Free Diary of a Vampeen by Christin Lovell

to
listen to now?" he probed casually.
    "Hmm," I mumbled flipping through the
cases in front of me. "Ah-hah!" I stated holding up the West Side
Story soundtrack. He laughed shaking his head slightly.
    "You’re in the mood to listen to Romeo
& Juliet sing?"
    "Forget the lyrics, the musical
arrangements are genius. Bernstein and Sondheim are
gold."
    "If you say so," he remarked with
disapproval.
    "What kind of music do you like?" I
asked a bit sarcastically detesting his response to my
choice.
    "Classic rock is my favorite but if
you're asking about soundtracks it’s 'A Hard Day's Night'. You
can't touch the Beatles," he replied in a strong assured
tone.
    "I've never even heard of that
one."
    "You're definitely missing out then,"
he advised with a heart breaking smile. I momentarily
melted.
    "Hey Lex," Mike called as he loomed
toward us. "My mom just called and she's outside so I have to go,"
he announced. I picked up on my cue.
    "Oh, ok. Well I'll walk you out," I
offered returning the disc to its rack.
    "I'll come with you.” Kellan hurried
on my heels. We walked through the food court and out the exit. His
mom's van was parked at the curb.
    "I had a good time babe. We should do
this again soon," he suggested purposefully excluding
Kellan.
    "Sure," I replied in agreement. And
then it happened, the thing I was somewhat dreading. He gave me a
hug and leaned in to kiss me. Preconceiving this possibility, I was
prepared and gave his lips my left cheek. After one peck, I gently
pushed away careful not to hurt his feelings in the process. "I'll
talk to you later,” I smiled taking a giant step backwards to
create some distance between us.
    "Umm, night babe," he said caught off
guard by my brush off. He turned and got into his mom's car. I
waved as she drove off. I released a sigh of pure embarrassment and
perhaps a bit of frustration was entwined too before turning back
to Kellan.
    "I guess I should call my mom to come
get me."
    "I can take you home," he offered.
"Plus, it’ll be nice to see your parents again."
    "Are you sure?" I checked.
    "Yea. Let's go.” He immediately
started walking around the mall back in the direction of the
theatre.
    A chill ran through me as I felt the
night air for the first time though I'd been outside for five
minutes now. I shrugged deeper into my hoodie but received no
warmth or protection from the fall air. As we rounded the corner he
removed his zip-up hoodie and placed it over my
shoulders.
    "Thanks," I replied to his gesture.
Inside I was screaming with excitement yet remained calm on the
surface. "You're not cold?" I glimpsed at his bare arms with their
blatant muscle definition gleaming off the moonlight.
    "I'm okay," he smiled softly. The
twitch of his lips didn’t quite reveal his dimple, but I still
basked in it.
    He again opened my door for me. I
pulled his jacket to the front of me, resting it like a blanket. He
turned on the heat as soon as the car was started. I shivered as he
began driving, still not feeling the heat quite yet.
    "You would never survive Seattle
weather," he commented.
    "Thanks for the warning." I rolled my
eyes sarcastically and gave him a smug smile. He just chuckled
quietly as my stomach growled.
    "Hungry?" he queried with a raised
brow.
    "Yea. Aren't you?" I scrunched my face
shyly realizing I hadn't eaten since this morning. I quickly
remembered he hadn't either that I’d observed.
    "Not hungry, just thirsty," he smiled
a full, devious grin. "Want me to stop somewhere?"
    "No. I'm okay. I'll just eat something
when I get home." I was already embarrassed that my stomach was
growling and his wasn’t. The last thing I wanted was to prolong
that sort of humiliation, even if it was for the purpose of
squashing it.
    In half the time it should
have taken we were in front of my house. I stared at him with a
puzzled expression since I hadn't given him directions. How did he know where I live? He looked over at me and must have read my face.
    "I know your