My Beloved

  “Good afternoon, class. I’m your new History teacher, Mr. Roberts.” Even his voice held a southern drawl that was only just noticeable.

  “Holy. Shit. I think I’m going to fail this class…” Jamie muttered from beside her.

  Wendy held in a laugh. “Why?” she asked and Jamie waggled her eyebrows.

  “Because I’ll be too busy staring at his ass.”

  Wendy couldn’t help it as she burst out laughing, causing everyone in class to look at her. Mr. Roberts quirked an eyebrow in question. “Something funny, Miss…?”

  With a red face, Wendy coughed into her hand. “Uh, Wendy, sir. Wendy Garrett.”

  Recognition flashed in his eyes, making her confused. “Well, since you think my being a teacher is so funny, you can stay after and explain why.”

  Her heart plummeted. She had never been in trouble before and as the class ooh’ed, she felt like she wanted to cry. Not wanting to make things worse for herself, she nodded mutely and tried not to overreact. It was hard though, since she’s always gotten along with all of her teachers since Kindergarten.

  “Okay, so now he’s not so hot anymore,” Jamie muttered next to her, making Wendy smile to herself. Always the protective friend. Wendy was lucky to have her as she tried not to focus on the stares from the others in class, but it seemed Mr. Roberts heard Jamie’s talk.

  “Would you like to say that a little louder? I couldn’t quite hear you…”

  Now it was Jamie’s turned to blush. Wendy felt angry that this teacher was picking on the both of them for not too bad of reasons. As if sensing Wendy was about to speak up, Jamie put a hand on her shoulder and subtly shook her head.

  “Yeah, I said, ‘You’re not so hot anymore.”

  Some of the students in class snickered as Jamie raised an eyebrow daringly. Wendy saw his hand twitch and that made her feel a little frightened. Did he actually want to hit her friend? What kind of teacher was this?

  ‘Firefly? What’s wrong? I can sense your distress,’ Vincent suddenly spoke in her mind, making her jump slightly in her seat. A boy next to her gave her a crazy look before going back to his work.

  ‘N-Nothing. Just a new teacher giving Jamie and I a hard time. I’ll talk to you later. I need to concentrate.’ She could feel his hesitation but heard him sigh mentally.

  ‘Alright. Reach out to me if anything happens,’ he spoke and then left her.

  “One more crack like that and you’ll be going to O’Shaque-hennasie’s office! Just because I’m new does not mean I can be messed with,” he said, pointing a finger at her.

  He was more of a grouch than Oscar, Wendy thought with a slight shake of her head. Jamie zipped her lips in a sarcastic way before he finally started to teach. It was a long period before the bell finally rang. Wendy did her work diligently, hoping that would lessen any punishment she might receive. “Tell me if he tries anything on you,” Jamie stage whispered and left her with a wink, but not before giving Mr. Roberts the ‘I’m-watching-you’ sign with her hand.

  “Please stand up here, Ms. Garrett,” Mr. Roberts said with an authoritative voice.

  Gulping, Wendy shuffled to the front of his desk. “I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to laugh, and it wasn’t even at you! I-”

  He cut her off with a slight smile and shake of his head. “No, it’s fine. I was hired by Darcy West. Here…” He took out a bracelet with a heart on it. “Wear this. If you ever run into trouble, I’ll be there in seconds, okay?”

  Wendy nodded dumbly as she shakily clasped it on her small dainty wrist.

  “So… I’m not in trouble?” she asked hesitantly, making him chuckle.

  “No. I just want to give off the impression of a hard ass. That way, when I eventually leave here, no one will care to ask.”

  Wendy shuffled her feet and looked around the room. She was never good with people she hardly knew. “You really shouldn’t have taken the job…” Wendy said while biting her inner cheek.

  Mr. Roberts cocked his head to the side with his eyebrows furrowed. “Why not? I was offered quite a bit, and you’re cute so that’s a plus.”

  Wendy blushed furiously at being called cute. She wasn’t used to compliments and it was unexpected. It seems a lot of what this Mr. Roberts does is unexpected.

  “Y-You shouldn’t say that! You’re a teacher! Well, sort of, but to everyone else you are!” she hissed under her breath, still not making eye contact.

