Thicker Than Water (The Briar Creek Vampires Book #2) by Jayme Morse & Jody Morse (7 page)

“So, are you planning to go to the homecoming
dance this weekend?” Jen asked.

Lexi shrugged. “I didn’t even know that there
was a homecoming dance. Doesn’t homecoming usually happen sometime
after football season warms up? I didn’t realize it was so early in
the school year.”

“Yeah, we do things differently here, I guess.
But you should totally go! It will be a lot of fun,” Michelle
chimed in.

“Okay, I‘ll go, I guess,” Lexi replied. She
decided that as lame as it would be to go to homecoming without a
date, it would be a good way to get out of the house and, more
importantly, away from her aunt and uncle for the night.

“Yay! You have to totally come find us,” Claire
said. “Jen has a date, but Michelle and I will be flying solo, so
you can hang with us.”

“Okay, cool,” Lexi replied, just as the bell
rang to let everyone know that the period was over.

*

On the way home from school that day, all Lexi
could think about was the gravestone that had been, well, marked
for her. It was creepy to see your own name and a date of death,
which hadn’t even happened yet, on a gravestone. What bothered Lexi
the most was wondering who had put it there.

Lexi didn’t even notice Greg Lawrence’s truck
in her aunt’s driveway until Mary-Kate said, “Oh, my dad must be
visiting with Violet and Tom.”

When Lexi went inside, Greg Lawrence was
sitting at the kitchen table with Violet and Tommy. They all looked
up when they saw her.

“Hi, Lexi,” Greg said. “How are you
feeling?”

“Fine, thanks,” Lexi replied. “I need to do my
homework. I have loads of it. May I be excused?”

Violet nodded. “Supper will be a little late
tonight.”

“I better get going as well,” Greg said. “I
need to get home to check on my wife. She’s been home alone all
day.”

“Tell her that we send our blessings,” Violet
said. “We hope to see you both soon.”

“Take care,” Greg said. Before he walked out
the front door, he turned and nodded at Lexi. Something about the
nod made her feel uneasy, but she couldn’t put her finger on
why.

Lexi went upstairs. A few moments later, she
heard Violet and Tommy talking in hushed voices. She crouched about
halfway up the staircase and poked her head over the
railing.

“Greg sounds really worried,” Violet
said.

“Mrs. Lawrence has been sick for years, Violet.
We all know that. I don’t know why he’s getting so worried about it
now. They have plenty of time for her condition to
change.”

“Tommy, I don’t think you understand the
seriousness of the situation.”

“I understand just fine. Her blood is powerful
to us. I just don’t think we should go around doing something
drastic until we know for sure.”

“But it’s perfect, Tommy. She won’t suspect a
thing.”

****

Chapter 9

“I’m going to the homecoming dance,” Lexi said,
taking a sip of orange juice.

“Homecoming?” Violet asked, turning around
quickly and nearly spilling the pot of coffee that she was holding.
Her face had twisted into an uneasy frown. Recovering, she said
enthusiastically, “How exciting! How are you going to pay for a
dress?”

“Well, I do have some money from work,” Lexi
replied. “It’s not much, but I’m sure that I can buy a dress from
the clearance rack with it.”

“Oh, I’m sorry Lexi,” Violet replied quietly.
“We used that money to help pay for your stay in the hospital.
Although, it only made a small dent in the bill. I don’t understand
why you felt the need to get in the car with that boy.”
Apologetically, she added, “I’m sure we will figure something out.
Don’t you already have a dress in your closet that you can wear to
the dance?”

“Umm, I’ll have to look, I guess,” Lexi
replied, ignoring her aunt’s jab at Gabe and the dress. Her aunt
had whined about their financial problems long before the accident.
She was just using this as yet another excuse to be even more
stringent when it came to helping Lexi out with cash.

“Come to think of it, Lexi, I don’t think that
I really want you going to the dance because --” Violet
began.

