The Awakening (Daray Hall #1)

  Chapter Fourteen

  Dress shopping is a lot more fun that I thought it would be. Even though we have a serious looking Protector standing nearby watching our every move, it’s hard to feel bad about the experience. Austin is a hoot and, true to his word, he lets us know if a dress makes us look fat, just a little nicer worded.

  He’s done shopping in like fifteen minutes, because boy’s clothes are so boring and they all look the same. So he spends the remainder of the day helping us look for our dresses. He’s especially bored by the idea of shoe shopping, but he doesn’t back out and leave us alone. I ask why and he says, “Four teenage girls alone in a dress shop? More like plotting world domination.”

  That has us all laughing, until Tara finds her dress. She’s the first of us, and she pirouettes in it for us. She looks so beautiful in it that I don’t think any of us can even hope to compare.

  The dress has an asymmetrical shirred skirt that looks like a tamed ballet tutu ending at the knees, with a long trail of ruffles at the back. The waist-length strapless bodice is adorned with sequins in a beautiful floral pattern throughout the bosom and the waist. The dress is a soft blue color.

  Morgan’s dress is a strapless black sequin dress with a thigh high hemline in the front. A sheer black train cascades off the back of the dress like a waterfall, gathering in bunches around her feet. She finds a matching ring and a bracelet to go with it, and she looks like a princess of the night.

  Andrea’s dress is bright red in color, and has a sweetheart neckline with a fitted torso and ruching along the sides. The front of the dress is short, stopping well above the knee, but the back is more like Morgan’s. It flows down around her legs to her ankles in tiered layers. She looks almost like a flamenco dancer.

  I’m the last of us to find my dress but, when I do, it screams at me, yelling at me to pick it up and try it on. The dress stops just above my knees. The bodice of the dress is sky blue and floral print. A sequined embellishment around the waist pins a sheer icy blue overskirt that flows down to my feet, leaving my legs bare. I pirouette for Tara and the others, and they all clap, except for Andrea.

  She’s looking at me with a strange expression on her face, and for a second I think it might be anger or jealousy. But she quickly shakes it off and manages a small smile for me.

  “You look great, Kylie,” Tara says, circling me like a vulture. “I think this dress might have been made just for you.”

  We’re leaving the shop with our dress bags in hand, and we pass Tricia, Chloe, and their group. They’re on their way in, and they stop to sneer at us, mostly at me, though. “Well, I wasn’t aware that people like you even wore dresses. Aren’t you more comfortable in plaid shirts and timberlands?”

  I just smile as sweetly at her as I can manage and say, “Oh, I’m sorry, Tricia. Didn’t you know that the stripper gear is all next door?”

  She narrows her eyes at me, but I’m too busy watching Chloe to notice. She’s trying hard not to smile and for a second I worry that she’ll blow her cover and reveal herself as the secret nerd she is. But she quickly regains her composure, and pretends to glare in hatred at me.

  For a second, I think she pulled it off, until I notice the shocked look on Morgan’s face. One look at her tells me that she saw Chloe’s slip, and now she’s looking back and forth between the two of us. Chloe notices as well, and goes in for the kill.

  She lifts her nose and sneers at me. “I can’t believe I have to share a room with a freak like you.”

  I’m tempted to smile, because we’ve talked about this before. Instead, I just chuckle and say, “Well, Chloe, I can’t believe I have to share a room with a moronic bitch like you.”

  We’re standing there, in each others faces, and I have the strangest urge to giggle. Chloe’s fighting her emotions as well, and it’s only a matter of time before she bursts and destroys her perfect image. So, I turn to Tara.

  “Come on, let’s go. I’m not sure if standing this close to Tricia will get me herpes, but I don’t wanna stick around to find out.”

  Austin bursts out into laughter, and Morgan manages a quick smile. Tara and I are giggling now, and we just walk out the door without one more look at Tricia and her flabbergasted posse. We laugh about it the whole way back to Daray and, by the time we walk through the front door, our Protector is thankful to be rid of us.

  Tara, Andrea, and Austin head down to the gym to play some basketball, and I follow. Morgan hangs back a bit so she can talk to me without being heard. “What was that?”

  I don’t look at her, and pretend I don’t know what she’s talking about. “Hmm?”

  “Don’t,” she says, pulling on my arm so that I stop and face her. “You and Chloe. What’s going on with you two?”

  I can’t tell her, because it’s Chloe’s secret and she doesn’t want anyone to know. But I can’t ignore Morgan’s question. She obviously saw something in the store, and I don’t want her to think that I’m a secret bitch. So I take a deep breath. “Alright, Chloe and I, we don’t actually have a problem with one another. But you can’t tell anyone!”

  “You two are friends?” she asks in complete disbelief.

  I shush her. “Be quiet! Alright, listen. Chloe isn’t actually the bitch she pretends to be. But she wants to fit in, just like everyone else, so she puts up with Tricia and her group so that she doesn’t have to be alone and unpopular.”

