Wasting Free Time

Free time was part of being a vampire. I had an endless supply of time on my hand to do whatever I wanted. You got use to it after a while, finding things to occupy your time. You found your passions over the years, perfect nearly everything that a human could possibly learn. I could sit for hours and not even move if that's what I wanted to do. Sometimes though, even as a vampire, somethings got boring.

After the past few days of having, well friends, I realized this whole being alone things wasn't all it was racked up to be. I was beginning to get rather frustrated with just sitting around my home. After school I decided to stay around the town of Sliver Lake and explore. I had to walk at a slow human speed but at least it was something to keep myself occupied. I was however instantly reminded as I walked one of the big reasons I preferred to be alone. Those stupid human emotions were bombarding me again. I pushed them into the back of my mind, but it was an added effort I didn't want to deal with.

It didn't take long before I found myself at the basketball court where I had meet Gavin the other day with Blake and Brendan. I didn't see anyone out at the time being which was perfect for me. I took a seat on a bench that bordered the court. My eyes closed as I leaned back against the hand, my face tilted upward. To anyone watching me they would just assume I had been basking in the warmer weather. It was still cloudy outside, but the temperature was suppose to be warmer which gave me the odd chance to were something other than a jacket. As I let my mind relax, I made the conscious effort to fidget every once in a while. Had to keep up appearances after all.

It was easy getting out of the house when I didn't have to tell anyone where I was going in the first place. Not only because they had senses that would make it easy for them to find me anyway, but they already knew where I was going. The day was cloudy and cold as usual and it was a perfect day for heading to the court. I wasn't sure if I was actually going to play or not but I took my ball with me and jumped into my red convertible. It took me all of a minute, maybe even less, to get to my usual basketball court.

I grabbed my ball and then shut my door, but as I headed across the street to the court I noticed a figure sitting on the benches. I already knew who it was - I'd seen it before I even bothered to come out here. Truth be told it was half the reason I was here right now in the first place. I was attracted to her of course - she was definitely the most beautiful vampire I'd ever come across but she intrigued me. I knew there was more to her tough exterior than she showed and I was interested in finding out who she really was.

"Hey Sophia." I didn't bother to speak quietly. I was use to being around humans and I liked to pretend I was too. I avoided speaking quietly because it became a habit after awhile. Besides, no one was out here to hear us talk anyway.

"What brings you out?"

Everyone has a specific smell, humans, animals, and vampires. In fact everything had its own smell. It took time to get use to all of them, but as the years past, I was able to remember them all almost instantly. That was why I didn't even need to move to know who it was that had arrived at the basketball court. It could only be Gavin. I took in a deep breath filling my lungs.

"Hello Gavin."

As he neared my bench I finally lifted my head up and turned slightly to face him. A smile formed on my lips as I scooted over on the bench to give Gavin room to sit down. My eyes finally opened taking a moment to glance him over. I was slightly disappointed to see the fact he was wearing a shirt this time around, but I'd 'live.' With a shrug, I pulled my feet up and tucked them under me.

"At first I just didn't want to go back to my house alone, so I just wondered around the town for a bit. Then I didn't feel like dealing with the added effort of being around people so I came out here. I think you're reason behind coming here is fairly easier to determine."

I nodded toward Gavin's basketball. I hadn't expected anyone to show up here, but I found myself actually happy that it was Gavin that had found me. Unlike with Blake and Bren, there were no worries about the human girls and their odd feelings toward them. Gavin was a nice change.

My lips twitched into a small smile when Sophia recognized me long before she saw me. Yesterday gave me the impression that she wasn't paying enough attention to me to notice much of anything let alone my smell. It was a little flattering. I didn't know about other vampires but sometimes it took a little bit of time to learn someone's specific scent.. to be able to distinguish one from the other. Since most humans smelled alike to me, along with vampires.

I noticed that her eyes looked me over for a moment. I didn't even let a smirk cross my face because I didn't want her to know that I enjoyed her looking me over and was actually quite flattered. It made me hopeful that Sophia was going to be able to become a friend of ours. I liked having people that around me that knew what I was and could relate to my problems.

"If you didn't want to be alone at your house.." I smiled and inclined my head towards her. "Maybe you should consider joining the family."

I took a seat on the bench beside her and tucked my basketball between my feet so that it wouldn't roll away and then twisted sideways so that I could see her properly.

"We definitely have enough room at the house." I winked at her to show that I was joking.. slightly.. and then shrugged. "Yeah, I come out here whenever I can to play. I think you being here is a much better way to spend my time though."

Flattery? My eyebrow rose for a moment as I stared forward. I didn't know why I was suddenly hit with the feeling of flattery, it only lasted a moment before I pushed it aside. I had learned early on that feeling others emotions could have its advantages, but that was when it came to humans. Vampire emotions weren't so easy to understand or find meaning behind. Our minds were far too advanced, we could be feeling anything for the briefest of moments and quickly push it aside or feel countless things at once. I honestly couldn't think of a reason Gavin would be feeling flattered.

My head turned slowly as I Gavin said I should join the family. With a smile on my face I just shrugged. I didn't seem as against the idea as I had been when it was jokingly mentioned to me before. That didn't mean I was completely for the idea either. Family wasn't something I really deserved.

