Just the thought of Jude talking to another girl in a flirtatious way makes my blood boil with anger. I have no right to feel that way, considering how I feel for Asa and Henry, but I still feel it.
I let out a breath.
I should call my mom and talk to her. Maybe she would know what to do. But she would tell my dad, and he would probably react similarly to how Brody and Kolton did.
What did Asa want to talk to Jude about? The more I think about it, the weirder it is. Maybe I should’ve tried to stay, but something made me want to come to my room. Maybe my annoying need to always please Asa, no matter how much it hurts me to do so. I’m so pathetic. Why do I have to have a crush on a guy who simply doesn’t return the feelings?
There is a knock on my door, so I sit up on my bed.
“Come in,” I yell.
I expect Jude to walk in to my room, or maybe even Asa, but it’s Kolton and Brody. At least they have the audacity to look guilty. Kolton’s shoulders are hunched over, and Brody has a frown on his face.
They walk into my room, shutting the door behind them.
“How are you?” Brody takes a seat on the edge of my bed.
I shrug, not giving a verbal answer. The truth is, I’m a complete mess, but that’s not entirely their fault.
“We’re sorry,” Brody says solemnly.
I glance from Brody to Kolton. Kolton is just standing there, his shoulders still slumped forward. He’s staring at the carpet and not at me.
“Jude is my mate.” I focus on Brody. “You can’t keep me away from him. It’s not right.”
“I know.” He shakes his head. “It’s just hard for us to see our baby sister with some guy.”
I lean forward, putting my hand on his forearm. “I know, Brody. But we all knew this day would come.”
“I didn’t think it would come this early,” he admits. “But even if it hadn’t happened for another hundred years, it would still be hard for me to see you with a guy. I want things to be like they are now. You, Kolton, and me against the world.”
I offer him a smile. “I know. I thought it would be like that for a while. But there’s no reason we can’t add Jude to our group. He’s pretty cool. I think you would get along with him. He’s kind of nerdy. It’s actually really adorable.”
Brody frowns. “You are already falling for him, aren’t you?”
I bite my lip and nod. “He’s pretty great.”
Brody looks from me to Kolton. “Kolt, come on, man.”
Kolton finally makes eye contact with me. “I’m sorry that I punched your mate. I just… I saw you two kissing and I kind of… reacted.”
“It’s not me you should apologize to.” I cross my arms over my chest. It’s easy to forgive Brody. I mean, he has a soft heart, and I can see he feels bad. But Kolton is stubborn and he doesn’t like to admit when he’s wrong. It makes arguing with him nearly impossible. It’s always easier to give in, but I won’t give in this time. Not when it comes to Jude.
“I will apologize to him the next time I see him.” Kolton takes a step closer. “I’m really sorry, Everleigh. You mean so much to me, and I’d hate for you to stay mad at me, even if I deserve it.”
My heart melts.
To have Kolton admit that he was in the wrong means a lot to me. And the fact that he’s going to apologize to Jude too… that means everything. He’s trying, and that is all I can ask from him.
“Thank you, Kolton.” I scoot off my bed and walk over to him, giving him a hug. “I really want my brothers to get along with my mate. It’s really important to me.”
His entire body relaxes at my words and he hugs me back.
My brothers aren’t perfect, but they don’t have to be. I love them exactly the way they are.
I pull back. “But please don’t punch Jude again.”
He laughs. “I promise I won’t.”
3:09 am
Just talk?
Brody and Kolton leave to go to another party. They invite me to go with them, but I’m just not interested tonight. I mostly just want to sulk in my dorm room. What I’m sulking about, I’m not entirely sure. It’s just one of those nights.
I guess a lot has happened tonight, and my mind plays through each event. I’m trying to sort out everything that I’m feeling, but it’s kind of exhausting. I feel way too much.
There is a knock on my door, and my heart races. I assume it’s Jude. I am excited to see him. I want to know what he, Asa, and Henry spoke about when Asa asked me to go to my dorm.
When I open my door, I’m completely surprised to see that it’s not Jude on the other side, but it’s Henry.
“Um… hi,” I say, for lack of something better to say.
“Hey.” He grins. “Can I come in?”
I open the door wider, allowing him to enter. Once he enters, I shut the door behind him.
Henry strolls around the room, inspecting it. “My room when I came here was much smaller. This is nice.”
I shrug. “It’s cause of the whole being fifteenth in line to the throne thing. Kind of stupid, really. I don’t need a room this big or nice.”
I wonder why Henry is here, but I guess it’s not that much of a surprise. He saw me crying earlier and he’s probably here to make sure that I’m okay. It’s actually kind of sweet. I’m glad he’s here.
“Are you feeling better?” He comes to a stop in front of me.
“Yeah.” I nod my head, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. “What happened was kind of crazy, but Jude is okay. I also talked to my brothers. They agreed to be nice to my mate, so there is that.”
My heart races as I admit out loud for the second time that Jude is my mate. I expect Henry to look disappointed by me saying it, but he doesn’t. He doesn’t react at all. I mean, he already knew, because of what happened earlier. But I still wish he looked disappointed. Maybe these feelings are just one sided.
Henry cocks his head. “Why do you suddenly look sad?”
“I’m not sad.” The piece of hair that I tucked behind my ear pops right back to the front of my face. You’d think I’d learn to pin the piece back, but I always forget.
He slowly reaches his hand up, tucking the piece of hair behind my ear. At last, his skin touches me, barely grazing the skin on top of my ear. But when our skin touches, I know that he’s my mate too. That’s why I felt so strongly about him.
“How?” Is the first word to leave my mouth. Because I’m not supposed to have more than one mate. This just doesn’t even feel real. This… the way I feel about Henry… it’s too good to be true.
