Vampire's Kiss

Julia wasn’t like the other girls. She was weird, but not in a bad way. She didn’t pick her nose and wipe boogers under the desk, like Amber. She didn’t smell like she’d rolled around in a bed of garlic, trying to fend off a flock of imaginary vampires, like Gemma. And she didn’t shove her face right up against mine every time she talked to me, like Samantha did.

No, she wasn’t weird because of the things she did. It was the things she didn’t do. She didn’t talk about herself as if she were the center of the universe or try to upstage everyone in whatever room she was in. She kept to herself. And when Mrs. Potter asked her a question, unlike the other kids, she never turned it into a joke. When she spoke, it was thoughtful and precise.

The other kids said she had the personality of a corpse. But I didn’t think so. She wasn’t cold. She just had the volume turned down to 2, while everyone else had theirs cranked to 11.

It’s what I liked about her most. It’s why I interrupted her and said yes before she’d even finished asking me to the school dance.

###

The entire house shuddered as the wind thrashed and howled.

I was ignoring Mom, who was shouting from downstairs. “Maybe you should stay home tonight. Storm’s getting worse.”

But I didn’t care. Nothing in the world was going to stop me from going to the Halloween dance with Julia.

Candlelight cast dancing shadows along the walls as I triple-checked my hair and makeup. Perfect. Dracula, eat your heart out. A bright flash lit up the sky, and I stuffed the fake teeth into my pocket and swung the cape dramatically.

A giant kaboom nearly knocked me over. Wow, that was close. Only two Mississippis. But I was undeterred. I told Mom I’d have my dance with Julia, no matter the cost. “You can Count on it!”

Mom laughed. “Har, har. I caught that.”

###

The pitter-patter of raindrops on the car roof had all but faded to a whisper. We’d been sitting there for over five minutes before Dad spoke.

“Get busy living or get busy dying, am I right?” he said, nudging my shoulder.

Through the stampeding drums in my ears, I barely heard him. I’d never gone to a dance before. What was I thinking? This was such a mistake. I should tell Dad to just take me home. No. No way. I couldn’t do that to Julia.

“Don’t miss your window, kiddo. We’re in the eye of the storm now. It’s only going to get worse before it gets better.”

“Dad! You’re not helping.”

“What if I sit here and tell you how wonderful of a son you are, and how proud—”

“Oh my god, eww. Okay, I’m going.”

He laughed the way he did when he made you uncomfortable enough to do the thing he was nagging you to do. It always worked, too. He was such a jerk sometimes.

###

I’d never been to Julia’s house before. White paint peeled from the old wood siding, exposing the dead gray timber underneath. Several of the boards had even come loose and fallen to one side or the other.

The yard itself looked like something out of a National Geographic article about wild grasslands. I don’t think anyone had cut it in ages. You could probably hide an entire family in the thick, straw-like grass and thistles. No one would find them in a million years. Then there was that old rusted swing set, awkwardly placed in the middle of the yard, creaking and whining in the breeze like some poor trapped animal.

With every step closer to the house, I felt a bit colder. I fumbled through my pocket, grabbed the fake teeth, and shoved them into my mouth. It was silly, but it made me feel safer.

The lights were all off in the house, except for the one on the front porch. My legs were shaking by the time my foot made contact with the first step. A last gasp creaked out from under my boot. I really thought the board was going to snap like a bone and send me tumbling into some secret dungeon.

The next step wasn’t even there, just some rusted nails along the studs. I paused and turned back to make sure Dad was still watching. He just waved at me obliviously, as if everything was normal.

But nothing was normal.

Leaping over the spike trap that used to be a stair, I stumbled and nearly fell over. When I regained my balance, I found myself staring into the face of some bronzed demon dog chewing on a heavy round knocker. I reached for it, half expecting to lose my hand, and with a hesitant slam, I knocked three times.

###

Before I could even let go of the knocker, the door swung open, its hinges screaming bloody murder. Because my feet were planted square with the frame, the sudden movement nearly pulled me right over. I almost peed a little when I caught my balance and raised my head and saw the thick, dark, empty expanse behind the door. No one was there.

My brain was yelling run, run! But my legs shouted back, we can’t! I was completely frozen. It must have been some kind of spell.

And then a voice boomed from the darkness.

“Hi, Andrew.” Julia’s head popped out from behind the heavy door. “Ooh. Scary, a vampire. I love vampires.”

What did she mean? Was that a joke? Irony? Was she a vampire? Dad, where are you, dammit?

Grabbing the demon dog’s chew toy, Julia stepped outside. She bent her knees and leaned back hard. With knuckles stressed white, she gave it a rower’s yank, and the massive door almost groaned shut.

“Sorry,” she panted. “Since Dad died, we haven’t had anyone around to fix this dang door. Or anything else around here, for that matter.”

I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t imagine what I’d do if my dad died. So I said nothing. And neither did she. We just stood there blinking at each other. I wanted to crawl out of my own skin. For a moment, I even considered flopping backward into the spike trap of the missing stair just to stop the agony.

“You’re not wearing a costume,” I blurted out.

The sky strobed white, and she let out a long, heavy sigh. “Andrew, I really wanted to go with you. I just... I just can’t. Not tonight.”

A giant thunderclap echoed down the street. I couldn’t be sure whether it was actually thunder or just my heart going supernova. All of my fear, all of my panic, burned away in a single flash of rejection.

###

“I really have to get back inside,” Julia said. “With the power cutting in and out, I need to keep an eye on her CPAP machine.”

She turned and started to squeeze back through the door but paused halfway and looked back. Her eyes looked heavy. I hadn’t realized her dad was gone or even that her mom was sick. I felt guilty for thinking this was some kind of horror house, and even guiltier for feeling rejected. Julia had real problems, and all I wanted to do was take the prettiest girl I’d ever seen to a stupid school dance.

I smiled and was about to wave goodbye when she rushed toward me and kissed me. Her lips, warm and soft, pressed against mine, and then she held them there for a moment, just a moment. I could feel myself lifting off the ground. I swear we were flying. If I had a top 10 list of moments in my life, all 10 of them would be that moment. Then she pulled away slowly, her hand pressed flat against my chest, and I opened my eyes. I didn’t even remember closing them.

“Next dance, Andrew. I hope you’ll still go with me?”

I could barely keep my eyes open. It felt like I was halfway between being awake and a dream. I’d never kissed a girl before, and suddenly my whole world turned upside down. Where was I even? It was as if someone had unplugged my brain, and it was in the middle of rebooting. Once again, all I could do was stand there blinking like a big dummy. She must have noticed it too because she blushed.

“Yes, ab—absolutely,” I stammered. “It’s a date!”

Immediately, my face burned up. Did I just ruin it? Was I too eager? Too desperate? According to all those talk shows Mom watches, women don’t like desperate guys. Apparently, they expect confidence. And confidence was in short supply at the moment.

Julia’s eyes brightened as she smiled. “Oh, good. I was so worried you’d say no.” Then she kissed me on the cheek and giggled. “But next time, maybe lose the vampire teeth.”

Oh my god. The stupid vampire teeth. I was so mortified. And then, with a wink and a smile, she disappeared back inside.

I stood there for a minute, attempting to process everything. But only one thing kept echoing through my thoughts. Next time.

By the time I got back into the car, I was grinning ear to ear. And Dad, being well, Dad, did his best to ruin it.

“Hubba, hubba. I guess next year you’ll need to dress up as Romeo,” he joked, followed by the familiar shoulder nudge.

But this time, I did something neither of us could have seen coming. I leaned over, gave him a big hug, and said, “I love you, Dad.”