"I don't know just yet. Perhaps I should get use to having friends before I start thinking about joining a family."

I did my best to not sound at all conceded, that wasn't what I wanted to put off. I actually liked the offer, for some odd reason. For a moment I thought to seriously about the idea and the corner of my lips drop for a millisecond before I saw the wink from Gavin. Joking, joking was something I'd happily join in with.

"Are you sure there is enough room? I have a lot of clothes." I smirked. "I'm glad to know I can be more entertaining than a game of basketball."

Without bothering to slow me speed, my feet dropped out from under me and I scooted closed to Gavin. Just as quickly as I brought myself close to him, I was back in my original space. With a smirk I glanced down to watch as I passed the basketball between my feet.

"Basketball can still be fun though."

A shrug was a lot better than her saying no, I had to give her that. So I was a little bit more calm than I had been yesterday. I liked the idea of her at least considering it. I would have to talk to Heather and Graham of course but I didn't think they would mind either. Sophia's eyes gave her away.. the color did, she didn't munch on humans and that was most of what we required.

"I'm more than willing to fill that friend part." I gave a wide, white smile. "If you don't mind, that is."

I didn't think she sounded conceded at all. In fact I was growing a little fond of her. And confident of the small, potential friendship that was showing. That confidence made me look to the side and let me eyes roam over her. I knew that vampires were a lot more beautiful than humans but I'd otherwise hadn't really seen the big deal. We weren't prey to each other so it was natural that our beauty didn't appeal to me. Sophia's did though. She was the most gorgeous thing that I'd ever laid eyes on.

"Yeah. You can have part of my closet too." I chuckled. "I'm willing to share."

I snickered as Sophia stole the ball from me and I glanced down at the ball between her feet.

"Mind playing a game with me then?"

"I think I'm warming up to the idea."

My head titled back for a moment as I let out a soft sigh. Even after all these years as a vampire that was one habit I had yet to lose. Vampires had to reason to sigh really, but I still did. It was an added effort of course, forcing a breath you already don't need to come out. I was enjoying this right now though, the company. I could already tell the Varner family was probably going to be a bigger part of my life than I expected when I first meet Blake and Brendan.

As I lifted my head again I saw out of the corner of my eye the last few seconds of Gavin looking me over. I tried to suppress my smirk, but it didn't happen as well as I would have liked. I turned to face him, this time the grin on my face was purposeful.

"I'll have to keep coming into your room just to change though. Hope that isn't a problem."

With a wink I stood up at the mention of basketball. I might not have looked like the type of girl that played sports, but I still did. It was a good way to pass the time. I had been to high schools before and sports were part of the PE program. Picking up the ball I slowly dribbled to the center of the court. Luckily I was a vampire, my heels would be extremely problematic to most humans for anything other than walking. Once I was in the center of the court I turned around to face Gavin. Still dribbling I placed my other hand on my hip.

"Under one condition. You're skins." I winked.

"Anything else I can do to make you warm up to it faster?"

I wasn't embarrassed that she had turned and caught the end of my looking. I had a longing, deeply buried longing but still one nonetheless, for a bit of companionship myself. Sophia even considering joining our family made it at least possible - though she still didn't seem like the type of girl that would be interested in that sort of companionship. Or possibly not from me.

"A problem? Are you kidding me?" I let out an amused snort and looked her over again, this time quite obviously. "I wouldn't dream of you changing anywhere else."

I smirked and watched Sophia head out to the middle of the court. To me there was nothing sexier than a gorgeous woman wanting to play ball - and even more so that this woman looked perfect and she was wearing heels. I gave a low whistle, with a bit of effort, and then got to my own feet. I was over to her in a half second.

"I think I can play for that." I smirked. "Would it be too much of me to ask for the same in return?"

"I don't know. We'll just see how it goes. But if I think of anything I'll be sure to let you know."

I wasn't sure what was up with me now, but I could feel myself starting lighten up a lot more than I had before. It could have been Gavin himself or just finding myself around other actual "civilized" vampires. A smirk grew on my face when I saw Gavin obviously look me over.

"So if I join the family your room will be my changing room. I think I could deal with that."

The smirk turned into a small but sincere smile. Gavin wasn't what I was use to. His joking nature was definitely something I could easily get use to and really enjoy. Most of my life wasn't exactly happy go lucky. But if I could change it into something like that, I think I would do what I could.

My head titled back as I let out a happy laugh at Gavin's whistle. There was something funny about being whistled at. When I came to a new place, usually the humans would attempt to do something like that with me. But the moment I glared at them all those sounds stopped. I knew glaring at Gavin wouldn't make him stop, and I didn't actually want him to. When he appeared next to me I took a step toward him, still lazily dribbling the ball. I stopped once our bodies were touching.

"Maybe next game."

"Oh come on.. there has to be at least one thing.. one condition.. that would need to be met in order for you to join our.. household."

