Chapter Seven – Truth Or Dare
“It’s a deal,” I grin maliciously, rubbing my hands together, “Remember, you’re doing it too!”
“Yeah, just the hair,” he reminds me, “I’m more interested in what you’ll do!”
“Never let it be said I won’t accept a dare,” I tell him, still grinning, “Within reason, of course.”
“Is that so?” he chuckles in reply, “Well, shall we?”
I grin as we head for the shops. Kii and Zamir probably won’t do much in the way of clothes, but I have a challenge to fulfil here. I’m so looking forward to this! Never have I been so glad to get my mobile back, either…
“Hi there, do you do evening appointments? You do? Great! I’ve got the clothes, I just need to complete the look…”
I don’t know the lady, I got her number while I was out. I couldn’t go for just anyone, but with what she specialises in, she’d be perfect – just starting out, she’s running it from her home for now. Just one more call to make, but I’d better clear it with the others first.
“Um, I don’t know,” comes the predictable reply.
“Aw, please?” I persist, “They’re really nice, like I said…”
“Well,” Alec offers, “We met his brother already, didn’t we?”
“Yeah, I know,” Kii replies, “but that was before…”
“I wouldn’t ask my parent to a party!” Zamir chuckles.
“Isn’t that saying something?” I challenge him, “Besides, weren’t you the ones saying you wanted to meet Dad?”
“That was before we knew he has fangs!” Kii points out, before looking thoughtful. “Still, might be worth it for that alone…!”
“You are serious?!” Zamir splutters.
“Hey, come on,” I explain, “They always make sure they eat before going anywhere.”
Maybe I shouldn’t have said that much, as they now begin to look uncomfortable, and Kii anxiously rubs his throat.
“Bit too much info Leo,” he utters.
“Sorry,” I shrug, “It’s all normal to me, you know?” I pause enough for them to relax again, before resuming my pleading. “Pleease?”
They look among themselves for a moment with knowing smiles.
“Oh, alright then,” he smiles knowingly.
“Yay! Thank you!” I grin, throwing my arms around him, before a part of me decides to plant a big kiss on his cheek. Understandably he pushes me away, rubbing at his cheek as we both laugh.
“Go on, get outta here,” he chides playfully.
“Yeah, he’s still got a dare to do,” Alec says, throwing me a reminding wink.
“Phone call first,” I tell him, pecking his lips as I move off, “Then I’ll be gone for a while…”
“A dare?” she checks.
“Yep,” I agree, still with a sparkle in my eye, “Mind you, I just see it as an excuse…”
She breaks into a fit of giggles before she speaks again.
“What about your parents?” she asks, “Do they know about this?”
“They know about the dare,” I reply, “Sort of… I just wanna keep the rest a surprise.”
She then studies my features for a moment, before talking once more.
“Evan?” she remarks suddenly.
“Huh?”
“You’re one of Evan’s?” she asks, “You look so much like him.”
“Oh, you know him?”
“Yeah, he was at my school,” she replies dryly, “Is he still your age, or did he take a cure?”
“Oh, I see,” I smile awkwardly, “No, he’s still about my age. He’s no worse a father…”
“It’s not just that,” she muses with a sad smile, “He can’t fight off adulthood forever. You’ll end up older than your own parents at this rate.”
I lower my head as I uncomfortably nurse it.
“That had occurred to me,” I confess, “Still…”
“No, no, it’s okay,” she says, “Sorry, it’s none of my business. I feel better for knowing who your parents are though, they’d probably want something like this for themselves!”
I laugh a little, before she changes the subject.
“You said you’ve got some clothes already?”
“Yeah,” I grin, diving into the bag I’d brought along.
“Wow, you weren’t kidding!” she exclaims as she sees what I bought earlier, “Okay, just so you know now, one thing I’m not going “overboard” on is piercings. You’ll be with them for a long time, so choose wisely.”
“I will,” I agree, before following her instructions as I head for her bathroom to change. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with.
“Ah, just throw it all in,” Alec chuckles, “Should all go together…”
“Allow me!” Zamir offers with a big grin as he moves the others aside, “In Puerto Rico, we always are making punch!”
As the others watch him at work, Kii decides to ask Alec a question that’s been praying on his mind for a while.
“So, what’s this about a dare?”
“Oh, it started as a tease,” he explains, “You know what his taste’s like?”
“All dark and goth you mean?”
“Yeah, exactly,” he smiles, with a mischievous glint in his eye as he continues, “Well, he started talking about these outfits he wanted to wear, even mentioning piercings. I just dared him to come up with the most outrageous get-up he can think of, and he’s gotta wear it to the party, all night.”
Kii stares at him for a moment, his jaw hanging open.
“Are you nuts?!” he eventually exclaims, “You do know he’s gonna take you up on that, right?”
“That’s what I’m hoping,” Alec winks in reply.
Kii eyes him a while longer, a smile creeping across his face, before he erupts into a fit of sniggers. “Oh man,” he mutters, “This I’ve gotta see!”
A knock at the door jolts them both from their talk.
“I’ve got it!” Kii proclaims as he heads off, but turns to Alec on his way to the door. “I’ll let you warn them about that boyfriend of yours!”
“It’ll be my pleasure!” comes the gleeful reply.
“Oh yeah!!” I almost squeal in delight, as I spy my reflection in the mirror.
“You like?”
“I love!” I tell her, kissing her cheek, “Thank you!”
“You’re very welcome,” she smiles, “Okay, now remember; don’t fiddle with your new piercings, clean them with a mild salt-water solution twice a day and they’ll be fine. This’ll tell you more,” she finishes, handing me a leaflet.
