Free Vampire Island by Adele Griffin

him, with a quick touch of her fingers to his cheek. On contact, the tips of her fingers, as well as her ears and her nose, inexplicably tingled. Was it Pete’s skin, or hers, that was too hot?
    “Let me make it up to you,” Pete pleaded. “Time for Plan B.”
    “What’s Plan B?”
    “First, we dance. Then, leave it to me.”
    Lexie nodded. Together, she and Pete swung onto the dance floor. Immediately, Mina joined them, whirling into the group with Alex on her arm. Soon there was no room to move. Everybody had paired up with someone to protect somebody else’s crush, Lexie realized. Human behavior was so peculiar.
    The music changed, signaling the end of the crush-dance, and Pete bumped deliberately against Lexie so that she jostled Dylan’s elbow. His eyes quizzed her.
    “Hey, Dylan. Sorry about earlier,” Lexie stammered as Pete walked away. “Pete gets protective.”
    “Sure.” Dylan shrugged. “But Pete’s not the only problem. You’re hard to understand yourself. And you’re the first girl I ever met who could spy from a fourth-floor window.”
    “I wasn’t spying, really,” said Lexie. “I was planning to profess…something.”
    “Know what I think?” Dylan leaned close toward her ear. “I think you prefer hanging out with freaky Pete Stubbe. I think you like standing on the sidelines with him better than getting to know a normal guy in a normal way.”
    Lexie was speechless. Was Dylan right? Was freaky Pete doomed to be her destiny? How tragic! Yet Dylan was so boyish, so innocent, so human. Maybe she didn’t know how to relate to him in a normal way. Maybe she simply wasn’t normal enough.
    By now, her crush had turned back to his friends. “Watch me,” he commanded, and everyone looked over just in time to see Dylan execute one of the world’s worst side thrust karate kicks, accompanied by a whoop as he went crashing to the floor.
    “Oooof!” Dylan’s hands clasped his knee as he rocked back and forth.
    “Dancer down!”
    “Bring a heating pad!”
    “Call an ambulance!”
    “Find an ice pack!”
    Teachers flew over. Even without her cowbell, Mrs. MacCaw took control. “The hospital is only a few blocks. We need a big, strong young man for you to lean on…” Her eyes searched for candidates.
    “Me.” Lexie stepped forward. Another bat stunt, but necessary. After all, she was the strongest person here. She bent down and swept Dylan into her arms.
    “Okay, that does it.” Mina raised her voice. “Is everyone watching this? Can we all just please admit that this is too weird? That a regular girl does not have the muscle to carry a full-sized guy?”
    “But…Lexie wins the Presidential Fitness Competition every year,” said Alex.
    “Yeah, and Mina’s always talking against Lex,” added Pete in a strong, deep voice. “Remember that time when she said Lex picked her nose with her tongue?”
    Everyone nodded. Yes, they remembered. Mina glared at Pete. And now Mrs. MacCaw was leading Dylan and Lexie out of the gym.
    “Do you care that I can carry you?” Lexie whispered to Dylan.
    “Just don’t drop me.” Dylan hooked his arms tighter around her neck. Ooh, and he smelled so nice, thought Lexie. Like new sneakers and spearmint gum.
    She carried Dylan the whole seven blocks down Lexington Avenue, all the way through the doors of the hospital emergency room. Dylan mustered a smile as Lexie settled him into a wheelchair. “I hope I did break my leg. Then I’ll get a cast and everyone can sign it.” So cute—even in his pain, Dylan was thinking about his buddies. Lexie gave Dylan a double thumbs-up as he was wheeled off for X rays.
    “Goodness, Lexington Livingstone, I’d like to see an X ray of your bones,” joked Mrs. MacCaw as they settled in the waiting area. “Strong girl. You must drink plenty of milk.”
    “Mmph.” Lexie tried not to gag at the disgusting mental picture of herself drinking milk, which she had not tasted in multiple hundreds of years—except