My Vampire Bromance

Chapter 2: Head in the Clouds

When I got home, I flung my bookbag on the nearest chair. My textbook I set down gently on the table, looking down at the thick parchment that hung slightly out of it. I tried not to think about the gift the entire time I was driving home, but it was near impossible.

My heart rammed in my chest, knowing that the man across the way at the bar had noticed me. Victor. That was the name inscribed on the back of the bookmark he had given me. That gorgeous black-haired, dark-eyed, pale man's name was Victor. And he had noticed me. I bit my lip as I recounted all the times he left just before I was about to speak to him.

I shook my head, looking down at the sheet of paper poking out of my textbook. I pulled it gently from its place between the pages.

The calligraphy was beautiful, a past refinery long forgotten by men who wrote love letters to women centuries ago. I had no idea what it said or what language it was written in. I stifled my curiosity, deciding that I didn't want to know. If I found out it was something horrible, I would be crushed. Better to remain ignorant than to be humiliated. My head fell down as I held the object in my hand.

When I was little, my mother had given me a bookmark for every major holiday. When she died, I refused to pick up a bookmark ever again. Every single one she had given me, I buried in a box in our backyard. This gift was a reminder of her.

I set the thin sheet down on the coffee table in the living room and made my way through the empty house.

There was no one here to greet me anymore. No more dad cooking in the kitchen while my mom kissed me in greeting when I got home from school. No. Now it was just empty.

Leaning against the kitchen counter, I sighed. This was my reality now. An empty house devoid of company. Trying to get a girlfriend to fill it was useless. I didn't really want one. I just wanted not to be alone. For a while, Jenna stayed over with me, but then she started dating Clark. It was game over from then on. The house was empty. I was alone.

A sound rattled from the back door, startling me. Walking to see what it was, I found that no one was there. There's never anyone here. I swear my house is viewed as cursed. Ever since my parents died, hardly anyone has come to visit. The first year my teachers pitied me. They tried to let me slide on my work, but I refused. Instead, I worked harder than ever. I even got top honors in my class. Valedictorian. It didn't help me fill the void.

Opening the back door, I looked out into the night. A raccoon ran across the back steps and into the house to ask for cat food. I smiled and went about feeding him. As I carried the tray back outside, I felt eyes on me again. And though I felt like I was being spied on, I could not spot anyone in the bushes.

I poured the cat kibble into the metal bowl and watched the little raccoon start to eat along with all his furry friends. Then, hurriedly I strode back into the house before they all followed me. While they were cute, they were also sometimes pests. I thought I saw a shadow pass my vision as I entered the kitchen, but upon further inspection, nothing was there.

I shook my head and began to prepare dinner, my head in the clouds thinking about the gift that sat atop the wooden coffee table in the front room. Perhaps the man, Victor, was just being cordial. Surely he didn't mean anything by it?

A breeze passed my face as I cooked. I fell deeper into thought. I hadn't expected the man who sat across from me to give me a gift, let alone notice me. The bookmark was too much. I would not have been so dizzy about it if it had been store-bought, but it was handmade. I couldn't get over the excellent penmanship. The way the letters curved, the intricate details of the roses blooming around them. One day, I would have to force myself to figure out what language the text was written in.