The Date- story 1.

This is the first short story of this book. I hope you enjoy reading it.

 

The Date

 

Blood trickled down Rodger’s chin like raindrops against a glass window, as he held his nose in pain. He was a second too late to avoid the incoming ball, which spiralled toward him like a tornado. He hit the ground hard into the dirt, which made his Manchester United football strip become caked in the wet mud from the rain. The Gym teacher, Mr Brown came jogging towards Rodger as he blew his metal whistle out to the boys behind him. His movements were almost like a first aider at a real football match.

“Are you all right, Rodger?” Mr Brown panted.

“I’ll live I guess,” Rodger said with a weak smile. Mr Brown handed him a tissue to stop the bleeding.

“Thank you, sir,” Rodger sighed in relief as he quickly took the tissue from his teacher. He firmly placed the tissue onto his blood-covered nose and winced in pain. Rodger grunted as he watched his team play sluggishly and be defeated by class 12B, of Mount view High School. Once the bleeding had stopped, Rodger had only fifteen minutes to play to his best ability and earn back his team’s dignity.

He scored three goals in those last few minutes, where he made every second count. Dodging and weaving through class 12B’s defences as nimbly as a rally car racer would avoid trees and rocks. This brought the score to a tie and concluded that 12A was useless without Rodger. Rodger knew this from the roaring screams which echoed from his team. Rodger cheered as they lifted him into the air, carrying him back into the dressing room like a king.

In English class, Rodger slumped into his seat while his teacher, Mrs Henderson, called out the register. Rodger slowly lifted his heavy head with his hand and bellowed a “Here!” from the back of his throat. His class mates erupted into laughter at his croaky voice.

“Be quiet!” Mrs Henderson commanded, as she waited patiently for the class to be silent. Mrs Henderson placed her hands on her hips and quickly popped on her reading glasses, which were wrapped around her old, turkey-like neck. ‘She means business now’ Rodger thought while biting his lip to keep back his giggles.

A girl knocked on the classroom door. “Is this class 12A, miss?” The girl asked softly. Mrs Henderson nodded. The girl at the door stood and stared out into the class room at all of the puzzled faces " it was as if she was at a zoo exhibition- Rodger went bright red when their eyes met. The girl at the door smiled brightly at him.

“Yes it is. Who might you be, young lady?” Mrs Henderson questioned. The girl came away from the door and into the room, standing next to Mrs Henderson’s big wooden desk.

“I’m Tiffany Gillis, I’ve just moved here to Mount view from Seattle.” Tiffany’s dark hair elegantly grew down past her shoulders; her pale skin stood out because of it. Rodger couldn’t help but stare. He thought she was beautiful.

Mrs Henderson wrote down her name on the register and ticked her off. “Go take a seat somewhere then, and we’ll begin today’s class.” Mrs Henderson gestured her hand towards the centre of the class. Rodger looked around as Mrs Henderson did this.

There were two seats that were vacant- the first was next to ‘smelly’ Pete, who sat at the front; he never showered and always wanted to impress Mrs Henderson with how clever he was. The second, was right in front of Rodger. “Please sit near me. Please sit near me,” Rodger mumbled as he watched her slowly walk towards the centre of the classroom. Tiffany’s uniform was darker than the rest of the pupils in the class. So much so, that the room and the other pupils became somewhat, brighter.

She approached the seat in front of Rodger. When their eyes met again, Tiffany smiled and winked at Rodger as she slid out her chair and pulled quickly back into the desk. Her dark-brown eyes put Rodger into a trance, where he could hear no one and only thought of the sweet scented girl in front of him through the entire lesson.

When the school bell rang, Rodger snapped awake again, he then quickly chased after Tiffany out of the room. He could vaguely remember Mrs Henderson’s muffled voice behind him, yelling “Don’t run Rodger!”

Tiffany walked fast. In the space of five minutes she was already outside of the building, while Rodger had just pulled his homework from his locker. “Tiffany! Wait up!” Rodger wheezed as his Rebock shoes rubbed painfully against the inside of his feet.

 Tiffany turned around, with her bright eyes locked onto Rodger bounding down the path to the school gates, where Tiffany stood with her notebook to her chest and her bag over her shoulder. Her rock n roll torn purple tights revealed smooth, milky-white legs.

“HI! What’s your name?” She called out as Rodger came closer. “You’re in my English class aren’t you?” Tiffany smiled eagerly as Rodger skidded to a stop.

“Yeh,” Rodger sighed, as he tried to regain his breath.

 “Rodger Brown is my name.” Rodger held out his hand. Tiffany’s bright-dark eyes reflected from the sun, which was partially hidden behind darkened rainclouds. They penetrated Rodger’s blue eyes like a mosquito bite.

“So, it’s Friday night tomorrow. What are your, err... plans?”  Rodger stuttered nervously; he could feel his cheeks go red again.

Tiffany began to fidget and look anxiously around her; her eyes darted around in their sockets like mini-pinball machines. “Nothing really, still settling in at the moment. Why?” Tiffany smiled; her white teeth glowed brightly- which made Rodger all the more nervous.

