"Mom, if I pull this up any higher, my ass will hang out!" I say as I adjust my dress again.

My mom isn't a fan of the dress I've picked out, but this is my Homecoming, not hers. Besides, I convinced her that my style is going to change as I get older. To this day, I know she's having trouble coping with that fact. She wants me to stay my innocent childhood self. Unfortunately for her, the world we live in won't allow that to happen.

"I want you looking perfect," she insists, making sure the last of my curls are firm and plush. "He's right downstairs."

"Mom, I'm not marrying the guy." I cross my arms, giving my boobs an extra lift, on top of the bra, and the fact that my dress has no straps. I know Mom isn't fond of me choosing black for the color of my dress ("you're not going to a funeral, Willa!"), but I convinced her to let me wear it.

"Still, you want to blow him away."

"Oh, god, I took that so wrong." I cringe.

"Not my fault you've got a mind in the gutter." She puts a necklace around my neck. "There, the last touch. Let me see." She turns me around so she can give the final once-over. I see tears pool in her dark eyes.

"Please don't start crying," I plea. "Because when you start, I start."

My mom can't deny me; I look a lot like her, from hair to the eyes. Personality is a bit of a different story, she claims I got that from my dad. My dad who I don't know since he's never been in the picture. Truth be told, I'm not even sure she knows who my dad is; she's never told me anything. She brushes off the topic and always moves on to something else.

"Alright, I promise I'll be quick with pictures so you aren't late!" Mom nudges me out of my bedroom. She makes sure I make my slow entrance down the stairs. My face flushes as I see Cole's longing gaze on me.

As my foot hits the floor at the last step, like a gentleman, he helps me down. He's trying his hardest to not stare at anything below my face.

"Surprise?" I whisper sheepishly.

"You look amazing," he fawns. He pulls me closer, our noses touching.

"Ah-ah!" Mom scolds. Cole and I jump apart, and his face goes beet-red. "You can do that after I'm done with pictures."

"Prepare to be blinded," I whisper to Cole as Mom pulls out her phone.

Thankfully, for Cole and I, the flash is off.

* * *

We are the talk of Homecoming when we make our way inside the gym.

Lights are dimmed, and the DJ is playing loud music that echoes too much in the vast space. There's already a grinding pit when we get there.

Marley and her date, Jacob, greet us. Her red curls are pulled back out of her face. Her dress is an aqua, shimmering number, and she's wearing smaller heels than most. She's like me, not much of a heel person.

Marley is the first one to suggest dancing. None of us get a say in the matter; she pulls me in, and I force Cole into the pit with me. Jacob follows us.

Within two minutes, we're separated from Jacob and Marley. The grind pit practically buries us inside. Grinding isn't my thing, but tonight I allow it.

When a slow song comes out, the pit breaks up into couples. You can tell who's with who based on the amount (or lack thereof) of PDA. Cole and I are close, and I've got my head on his shoulder. The slow rhythm of us moving is calming.

"So far so good," he whispers into my ear. "Nobody's thrown stuff at you."

"Just wait 'til Monday," I sigh. I pick my head up, pulling his down, so we can kiss. "Then it's battle stations."

Once the grinding starts back up, Cole and I squeeze out to sit down and drink. Naturally, most of the girls watch us with cold, jealous looks. I keep hold of Cole's arm as a protection measure.

After some time, Marley and Jacob find their way to us. Marley's makeup is a little smudged, but that's expected. She and Jacob have been together since the end of freshman year. She's been head over heels for him, and vice versa. Thankfully, I don't stick around when they're mushy-gushy together, because that's just too much for one person to handle.

"You get him going?" Marley asks.

I nearly spit out my drink. We're sitting on a bench in another room. Jacob meandered off to talk with some other friends, Cole went to the bathroom. "God, what's with you?" I sputter, coughing.

"Well, hey, you better claim him before he's taken away." She sips her soda.

"Mar, he's not a piece of meat!"

"Sure."

"We've got something genuine."

"You sure? Because I'm sure he's been feasting with his eyes. Girl, you chose the right dress to get him hot and bothered." She snickers. "Although, you could've picked legit any other color."

I groan. "Not you too!"

"You know teasing is my way of saying 'I love you'."

"Sure," I mock her.

Cole comes back. I stand up, brushing myself off. I put my arm through his, and instead of heading back into the gym, we slip past the chaperones and head into the empty halls of the school.

"Where are we going?"

"Some place we won't be criticized." He jiggles the knobs of the doors until he finds one that's unlocked.

I look at him uneasily. "Cole, you know I'm not ready."

"I know." He looks at me a little appalled. "I'm not thinking about that." It's dark inside the classroom, but there's enough light for me to see him. "I'd rather not be swarmed by girls when I've got my attention on just one."

"God, you're so sappy." I chuckle.

