Breathless (7 page)

“Vampire slayers!” a woman’s voice rang out.

The professor chuckled. “I don’t think Buffy is quite enough to account for what we’re talking about,” he said. “But yes. Hunters. Or predators, if you will.”

“Like lycans, in the Underworld films?” someone suggested.

“Or the werewolves in
New Moon
,” another offered.

“That’s the general idea,” Professor Clerval agreed. “Someone or something that hunts vampires. We’re getting ahead of ourselves again, though. And we’re about out of time this evening, anyhow. We’ll come back to this down the road. Renfield, would you pass out the reading lists, please.”

Randolph began trudging up the steps, handing a sheaf of reading lists to the person at the end of each row. As Leesa watched him climb nearer, her eyes were drawn to a guy sitting at the end of her row. Trying not to be too obvious, she leaned forward to get a clearer look past a couple of guys sitting between them.

She sucked in a sharp breath—the guy was absolutely gorgeous! He definitely was not there at the beginning of class, or she would have noticed him for sure. His thick, wavy hair had a copper hue to it—sort of like an old penny, she thought—and his smooth skin seemed to have a similar, though lighter, tint. He had impossibly high cheekbones, a strong straight nose and a firm chin. His profile reminded her of pictures of classic sculptures she’d seen in art history books in high school. It may have been a trick of the lighting, but his face seemed almost to glow, as if some inner light were trying to shine through. It was face to make any girl drool, for sure, and Leesa almost rubbed her lower lip to make certain she wasn’t doing just that.

As if sensing her eyes on him, the guy turned to look at her. She thought she saw the barest flicker of surprise crease his handsome features, but it was gone before she could be sure. He smiled, his eyes holding hers for the briefest of moments, then turned his head and rose from his seat. Moving with an athlete’s grace and without seeming to hurry, he disappeared swiftly out the back of the room.

Leesa sat paralyzed, her heart hammering. A strange warmth radiated through her body. She’d never felt anything like this and had no idea what to make of it. Guys just did
not
make her feel this way. She only knew she wanted to see more of him, if only to assure herself he wasn’t some vision conjured up by her imagination and the talk of vampires. But why had he left so abruptly?

She limped hurriedly out to the aisle, excusing herself as she squeezed past the two guys, and rushed to the door for one last look at him. Outside, she swung her head from side to side, but saw no sign of him on the broad grass courtyard. It had only been moments—how had he managed to vanish so quickly? He had to be out here somewhere, but he wasn’t. She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again, but the courtyard was still empty. Shaking her head, she wondered if he’d ever really been there at all.

She hated that this class met only once a week. She had already been looking forward to the next one, but now she could hardly wait.

9. GIRL COUNCIL

S
erene was a word you could use to describe the Weston campus that warm evening, but definitely not to describe Leesa. Confused, curious, excited, perplexed, agitated, aroused—any of those would have done nicely. But not serene. “Serene” would have strolled through the lobby and waited for the elevator. Instead, Leesa swept across the lobby straight to the stairwell, yanking the door open and racing up the stairs as quickly as her leg allowed. She needed to talk to somebody, right now. She sure hoped Cali was home.

She burst through the second-floor doorway and hurried down the hallway to Cali’s room. The door was open, and she heard Kesha belting out the bawdy lyrics to “Tik Tok” from inside. Thank god Cali was here. Leesa swung into the room.

“Cali, you won’t believe…” she stopped in mid-sentence, seeing two other girls she didn’t know in the room with Cali. “Oh, sorry,” she said, her fingers darting toward her hair.

Cali was sitting on her bed, legs stretched out in front of her, her back against the wall, an open can of Red Bull in her hand. She wore a pink hoodie unzipped over a black T-shirt and teal leggings. Small black and white squares ran diagonally down one sleeve of her sweatshirt, and something gold sparkled across her breasts. Her nails were painted to match her leggings. She smiled brightly at Leesa’s hurried arrival.

“Hey, Leesa, pull up a seat.” Cali patted the mattress beside her. “And get your hand out of your hair—you’re with friends.”

Leesa dropped her hand self-consciously to her side, then limped across the room and plopped down on the edge of Cali’s bed. She smelled pizza. The spicy aroma reminded her she hadn’t eaten dinner.