“Ahem,” Tommy interrupted. “I don’t think it’s
fair to not let Lexi to go to the Homecoming dance. She goes to
Briar Creek High. It’s important for her to make friends and have a
social life. Going to the dance would be the perfect opportunity to
meet people.”

“Well, I guess,” Violet stuttered.

Tommy pulled his wallet out and handed Lexi a
thick wad of twenty dollar bills. “I think this will be enough to
cover the cost of the dress, but if you need more, just let me
know.”

“Thanks,” Lexi replied, hesitantly taking the
money from him. She wasn’t sure why her uncle was being so nice to
her, but she knew it was all an act. It was probably his way to get
her to trust him – and that would never happen.

*

“What do you think of this one? Does it work
for someone who’s running for Homecoming queen?” Mary-Kate asked,
twirling in front of the mirror in a long midnight blue mermaid
dress. The sequins at the top of the dress accentuated her
cleavage, and the dress hugged her hips in all of the right
places.

“It looks really pretty. You should definitely
get it,” Lexi replied. She felt a twinge of jealousy. Lexi always
wished that she could pull off the mermaid dress look, but it did
nothing for her own shapeless body.

“Okay, I will. Your turn!” Mary-Kate said
excitedly, handing her a short red dress. Lexi didn’t think it was
going to look good on her and had tried to swap it for a longer
dress, but Mary-Kate had insisted that she try this one
on.

Lexi stepped into the dressing room and
stripped off her clothes. She stepped into the red dress. As she
zipped the back of the dress, Lexi stared at herself in the
mirror.

The sweetheart neckline gave her cleavage that
she didn’t even know she even had. The red fabric fell just above
the knees, accentuating her long legs. She was going to have to
find jewelry to wear besides her bat pendant because although she
loved it, the pendant just didn’t look right with the
dress.

When Lexi opened the dressing room door,
Mary-Kate stared back at her with a shocked expression. “You won’t
be needing any of these to try on,” Mary-Kate said, motioning to
the pile of dresses that she had collected from the store for Lexi
to try on. “This one looks amazing! It’s definitely the
one.”

“Thanks,” Lexi replied, studying herself in the
mirror. “I actually love it, too, even though I didn’t think I
would.” She stepped back into the dressing room again to change
into her clothes.

When she was done, Mary-Kate was waiting
outside looking at shoes. When Lexi approached her, Mary-Kate
asked, “Have you thought about how you’re doing your
hair?”

Lexi shrugged. “Not really. I was thinking
about just wearing it straight.”

“You can’t wear it straight,” Mary-Kate replied
matter-of-factly, shaking her head. “Why don’t you come over to my
house before the dance, and I’ll do it for you?”

“That’s fine,” Lexi replied. She made a mental
note to not go upstairs this time without Mary-Kate. Then again,
getting attacked by Mrs. Lawrence probably wouldn’t be as bad as
being stuck in Violet’s house for the night. Violet and Tommy were
being overly nice, for once, but Lexi knew she had to listen to
Austin’s advice in her dream. It was fake; her aunt and uncle were
just trying to gain her trust for some reason. Maybe
they
were the ones who had her tombstone made and put into the
graveyard. It wouldn’t surprise her after the way they had treated
her before the accident. When Justin got into the accident, he had
been driving home to ask Mrs. Collins if Lexi could live with them
because he had seen firsthand how crazy her aunt could be. Just the
thought that her own family could be thinking of doing such a thing
sent a shiver down her spine.

They turned the corner to pay at the cash
register and got into line behind a man with short brown hair. When
he turned his head to the left, Lexi realized that it was
Craig.

Judging from the way Mary-Kate’s face lit up,
Lexi realized that she had spotted him, too.

“Hi, Mr. Lindstrom!” Mary-Kate said
enthusiastically.

Craig turned around. “Hey, Mary-Kate.” He
turned to Lexi. She felt his hazel eyes looking her over. “Hello,
Lexi,” he said quietly.

“Hi,” Lexi replied, hoping that she wasn’t
blushing as much as she felt like she was.