I didn't really believe it to be a household. It was just a house that kept a few vampires in it. We didn't actually use it as a house but just some place we occupied our time until either the sun came up or until our next outing. I supposed that's what humans thought a house was for.. but I usually thought it was for a family. We may have called ourselves a family but we definitely weren't. No matter how nice we dressed it up. We were just monsters who could stand each other's company.

"I'd even be willing to share the bed.. if that were one of the conditions."

I chuckled and winked at Sophia to let her know that while I thought she was incredibly attractive, I wasn't actually looking to sleep with her or anything. I hadn't done anything sexual with anyone since before I'd been turned.. it didn't surprise me that it wasn't on the top of my priorities list now either. So I genuinely enjoyed Sophia's company - which I was guessing she wasn't use to.

When Sophia moved so that our bodies were touching now, I smirked down at her and in the blink of an eye I had the ball back. I dribbled it down the court a little, human-style, and then turned to face her with a smirk on my face. I loved being around Bren and Blake but it wasn't like Sophia. She was pretty sure but there was something else about her that the human side, whatever was left, was seriously enjoying.

"Guess I'll just have to work extra hard to kick your ass so you don't get to be the only one happy here." My smirk widened as I clearly had a large ego concerning myself. Who wouldn't be?

Instead of looking for some sort of witty comeback I paused for a moment. There weren't any conditions that I needed to be meet in order of me to join a family. The only thing that would make me be willing to join is if I changed. If my past wasn't there anymore. A small smile formed on my face and I shrugged. I wasn't going to admit to any of that.

"No conditions that have to be meet. More like getting use to the idea. Besides how do you even know that I would fit in with your family to begin with? I might be all wrong for you."

My last comment brought up an entire different line of thought that the original meaning behind it. All wrong for Gavin, was now running through my mind. It was true too. Joking around vampires didn't blend well with someone like me. For friendship or anything else. But the other reason behind my comment, being all wrong for the Varner family, was the real concern for me. They didn't feed on humans that was obvious. How willing were they to accept someone that after 80 years as a vampire still slipped up as often as I did.

"Share the bed you say?" A seductive smile grew on my face for a moment before I laughed. "Actually in all the years of being on my own, I haven't had a bed in my room. Always seemed kinda useless to me."

Without the need to sleep, I had stopped buying beds. It was just a waste of space. Couches worked just as well as beds when it came to just sitting down and reading or watching television, better actually. There was really only one reason to have a bed for vampires now, and that was more of a convince than anything else. You could have sex anywhere you wanted really.

I grinned happily when I saw Gavin starting to dribble away from me. It wasn't often that I actually started to enjoy myself. This was definitely something I could get use to.

"You can try to win, but that doesn't mean you will." I grinned. "Now take that shirt off so we can start playing." I winked.

I rose an eyebrow at Sophia's pause. She was always full of comebacks and it took me by surprise that she didn't have one this time. In fact, while I didn't know her that well, it worried me a little. I could see the wheels spinning behind her eyes as she thought about something and then snorted when she finally did comment.

"How wrong could you be? As far as I can see you'd fit in perfectly." I snorted. "Heather would probably like you, come to think of it.. she has the same.."

I snickered and trailed off because I'd been about to say 'snobby attitude' but I didn't think that Sophia would take it as a joke like I would have meant it. I was carefully feeling around to see how Sophia reacted to things, like a normal person would when making new friends. The only difference was that my new friend could actually fight me.

"Yeah I don't blame you." I gave a little embarrassed chuckle. "Heather insists on having the whole works though just in case we have any.. normal visitors."

I laughed when Sophia told me to take my shirt off, and I bounced the ball in her direction for her to catch it - I knew she would even if I would have thrown it in the opposite direction. I pulled my shirt up and over my head, then threw it to the side of the court.

"Right, game on then." I smirked.

I had been glancing around when I was suddenly hit with worry. My eyes shoot to Gavin, I was already starting be able to identify his emotions. Though at the moment he was the only one around so the only one I could possibly be feeling. He was worried about me? No one had even been worried about me, I'd felt worry before from people. Mostly worried about themselves and sometimes at the hand of me. My lips parted slightly as I watched him for a moment. Just as soon as the worry came, the emotion changed to amusement. I shook it off before shrugging.

"I'm a vampire. I can be extremely wrong."

I just smiled at the comment of fitting in. It would be a nice change to fit in for once. That was the reason I was actually finding myself enjoying parts of school now, the fact I was part of a group. When Blake and Bren weren't overly worried about the humans, the three of us were always lumped together. I actually felt comfortable talking to them. I was really getting use to it.

"Have you guys ever had 'normal' visitors? Doesn't exactly seem like the safest plan."

As Gavin passed the ball to me I quickly moved in place to catch it. Once I had the ball in hand I held it against my hip and waited for Gavin to take off his shirt. My eyes slowly glanced over him for a moment before I allowed myself to lock eyes with him. It only seemed fair, he had checked me out obviously a few times this meeting already.

"Hope you're ready."

With a wink I took a quick glance around the area and breathed deeply through my nose. I had to be be sure there were no humans around before we started playing. A smirk grew on my face as I started to slowly dribble. In a moment I started to use my true speed. I started running toward Gavin, shifting directions to the side in order to move passed him. As I neared the basket I leaped toward the basket.