We begin kissing, backing up until I hit a desk. Cole sets me up on it, and it takes all the strength in me to not tear his clothes off and run my hands all over his skin. (Believe me, I've had dreams about it.) I'm very aware of where his hands are and what he's doing.

I don't mind when he's got a hand on my thigh, but when it starts going upwards, I pull away. I see a foreign look in his eyes, and his lips are twisted into an unusual smile that I don't recognize.

"Cole," I say uneasily. He puts his mouth roughly on mine, and his hands are getting a little too touchy. I push him away. "Dude, what the hell? You just said you weren't thinking about that."

"I can't help it, Willa."

I slap his hands away as he tries to grab me. I jump off the desk, moving around it cautiously.

"You're just so...sexy."

"Yeah, that was the goal, but we talked about waiting."

Cole looks predatory, the way he stalks towards me. "Mm, your boyfriend is a lucky man."

I move away. "Since when do you refer to yourself in the third person?" I pale. "Cole, babe..."

He chuckles. "Oh, you still think I'm Cole, that's cute." He flicks his wrist, and suddenly I'm airborne, with my back hitting the whiteboard, sticking there like a fly in a cobweb. I struggle to move.

"What the hell is going on?!" I screech, feeling the tears run down my face. "Are you some freaky twin brother that he never mentioned?"

"Oh, babe, you'll wish that I was." He tenderly grabs my face in his hand. "Shh, you don't need to be afraid. Think of it this way: You aren't the only one who's gonna die tonight."

What is this? What is he? What the hell is going on?! "...What?" I squeak.

"Oh, it's not just me. A team effort." He quirks his mouth. "Shame, though. A waste of a kill."

"Then don't kill me."

"But I have to." He clicks his tongue. "If I don't, it's not good for me."

I don't understand. What's going on? What is he?! "W-what are you?"

"Something you can't begin to understand, and you never will."

I scream as Cole's eyes, the whites included, turn pitch black. This isn't him. Did my drink get spiked somehow? Maybe that's it. "P-please."

"Hey, asshat!"

Not-Cole turns at the sound of the voice. He snarls, muttering something under his breath I don't catch. He turns back to me. "Stay put."

"Not like I've got a choice!"

I'm still stuck to the whiteboard as Not-Cole comes face-to-face with my potential rescuer. He's an older guy, not a teacher here at school. He flicks on the lights, which temporarily blind me and Not-Cole. He's not dressed as a chaperone, just in layers, one which is flannel. His hair is cropped short, and his mouth is puckered into a frown.

"I'll give you one chance to let her go," he says in his deep baritone.

"Hmm. How about no?" Not-Cole holds up a hand, with two fingers poised to snap. "You make a move, I snap her pretty little neck."

I gasp loudly as someone—I don't even know where he came from—pops into the classroom. He wears a trench coat, and he puts a finger to his lips when he notices my reaction. I swallow my scream, and the man goes to Not-Cole, who spins around and cries out as a silver blade strikes his face.

I yelp, hitting the floor. I scramble away, watching as the trench coat dude and Not-Cole tousle in the classroom. I crawl away, around desks. I've got to tell someone. What's going on? What is he? Who are these people?!

"Hey, hey, I'm here to help," says the guy in the flannel as I try to scurry away from him. "Come on, up, up." He pulls me to my feet and pushes me behind him. He aims his gun at the two men—if they're even men—who are wrestling. Not-Cole flings a desk at the trench coat guy, who takes the impact and hits the ground. "Go, go." I'm nudged out of the classroom.

"But that guy—" I try.

"He can handle himself."

We're outside of the classroom. I look towards the sound of more screaming, coming from the gym. Marley.

"You okay?" the guy interrupts my panicked thought.

"I don't know. W-what even...?" I'm not sure where to start with my questions.

"Listen to me. You go find someplace safe and hide until I come get you, okay?"

"Why should I listen to you?"

"Because that guy in there is saving your life, and so am I."

"Let go of me, you creep!" I struggle as he grabs my wrist and pulls me down the hall. "You gonna throw me into another room so you can kill me?"

"Oh, cut the crap, kid. I'm the good guy."

"Somehow I'm having a hard time believing that."

As we round a corner, I yank hard enough to get the guy to let me go. In small heels, in the dress, I run back towards the gym as quickly as possible, with the guy shouting at me from behind. Marley. I need to get her.

When I find the gym, it's in utter chaos. Students run for their lives out any door that they can find. A few are actually attacking other students. Guys who defend their dates are being tossed around, some with no explanation as to why they're airborne. One guy has crash-landed onto the DJ station.

"Marley?!" I ask hysterically. "Marley!?" I push through what frantic crowd there is and try to find that shimmering aqua dress.

"You looking for me, girl?"

As I spin around, I'm met with a hand on my throat.