Blood Kisses, Amber Marshall-Nichols [summer reading list txt] 📗

horrific,” I laughed again and led Josh into the lounge.
“Let me try another Joke, one has to make you laugh, Um, what about Why did Tiger look in the toilet?”
“I don’t know,”
“Oh come on! It’s pretty simple!”
“Nope, beats me,”
“Well obviously he was looking for Pooh,” I shrugged and Josh sighed. “Okay let me try one more, or two, or maybe I should keep going...”
“Two’s good,”
“Okay, so number one. Hmm. Why should bowling alleys be quiet?” I shrugged and he groaned in defeat. “To hear a pin drop,” I blinked at him. “Okay last one... now this is from James and the Giant peach; you read it as a little girl?”
“Nope,”
“Okay, so why don’t skeletons play music in church?”
“Is it something about not having organs?”
“Oh Damn! You heard it?”
“No, it’s just a really bad joke!”
“Humph” Josh mumbled. “Maybe I should just sing you the duck song,”
“What?”
“The duck song!” Josh’s eyes lit up. “You’ve not lived until you’ve heard the duck song!”
“That’s what my last boyfriend said about the matrix,”
“The matrix! Yeah, he was right, anyway, can I please waddle to your computer so you live?”
“Waddle?”
“Yes. Or would you like to die?” I didn’t answer his question and instead gestured to the next room, where my laptop sat on the dining room table. He logged on and went straight to YouTube.
“So this is the duck song, brace yourself,” he warned pushing the laptop towards me. The song consisted of mainly ‘then he waddled away’ and something about a duck wanting grapes or apples from a lemonade stand. Despite the cheesy, continuous, annoying lyrics, the corny ending on top of my foul mood; it did make me laugh until my stomach was in stitches!
“Okay I agree, I’ve been dead until now,” I’d said. Though half of that ultimatum he would never fully understand. Josh prodded my shoulder.
“So little faith in a stranger!” he rolled his eyes and tutted as she shut the computer down.
“I know, despicable behaviour on my behalf,” I slapped my own wrist then began to laugh again. Somehow I ended up lying on the dining room carpet, laughing, apparently at the ceiling. Josh stood over me and just stared a while.
“I don’t mean to interrupt your fun, but what’s a guy got to do to get a coke round here? Seduce a zombie?” he joked winking at me. I sat up and smoothed down my hair, correcting him with ‘vampire’ in my mind.
“Umm, I’m not sure we’ve got coke, but I’ll find you something, follow me,”
“Thanks, I could really use something chilled right now. An ice tea would be jinn se qua” he kissed the tips of his fingers for dramatic effect.
“You speak French?” I asked leading him through the lounge to the kitchen.
“Na, I just tend to pick up a few phrases. Me aunty was a language teacher back in Australia,”
“That’s where you’re from? I assumed you were just from another part of England?”
“Well I am technically. My family moved around a lot, we hadn’t been in Australia long. So I didn’t pick up an accent,” he explained. “So you speak any languages?”
“Fluent French, Russian, Greek and a little Japanese,” I shrugged, I actually spoke fluently in most languages, and it was an easy thing to pick up when you’re a vampire of superb intellect. Let alone my mother’s fascination in language also.
“WHOA!” Josh exclaimed. “And I struggle with French and German,” We were in the kitchen now, and he and I were leant against the food counter.
“Well my mother originally comes from France, so that’s why I’m especially good at that. I hate to speak it in general, though my mother prefers the language.”
“Oh, well that’s... interesting, SO where’s this coke? If I’m about to does a good hour or so hard labour in that boiling sun; without pay, I hope to get a drink,”
“Oh, Christ! Sorry, umm we have lemonade is that good?”
“Sure, are you having any?” I cringed. Eiw!
“No, I had a cup of tea before you came,” I lied. “So... I can pay you if you’d like?”I bit my lip. Mum wouldn’t be too keen on this; pay the lad and she’d find out a human had been in our house which was frowned upon here. Josh laughed and sipped the can of Sprite.
“I was joking; don’t worry about a thing,”
“I have to pay you somehow?” He raised his eyebrows then thought for a moment.
“Well...” he began.
“Yes? Anything you want?”
“I wouldn’t offer that to a boy if I were you,” he said observing my body. I frowned. He chuckled at my expression then set the can down. “Na, that’s not my style. I’m smoother,”
“Oh yes, Smooth. Definitely,”
“Shut up!”
“Shutting,”
“Well... Starting a new school’s always hard, so I guess you could just do me a favour?”
“Sure,”
“Just... spread the word round school that I’m a good guy. Meeting new people isn’t my forte and I always seem to get off to a bad start. “
“That can be arranged,” I said nodding. “Though I disagree with that last part; you’ve made a good impression on me the last twenty minutes. I’m pretty sure everyone will love you. You seem like a people person. God, I bet my friend Lucy would just swoon over you,” I knew the words were true as I said them and found myself giggling once again.
“Love?” he finally said, surprised. He almost mimicked my exact tone when Toby had declared his love for me only an hour earlier. I simply nodded. “You been cooking?” he asked having noticed the vegetables on the counter.
“Yeah, never turns out too well though. Guess I need... practice. Food is not MY forte. Are you hungry?”
