Shopping Troubles

Well, my first day of school had been more interesting than I'd expected. I'd had Bri in several of my classes and we'd sort of stuck together since we were the new kids. I had a feeling that whether I wanted to get attached to anyone in this town or not, I was going to end up actually making friends with her. It was a totally weird concept for me...but I kinda liked it. I'd also had the gorgeous piece of Varner eye-candy in a couple of my classes too and had spent those trying not to look at him, think about him, or drool because of him.

After classes, I'd decided I needed to go shopping and buy warmer clothes. The weather here was so much different to California and I had a feeling I was going to need lots of warm clothes. So, I hopped into my car and explored a little til I found a clothes shop. I parked and went inside to shop, bought myself a bunch of new clothes with the money Mrs Keller had given me in case I wanted to do this, and put all my stuff in the car. Then, I did something kinda stupid. I decided to wander around on foot and look for a place to eat and see what other shops there were.

I got completely lost. I was about to pull out my cellphone and call Mike to come rescue me, to my embarrassment, when I saw Bri come around the corner in front of me. I let out a sigh of relief and ran over to her.

"Bri, boy am I glad to see you" I smiled "I'm totally lost" I giggled at myself.

Today might have been interested for Ray but it had been miserable for me. I already knew that I was developing some sort of weird obsession with Brendan and it bothered me because until today I hadn't let anyone distract me from school but Brendan had managed to make me babble like an idiot in some of the classes that the teachers had wanted me to introduce myself in.

I couldn't stop looking at him, thinking about him or wondering why he looked the way he did. Besides the skin color and way that both of them looked like marble statues, neither him nor his brother looked alike. I seemed to be the only one who found it strange though. I was glad when that last bell rang and I practically flew out of the school.

Instead of rushing home like I normally would have I decided to wander around town a little. I didn't have money to shop but I did want to check out a few of the shops and get a feel for the place so I parked my car and walked around. I ended up lost though and my stomach growled loudly when I realized that I was hungry. I wished that I hadn't wandered so far now because not only could I not find my car, but I realized that I'd left my battered old cell phone in the car too. I couldn't call mom to help me out of this mess.

"Ray?" I heard her voice before I saw her and gave a very loud sigh of relief. We weren't quite friends yet but I was already a little more comfortable around her than I was anyone else. Her foster brother Mike had sat by us during lunch and followed us a little in the hall. I could have sworn he was developing some weird crush on his new sister and I, like everything else I came across, found it amusing.

"Oh no." I whimpered and placed my head in my hands. "Not you too."

I sighed when she said she was lost too. I knew she lived her with her mother and I'd much rather be saved by her than Mike.

"I've got a cellphone. Think your mom could help us or doesn't she know her way around either?" I asked

I pulled the cellphone out of my pocket and held it out in offering, hoping her mother could save us. If not, I supposed I could all Mrs Keller and get directions around or something rather than calling Mike. He'd kind of creeped me out by the way he'd kept following me around like a puppy at school today.

"God, I'm starving" I whined as my stomach growled loudly

I gave a nervous chuckle for a minute as my nerves calmed down at the sight of her cell phone. It was amazing how much these little devices made us feel better; a little more secure maybe. I took it from her and dialed my mother's cell phone and waited for her to pick up.

"Hey ma, it's me." I shifted a little and sighed. "Could you possibly come pick me up? I got out downtown to look around and now I can't find my way back to my car. I have a friend here that did the same thing and we'd really appreciate it if you could come help." I smiled when she agreed but winced when she reprimanded me for it. "I'm sorry, I promise it won't happen again."

I said my usual goodbye by telling her that I loved her and then handed the phone over to Ray with a smile that I hoped she would take as a good sign that we were getting rescued.

"She's gonna be an hour or so.. so uh.. anything you have pl-" I giggled when I could clearly hear her stomach growl over the cars passing. "I'd say 'hungry' would be an understatement. Is there some place fast and cheap around here?"

