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A Vampire's Elegy: (2) Unrecognized Past |
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Chapter Two
The dramatic change in smell overwhelmed her as Jess entered the book store. Outside, it only smelled like toxic cigarettes. The smell inside wasn’t much better but at least it didn’t make her gag. Coffee wafted from the café to her left. She imagined it would be a little while before Radka got there so she went on a hunt for some of her favorite books and mangas.
She returned to the café defeated, carrying nothing but her satchel. She wasn't surprised though; the bookstore rarely updated its collection. Scanning the cafe, she took the first free table she could find. Her favorite booth was already taken as usual so she had to settle for a table next to the glass wall. It wouldn’t have been such a bad seat if it weren’t so bright outside. She liked the drizzlier days.
Her mind drifted back to the package in her bag eventually. She hefted the satchel up onto the table and reluctantly brought out the box. Being superstitious, she didn’t like the piece of jewelry that much. Especially since it looked like it was from the colonial time of witches. There was no way she was putting it on and accepting some curse or forever be haunted by the previous dead owner of the cross. Instead, she set the closed box on the table.
Jess adorned herself with her i-pod. A moment later, she felt a light hand on her shoulder. Pausing her rock music, she turned to see a petite girl standing behind her. Radka. She was wearing a black and white striped shirt along with a pair of complicated black pants decorated with plenty of zippers and chains. Radka called it her jailbird outfit. A pair of two artificial cat ears rested on top of her shoulder length dark blond hair. She had the face that Jess had always admired. Radka had a perfect profile while Jess had a lump on the top of her nose along with a square-ish face. It always made her jealous when she thought about it. “Nice to see you finally showed up. I was about to call you,” Jess said with a grin, trying not to sound like a total jerk.
Radka shrugged off her purple backpack and took the seat opposite of Jess. “Hey, not my fault. Somebody wouldn’t get in the car fast enough,” she rolled her eyes. Someone being her younger brother.
“Oh well. I’m just glad you’re here now. Can you watch my stuff while I get something to drink?” Jess asked, already digging through the front pocket of her satchel for change.
Radka nodded and handed Jess two dollars. “Sure, and can you get me a small Dr. Pepper?”
Jess took the money and added it to her change. “Dr. Pepper, coming right up,” she said with a backwards kick of her foot in a sarcastic imitation of the many preppy waiters they had come across before. She mimed holding a pad of paper and a pen. They both laughed and Jess headed to the counter.
She had to stand behind two girls about her age dressed in the latest fashions. Both had bleached blond hair. They were what she liked to call preps. They were doing a good job of making her wait forever; deciding what was tasty and didn’t have too many carbohydrates in it. She let out a silent breath of frustration. This was going to take a while, but she found a way to keep her self busy; plotting the downfall of the underweight, shallow group of people in her mind. She was torn from her wicked daydreaming as Jess heard her name called from behind her. She turned to see it was Radka still at the table. She was holding the box with the mysterious cross in it. “Can I open it?” Radka gave the box a slight shake.
Jess gave a nod, still slightly concerned, and turned back around to see the preps leaving with their low fat drinks. SHe stepped up to the counter and ordered their drinks. The Dr. Pepper for Radka and the Diet Pepsi for herself. She returned to her friend and an empty box sitting on the table. Jess felt a slight panic ease over her as she scanned the table and Radka’s hands for the necklace. Sitting down and placing the drinks accordingly, she looked up to see the cross hanging around Radka’s neck.
Radka grinned as she modeled the necklace. “So this is what was in the package?” Jess nodded and took a sip of her drink. “Who sent it to you?”
Jess gave a slight shrug, “I have no idea. I can’t think of anyone who would send me something like this.” She stared at the cross expecting a stroke of bad luck or some sort on unexplained phenomenon, and here he was.
Looking at one of the entrances to the café, she saw the last person she ever expected to be in a bookstore. Neither of them had seen him in three years, but there he was, Isaac Mere. The six foot jock Jess and Radka had escaped from by changing schools. His hair was the same charcoal color she remembered, and his freckles stood out more than ever considering he was unusually pale. Despite his charming appearance, Jess considered him the most annoying and shallow boy from her last school. He was known for mocking Jess and her friends about their interests and spreading horrible rumors about them started by the preps.
Jess ducked her head lower dreading that he should recognize them. But who knows, he may have actually changed over the years. Radka gave her a strange look and turned to see what was making Jess cower. From our table, she could only see Isaac’s back. “What’s wrong?” She rotated back and stared at Jess.
Jess’ chin was nearly resting on the table now. “That’s Isaac,” she said in a panicked whisper as she pointed in his direction.