“Not really.” He shrugged then laughed. “A woman that can’t cook, my god,”
“Hey!” I objected. “Men of this generation! Back to the old ways, stereotyping women! I got told it was wrong for me to be of a superior strength earlier annual. This is not my day,” I rolled my eyes and realised I’d been digging into the ‘food preparation’ slab with a knife. Every thought of Toby seemed to just anger me.
“Well no offence, but you are small,”
“Boys,” I murmured.
“So was all this for your... friend?” he changed the subject, though not enough. Sadly.
“Initially, yes,” I answered bluntly. As blunt as the knife I still clutched even.
“Whathappened?”
“It’s…’ I paused. Did I tell him or not? “Complicated,”
“I Understand,” he picked up his lemonade again and slurped.
“Shall we go?” I said. He looked puzzled.
“Go where?”
“My room or something,”
“Oh,” his eyes widened and he grinned, relaxing his shoulders and setting his drink down once again. “Sure,” I led him upstairs, down the hall to the last room on the right, and then stood aside so he could enter before me. He whistled as he entered.
“Nice room,” he dragged the compliment out then looked at my bed with eager eyes. “Can I?” he grinned like a little boy.
“Sure,” I laughed. Josh sprinted at my bed then dog piled onto the sheets. Spreading out like an angel on the piles of white.
“This is awesome! You have a princess bed, with like drapes and everything,” he tugged at the features as he spoke of them, and then sat up. I walked slowly over to the bed and sat beside him.
“Yeah, mum’s choice,” I told him. “Doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the room,”
“Not really,” he observed. “But contrast is good sometimes. Opposites attract,”
“You me at six,” I muttered.
“Huh?” he asked.
“Oh, nothing, just have a song in my head.”
“Oh yeah, what music do you like?” he asked intently.
“Just go in my closet,” I laughed.
“Your closet?”
“Yeah, come on,” I stood up and he followed me into my ‘open’ wardrobe.
“Holy Shit!” he said as soon as he stepped inside.
“What?”
“Not meaning to be stereotypical of course, but Holy shit, girls like my sister do really have loads of shoes!”
“Yeah, but look on the back wall,”
“Are they... signed tickets?”
“Only from the best, well my classification of best,”
“Wow that’s a lot of autographs.” We stood awhile staring at the CD cover posters and I began to wonder what kind of music he enjoyed.
“Well... Good taste,” he approved.
“Thanks,” I said exiting the closet.
“Coldplay, New found glory, Feeder, good taste. Good taste. Oh and my sister’s a massive paramore fan. I’m sure she’d kill for one of their autographs,” he laughed. “Bet you got these on eBay,” he winked at me skimming the posters again. “Who else do you like, that’s not on your wall of signed fame?”
“Well, only the people I haven’t met you mean?”
“Yeah,”
“I like some electro pop?”
“Eiw. What like La Roux, and mika and stuff?” Josh frowned.
“Yeah, and a couple really weird bands; like metric and the knife. They’re not so bad,”
“Okay, I will condemn myself to listen, just for you...But any decent music?”
“Well I like Florence and the machine and a band called A fine frenzy. I also like, Jack Johnson, Newton Faulkner, and Bob Marley; that kind of thing. I like a lot of acoustic guitar stuff. Ok Go and Kasabian are great. As are Sea Wolf. Not to mention any band that’s EVER featured Joan Jett, and Oh, Motion City are GODS! You have to check them out,”
“Motion city Soundtrack?” his eyes widened and a smile spread across his face. “They’re just about one the best darn bands of today. That no one ever seems to appreciate, know or understand! Yet here you are!” he was bewildered. As was I. Who knew motion city?
“Blimey, a boy who knows Motion City Soundtrack,” I teased.
“Likewise, except the boy part of course. Anyway you know of their greatness how?”
“Toby’s studying media at the university. A lot of bands recommendation’s get tossed around between students,” I cringed. CD’s weren’t the only things being dealt around uni. One of the other reason’s mine and Toby’s time had been cut short lately, and another why he needed quick cash.
“Oh that’s cool,” he said nodding.
“I guess. Toby isn’t really too fond of them though; which I will NEVER understand. What about you?” I asked interested.
“How can you not love the motion?” Josh muttered
“Agreed, so...”
“Right, well my dad’s in the music business. He writes up playlists for movie soundtracks and stuff. Motion city were specifically asked to be added in to a certain playlist so my dad thought that if they were that good, I might be interested in them. Turns out he was right. “
“Who else do you like then?”
“The rolling stones are one of my favourites, I like Kaiser chiefs, Bullet for my valentine, muse, Guns N Roses, Aerosmith though only some of their stuff, shamefully; Kings Of Leon, Breakfast in America, 30 seconds to mars, Metallica, Pendilum, cause you got to have a little bit of heavy metal. Oh and I used to really love Katy Perry, though I only seemed to download videos not the songs,” I laughed effortlessly at the seriousness of his face.
“Funny that,” I accused.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Now he grinned. Hugely, like how I’d always imagined the cat from Alice and Wonderland. The conversation continued to flow for what seemed like hours and I was glad mum was working late. Usually by now, I’d of started to become lonely. Being lonely was dangerous, it allowed