Toxic by K.B. Torres (portable ebook reader .TXT) 📕

face before I got pushed." Juliet said to no one, considering since Luke wasn't there and she didn't address me.
"YOU PUNCHED HER?!" I yelled
"Yes. I stood my ground." She said quietly, knowing she did the wrong thing.
"I'm going upstairs, Luke is coming home soon."
"Bye, Emmanuel." Juliet said.
"What do you mean Jules?" I asked
"I know you. You're going to the house with the balcony, the old Four Seasons Hotel."

I took a nap before I left. I kept on thinking of Anastasia. Was Anastasia okay? Should I apologize for Jules? But...she hates me. I jogged to her house, it being only a block away. The sight in front of me made my heart beat once again. It hurt. Anastasia was on the balcony, looking down. She didn't know it, but a female figure was behind Anastasia, the mystery girl's features hidden by the shadows. The mystery girl pushed Anastasia. Time seemed to slow down as she fell. I used as much of my Vampire speed to go where she was to land, but I never had to catch her. She somehow managed to grab back onto the railing before it was too late. The female figure who attempted to murder her was already gone. She flipped back up, and I swear, I saw wings in her back. I made my way up to her, scaling the building with ease. I caught her by surprise.
"Emmanuel?" She asked, whipping around.
"Hi."
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"
"Will you let me inside, it's not safe out here for me."
Anastasia thought this over. I expected her to say no, since she probably has her parents downstairs. If I were her I'd say no. I wouldn't want my parents to catch a girl in my room.
Apparently Anastasia thought differently than I did.
"Fine." She said, opening the screen door.
I stepped inside. Her room was expansive, complete with her own bathroom and balcony. Every spot of her wall ragged gray, owls adorned the ceiling, many of which were flying around clouds, excluding the one sitting on a moon peering down. She had taxidermy birds, including a raven, peacock, and snowy owl perched to fly off the walls. Other than that her room was pretty normal, complete with a bed, dresser, mirror, and desk. The curtains on the door were white lace, eerily transparent, like ghosts. It was breath taking. It smelled like Anastasia in there. Okay, that sounded creepy and molester-like. Never mind...
"Cool room." I said.
She flushed a bright red, looking away.
"What did you expect?"
"All pink," I said, shrugging, referring back to Jules' room.
"Ew, pink. What do you want?" Anastasia shuddered.
"I came to apologize for Jules."
"Oh. She didn't hurt me."
Anastasia shrugged it off.
"Why do you hate me?" The words tumbled from my mouth before I could stop them with my hand.
"I don't hate you. I think you expected me to fall for you. But, I don't need anyone. I'm happy being single." She answered.
"Oh...I heard you were getting physical with Luke." I blurted.
"W- No! I ran out after Juliet punched me in the face. Luke found me. He pinned me against the fucking wall to make me tell him what happened. Then he kissed me on the cheek as I left. Fucking man whores."
"Hey, I'm not a man whore!" I laughed.
Man whore. Never heard that one before.
"Try saying that seriously, man whore." she started to giggle.
"Ya ticklish?" I asked grinning.
"No."
"I beg to differ."
And with that, I tackled her very lightly, tickling her curved hips. She giggled, her giggling contagious, making me laugh along as I tickled her.
"Stop, please stop!" she gasped, pushing my chest lightly, then again, only harder.
Once I stopped, she was gasping for air, her hand over her heart. She was cute.
"Never," she gasped, "do that again."
I grinned. I stalked over to the sliding glass door.
"I gotta go. I just came to apologize for Jules."
"Night Emmanuel." She called
"Night Staz."
She stared at me wide eyed and confused. As if she had never seen a guy before or she didn't know me. What?
"Staz?" she asked.
"Yeah...?" I said.
Did I say something wrong? Staz just popped up, and it sounded like spastic, which reminded me of clumsy. And you have to be extremely clumsy to almost fall off a balcony. So Anastasia, clumsy, Spastic, Staz.
I have no idea how I got there.
"I like it." She said.
That's how that night went...