“This is Caitlin and Stacie,” Cali said. “From down the hall. We were just hangin’ out. Ate some pizza. Sorry, there’s none left.”

Leesa masked her disappointment as she exchanged hellos with the two new girls. Stacie was a pretty, petite half-Japanese girl with long silky black hair almost to her waist. A royal blue cami paired with white capri pants showed off her olive-toned skin. She sat in the lotus position on the rug in the center of the floor, looking completely comfortable. Leesa wished her legs would bend like that.

Caitlin was a tall, thick girl with shoulder-length hair, blond on top and dark brown underneath. Dressed in jeans and a tight black T-shirt stretched across her full breasts, she sat sprawled on one of Cali’s chairs, a contented smile on her face. Big pink letters on the shirt proclaimed
I’ve been naughty
. Definitely not the shy type, Leesa decided. 

“What’s wrong with your foot?” Caitlin asked.

Cali jumped in before Leesa could answer. “She got stepped on by an elephant when she lived with the circus,” she said straight-faced. “Not that it’s any of your business.”

Leesa shoved Cali playfully on the shoulder. Her friend seemed to have forgotten she’d asked the same question the first day they met. “I’m missing a piece of bone in my leg,” she explained. “It’s no big deal.”

“You gotta excuse Caitlin,” Cali said. “She’s from Jersey. She doesn’t know any better.”

“I was born in New Jersey,” Leesa said.

“Really? Where?” Caitlin asked.

“Springfield.”

“Holy shit!” Caitlin exclaimed. “I’m from Maplewood. We’re practically neighbors.”

“We moved when I was seven,” Leesa said. “I don’t remember much about it.”

“Lucky you,” Cali said, grinning. “Leesa lives in San Diego now,” she told Caitlin and Stacie.

“Wow, what brought you all the way back here?” Stacie asked.

Leesa shrugged. “I wanted to get away from home. Try something different.”

“You came rushing in here like you’d just won backstage passes to a Coldplay concert or something,” Cali said. “What gives?”

Leesa glanced toward Caitlin and Stacie. This was so not the way to make a first impression. “Oh, nothing really. It can wait.”

“C’mon, Lees,” Cali prodded. “Caitlin and Stacie are cool. Give it up.”

Still, Leesa hesitated. Her mouth began to feel very dry. She was so not good at this social stuff. And even worse when it came to talking about guys. But she was in college now, she reminded herself, and finally on her own. Having made a friend like Cali was a great start. She decided to go for it.

“It’s about this guy,” she began.

“Sweet!” Cali said. She grinned and pulled her legs up under her on the bed. “Now you’re talkin’. Time for Girl Council.”

“Yeah, let’s hear it,” Caitlin said.

Leesa took a deep breath and plunged on, hoping she wasn’t going to sound foolish. “He was in my class today. I didn’t even notice him till right at the end. He was sooo good-looking. Different from any guy I’ve ever seen.” Her cheeks began to grow warm, but she forced herself to continue. “When he looked at me, I felt…I don’t know…I can’t even describe it.” She could feel her heart beginning to pound again. What was going on? How could merely talking about this guy make her feel like this?

“You’re turning red as a lobster,” Caitlin laughed. “You got it bad, girl.”

“Got the hots all right, big-time,” Cali agreed.

Leesa wanted to crawl under the blankets and hide. She felt her hand moving toward her hair, but forced it down. Instead, she pulled her knees up against her chest and wrapped her arms around her shins. She had never felt so embarrassed. Or so confused. Guys just didn’t do this to her. She’d seen cute guys before—San Diego was loaded with ’em. But no one like this guy, not even close. He was different in a way she couldn’t begin to explain. Or even understand. She hoped some of the way she was feeling right now was from talking about it in front of two girls she barely knew, instead of from just thinking about the guy. Yeah, that would be better.

“Earth to Leesa,” Cali said, waving her hand in front of Leesa’s face. “Come back to us, girl.”

“I’m sorry,” Leesa said, shaking her head. “It’s just… I’ve never felt like this.”

“Rule twenty-three…” Cali began with exaggerated seriousness.

