Could It Be: Chapter 1

COULD IT BE

Rain poured on my window, matching my mood perfectly. I wanted to cry, but I couldn't. I hadn't allowed myself to cry since he died.

My best friend, almost like a brother died three years ago today. He was so much fun. He had spiky red hair that always covered his face, and his right ear pierced in three different places. His eyes were a pretty hazel gold color that made any blond want to rip them out not only for his attitude.

Z didn't get along with my dad, but he and my mom were almost as tight as he and I were. She loved to play with his hair as if he was a baby.

Even at school, nobody other than me and a select few teachers enjoyed spending time with him. He didn't have an unlikable personality; it was just that his looks made him look like a trouble maker, not to say he wasn't.

Remembering him and all his glory didn't hurt as much as it did the first few months. For the first month or so, I went a bit suicidal. Then, whenever I saw something that reminded me of him, I would break down into tears. After that, I started to slowly get better at remembering him.

Now, I could think of him as much as I wanted, with minimal pain. At least during the day… after dark though, that's when the real pain would settle in.

“Sweetie, we're almost at the school. Are you sure you are ready?” my mother asked me for the thousandth time this morning.

“Mom, if I didn't think I could do it, I wouldn't have asked you to find a new school for me and sign me up now would I?” I asked, not afraid to let the acid drip off my tongue. My mom had been so supportive of me, which meant that she had to keep up with my short temper and wide array of emotions. It didn't seem to bother her one bit.

We pulled up to the school then, and my mom found a small parking spot by the end of the lot. She took one last look at me and got out, letting her tan khakis brush against the door. Her light pink shirt seemed to deflect the rain and she put up her umbrella.

I got out too, but didn't bother with an umbrella. The door to the front office wasn't that far, I could endure that much. Besides a pillow, not much could ruin my hair, not even humidity. My mom said it was just the genes from my dad that made it black, and the genes from her that made it weather proof. I used to laugh at that, but now it just went right past me.

As we entered the office, two middle aged woman looked up from their desks. “Hi dears! Welcome to Devils Lake High!” they said in unison.

“Hi there!” my mom chirped up. She walked over to the office quickly and began to fill out papers. I walked to the edge of the room and leaned against a wall.

“Ivy dear, come on over here and meet Ms. Angie and Ms. Sams. They are the counselors for the 11th grade. If you ever need anything, you can come to them and they will try to help you out.” She said happily.

I waved at the counselors and went back to staring at the ground. A light breeze shifted my hair, telling me that someone was walking into the warm grey office.

Slowly, I looked at the person, only to gasp. It was a male, with red spiky hair, and had his right ear pierced in three different places. “Z?” I whispered confused as to why and how Z could be here… when he was supposed to be dead.

He turned to me and smiled, and everything went black.

Something was prodding at my side, it didn't wake me up, but it was highly annoying. In the distance I could hear my name being called, but I ignored it. All I wanted to do was think about this person that looked exactly like Z!

How could he be so alive, when I had clearly seen him so dead! That day flashed through my thoughts, making me cringe in pain.

Z and I run through a forest laughing. He grabbed his dad'smotorcycle and tells me to hop on. We ride through the park, then stop by the edge of a forest. We sit there and eat sandwiches. After that he says he wants to run through the forest for a while. We do that. We run and run until our lungs feel as if they will burst. Slowly, we stop by a broken tree. Heclimbs to the top branch and I sit at the bottom laughing. We talk about random things until he almost falls off the branch.

“What's wrong Z?” I call up to him.

He hops down and grabs my arm and starts to run. “Just keep running Ivy! We have to get to the bike!” he calls back to me.

I obeyed his words and keep running. Something flashes before our eyes and Z stops short. I bump into him and fall. “Z! What's wrong with you?” I ask again.

He doesn't answer, but instead gets in a defensive position above me. I gasp as something tosses him into a bush. It has the form of a man with bright red eyes and sharp daggers for teeth.

Z crawls out from a bush and runs to me again. “Run Ivy! You have to run!” he yells over his shoulder.

I can't move. The eyes of our predator keep me from moving.

The predator leans over me, but is quickly knocked down by Z. “Ivy! You have to run! Do it for me!” he calls again.

The last thing I see before I run is the monster grab Z by the arms and bite into his neck. He screams out in pain and I try not to throw up. I reach the bike and get ready to turn it on but hear one last gut wrenching scream from Z.

