"Hey, Raven, what's up?" Matt asked.
"Hi, Beck," I said, smiling.
Luna inched up next to me. "Hi, Beck," she said, also grinning.
Becky's smile was strained. My normally amiable best friend looked at me with disdain.
"I thought you were hanging out with Alexander," Becky said.
"I am; I'm just on my way in."
"We just had to have a girl chat before," Luna chimed in.
I was annoyed. There was no need for Luna to try to make Becky jealous.
"I better go see Alexander now," I finally said. "I'll see you tomorrow, Becky."
"Yeah," she said.
I stepped away from the car. Luna put her arm around me and waved at Becky.
Becky politely waved back.
The Mustang headed down the windy road. Alexander had warned me about the motives of Jagger and Luna.
"Bye, Luna," I said, heading for the Mansion as she waited by the street.
This time I was the one to disappear.
14 The Invitation
The next day the usually early-bird Becky was late. I had showered, eaten, dressed, redressed, and was sitting on the front steps, my hoodie tied around my waist, writing Alexander love notes. I was ready to call the school day off when she finally drove up my driveway.
I got into her pickup, and she barely said hello.
"Where were you?" I asked. "Did you oversleep? Or get halfway to school and realize you didn't pick me up?"
Becky didn't answer but continued to drive toward school.
After a polite conversation with her responses being "uh-huhs," "sures," and head nods, I'd had enough.
"So what's up with the silent treatment?" I finally asked.
"Nothing," she said as she turned the truck onto the road that led to school.
"Aren't you feeling well?"
"I'm feeling fine."
"Then why are you mad?"
"I'm not mad," she said, and turned up the radio.
I turned the radio off. "Okay. Let me have it. What's up?"
Becky pulled into an empty spot next to the senior parking lot and turned off the engine.
"It just seems odd," she began softly. "You left Hatsy's as soon as our order arrived. Then shortly afterward Jagger and Luna left too. I heard you hung out with Luna at the park. And it was like you were best buds last night outside the Mansion."
"She's not my best bud."
"I know you have way much more in common with her," she continued. "The gothic clothes. The dark music. She probably loves vampires, too."
"Is that what this is about?"
If there was anything worse than the jealousy between sweethearts, it was the threat of a new best friend.
"You've found someone more like you," she said as she got out of the truck.
"I don't want someone more like me," I said as we walked toward school. "I want someone just like you."
In all the years Becky and I'd been friends, she never judged the clothes I wore or the music I listened to. Becky never asked me to be anything but myself.
"You want to know the truth?" I asked.
"Of course."
"You are right, I owe you that." Becky and I went into the side entrance and snuck underneath the staircase. "All right, here goes."
Becky looked anxious, as if I were going to hit her with "Yes, I've found a new best friend. Good riddance."
"This is top secret stuff," I began.
"Go on."
"All right." I took a deep breath. "Here goes. Luna and Jagger are vampires," I began in a whisper, "and they are trying to turn Trevor into one. We left Hatsy's because Alexander and I were trying to remove their coffins from Henry's treehouse, forcing them back to Romania." I sighed, feeling a sense of relief at finally being able to share my darkest secrets with my best friend.
Becky studied me. Then she burst out laughing. "You expect me to believe that?"
"Well— " "I guess it was better than saying Luna and Jagger are friends of Alexander's from Romania," she said, "and you felt obligated to help out."
"Yeah," I lied. "Sweet, but anticlimactic."
The two of us laughed.
"I'm sorry. I just got a little jealous," she said.