The Blood Rite

Flowers

As Talon strode into school, he passed the Homecoming booth. It was a pink stand made up of roses, tulips, and violets that lined every inch of it. It was a yearly deal. The Student council would set up a flower booth to earn a little more money. The flowers were outrageously priced of course, but students still bought them in hopes that their eye candy said yes. Talon had been one of those fools every year since he'd become a freshman. Girls loved flowers, and he didn't care if he looked like an idiot buying those steeply priced petals that would wilt within the week.

    "Hey, Talon, have anyone special?" Marie asked from behind the booth, waggling her dark brows at him.

    Talon grinned but shook his head, "Not this year."

Her eyes went wide.

    Talon, the womanizer, wasn't mesmerizing any ladies for homecoming this year. He didn't care. He knew all the girls here by now and wanted to spend homecoming with his friends. It was senior year, after all.

At least, that's what he told himself.

    Adjusting his bag on this shoulder, Talon entered his first period just as the bell rang and took his spot next to the true reason he wasn't taking anyone.

    "Hey," Ruby said, looking up at him with a bright smile. She'd always smiled at him like that, as if he deserved it.

    He dropped his bag down and fell into the seat, "Are you ready for the test?"

    She gave him a wry look, the shine of red on her lips distracted him as they twisted upward, "No. Someone was blaring music all night."

    "Oh right," he said, grinning, "my bad."

    "Yeah right," she laughed.

    The teacher called attention then. As he leaned over his test, circling random answers, his mind was distracted. He could smell Ruby's perfume, the scent of a Summer Field. It was such a familiar smell, one that reminded him of days of them throwing chunks of wet sand at each other on the beach. He'd rubbed a big enough wad in her hair and after many failed attempts of revenge, he accidentally bent low enough for her to do the same. Now, the smell felt new. It was a stark reminder of the feeling that had been budding in his chest.

    He had no idea if she felt the same. Soon he'd have to figure that out and if she didn't, he'd squash the feeling. But if she did. . .well he had no idea how to feel about it. He couldn't be careless with her, not in the way he usually was. Was he ready for something so serious?

    Finally, he finished the test and sat back in his seat, waiting for Ruby to do the same. The entire class had to finish in order for him to ask the question that had been bugging him since he'd seen the flowers this morning. It took nearly the entire class period and a lot of him bouncing his knee before he could turn to her.

    She'd worn her favorite red dress that clung to different parts of her figure with every movement. He'd noticed how it looked on her before but had only ever stupidly commented on how it looked like a shirt. She'd laughed and claimed that that was the point. He never understood.

     "Are you going with Lexi to the dance?" Talon asked.

    Something flashed in her eyes, as if his assumption had hurt her. Her smile didn't waver though as she nodded, "Yeah. What unlucky girl are you taking?"

    He huffed out a laugh, "None."

    "None? Really?"

    Talon grinned, the same smile that had won over so many hearts before, and as he spoke, searched her expression to see if it had any effect on her, "None."