Chapter 21 Ch. 16.1
Ethan stared at her, still fuming, even though something in his chest kept telling him she was telling the truth.
"I don’t believe you," he said, dragging a hand across the side of his neck like he was trying to calm himself.
"Okay. Then don’t. What the actual fuck do you want me to do about it?" She asked. "I don’t really care if you do or not. If you think I’m lying, fine. If you want to kill me, then go ahead. I mean, isn’t that what you guys do? Humans are food or something, right? So just get it over with."
Ethan blinked like she had slapped him.
He opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but before he could, the door creaked open.
Noah stood there, holding a bag of chips and looking extremely confused.
"Okay, wow. I definitely walked in on something," Noah said. "Sorry. Is this, like, a murder or pre make out scene in progress? Should I come back with popcorn or what?"
Ethan took a step back.
"We'll continue this conversation later," he said, pointing a finger at Zara. He turned around and walked out, bumping Noah's shoulder as he passed.
"There's no later you jerk!" She yelled after him.
Zara sighed and leaned against the desk.
"What was that?" Noah asked, walking in fully and shutting the door behind him.
"Shut up," she said, grabbing his chips.
He raised an eyebrow but let her take it.
"Stop looking at me like that," she scoffed, taking another from him.
"Soooo... Are you going to tell me what that was about? Because from here it looked like the vampire boy and my best friend were about to throw hands or kiss or maybe both."
"He’s a jerk."
"That’s not a denial."
Zara sat on the edge of a desk and picked at the edge of her sleeve.
Noah raised a brow. "You okay?"
She nodded. Then frowned. Then looked at him carefully. "Noah, can I ask you something?"
"Shoot."
"Did you ever tell anyone... you know, about Ethan? About what he is?"
Noah gave a weird laugh. "About him being a vampire? Yeah, sure. I ran around the cafeteria yelling 'vampire alert!' and then handed out garlic bread. Zara, come on. If I told anyone that, they’d think I was out of my mind. I’m not trying to get locked up in a mental hospital, thank you very much."
She looked down at her hands, then asked, "So... you don’t believe it? Like, not even a little?"
He scratched the back of his neck. "Z, come on. I mean... yeah, okay, he's fast. And he's weird. And kind of has that whole 'brooding darkness' vibe going on. But vampires? That's a lot."
"Yeah," she said softly. "A lot."
She watched him carefully. "But you believe me, right? I mean even though you don't think they exist... You believe he’s not human?"
"We've been here before, only seconds ago you asked me the same question but with different words Zara."
She tilted her head at him.
He scratched the back of his neck. "I believe you believe it. Does that count?"
She groaned. "Wow. So supportive. Thanks."
"I mean, it’s either that or you had a weird dream and made it my problem."
"He’s such a jerk," she muttered, chewing loudly.
"You've said that before," Noah commented dryly.
"It's just unfair," she said. "People work hard for these things you know. But he... He can just... Wait... Wait a fucking minute."
"What now?"
"What if Reina isn’t just... good? What if she’s not human? Or what if she used to be, and now she’s not? Maybe that’s why she suddenly started improving."
Noah made a face. "You think she’s a vampire too? I’m gonna need another bag of chips for this theory."
Zara shook her head. "No, no, never mind. My dad always says that when people don’t win, they start making up stories about the people who do. I’m not doing that. I don’t need to. I just need to train harder."
"Wow. That was almost motivational."
She punched him lightly in the arm and stood up.
"Come on. We’re going to miss the last period if we stay here."
"You actually want to go to class? Are you sick?"
"I might be," she said. "In the head."