Nelly gushed over Meredith’s gown. Vlad stayed quiet for most of the drive, allowing Nelly and Meredith their girl- focused conversation while he mused about how lucky he was to be dating a girl like her. But overshadowing his thoughts was tonight’s argument with Henry… and what it would mean if he was no longer Vlad’s drudge.
Their friendship, Vlad wagered, would be a memory. Vlad would be alone, lacking that bond of blood and promises that he’d had since he was eight years old. What would it be like to be without a drudge? Would he make another? No. No, he didn’t think he was even capable of such an act. After all, if Henry weren’t his drudge, what was the sense in creating another?
Vlad bit his lip. The thing was… he wanted Henry to be happy. And if breaking that bond would give him a chance at happiness, then Vlad had no choice. What it came down to was the fact that Vlad would do anything for his best friend-even if that meant losing him forever.
Meredith squeezed his hand, and when he met her eyes, it was clear she was wondering what was wrong. But how could he explain that part of his soul was breaking off, all because of eons of vampire tradition? He couldn’t. So instead he forced a smile and squeezed her hand in return.
At the school, Nelly took pictures of them standing in the snow. She insisted the photographs would be memories they would cherish for a lifetime, but Vlad was pretty sure the memory-retaining part of his brain had been frozen solid by the time she finished snapping pictures.
At last, Vlad led Meredith up the snow-covered steps and into the school. Soft light filled the halls, and silver snowflakes glistened all over the floor, guiding them into the gym. Meredith covered her mouth in awe. Vlad’s eyes went wide. The room had been transformed into a winter palace in honor of the annual Snow Ball. The punch and snack table was disguised to look like a snowbank. Silver, white, and blue snowflakes hung from the large arched ceiling. An ice sculpture of a giant snowflake stood next to the food. And the DJ’s booth had been completely wrapped in silvery paper, giving it a frosty exterior. It was the coolest dance theme that he had ever seen.
Melissa bounded up to Meredith, and they squealed over each other’s dresses. Mike nodded to Vlad like they were old pals. “What’s up, Vlad?”
“Not much.” Vlad beamed. It was hard not to smile on such a magical night. A night, he noted with a quick glance around, that didn’t include Eddie’s stalking or Bill and Tom’s bullying.
A song that Vlad knew by heart pounded from the DJ’s speakers, and the girls dragged him and Mike onto the dance floor. Vlad froze for a moment, because he really had no idea what he was doing. But eventually, he figured out a way of shifting his feet around that almost, sorta, kinda felt like dancing. After two songs, Meredith excused herself, and Vlad took refuge by the punch bowl.
It was nice to attend a dance where Bill and Tom were nowhere to be seen, and even nicer to have a date-especially the girl of his dreams. In fact, if it weren’t for the dark cloud that had been hanging over his head ever since Henry had made his big I-don’t-want-to-be-your-drudge-anymore speech, the evening might have been a pretty good one. For once, Vlad felt like a normal, human teenager.
He was wandering past the gym doors on his way to find Mike when he overheard Meredith’s voice coming from the hallway outside. “No, I won’t stay away from Vlad. How could you even suggest such a thing, Kylie?”
Peeking around the corner, Vlad saw Kylie whisper to Meredith. Whatever she said put an irritated crease in Meredith’s forehead.
Meredith shook her head. “Well, I don’t believe it.”
“But Henry McMillan told me-”
“I don’t care, Kylie. If it didn’t come straight from Vlad’s lips, I wouldn’t believe it. What a crazy, stupid rumor to spread! There’s no such thing!” Meredith stormed off in the direction of the girls’ bathroom. Kylie stood there, looking wounded but determined.
Vlad’s stomach had twisted into a million knots.
Henry wouldn’t. He couldn’t. Could he?
Vlad quickly ran through every order he’d ever given Henry. None of them had included “Don’t tell people I’m a vampire.”
A wave of nausea washed over him. It was quite possible that Henry had broken his trust in a moment of blind fury, and had spilled his most valuable secret to the girl he was supposed to take to the dance. Vlad shook his head, unwilling to believe it, but also unable to deny the possibility that Henry might have slipped up in a moment of anger.
And all at once, Vlad was a freak again, and the dance was all but ruined.
Kylie almost bumped into him as she reentered the gym. Vlad forced a smile, not wanting to cause any more damage or to do anything that might substantiate any possible claims that he was a bloodthirsty monster. “Hey, Kylie.”
Kylie’s face went white and she stepped backward, away from him. “Henry told me about you. Stay away from me!”
Vlad forced himself to remain calm, even though he was in full-on panic mode inside. “What did he say?”
“Leave me alone!” Kylie bolted across the room and started talking to a group of kids, gesturing wildly at Vlad.
Vlad swallowed hard and glanced about the room. The only thing missing from this scene were torches and pitch-forks. From behind him came a familiar voice, warm, sweet. Meredith. “Don’t worry about Kylie. She’s just a little worked up over something stupid Henry told her.”
He turned to face her, not wanting to see fear in her eyes. Thankfully, he didn’t. “What would that be?”
Meredith furrowed her brow. “Are you okay? You look sick or something.”
Vlad shook his head, indicating that nothing was wrong. Meredith didn’t look like she believed him, but went on, “Anyway, he told her that she should stay away from you, that close contact with you would be dangerous or something. Are you sure you’re not sick, Vlad?”
Vlad felt like vomiting. So Henry really had betrayed him. Apparently, you can’t even trust your best friend. “I’m fine. Just wondering why Henry would say something like that.”
Meredith shrugged. “No clue, but he told her that you’re the reason he was too sick to bring her to the dance tonight. He said he caught something called Contagidiginosis from you. Apparently, it eats away the lining of the stomach like acid and comes from cross-eyed antelopes in Africa.”
Vlad’s jaw dropped. Henry hadn’t exposed him. Henry was just being stupid. Completely, ridiculously stupid “Antelopes?”
Meredith chuckled. “You look better already. How’s your stomach?”
Vlad smirked. “Still intact. Guess I must be on the mend.”
A slow song started playing, and Vlad swept all of his fears away, turning to face Meredith. He smiled. “Wanna dance?”
In moments, they were on the dance floor.
Meredith placed her hand on his shoulder, and Vlad shivered as he clasped her free hand in his. He still wasn’t sure exactly what to do with his feet, but when he looked into her deep chocolate brown eyes, he realized that it didn’t matter whether he could dance or not-all that mattered was that he was here with her, that they were together, that it was the Snow Ball, and he wasn’t alone. He was in the gym with his girlfriend instead of in the belfry with his thoughts.
They moved in slow circles, and snowflake-shaped confetti and silver glitter lazily drifted down from overhead, covering the dance floor and everyone on it. Meredith tilted her head back and closed her eyes, laughing softly as the glitter graced her cheeks. Vlad smiled, blinking away confetti. She was so beautiful that his heart ached.
The music drifted through the room. Vlad brushed a snowflake from Meredith’s cheek. They weren’t dancing anymore so much as standing in the center of the room, holding each other close to the tune of gentle music, covered by the decorative splendor of an unusual high school dance. Vlad met her warm gaze and was transported back to Halloween night, when he’d realized how much, how deeply he loved Meredith. Only tonight, his feelings seemed even deeper somehow, bigger, more real. He placed his forehead lightly against hers and closed his eyes.
