The Vampire Prince returns to High School (Book 2)

Gossip

Cassidy waited for me at the food court just like she said she would. Surprisingly, there were a lot more people than I had expected. Well, at least we weren't exactly alone. I couldn't tell if they were vampires or humans. What if someone heard us? 

"Rin," Cassidy called out when she saw me. 

Trying not to attract too much attention, I made my way across the food court. Honestly, I didn't know what I  had expected to see. If I looked closely enough, only humans ate food and the vampires had their own specially made drinks. Cassidy had one such drink herself.

"Hey," she said as I sat. "I'm glad you could make it. You wouldn't believe how much Lisa wanted to join us."

"What did you tell her?" I asked.

"I told her next time. To be frank, you don't seem to enjoy vampire company that much. You put up with it at school because you had to."

Oh. Did I give off that vibe? Why hadn't Alexander tell me anything? 

"N-no," I stammered out. "I mean, everything is just weird. My brain has to adjust. It's not like I don't like vampires. It's more like I don't like all humans and I don't like all vampires. Does that make sense?"

She smiled. "You can relax Rin. I'm not holding anything against you."

"Okay." I cleared my throat. "So, you wanted to talk?"

"Your crush," she replied.

You would think I'd come up with a game plan, but I hadn't and I had no idea what I was going to say.

"Why is that something we need to talk about?" I asked. "It's probably the Prince messing with me or something. You know how he is."

Cassidy bit her lip. "Yes, I do know which is why I wanted to talk to you. See, the Heir doesn't do anything without some motive. He's gone out of his way to, well, woo you, for lack of a better word. You should take that seriously."

I picked at my fingers. "So, what does that mean?"

Cassidy shook her head in disbelief. I was acting 'dumb' better than I would have thought possible.

"He's interested in you," she hissed. "Allure or not, he has instigated contact with you."

"Then I should avoid him."

At this, Cassidy shrugged. "It's up to you. I won't tell you what to do. If anything, I want to warn you."

Now she had my attention. I leaned in closer. "Warned me? About what?"

Cassidy stayed silent. If she didn't want to gossip, she shouldn't have asked to talk. What was the point of withholding information now?

"Cassidy?" I prompted.

She sighed. "The Heir has been with a lot of girls," she rushed to say. "He likes . . . playing around. I don't want him to do the same thing to you. All he wants is to feed on you and then leave."

If she only knew the truth. She wasn't wrong. Alexander had wanted my blood (I wasn't sure about his stance on it now) and, eventually, he had fed from me but he hadn't left. We ended up dating. Could I tell that to Cassidy? Definitely not. Plus, Alexander had already told me he hadn't been with anyone. It was stupid to doubt him now. I trusted him.

"What do you suggest I do?" I asked. "You seem to know a lot more than I do."

If she could have blushed, she would. "Rumors," she answered. "Some are louder than others."

"Well, I do appreciate you going out of your way to tell me all of this. I'll  think on what you said and figure out what I'm going to do."

"I don't mean to make this difficult. I know it's not something you want to hear."