I shifted from foot to foot to stay warm while she talked to her mother. I tried hard not to hear her part of the conversation because it kinda made me wish I had a mother I could interact with like that...especially the 'I love you' part. Now those were words I'd never heard in my life before.

I took the cellphone and stuffed it back in my pocket and smiled in relief when she said her mom would be here in an hour.

"Oh that's good. I didn't want to have to call Mike" I chuckled

I glanced around when she asked me about a place to eat. "No idea. Want to try and find one together? I'll buy since you've provided the rescue team" I giggled

I smiled and then chuckled as I watched Ray swift from foot to foot to keep warm and then looked down at my own clothes. I was wearing the same ones that I'd worn in school and I wasn't cold in the least. Another obvious sign she wasn't from around here.

"I promise you'll get use to the weather. If it isn't really hot, it's really cold. There's hardly ever in between."

I tried to stop the giggle from escaping my throat when she mentioned Mike but it slipped before I could block it and I choked a little and patted my chest. I didn't want to make it too obvious that I found it hilarious how Mike was following her around.

"Any idea what's going on with him? I thought he was doing it because of me at first but then I saw that he was following you around and not me."

That didn't bother me at all. I'd much rather someone else have that sort of attention. Except, for some strange reason, when it came to Brendan. I found I hated having to share his attention.. but I suspected I would have to get use to it, considering how easy he was on the eyes. Every girl in school had noticed both of the Varners and if we didn't have competition from Sophia, we certainly did from the rest of the girls who went to school with us.

"You sure?" I questioned as she offered to buy me dinner.

"Yeah, til then I'll freeze my butt off and buy lots of warm clothes" I chuckled "I'm looking forward to that hot weather"

I sighed and snorted slightly when she asked about Mike.

"I have no idea what's up with him. In a way, it's kinda creepy the way he followed me like that" I chuckled "Maybe he's just acting like a guard dog for his parents or something to make sure I do ok at school on my first day" I shrugged

"Of course I'm sure" I nodded "Mrs Keller gave me a bunch of money to go shopping with today and I didn't need much for the clothes I bought. So I've got plenty of money to get us some food" I grinned "If we ever find it"

"Don't be." I chuckled. "When it's hot it's muggy and miserable and we get a lot of mosquitoes around then to make it twice as bad. Fall is always the best time of the year."

I started to walk with Ray to find a good place to eat quickly and listened to her as she talked about Mike. I rose an eyebrow and gave her a once over before questioning her.

"Why would they be worried you wouldn't have an okay day?" I smiled. "Are they worried you couldn't take care of yourself, or that you would end up in trouble?"

I realized that she might think I thought she would be some sort of trouble maker because she was in a foster home, but I had meant it in the most innocent way possible. I didn't want to offend her but I did have a habit of speaking before thinking. It was a huge flaw of mine that often got me in trouble.

When we rounded the next corner I saw a small Quiznos just down the block and figured that was as good a place as any. I headed inside with Ray and ordered myself the turkey, ranch and swiss with a cup of broccoli cheese soup, then waited for Ray to order hers before talking again.

"So what are the Varner's like?"

I shrugged a little when she asked why they'd worry about me.

"They were probably worried I wouldn't talk to anyone or something. I'm so used to not being in one place for long that I tend to not bother" I said honestly.

I headed into Quizno's with Bri and ordered the broccoli cheese soup and a dr pepper then walked with her over to a table and sat down. I shrugged when she asked what the guys were like.

"Not really sure. They didn't talk to me much and even though I think Blake might have been trying to be friendly, he mostly just looked like someone had forced him to swallow bleach or something" I giggled

I gave Ray a sympathetic smile when she said that she never made friends because she moved around so much. I couldn't blame her for not making friends or getting settled in. Being uprooted from my home was hard, I couldn't imagine having to do it more than once. I wondered how many times Ray settled in and made friends before she finally just stopped? It wasn't my business though, and I put the question to the back of my mind. That sort of thing required friend status and I wasn't close to that yet.

