Chapter 26: Complicated

Chapter 26: Complicated
I woke up in the afternoon the next day, and after having a blood milkshake with banana, which was actually delicious, a colleague called me up to Blake's training room.

I climbed up to him; he was dressed all in white, as was his custom, but this time it wasn't his biker uniform or his astronaut suit for walking under the sun, but a fencing uniform! He was twirling his wrist with a thin sword, demonstrating that he already had some skill in it.

"Let's practice fencing again!"

“Alright! Let’s go!” He threw the sword to me, and I managed to catch it in mid-air. I tried to spin it on my wrist, just like he did. The first spin worked, but the second fell off. He laughed.

“Take it easy, you’re a beginner. First, let’s look at your outfit!”

He pointed to an elegant chair upholstered in French brown leather and Scottish wood, upon which lay a uniform identical to his, but with a feminine design. It was for me!

“I had it custom-made for you!”

“Custom-made?! Where did you get my measurements?”

“I calculated them by looking at your body!”

Wow, he was staring at my body! I felt embarrassed. If it had been a normal man, I would have been worried; he would have been a harasser, but it was Blake! He could look at my body!

So I grabbed my clothes, got dressed, and went to training. My skills had improved. Blake was right; in my vampire form, my movements were faster. Before, I moved like a snail! Now I was using the fencing attacks and defenses I had learned in a single lesson.  

We trained intensively for an hour straight. At certain moments, I seemed better than Blake; I didn't know if he was being humble and giving me an advantage to encourage me, but certainly at one point I managed to wrest the sword from his hand. That made me proud; I was already surpassing my master. It had all the makings of a wonderful afternoon, but dark clouds appeared on the horizon announcing a storm. Ashley decided to show up right then, ruining everything. She was dressed in her biker uniform, with pink and red stripes, and had a completely dark helmet. Despite her blonde beauty, her aura was dark and menacing. Upon seeing her, Blake asked:

“What were you doing here, Ashley, under the sun?”

“I decided to go for a walk in the afternoon under the sun, just to see what it was like. I'm wearing a neck protector, and the helmet and gloves protect me. I won't deny that I'm afraid of being stopped by the police, and having to take off my helmet gives me the creeps, but other than that, the trip here was peaceful.”

She smiled when she looked at Blake, but her face fell when she saw me.

“What are you two doing?”

“Practicing fencing,” said Blake, heading towards a glass jar containing wine and blood.

“Cool! I want to train with you too, Blake!”

“I already trained for an hour with Erika. My fencing teacher is coming tomorrow. If you want, I can ask him to teach you; you'll like it.”

“I wanted to train with you today, Blake!”

“Ashley, I already told you I’m tired, I’ve trained enough, that’s enough for today.”

The vampire revolted and raised her voice nervously:

“When are you going to pay attention to me, Blake! You only want to train her, and I never want to!”

“I’m not ignoring you if that’s what you think, I just don’t feel like training. That’s all, Ashley!”

“But you have the time and the will to train her!”

Blake looked at me and then at her:

“I thought you two had made up!”

You thought wrong, Blake! Ashley, however, changed her tone of voice to a falsely friendly one.

“It’s not about her, it’s about us, Blake. Now that I’ve become a biker, I wanted to join your group, just like everyone else, without any privileges for being friends. And I’m happy to know that Erika is learning to defend herself. After all, it can’t be easy being chased by a Blade, and on top of that, going through the experience of death. I’m sure she must have been terrified. She needs this more than I do.”

What a cow! How I wanted to punch her in the face. Blake almost fulfilled my wish, but since he’s a man, and consequently stupid, he suggested something worse!

“How about Erika training you? She’s already good at fencing, she’s almost surpassing me. Train your friend Erika!”

Blake looked at me with such kindness that it was impossible to say no. The problem was Ashley, who looked at me with a strange face, a mixture of contempt and some hidden malice.

“It’s Erika, let’s train together.” She threw her helmet aside and held out her hand to Blake, who gave her his sword. Like lightning in the sky, I sensed something bad was about to happen.

I lifted my helmet to put it on, but she suggested not wearing it.

"No helmet, you silly girl!"

I looked at Blake, thinking he was sensing her strange aura, but like the stupid man he was, he just stood there drinking, or maybe he wanted trouble between us?

Now elevated to the rank of instructor, I tried to teach that stupid rich girl how to fight.

“Raise your sword like this, position your feet like this, then you…”

That bitch Ashley didn't even wait for me to finish and she went for me, she didn't want to train me, she wanted to kill me!

But, being a dumb blonde, she forgot to train first. Logically, I, already skilled in the art of fencing, managed to defend myself from the blows; I didn't attack, I only defended.

Realizing she wasn't going to beat me at fencing, she started attacking things on me, some statuettes on the wall, as well as a white vase, so Blake lunged at her, grabbing her by the arms.

“Ashley, stop!” he shouted, like a father putting his stupid daughter in order. The masculine presence of a strong man commands respect.

We both glared at each other furiously. If we were anime characters, sparks of lightning would be flying from our eyes. Ashley angrily grabbed her helmet, turned, and stormed off without saying another word.

Blake looked at me, "What's wrong with her?"

He was a handsome, wise, austere, strong vampire, but stupid! He couldn't see when two women were vying for the same man. The glint in their eyes, the smiles, the fits of rage and jealous outbursts, and much less the beating of their hearts. Blake couldn't see that she deeply liked him. And he also couldn't see that I was falling for him too…

I shook my head negatively, however, and replied, "I don't know why, Blake."

He was confused. I realized that men can be clueless about a woman's feelings. But we also make the mistake of not directly expressing our feelings.

Love is complicated. As Avril Lavigne sang.