Maybe She's a Cheerleader - Maybe She's a Vampire Slayer

Shay slammed her phone down on the bed, huffing loudly. This was bullshit, she thought. Her best friend since diapers had bailed again. It wasn’t like this was a first time thing, this was the seventh time Ashley had pulled this in seven days. Shay rolled her eyes as she studied her room for the first time in a while. Pale pink walls were hidden behind a layer of pictures, posters, and awards won over the years. And in all the pictures, there was Ashley; right next to or near Shay. They’d been inseparable since kindergarten through middle school, then they went to high school and everything changed. So what happened?

Her phone chimed and for a second, Shay thought about not answering, especially if it was Ashley coming back with another excuse. It wasn’t though when she checked a moment later. The text actually came from her other friend, Olivia. 

Wanna study for next week’s Calculus test?

Sighing, Shay agreed and hit reply, falling back on her bed. Ever since high school started for them, nearly two years ago now, Ashley had seemingly turned into a different person. Her bright, effervescent style turned dark and cold almost overnight. Her trademark California tan was gone and her skin appearing sickly and sallow. Then there was her hair. Ashley was known for her near floor-length hair since she was ten years old. She never cut it and never had an inclination to and yet, the first day of their sophomore year, Ashley shuffled onto campus with twenty inches chopped off. It was like she decided to change, but forgot to tell her best friend. 

When Olivia knocked on her door a few moments later, Shay pulled herself from her memories and tried to focus on the Calculus homework as best she could. Unfortunately, she kept thinking about Ashley. 

“Have you noticed anything weird going on with Ashely lately?” She asked after a while. Liv’s pencil stopped bouncing for a second as she looked up through her eyelashes. 

“What do you mean?” 

“I mean, doesn’t it feel like she’s changed or like, she’s hiding something?” 

“I don’t know, Shay. We’ve talked about this; you need to ask her yourself.”

“How can I?!” Shay exclaimed, jumping up off the bed to pace the short distance from her door to her dresser. “She doesn’t answer my texts and when she does, it’s usually after 2 or 3 am! And then there’s the way she looks! Her hair is gone, the cute clothes are gone - where is my best friend, Liv!?” Her chest rose and fell with heavy impact as she realized just how worked up she’d gotten. Shay collapsed onto the corner of the bed and hung her head low. “Something is up and I don’t understand why she won’t tell me,” 

“Maybe she’s embarrassed?” Liv offered, which only angered Shay more. 

“Embarrassed about what? I was the one that got made fun of by the entire football team because we traded pants when she was the one that had the period accident back in middle school!” 

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you, Shay! Maybe it has something to do with why she’s been spending so much time at the graveyard.” Liv suggested. Shay turned to face her friend, scowling. 

“What?” she hissed. Olivia blanched a little but proceeded to explain what she meant. 

“Yeah, my mom and I were driving back from dance practice when we saw her walking along the road toward the graveyard at the edge of town. She said she was going out there to stargaze.” Shay stared at Liv for a moment, her lips quivering with frustration. 

“WHAT?!” She shrieked, causing Liv to cover her ears with her hands. “What on earth is she doing in a graveyard?!”

“I just told you! Stargazing!”

“Oh that’s bullshit and you know it!” Shay retorted. She huffed as she began to pace again. What the hell was going on? “We have to go out there. Tonight.” Liv stared up at her quietly. 

“Go out where?” she pressed. 

“To the graveyard,” Shay said. 

“Oh no. No, no, no - I am not doing that.” 

“What? Why not?!” 

“Because,” Liv started, stuttering a little. “We can’t just go to a graveyard. It’s a Tuesday! We have homework! Plus, it’s scary and creepy and, and - and my mom would totally freak out if she knew! She says that’s where kids go to ruin their lives.” She added. Shay stared at her for a moment, completely dumbfounded. 

“You’re mother’s an idiot, Liv,” she began, ignoring the hurt expression on her friend’s face. “We have to go out there.” 

