Bloodbound (w/WillowVX)

[Morathor]

On paper, Edenville was a perfectly average city. A coastal town with a population of a few hundred thousand, Edenville had been built on manufacturing, though it had seen a steady rise in white collar jobs over the past few decades. The crime rates were slightly above average for the region--but as the Mayor would be quick to point out, it was such a small difference you might as well call it statistical error. There were a number of public schools, a handful of private ones, a community college and a small university.

On paper, North Eden High was a perfectly average school with a few hundred students. It was located at the edge of town, and the two story red brick building overlooked a pleasant forest. Occasionally, teachers would lead their protesting students along the trails as a 'field trip', since the budget rarely allowed anything more elaborate. Its drop out rates were slightly above average--but as the Principal would be quick to point out, only by two or three percent.

If you were to compare the list of North Eden dropouts with Edenville's list of missing persons, you might find a startling overlap. Of course, no one in Edenville has bothered to make this comparison, or if they have, they have chosen to keep it to themselves. And so the students of North Eden High attended school, wandered the halls, tried out for teams, blew off their homework, and generally tried to figure out who they were and how they fit into their world, oblivious to the dangers lurking in the shadows of that world.

~~~

It was January 7, the first day of classes after winter break and the beginning of a new semester. A boy walked down the hall, perhaps about seventeen although his stature made it hard to gauge. He was seemingly lost in thought, eyes fixed on the ground, and paying no attention to his surroundings. Yet he wove his way confidently through the crowds of meandering students without ever bumping into anybody. Occasionally the sleeve of his silky white shirt or a strand of his glossy black hair would brush up against somebody--always a girl, usually an attractive one, and if someone was watching close enough to observe this tendency, they might think it was deliberate. The contact was always just enough to catch their attention, earning him a glance or sometimes a smile.

 

[WillowVX]

It was Monday morning and Belle woke up with a groan. The savage pounding in her head seemed to match the annoying buzz of her alarm clock. She glanced at the digital numbers which read 06:00 AM. She had officially gotten three hours of sleep. Her long blonde hair was splayed out in a pool around her head. It was the first day of the second semester of her Junior year. It's safe to say that she was less than thrilled. She didn't have many friends at North Eden High. If you asked Belle, she would have told you that she preferred it that way. She liked to keep to herself. If you took one look at her, you would think the opposite. She was tall, shapely, and very obviously beautiful. Her long blonde hair went down to the middle of her back and she had wide emerald eyes. Despite her inviting appearance, she was always very distant and very odd. She hadn't cared to make friends at this school or the three other schools she had been sent to.

By this time, Belle's foster parents had gone to work. This is the fourth family she's been to since her mother was killed. She was only five years old when they were attacked. It's no wonder she has a problem with connecting. It didn't take her long to walk to the high school. Edenville, California wasn't as big as it seemed. She should be used to running on such little sleep by now. She looked down at her dirty clothes and realize she passed out in the same clothes she had worn the night before. She wore tight black jeans and a black tank top. The black came in handy for moving around unseen at night. The reason that she crawls in through her window at three o'clock in the morning was because her job entitled her to work nights. Most people in the town were either too oblivious or too afraid to recognize what was really going on. There were never a shortage of missing persons in Edenville. Only, Belle knew that they weren't actually missing. There was a dark truth laying beneath the vintage brick buildings and modern paved streets. She took it upon herself to fight this dark truth. Every night. Even on school nights.

The two story brick building hovered over Belle like a dark omen. She just wanted to get this over with. She didn't bother changing her clothes, knowing that nobody would notice anyways. She kept her head down as she walked to her locker. The bell had already rang, she noticed, as the dirty white hallways were thinning. She was almost to her locker when she felt a shoulder bump into her. She glanced sideways briefly at the assailant. It was a boy. He looked about her age. His confident structure made her want to elbow him in the gut. She only looked long enough to give him a disinterested cold glare and continued on her way. He must be new. Belle had never seen him there before. Not that it mattered, it's not like she cared to get to know him or anyone else. The less people she got close to, the better off she was.

 

[Morathor]