  He just laughed. “Okay, whatever, cutie. So why is it that I shouldn’t have taken this job?” he asked with genuine interest as he crossed his arms. His very large arms. Wendy looked at the clock and noted that if she didn’t leave, she’d be late for her last class. The ‘teacher’ noticed her distraction and took out a slip. “I’ll write you a late pass. Now answer.”

  Wendy gulped and fiddled with her fingers. “W-Well you see, Mr. Roberts-”

  He cut her off, “Please call me Asher when we’re alone.” She nodded jerkily and continued. “My last guard… she uh, she died. Protecting me. She was shot and I don’t want another person’s life taken because of me.”

  Asher laughed in response as Wendy looked at him like he was crazy. “I’m sorry, but I already knew that. I get paid for a living to watch over people such as yourself. Even a couple of vampires. Yes, I know about them considering I’m a vampire hunter. Well… reformed vampire hunter.”

  Wendy gaped up at him and stumbled back slightly to get her bearings. He chuckled at her response and Wendy couldn’t help but compare this side of him to the teacher part. He seemed so much more loose and care-free. “Vampire hunters are real?!” she whispered- shouted. Feeling a little sick from all this new information, she sat down at a desk.

  “Yes, we’re very real. We have speed, so we can keep up with vamps. However, I don’t do that anymore. Well, unless it’s for a job like protecting someone like you, cutie.”

  Wendy shook her head at the new nickname. “Can you stop calling me that?” she said when it was quiet after a moment. She didn’t feel comfortable with it and for some reason, she knew Vincent would be pissed if he knew.

  “Oh, relax. I mean no harm, plus you’re a little too young for me.” That made her feel a bit better but suddenly he was in her face with a sultry smirk. “Of course… I can make an exception.”

  Her eyes were wide and she was gaping like a fish with her heart pounding wildly. “W-What?”

  He pulled away and started laughing. “Oh man, you should’ve seen your face!”

  Wendy blushed with chagrin. With a twist of her lips as a sneer, she stood up and grabbed the late pass from his grip and was ready to storm out when he caught her arm.

  “No, no, wait, I’m sorry. It wasn’t funny. Well, not that funny.”

  After a moment, Wendy nodded and tugged her arm out of his grip.

  “Thank you. And thank you for, you know, looking out for me,” she said awkwardly, trying to go back to a somewhat more calm atmosphere.

  He nodded and flipped some hair out of his eyes. “This is actually going to be a pretty simple job. Mr. West already took care of the threat. I’m just here to make sure there are no more. Oh and your friend, Jamie, is it?” he asked at the end. Wendy nodded cautiously. “She’s pretty hot,” he said with a simple shrug.

  Wendy gasped and lightly hit his arm, well to her she hit pretty hard, but she was sure he barely felt it. “She’s your student!” she reprimanded him and couldn’t believe Darcy hired him! This man could at least act professional! Not like some immature jerk! “How old are you?” she asked, suddenly wondering if maybe he’s younger than he seemed.

  He gave her an amused look at the abrupt change in conversation but shrugged it off. “I’m twenty-five. Why, you like older guys?” he asked with wiggling eyebrows.

  Wendy scoffed and shook her head. “I’m surprised you’re still alive if this is you acting professionally,” she muttered, but he heard and placed a hand over his heart.

  “Oh, you think I’m unprofessional? Well
, right now I may be, but if I see someone going after my case, aka you, I’ll kick their asses so bad! You’ll be so impressed, you’ll jump in my arms and demand I take you like the closet freak I’m sure you are.”

  Again she gasped and decided she had enough. Straightening her shirt, she glared at him. Even if he towered over her, she was thoroughly pissed at him for talking to her the way he did. “You’re disgusting!” she spat and got to the door but stopped when he called her name. Why was he such a pushover?

  “What?” she said shortly and tapped her foot, waiting.

  He put on a puppy dog face and looked at his hands. “I’m sorry,” he muttered.

  She studied him for a moment before nodding to herself and sighing. “It’s not fine, but I accept your apology. I really need to go though. I’ll see you around.” She just made it out to the all when he said, “See you later, cutie!” She cringed and whipped around to make sure no one heard, and luckily the hall was deserted.