"I'm glad you talked to me though." I smiled. "I couldn't imagine how horrible today would have been if I wouldn't have gotten to share it."

I grabbed a bottle of pop and then grabbed my tray and followed Ray over to the table. I could tell that she wasn't from Minnesota from the little bit of food she got, versus my sandwich and soup. I hadn't eaten lunch though and I was starving so I set my tray down and then plopped my butt into the chair across from her. I pulled my soup out of the tray and broke the crackers over my soup and stirred them in.

"I sat by that girl Stacy in a couple of my classes and she said that the Varner's don't date or talk to anyone but themselves. Literally, unless they're called on in class."

I gave a very small smile when she said she was glad I'd talked to her.

"So am I. Maybe.." I looked at her shyly and a little hopefully "if I get sent away again, we can keep in touch?"

I broke my crackers into my soup and stirred them around before looking at her again.

"Well, Blake said hello to me. So I guess that's sort of talking to me. Even though he looked like either I smelled really bad or he was just doing it because someone had given him a lecture on being polite and he thought he'd try it" I snickered and shrugged "I had math class with Brendan and he seemed to have an easier time being friendly. He helped me with my work and asked me a bunch of questions about you" I giggled

I smiled brightly when Ray asked shyly if we could keep in touch if she had to leave again. I hardly new this girl in front of me but I was happy at the thought of keeping in touch with Ray no matter where she went.

"Of course." I shrugged. "But maybe you won't have to go anywhere this time. It's not like they didn't know they were fostering an older kid.. so maybe if you're extra good, they'll keep you.. you've only got a couple years left and you're an adult."

I was trying to be helpful, to ease her fears a little. I could see how scared she was about having to leave again because I had a feeling she was getting her hopes up about living here. Granted the weather was cold but the people here were friendly and easy to get along with. I sincerely hoped that she would someday like me enough to consider me a friend even. I liked not being alone.

"At least he said hi though.. it's a vast improvement from nothing at all."

I chuckled and ate my soup. I was referring to the fact that Brendan hadn't said a word to me all day, which I had expected anyway. Blake might have acted strange with Ray but I got the impression that he liked her, by the way he stared at her whenever she came around.

It took me a couple minutes to eat my soup and then I pulled my sandwich over to me. It appeared that my eyes were larger than my stomach though and I only got a couple of bites into it before I started to feel full. I eventually wrapped the sub into the paper it was sitting on and took a drink of my pop, which I nearly choked on when Ray said that Brendan had been asking about me.

"Asking what?" I coughed into a napkin that I was covering my mouth with because I couldn't stop choking on the pop that had gone down the wrong way.

I smiled and shrugged a little when she said maybe they'd keep me.

"Maybe. It'd be nice to get to stay in one place for a change. All I have to do is hold out for my next birthday and I'll be old enough to be on my own without having to worry about that"

I chuckled when she said hello was better than nothing at all. "Maybe Brendan is just shy when it comes to girls he likes or something"

I finished my soup and then giggled when Bri choked on her pop because Brendan had been asking about her. I shrugged again and took a sip of my pop.

"All sorts really. He was just trying to get to know you through me I think. Not that I was much help since we only met today" I chuckled "He definitely seems to find you interesting though and he couldn't stop staring at you in class" I smiled

"So you're seventeen then?" I blushed and laughed. "Guess I'm the baby. God I hate being the youngest."

I snorted when Ray tried to be helpful and say that maybe Brendan was shy when it came to the girls he liked. Not only had he not liked anyone before me, which made him liking me twice as unlikely, but I doubted someone like him could ever possibly be shy when it came to girls. I'd seen the way he walked with confidence and how he had talked to Sophia earlier. I was just unremarkable was what it came down to. I was plain, right down to my clothes.

"That's not it, but thanks for saying it." I smiled. "But speaking of liking someone, how did you like the other new girl.. Sophia?"