“But why?” Liv whined and Shay thought for sure her eyes were going to bug out of her face. 

“Liv, seriously? Are you even listening to me?!” 

“Yes, but, I don’t understand why we can’t just believe, Ashley! Maybe she really is just stargazing!” 

Shay’s shoulders dropped in defeat. She couldn’t understand how Olivia didn’t see the need to do this. “Liv, I have to go. I have to find out what she’s hiding.” Shay finally said. Her friend had nothing to say in return, so Shay grabbed her jacket and her purse, storming out of the room. As she climbed into her truck, the passenger door was ripped open and Olivia clambered in. 

“If I see a zombie or something just as creepy, I’m out. You can save yourself.” She said firmly. Shay couldn’t help but laugh at that as she thanked her friend. They drove to the other side of town in silence, neither entirely sure of themselves at the moment. When she turned onto the drive, past the entrance gates, the seriousness of what they were about to do settled in her stomach. She swallowed hard, trying to bury her feelings. The sun had set hours before, so now only the moon gave a hint of light that wouldn’t be enough to help them. 

Still, silent, Shay and Olivia climbed out of the truck, both taking in the nearly empty space. “Get your phone out,” Shay instructed, pulling hers from her back pocket. She clicked through apps until she found the flashlight waiting until Liv had hers. With the radiating light from both of their phones, the girls set out through the headstones. The terrain was treacherous as they stepped over tree branches, fallen vases, and upturned dirt. Olivia’s foot caught something and she stumbled forward. 

“If she’s not here tonight, I swear to God,” she muttered under her breath, batting away Shay’s outstretched hand. Shay sighed as she glanced around the area. It was hard to tell where they were, but one thing was certain: their friend wasn’t here. 

“Liv, I’m so sorry, I think this was a mistake,” 

“Ya think?!” 

Shay grimaced at Liv, unsure of how to apologize. Just as she opened her mouth, though, a sound to her right caught her attention. 

“What was that?” she asked, pointing her phone light in the direction of the sound. 

“Probably a serial killer come to take out the idiot girls,” Liv replied sardonically. Shay waved her free hand dismissively and began walking to her right. Whatever was making the sound was blocked by a giant mausoleum. It honestly sounded like her brothers when they used to fight in the kitchen, but it was hard to tell. As Shay rounded the corner, she jumped backward, colliding with Liv. “What the hell, Shay?!” 

“SHH!” Shay hissed, attacking Liv’s face with her hands. Her friend fought her off demanding to know what was going on. She too stepped around the corner of the mausoleum to see for herself but stopped short just as Shay had done. They watched in petrified horror as their best friend, Ashley, participated in hand-to-hand combat against a man twice her size. The man moved with slow, sluggish mannerisms though that made him no less of a threat, and she seemed to know that. Ashley dodged every swing of his arms with precision. 

“Is he even..alive?!” Olivia whispered loudly. Shay couldn’t answer. 

After what felt like forever, the girl they identified as their best friend finally got the drop on the man. She caught him off-guard, dropped to her knees, swung her left leg out, and rotated herself around, ultimately kicking the man’s feet right out from under him. He fell back hard onto the ground, when Ashely stepped over him, a long piece of wood suddenly in her right hand. In one swift movement, she knelt down, driving the piece of wood through the man’s chest so he burst into dust beneath her. 

Panting, Ashley stood up and glanced around the graveyard. Her back was to the girls, so she never saw them, but as she began to walk away, Shay’s astonishment couldn’t be contained. “What the hell?!” She screeched, her voice echoing out through the open landscape. Ashley stopped in her tracks. She turned around slowly, her face blanching the moment her eyes landed on them. When she saw her friends standing there, wide-eyed and slack-jawed, she sucked in a sharp breath then turned and sprinted away. “What the hell was that?” Shay demanded rounding on Olivia who was still staring into the distance wide-eyed. 

“I-I think she’s a vampire slayer,” Liv whispered. Shay wasn’t sure what that meant, but she knew for a fact she’d find out from Ashley tomorrow.