Sixteen Going on Undead by Yvette Ford

tried to give the impression that I didn’t care one way or the other, but it fell flat, evidenced by the laughter in his eyes.
     
    “You want me, little girl?”
     
    I rolled my eyes. “Who you calling little girl?”
     
    “Technically, I’m too old for you. I would be thirty-eight had I lived.”
     
    “Technically, you’re a freak of nature, but I’m not holding that against you.”
     
    He winced. “Are you always so cruel to your friends?”
     
    I laughed. “Ask Ronnie.”
     
    He seemed about to say something at the mention of Ronnie, but changed his mind. He turned his back to me. “I must go before the sun rises. I’ll come back tomorrow night.”
     
    I craved to see him, but I couldn’t let myself get caught up with him. “I need rest. I didn’t get it tonight, and unfortunately, I have to find another job.”
     
    He stepped off the sill, but this time he didn’t fall. He just hung there in the air facing me. That was a sweet trick, but I wasn’t going to admit it to him. His expression told me he’d already read it in my mind. I resisted smacking him.
     
    “I will get you whatever you need. You don’t need a job, and I’ll see you tomorrow night.” Before I could tell him what to kiss, he was gone.

Chapter Six
     
    I was in the shower after the sun came up, washing the grime off my body while I thought about what I knew. I was someone special. “Okay, that doesn’t sound conceited at all, Tanesha,” I told myself, my voice echoing in the narrow space.
     
    Never mind how stupid it sounded, someone believed it. I was special, not a vampire, definitely not dead since I had leaned half way out the window when the solar rays came beaming down, with my bare arms exposed in their path. Nothing. Not even a sizzle. I laughed at that. Although, I did notice that my eyes were more sensitive to the light, and I hadn’t tested it, but I thought my vision was clearer, better than it was.
     
    I still needed to learn how to kill a vampire. Using human strength wasn’t going to cut it. I doubted I was “the chosen one” with enhanced abilities to rid the world of evil. I laughed at that thought. Yeah, right. This was not TV.
     
    What else did I know, I wondered as I ran my soapy loofah over my skin. I stopped at the lower right side of my belly and froze. “Vampires heal fast and leave no scars.” I dropped the sponge and stared down at myself. The scar from when I had surgery to remove my appendix was gone. I searched the left side even though I knew that was stupid. My brown skin was smooth and baby soft. Finding it missing, I sank down to the floor and cried my eyes out while the water ran over my head. I had forgotten to put on my shower cap. I would have to wash my hair and blow it out or sit under my mother’s dryer, but I didn’t care. All this time, one theory I had was that this was a great big joke, and Ronnie would yell “gotcha” after a while. But Ronnie couldn’t remove a scar.
     
    I was changing, and changing fast. I had to put a stop to it. Lorcan, as much as I wanted to be with him, was turning me, making me like him. I didn’t want to die. I didn’t want to be a vampire and live off of people’s blood. I didn’t want to have to remember my last meal because I could no longer eat real food, or be trapped in the dark because the sun would cook me. He didn’t have a right to do this to me! No right at all, and I was going to fight back, no matter what.
     
    * * * *
     
    I went back to the library, bringing Ronnie along since he refused to leave my side.
     
    “What are we here for again?” he complained.
     
    “Well, we had to leave last time because you couldn’t stop drooling over that girl, whatever her name was.”
     
    He pretended not to remember, but I knew he was picturing her right then. His eyes glazed over a second before he shook it off. “Please. She wasn’t all that.” He sucked his teeth for emphasis.
     
    “Whatever.” I turned away from him