I laughed a little and shrugged when she insisted that Brendan was interested in me. It was sweet that she was trying to encourage it but we both knew that we just weren't the sort of girls that those kind of guys paid attention to. Don't get me wrong, I thought Ray was much more beautiful than even Sophia but that didn't change the fact that guys didn't notice that.

"I was a babbling mess earlier when that teacher asked me to come up and talk for two minutes about myself.. he was probably interested in finding out who the freak was."

I chuckled and stood up. I placed my sub carefully into the small plastic bag that I grabbed and threw everything else in the trash, then headed outside with Ray to find a place to call my mom and tell her to pick us up at.

I nodded when she pointed out I was 17. "I just turned it back in July"

I fidgeted and shrugged when she asked me what I'd thought about Sophia.

"I can't really say. She seemed a bit antisocial when it came to anyone but the Varners. I didn't exactly get a friendly vibe from her though and god, talk about intimidating! She's so pretty it makes me feel like a friggin hunchback to be in the same room with her" I winced

I laughed when she referenced us having to talk in front of the class. "That's ok. You couldn't see me, but I was actually trying to disappear under my desk before she called me. I had to force myself to walk up there. Then all I did was blurt out my name and where I came from before I ran back to my desk"

I stood up with her and followed her outside. When I pulled my cellphone out of my pocket, I blinked at it.

"Oh great, battery is dead. We'll have to find a pay phone" I sighed

I looked around and saw one at the end of a somewhat dark, semi-creepy alley. I gulped and linked arms with her.

"Guess we're going down there."

I was from big cities mostly, so dark alleyways instantly made me think of danger. I tried to convince myself that the chances of this tiny town having the same sort of crimes as LA were slim, but that didn't stop me from being on edge as we walked across the street and started down the alley. I should have known better than to get my hopes up about something.

We'd only gotten about half way down the alley when I could hear footsteps following us. I walked closer to Bri anxiously, just trying to get to the phone, but could hear there were more than one set of feet following us. That's when it happened. I was grabbed from behind and yanked away from Bri. I got slammed against the brick wall of a building and pinned by a hand on my chest. The guy that had me was too big for me to fight off. He looked like he should be lurking in New York somewhere, not here.

"Bri!" I cried out in fear when I saw her get slammed against the wall a little further down and pinned by her arms above her head.

And then I remembered what they'd told me when I lived in New York. If someone tries to mug you, give them whatever they want. If you think you're going to be raped or something worse, scream your head off and try to draw as much attention as possible. Considering the guy had me pinned by his hands on my chest and the other one had Bri's arms above her head, I took a deep breath and then screamed for help at the top of my pretty strong lungs.

After school, Blake and I had decided to wander around town and clear our heads. With the girls being new, we didn't expect them to go straight to town and were hoping we could wander around and have fun without coming into contact with their strangely intoxicating scents.

We were probably about a block away from where the girls were. We'd caught a whiff of their scent on the wind and headed in the opposite direction and were just standing there talking and trying to control ourselves.

"Is it just me..or did that sound a bit like Ray?" I blinked at Blake when I heard her scream for help

Even if we hadn't been vampires, I was pretty sure we still would have heard her. The girl had a set of lungs, I'd give her that. And because I'd talked to her a little in Math class, I knew the sound of her voice a little. I looked at Blake warily.

"Want to stay here and I'll go help her since she doesn't effect me?" I offered

I knew he could read her mind to see what sort of danger she was in. If she actually needed help, I'd go help her because that was the sort of person I was. Even if it would have made life a little easier for Blake if I didn't.

"Yeah tell me about it." I chuckled rather than frown because there was no point in me being upset about it Sophia's unnatural beauty because there wasn't anything I could do to change it. If the Varner's wanted to be interested in her because of her beauty and her lack of social skills than that was fine.

"Are you serious?" I glanced down at her dead cell phone and then to the payphone that she was eying. I didn't fancy going down there and getting caught by some of the disgusting guys that walked around here. But we really didn't have much of a choice and I followed her, arm in arm, down the dark alley.