“Are you chaperoning the homecoming dance again
this year?” Mary-Kate asked, in a hopeful voice that made Lexi look
at her oddly.

Craig nodded. “Yup, I am. I hope to see you
there.” He winked at Lexi. “Both of you, that is.”

Lexi smiled and blushed. “We’ll be there,” she
replied. Lexi glanced over at Mary-Kate to see if she had noticed
the wink. Her face didn’t indicate that she had. Lexi felt really
conflicted about whether or not she wanted Mary-Kate to know.
Although Lexi knew it would be bad for anyone to find out, it would
sort of be a blessing in a way. Lexi really needed someone to
confide in about it, but she wasn’t about to tell Mary-Kate unless
she somehow figured it out on her own.

Everyone in Briar Creek might know
everything about everyone else, but Craig was one secret that Lexi
didn’t want to get out. He might be her only way to escape from
Briar Creek.

****

Chapter 10

The next morning, Lexi went to school feeling
slightly less awkward. Now that she knew that Craig was into her,
she didn’t feel so weird about looking like a dork playing sports
in front of him. She was even beginning to wish that Briar Creek
High had a swimming pool so that she could strut around in her
bikini.

Even though she wasn’t sure how much she
actually liked Craig yet, she knew one thing was for sure: focusing
her attention on him was helping Lexi keep her mind off of Gabe. As
much as she didn’t want to admit it, Lexi missed Gabe. She had so
many questions running through her mind that she wanted to ask him.
She just wanted to see him again. She had to see him again. Even
though Mary-Kate said Gabe would come back, Lexi still wasn’t
convinced that it would happen.

When Lexi reached the locker room to change
into her gym clothes, she spotted the sign on the door that said:
Meet in room 12. No gym class today because of Homecoming dance
decorations
. She breathed a sigh of relief. Even though she
felt more comfortable around Craig, nothing would ever make her
stop hating gym so much.

Lexi climbed down the stairs that led to the
basement and found the classroom that they were supposed to meet
in. Craig was sitting at the front of the class, reading a
newspaper, while everyone sat in the chairs, chatting amongst
themselves. When Lexi walked past him, he looked up and smiled at
her. “Good morning.”

“Morning,” Lexi replied, smiling at him. She
took a seat behind a group of girls.

“Who do you think is gonna win the Homecoming
crown?” the blonde sitting in front of her asked the other
girls.

“Definitely not Bloody Mary,” the brunette
sitting next to her said, shaking her head. “If she wins, I’m going
to be so pissed off.”

“Yeah, Mary-Kate is such a whore. I swear she
uses her situation to her advantage with the guys,” the blonde
said. “My bet is on Megan.”

Lexi froze. Bloody Mary was Mary-Kate’s
nickname? It had also been the password to Austin’s laptop. Lexi
had assumed that Austin chose it because it was his favorite drink
and he was known to be an alcoholic, but had he really used it
because of Mary-Kate?

Besides that, what was the blonde talking about
when she said that Mary-Kate was using her
situation
to her
advantage with the guys? Lexi wondered if Mary-Kate was using guys’
sympathy to her advantage. Maybe they all felt sorry for her
because she had just lost Austin, the coolest guy in school. Or
maybe the girls were talking about the fact that Mary-Kate was the
head cheerleader, and most guys want to date the head
cheerleader.

“Lexi Hunter? Can you come out in the hallway
with me, please?” Craig asked from the front of the classroom. “I
need to discuss your grade with you.”

Lexi got up and followed Craig out of the
classroom. “What’s wrong with my grade?”

Craig shook his head. “Nothing’s wrong with it,
follow me.” He led her to the bottom of the stairwell and stepped
underneath it.

Before she could figure out what he was doing,
Craig ran a hand through Lexi’s hair and looked into her eyes. As
he inched closer to her, Lexi could feel his breath on her neck.
Craig kissed her. This time, the kiss was rougher and more
passionate, and neither of them pulled away.

When their lips finally did disconnect
themselves from one another, Craig was breathless. “We shouldn’t do
this, but I don’t care.”