3: Anticipation

KATERINA

The next day I found myself looking forward to the day ahead as I began my journey to school on foot. One of the main reasons I was happy was because I was going to school and would be away from my still very enraged , crazy mother. Let’s just say she was not prepared to forgive me anytime soon and I could say goodbye to staying out late, which I feared would soon become a major problem.

The walk to school had seemed weirdly long though, as if I were walking for miles without end. As if each step were futile. Not only that, but I had developed a strange feeling. It was a feeling resembling anticipation, as though I were expecting something great and wonderful to happen. I usually only felt this way when test results were expected at school, but we hadn’t written any tests recently. Eventually, I decided to ignore the tugging feeling. In a few short long minutes, I began to see the tall, brick building covered in thick vines of ivy, appearing gradually in the distance. To say the school was old would be an understatement, it had been here since the Original Huntership.

The Huntership was just another fancy name for the vampire hunter council. The main aim of the new huntership was to promote extremely controlled coexistence between vampires and hunters and to ensure that the pretence of peace between us was always kept. The new Huntership, however differed from the original huntership. Initially, it was an organisation promoting defence and hatred against vampires. This was way back when vampire hunters actually did what their names suggested- hunted and killed vampires. Time certainly did change things. Now, instead of hating the Vampire council we worked with them- a pity and waste of our talents in my opinion. Though I seemed to be one of the few who actually thought so.

I passed the buzzing crowds of teenagers who bunched up around lockers, sticking closely together as waves of whispers whisked between them. My highschool was really no different than any other. We had our different social groups- jocks, cheerleaders, nerds, basket cases, and the list went on. We also had our share of awful cafeteria food, moping teachers, highschool scandals and gossip. In a way, it was comforting- it being so normal. I figured that was why I enjoyed school so much, aside from the fact that I was relatively well liked and smart enough to become the top student of the school. The only thing I did struggle with, was keeping myself modest.

I soon saw my locker in the distance and mentally prepared myself for the sight ahead. My brother, who had left home a few minutes earlier to fetch Jasmine stood with her, and the rest of our friends- Lucy and Nathan- stood a few metres behind them, totally lost in each other. Dylan-my brother- was a dark brunette with piercing blue eyes and the palest skin you could have ever seen. In fact, if you stared long enough, you could watch the blood pumping through his blue veins. He also had a birthmark right below his left eye and one right below his lip. If you looked too quickly, you could mistake it for piercings- as if my mother would allow that. Admittedly, he was handsome- well that was according to what everyone else in my school said. Dylan was a year younger than me, but honestly neither acted, nor looked it. In fact, he and I had startlingly different features and looked unrelated, often bringing up the popular question: “Are you two dating?”. He and Jasmine were actually dating though. They had been for a while and at one pointing time they had become the victims of the hottest scandal in school- a younger guy dating an older girl. Even though there was really nothing wrong with it, nor was it unusual, the people in my school sometimes had really small minds.

" Hey Kat, I tried to wake you, but you were sleeping like you were in a coma," he said, his arm around Jasmine's shoulder which reached his chest. He had this really annoying smirk only a younger sibling could muster up when trying to be smug.

I glared at him for a full five minutes before deciding to speak.

" Is it my fault that you were up all night on the phone chatting to Jasmine. Honestly you two," I said packing my locker which was right next to Lucy's. Jasmine and Dylan were exceptionally loud when speaking on the phone and it was not as though I wasn’t already tired after beating up Jeremy.

Soon Lucy and Nathan joined our little discussion. They were also dating, as if I wasn’t already bombarded by the sickening sight of lovesick puppies. It’s not that I hated love or anything like that, it was just awkward being the only single person in my friendship group. It always felt as though I were the odd one out.

" Hey Katerina. You ready for today?” Lucy asked as she intertwined her fingers with Nathan’s and then gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek.

I smiled, remembering that we had a math test later on.

" Aren’t I always ready?" I said with a raised brow.

She simply laughed and shrugged, causing her ginger her to glimmer with the movement.

“Mind sitting near me, I want to copy from you,” Nathan said with a smirk.

I looked at him sideways and folded my arms and sighed, hopeless. Not only was I the only single person in the group, but I was also the smartest. Really, it was tough being me sometimes.

I packed in the last of my textbooks and headed down the hallway, needing to check that my hair was in place since I had styled it in a strange, complicated style and the clips were already beginning to fall from the silky stands of hair. As I walked, I couldn’t help but begin to feel more and more uneasy as the strange feeling of anticipation slowly crept in again. If only I had known that my anticipation would be met with something unthinkable and unexpected.