His dad had met me before but I had no memory of it. Although he’d sworn never to do that memory wipe thing to me again the thought of what he’d done still made me really angry. I tried to shake it off. I was totally and completely smitten with Erik and I didn’t want anything to get in the way of us being a couple.
‘I was thinking tea on Friday. If you want to, that is.’
Erik smiled at me in such a way that how could I say no?
‘Friday it is then.’
Chapter Sixteen – The Family
Sarah
Friday afternoon came around all too soon. I couldn’t quite believe just how nervous I was. The little memory I did have of the afternoon of the photograph didn’t include the kind of stomach-churning somersaults that I had right now.
I had taken a clean top with me to school and changed into it before I met Erik by the bus stop; it was gonna be hard enough to control the nervous sweating without wearing a shirt I’d been in all day. I wanted to make a good impression on his family; I wanted them to like me. Let’s face it we hadn’t gotten off to the best of starts. I’m not quite sure how I’d feel if I had to prepare tea for, and be polite to, the girl who had knowingly set out to humiliate my son.
The journey out of town varied between fifteen and twenty minutes depending on the time of day and most students got off somewhere in-between. This meant that for the back end of the journey, about another twenty minutes, Erik and I had the bus pretty much to ourselves.
‘Nervous?’ he smiled as he held my hand tightly.
‘A little.’
I couldn’t have told a bigger lie at this point. My nerves were just about on breaking point; I started to feel physically sick and very nearly told Erik I had changed my mind and wanted to go home. This was silly, though. I did actually want to meet them; properly that is, with me remembering it, as well as them. As this thought crossed my mind I started to feel the anger I always felt at this issue. I tried to settle down my breathing; getting worked up about something I couldn’t change was not gonna help things. I’d had Erik’s reassurance it wouldn’t happen again and I had to let it go if we were gonna move forward.
I don’t know if it was Erik the person, or Erik the Warlock but he clearly sensed just what a big deal this was for me.
‘They don’t bite you know – that’s just Vampires.’
‘What? You are winding me up, aren’t you? There is no such thing as Vampires.’
Erik laughed at this. He had such a great laugh.
‘This might be normal for you but I’m bricking it here.’
‘Come here.’
He pulled me closer to him and wrapped his arms tightly around me.
‘Nothing bad is gonna happen, I promise. I will never allow anyone to hurt you, ever. Not even my own family.’
His words were softly spoken but so reassuring. It was crazy just how quickly I’d fallen for him. I felt like I’d known him all my life, like every part of me was somehow linked to every part of him.
By the time we reached Erik’s house, I was wound up like a drum.
‘Relax.’ He smiled as he took me by the hand and into the lounge.
‘Hey there, I’m Jared. Erik’s older, better looking, and far more charming brother.’
That made me smile, made me feel more comfortable. His dad, however, wasn’t nearly as warm.
As we walked into the kitchen, Erik introduced me.
‘Dad, this is Sarah.’
‘Yeah, right,’ he replied, barely looking up from the food he was preparing. You could have cut the air with a knife. The look on Erik’s face scared me a little. It was plain to see his disappointment at his dad’s reaction. The last thing I wanted was to cause trouble for him but in truth, apart from a stupid childish mistake that Erik had been able to get past, I hadn’t really done anything to deserve this. I pushed on though. I needed to show I was making an effort to
‘I was thinking tea on Friday. If you want to, that is.’
Erik smiled at me in such a way that how could I say no?
‘Friday it is then.’
Chapter Sixteen – The Family
Sarah
Friday afternoon came around all too soon. I couldn’t quite believe just how nervous I was. The little memory I did have of the afternoon of the photograph didn’t include the kind of stomach-churning somersaults that I had right now.
I had taken a clean top with me to school and changed into it before I met Erik by the bus stop; it was gonna be hard enough to control the nervous sweating without wearing a shirt I’d been in all day. I wanted to make a good impression on his family; I wanted them to like me. Let’s face it we hadn’t gotten off to the best of starts. I’m not quite sure how I’d feel if I had to prepare tea for, and be polite to, the girl who had knowingly set out to humiliate my son.
The journey out of town varied between fifteen and twenty minutes depending on the time of day and most students got off somewhere in-between. This meant that for the back end of the journey, about another twenty minutes, Erik and I had the bus pretty much to ourselves.
‘Nervous?’ he smiled as he held my hand tightly.
‘A little.’
I couldn’t have told a bigger lie at this point. My nerves were just about on breaking point; I started to feel physically sick and very nearly told Erik I had changed my mind and wanted to go home. This was silly, though. I did actually want to meet them; properly that is, with me remembering it, as well as them. As this thought crossed my mind I started to feel the anger I always felt at this issue. I tried to settle down my breathing; getting worked up about something I couldn’t change was not gonna help things. I’d had Erik’s reassurance it wouldn’t happen again and I had to let it go if we were gonna move forward.
I don’t know if it was Erik the person, or Erik the Warlock but he clearly sensed just what a big deal this was for me.
‘They don’t bite you know – that’s just Vampires.’
‘What? You are winding me up, aren’t you? There is no such thing as Vampires.’
Erik laughed at this. He had such a great laugh.
‘This might be normal for you but I’m bricking it here.’
‘Come here.’
He pulled me closer to him and wrapped his arms tightly around me.
‘Nothing bad is gonna happen, I promise. I will never allow anyone to hurt you, ever. Not even my own family.’
His words were softly spoken but so reassuring. It was crazy just how quickly I’d fallen for him. I felt like I’d known him all my life, like every part of me was somehow linked to every part of him.
By the time we reached Erik’s house, I was wound up like a drum.
‘Relax.’ He smiled as he took me by the hand and into the lounge.
‘Hey there, I’m Jared. Erik’s older, better looking, and far more charming brother.’
That made me smile, made me feel more comfortable. His dad, however, wasn’t nearly as warm.
As we walked into the kitchen, Erik introduced me.
‘Dad, this is Sarah.’
‘Yeah, right,’ he replied, barely looking up from the food he was preparing. You could have cut the air with a knife. The look on Erik’s face scared me a little. It was plain to see his disappointment at his dad’s reaction. The last thing I wanted was to cause trouble for him but in truth, apart from a stupid childish mistake that Erik had been able to get past, I hadn’t really done anything to deserve this. I pushed on though. I needed to show I was making an effort to
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