“What’s up?” Alexander asked him, tripping him out of his trance.
Sebastian was silent.
“Hello…. Are you in there?” Alexander prompted again. “Is something wrong?”
“I don’t know,” Sebastian said. “I’ve never felt like this before.”
“Are you sick?” I wondered.
“I think…I’m in love,” Sebastian announced, as if it was just occurring to him.
“With who?” I asked. “Dixie?”
“I can see why you like it here, dude,” he said to Alexander. “You found your soul mate, and now I’ve found mine.”
“Who are you talking about?” Alexander asked.
“Becky.”
I laughed. But then I could see that Sebastian was dead serious.
“She has a boyfriend,” I said.
“She does?”
“Yes,” I said emphatically.
“Of course she does. Someone as pretty as her. But does that matter—in the long run?” Sebastian mused.
“It matters. Besides, she’s not really your type.”
“AB negative? I like all kinds.” Sebastian didn’t seem to be joking, but Alexander broke a smile.
“It’s not funny,” I said. “I think it’s time to go—”
“I’m not laughing,” Sebastian said. “It aches in here,” he said, pointing to his heart.
“That’s not love, that’s indigestion,” I said. “Hatsy’s is known for it.”
“I can’t shake it.”
“We can stop at the pharmacy and get you some Rolaids,” I offered.
Sebastian faced me intently. “This isn’t heartburn. Don’t you see?”
“All right,” Alexander said, putting his hands on Sebastian’s shoulders. “It’s time we head out.”
“Did you see how into me she was?” Sebastian asked. “Asking me all sorts of questions?”
“She was just being polite,” I told him.
“I like that. Most girls I meet are into themselves. Can you give me her number?”
“Her number?” I asked, alarmed. “But she already has a boyfriend!”
“Something I can overlook. For now.”
“I really don’t think…”
“One cannot dodge Cupid’s arrow,” Sebastian proclaimed.
I rolled my eyes. “Cupid isn’t the only one with an arrow.” I scowled.
Alexander rubbed my neck. “It’s okay. He’s just playing.”
We got into the Mustang, and as Sebastian drove me home, the ghostly duo boisterously sang to tunes blasted from his speakers. I pretended to not be disturbed by Sebastian’s off-key singing or his sudden proclamation.
Sebastian waited in the car while Alexander escorted me up the front steps.
“Why didn’t you say anything about Becky?” I asked when we reached the door.
“He’s harmless. He falls for girls all the time and whines when they don’t fall back. I was surprised he didn’t declare his love for you.” Alexander fingered my belt loops and drew me to him.
“Yeah, why didn’t he?” I asked, gazing up at him.
“I’m sure he did,” he said, brushing my hair away from my face. “He just knows what I’d do to him if he did anything about it.”
“You think he’d really like me?”
For a moment, I too was as giddy as Becky had been. Not because I liked Sebastian but because I liked the idea of being admired. I spent so much of my life in Dullsville being ostracized, it was exhilarating to know that
I might be attractive to the male species, especially when the male species was the vampire kind.
“How could he miss the most beautiful girl in Dullsville—or the world, for that matter?” Alexander asked.
“He’d have to be blinder than a bat.”
My boyfriend stared at me, his chocolate eyes burning through me. He leaned into me and gave me a five-star kiss.
5
Grave Situation
The following morning, I was lumbering around my room in a towel and Jack Skellington slippers like a lost zombie, vacuously trying to figure out what to wear to school, when I heard Becky repeatedly blast her truck’s horn. I threw on the first thing I saw, a charcoal-colored T-shirt dress, and layered it with a ripped Wicked
Wiccas tank, gathered my backpack, and haphazardly dragged myself out of my house. When I got into her truck, Becky was sporting an overblown grin.