The Vampire Prince returns to High School (Book 2)

Handling It

In a daze, I waited for Cassidy to join me in the cafeteria. Normally, I would have called a teacher or stepped in before so, why hadn't I? Why had I acted like it'd been my first time seeing this? I should have talked to Mr. Flora. He would have stepped in. What if the vampire girl hadn't been able to stop? So many things could have gone wrong.

Alexander had said to make sure everything went smoothly. Was that why I hadn't done anything? I wish it wasn't like that. It would be like I had betrayed myself. To be truthful, I had betrayed myself, hadn't I?

"Rin."

Hearing Cassidy's voice made me jump. She sat down beside me. I forced a smile. Gosh, this was terrible. Was she going to ask me to lie? Or stay quiet? Wasn't that the same thing?

"Everything was settled?" I ventured to ask. 

Cassidy shifted forward. "I talked to Melanie and Felicia," she replied. "They are not  doing this again." She shook her head. "Violet is so pissed off right now. She's going to talk to them and their parents."

That was a lot to unpack. I frowned.

"You know Violet?" I asked. "Like know her, know her?"

Cassidy nodded. "Yeah," she replied. "I wouldn't be here if it hadn't been for her. She's helped my family a lot."

"Okay, but what happens now?" 

"What do you mean?"

"We have to tell Ms. Kim. What if something bad happened?"

Cassidy sighed. She looked at me like I was a child. "It's better not to," she said. "If we do, everything we worked for will be destroyed."

"They should have thought about that before doing something like that at school."

As I spoke, Cassidy's eyes narrowed. Yeah, I had done the wrong thing but that didn't mean it couldn't be fixed. I could march up to Ms. Kim and told her what had happened. Thanks to Cassidy, I now knew the girls' names. 

"Whose side are you on?"

I gaped at Cassidy for a long time. "Excuse me," I stammered out.

"Well, yeah," she said. "I thought you would want vampires in school. I mean, the Heir is a vampire. If you mention this to the principal, you won't see him again. Your relationship will be over."

When she spoke, her words made total sense. Why would I do something like that? It was better to keep quiet. All I had to do was go about my day like nothing had happened . . .

My insides twisted. I didn't think twice. I stood and slapped Cassidy. 

A stun silenced followed. I was furious. My eyes teared up. 

"You bitch," I hissed at her. "How dare you do that to me?"

Not once had I thought Cassidy would use her Allure on me. I felt sickened, violates, and betrayed. Gosh, I really knew how to pick 'friends'. Disgusted, I grabbed my bag and left. 

"Rin, wait,"  Cassidy called after me. 

I didn't stop walking. How could I be so stupid? Had I thought Cassidy wouldn't be only interested in keeping vampires in school? Not to mention how she assumed Alexander wouldn't want to be with me if this movement fell through. Did she think he was only interested in me as a way to show vampires and humans could get along?

Well, I for sure wasn't going to keep her secret. Maybe I was being spiteful but I was tired of being treated this way. Was there a sign on my forehead or something? 

"Rin."

Cassidy grabbed my arm. I turned and tugged it free.

"You don't think much of me but the least you can do is keep your distance."

"I'm sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have done that. I panicked."

"So this is what you do?" I asked. "You go into their heads and make them agree with you?"

"I shouldn't have done that but you weren't listening."

"You know, that doesn't sound like an apology." I shook my head. "Whatever. Just leave me alone."

Except she didn't. Even when the bell rang, she followed me to the Principal's office. Before we reached it, Cassidy blocked my path.

"Please don't do this Rin," she pleaded. "Melanie promised it wouldn't happen again."

I adjusted my backpack on my shoulders. This was not happening. I crossed my arms. Honestly, I didn't even know what to say at this point. Turns out, I didn't have to say anything. 

"Aren't you ladies supposed to be in class?" Ms. Kim asked.

I turned and saw her stepping out of the employee's bathroom. 

"Yes."

"No."

Ms. Kim crossed her arms. "Well, since you have nothing to say," she told Cassidy, "go to your class. I'll talk with Miss Borek."

Before Cassidy could say anything else, I headed into the office with the Principal. Now that I a here, I felt panicked. Ms. Kim took me into her office and called the counselor in as well. When the door closed to the Principal's office, I blurted out everything. It was now or never. 

When I was done, both women stared at me speechless. Ms. Kim was the first to speak.

"Thank you, Miss Borek," she said. "I appreciate your honesty. I'll talk with those three ladies. In the meantime, you'll be in detention for the rest of the day. I can't have a student assaulting someone else, now can I?"

I should have expected something like that but it still caught me off guard. Without saying anything else, I walked out of the office. The route to detention was a familiar one. I might have gone there once a couple of months ago but it still felt like it had happened yesterday. 

The walk gave me some time to digest everything that had happened. I looked down at my hand. It was still red and only now I was feeling the impact. The only thing I regretted was not punching Cassidy. A slap was nothing. Plus, who's to say she wouldn't try it again on me? I mean, why had she thought it was okay to get into my head? Who else had she done it to? 

Almost every vampire I had ever met had tried their Allure on me. I was getting sick and tired of that. I needed this day to be over.  I needed my mom's brownies. Those always made me feel better. I also needed a friend. The only one I had . . . he was busy with royal responsibilities. I just needed someone I could talk to. Why was it so hard to have that?