Vampire 01 - Daughter of Darkness

to Daddy.”
    She looked at me, and I shrugged.
    Then she walked out, closing the door sharply behind her.
    Had I just saved Buddy Gilroy’s life?
    And maybe my own?

14
 
Saved
    It occurred to me almost immediately that Buddy had lived up to his promise and surely expected me now to live up to mine. If I didn’t, he might very well go back to Ava, either to spite me or because he wanted what she offered. At school the following day, I stepped out between classes and called him. He didn’t pick up, but I left a message that I would call when I was free. Right before lunch, my phone rang. If anyone’s phone rang in class or even in the hallway, the principal would take away the phone privilege for the rest of the year and suspend the student for at least two days. Before anyone could hear it ring a second time, I charged into the girls’ room.
    “Hello,” I said, thinking it might be Daddy.
    “You called me,” Buddy said, his voice rich with excitement. “You lived up to your promise. I wanted to believe you, but I couldn’t help being skeptical.”
    “How did you get my number?”
    He laughed. “Don’t you know that it registered on my phone? Mine probably registered on yours.”
    “Oh.”
    “You don’t use yours much, do you?”
    “No.”
    “So, does this mean I have earned our night out? What about this weekend?”
    “Things are a little hectic at home. I don’t know exactly when or where we can meet again yet, but I wanted you to know I was happy you did what you promised.”
    “I can’t even think of breaking a promise I make to you, Lorelei. How about meeting after school again? I’ll go anywhere you say.”
    “I can’t. I have to take my younger sister home today.”
    “What about afterward?”
    “I can’t today,” I said.
    “Bummer. You’re not going to break your promise now, are you?”
    “No. I’ll call you as soon as we can meet.”
    “I’m going to sleep with this phone,” he said.
    I laughed. Two girls from my class, Shirley Fox and Patti Jonston, came in giggling about something. They stopped when they saw me.
    “I have to go to class. I’ll call you,” I said quickly, and flipped my phone closed.
    “You can get suspended for doing that,” Patti said.
    “I was suspended last year,” Shirley said, “and all I did was text my boyfriend. It didn’t even make any noise.”
    I thought about it a moment and then smiled. “Thanks for the advice,” I said. They both smirked when I smiled and left them.
    Right before the late bell rang for my next class, I pretended my phone had rung, and I stood outside the classroom doorway, listening and whispering. The latebell rang, but I did not go into the classroom. Moments later, my teacher, Mr. Trustman, stepped into the doorway and looked out at me. There was no doubt in my mind that one or more of the other students had told him I was outside on my cell phone.
    “Lorelei Patio!” he shouted.
    I acted surprised and flipped the phone closed. “Sorry,” I said.
    “So am I, and very, very disappointed in you. Not only are you late, but you’re on a cell phone? Go directly to the principal’s office right now,” he ordered, holding his long arm out with the same stiff forefinger he used to make his points in class.
    I lowered my head and hurried down the hallway. Because of the intercom system, the principal’s secretary, Mrs. Winters, knew exactly why I had been sent to the office before I arrived. She was a plump five-foot-two-inch woman with dark gray hair and a cherubic face. Most of the time, she acted as if she was everyone’s surrogate mother, gently chiding those who violated rules and praising those who had received some accolade. She had a personal bulletin board on which she pinned any student’s outstanding achievement, from sports to spelling bees. She was shaking her head as I entered.
    “What a disappointment,” she said. “You of all people. What a disappointment. Dr. Phelps is waiting to see you. Go right in,” she told me, and shook her head again.
    Our principal was a tall, thin, forty-five-year-old man with brown hair and a habitual look of distress and fatigue. Normally, he spoke so quietly, it was difficult to hear him if you didn’t give him your full concentration.I had seen him in action when it came to discipline. No matter what the violation, from chewing gum too loudly to defacing a part of the building, he always had the same initial reaction, taking it very personally and