Blood, Lies, and Transfer Students.

Austin handed their worksheet to the professor as he sat down. His eyes rested on Crystal. She appeared to have some color back in her cheeks. "Look at you, you look better already!" He grinned. In fact, she looked absolutely stunning. Much more so than she had but a minute ago. He leaned on his elbow. "I suppose this class gave you time to rest?" He asked. Honestly, he could think of no reason why she would suddenly be feeling better. But the fact was, she was.

Then, the bell rang signaling the start of the lunch break period. Austin's stomach growled as if right on cue. He both looked forward to and dreaded the period. Eating alone would certainly not be very exciting. "I...don't suppose you would like to eat lunch with me?"He asked. Crystal was proving to be the first friend he made here.
 
"Yea, I know right!" she says with a small chuckle. She was re-applying her cherry red lip gloss when Austin walked up. Now that she was feeling good, she had to look good. That was her motto. She smiled up to Austin and said, "Nope. I think drawing blood from a hunky guy really brings the life out of me." Pretty ironic, she says in her head. Usually her drawing the blood out of a hunky guy brought the life of them. Permanently. And she was re-thinking if she should take his. His blood was a gold mine, and she didn't want to drink it all up in one sitting. She wanted to ration it for as long as she could. And, most importantly, she also wanted to get to know him better.

She was about to ask Austin to tell her more about himself when the bell rang. She looked over at Austin and giggled when he heard how hungry she was. "Actually I would love to eat lunch with you. I actually want to introduce you to some of my friends. Would you like that?" she asks him as they were on there way to the mess hall. Her friends were walking behind them, whispering and gossiping.
 
The brunette blushed lightly at the comment. Sure, he was aware that he was attractive. Its one of those things you eventually figure out if you pay attention. However, it had been awhile since someone had outright admitted it to him, even in a joking manner. "You know, somehow that sounds just slightly creepy" he chuckled. "Of course, creepy isn't always a bad thing." Austin grinned and followed her out the door. He figured if he kept walking in the same direction as her, he'd end up at the cafeteria. "Thanks! Its certainly a relief not to be eating lunch alone! I was afraid I'd end up sitting in a corner by myself today." he grinned at her. "I'd love to meet your friends."

They reached the mess hall. Austin informed Crystal that he would return after purchasing something to eat. Since he lived with his dad now, he would be buying a lot more often. He certainly didn't want to get up and make his lunch. A few minutes later, he returned with a sandwich and a bag of chips. It took him a second to find the table, but Crystal wasn't too hard to spot. "May I sit here?" He asked with a grin before plopping down next to her.
 
"Noting I say is ever creepy, honey. You will figure that out soon," she says with a flirty smile.

She started to think about the vamp guys and wondered how they were gonna act when they saw her bring a blood bag. There were 3 of them. Colten, Brenton, and Damon. Damon was the meanest of them all. And the most vicious. She would have to keep an eye on him. She didn't trust him at all. Brenton and Colten were totally different stories. They were the sweetest guys you could ever meet, but they still had that tough exterior that all of the jocks had. She didn't even know why they associated themselves with Damon. They were all equally popular and powerful so they could stand on there own if they wanted. And they had a bond that none of them really understood. It was as if they knew each other their whole lives, but they met for the first time after they were turned. Which was 2 years ago. They even arrived on the same and was turned by the same vampire. But it was smarter to stay together, just in case...

When she walked into the mess hall, all of the girl were already there. She waved to Austin before he left and sat down next to Chasity. They didn't even give her the chance to take out her phone before they started to bombard her with questions.

"What's his name?"

"Where is he from?"

"Did you get to taste him?"

"How long are you letting him live?" was the question that really hit her. She already knew who asked the question before she looked at him. Damon was looking at her with a crooked smile and his usual dark eyes.

