Most people fear the dark, afraid of the unknown- unsure what curious creatures might be hiding in their bedroom closets or on deserted streets. I embraced the night. It was the daylight I dreaded. I could see the monsters-and they all went to Dullsville High,

This year I'd be entering school a little differently than in the past.Not only would I be a junior, but this would be the first time I was returning to Dullsville High with a boyfriend. Plus I had knowledge of a vampire world and had many nocturnal adventures under my studded belt. But one thing hadn't changed: I was late.

The bell had already rung when Becky and I parked her truck. Suntanned students were scampering to class. I still hadn't adjusted to the early-morning school schedule. My stomach was churning and my eyelids hung heavy. Becky eagerly raced ahead of me as I climbed up the school steps like a zombie.

"Hurry", she said, diligently holding her books and class schedule at the front entrance.

It was then I realized I was missing some valuable information.

"Where's my schedule?" I ransacked myCorpse Bride purse, safety-pinned jeans pockets, and my backpack. Becky grew fidgety.

We had requested the same classes, but we had only gotten a few. And I didn't remember which ones.

"I know I have English first bell," I said, straining to remember. But I hadn't checked the schedule since summer break. "I think I might have Spanish second bell and third bell gym."

"Well be late to them all!" Becky's face flushed red. Panic grew in her big brown eyes.

The sound of lockers shutting and classroom doors closing echoed off the hallway walls.

"Go ahead. I don't want us both to get suspended on the first day," I teased.

Relieved, Becky hurried to Mrs.Naper's English class while I proceeded back to the school's main entrance.

I plopped my backpack on the registrar's desk. The administrators were bright and perky, fresh from the glow of the summer sun and a few months sans students.

"Wow, classes haven't even begun and you're already in the principal's office," I heard a man's voice say as he came through the door behind me. "That's a first for you, isn't it?"

I turned around. Principal Reed, like me, was holding a cup of store-bought coffee,

I found his joke only halfway amusing, which made our school leader chuckle.

"How was your summer?" he asked, and noticed my blindingly pale skin, "Not much for the outdoors?"

I barely cracked a smile.

"You'd better get to class," he said."Whichever one that is." He shook his head as he entered his office.

The school registrar asked me a few questions and then printed my schedule from her computer.

"I still have those nightmares," the registrar said."Showing up to school without knowing what classes I'm taking or where the classrooms are located. The worst one was showing up for exams I hadn't studied for."

"One person's nightmares are another person's reality," I said. I took my schedule, gulped some coffee, and apathetically headed for class.

Mrs.Naper , a wiry woman with a mind bent on classics-and the tenure to prove it-greeted me with a stern glare and a few verbal admonishments. She was known throughout the Dullsville school system for the "NaperPaper," a college preparatory essay all juniors were required to complete, graded under the strictest of standards. Several things were in my favor, though. There was an empty seat next to Becky, and Trevor Mitchell was nowhere in sight.

"To reiterate," Mrs.Naper began as I took a seat, "your guidance counselor will be in to talk to you next month college applications, scholarships, and grants. To prepare, your first assignment is a classmate interview and essay, followed by a brief presentation. Now that you are juniors you should be contemplating college and possible career paths. This essay will help stimulate you into discovering what you might like to pursue, and at the same time you'll get to know more about your classmates."

TheNaper Paper actually sounded like a cinch to do. I knew everything about Becky, and likewise, she knew everything about me. We could complete the essay within the amount of time it took to type three hundred words and click spell check.

" Raven," she continued, "while you were making your way to class, we assigned you a partner."

I turned to Becky. "Thanks for saving me."

My best friend averted her gaze away from me.

"What, you picked someone else?" I pressed.

"Someone else pickedme? Then she pointed to a student in the front row. It was Matt.

"Ugh." I sighed. I felt as double-crossed as Charlie Brown when Lucy pulls the football away from him.

The classroom door opened and in walked Trevor Mitchell holding several boxes of chalk.

"Thank you, Trevor," Mrs.Naper said, her cheeks blushing as red as her lipstick as she took the chalk from the handsome jock.

"He's in this class?" I asked Becky. "I should have changed my schedule while I had the chance!"

My nemesis checked me out as he sauntered down the aisle toward me. When he reached my desk, he leaned in. "Hi,partner"he said with a wink.

My heart fell to the coldMasonite floor.

"Say it isn't so!"

I envied my best friend. She was assigned to her boyfriend and I was going to be stuck with Trevor, Forced to ask him questions that I didn't care to know the answers to. And in return, he'd pry into my private life. Why couldn't I be like Becky and have a boyfriend who attended school with me during the day, instead of being homeschooled at night? Though I'd dreamed of dating a vampire, it sure had its dark side. For a moment, I resented the whole nocturnal thing.

