The Vampire Prince graduates High School (Book 3)

Quiet Moment

A few minutes later, Violet had to leave. I finished the rest of the wrap and sent a message to Joseph. Not point in staying. I had too much work to do.

On the way home, I rested my head on the window. Overwhelmed was an understatement. I had a huge to-do list and I wanted to be in pajamas when I started working on it.

We got home quicker than I thought. That or I took a quick nap. Either way, I waved to Joseph and went inside. 

 My break lasted ten minutes. Long enough for me to change into sweat­pants, eat a snack, and lay down for about five minutes. 

I brought my laptop into the kitch­en and got to work. 

First, I started on dinner. Normally, I wouldn't wish my attempts at cooking on anyone but I wanted to be more helpful around the house. My dad had left some marinated chicken in the fridge. I preheated the oven and waited. In the meantime, I worked on my school classes. For Environmental Science I had to read the first chapter and com­pleting activities which was mostly discussion boards. 

When the oven beeped, I placed the chicken on a tray and shoved it into the oven. I set the timer and continued to my next class which was AP Government. AP Economics would be next semester. That was read­ing chapters too but I had to take quizzes. 

As I finished with that last quiz, my parents got home. Mom immediately went to change her clothes. Dad walked into the kitchen.

 "Hey, kiddo," Dad said. He kissed my head.

"Dinner is almost ready," I told him. "You'll have to make the side dish yourself though."

"I think I can handle that much," he said. "This is a nice surprise, though."

I shrugged. "I had time," I said. "Plus, I got home early. I'll be in my room."

I gathered my materials and went to my room. As I waited for dinner to be ready, I finished up some more applications for internships. While Violet had extended an invitation, my parents didn't have to let me. 

Mom called me downstairs when dinner was ready. I plugged my laptop in to charge before heading downstairs. 

"How was your talk with Violet?" Dad asked as I sat down with my food. 

I bit my lip before telling them every­thing. When I finished, Dad sat back and Mom put down her utensils.

"Are you going to accept it?" Dad asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know. She's only offering this to me because I'm dating Alexander. I haven't done anything to deserve this opportunity."

"Is that what you think? "Mom asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" I asked.

"It's up to you," Dad said. "Do you want it?"

I nodded. "I want to help," I told th­em.

"Then accept it," Mom said.

"You'll let me?" I couldn't hide the surprise in my voice.

"Rin, you're 18," Dad said. "We can let you make decisions like these." 

"We trust you," Mom added. "Just make sure you keep us inform once in a while."

"Don't go behind our backs," Dad said.

"Okay, I won't. I'll let Violet know."

After dinner, I helped my parents with dishes before going to my room. I checked my phone but there were no messages. 

Biting my lip, I texted Alexander. 'Hope you had a good day. Don't forget to take care of yourself.'

Once I accepted the internship I wouldn't sit on the sidelines anymore. Now, I could help Alexander and maybe see him more often. Was that too selfish of me? No, I told myself. I made my decision. I had to stop being on the fence about this.

I hopped on my computer once again and emailed Violet. Texting should probably kept to a minimum. At least with an email, there was a paper trail so to speak. Once that was taken care of, it was time for homework. with the amount I had to read and online quizzes to take, I doubt I'd be getting done anytime soon. The only thing I could look forward to was not having to fill out two internship applications every day.

Before showering, I finished my Pre-Cal homework and the optional practice sheets. The optional ones would get me two points toward a test score. With that, I might not fail an upcoming test with everything that might happen, doubted I'd have time to study.

I stayed under the warm water for a few more minutes before stepping out. After drying and dressing myself, I heeded downstairs for a snack. The lights were dimmed and I could hear my parents in the laundry room though I couldn't hear what they were saying. 

I grabbed some celery sticks and peanut butter from the kitchen and went back to my room. Recently, I'd been feeling hungry lately. Or maybe it was stress. 

Plus, I'd be staying up late. The snack might keep me awake. 

By the time I finished my AP English homework - the first paper of the month - and my snack (I'd devoured it), it was half past ten.

 In reality, I was done with the most important stuff but if I read ahead, I wouldn't have so much work to do tomorrow. Ah, decisions, decisions.

Just as I was contemplating whether to sleep or not, my phone buzzed. 

'Awake?' it said.

A smile pulled at my lips. 

"Yeah," I said aloud.

A few minutes later, Alexander climbed through my window. I shivered at the cool air coming in. He quickly closed the window and joined me on the bed.

I wrapped part of my comforter around him.

"You looked cold," I explained.

He smiled and kissed my forehead. The exhaustion showed on his face. His hair was disheveled and even his clothes weren't as crisp and they tended to be. 

I grabbed everything on my bed and placed it on the floor. Alexander crawled under my comforter and laid down as I turned the lights off. 

The room was plunged into total darkness.

 Carefu­lly, I made my way to the bed and crawled next to Alexander. Neither of us spoke. He didn't need to tell about the mountain of work he had to do, or the tact that he felt guilty for not seeing me.

"I'm glad you're here," I whispered. I rolled and snuggled into him. "The fan club got new members today."

Alexander spooned against me. Guess I was the big spoon tonight. It was the least I could do for him. I rubbed his back. 

"You did good today," I told him. 

"Doesn't feel like it."

"It'll pay off in the end," I assumed him.

"We'll see," he muttered. He kissed my cheek. "Sorry. I shouldn't be like this when I'm with you. I haven't even asked about your day."

"Alexander," I interrupted. "It's okay to feel overwhelmed. It's not a burden. I'm glad you can trust me with this. And my day was fine."

He sighed. "Thanks." He snuggled closer and I placed my cheek on his head. It was nice that we could lay here like this without needing to talk. Just be close to him comforted me.

We laid like this, in the darkness, until couldn't keep my eyes open. The rise and fall of his back against my mind drew further and further away. I remembered something I wanted to tell him but it was too late. Sleep had claimed me.