about two in the morning. It was easy for someone with my talents: by sticking an ear to a door and listening for sounds inside, I could tell how many people were in a room and whether they were light sleepers or deep sleepers. When I found an unlocked room with a single man snoring like a bear, I let myself in and took the required amount of blood. Back in my own room, I squeezed the blood into a gla.s.s and drank.
”That'll keep me going,” I said as I finished. ”It'll get me through tomorrow anyway, and that's the important thing.”
”What's so special about tomorrow?” Evra asked.
I told him about meeting Debbie and arranging to go to the movies.
”You've got a date!” Evra laughed with delight.
”It's not a date!” I snorted. ”We're just going to the movies.”
”Just?” Evra grinned. ”There's no such thing as just with girls. It's a date.”
”Okay,” I said, ”it's kind of a date. I'm not stupid. I know I can't get involved.”
”Why not?” Evra asked.
”Because she's a normal girl and I'm only half human,” I said.
”That shouldn't stop you from going out together. She won't be able to tell you're a vampire, not unless you start biting her neck.”
”Ha ha,” I laughed dryly. ”It's not that. In five years she'll be a grown woman, while I'll still be like this.”
Evra shook his head. ”Worry about the next five days,” he advised, ”not the next five years. You've been hanging around Mr. Crepsley too much - you're getting as gloomy as he is. There's no reason for you not to date girls.”
”I guess you're right.” I sighed.
”Of course I am.”
I chewed my lip nervously. ”a.s.suming it is a date,” I said, ”what do I do? I've never been on a date before.”
Evra shrugged. ”Neither have I. But I guess you fust act normal. Chat with her.
Tell her a few jokes. treat her like a friend. Then...” ”Then?” I asked when he stopped. He puckered up his lips. ”Give her a kiss!” He laughed.
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