The young man paused, just for a moment. One of the girls he had 'accidentally' brushed up against was glaring at him. He took care to be barely noticeable, and it was rare to earn hostility from such a gentle touch. Was she antisocial? Misanthropic? Or just very defensive of her personal space? Whatever had provoked such an odd reaction, she clearly didn't want anyone getting close to her, which made it all the more tempting to do just that. He found her fascinating, more than any of the other students in this terribly dull school. Her beauty didn't even enter into his interest, though it was certainly a bonus. The young man smiled. He would have to find an excuse to spend more time with her.

It didn't take him long to find one, as he wandered into his first class ten minutes late and there she was, sitting all by herself. He wondered idly if the desks adjacent to hers were empty because she had distanced herself from others, or if the rest of the class was trying to stay away from her. Either way, there would be no choice but for him to sit next to her. The thought made him giddy, though he didn't let it show on his face. The teacher was scolding him for his tardiness, and although he couldn't care less about missing classes that had nothing left to teach him, he didn't want to get into trouble. So he feigned remorse and apologized, before being directed to one of the few empty seats, right next to the stunning blond.

 

[WillowVX]

The first period of the day for Belle was American History. She sat in the back of the room, the seat in the right corner. The chairs beside and in front of her were empty. She deliberately chose that seat so she wouldn't have to deal with anyone. Also - she used this period as a chance to catch up on the sleep that she usually missed. She had her arms folded on the table and she rested her head. She closed her eyes and sighed. How long would she have to do this for? Hopefully not much longer. Going to high school seemed so minuscule in the big scheme of things. Her peace was disrupted by the sound of shuffling in the seat next to hear. She lifted her head slightly to see the dark haired boy who had run into her in the hallway. He seemed to be giving her a friendly smile as he slid into the seat. Belle rolled her eyes and turned her head the other way. Great, she thought.

As soon as Mister Blackman started class he announced a group project. Belle automatically knew what that meant. Partners. She silently hoped that there would be an odd number of students so she would get to work alone. It's not like anyone would exactly offer to be her partner anyways. She kept her head down on the desk as she heard the students walking around and talking around her, no doubt picking their partners and getting started on the project.

 

[Morathor]

A group project... On the one hand, projects were dull enough without having to drag along the dead weight of a partner. On the other, with the right partner... out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the girl next to him, or rather at the mess of blond hair scattered across her desk. Even if she had been sitting up, his blue-tinted glasses would probably have hidden his gaze. Two other students came by and offered to be the young man's partner, both girls, and he turned them both down politely. They had come to him; that made them easy targets and therefore boring, but he didn't want to hurt any feelings that he might want to exploit later. Once most of the class seemed to have paired up, he turned to the girl next to him. "I believe you need a partner, and so do I. Why don't we work together? My name's James, by the way."

 

[WillowVX]

Belle didn't even raise her head to watch the scene around her. She didn't care about this class. All she could think about was tonight. She had no luck the night before. Missy Roberts was the most recent victim of disappearance. She knew that Missy didn't disappear. The truth was, she was killed. And Belle knew exactly what had killed her. Tonight she would go back out, find the monster, and kill it. That is what she did best. She smiled slightly to herself at that thought. She was pulled out of her fantasy by the purr of a male voice.

Oh, gimme a break, she thought. It had to happen regardless. It's just a project, she told herself. Just get it over with. She sat up right and fixed her hair. She turned to face the annoying new guy next to her. She felt herself falter a bit by the look on his face. As cocky as she could tell he was, there was something about him.

"I guess I don't have much of a choice." Belle looked around at all of the other paired students. "I hope you know a thing or two about slavery, I don't really have the time to pick up your slack." It wasn't that she was mean, once you got to know her, Belle was the most compassionate person you could ever know. However, it was safer if she acted this way. People who got close to her ended up getting hurt. And that wasn't totally a lie. She had learned all about slavery and the civil war at her old school but with her late night extra curricular activities, she didn't have time to do his portion of the work.

 

[Morathor]

"I hope you know a thing or two about slavery." James managed to stop himself from grinning at the words, but it was a near thing. Still, when she talked about picking up his slack, he allowed himself a confident smile. "As long as you can keep up, I think we'll be fine." He took off his glasses, revealing hazel eyes that were almost golden, and set them on his desk. "It might be easier to work together if you told me your name. Or something to call you; I guess it doesn't have to be your real name, or any kind of name." After all, the name he had given her wasn't real. He'd almost forgotten his actual name, he'd been through so many.

 

