The Vampire Prince returns to High School (Book 2)

Relationship Advice

Instead of relaxing in my room, I went up on the roof. It was a lot tougher getting up there on my own but I managed. As soon as I sat down, the nostalgia washed over me and I drowned in it.

Having Alexander say he wanted to find a way to be together . . . It made me happy even if the guilt choked me. This whole situation was stupid. Since when was I part of this late-night soap opera? The worst part of it was that it felt like I had no life apart from dating Alexander. Then again, I had no life since the first incident with Micah. I always hid and refused to go out. In part, Alexander had changed all that and I was grateful.

I allowed myself a small smile. It had been nice while it lasted. All I had to do now was convince Alexander we were better off not seeing each other anymore. It was time he stepped up to the responsibility of the throne.

"Careful there. One wrong step and you'll break your neck."

I jumped up, looking around frantically. It was then that I spotted Cassidy and she looked pissed. I swallowed the rising panic and turned into anger.

"Why do you vampires always threaten me?" I asked. "At this point, I might as well advocate to shut down the co-existence program."

Cassidy stalked towards me. Her eyes glowed red. Against every fiber of my being, I stood my ground.

"It's your fault this mess is happening," she told me. "If you weren't in the picture, the Prince and I would already be married."

I crossed my arms. "Is that why you came all this way?" I asked. "To tell me I'm ruining your plans?"

"He came to my house tonight," she said, "and said he wanted to break off our engagement because of you. I can't believe you asked him to do that."

I gaped at her for the longest time. "What?" I finally managed to say. "Do you honestly think that I would ask Alexander to do that?" I raised my hand to stop her from answering. "No, wait. Considering how you're here, I'm going to say that you do believe that."

"You're making me seem like the bad guy," she blurted out. "All those fans write hate messages to me like I'm responsible for breaking you up. It should be the other way around.

"Connor and Michael are ready to throw a fit. They're great friends, just a bit overbearing as bodyguards."

Guilt twisted my insides.

"Oh, I didn't know about that," I said. "Sorry. Uh, I didn't ask them to do that."

Cassidy shook her head and turned away. I watched pace around the roof for a few minutes.

"Do you love him?"  I asked.

"And if I say yes?" she shot back.

I looked at the neighborhood spread around us.

"Then, I'll be happy," I told her. "I'll know that he's going to marry someone that cares for him and who only wants him to succeed. And even if he doesn't, he'll have someone there that will support him no matter what."

She sighed. "There's no winning with you."

I shrugged. "You still haven't answered my question."

"It doesn't matter," she said. "The throne doesn't care what you have sacrifice or will have to. If I don't go through with this, everything will be pointless. I would lose so much time."

I sat. "I'm sorry. I honestly didn't know Alexander was engaged. If I knew, I wouldn't have gone out with him."

Cassidy sat beside me. "I'm not ending the engagement," she told me. "Even if I wanted, and that's a big if, I couldn't. My father and King Rothchester will need more of a logical reason as to why the Prince and I can't get married.

"And just so you know, it's not going to work out between you and the Prince. The people aren't ready for a human queen."

"I don't want to be queen," I whispered.

"But you had to have known what was going to happen if you dated him, right? No offense, but what did you think was going to happen? How long did you think your relationship was going to last?"

My chin trembled. "I always thought he would break up with me," I confessed. "I thought he would say that he can't abandon his dream and birthright." I swallowed thickly. "But he hasn't."

"If by some miracle, he manages to break off the engagement, are you going to date him again?"

"I don't know," I answered honestly. "Do you think I should?"

Cassidy gaped at me. "Are you seriously asking your ex-boyfriend's fiancée for relationship advice?"

I guess I hadn't thought about that.

"Yes?" I replied.

She laughed. "Wow. Well, in that case, if he's willing to go through all this trouble for you then, I say to go for it."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. Just cause you're dating someone doesn't mean you have to marry them." She shrugged. "Or maybe you will but no one will ever know."

"You make it sound so easy."

She smiled sadly. "I wish I had someone who would do that for me." She bit her lip. "For what it's worth, I am sorry for trying to control you. I panicked but there's no excuse."

It took me a minute to speak. "Thanks for that," I managed to say. "I don't think I can forgive you just yet though."

"That's fine," she said, "I just needed to say it."

Sighing, I pulled my legs up to my chest. "I'll tell the fans to stop bothering you. I think they'll listen to me."

"That would be nice." She laid down. "I said people won't support you but you do have a lot of support."

"That's all Alexander," I told her. "He talks to them way more than me. They know everything about our relationship."

"Who would have thought that?" She muttered.

A comfortable silence settled between us. Now that I didn't feel threatened, I felt a little better. 

"Do you have Sonia's number by any chance?" Cassidy suddenly asked.

I frowned. "Why?"

"I know you used to be friends," Cassidy began, "and I sort of promised Lisa I'd get her number."

"Lisa?" I asked. "Well, um, it'll be better if she asked Sonia for her number instead. She'll kill me if I gave it out."

"Alright. Makes sense."

I was not going to ask what was going on with that. It was none of my business.

"Just tell her to talk to Sonia. I know she can be b*tchy but maybe not to everyone."

"Makes me want to tell Lisa to stay away."

"When Sonia is on your side, it's awesome. When she's not, it sucks."

Cassidy frowned. "I hate this."

I stared out into the neighborhood again. "It's not easy."