together, for a moment sounding eerily like the best friends we used to be.
"Kayla, you're not staying on subject. Again. The Union football players have always been drug-happy. Hello! Please recall their steroid use, which is why it took sixteen years for us to beat them."
"Go, Tigers! Yeah, we kicked Union's ass!" Heath said. I rolled my eyes at him.
"And Morgan has clearly begun losing her mind, which is why she's piercing her..." I glanced at Heath and reconsidered. "Her body and smoking. Tell me someone normal who's smoking." K thought for a second. "Me!"
I sighed. "Look, I just don't think it's smart."
"Well, you don't always know everything." The hateful glint was back in her eyes.
I looked from her to Heath, and then back to her again. "Clearly, you're right. I don't know everything."
Her mean look turned startled and then flattened out to mean again, and I suddenly couldn't help comparing her to Stevie Rae, who, even though I'd only known for a couple days, I was absolutely, totally sure would not ever go after my boyfriend, whether he was an almost-ex or not. I also didn't think she would run away from me and treat me like I was a monster when I needed her the most.
"I think you should leave," I said to Kayla.
"Fine," she said.
"It's probably not a good idea for you to come back again, either."
She shrugged one shoulder so that her jacket fell open and I could see the thin strap of the cami slip down her shoulder, making it clear she wasn't wearing a bra.
"Whatever," she said.
"Help her get down, Heath."
Heath was generally pretty good at following simple directions, so he hoisted Kayla down. She grabbed the flashlight and looked back up at us.
"Hurry up, Heath. I'm getting really cold." Then she spun around and started marching off toward the road.
"Well...," Heath said a little awkwardly. "It did get cold all of a sudden."
"Yeah, it can quit now," I said absently, and didn't pay much attention when the wind suddenly stopped.
"Hey, uh, Zo. I really did come to bust you out."
"No."
"Huh?" Heath said.
"Heath, look at my forehead." "Yeah, you have that half moon thing. And it's colored in, which is weird because it wasn't colored in before."
"Well, it is now. Okay, Heath, focus. I've been Marked. That means that my body is going through the Change to become a vampyre."
Heath's eyes went from my Mark and traveled down my body. I saw them hesitate at my boobs and then my legs, which made me realize that they were showing all naked almost up to my crotch because my skirt had hiked up when I climbed on top of the wall.
"Zo, whatever's happening to your body is cool with me. You look seriously hot. You've always been beautiful, but now you look like a real goddess." He smiled at me and touched my cheek gently, reminding me why I've liked him so much for such a long time. Despite his faults, Heath could be really sweet, and he always made me feel completely beautiful.
"Heath," I said softly. "I'm sorry, but things have changed."
"Not with me they haven't." Taking me completely by surprise he leaned forward, slid a hand up over my knee and kissed me.
I jerked back and grabbed his wrist. "Stop it Heath! I'm trying to talk to you."
"How about you talk, and I kiss?" he whispered.
I started to tell him no again.
Then I felt it.
His pulse under my fingers.
It was beating hard and fast. I swear I could hear it, too. And as he leaned into me to kiss me again I could see the vein that ran along his neck. It moved, beating strong as the blood pumped through his body. Blood...His lips touched mine and I remembered the taste of the blood in the goblet. That blood had been cold and mixed with wine, and from a weak, loser kid who was a nothing. Heath's blood would be hot and rich...sweet...sweeter than Elliott the Refrigerator....
"Ow! Damn, Zoey. You scratched me!" He jerked his wrist from my hand. "Shit, Zo, you made me bleed. If you didn't want me to kiss you, all you had to do was say so."
He lifted his bleeding wrist to his mouth and sucked at the drop of blood that was glistening there. Then he raised his eyes to meet mine, and he froze. He had blood on his lips. I could smell it--it was like the wine, only better, worlds better. The scent of it wrapped