"Not with you! Never with you!"
"But I thought it was me all along. When you were little, didn't you try to get me to bite you so I could turn you into a vampire? It's what you always wanted, Raven."
"Let me out!"
I screamed and kicked and pleaded. I could feel my nails scraping against the wooden casket lid. I was sure my fingers were dripping with blood.
"Raven!" I heard a girl's voice say.
"Raven!" I heard a girl's voice say.
I awoke with my fingers digging into my school desk. Becky was nudging me in the side.
I tried to hide my embarrassment as all my classmates stared at me. I was used to stares - but this time I felt like an idiot. I glanced around, and one particular student was grinning back at me: Trevor. I felt like somehow he'd just witnessed my whole dream, too. Beads of sweat peppered my brow, and I wiped my perspiring hands on my black tights.
Mr. Simmons glared at me and shook his head.
"Miss Madison," he said in a teacherly voice. "I'd give you a detention, but I'm afraid you'd sleep through that as well." For the first time in high school, I agreed with one of my teachers.
Chapter 3 The Devil Wears Doc Martens
That night at the Crypt, I was anxious to see what information I could get on Jagger's Halloween haunted house plans and how Luna and Romeo's relationship was percolating.
Alexander drove me to the club, and when I entered, the new lovebats were cuddling next to the bar. Luna was stroking Romeo's wavy hair and flashing her butterfly lashes. When he broke away to serve a drink, she blew kisses at him.
I was really impressed with how quickly her affections had turned to Romeo. But I couldn't blame her. He was really cute, and being older made him alluring, too.When Luna caught sight of me, she waved me over. She was sitting at the bar in a tattered black shirt, a coral-colored flirty skirt, and chunky Doc Martens with pink laces.
I was shocked and checked around to make sure I really was the object of her attention. She waved again, as if it were obvious we were old friends; Alexander hung by Sebastian while I headed to the bar.
She spun around on the barstool. "Isn't Romeo dreamy?" Luna stopped and pressed close to me as if she wanted to literally rub her words in my face.
"Uh ... yes," I agreed.
"And he's so mature. Not like these younger guys." I knew who she meant and who that comment was directed toward: Alexander. Funny, these younger guys had been fine with her before as she tried to date most of them.
"Well, I think some guys here are really mature," I said defensively.
She didn't have time for my response and threw her long pink locks behind her. "Romeo loves so many things," she explained. "And I'm one of them!"
"That's great." I was really excited for Luna; after all, I was the one who set her up with Romeo, so naturally I wanted them to hit it off. But Luna Seshad a way of turning everything good into something adversarial. Instead of letting me find joy in her newfound happiness, she was tormenting me.
Luna twirled a piece of her Barbie-pink hair around her snow-white fingers. "He said he always liked me but thought I was younger than I am. I think it's because of my smooth skin."
"Yes, that's probably it." I did my best not to roll my eyes.
"And he knows what he wants out of life. He isn't floundering around like the guys in this town - freaking out at commitments. Romeo is mature - he's not a total commitment-phobe, unlike some people around here."
I did my best not to yank her off the barstool.
"I'm so happy you finally found someone," I said like a thrilled parent.
Luna stopped twirling her hair. Her smile stiffened, and I knew she didn't like my crack.
"Well, I'll have you know, we talked all last night about our future - that is, when we weren't making out. Romeo wants to take me downstairs to the covenant altar, bite me, and bond our lives together for eternity. Isn't that dreamy?" She batted her eyelashes purposefully.
My heart dropped. How could they make that decision so quickly? It had only been a few days - nights, in their case. Or was this one of Luna's lies to get me jealous? Or even worse, was this another Maxwell ploy, like it had been with Sebastian, to be bonded without his knowledge? I assumed that Romeo had heard by now that the downstairs club was built right over a Civil War burial site. I wasn't sure if this idea was something real or something Luna made up to spite me.
Instead of being mad, I decided to try the opposite approach.