I knew something bad was going to happen before I felt the arms on my shoulders. I was grabbed and torn away from Ray and instead of fighting it my body went into a semi-shocked mode and fell against the wall like a rag doll. The next thing I knew my arms were above my head and I felt a hand on the button of my jeans and a mouth against my throat. I was so stunned I still couldn't move, all I could think about was that I wished I hadn't put my hair up now and that Ray's scream was awfully loud..

I had known that Ray was here long before Brendan had even noticed. Her scent had seemed to drift with the wind and purposely find me just to torture me. It wasn't just the fact that she was tempting to me - a temptation to harm and taste her that I'd never felt before. Some people were better smelling than the others. Like a nice juicy hamburger that had been laid out in front of me but Ray was like a gourmet meal and I was a starving dog. It was hard to resist that temptation but it was easier when she was further away and her scent only lingered for a few moments before the breeze blew it away again.

I stuffed my hands in my jeans and walked along at a slow, normal human pace with Brendan as we made our way through downtown. I wasn't sure where we were going and I didn't think Bren knew either, we just wanted to get as far away from Ray as possible. Or I did, anyway.. I figured Bren was feeling sympathetic for me. I was about to ask him if he wanted to go home when my ears perked up at the sound of a scream. I knew it was Ray's instantly and if it wasn't for the fact that it was her specifically, I wouldn't have gotten involved. Brendan was the reckless one, always wanting to save anyone and get us nearly caught but I was the careful, picky one. I chose my fights carefully. Except this one.

I was running shortly after Brendan asked if I wanted him to go and save her. I didn't know what it was between Ray and I but there was some sort of connection there that went beyond her temptation to me. She was incredibly beautiful for a human and far above the beauty of any vampire that I'd ever come across but there was something else about her that drew me to her. Right in this moment it was her scream.

I skidded around the corner and saw two guys pinning two girls to the wall of a building, each on either side of the alley. One nearly had his hand fully down the pants of Abrianna and the other had his hand up Ray's shirt and was fondling her as he pinned her there by her chest. I had to bite back the snarl that quickly rose up my throat and control my temper as I stalked down the alley towards them.

I didn't say a single word the entire way or even after. I headed over to Ray and grabbed her attacker by the front of his throat and pulled him easily off her even though he was fighting me. I showed no signs of any sort of effort in this one sided fight. I squeezed his throat until he started to choke and had to resist the urge to snap his neck and frighten Ray. I pushed him to the ground and let him go so that he landed on his backside.

"Leave." I growled at him.

My brain had shut down right after my scream had ended and I'd felt the guy's hand up my shirt. It was like it knew what was coming and had retreated inside of my to try and protect itself. One minute I was being groped, the next..I was free.

I blinked a few times as my brain began to function again. I looked for Bri and saw she was safe too, then my brain actually processed who had just saved us. I watched the men run off and turned and stared at Blake in amazement.

"Th..thank you" I babbled slightly at him as my bottom lip began to quiver dangerously

I took a step toward him, tempted to throw myself at him in a hug of thanks, but stopped. He didn't really seem like the hug type. So I fidgeted instead and reached up to brush away a couple of tears that I hadn't noticed were sliding down my cheeks before.

"Bri, you ok?" I asked her, my voice trembling slightly

I looked at Blake and began to babble a little "We..we got lost and my phone..died..and..and we needed to c...call Bri's mother to come get us"

I didn't know why I was explaining to him. Maybe I didn't want him to think Bri and I always walked around getting ourselves into trouble or something.

As soon as Blake started running, which actually surprised me a lot, I took off after him. Being vampires, we easily covered the distance so fast that no one even saw us run. We didn't slow down to normal human pace until we reached the alley and I think that was more so we didn't freak out the girls anymore than they already were.