“Would you like to hang out and grab a pizza tomorrow?” Rodger asked. “I would like to get to know the new girl a bit more.”

“Sure. Would you like to come around to my house?” Tiffany looked as if she was going to leap into Rodger’s arms with excitement. “Say around seven o’clock?” Rodger nodded in agreement. He was speechless.

“Okay! It’s at 31 Maple drive. Just around the corner from the ice cream shop. I’ll see you there!” Rodger waved goodbye and watched Tiffany as she skipped happily down the street; her black shoes clacking off of the wet-marbled concrete as she sang.  

 

*   *   *

 

After English class, Rodger and Tiffany walked to Tiffany’s home. They stopped at the Ice cream shop first. The Shop was small. It had an old style of stools and a bar- something you would find on the set of Happy Days - It had Ice cream cones for cheap with a selection of sorbets and caramels that would chill any heat-stricken body down. They also had a big choice of toppings: from the traditional Flake, to Smarties, Iced gems, chocolate drops and cookie dough. Tiffany got blackcurrant sorbet with chocolate drops and Rodger bought a raspberry ripple with Smarties.

After they left the shop, Rodger and Tiffany headed for the small cul-de-sac of Maple drive. There were birds signing, kids playing outside on their bikes and slurping their ice-creams before the hot sun could steal it from them. It was a perfect summer’s day.

 Tiffany led Rodger to a large house on the very corner of the cul-de-sac. It had small waist-height wooden fencing and recently trimmed grass. The large white door had the number twenty-three in black just above the peephole. The house looked fantastic, far better than Rodger’s own home.

“Welcome to my humble home!” Tiffany smiled brightly as she led Rodger through the door.

The hallway was dark. The wooden floorboards squeaked as they stepped through it, the hall was recently painted with a white coat on its walls - Rodger felt faint breathing in the aroma. Boxes were laid in a pile against the wall of the Kitchen. Rodger heard the rustling sound of bags and the clanging of cutlery.

“Hi mum!” Tiffany yelled from the bottom of the wooden stairs as she slipped off her sparkling black shoes. Rodger conformed and also took off his shoes. A tall woman, with black hair and a skinny-framed body stepped out of the kitchen door with a bin bag.

“Hello dear, how was school?” The woman asked. She wore a broad smile across her face when she saw Rodger. Tiffany nibbled the last of her ice cream cone smiled back.

“It was good, mum. I have a few pieces of homework to do.” Tiffany waved her books out from her bag.

“That’s good, dear. Who’s your new boyfriend?” Tiffany’s mother joked.

“Mum! He’s not my boyfriend! This is Rodger. He’s a friend from school. We’re going to do the homework, grab a pizza and watch a movie. Would you like me to order you one as well?”

“That sounds like fun.” Her mother smiled while she wiped the sweat from her brow. “No thanks honey, I’m going to pop out for dinner soon. You two enjoy yourselves. It was good to meet you, Rodger,” Tiffany’s mother replied.

“We will.” Tiffany smiled gleefully. “C’mon, let’s go up into my room and order this pizza!”

She snatched the phone from its receiver on the wall and bounded up the stairs like a cat trying to catch a mouse. Rodger quickly followed her up after waving to Tiffany’s mother, who slowly shuffled back into the kitchen to continue cleaning.

Tiffany’s bedroom was like a rock n roll teenager’s dream. It was covered with AC/DC and Metallica posters. There was even a guitar, signed by Metallica’s front man. Her room was the same colour as her torn tights- a deep purple. Her bed covers were a lighter purple, with a butterfly and flower design.

“Cool room Tiff!” Rodger exclaimed, as he began reading the Kerang! articles next to the posters of the rock n’ roll stars. Tiffany bounced onto the bed with the phone and dialled the town’s pizza delivery service.

“Thanks.” She smiled, pulling Rodger down onto the bed with her. “What pizza do you want to get?”

“Whatever pizza you like: Margarita, pepperoni, ham and pineapple. Anything you want.”

“Okay. HI, could I have a large thin crust pepperoni pizza please.” Tiffany nodded to the voice on the other end of the phone then turned to Rodger and rolled her eyes pointing to the phone.

“Yes please, can I have extra cheese with that? It’s 31 Maple Drive.” Tiffany began to roll her hair around her finger. “Okay. Thanks, bye!”

The phone bleeped as she hit the disconnect button. She tossed it on top of the magazines on her bedside table.

“How about we try doing that homework?” Rodger asked.

“Nah, the pizza won’t take long to get here. They’re usually fast. I ordered a few when my mum and I first moved here.” Tiffany sighed and switched on her T.V. “How about a movie?”

“Sure, that depends. You’re not one for those romantic types are you?” Rodger asked while gawking at Tiffany’s perfect figure.

“God. No!” Tiffany lightly hit Rodger on the arm. “What kind of girl do you take me for?” She pretended to stick her finger down her throat and laughed wildly.

“I guess I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.” Rodger admitted.

“Didn’t they teach you that in English class?” Tiffany questioned. Her mother then knocked and entered the room with glasses of ice-cold lemonade.