Radka’s eyes narrowed. “From AB?” Jess gave a solemn nod. Jess’ heart nearly skipped a beat as she looked up to meet Isaac's staring gaze. He must have recognized her. And there it was, the cheesy grin he had taunted her with three years ago. Except this time, it seemed friendlier. She didn’t know what exactly to do so she returned a grin she hoped wasn’t cheesy as his. Come to think of it, his smile was only cheesy because she knew who he was. When she looked at him as someone she didn’t know, his smile was actually hot. “Does he recognize us?” Radka asked not daring to turn around.
Jess nodded again as Isaac turned to scoop his drink from the counter. “I think so.” But instead of joining them, he headed to a table across the café. Jess watched him set his steaming cup on the table and motion them over. Normally, she would have just shaken her head and left it at that, but there was something about seeing really old nemeses.
Apparently Radka caught the gesture too. “Come on; let’s go see how he’s doing. I wonder if he’s changed any.” But before Jess could respond, Radka was already on her way to him. That's Radka for you. She always looked for the best qualities in people. Jess, on the other hand, had a hard time with forgiveness. Jess rolled her eyes and tossed her satchel over her shoulder to follow. By the time she got there, Radka was already seated across from Isaac. She took the third seat without making eye contact with Isaac.
“Hey, I haven’t seen you two in forever!” Something sounded different in his voice from what she remembered. It was deeper and not so annoying. Jess really hoped he had changed. But to her, boys were boys, and boys were immature idiots for pretty much their whole lives.
“I know, right,” Jess found herself saying without thinking.
“You guys go to Marview don’t you?”
Jess nodded and gave a small smile.
Isaac just gave a bigger smile and shook his head. “I hope you’re not getting eaten alive out there. Public schools are rough.”
“It's better than that snob school,” Radka blurted out before Jess could respond, although Jess was about to say something similar.
Isaac just laughed at Radka’s immediate defensiveness. “Yeah, I’m starting to
get sick of that place too, but there’s just too many hot girls there to leave,” he said with a goofy grin.
Maybe he hadn't changed after all.
Radka and Jess exchanged glances and rolled their eyes. Their old school may have been filled with beautiful people, but that’s all there was to most of them.
“Although I might consider transferring now that I’ve gotten a look at you two,” Isaac leaned on the table, examining them. That just earned him another double eye roll but Jess couldn’t suppress a small blush. “So what are you guys doing here?”
“This is where we like to hang out when it’s not crowded,” Jess leaned on the table out of nervousness. Her eyes were directed to the side on nothing in particular. It wasn’t that common for her to make eye contact with someone for more than a second.
“Oh, I’m surprised I haven’t seen you here before. I got a job here in the café a few weeks ago.”
Jess’ heart sank at that. This meant their hangout was going to be infested with preps coming in to see Isaac. And among them were Jess and Radka’s worst enemies. The rumor spreaders themselves, there was no doubt that the tramps would show up. Time to find a new place to hang out. “Oh, really?” Jess tried to put on an excited smile but it just came out as a crooked grin, showing her disdain. Radka had the same expression; she must have had the same thought.
If Isaac caught on to the mood, he gave no sign. “It’s a pretty nice job, but I haven’t told anyone yet.” He smiled at the table as if he was looking back at good memories. “I can just imagine Rena coming in and ordering something ridiculous just to mess with me.”
Jess smiled with no contempt this time. No smothering preps! Well… at least not a mob of them from her old school. Isaac looked up at them and saw the relief. “You’re pretty safe here,” he sent a wink to Radka. “Except on Fridays, that’s when this place gets crowded.” Jess wanted to point out that he was one of those noisy people, but she didn’t want to ruin the reunion. It was actually going nicely. “And… there’s a lot of weird people that only come after dark. They’re always dressed in black, and they never order anything from the café. Most of the time they sit around reading and talking.” He picked up his drink and shook it numbly as he stared at it. “Just a bunch of shady figures. Try not to come after dark too much.
Radka nodded and exchanged glances with Jess. Isaac had basically described the two of them. Most of the time, Jess only came after dark because it was less crowded. Neither of them ordered too much from the café either. She wondered what the rest of the staff thought of them. It was odd that she had never noticed the mysterious people here before.
Isaac filled them in on what had changed about the school they left. Both girls giggled when they found out their nemesis’ were gaining weight and screwing up in school with their grades. It seemed there was a lot that had changed since they left.
“Oh and what about…” Jess was cut off in mid-sentence when she heard her phone across the café. She had forgotten that she abandoned her things at the table. “I’ll be right back,” with a nod from Isaac, she scurried back to the table in time to pick up the phone. It was her dad.
Jess returned to Isaac and Radka a moment later. Radka didn’t seem to be enjoying herself that much anymore. They really had been there for a while. It was good timing considering the summoning phone call. “Time to go.”
 Collide_With_Darkness · Sat Oct 20, 2007 @ 07:26am · 2 Comments |
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