The Vampire Prince graduates High School (Book 3)

Unexpected

I woke to pressure on my back. It was also warmer than usual. I went to kick off my comforter but found that I couldn't. Yawning, I tried to move to them and bump­ed into something. Wait, no, someone.

I sat up quickly.

"Alexander?" I whispered.

He didn't respond. In the darkness, I reached out and found his. I quickly moved my hand away. Adjusting the distance, I found his shoulder. Then his back.

Alexander's back rose and fell. I nudged him. Still, no response.

I search for my phone. The sudden light blinded me. It was 5 am. Even half-asleep, I knew Alexander would have been gone by now.

I nudged him again but he didn't respond. Maybe he was asleep? I couldn't tell. this never happened before. As the panic and surprise built, I heard footst­eps outside the door.

It wasn't time to get up. Why were my parents awake? The thought made me stop. That didn't make sense. What did make sense was that my parents would be awake earlier than me.

"Rin?" Mom whispered.

I bolted up and stumbled to the door just as it opened. Mom's surpris­ed face looked at me through the small crack.

The hallway light was dimmed.

Somew­here in the distance, I heard Dad.

"You're awake?" I asked Mom.

She blinked a couple of times.

"Y-yeah," she said. "Did we wake you?"

I opened the door just enough so she wouldn't get suspicious.

Glanc­ing back, Alexander was safe, for now.

Meanwhile, my palms wouldn't stop sweating and my voice sounded too high-pitched.

"Yeah, a bit," I said, "what's going on?"

"Nothing," Mom quickly said. "Dad and I have to go in early."

I frowned. There hadn't been many occasions where they had been called into work early.

"Okay," I said, swallowing the words I wanted to say.

"We can't take you to school today," Mom continued. "You'll need to take the sector transit to the bus stop and take the bus to school."

I scratched my head. "How long does this trip take?"

"An hour maybe? Look, the schedule is online. Get ready then head out."

"Alright," I said.

I moved to close the door but Mom pushed it open. The light from the hallway spilled into the bedroom.

My heart jum­ped to my throat. I swirled around.

"Mom," I began. "I can explain."

"Explain what?" she asked. "That you're going back to sleep."

It took me a moment to register what she said. In that time, she turn­ed on the light.

A large gasp rose out of my throat. In part, it was because of the bright light. The second part was because I was trying to hide Alexander in my room. Mom frowned.

"What are you doing? "she asked.

I looked at my bed and didn't see Alexander. My shoulders sagged in relief. A small hint of disappointment settled in my chest.

"Get dressed," Mom said and closed the door.

It took me several breaths to get myself under control.