“Here you are, kids. I’m away out just now. Have fun and don’t stay up too late.”  Her mum was wearing a long black dress and dark high heels. ‘She must be going to a classy restaurant.’  Rodger thought, as he took the glass of lemonade and thanked her.

Just as sound of the front door closing was heard, the doorbell rang. Tiffany ran down the stairs and collected the pizza from the man at the door and paid him. Rodger had pulled out the DVD: Final Destination3 on the bed and studied the back of the case. Tiffany came back up, placed the pizza on the bed and took out a slice. Tiffany glanced at what movie Rodger was looking at.

“That’s a sick movie! Have you seen it before?” Tiffany asked while chomping onto a slice of pizza. Rodger took a sip of his lemonade and began to crunch on the ice; the pain shot through his gums and made him shudder.

“No I haven’t. I’ve seen the first two though, they’re the business!” He replied, as he could no longer resist the smell of the pepperoni and picked up his first slice of pizza.

“Okay, we’ll watch it then.” Tiffany popped the DVD into the player and sat back on the bed next to Rodger. During the movie, Tiffany screamed horridly at one of the death scenes; which also made Rodger flinch. Her elbow lightly connected to his nose and blood began to run down his chin.

“Ouch!” Rodger jerked.

“Oh, my god I’m so sorry!” Tiffany cried, while touching his warm face with her icy cold finger tips.

“Don’t worry about it. I hurt it while playing football the other day. That’s why it’s so sensitive,” Rodger explained.

 Tiffany ran through to the bathroom on the landing to get a roll of toilet tissue. Rodger moved to the edge of the bed holding his nose back, trying to prevent blood from dripping all over Tiffany’s bed sheets. Tiffany returned in a frantic haste. She began to dab the tip of Rodger’s nose, when Rodger noticed something odd.

 Her eyes. Her eyes were different; they weren’t the same dark-brown as before. They were a dark-purple. Rodger began to study her face more; her neck was pulsating faster than he had seen anyone’s neck do. Her veins were also pulsating, - almost bubbling - under her milk-white skin.

“Are . . . you . . . all right, Tiffany?” Rodger asked curiously. He felt her cold hand run around his round jaw and watched as her eyes got bigger.

“I’m fine,” she insisted as she began to kiss his cheek. Rodger’s heart began to race as he gave into the urge of kissing her back: her sweet smell was too potent for Rodger to resist, despite the sour taste of his own blood and the stench of the leftover cold pizza. Tiffany shoved him back onto the bed with strength that Rodger didn’t know any girl to have. Tiffany began kissing his lips now, then sat up and smiled.

Rodger froze. Her teeth were no longer human, as he had seen before. She had two large, sharp, animal-like teeth at either side of her top row.

“I can’t wait to taste you, Rodger.” Tiffany smirked as she licked the blood that rolled from his chin and down his neck.

Rodger tried to grab on to her slender waist and move her off of him, but he couldn’t: she was as solid as a rock and unmoveable. Her hands slid all over his body like a snake - slowly coiling itself around him. She then kissed and sucked his neck, until she stuck her fangs into him. The sharp electric pain shot up and down Rodger’s body with such speed, that he became numb. As Tiffany sucked his blood, the room slowly became darker and the last sense of feeling Rodger ever had was the wet, blood-soaked bed sheets beneath him. 

Author's Note

Hope you guys enjoy it. Feel free to drop a review my way. Thanks :)

Reviews

[TheSweet]

Okay, first things first - The criticisms. :P
-Firstly, I think there is some over-described lines in this piece - which is good in certain parts, but lines like 'her black shoes clacking off of the wet-marbled concrete as she sang' have a few too many descriptive words. Make sure to only get the most important parts and get to the point. For example, we don't need to know the wet-marbled or the colour of her shoes as much as the sounds.
-Which brings me neatly to my next point of adding more with the senses - what do things sound like, smell like, taste the Pizza. Add descriptions to put the reader in the room with them.
-Also, make sure there is more of a direction of the story - dive into the main character's head, mention his intentions so that the reader might have an idea of the objective. It just makes it clearer and bits like the middle which was a very average part have more of a reason.
-Lastly, characters need to inherently misunderstand eachother - just like real life. The part where he runs to catch up with her at school, perhaps he's a little shocked at her eagerness, or she's confused as to why he's running up in the first place. Make it more real and awkward :) And the mum too - it makes them a little less 2D.

Aside from those things - which can be applied to all stories, really. I really did like the idea you were going for and I did like the little twist at the end. Normally I avoid vampires, but when they just sneak into stories - I can handle it, if done well.
Also, lines like 'Tiffany’s uniform was darker than the rest of the pupils in the class. So much so, that the room and the other pupils became somewhat, brighter.' are very clever. It drops the entire focus onto the girl in the classroom and paints great imagery. I'd like to see more lines like that.
It started off well, introducing the main character without much description which made me want to read more and find out what's going to happen to this guy. So that's all well and dandy.

Sorry for the essay - I hope you find any of this stuff useful :) Thanks a lot of sharing, I did enjoy it!

[Coyote Poetry]

At least poor Rodger had a good meal. I like the story. Led the reader with good description of school, sport and new girl. You gave me a surprise ending. Thank you for sharing the excellent story.
Coyote