[WillowVX]

Nevermind, Belle thought. There was nothing. He was just cocky, she decided. If she can keep up? If only he knew who she was. She almost smiled to herself. She had to pretend not to notice when he took off his sunglasses. He had the most startling golden eyes. They appeared to be so warm and inviting. She was almost suspicious of him in the beginning. A stranger coming into town, new to the high school. She almost suspected him of being one of them. It was a funny thought. What would a vampire be doing in high school? She really needed to work better at separating her work life and her personal life.

She was so distracted by his eyes she almost didn't hear him. "Oh, right." She awkwardly cleared her throat. "Belle. My name is Belle." Her voice instantly changed back to indifferent. Belle tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes. She was having such a hard time staying awake. These late nights were really taking a toll.

 

[Morathor]

Although she pretended to be uninterested, James noticed that the girl got a little distracted when he took off his glasses. See something you like? His eyes were his proudest feature, though the rest of his face seemed to draw the attention of the ladies as well. "Pleased to meet you, Belle. Now let's get started." He dug the textbook for the class out of his backpack. "Since you're so confident, I guess it's safe to assume you already know everything this has to teach you, but it can still serve as a good starting point..."

He talked energetically for the rest of the period. Of course, the material was just as dull as before, but now that Belle was involved James was far more enthusiastic about it. He tried not to show off too much; didn't want to hurt her pride, after all. Not yet anyway. But at the same time, he had to make a good showing for himself.

 

[WillowVX]

The rest of the period wasn't terrible. It could have been worse. Although James came off as a typical over-confident jerk, she found that she didn't hate him. She was impressed at how much information he knew. He hadn't been here the previous semester for all the work they did but he seemed to almost know more than her. He probably learned it at his old school, she figured. She also noticed, oddly, that he didn't care to talk to anyone else at the school. Belle saw him throughout the rest of the day. She saw how girls would come up to him. They practically threw themselves at him. It made her sick. He had a polite face but disinterested all the same. She wondered why. She knew she needed to snuff out that curiosity now before it got worse. She would just finish this project and be done with it.

When night fell, Belle prepared for her patrol. Tonight she wore a black long sleeve sweater and another pair of black jeans. She threw her long hair up into a neat pony tail and didn't bother with make up. She opened the door to her closet and grabbed her bag. When she was younger she referred to it as her 'oh shit bag.' She kept everything in there that she needed. Stakes. Knives. Silver. Holy water. Exorcisms. Rope. Matches. And an emergency disposable cell phone.

She tossed the bag out of the window first. She didn't worry about waking her foster parents. They always slept soundly. She almost felt bad. Mr. and Mrs. Stirling were such nice people. They were a young couple and they wanted so badly to connect with Belle. She couldn't think about that now though. She had work to do. She climbed out of the window and hung on the ledge. She jumped over to the nearest tree branch and climbed her way down. She's been hearing rumors that there's a new big bad in town. She hadn't gotten a name or an image before she dusted the vamps that gave her the information, but she assumed it wouldn't be long until he showed himself. She didn't care how nasty he was. She would kill him just like all the others. Then a thought struck her, what if it was the one that killed her mother? She had been searching for a long time. She was young when it happened, she never saw his face. But she figured she'd know it when the time came.

Belle made her way stealthily through the night to the cemetery where she would do her nightly patrolling. With the extensive curfew, she was never worried about being seen. One of the crucial rules of being a slayer is to never let the vampire know your true identity. Belle grinned to herself. No vampire she ever fought got away. She hoped that this would be an eventful night.

 

[Morathor]

Muted conversation caught Belle's ear; if she crept closer to the origin of the noise, she would find two men, in their early twenties to look at them, holding a young woman by the arms. She trembled and occasionally whimpered, but made no attempt to escape or call for help. Although her head was hanging down, her short red-orange hair matched the description of the victim Belle had been searching for the night before.

"All I'm saying," grumbled one of the men, "is that I would like to go out and get my own dinner. You know, from time to time." He bit into the girl's wrist; she shuddered but did not struggle.

The other man shrugged. "It is what it is. New boss, new rules, at least this guy is doing better at keeping that hunter off our backs."

The first vampire pulled his mouth away from Missy's flesh to reply, "Tell that to the two who got dusted last week."