“Ivy! Iv-“ I rev the bike and ride away, sobbing and trying to stay on course for the police station.

Something prodded at my side and I finally screamed. “Z!” I started to sob into the arms of this stranger, not realizing until too late that I'm still in the office, in the arms of the one who looks like Z.

“Shh Ivy. It's ok. I didn't mean to scare you. I'm sorry.” He whispered into my hair.

I gasped as the realization really hit. I pulled away from his cold arms and backed against a wall. Slowly, I looked into his eyes to find that they weren't what they were supposed to look like. They were a dark orange color, almost like red.

Realization hit hard again. “Vampire.” I squeaked out.

After that day, I had done a bit of research, and my findings all went straight to vampire. The thing that killed my Z was a vampire, and now, my Z was one of them.

“I'm sorry that I scared you Ivy. I didn't mean to.” He said again. He seemed to ignore my word and kept trying to apologize. Slowly, as if not sure how to do it, he reached out to me, but I cringed away.

This was too much. The only reason I had moved from Illinois was to get away from everything that reminded me of Z. And now, I was seeing him! I knew I had to wake up soon, but that time wasn't coming soon enough.

My mom was looking at me with worried eyes. She obviously saw what I saw in this remake of Z. “Um sweetie… why don't you come here and we'll just go home. Maybe school isn't the best place for you right this moment.” She whispered, shoving the imposter aside and grabbing my elbow.

I weakly nodded and followed her out the door. We walked out into the rain slowly, and found the car. The Z imposter followed us out weakly. He seemed sad and happy at the same time.

Slowly and steadily I began to collect my thoughts.

“Are you ok Ivy?” she asked when we reached the car.

“Yeah. I'm fine.” I lied. Thoughts were randomly rolling through my mind, but three stuck out like needles in a pillow.

First, Z wasn't dead. Second, Z was un-dead to be exact. And third, I had wasted three years of my life thinking that it was my fault he got attacked that day.

“Are you sure? Do you want to go home?” she asked again.

“No. I'm going to go to school today. Thanks for asking mom! Love ya!” I called to her as I fast walked to the office again.

“Ivy, please come here. I want to talk to you.” He called from behind me.

“I…I… I can't stay close to you. You remind me of someone, and it hurts to remember him. Sorry.” I muttered and kept walking to the school.

I walked back over to the main office and grabbed my backpack that I had left and grabbed my papers from Ms. Sams. She smiled warmly and waved as I turned around.

The imposter was waiting outside the office. I glared daggers at him and walked away. “Hey Ivy, I don't know why you are mad at me. I didn't do anything wrong.” He said, somehow gliding over to my side.

My patience was wearing thin, but I ignored him the best I could. As I looked around, people started to stare at me with my little carry on buddy following closely behind.

“Why is he following her?” some snobby girl whispered. “She's so ugly! Why does he want to follow her when he can just have me?” she said again.

“Excuse me ma'am. But do you have something to say to me?” I asked in a smart tone.

She took one look at me and snorted. “Pa-lease! As if I would have anything to say to you. You so aren't high enough to talk to me.” She said then turned around.

I shrugged and walked to my first period class. Mr. Oriely was the teacher. He taught AP history. I knew we would get along great. The imposter also had this class. Great, I thought to myself.

“Will you please talk to me Ivy?” he asked yet again at lunch.

I looked at him then banged my head on the table. “Ouch.” I muttered.

He laughed and I gasped. His laugh was the same as Z's!

“You are Z!” I yelled out, a bit too loud. A few people looked at out table, but a glare from me sent them back to staring at each other.

He laughed again and grabbed my hands. His hands were as cold as ice, but I didn't bother pulling them away. “Hey Ivy. It's good to see you, but you seem a bit depressed.” He said still smiling.

I smiled sadly and nodded. “Yeah… thinking a vampire killed your best friend in the world takes a lot out of you.” I muttered, looking down.

“Hey don't be like that. I'm here now, and I'm here to stay.” He whispered while lifting my chin up with his cold strong fingers.

He kissed my lips slowly and sent electricity throughout my body. I pulled away truly smiling for the first time in three years. We stared at each other for what seemed like years, until the lunch bell rang, telling everybody to go back to class.

We walked to our 4th period class hand in hand, perfectly content with our lives.