  Morgan frowns. “Kylie, are you sure–”

  “I’m positive, alright. She’s really not a bad person, but you can’t tell anyone, especially her. I thought that Chloe was the same as every other stupid girl I’ve ever met, but I was wrong. She’s not stupid, and she’s not mean. She just wants to be accepted.”

  “For someone she’s not.”

  “Morgan, please don’t tell anyone. Not even Tara knows that she and I are friends.”

  “Some friend.”

  “Morgan,” I say. “Please?”

  She sighs. “Alright, your guys’ secret is safe with me. I won’t let her know that I know. I can’t see how the two of you can be friends, though. She’s such a–”

  “Good actress. She’s good at pretending that she doesn’t care about anyone, but she does. We’ve spent hours talking at night when it’s just the two of us. She’s really a nice person.”

  “If you say so.” Morgan sounds like she thinks I might be crazy, or imagining it, but she doesn’t say anything else.

  “Thanks, Morgan.”

  She and I hurry to the gym to catch up with Tara and the others. When we get there, Austin and Andrea are busy trying to outshoot each other at one of the basketball hoops that have been placed around the gym. Tara’s sitting on the ground watching them. When Morgan and I join her, she looks up at us and smiles. “Where did you two go?”

  “Nowhere,” I say, sitting next to her. “We were just talking.”

  I make sure to keep my mind absolutely blank in case Tara’s curious enough to snoop around. I don’t think she will, but I don’t want to take any chances. So when Tara looks directly into my eyes, I stare back unblinkingly, until she finally nods and goes back to watching Austin and Andrea mess around.

  It doesn’t surprise me that Andrea kicks Austin’s ass at basketball. Austin looks slow, clumsy, and uncoordinated compared to his sister. I nudge Tara and she looks at me. “I thought vampires were supposed to be super fast, strong, and agile. How come Austin moves like a lazy fat kid?”

  She laughs. “We don’t get those added benefits until after the Awakening. And it’s not like it is in the movies and stuff. We’re not indestructible and we can’t move so fast that we’re practically invisible. But we are much faster and stronger than humans. That makes it easier for us to, uh, hunt them.”

  Hunt them? Does she mean like stalking some poor, defenseless human to rip out their throat and suck them dry like a bloody juice box?

  Tara frowns. “It sounds nasty, I know. Jade says that we’ll get used to it.”

  “Jade??
??

  She smiles. “I forgot you don’t have the same mentors. Jade teaches my Controlling Bloodlust lessons. She’s awesome, and she’s so helpful. I asked her how long it took for her to get control of herself and get used to it, and she says that you don’t really. It just gets easier with time.”

  “She sounds like a wise woman.”

  I go back to watching the game between Austin and Andrea. He trips her, and she jumps to her feet and throws the basketball at his head. He ducks, laughing, and kicks it back at her. She laughs too, and they start kicking the ball back and forth, like they’re playing soccer instead of basketball.

  Its a few seconds before I notice that some of the Protectors are walking over. One of them gives me a smile that sends unpleasant shivers up my spine, and he stands over me. I glance up and him and scowl; he’s looking down my shirt, and he’s not even trying to hide it.

  He whistles and turns to one of his friends. “Shame she’s a lesbo, dude.”

  They both laugh, and I get to my feet angrily. My hands curl into dangerous fists at my sides, and that only makes them laugh more. A third person joins them and, the second he speaks, my blood runs cold.

  “Well, well, well. What do we have here?”

  It’s Travis, and I can’t believe I didn’t recognize his voice. Right now, I’m realizing that he was the one holding the scissors. The one that cut off chunks of my hair and left me bleeding and crying on the floor of the boy’s locker room.

  “What are you guys doing over here?” Travis asks. “I hope you’re not planning to get lucky, cause this dyke doesn’t do men. Isn’t that right, Kylie?”

  I’ve never heard my name sound so disgusting or hateful. Not even when Harry was at his nastiest. Not even when Tricia tries to be the most evil, vile bitch on the planet. He sounds so disgusted with me that I actually take a step back under his intensive glare.

  “What did I ever do to you?” I ask, trying to keep my voice even and calm sounding.

  Tara and Morgan each take their places by my side, and I instantly feel better. I’ve only known Morgan for about a week and a half, and she’s already a better friend to me than anyone I’ve ever met, except Tara or maybe Chloe.

  “You’re still trying to play with us big boys,” Travis says, stepping closer. He’s right up in my personal space, and I can feel him breathing on my face. I’m disgusted, and tempted to pull away, but I can’t back down.

  So I look up at him and narrow my eyes. “You didn’t really think that ganging up on me in the locker room would get me to quit, did you? It’ll take a hell of a lot more than that to stop me from succeeding.”

  He looks taken aback, but quickly recovers. “I’m not gonna let some bitch talk to me like that.” He takes a threatening step forward and now his chest is barely an inch from the end of my nose. I can smell the stick of his breath. “You better watch your back, dyke.”

  That word. Again.