"Man, before he came back to town, they were picking off four or five a week. We've got it good." The second man tore at the girl's shirt to expose her shoulder before biting down.

"I'm just sick of his leftovers, is all."

 

[WillowVX]

Belle heard the voices of two men coming from the trees behind the mausoleum. Gotcha, she smiled to herself. She quietly climbed the structure and crouched down low, she watched the two men and the girl they had huddled in their arms. Missy. She was still alive. It looked like she was running out of time. Belle was about to pounce down but stopped short. She listened to the vampires' conversation. They were talking about the new leader. She glanced desperately to Missy and watched as the second vampire bit into her shoulder. She cursed at herself. She needed the information but not at the expense of an innocent.

"Now, boys." Belle stood and placed a hand on her hip. "Don't you know it's rude to talk with your mouth full?" Before they had a chance to respond she did a front flip off the roof and landed safely on her feet. She wasted no time as she kicked the second vampire, the one who had bit into the girl's shoulder. It knocked him backwards hard. The first one dropped Missy to the ground with a thud and tried to tackle Belle. She gave a small smirk and easily dodged the attack by stepping fluidly to the right. This dance kept on for several minutes. The vampire would lunge, she would easily evade. She glanced behind her and noticed that the second vampire was getting up.

It was time to wrap this up. Missy lost a lot of blood and she wasn't sure how much longer the girl would last. She spun around and kicked the second vampire in the backs of the ankles, causing him to trip. As soon as he hit the ground, she pulled a stake from her bag and plunged it into his heart. She turned to face the first vampire. She didn't plan to stake him yet. She needed to know who this new leader was.

 

[Morathor]

As she put a stake in one vampire, his companion seemed to take that as a cue to flee. But apparently he wasn't in such a panic that he was going to waste food; he grabbed Missy and slung her over his shoulder. She whimpered slightly as he ran off with her, trying to get out of the cemetery as quickly as possible. When he reached the gate surrounding the place, he threw the girl over onto the sidewalk before beginning to scramble up it himself.

About halfway down the block was a sleek black car with tinted windows, a barely noticeable shadow on the pavement. Although the engine was running, it made only the softest purr. Since all the lights were out and the car wasn't moving, at a casual glance it seemed parked, probably unoccupied. That is, until Missy was so rudely expelled from the cemetery. Then the car began to ease forward, so slowly that its movement could easily be overlooked, or dismissed as some trick of the light.

 

[WillowVX]

The air became colder as the wind blew through Belle's hair. She whipped around to attempt to question the other vampire. He was gone so quickly, she hadn't heard a thing. He had taken Missy. Belle clenched her fists at her sides and set her jaw. That son of a bitch, she thought to herself. I'm going to kill them. I'm going to kill them all.

She ran through the cemetery, trying to track them. She found traces of Missy's blood, drops on the ground. She followed them up onto the street. She was too late. Belle climbed over the closed cast iron gate and noticed a pool of blood. No doubt Missy's blood. She had very little hope that the girl survived. She glanced up and down the deserted street. The town was silent. Fast asleep. The only thing to be seen were the few street lights and a few parked cars. Belle was left alone outside of the cemetery with only the cold wind to keep her company.

"I failed..." Belle whispered to herself in disbelief. She was off of her game. She had never let a vampire get away before. He had seen her face. He wasn't just any vampire, he was a direct link to the new leader, and he got away. Worst of all, she lost her innocent. Belle knew it would be useless to continue looking. There was no way that vampire would stick around, especially after his friend getting killed in front of him. She had no choice but to go back home.

She circled around town for a little while, making sure to lose anyone that might have been trailing her. At about two in the morning, she climbed back through her bedroom window. She glared up at the ceiling as thoughts plagued her mind. "I'm sorry, Missy." She whispered. She let her eyes fall closed and tried the best she could to sleep.

 

[Morathor]

In the back seat of the car, the vampire babbled nervously. "I'm sorry, boss, I couldn't do anything, please don't kill me--"
"Kill you?" replied the calm, smooth voice of his master. "What good would that do me? No, you're more use to me alive."
"Uh, yeah. Yeah. That's right, I'm more use--"
"You're going to tell me all about the hunter you just escaped from. A name would be ideal, but I doubt they were so callous as to drop one. What did they look like?"
"She was... just a girl, boss, couldn't have been more than like eighteen. Way hot, though-um, n-not that I was checking her out when I should have been--"
"Of course of course, go on."
"Well... she was tall... blond... wore mostly black... did I mention hot?"
"Yes, you did. How very interesting..." His gloved hand gently stroked the captive girl's hair; she sighed and tightened her grip on his arm slightly.