"I'm actually not going to kill him, thank you very much." She was glad she was able to answer that before Austin sat down beside her. She smiled at him and started to introduce him to the guys. Colten and Brenton said hey and waved with a warm smile, while Damon just stared at him. She gave him the death glare and started to introduce him to the girls. Chasity, Loren, Elena, and Savanna gave him the warmest smile and eye batting. "So everyone here wants to know your story," she says as she starts to play with her phone. "Do you mind? It's better to do it now than having them harass you for the rest of the school year."
 
Austin smiled lightly and rubbed the back of his head. He nodded to each in turn as they were introduced. "Well, It's not super exciting" He replied. The majority of the story wasn't. The part that was, he wasn't going to get into with people he didn't know. "My parents are divorced. I had been living with Mom, but things were getting tough so I couldn't stay there anymore. So, I decided to move in with Dad. Thus, I had to switch schools. I was offered a chance to go to this one, so I took it." He responded with a shrug. "Any more questions?" He winked playfully at the girls.

All the while, Austin was dimly aware of the guy named Damon glaring at him. He tried to ignore it, but the sensation of eyes burrowing into him was beginning to get on his nerves. He sighed and turned toward him. "You know, my appearance isn't going to drastically change anytime soon. It's alright to look away, though I know I'm captivating." He said, flashing a partially joking smile.
 
"I'm sorry about your parents," she touched his arm lightly. She actually knew what he was going through. Before she was turned, her parents were going through a really difficult divorce. And to top it all off, they haven't heard from her daughter in months. She requested for the school to tell her parents that she was in an accident. That was only a month ago. They haven't gotten a response from them yet and she was happy about that. Maybe they wouldn't have to go through the pain of never being able to see there daughter again. She laughed at the girls as they giggled at Austin. But that was just to hide the anger that she was feeling. She hadn't had this feeling in a lonnngggg time. It was freaking her out a little.

She kept her eyes on Damon and couldn't help but glare at him more than a dozen times. When she was finally about to say something to Damon, Austin beat her to it. Her eyes widened and she wanted to smack Austin. If only he knew what he was getting himself to. Damon looked like he wanted to rip the poor boy into shreds right in the middle of the mess hall. She walked over to him quickly and whispered in his ear, "Leave him alone and I'll make it worth your while." He probably thought that she was finally gonna let him get a chance with her, when really she was only gonna give some of Austin's blood. She walked back to her seat and kept her eye on Damon. Even though he said that he'd leave him alone, she wasn't gonna take any chances.
 
Austin raised an eyebrow at the transaction between Crystal and the obnoxious guy, as he decided to refer to him as. He just shrugged. It didn't really matter to him, as long as the guy stopped throwing daggers at him with his eyes. He smiled as Crystal sat back down. They returned to light banter for awhile. Then, the bell rang. "Shall we head to the next class then?" He asked toward Crystal. Austin was oblivious to the enemy he had just made.

The remainder of the day was relatively uneventful. He enjoyed having Crystal in his classes. It was nice to have a friend around already, especially a cute one. "Thanks for hanging with me today" He said after the last bell rang and he was getting ready to head back to his locker and pack up. He was debating hanging around at the lounge for awhile. His dad wouldn't be home for another few hours anyway.
 
Of course she had lied when she told him that she was going to give him some of Austin's blood. And Damon kind of knew that too. He shrugged it off. He would get her back somehow. And soon...

She enjoyed the rest of the day with Austin and was actually growing a small attraction for him. Now that she wasn't constantly thinking about drinking his blood, she actually got to know him. He was such a good guy under that tough guy demeanor that he always kept up and he was also really cool. She knew that all of the popular guys would like him. And he had no problem getting the girls' approval. She was relieved when then school day ended and now she could have Austin to herself and get to know him a little better.

"It was my pleasure," she says with a fake English accent, "You wanna hang out in the lounge? There some more people that I want you to meet. I know that I've been introducing you to a lot of people today, but it's better to get it over with now than spreading it out through out the year, don't ya think?"