The Vampire Prince returns to High School (Book 2)

Catch

That afternoon, class went by normally. If anything, everything was too quiet. It was easier to see the groups of friends all huddled together subconsciously avoiding the vampires. It was the same for the other side. It'll take time to get used to one another.

With one class left before going home, I headed upstairs. It was surprising and disappointing that I hadn't seen Alexander since first period. I didn't blame him. With the way I'd acted, I'd avoid me too. Understanding and accepting the truth were completely different.

Before I headed into the class, I sent Alexander a quick text. Hopefully, he would have some time after school. It's not like I couldn't talk to him tomorrow during first period. And yet, I couldn't forget Lisa's words. What if Alexander didn't come back after today? When else was I going to speak to him? 

'It's urgent,' I typed in my phone and pressed send. 

Just like all my other classes, this one had a seating arrangement too. However, unlike before, only human names were marked on that chart. The vampires could sit in any empty chair that they liked. I guess that was one way of doing it. 

I found my seat at the lab table and sat. The seat next to me remained empty. A minute remained until the bell rang, Alexander walked into class. That was surprising. What was more surprising was that he didn't sit with me and instead sat with some guy. I didn't know his name. When that happened, some part of my ego winced. I deserved that, but had he seriously not read my messages?

I was deep in thought when the chair next to me moved. Cassidy smiled at me and put her books down.

"This is new," she said. "I'm looking forward to being your lab partner."

"Uh, sure," I stammered out.

Once I stopped thinking about my bruised ego and Cassidy, I was able to focus on the lecture. The way the information was presented, there was no time for distractions. Plus, it felt nice to sit in class as opposed to watching lecture videos all day.

"Hey, Rin," Cassidy whispered.

I glanced at her. Cassidy slid a folded sheet of paper across the desk. Frowning, I opened it up. It was from Alexander.

'What?' it read.

My frown deepened. That's it? What did that even mean? As I mulled it over, the answer finally came to me. Alexander was probably talking about my text.

'Let's talk in person,' I scribbled back. I folded the paper and slid it back to Cassidy.

Moments later, the paper was back. It read, 'I guess it isn't very urgent.'

My eye twitched. Did I have the patience to explain to him what talking in person meant? I sighed. No, I didn't. I crumbled up the paper and shoved it in my backpack.

"Rin," Cassidy whispered. "The - well -" She pointed across the room.

Against my better judgment, I looked. She pointed at Alexander who was currently writing something down.

"Ignore him," I whispered back. "He's like that, threatening people with death and all that. Gets boring after a while."

"Uh, you talk to the Heir often?" she asked.

I shrugged in response. "No," I told her. "I haven't talked to him in months. It's not like we know each other."

Something smacked into my head. Flinching, I looked down and saw a ball of paper. I shoved that in my backpack too. It was no surprise that Alexander was back to being his childish self. Maybe I was being childish myself but whatever. It was his turn to be ignored.

"That's just rude."

My head snapped to my side. In Cassidy's seat sat Alexander. Our teacher, or anybody else for that matter (except me), noticed the exchange. I glanced at Cassidy. Her attention was completely on the teacher. Great. At this point, she had to suspect something between Alexander and myself.

"What?" I asked.

He narrowed his eyes at me. "You wanted to talk, no?"

I gestured to the class. "Not here," I hissed. "If you saw my text, it said after school."

"I'm busy after school," he replied. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Busy? Since when?"

He gave me another look. "Rin, what is it?"

I looked away. He wasn't joking. I had to admit this responsible Alexander was strange. What exactly did the King have on his head? Or was it the mafia? Then again, what if Alexander wasn't being blackmailed?

"It is nice to know how to go through will all of this," I answered. "We never really talked about . . . well, you know."

"That's it?" he asked. "That's what was urgent?"

That stung. I looked down at my notes.  Maybe I'd been the only worried.

"Alright," I heard myself say. "I won't say anything about . . . us. I'll just treat you like any other vampire. Nothing would have changed. Got it." I cleared my throat. "That's good to know."

"Isn't that what you wanted though?" he asked. "I figured this was how it was going to go. Why are you being like this?"

I shot a glare at him. "I guess that also means that I'm single. After all, my boyfriend ignores me, can't take the time to tell me what's going on, or -" I forced myself to stop. Now wasn't the time to do this. I should just accept what was done and be done with it.

"Go back to your seat, Your Highness."

Alexander sighed beside me. 'Don't be like that,' he said. 'It's hard for me too.'

"I didn't know what had happened to you," I whispered. "What if the mafia went back on their word? I couldn't get in contact with anybody."

Alexander placed his hand upon mine. 'I can't talk about it,' he began.

"I'm not asking you," I hissed. "You could have said 'hi' or dropped in once in a while. Would that have been so much to ask?"

'I - sorry. I should have warned you.'

I sighed. "I'm sorry that you thought I wouldn't understand that you couldn't tell me anything."

'Let's talk later.'

"That's all I wanted, Alexander."

The corner of his mouth twitched. "I think I can make it up to you," he said with a wink.

I turned away feeling my face burn. I guess it had been a while since I'd last pet a kitten.