“Got it,” I agree, “Cheers!”
My ears and nose sting like hell, but I can already see it being worth the while. I can’t wait to see their faces!
“What’s this?” one of the girls checks, “You dared him to dress up?”
“He’s a goth,” Alec replies with a smirk, “He was talking about all this stuff he’d wear, so I was like, “Go on then! The whole works!””
“He will too,” Kii tells them, “He’s crazy!”
“Takes one to know one,” comes the teasing reply.
“Hey!” Kii bites back with a laugh, “What about you with the hair? Is he converting you or something?”
“No, he was just like “I’ve got to do something too”. I’m nowhere near as bad as him though, this is where I draw the line!”
“Coward,” another of the girls giggles.
“Yep, and proud of it!”
Suddenly, a lot of them pause. Their jaws hang open as their eyes become locked onto something ahead.
“Oh… my… God!” Kii mutters.
“What?” Alec checks before following their gaze, and his eyes widen in a mixture of feelings, surprise being near the bottom of the list.“Is this OTT enough?” I check innocently, with an air of smugness as I bask in the limelight, laughing at the wolf-whistles from some of the girls.
Alec merely nods, before beginning to fan himself.
“Wow,” he utters as I sit next to him, shifting in his seat, “Is it getting hot in here or is it just me?!”
“You don’t look so bad yourself,” I grin, running my fingers through his hair. “I wondered what your other eye looked like!”
“Yeah, very funny,” he laughs, slapping my arm. “Might wanna watch those pants, they’re pretty low!”
I just shrug with a naughty smile, as Kii introduces the girls.
“Leo, this is Autumn,” he begins, gesturing to a punky looking girl, “Rowan,” to a freckled young lady with long, brown hair, “Ginny,” to a black haired girl, “and, erm… we call her Kat,” to an Asian looking lass, who Zamir is already trying his luck with by the looks of him.
“Katsumi,” she corrects, “but you can call me Kat.”
“Japanese?” I guess. The name sounds it, and unlike Kii she speaks with such an accent.
“Yes,” she confirms, “Osaka, to be exact.”
“Cool!” I nod, looking around, “Quite a mix we have here…”
“I love that accent,” Ginny smiles, “You from London?”
“Nooo,” I reply, “Not far off though. We’re about… twenty miles south from there. Quite nice of the guys to set this thing up here.”
“Oh, you’re from around here?”
“Yep,” I tell them, before my smile slips a little. “Ah yeah, dunno if the others have warned you, but…”
A knock at the door cuts me off. Knowing who it is, I beam from ear to ear as I spring from my seat and tear off to answer it, leaving my friends to explain about vampires and the like as I go to greet two such beings.
“Oh my word!” Mum giggles as I step outside to greet them.
I chuckle briefly in reply, before I see…
“Dad??” I check, my eyes locked onto the brown-haired male just ahead.
“Didn’t think I’d let you have all the fun, did you?” he grins, his little fangs peeking from behind his upper lip.
I study his outfit in a mixture of awe and amazement.
“Where did you get that?” I breathe, “That’s awesome!”
“Hands off,” he tells me with a jokey air.
“That’s not what I asked and you know it!” I retaliate as I invite them inside, and we take a breather from our banter to embrace each other.
“So, how’ve things been?” I ask.
“Oh, same as always,” Luca replies with a smile.
“That bad, huh?”
“Very funny,” Dad remarks dryly. “So, what about you?” he asks, his smile slipping, “We get to meet your boyfriend?”
All of a sudden, the humour in the air evaporates. My heart skips a beat as I look back at him, my face now deadly serious.
“What boyfriend?” I test him, my stomach flipping over in dread.
“The one you slept with a couple of nights ago?!”
My head drops into my chest, as though a string holding it upright had just been cut. The flames of humiliation lick at my cheeks as I realise what must have happened.
“S***,” I mutter under my breath.
“Yeah, exactly.”
I look back at him, wishing instantly that I hadn’t. My eyes flicker from face to face, but they all look equally as angry or disappointed.
“What did I say, Leo?” Dad complains, “Don’t make the mistakes I made…”
“So Mum was a mistake?!” I counter, daring him to say yes.
“I was very lucky with your Mum,” he replies, “Besides, we’re vampires. We can hear what people are thinking, so we knew that our feelings for each other are real. You can’t.”
“I don’t need to be a vampire to know he’s for real,” I tell him, feeling my eyes sting with tears of bitterness.
“So how do you know?” he asks.
“Words are easy to say, I know,” I explain, “but it’s in his eyes, his smile, his touch…” I look about me as I speak, hoping by now I’ve convinced them I know what I’m getting into.
He doesn’t speak or even move for a while, but I know exactly what he’s doing. I become aware of the racing of my thoughts and that he’s listening to them intently, before he gives a little nod as he approaches with his arms outstretched. I smile in relief as I accept, clinging tightly to him as his arms encircle me.
“We love each other Dad…”
“I know,” he mumbles into my ear, before he releases his grip around me. “Come on,” he hints as we break away, “Let’s get upstairs, eh?”
I giggle as I lead them back to the party. “Yeah, maybe get that god-awful “music” changed too!” I agree.
“Ouch,” Jo winces, already guessing what I’m referring to, “You poor thing!”
Suddenly Luca forgets his shyness, at least for now, as he bursts into a run. “Yeah, get some proper music on!” he grins, before addressing me, “Race you to the stairs!”