  “This man is going to make my eye twitch if I’m not careful,” she mumbled to herself and headed off to class. Hopefully, Darcy already informed Vincent on who was looking out for her so she wouldn’t have to explain today. And she prayed he wouldn’t ask her about anything to do with Asher. Wendy hardly thought he would be okay with the way he was acting toward Wendy, even if Asher claimed it was only innocent.

  Chapter 15

  Wendy

  "How's Markus doing?" Wendy asked, talking on her cell. She was making her way slowly home, not really looking forward to being all alone with Vincent.

  Her mom sighed but chuckled. "He's up and about, hitting on the poor defenseless nurses."

  Wendy chuckled and shook her head. Of course Mark would go back to being a complete flirt only a day after his surgery. Any normal person would be lying in bed, groaning in pain, but Mark always hated being strapped to a bed. "Hit him over the head with a newspaper next time you see him doing that. That usually works," she joked and laughed when her mom snorted.

  "He'd need a spray bottle. I swear that boy is nothing but a bag of hormones. It's a wonder I'm not a grandma yet." Wendy stalled outside her front door just a few moments longer to speak to her mom. "How are you, sweetie? Your Dad said you were acting a little funny this morning."

  Wendy wanted to hit herself in the head. Of course her dad would mention it to her mom! They talked about everything! Shaking her head of the thoughts, she thought of an answer. "Yes, I'm alright. Just stressed about catching up with school." Again the guilt gnawed at her, at the feeling of lying coming easier to her. That wasn't a good attribute to have. Digging into her pocket, she fingered her keys for distraction. She was prolonging the inevitable. Her aches throughout school were dulled thanks to late last night or early this morning's bite. It was still there though, and she knew once she saw him her body would respond in the most embarrassing ways.

  "Oh, I knew you shouldn't have stayed the first night. What's done is done though, I suppose. Just don't stress out about it too much, okay? You'll be back on your feet before the week is through."

  Wendy was going to retort when a flashy car suddenly skidded to a loud, screeching halt in front of her house. Her fingers went to the necklace as she hastily got the keys out only to find the door was already unlocked. Of course it would be! Vincent was here, after all.

  "Uh, Listen, mom, I got to go! Talk to you later, love you!" Wendy hurried out and was about to make a run back inside when the person stepped out of the car. Since all that has happened, Wendy has become quite paranoid and the fast car that happened to stop outside her regular house was not something that happened often.

  "Ugh! I cannot believe that vampire!" Anya hissed as she stalked by Wendy without as much as a 'hello' and went inside. Gaping, Wendy followed in silently. Anya was pacing back and forth on Wendy's modest tan carpet, muttering to herself. Her newly brown hair was shimmering after her steps in fluid movements. "No good dirty vamp-" She was cut off by an alluring voice.

  "What is going on here?"

  Both girls jumped to see Vincent standing on the steps. Wendy panicked about the sun but she only just noticed how there were blankets covering the large windows.

  Wendy's mouth went dry when she saw he was shirtless. Seeing that he donned nothing but some sweat pants that somewhere in her brain registered as one of her brother's, she licked her dry lips. Her neck began to throb at the sight of him, which had her quickly shaking her head. This was absurd! She had control over her body! Wendy's eyes shot up in surprise when Anya pointed at him in anger.

  "You! Do you want to explain to me why Darcy is such an ass?!" She fumed and then continued pacing.

  "What the hell did he do?" Wendy wondered out loud, bewildered. It was nice seeing a familiar face and seeing Anya was back again, but it didn’t look like her own doing.

  "He cut me off! The credit cards that were in MY name, and he managed to cut them off! I swear I'll kill him! I'll-"

  Wendy put her hands on the angry woman's shoulders to calm her down. "Breathe. Just calm down for a second. Don't you have a bank account?" she asked her, trying to not ruffle her feathers. It didn't seem to work though, because Anya got angry all over again. Okay, wrong thing to say, she thought.

  "He froze everything! I only have two-hundred dollars cash on me, and that won't get me far! What? He thinks just because I have no money, I'd come crawling back to him?! Wendy, I'm staying here with you."