Anastasia

I nearly missed school, forgetting to set my alarm because of a certain guy whose name starts with E. I hastily dressed in a black tank top that showed my dragon tattoo on my arm, with black skinny jeans and a black studded belt. I put on my converse, and my sunglasses. I threw on red lipstick. I put my hair up in a bun, letting some of my hair escape the clip. I drove up in my Mustang to see Emmanuel. He came up to me as I came out.
"Nice ride." He said, admiring the car.
"Thanks."
"Look about yesterday with Juliet, she dropped Science. It's just you and me at the table now."
"Kay, bye." I said, going around him.
I bumped into Luke. One of his hands went around my waist, the other was sliding up the inside of my leg. He backed me up against the hood of a car.
"Hey, Princess."
"Let me go."
"So I can't get a hello?"
"LET ME GO!" I shouted, making every kid turn and stare at us as I tried to get him away. And to avail.
"Luke, leave her alone." Emmanuel said, running a hand through his hair.
Really, Emmanuel, just peel him off of me.
"No." Luke snapped, not even wasting the energy to glance at Emmanuel.
That was it. I shoved him away. Just as yesterday with Juliet, Luke had the same reaction. He doubled over. I think he coughed up some blood, and I saw the splatter of red hit the pavement.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Emmanuel yelled, pissed off and panicked. What did I do? Luke looked up at me, horrified. His face was pale,nearly ashen, a trickle of blood running down the side of his mouth, the smell coppery and the smell you expect of blood. he clutched his stomach tightly, as if it hurt severly, and was threatening to fall off.
"N-nothing I-I didn't...barely even touch him.."
I ran off. I hid in a corner behind some plants, sobbing. What did I do? What if I seriously hurt him? I barely even touched him! Why am I so unstable?
"Staz, come out." Emmanuel called.
I came out, not even hesitating. Why did I do that? He was going to hate me now. All I wanted was a few friends, and Emmanuel didn't seem like how Gabbe and Lydon made him out to be.
"I-I’m sorry. I didn't even do more than push him." I said.
Emmanuel wiped my tears away, caressing my cheek. His hands were gentle, and soft, without the smell of lotion. I let him soothe me.
"Luke is fine. Come on. Let's get to class." And with that, I went to class, trying oh so hard to forget that incident and the horrified stares.
I forget what happened in the first class...

Emmanuel

In our first class, I insisted to sit next to Anastasia. I felt protective of her once again. I had to be the one with her at all times. In science, it was just Anastasia and I at our table. I could hear the rumors about me and Anastasia. Many people thought I was with her, hoping to sleep with her. Others thought I had been following Anastasia since she was the Alpha of the school, and I was trying to stay important, since I had followed Juliet when she was Alpha. Neither of those were true. There was a long period of silence in Science, which was irregular for Anastasia, who constantly talks. I looked over at Anastasia to see her holding her head and making weird clicking noises. No, not clicking noises, she was speaking the demon language, Fidele.
"No, not now." she said. With that, she passed out.
She was rigid, like stone, not like feathers anymore.
"Staz, you okay? Staz? Staz!" I whispered.
She was out cold. I caught the attention of our science teacher, Mrs. Diaz,
"Mrs. Diaz, there's something wrong with Anastasia."
With that, I was the one to take Anastasia to the school nurse. I picked her up, cradling her limp body like a baby, as I rushed out of the classroom. Even when I was out of the classroom, I could hear their hushed whispers. Talking how I probably did this to her, about what she did to Luke, that she deserved to be injured or sick or whatever. But there were only a few comments that caught my attention.
"Such a shame. She's just really pretty and famous...And with that slut. It's not fair. He probably gave her a disease, since they sit next to each other."
"I feel bad for her, I heard her parents abandoned her."
"I heard they got into a car accident last night. Must not be safe to drive in Paris."

So she lives alone? Her parents got into a car accident? I feel so bad for her...

The school nurse wasn't there when I arrived, so I laid Anastasia in one of the infirmary beds and checked her temperature. Normal. I stayed there for a while, watching her sleep. Her lips caught my attention. The next thing I knew, I was leaning down to kiss her. No, don't. She's a mundie, you're a vampire. It won't work out. It's forbidden. I didn't listen to my thoughts closing the space between her lips and mine. Her lips tasted sweet, like honeysuckle. Honeysuckle and Blood. I pulled back gasping. I wanted more. No, you have to stop. That was reasonable enough for me. I wiped her lipstick off of my lips and walked out, the taste of her lips lingering on my mouth.

Anastasia

I awoke to a sweet taste on my mouth. I licked my lips, realizing three things: my lipstick was gone on my mouth, my hair was down, and my sunglasses were off. Where was I?
"Oh, good you're awake." An elderly woman came in.
The school nurse.
"What happened?" I asked.
"You passed out in the middle of Science class. Emmanuel Stone carried you here. I'm dismissing you from class." The nurse said, handing me a note.
Emmanuel? So, that's how I got here...

I met Gabbe and Lydon at lunch.
"Are you okay?" they asked simultaneously.
"Yeah. I just passed out. Emmanuel carried me to the nurse." I said.
"Did he violate you?!" Gabbe asked.
I laughed.
"No...At least I don't think so." I said.
Gabbe's face made me crack up. She looked horrified and ready to kick Emmanuel's ass.
"The devil himself." Lydon muttered.
Someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around, expecting Emmanuel. It was Luke.
"Come." he said, grabbing my wrist and leading me to what looked like an abandoned classroom. When Luke locked the door, I became alarmed.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"Well, hi to you too Princess." Luke muttered.
Princess? Why is he calling me that. It needs to stop.
"Don't call me Princess." I snapped.
"Why didn't you call me?" Luke asked, backing me against a wall.
He was so close, he could have kissed me. I hated that.
"What?" I asked.
That was off topic. Well, considering there wasn't a topic yet, I guess he started with a weird topic.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU CALL ME!" Luke yelled.
It didn't sound like a