Updating because I noticed this was more than 500 words. Note to self: WRITE MORE.

After another hour or two of floating down the river trapped in a canoe with my archenemy, the grade was starting to feel somewhat hungry. Some were wimps about it, muttering ‘Need...food...’ and some (moi) just grinned and bore it. Actually, I wasn’t that hungry. I’d taken a few sips from the vial when nobody was looking. So I was just grinning because I love to hear other people’s misfortunes.

Oh yeah, and I still don’t understand why people seem to naturally dislike me. I mean, I’m a perfect little angel, right? Okay, so maybe I have a lot of work to do in that department.

But even for me, the canoeing was mind-numbing. It was just row,row,row, duck, row...

So I was actually pretty glad to see our dock. First of all, it meant escaping Buck, and second of all, it meant finding Sam.

I clambered out of the canoe, leaving Buck to the job of carrying it all the way up the hill. As I searched the small grassy area, I heard somebody who was obviously trying to sneak up on me.

I whirled around and had my hand ready pull out a knife from my jacket, but the person sneaking up on me wasn’t Buck, Rye, or even a vampire hunter...it was Sam.

“Never sneak up on a vampire, Sam,” I commented as I felt my grin unfold.

“Oh, I just wanted to show you this. I found it in Rye’s bag.” What she was holding out to me was a canister that it’s label proclaimed was liquid garlic.

“Well, looks like we ruined his day sufficiently,” I replied. Sam smirked and we walked off to find a table or something while we waited for everybody else to finish canoeing. I’d be willing to bet that half the kids in my grade had no idea how to even paddle a canoe. I only did because Molly always insisted on a outdoors family vacation. The only good part about those vacations was the bats and spiders.

“So, where’ve you been, Will?” Sam asked as we sat down on a bench. I glared at the squirrel that was staring at our food until it ran away.

“Family’s been over.”

“Oh...real family, or...?”

“My godmother’s family. Actually, my parents did come to see me a week or so ago. They only stayed for five minutes, thought.” I took out one of my knives and started to make the table look like it was emo.

“That must be pretty lonely. I mean, your parents see you every so often for, like, five minutes?”

“Yeah, it sucks. But Molly’s alright.” My face darkened. “I don’t like Lane at all, though.”

“Who’s Lane?” she asked.

“My step-godfather. At least, I think that’s his relation to me. Not quite sure, though.”

We both sat there, watching as some stupid kid nearly fell off a bridge and his teacher saved him. It must have been quite jarring. To him. Not that I cared. Okay, I just lied to you. Might as well make a boring day interesting.

Well, Buck walked over and he looked capital-m mad. Must’ve been my leaving him to lug the canoe up the hill.

Ha approached us and said, “I’ll get you one day, Will. I’ll get you.”

“Wow, that’s not cliche at all,” I replied. I could see him becoming extremely annoyed.

“Why you little ---” He cut himself off as he took a swing at me with his giant ham of a fist. I ducked, and saw his punch going towards Sam.

Then he crumpled to the ground and whimpered. I looked to my right to see Sam in something that resembled a karate position.

“Please tell me you don’t do karate,” I said. “That has to be one of the wimpiest ‘self-defense’ arts I’ve ever heard of. Telling somebody that you can do karate is basically telling them that you can strike a pose and yell ‘Hi-ya’.”

“No, I don’t do karate,” she said in between laughs.

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I pushed through the front door of my house and began my usual routine of sloppiness, rudeness, and not-giving-a-crap-ness. Only there was one snag: Molly and Lane weren’t home. I wondered where Molly was. She was an author, so maybe she was meeting with a publisher or something like that.