Free Tenth Grade Bleeds by Heather Brewer Page A

bothered by the fact that he was ordering his best friend around like some kind of human slave. Meredith had grown incredibly quiet. The three sat and ate in utter silence for several minutes.
    Halfway into his peanut butter, jelly, and blood-capsule sandwich, Vlad noticed that as much as Henry and Meredith seemed to be making an effort not to look at him, somebody else was trying to catch his attention. A goth girl, whom Vlad recognized as another of the kids who sat on the front steps of Bathory High at night, nudged the thin boy named Sprat forward, muttering, “Just do it!”
    Sprat stumbled toward Vlad’s table, looking more than a little uncomfortable. When Vlad smiled at him, it seemed to put him at ease. Sprat said, “I wanted to thank you.”
    Vlad was about to say that if he was talking about the thing this morning with Bill and Tom, it was really no big deal, but then they were joined by the other goths: a raven-haired girl with black fingernails, a silver-haired boy who always seemed aloof, and a tall, thin boy with black eyeliner. The girl spoke. “Actually, we all wanted to thank you. It was pretty cool of you to stick up for Sprat like that.”
    Vlad’s smile grew. “Hey, no problem. It was really no big deal.”
    The girl said, “Well, it is to us.”
    â€œIf you ever feel like hanging out—” Sprat began, but the girl cut him off.
    â€œYeah, if you ever want to, we’re cool with that, okay?” The corners of her mouth lifted in a small smile as she glanced at Meredith and Henry. “We don’t bite. And contrary to popular opinion, we don’t dance around graveyards and raise the dead either.”
    Her smile grew as she turned her attention back to Vlad. “I’m October, by the way. You know Sprat. The guy with the raccoon eyes is Andrew, and this silver-haired soul is Kristoff.”
    Vlad nodded to each of them, and October continued. “So anyway, there’s this goth club in Stokerton called The Crypt. Maybe we could hang sometime.”
    Vlad responded at first by blinking. The very idea that people he hadn’t known since kindergarten wanted to hang out with him weirded him out, but in a strangely cool way. Still . . . he wasn’t sure Nelly would be too keen on the idea of him spending time in anything that remotely resembled a nightclub. Vlad smiled sheepishly. “I’m not really much for clubs. But thanks anyway.”
    October frowned, then flashed a fake smile to mask her disappointment. “Suit yourself.”
    The goths turned collectively and were about four steps away from the table when Henry muttered, “ Thank God the trick-or-treaters left. I’m all out of candy.”
    Vlad couldn’t snap his eyes to his drudge fast enough.
    Henry smirked. “I mean, c’mon. Halloween’s over, guys.”
    To his disgust, Meredith chuckled at Henry’s cruel quip.
    Eyeing both of them, wondering exactly what made them think they were better than kids who chose to dress in black, Vlad released a tense breath and turned back to the goths, who turned around at the sound of his voice. “Hey, you guys. On second thought, I’ve been meaning to get out more, meet new people. . . . I’d love to check out The Crypt with you guys sometime.”
    October, Andrew, and Sprat met his eyes with smiles. Kristoff just kept on walking.
    Henry and Meredith grew quiet. Vlad let them. Sure, maybe he was only agreeing to go with the goths to prove a point to his friends, to show them that they shouldn’t judge people based on whether or not they wear thick black eyeliner. But it was a point he needed to drive home, that different didn’t automatically equal bad.
    He picked up his peanut butter, jelly, and blood-capsule sandwich and took a bite, ignoring their guilty glances.
    The rest of lunch passed in tense silence.
    Â 
    Â 
    Vlad strained against his leather bounds, but they were