Supernatural Academy Series

I stifle a giggle as purple and silver streamers fall on top of Lance's head. Half of a purple one sticks to his nose while a mix clings to his dark hair. He waggles his eyebrows at me, causing a laugh to burst out of my mouth. "Here, let me help you." My pumps clank against the metal rungs of the ladder as I climb down from the ceiling of the cafeteria. Really should've worn jeans to decorate our school's cafeteria, but this morning had been picture make-up day. Definitely didn't wanna miss the chance to correct my horrid photos from last month when the hugest zit showed up. Bright red and right on the end of my nose like I was a cross between a witch and Rudolph the Reindeer. Now, I am clear-skinned and look good in my emerald mini-skirt and loose poet-style white blouse. "Sorry about dropping the box on you." I pick the papier-mache streamers off and replace them with the others. Pulsing techno music drifts across the cafeteria, my favorite song, and I start humming along. Lance shrugs. "That's okay, I was enjoying the view of you up there." A flush heats my whole face. While Lance and I had started dating during a July pool party right before school started, we'd only skimmed second base so far. It is my junior year of high school and things are looking up. I have a gorgeous jock boyfriend, my grades are good, and I've volunteered to help decorate for Prom. "Remind me why we're doing this now when the dance isn't until tomorrow night?" Lance leans an elbow on the ladder. I right the overturned box and brush the spilled decorations back inside. "Because I want everything to be perfect. Especially since it's your last Prom here." Which totally bums me out. He's gotten accepted with full scholarship into Louisiana Wildcat's College to play for their football team. A whole state away. My high heels pinch my toes and I shuffle from foot to foot to ease the cramp. "Don't be sad. Next year will fly by and soon you'll be down with me, even if you are already eighteen and should be graduating with me." He wraps his arms around me. "We'll visit the riverboats, eat etouffee and beignets until we pop." I lean my head against his chest, breathing in his scent of powder, mint gum, and a hint of cigarettes. If my life had been different, I would be a senior too, like him. "Promise?" "Sure," he says as though I asked him to hold my hand. "You can come to visit on the weekends and during school breaks. We can even throw in some gambling since you're legal." "Until then, I'll be your lucky lady." I reach up and kiss his neck. "You always are." He hugs me, then leans down, brushing his lips across mine. "God, I leave you alone for five minutes and you're already sucking face." Amelia, my best friend, makes gagging noises as she enters the cafeteria juggling three crates. "Here, let us help you with those." I untangle myself from Lance's arms and dash to grab one of the boxes while he takes the remaining ones. "Gesh, Amelia, you got some muscles under your sleeves, these are heavy," Lance says in an approving tone. "Since you've taken my best friend away most nights, I bought a gym membership downtown." She pats a neon-blue nail against her dark cheek. "Looking good." He winks, then strides toward the ladder, setting the new supplies beside the streamers. I had been spending more time with him than my friends. After Prom, I make a mental note to have a girl's night out with Amelia, Jolene, and Rachel. "Sorry, Amelia." I put the box I held beside the others. "It's not Lance's fault. I've been busy with planning this since September." "If I wasn't here now," Lance adds, "I wouldn't see Brene all week until Prom. She even blew me off at the movies last Saturday for some fundraiser." "Poor baby," Amelia teases. "Hey, I told you why I couldn't go that day, Lance. Wasn't my fault you didn't want to listen to the story of the bag of kittens I found on the side of the road." I'd spent the afternoon taking the kittens to a shelter that doesn't kill them if they don't get adopted and then stayed to help bathe them and feed them. They'd been covered in fleas and malnourished. "See, she puts animals above me." Lance pouts. "What am I going to do when I'm gone and she's left alone to her own devices? She might start a halfway house for every animal within a fifty-mile radius." I bristle, but force a smile. "If I was that bad, I'd have kept the whole litter of kittens for myself, wouldn't I have?" "And you're saying you didn't?" Amelia asks, her eyes wide. So I have three dogs, two cats, a tank of fish, and a parakeet at home...so what? Isn't like I have a zoo going on or anything. "No, I left them all at the shelter." Not that I didn't think about bringing one or two back home with me. They need round the clock care, and I'm at school most of the day. My aunt tolerates my pets. She'd probably freak if I brought any more strays home. Guess it is my way of enlarging my family since Mom and Dad are dead. I shudder, remembering the camping trip when I was seven. How I woke up to screams and blood everywhere. It wasn't until I was older that I understood that they'd been mauled by a bear. No one could explain why it attacked them, but left me alone. I move to the ladder when a stabbing pain shoots up my legs. This was it, time to get rid of these heels. "Hey, mind giving me a sec? I've gotta go switch out these for sneakers." "I'll go with you," Lance says. "No, it's just to my locker, I'll be fine." I smile. "We'll keep working till you get back." Amelia tosses her dark, curly hair over her shoulder. "Thanks." I stroll down three hallways until I come to the row of lockers. Spinning the lock, I remove my torturous shoes, then shove them in my locker. I slip on my sneakers and sigh in blissful relief. Now I can finish the decorations without pain. A low moan vibrates down the hallway. I freeze. My hand on the lockers, my heart thudding hard against my breastbone. What the hell was that? Lance trying to scare me? "Cut it out, you guys," my voice cracks. Maybe it was the pipes. I never noticed the whine before during the day because the noise of students would have covered it up. The scent of decay wafts through the corridors and I gag. Has a toilet overflowed? Not waiting around, I race back to the cafeteria, my tennis shoes squeak across the linoleum. The feeling of something chasing me makes my breath hitch in my throat. I run faster, but it feels like Lance and Amelia are a million miles away. Growls sound closer. I can't look behind me. I'm terrified of what I may find. Sweat drips down my back as I round the corner. I push against the cafeteria doors and they slam against the concrete wall. "Brene?" Amelia's face scrunches up in concern as I jog toward her. "What is it?" This time, I look behind me. The cafeteria door clanks shut, but the glass windows show no one there. I shake my head. "Sorry, just spooked myself, I guess." A gust of wind pulses through the cafeteria and all the hairs on my arms stand up. "What the f**k is that?" Lance asks. "A vampire?" Amelia bites her lip. I shake my head, my insides cramping. "It's not even sunset yet." "You two stay here, I'll check it out." Lance dashes to the cafeteria exit before I can protest. All I can do to calm my pounding heart is to sit on the last rung of the ladder, my hands shaking. Vampires and other supernatural beings came out over a year ago. They mostly keep to themselves. Even have their own schools scattered across the country. But, knowing that monsters, ghouls, and other things that could kill us as easily as snapping a stick isn't something we humans get over quickly. Hell, my aunt even has dried garlic gloves tacked over the doors to our house. Amelia clears her throat. "You okay?" "Yeah. I'm sure it's nothing." I lean forward and wrap my arms around myself. I try to push aside the fear that's clawing at my heart. Ever since the death of my parents four years ago and the paranormal creatures entered the spotlight, I've wondered if it were one of them that ripped my family apart.