The sun beamed down on the parking lot this morning. I could barely look straight without the white reflections from the car dazzling me. Dad filled the trunk with heavy cardboard boxes, all marked by the genre of book inside. His handwriting was very messy for a writer.
He dabbed his forehead with his sleeve after lifting the last box.
I stood by Mr. Harker, who leaned on the side of the car, unbothered by the heat. His golden hair and silver eyes sparkled in the sun, and he had no trouble wearing a black, long sleeve shirt. It was sweating just looking at him.
He handed me a hardcover book, with an oil painting of a lighthouse on the front.
“Here you are,” he said. He had a posh, English accent, though I didn’t know where he was from.
I pursed my lips, and opened the book:
Dracula
Chapter I
I looked up.
“Look, there’s only so many copies of Capsule Bay,” Harker pushed. He stuffed his hands into his khaki dress pants and looked out at the parking lot.
“At least it’s not Oedipus,” I said, dryly.
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“Don’t you like vampires?”
“Yeah, but I also like things I can understand.”
“You can’t understand it? It’s not that old. Just a bit over a hundred years ago.”
I sighed, and put it in my satchel, next to the take-out container of pancakes.
“Don’t spoil the cover!” Harker exclaimed. “I don’t want syrup all over it.”
“I don’t like syrup, remember?”
“Fine. We’ll see you later, alright?”
“You too!”
Mr. Harker got in the passenger seat of the car. Dad closed the trunk and rubbed my shoulder. His messy bangs were stringy from sweat. I didn’t know why he wanted to stand in the park all day selling books.
“And you’re one-hundred-percent sure he’s your friend?” he asked me.
“It’s really him!” I said. “I told you, already.”
“I just want to make sure. You never know. He could be a bully, now.”
“And you didn’t say this before I packed an entire suitcase?”
“Well… Guess I just couldn’t believe it.”
He patted me on the back, and soon, he and Mr. Harker were off to the park. Sadly for me, I had to wait for Casper to pick me up. There was no way I was hauling a suitcase across town, or risking Dad seeing the creepy castle.