Reflection

7

"Let's go get some food," Adam suggested. My eyes widened. "But this is a room full of vampires, which means—"

"Yeah," Adam interrupted. "We drink blood. We have other food, too. But," he added, lowering his voice, "like it or not, you do need blood to survive."

I gulped nervously, butterflies flittering in my stomach. I remembered what Adam had said about vampires having sensitive hearing, and put on an innocent smile. "No thanks, I'm good for now."

He returned the fake innocence. "I insist."

"Maybe later." He scowled, but said nothing.

I glanced around the room, trying to figure out what to do. Vampires perched on chairs and tables, holding goblets that must contain blood. They acted causal, and everyone seemed to know each other.

I gulped, and turned to Adam to ask what we should do. But Adam was gone.

"Adam." I hissed under my breath. I could hear a soft laugh, but couldn't see him. I searched the crowd, but he was no where in sight. I was on my own.

It's okay, I told myself. It's just another play. With no lines, and no idea what to do. In a crowd of vampires.

I groaned internally, but then a thought came to me. Elizabeth. I need to find Elizabeth.

I just need a familiar face, I thought as I searched the crowd, keeping to the outskirts. I didn't want to call her, for fear of drawing attention to myself.

Leaning against a wall, I closed my eyes. An idea flashed through my head.

When I first woke up I could hear everything. I could hear my dad close the door, and he was always so careful about closing the door gently, so it's not like he slammed it. When he told me he was leaving, it had sounded like he was screaming in my ear. Even the toaster sounded loud.

I let myself listen to the noises around me. They hurt my ears at first, but I ignored it. I could easily hear every individual conversation. Putting it all at a distance, I sorted through them, looking for Elizabeth's voice.

Finally, I heard it. She was speaking low, talking to Reuben. I could see her in my head. I drowned out all other voices, so that all I heard was her's and Reuben's.

Reuben was angry. "You left her with Adam?" he whispered-shouted.

Elizabeth gulped and was about to answer when a familiar voice joined in. Adam.

He clucked his tongue. "Now, Elizabeth. Why would you do something like that?" I could imagine him smirking, and suddenly felt a strong urge to slap him.

"I'm sorry, Reuben. I wrongly assumed that Adam would be at least a little more responsible than that," Elizabeth said. Adam growled, and I had to make a physical effort to keep from laughing.

Reuben ran a hand over his face. "Why, Adam? Just why?"

"If she wants to prove herself, she can do it by herself."

"She's not proving herself, Adam. She's scared. And she needs help."

Adam was silent for a moment, then he sighed. "I'll go—"

"No," Reuben interrupted. "James, go find her."

A new voice spoke. "Of course."

Someone bumped into me, and I lost my concentration. I looked around. There was boy about my age searching the crowd. James, I thought. I watched his eyes examine the crowd, watched as they landed on me—but I wasn't there. I had disappeared into the crowd, out of his sight. His eyes lingered where I had stood, then moved on.

If James can do what I can do, I need to keep quiet. I took shallow breaths and slow steps, while still trying to blend in by looking casual and keeping my eyes lowered.

If Adam saw this as some sort of right of passage, I certainly wasn't getting help. Even if he's a total jerk, I hate people being disappointed in me. I need to prove to him that I can do this by myself.

Just then the song changed. I looked around again. A boy was standing behind me, staring at me. I looked over at him, and accidentally made eye contact. I averted my eyes, but felt him walk towards me. I started to run into the crowd, away from what had to be James.

Just as the bass dropped, I slammed straight into someone. He put his hand on my back to help me keep my balance. "I'm s—" I started, then saw who it was, and my eyes widened. "Adam."

He gave me a quick, stunning, infuriating smirk. "Hello, beautiful."

I huffed, shoving his arms away. "Leave me alone."

He looked up and set his jaw. I turned around to see what he was looking at. The boy was walking towards us. He looked about my age, a little taller than Adam, with caramel colored hair. "C'mon," Adam whispered. "Let's leave before Prince Charming gets here."

He started to pull me away when "Prince Charming" appeared about two inches from me in a flash of movement. I inhaled sharply, staring into the silver eyes of the beautiful boy. Why was he so close?

Adam sighed in exasperation, shoving him back a little. "Yay," he said sarcastically. "Prince Charming's here."

"Adam," James addressed with a slight nod. "I see you found...Scarlett?"

"Yes," I squeaked.

"You mean Little Red?" Adam corrected.

I stomped my foot in anger and glared in his direction. "Stop calling me that!"

"No," Adam replied, a smug grin on his face.

James cleared his throat to remind us that he was still there. "Here, let me take you to Reuben—"

"Actually, I've got this covered," Adam interjected. James looked surprised. "Uh...you do?"

"Of course."

"I don't know about that, Adam. Reuben was pretty mad at Elizabeth for—"

"Just trust me," said Adam.

James looked conflicted, so I decided to help. I flashed an innocent smile. "It's okay, I can stay with him." If Adam left me, I could show him I could do it on my own.

James looked between Adam and I one last time before nodding and walking off. If he was surprised that I had stuck up for him, he didn't show it. The song ended, and a slow one came on.

Adam held out his hand and flashed his infuriatingly irresistible smile. "May I have this dance?"