  I take a quick step forward and slam my hands into his chest, and shove as hard as I possibly can. Luckily, I catch him off guard, and he staggers back a few steps, and stumbles, almost falling to his knee. When he rights himself, he looks so pissed off that I’m surprised there’s no steam coming out of his ears.

  “You…you…”

  He’s so angry he can’t even think of something to call me. I’ve just made a huge mistake. He knows it, I know it, and so does everyone else around us. They’re watching us nervously, waiting for a full-on fight to break out.

  Just when I think he might throw a punch, Carlos enters the gym and immediately spots the situation. He strides over, intent on stopping this before it goes too far. Travis sees Carlos and immediately backs down.

  “What’s going on here?” Carlos asks, like he doesn’t already know.

  Travis flashes him a bright smile. “I was just having a chat with a fellow trainee Protector, but now I’ll be heading out for a run before dinner. If that’s alright with you, sir?”

  Carlos reluctantly nods his head. “Get going. And Travis? Don’t let me catch you harassing Miss Redding again.”

  “You won’t, sir,” Travis says, looking straight at me. I get the double meaning in his words, and I think Carlos does, too. Travis isn’t going to stop his crusade against me; he’s just going to make sure that Carlos doesn’t see it.

  Travis turns and, before starting his run, gives Andrea a huge wink. I’m the only one that sees it, and I’m the only one that sees her glare. It makes me happy that I’m not the only one that dislikes Travis, but I wonder why he would wink at Andrea. She’s not the kind of girl I’ve seen him talking with. Maybe he just wants someone to play with.

  When Travis and the other Protectors are gone, Carlos turns to me. “Travis was one of the men in the locker room, wasn’t he?”

  “I think so, sir, but I can’t prove it.”

  He nods. “Alright. If he bothers you again, I want you to come to me.” I hesitate, and he picks up on it. “Kylie, I mean it. I won’t think you’re weak if you admit that you need help. You’re just starting your new life here, and I know that a lot of the residents here don’t like that you’re doing this. I don’t expect you to fight this battle all by yourself.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  He claps me on the back, and turns and closes himself in his office. I turn around to find everyone staring at me. Tara speaks first. “Kylie, are you alright?”

  I nod and manage a smile. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. I just need to prove to these boys that I’ve got what it takes. Then they’ll have to accept me.”

  “I hope you’re right, sweetheart, but I doubt that’ll be the case.”

  I look at Austin and shrug. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”

  Austin and Andrea go back to playing their game, and I sit and chat with both Tara and Morgan. They seem to full heartedly support my decision to train, and I get the sense that of everyone at Daray, Morgan might like me the most.

  And aside from Tara and Chloe, Morgan is my favorite person to talk to. She’s a little sarcastic, disbelieving, and even outright depressed, but she’s always willing to listen and offer advice when it’s needed. Friendship is a new concept to her, but she acts like having friends is perfectly natural to her.

  After dinner, Tara and I talk about how to do her hair for the dance. She only has another day to decide, since the dance starts right after dinner tomorrow. I’m a little sad that I can’t do anything with my hair, but Tara assures me that I’ll still look great.

  “Tara, it’s this beautiful dress that’ll be doing all of the work.”

  “You’re wrong. The dress is gorgeous, but you still look beautiful without it. Don’t forget that, Kylie. Nothing will change how incredible you are.”

  We spend the rest of the night before lights out discussing any and everything we can think of. I’m about to leave for my room when Tara’s voice stops me.

  “Andrea and Travis are sleeping together.”

  I spin around so I can stare at her. “You’re joking, right?”

  She shakes her head. “No, I caught one of his thoughts while you and Travis were staring at each other. He winked at her, didn’t he? She was glaring at him, and he was thinking about how stupid he was for, in his words, ‘Blatantly advertising their relationship.’ And I got the feeling that she was really angry with him.”

  “What the hell could Travis possibly want with Andrea? I mean, she’s nowhere near as beautiful as the stupid sluts that he’s used to dating, right? I mean, I haven’t been here long, but I’ve seen the type of girls that he flirts with, and she doesn’t fit his criteria.”

  “No, she doesn’t. I’m not sure how or why they’re sleeping together, but they are. That worries me.”

  “Do you think she’s just pretending to like me?”

  “I’m not sure. I think someone’s taught her how to shield her mind from me or something. It’s the only explanation I can think of that makes any sense.”

  “Who could teach her to shield her
mind? And why would they do it? And what the hell could she possible gain from being with Travis?”

  “What scares me the most about this is that I’m not sure Travis even knows she’s manipulating him. He thinks he’s the one in control of the situation, but he’s not.”

  “What scares me the most is that Travis is the one most outspoken against me being a Protector, and now she’s involved with him. Does she not want me to become a Protector either? Are we even seeing the real Andrea? What the hell is she doing with him?”

  For a minute, we just sit there and think about everything. Neither of us can say for sure what Andrea’s doing with Travis, but it leaves me with an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach. There is nothing good that can come out of that relationship, and we both know it.