Uh-oh, here we go again, Leesa thought. Cali had confided to her that she made up most of her rules on the spot, and that even the genuine ones—like making friends with a really cute girl—didn’t have actual numbers. Leesa wondered what Cali was going to come up with now.

“When you start feeling all funny inside,” Cali continued, “it’s time to get laid.”

Caitlin burst out laughing. “I
like
that rule!”

Stacie giggled. Leesa felt herself blushing again.

Cali looked at her. “How long’s it been, Lees?”

Now Leesa
really
wanted somewhere to hide. She was sooo not comfortable talking about this. If her face had been red before, she dreaded how it must look now. All three girls were looking at her expectantly. She had to say something. They were going to find out sooner or later, and knowing Cali, sooner was way more likely.

“Ummmm,” she said finally, her eyes fixed on her feet. “About eighteen years?”

For an instant, her words were met with silence, as the girls deciphered her reply.

“Wow,” Caitlin said. “A virgin.”

“For real?” Cali asked.

Leesa nodded. Cali put her hand on Leesa’s shoulder. “That’s cool,” she said. “Means even more leftovers for me. Rule twenty-five: guys don’t stay with girls who don’t put out.” She laughed. “I guess rule twenty-three’s no use, though.”

“I’m one, too,” Stacie said.

Everyone turned toward Stacie. Leesa was so happy to have the spotlight off her, and even happier not to be the only one. Thank you, Stacie!

“I came close on prom night,” Stacie admitted. “But my boyfriend was drunk and clueless. I’m glad we didn’t do it.”

“I’ve never even been close,” Leesa said. “Guess I’m pretty clueless myself.”

“Well, if you don’t know what you’re missing, how can you miss it?” Caitlin joked. They all laughed.

“So, back to this guy who’s got you so hot and bothered,” Cali said. “What’s he like?”

“He’s hard to describe,” Leesa said, though she could see his face in her mind as clearly as if he were sitting right there with them. “He’s dark. Really tan, I guess, but not like any tan I ever saw in California. Almost bronze.”

She thought she saw Cali stiffen, but kept on. “Dark copper hair, almost to his shoulders. Really cute.”

“Uh-oh,” Cali said, her face serious now.

Leesa looked at her friend in alarm. “What’s wrong?”

“Do you know him, Cali?” Caitlin asked.

“Not specifically,” Cali said, “but I think I know a bit
about
him.”

A puzzled expression replaced the alarm on Leesa’s face. “What do you mean?”

“He sounds like he could be part of this strange clan that live near my town,” Cali said. “The Mastons. They have their own settlement, keep to themselves, mostly. Sort of old-fashioned, like the Amish. They don’t drive or use electricity or phones. Can you imagine? Not having a cell? Yikes!” She grinned. “A few of the kids show up at school now and then, but they never stay around long. They all have that strange coloring you described. Nobody knows much about ’em, but there’s all kinds of crazy stories. Some people say they’re Indian, but there’s no official tribe anyone’s ever heard of.”

“You called them Mastons,” Caitlin said. “What’s that mean?”

Cali shook her head. “Dunno. It’s like the name of the tribe, or everyone’s last name or something. Like a clan or a cult, maybe.”

An uncomfortable feeling began to gnaw at Leesa’s stomach. “What kind of stories?”

“Oh, some are totally ridiculous, like human sacrifices and stuff. I remember one time after school, this jerk loser dropout, Nick Nedland, decided it’d be fun to bust a water balloon on one of the Mastons. The guy looked so angry, I thought he was going to deck Nick on the spot. I swear you could see steam comin’ off him, he was so hot. A few days later, Nick disappeared. The story started going around that the Maston kid killed him, but I think Nick probably just ran away somewhere. He was such a loser—tried to kiss me once and got all pissed off when I wouldn’t let him.” Cali scrunched her face at the memory. “Speaking of kissing…all the parentals say if you kiss a Maston, you’ll die some horrible death. Said they’d gotten the story from their parentals, who got it from theirs. I was tempted to try that one out,” she added mischievously, “but I never could get close enough to one. Not cute enough, I guess.” She looked Leesa up and down and winked. “I bet
you
could get close enough.”