When I opened my eyes, Claire was entering the washroom. She ignored Stacy, who winked at me and brushed past her to leave. It was another few seconds before I could speak or move.
"Why did you lock the door?" Claire asked with a frown. "And why do you have glitter all over your face?"
I felt like I was in shock. I touched my face and my fingers came away with a silvery substance.
I swallowed. I had honestly thought she was going to kill me. My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in the backs of my eyeballs.
"Do I look okay?" I asked Claire shakily.
"Yeah, except for all the glitter you look fine."
"That chick who just left, Stacy McGraw. She tried to freak me out. And she did a pretty damn good job at it."
"Well, she's gone now."
"Thank God."
"She's a witch?"
I blinked at her, still trying to shake the unpleasant experience I'd just had. "You guessed it." I rubbed at the glitter some more.
"No, that won't do. Come over here." Claire led me to the sink. I eyed the mirror skeptically, since it only showed her, not me. Claire patted my back. "Don't worry. I know what you are. It's no big deal."
I looked at her with surprise. "It isn't?"
She shook her head. "I've known tons of vampires over the years. The crew chief at Micky
Dee's is one. She's a bitch, but it doesn't have anything to do with her being a vamp." She started to brush the glitter off my face.
"Stacy said you were a witch, too."
She nodded. "It's a hobby, mostly. But if you need a demon summoning or your boyfriend turned into a small furry creature, then I'm your gal." She frowned. "Although I didn't know you could use cheap drugstore glitter like this. I've been buying this shadow salt stuff, which is extremely expensive. What did she do to you?"
"I have no idea. She said some stuff in Latin and then blew the glitter on me."
"Do you feel okay?"
I thought about it for a moment. "Other than being shaken, I feel perfectly normal."
"Obviously whatever she was attempting to do to you didn't work. I think you got off really lucky."
"I think you might be right."
A few minutes later, after I'd freshened up my makeup by looking in my shard compact, I headed back out to the reunion dance feeling weary. I searched the crowd for Thierry and found him standing in the corner clutching a small glass of punch. I hugged him tightly, which must have tipped him off to the fact that something was wrong. I gave him the short version of what had happened.
"I think she was all talk," I said. "Because I feel fine."
His silver eyes were filled with concern. "She knew you were a vampire?"
I nodded and let out a shaky sigh. "It was freaky. But it doesn't matter. It's over. I think she ran away, since I don't see her in here." I glanced around at the reunion. It was officially a bust. In fact, it looked like most of the people had already called it an early night. "It's time to go."
"I think that's a wise decision."
George came over. "You're not leaving, are you? But we're having so much fun."
So much for keeping an eye on me for the Red Devil. He'd been too busy dancing. "Maybe you are."
"Come on, one dance. I promised that we'd have fun tonight." He eyed Thierry. "You don't mind, do you?"
Thierry raised an eyebrow. "One dance."
"You can join us if you like."
Thierry declined and George pulled me onto the dance floor along with five or six other couples. They were playing the high-school dance song to end all high-school dance songs: "Stairway to Heaven." The one that starts off slow and it seems like a good idea to dance to it, but by the end… all six minutes later when the hard-rock riffs come into play and you're dancing with somebody who is nasty and smells funny, you rethink your entire existence.
It was one of my favorites.
George spun me around in a slow circle. "See? We're having big fan."
"Yeah, I guess." I told him about what had happened.
"Sweetie, you are a magnet for trouble. It's just in your nature. What are we going to do with you?"
I sighed. "I have absolutely no idea whatsoever."
He grinned down at me. "So you were a total bitch in high school? I never would have guessed that."
It was getting really warm in that gym. "I didn't think I was. According to Stacy, though, I was a judgmental, man-stealing beeyotch. But I remember always feeling like the one who was picked on. I'm starting to think that high school is traumatic for everyone."
I fanned my face. What, did they turn up the heat in the last few minutes?
"I was home schooled. The Depression was way depressing. I think that's why I love a good party these days."
"Yeah, probably." I rested my head against his shoulder. "Stacy was obviously crazy and obsessed. She even knew I was a vampire. She seemed surprised that I'd never bitten anyone before when I explained that I was definitely not evil in any way. Actually, it was more like she was amused by that."
"She sounds like a total cow."
I pushed away from him a bit. "Is it seriously hot in here or is it just me?"
He leaned back and looked at me with a frown. "Sarah, what is up with your eyes?"
I frowned. "What do you mean? Is there something wrong with my eyes?"
"Yeah. They're completely black."
My frown deepened. "That is really strange."