~~~

The next morning when Belle got to school, James was hanging around outside the entrance. When he saw her, he waved. "Good morning!" he called out to her.

 

[WillowVX]

The next morning was colder than usual. Belle walked to school in a daze. She had almost forgot all about the history project she was supposed to start last night and her new... partner. When she saw James waving at her from the front doors, she sighed. She really didn't have the energy to deal with anyone today.

"Hi." She said quietly and continued into the building. Part of her felt bad for blowing him off. Although he was cocky, he seemed to be making an effort. A part of her also felt guilty for not completing her portion of the research last night. Hopefully he would understand.

Belle kept her head down as usual as she weaved her way through the crowded hall. She had just gathered the books from her locker when she felt a strong body smack right into her. She looked up to see Aaron Stirling. Belle groaned internally. He was one of the biggest jock douches in the school. Belle had turned him down when she first moved to Edensville and he hasn't forgiven her since.

"Watch where you're going, freak." Aaron said to her. Belle balled her fists at her side and had to resist the urge to put him in a coma. She promised herself, after what happened at her last school, she wouldn't fight. Not unless she needed to. He looked down at all of the books he caused her to drop and laughed in her face. Along with her books was her 'oh shit bag.' When it fell to the floor, one of her stakes fell out. Her eyes widened and she scrambled down to pick it up.

"What do you have there?" Aaron continued to taunt her and tried to pull the bag away from her. Belle had to grit her teeth.

 

[Morathor]

Her conversation, if it could be called a conversation, with Aaron was interrupted by a loud voice from down the hall. "Belle! Hey!" James hurried over towards the two. "Sorry to interrupt, but--um." He stopped as he drew closer, his eyes on the bag that Aaron was trying to pull away from her. He took a small step, turning to face the jock while standing a bit closer to Belle's side. "Pretty sure that's not yours, man, but if you like her bag that much I will buy you one just as pretty. Okay?" Underneath his mocking tone of voice was the slightest of trembles.

 

[WillowVX]

Belle grabbed the stake quickly and hid it in the waistband of her pants behind her back. She was shocked when she heard James' voice calling suddenly from a few lockers down. She was trying to yank her bag out of Aaron's hands when James appeared next to her. He stood in close to her and faced Aaron. Belle couldn't help but grin slightly at James' mocking words. Aaron looked like he was going to punch James in the face. He was angry. Embarrassed. Belle felt worried, she didn't want to drag James into this. Oddly, though, Aaron flinched back. He had a worried look on his face as he let the bag go. He walked away, but not before casting one more glance their way. That was strange, Belle thought, he didn't put up a fight at all.

"There goes your social status." She said to James as she bent down to pick up her things. She looked up to James slightly through a veil of blond hair and said sincerely, "Thank you." Belle noticed James' mild discomfort and the tiny waver in his voice. "Are you okay?" She asked when she straightened herself out. She flipped her hair back to get it off of her face and looked at James with concern.

 

[Morathor]

Once Aaron was out of earshot, James let out an unsteady breath. And then Belle was speaking to him, apparently concerned. He gave her a warm smile, though as with his voice before, he took care to falter just a bit. "Hm? Oh, absolutely. I'm fine. I mean, I thought he was going to bash my head in, but on the bright side I managed not to wet myself. So who was that? Friend of yours? Please tell me I didn't just awkwardly interrupt some sort of playful argument, that would be thoroughly humiliating."

He knew that wasn't the case, of course, unless Belle was much odder than he already knew her to be. Between body language and tone of voice, he could tell that their relationship was a hostile one. But James certainly reveled in a degree of antagonism, and it was possible--though unlikely--that Belle was the same. Whatever her relationship with Aaron, though, friend or foe, it would have to stop. He would have to track the jock down later and have a friendly discussion with him.

 

[WillowVX]

Belle laughed lightly as she and James started walking towards the classroom. It was weird, she wasn't used to laughing with someone. It was nice, she thought.

"Who? Aaron?" She asked incredulously. "Don't be ridiculous, that guy's a creep." Belle glanced sideways at James. "You sure did seem to give him the wigs, though. Good. It was about time somebody put him in his place. Everyone acts like he's some kind of royalty around here." She shook her head as she continued walking. She never really cared to notice James when she'd met him yesterday, but now that he'd theoretically came to her rescue, she gave him a second look. He had dark hair that just reached into his eyes, which she remembered were deep golden, like the color of honey. He had a very young face but there was something defined, even royal in his posture. When he looked at her with a small smile, he revealed a row of perfectly straight, white teeth, and a lovely set of dimples. Belle was too distracted to notice before but James was beautiful. No wonder he was so cocky, a voice in her mind said.