And even worse, I was going to have face time with Trevor Mitchell. I should just surrender my grade to Mrs.Naper and accept my F now.

"So remember," Mrs.Naper continued, "Junior-year grades are important. It's time to start thinking about your future. It's important that you take this assignment seriously."

Great.Not only has Trevor tormented me since kindergarten, but now, if I failed this assignment, he could screw up my whole future.

I made a quick escape from Trevor after the bell rang, but I wasn't so lucky at lunch. I was lying in the grass, shaded from the blazing sun by my sunglasses and a maple tree, when I sensed someone next to me.

I could smell the inviting aroma of just-cookedfrench fries .

"Hey, Becky", I said, undisturbed. "Did you bring me my fries?"

"No, but I brought you something else, Monster Girl", I heard a male's voice say, "Me."

I yanked off my shades. Trevor was stretched out next to me, resting on his elbow.

"Get away," I ordered.

"I figured this was a good position to start off the interview part of the assignment in," he said. "I can guar-iuteethat you get an A. He held a fry in front of my lips, as if about to feed me.

I batted it away and the greasy fry flew out of his land. "I can guarantee that you never see the light of day again."

He leaned into me, his blond locks only inches from my jet-black ones. "I want to explore all sides of you."

I almost gagged at his cheesy pick-up line and wedged my combat boot between us.

But he only took that as a sign of passion and held on to my shoe. "I knew you'd miss me. It's been all summer since I've seen you. I thought maybe you moved."

"I should have."

I yanked my foot away from him and scooted back. His fries spilled onto the grass, but he wasn't bothered. Trevor could buy the whole cafeteria if he wanted.

"Just think," he said. "You could have spent the summer with me, relaxing by the beach, rather than tending to a bat's nest. But you never did have good taste."

Matt and Becky approached carrying twosandwiches and holding my fries.

Since the Snow Ball dance where Trevor wasouted as the one spreading rumors about Alexander's family being vampires and Matt began dating Becky, the soccer-snob twosome's relationship had become strained. They weren't the best buds they used to be, but Matt and Trevor acknowledged each other.

"Trevor was just leaving," I said. My nemesis rose and brushed off the dirt my boot had left on his freshly laundered designer polo shirt.

"So we're on for tonight, partner?" Trevor asked. "You can pick me up after practice. We don't want to wait until the last minute to begin."

Trevor snatched a bag of fries from Becky. "I believe these are mine."

Matt stepped before him, but Becky held him back. "It's going to be a long year," I said resignedly, and flipped my shades back on my head.

I barely spoke as Becky drove me home. Each of my classes was more miserable than the last. My thoughts weren't on history or mathematical equations but on a vampire on Benson Hill. As we made our way home, Alexander was still safely tucked away in his attic room, unaware of anything going on in my world. It was strange that so much was happening and he wouldn't be able to find out until the sun set. I really wanted to be a part of his life-not just for the summer, but forever. I gazed out the window as we passed Dullsville's cemetery. So many romantic dates Alexander and I had spent on sacred ground. Why wouldn't I change my world for his? If only Alexander would bite me, plunge his fangs into my neck and draw out my sweet blood. It would mean an end to school and Trevor.And a new beginning for us.

That night, I danced on my front steps in wild anticipation of Alexander's arrival. I could almost smell hisDrakkar and feel the soft skin of his cheeks against mine, his fingers sliding up the back of my spine, and his leg touching mine as we sat on the stoop. But after ten minutes had vanished like the setting sun, I began to pace. I was desperately waking to jump into his arms and tell him about my horrible situation at school. He'd insist I was overreacting and my circumstances would right themselves before I knew it. I had taken care of myself for years, and this case was no different except for one major thing: I had a hunky boyfriend in my corner. I had someone to watch my back-even if that person was sequestered in a coffin.He'd laugh off the whole Trevor thing and threaten to turn my nemesis into dust if he so much as looked at mewrong.

Instead of hearing the twigs snap as Alexander emerged from the shadows, I heard the ringing of my cell phone.

"I won't be able to make it," Alexander said flatly.

"You're kidding..."

"My parents want to talk to me."

"Well, so doI ."

"I guess that will have to wait. I promise I'll make it up to you."

"How's the drawer?"

"Everything is still intact. But I'd rather be holding you thanyourhoodies ."

I didn't even have a chance to tell Alexander about the classschedulemixup , much less my run-in with Trevor.

I heard Jameson calling for him in the background, so my knight in shining Doc Martens had to hang up.

My evening schedule was making me as miserable as my daytime one.