As Blake went straight for the guy on Ray, I threw myself at the guy on Bri. I tackled him to the ground and was pretty sure I heard a rib or two crunch beneath me as my hard body collided with his fragile human one. We slid a few feet away from the girls and then I was quickly on my feet. I grabbed the guy by the front of his shirt and yanked him to his feet

"Get out of here" I snarled at him and shoved him away from me

He stumbled and then ran off with his friend, clutching his ribs. I turned to Bri and, grinding my teeth against temptation, I put my hands on her cheeks and got her to look at me.

"Are you alright? You're safe now" I said as gently as I could through my clenched teeth

I couldn't believe that this stranger - who smelled like vodka and cigarettes - had his hand down my pants. I blacked out. I didn't know how I managed to stay on my feet but I did. I didn't realize that the guy was even gone until I felt a pair of ice cold hands on my face and a soft, sweet voice asking if I was all right.

"What?"

I asked in a whisper and turned my eyes upwards to see who my rescuer had been and was surprised to see Brendan looking down at me. His hands were hard and cold but they sent a thrilling shiver down my spine.

"I'm fine." I answered after a moments pause and blushed slightly under his touch and then realized that my pants were still unbuttoned. I turned my head down to see what I was doing and quickly pulled them together and buttoned them again as a small tear slipped down my cheek. The full realization of what had been about to happen to me had finally hit.

"Ray? Ray!" I moved out of Brendan's touch and ran around him but came to a quick stop when I saw Blake standing beside her. There was no sign of our attackers though and I turned back to Brendan.

"Where did they go?"

I immediately tensed when it looked like Ray was going to hug me or something. It wasn't that I didn't want her hug of thanks but I didn't know if I could possibly be that close to her without taking a chunk out of her. I did reach out, to show her that I wasn't completely hopeless, and touched her cheek with the tips of my cold fingers.

"Are you okay?" I asked in concern and gave her a small smile. "Please don't thank me."

I moved my thumb over her cheek to brush away a few of her tears and then took my hand away. My eyes had found her neck and the jugular that I knew was in there.. pumping the warm blood that kept her precious body alive.. it made my mouth water and my hands tremble.

"Do you need help finding your car? Brendan and I know this town like the back of our hands."

I was surprised when Blake reached out and touched my cheek. I wasn't surprised by how cold his hands were since I thought it was pretty damn cold out here. No, I was surprised that he had touched me.

"I'm ok..now" I said, forcing my brain to function more

I don't know what possessed me to do it, but I let out a small laugh and reached out and ran my finger tips down the side of his cold, smooth cheek when he told me not to thank him..

"You saved me from something terrible, of course I'm going to thank you" I smiled and let my hand drop with a small blush.

I looked over as Bri came running toward me "I'm ok, Bri. Blake saved me" I reassured her.

I looked at Blake again and nodded "That would be nice. I remember when I parked my car it was outside of Victoria's Secret. I just can't remember how to get back there" I blushed again

I managed to brush Bri's tear away before she suddenly remembered Ray and ran away from me to go check on her. I let out a tiny sigh of relief now that I wasn't touching her anymore because it was easier to control myself.

I gave her a small smile when she turned back to me and asked me where the attackers went.

"Blake and I got rid of them for you" I smirked slightly

Part of me wanting to go after them, hunt them down and murder them in a very brutal way. The other part of me, the part that won out, didn't want to leave Bri right now. Since I heard Blake offering to help find Ray's car, I made the same offer to Bri.

"If you can remember what you parked your car outside of, I can help you find it"

I nodded when Ray said that she was okay and felt kind of out of place when I saw the interaction between her and Blake. It was clear that he was interested in her, with the way he looked at her when she touched his face. I felt like I was intruding though and quickly looked away.

"They're not going to come back are they?"

I asked Brendan quietly and instinctively looked around to see if they were going to pop around a corner or something. I felt extremely uncomfortable when I heard Blake's offer to Ray and then Brendan asked me if I needed help to find mine. I knew he was asking because Blake had asked Ray.. but I couldn't exactly refuse it just in case my attacker came back.

"Um, I parked out in front of a Starbucks..." I sighed. "I think."