"You didn't have to do that, by the way." She said to James when they rounded the corner into the classroom. "I was handling it." She lied. She didn't want to come off as defensive, she really was thankful. Nobody had ever stoop up for her like that. "I mean, I don't want him coming after you or anything now. He has friends. They're all equally as slimy." She frowned at him as they slid into their seats.

 

[Morathor]

"Friend? A guy like that has friends? Why would you even tell me that? I'm going to freak out now. I would much rather it came as a surprise." James smiled at her. "Just kidding, don't worry about me. I'm a fast runner! Long legs you know. Anyway, I did too have to do it. Not because I thought you needed protection or whatever. I just thought it was the right thing to do." He took his seat in the back of the classroom next to where Belle had sat the day before.

 

[WillowVX]

As Belle sat down, she felt that her opinion of James was slowly changing. She still thought it was better not to have any friends but it couldn't hurt to just talk to him, right? Plus, he made her laugh. Although she knew that it was best to put her walls back up and push him away again, she couldn't help the need to laugh and talk with him. It felt so easy.

She smiled back. His smile was infectious. "Well, no matter the reason, I'm glad that you did." Belle bit her lip. "I'm not really used to people standing up for me, you know? I practically live in the shadows." She laughed bitterly to herself.

"Miss Springers..." Mr. Blackman warned from the front of the class. "I hope you're chatting enthusiastically about the Civil War." She was so wrapped up in James that she hadn't noticed everyone was working on their project. That reminded her.

"Oh crap." She whispered pathetically to James. "Here's the thing... I couldn't do my part of the research last night. Something came up." She kept her voice low as not to be called out again for talking. "I'm sorry." Belle gave James a tired look. She didn't have to fake it, all of the excitement got her mind off of what happened last night but it was only temporary. She was sucked back into reality. Belle knew that she would have to go back out tonight and find the vampire that she knew escaped. He had seen her face. She could already be in danger.

 

[Morathor]

"What, really? And yesterday you said something about not wanting to pick up my slack..." He let just the tiniest hint of disappointment creep into his voice, just to see how she would react--if she would react. Did she care what he thought of her at all? Well, if she didn't, he could fix it. "Sorry, that was... if something came up something came up. I just wish you would have told me last night. Um. Which I guess you couldn't do, because you don't have any way to contact me outside of school. Or at school, for that matter, short of searching the entire building. Sorry again, that was dumb of me. Here." He took out a pencil and scrawled a number and email address on a piece of paper. "And if you don't mind, can I have your email or number or something? Email is probably better so we can send documents back and forth. But..." He smiled the slightest, shyest smile he could manage. "I'd also really like your number. If that's okay."

 

[WillowVX]

Belle felt slightly guilty. She really didn't mean to make him suffer on the project but she had more important things to worry about. Things that he could never understand. She knew she should stop. Now. While she was ahead of herself. Belle could see herself being friends with James, real friends, and that scared her.

"I had to... work." She said. "Unexpectedly." She opened her History book and absentmindedly flipped through the pages. "If you wanted to join another group, I would understand." A part of her hoped that he would choose another group. Friends were baggage. They were people to worry about. If he became friends with her, she would only get him killed.

"I, er -" She hesitated. "I don't exactly have an email... or a cell phone." She thought of the disposal phone in her bag. Well that certainly wouldn't work. Was James trying to flirt with her? She saw his face fall the slightest bit so she continued, "But... If you wanted to work on the project together, you could always come over to my place. My foster parents are never really home. Unless you wanted to go to your place. Or the library. Or something." Belle scratched her head awkwardly. She never really invited people to her house. She didn't want to sound weird.

 

[Morathor]

James blinked, although he was smiling inside. He had an open invitation to her home, and knowledge that she would be alone most of the time. It's like it's my birthday. Maybe it is my birthday... when was that again? Sometime in the summer, wasn't it. So not today. Oh well. "Well... alright. I'm sorry to hear that your parents aren't around that much. But yeah, gimme your address and I'll come by sometime? To work on the project and stuff. Also I can help you set up an email account if you want..." They worked on the project the rest of the period. After the bell rang and before they parted ways, James said, "Hey, can you meet me at lunch? I have something I wanna share with you." He waved as he left.

The next few hours were spent desperately struggling to even pretend to pay attention to his teachers. Usually it wasn't so hard--putting on the performance of a dutiful student was at least something to do, so he wasn't so bored. But now he wanted to see if Belle would take him up on his invitation... and his anticipation made the morning stretch out so much longer. But, eventually, the lunch bell rang he made his way to the cafeteria. Now, where was Belle...?