I waited for Becky’s response.
“Okay. Text me when you know,” she finally said.
I felt awful keeping Becky in the dark about Alexander’s party. She was my best friend—I included her in everything. For that matter, she was the only one I’d ever included. If it wasn’t for Becky, I’d have been totally alone all of my life. This was the thanks she got—being excluded from an intimate gathering hosted at the
Mansion. But I had to remind myself of the reason I was having the party in the first place—to keep her safe and mortal.
I was really shaken by my dream. Imagining Becky as a vampire—and how much she enjoyed it—jolted me.
I liked my best friend just the way she was.
But the dream felt so real. The fact that my best friend became a vampire before I became one haunted me. I was struck—by jealousy. No one in this town wanted to be a vampire more than I did. Not Becky, or a
Pradabee, or an unsuspecting soccer snob. If anyone was going to be bitten in this town, it was going to be me.
When the final bell rang, marking my freedom from the doldrums of Dullsville High, I met Becky at our lockers. “Do you mind dropping me off at Annie’s Antiques?” I asked.
“I’ll go, too,” she said as she loaded her books in her backpack and I unloaded mine into my locker. “I have nothing to do this afternoon.”
I was planning on buying goodies for the party. How could I do that in front of her?
“Are you sure?” I asked. “You know how I can dawdle forever. I don’t want you to miss doing your homework.”
“I’ve already finished it during study hall,” she said proudly.
“Then why are you taking home all your books?”
“The real question is why didn’t you take any of yours?”
Becky was as good a student as she was a friend.
“I have things on my mind,” I said. “I planned on doing my homework in the morning.”
She shook her head, as my mother had done a thousand times.
We exited the building, got into her truck, and drove the few miles to Annie’s.
Annie’s Antiques was one of my favorite haunts. A Victorian-style home was turned into an antiques store, each room filled with knickknacks, furniture, and artwork.
Annie greeted me with a warm hello. She was one of the few store owners who didn’t judge me by the way I was dressed, assuming I was going to vandalize or shoplift. The antiques store was also one of the few stops in
Dullsville where I regularly bought merchandise.
She wore an oversized leopard-print shirt with a black faux-fur collar and black rayon pants. Two golden retrievers roamed throughout the rooms and slept by Annie’s stool. “What are you looking for today?” she asked.
“Nothing in particular. Just browsing.”
“I got some new things in that might interest you,” she said, pointing to a nearby doorway.
I strode across the Victorian home’s hardwood floors, which were weathered by all the foot traffic and furniture being moved in and out. On a small table covered with black lace fabric were items from Halloweens past.
Coveting all the goodies, I gathered as many things as I could hold, as if at any moment there could be a swarm of competitive shoppers.
“You could use a shopping cart,” Becky said, helping me place the various decorations on the counter.
“Look at these!” Becky presented me with three fake tombstones. “You can put them in your room.”
“Absolutely!”
I found a box of skeleton lights perfect for hanging by the gazebo.
“I’m not sure that all the bulbs work,” Annie confessed when I brought them to my already rising pile of merchandise.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said, unfazed. “They are a must-have.”
I found some lace place mats, dragon-headed candlesticks, and a ceramic raven.
“Are you having a party?” Annie asked. “You could decorate a mansion with all this stuff.”
Becky gave me a skeptical stare. “Yes, what are you going to do with all these things?”
I handed Annie all the money I had in my wallet. “Saving them for a rainy day, I guess.”
“It might not rain for a while,” Annie said. “I hope you are able to enjoy them before then.”
“I will.”
Becky gave me a quizzical look as she helped carry the bags and load them into her truck.
“Need help taking them into your room?” she asked when we arrived at my house.
“That’s okay,” I said. “I really should do my homework, after all.”
That’s all I needed to say to let Becky know something was up.
“There’s something you’re not telling me,” she said.
“You know I tell you everything—or at least everything I can share that I don’t mind Matt knowing,” I said, giving her a friendly dig.
“Fair enough,” she said. “But I’ll find out from you one way or another.”
With that, Becky drove off. As I set down my goods on the driveway and unlocked my front door, I still felt a twinge of guilt. Becky had just helped me decorate a party I wasn’t even inviting her to attend.
Dusk settled over Dullsville as I anxiously awaited Alexander’s arrival at the cemetery.
We were going to share a private moment together before discussing our final plans for the party.