  Wendy looked at her, startled at her abrupt change as she stared back at Anya.

  "W-What? Anya, you can't just stay here. What about my parents-" Wendy was cut off by the sound of Anya's phone ringing. Vincent looked on amused and stepped closer to her. Feeling shaky, Wendy hastily turned and sat on the couch, but Vincent was next to her within a second. She gave a startled gasp and tried to scoot away but he caught her by the waist and held her to his side while playing with her hair.

  "Yes, hello, Jim?" Anya started, causing Wendy to tune in. Was Anya talking to her father?! "I'm so glad you got my message! How are you? Good! I was hoping I could stay at your house with Wendy? My house is being fumigated and my parents are staying at this hotel out of town, and it would take too long to get to school. Thank you so much! I will, bye." Anya snapped her phone shut and stared pointedly at Wendy.

  "You....uhg, I don't even know what to say! You don't quite look to be in high school," Wendy muttered and unknowingly leaned her head onto Vincent's shoulder for support.

  Anya gave her a sly grin. "It's all in the way you act, Wendy dear. Now, where's the guest bedroom?" she asked with a slight huff.

  At times like these, Wendy wasn't sure if she liked her or not. "Upstairs to your right," she muttered and snuggled more into her vampire, suddenly feeling tired. Her neck didn't hurt as much if she was touching him, which was a relief. Anya flounced upstairs to find the bed she'd be sleeping in.

  "I found the most peculiar thing this morning..." Vincent trailed off. Wendy frowned when she could detect amusement in his voice.

  She wracked her brains and sat up abruptly with a loud gasp. "No, you didn't!" she said with wide eyes and covering her mouth. Her face was already turning a shade of red.

  "I didn't know you weren't as innocent in the mind as I once thought. Those books... they sure to paint a vivid picture."

  Wendy groaned and covered her face as her elbows rested on her knees. She stiffened though when she felt his lips close to her ear.

  "They were quite erotic..."

  She shivered from the low timber in his voice. He sat back though and when she peeked through her lashes, she saw he was smirking. Rolling her eyes, she tried to maintain some dignity. "I read them for the plot line," she half-lied. The plot lines were usually pretty good, but saying that was like saying a guy watches porn for the plot as well.

  He ignored that statement though and looked at her with a predatory glint. "I especially liked the one about the vampire."

  If Wendy thought she couldn't get any more red, she was just proven wrong
. "T-That was a birthday present from Jamie." That was true... didn't mean she didn't read it.

  "How did you like your new teacher? Darcy tells me she is great at what she does." Vincent changed the subject when he saw how uncomfortable she was.

  Wendy froze though. Darcy told him her teacher was a she? Did he enjoy making Wendy suffer?! Vincent noticed her change in posture and instantly become suspicious.

  "She was there, wasn't she?"

  Wendy fiddled with her fingers and trained her eyes not to look at his toned chest. It was a difficult feat, and should be rewarded with a medal! "Y-Yes... the teacher was. The teacher explained why they were there on my behalf."

  Now Vincent's eyes narrowed. "Why do you keep saying 'teacher'?"

  Pulling at the collar of her shirt, she felt suffocated as if she was in interrogation. Standing up quickly, she threw her hands up. "Fine! My teacher is a guy! Alright, he's a guy! Not a girl! And he called me cute!" She snapped her mouth shut, realizing that that last little tidbit wasn't meant to come out.

  "What?" His voice was low and sounded dangerous.

  She gave out a shaky laugh. "J-Just kidding. I-" She stopped when he stood up and towered over her.

  "He complimented you in such a way?"

  Wendy could do nothing but nod. "B-But he was just doing it for laughs! I'm sure he didn't really mean it..."

  She was rooted still by his piercing gaze that had her entranced. "Oh, I'm sure he meant it, Firefly. Which is why I'm going to wring Darcy's neck tonight. I specifically said, no males!"

  This new revelation made Wendy angry as she stepped away from his hold. "What? You don't trust me?" she asked with some attitude.

  He shook his head with a wry chuckle. "Yes, of course I do. But you are so oblivious to the male population around you! Some of the younger males in your school better be grateful I don't beat them to a pulp with what they think of you."