10. Allergies

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“Hey,” Lilith poked me on the shoulder. I hadn’t even noticed that it was dark out.

“Huh?” I tore my television zombie eyes off the screen to look at her. She never looked like she had just gotten up. Maybe she didn’t actually sleep all day, maybe she just stayed in her room because it was safe.

“Don’t tell me you’ve been here on this couch all day,” She said, a hint of scolding in her tone.

“Naw, just the past few hours,” I muted the program, “Remember that I told you I’d be meeting with a friend today? Earlier I met with him and he took me around campus. We had lunch and stuff.”

“Oh, how did that go?” She grinned as she sat down next to me on the couch.

“It was great, he even loaned me his bike and he kissed me on the cheek today when he left. He’s really nice and he’s so hot.” I felt the blood rushing to my face as I spoke. I sounded like an infatuated little schoolgirl.

She laughed, her voice high and bright. It instantly brightened my mood. I’d been bored sitting in front of the television ever since Randall and I had parted. I wished I would have asked him up or found some excuse to spend more time with him. “You know, there are statistically twenty percent more girls than guys attending this school, so if you find one that is nice and good looking, snatch him up and hold on tight before someone else does.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said thoughtfully. Randall was sexy and all, but I got the feeling that he didn’t date much; an Alpha probably would stay in his own pack rather than date humans. I doubted I had much competition.

“I guess I should get ready for bed. School starts tomorrow,” I got up off the couch and stretched my aching muscles. That couch wasn’t really all too comfortable and after a few hours of sitting on it, I had some sore spots.

“It’s only seven o’clock,” She looked at the clock on the wall and frowned.

“I know,” I laughed. “I’m just bored and excited about starting school tomorrow. I have nothing better to do.” I was actually pretty tired after walking around so much. Plus, sleeping would make the time go faster.

She shrugged at me, “I’m going to go eat then, I guess. My classes aren’t until tomorrow night.”

“Do you ever miss the sun?” I blurted out and instantly regretted. I felt like it was rude to ask, but I d desperately wanted to know more about her.

Lilith looked at me and raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean?”

I pressed onward, “Like…you’ve seen it, right? Or did you always have your allergy?”

She sighed and looked down at her hands resting in her lap. “When I was little, before I was diagnosed, we lived near the beach,” I sat back down next to her to listen and turned off the television. “We would go all the time during the summer. I was always a fair-skinned child. As the years passed, I started burning, first after a few hours, even with a heavy dose of the strongest sunscreen. The sunburns were horrible. I blistered incredibly easily. Soon, after stepping out in the sun even after only a few minutes, I would burn. It just kept getting worse. We eventually moved, after the doctors diagnosed my condition. We tried veils and cloth, extra-strength broad-spectrum sun block, so many home remedies, but in the end, it was just easier and safer for me to change my sleep habits; sleeping days and waking nights. I’m already prone to skin cancer; I don’t want to risk any more pain.”

“Don’t they have special glass so you can look outside during the day and no rays of sunlight hit you? That should be safe, right? Modern technology should be able to help you!” It hardly seemed fair that Lilith had to suffer so much.

“If anything like that exists, I want no part in it. You asked if I miss the sun and I do. However, looking at it from inside would not help. It would just make me miss my carefree days at the beach even more. The moon is now my sun.” She walked over to the window and opened the blinds. The moon shone in the sky, getting rounder every night. “Let’s see your sun look that beautiful.”

I stared hard at the moon. It was so ominous for me, but she was right, it was just up there, glowing in the night. And it was beautiful, in a morbid sort of way. I actually wished it would get full faster. I wanted to run with Randall and his pack. Every nerve in my body itched and tingled to be out there, to run free. I had to will the animal part of me back down so that I would not begin to change.

“I see it has meaning for you as well.” She looked at me sideways, her blue eyes reflecting the moon’s light.

I looked away as soon as she turned, afraid that my eyes would betray any hint of the change. The eyes were always the first things to alter, and when they did they would not look human. I got up off the couch again and cleared my throat before I spoke, not daring to look her straight in the eyes again. “I just…think it’s pretty tonight. We have a good view.”

“That we do.” She remarked, looking back out the window.

I turned back around and said, “Well, I’m off to bed.” I was ending the conversation, really wishing that I hadn’t even brought it up. “Goodnight.”

“Night, have a fun first day,” She waved absently, still looking out at the slowly broadening moon.

Next Chapter
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A/N: Next chapter will be Selene's first day of school! It will actually involve a true story that happened to me on my first day of school, something that I still can't believe happened. Also, we're gonna have two chapters next week, because one chapter is reallyreally short, so that one will be posted Thursday as a little bonus.

Oh yeah, if anyone wants to see any more of my writing, (other than Becoming), check out this link. I'm trying my hand at some short stories, and I need help with inspiration! All the short stories I write will be posted on Insight into my Life, but I will probably provide links to them on Bitten as well. ^.^