Keagan groaned when he saw Ray’s head pop into the stall Tommy had just abandoned him in.

“Well… he doesn’t seem like no one,” Ray said. Although there was clearly the hidden question of ‘who the hell is that guy?’

Keagan stepped out of the stall and leaned against the tiled wall by the sinks.

“He is the product of your stupid advice,” Keagan sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“What advice.... oh! Oh! No way, dude!” Ray’s eyes were wide from shock

“Shut up!” Keagan shot Ray a sharp look. “It was an accident.”

“How do you accidentally turn someone?” 

“When they conveniently think you’re assaulting a girl, punch you square in the jaw effectively busting your lip, and then proceed to recognize you so you do the only thing you can think to do-“

“So you bit him! Oh my god,” Ray finished for him as he paced the length of the bathroom, “you’re in deep shit, dude.”

Keagan rolled his eyes suddenly feeling really exhausted, “trust me, I’ve realized.”

“How’s he handling it?”

“He despises me, but at least he’s eating, fighting it, but eating nonetheless.”

“Who else knows?” 

Keagan dropped his head to stare at his feet, “no one.”

“You didn’t tell your parents?”

“Why? So they could worry even more about me? No thanks.”

“Dude…” 

Keagan huffed, pushing off the wall. He had to get back to class or else Ms. Bright would throw a fit.

~~~

The bell rang loud through the room and halls. Everyone hurriedly packed up their stuff, eager to finally get out of there.

Tommy hadn’t spared a single glance toward Keagan the entire class and no paper notes were shared either.

“One last thing class! You should have already decided on a topic and the research for your projects should be complete by the end of the week! You should be starting on the essay portion starting Monday! I look forward to seeing proof of your progress then!” Ms. Bright called out, hoping her voice reached the students that had already trickled out.

“Tommy, we should exchange contacts,” Keagan said and then quickly added, “for the project of course. Just the project. I mean heavens forbid we communicate civilly for any other reason.” Sarcasm was laced through his words and Tommy was anything but a fan of it.

Tommy promptly ignored him and rushed out of the classroom, abandoning Keagan for the second time that day.

Thursday, August 13th

------------------------------

Keagan was standing at Tommy’s locker while the boy completely ignored his existence.

“Listen, dude, I really need to pass this year. I’m the soccer captain and coach won’t let me stay on the team if I’m failing a core class! My parents would also be really concerned and believe me, it’s the last thing they need on their plate-“

“Not my problem. Now leave me alone, you dumb fuck.”

Keagan smirked and leaned against the locker, “isn’t eight in the morning a little too early for foreplay?”

Tommy sucked in a baffled breath staring at Keagan wide-eyed before his face turned red with anger and he slammed his locker shut. “Stupid fucking… dumb… idiot…,” Tommy muttered a million insults as he half sprinted away from Keagan who was following after him.

“Hey wait! It was a joke! I was joking-“

“Fuck. Off.”

~~~

Friday, August 14th

--------------------------

Keagan was at Tommy’s locker again. 

“Fuck off, you-“ 

“Dumb fuck? Bastard? Psychopath? Fucker? Jackass? Dumbass? Asshole?” Keagan interrupted, “Been there, heard that.”

“Dickhead.”

“Well, haven’t heard that one yet. You sure have a way with words.”

Tommy didn’t even bother rolling his eyes this time as he stomped off toward his first class.

“Tommy, what do I have to do to get you to work with me?”

Tommy didn’t respond.

~~~

~~~

Tommy had just exited the school when an arm was thrown around his shoulder. They were far too tall to be Toby so Tommy shoved away from whoever it was coming face to face with someone he’s only seen once or twice in the halls.

“Can I help you?” Tommy raised a suspicious eyebrow.

The man smiled and Tommy noticed his fangs immediately, “names Ray. I’m a friend of Keagan’s.”

Tommy groaned, “For fucks sake. Not another one,” he went to walk away but Ray stopped him and pulled him to the side of the school by Tommy’s arm.

“Listen, here,” Ray’s smile was gone, “Keagan’s letting you get away with all the insults and acting out and all the stupid bullshit you’re putting him through but realistically, in vampire world, if you act the way you are to the vampire keeping you alive then you’d be publicly frowned upon, cast out, and said vampire would have killed you by now. You’re lucky you got stuck with Keagan of all vamps. The dude feels guilty for everything! Even global warming! You should have seen him crying like an idiot when he saw a video of a polar bear floating on a piece of melting ice in the eighth grade!”

“What’s your point?” Tommy spat.

“My point is, you’re acting like a child. Unless you were planning on becoming a chef in the future, your life is not ruined. It’s unfortunate that you’re having to go through a change but it happened and this is your life now. You have superpowers. Boohoo. Get over it. He may be taking all your bullshit insults without batting an eye and combating them with jokes, but he’s not as tough as he seems. Push him too far and you’ll be stuck. He’s got shit going on in his life, okay? Far worse than you’re little reality crisis. Trust me, he doesn’t need your cranky ass as the cherry on top of his problems but he’s being relatively nice to you. Nicer than most vampires would be even if they are at fault for the situation.”

Tommy’s face had turned an unhealthy shade of red.

He was deeply embarrassed. He felt like a child being scolded by his parent and it just pissed him off more.

“Why do you even care? Mind your own damn business,” Tommy fumed. 

“He’s my friend, even if he doesn’t think so,” Ray muttered the last part. “And you’re acting like he murdered your puppy or something. You know, lots of humans pretend to be vampires. Some even shave their tiny little teeth to look sharper. You’re throwing a temper tantrum over having super cool healing abilities, strength, and speed. Honestly, grow up.”

Tommy didn’t want to hear it anymore. He shoved past Ray, cursing him and everyone out in his head.

Ray didn’t understand. It wasn’t just about being a vampire. He worried about how he’d hide this from his parents, Toby, his friends, and everyone. And if he did tell them, what would he say? He’s a blood-sucking monster? They’d think he lost it.

Tommy made a frustrated noise, yanked his phone out of his pocket, and sent a text.

Unknown Number: Banned books

S.O.U.L @SoulRocks

Thanks to all who showed up tonight!🔥 We’ll be around every Friday!

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Princess Macie @Macie_XD

Replying to @SoulRocks

I went and the show was pretty mid. They played like 5 slow songs in a row and had the whole crowd bored out of their mind🙄 I miss the Angels.

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David @DaretoDream_16783902

Replying to @Macie_XD

Real!! I heard rumors that TJ was going to be playing by himself under another name.

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