“I don’t know.” He stares at me, never breaking eye contact. “But nothing has ever been more perfect than this. You are so beautiful.”
My jaw goes lax as I look into the eyes of my mate.
When I first met Henry, I felt so guilty for being attracted to him. I felt like I was betraying Jude. But I was attracted to him. So attracted.
“What about Jude?” Because Jude is my mate too, and I don’t want to hurt him.
“He already knows.” Henry pulls me into his arms, holding me against him.
I sink into his embrace, loving the way his arms feel around me. I fit so perfectly in his arms.
“How does Jude know?” I ask, realizing what Henry just said.
“Because I talked to him.”
I look up, raising an eyebrow. “And he was okay?”
Henry smiles at me. “Everleigh, you can’t fight fate. And even if you could, why would you want to? Jude and I both know what it means to share a mate, and we are willing if you are.” He sighs, pulling me closer. “I’ve waited ninety years for you. I’m not letting you go for anything.”
Ninety years? “Wow, you’re old.” I giggle as I say it. Really, it’s common for there to be large age gaps between mates. My dad is two hundred years older than my mom. It’s just how it works.
He smacks my butt. “You should respect your elders.”
“I’ll do anything you want as long as you
spank me like that again.”
Henry’s eyes light up, and his lip turns up on one side. “Don’t tempt me. Not tonight. Tonight, we talk.” He leans close to my ear and whispers. “But I promise, if you want me to spank you later, I will.”
He wants to just talk after that?
I want…
Everything.
Monday, September 7
7:07 pm
First day.
When I wake up, the sun is still up.
I groan, thinking it’s way too early to be up right now.
This morning, Henry and I talked until the sun came up, and it was magical. I was surprised by how much we have in common, though I suppose I shouldn’t be. He’s my mate.
I wonder how I’m going to break the news to Brody and Kolton. Or to my parents. I haven’t even told my mom and dad about Jude yet. Now I have to tell them about Henry and Jude. It’s going to be so… well, probably weird. It’s not normal to have two mates.
I suck on the straw of my blood bag, wondering why me. Why do I have to be the one who has two mates? Why can’t I just be normal? But then again, when have I ever been ‘normal’?
My family is considered an elite family. Even my mom, though she was bitten, is still considered elite, because it was my dad who turned her. But even among the elites, they don’t like us because we don’t support the elitist mentality. It shouldn’t matter if you were born or bitten. Every vampire should be equal, but that’s simply not the case. And I hate how the elite treat bitten vampires. I mean, bitten vampires aren’t even allowed to come to this school.
Not that bitten vampires are much nicer to born vampires. Bitten vampires have their own academy too, and born vampires aren’t allowed to go there. It’s such a big divide that simply doesn’t make sense.
It’s my uncle who caused the divide. He’s the king, and he’s the one who decided that born vampires are superior. The irony is, my uncle is a turned vampire. Him, my aunt, and my dad were the first vampires ever. This witch was trying to become immortal, and she was trying her spell out on other people. Most of them died. But my dad and his siblings were the first to survive. They are the first vampires.
Whenever the witch tried to turn herself into a vampire, the spell backfired. Not only did she die, but she caused all witches to start losing their powers. Witches used to be very powerful, but now they’re hardly even considered in the supernatural community. It’s sad, really. But I hear the witches weren’t the nicest of supernaturals, so maybe it was for the best. I know that the witch who turned my dad deserved to die for all the torture she inflicted on thousands of humans to get her spell just perfect.
I finish off my bag of blood and head to my first class, History of Shifters. I’m not excited about this class. I mean, I know it’s important to know about other supernatural races, but I feel like I already know most of their history. This class would be better suited for a bitten vampire, if we had them in the school.
I get to class about ten minutes early and take a seat. A few people are already in the classroom. A seat at the back of the room catches my eye and I make my way there and claim it. The sound of people filtering in reaches my ears, but I focus on looking through my books while I wait for class to start. I get the feeling this is going to be an easy class.
A chair moves beside me, so I look up and see Jude claiming the seat next to me.
I grin. “Hey, Jude.”
“Everleigh.” He scoots his chair a little closer to mine. “Good morning.”
It is a good morning with him here for sure. “It’s technically night.”
“Eh, night is when a vampires day starts.” He shrugs.
Jude looks very cute today. I notice he’s wearing a pair of shorts, which makes me smile. He took what I said about wearing shorts to heart. He also has on a Godzilla shirt, which only adds to how adorable I think he is. I love that he’s a nerd.
“I’ve never seen Godzilla,” I admit, looking at his shirt.
His eyes widen. “What?”
I like that he’s so shocked by my confession. “We should watch it together.”
Jude nods. “Absolutely. I can’t believe my mate has never watched Godzilla. It’s one of the best movies of all times.”
He goes on to tell me a little bit about the history of Godzilla. It’s awesome that he’s so passionate and excited about the things that he likes. It makes me excited for them too. I keep finding all these little quirks about Jude that are just so adorable. I had no idea that I would be so attracted to a guy who is a little nerdy.
A little before class starts, I notice Brody and Kolton walk in. I had forgotten that I had this class with them. Jude tenses up a little as they sit at the table next to us, but they just wave. I’m glad that they’re trying. I know they don’t like Jude yet, and they might not for a while, but they’re trying for me. That means a lot because Jude is important to me.
After my History of Shifters class is over, I have a twenty minute break before I head to my next class, Mating Rituals. I’m glad that neither Jude nor my brothers are in that class with me, because that would be completely awkward.
3:00 am
Vampires in Modern Age.
My last class of the day is Vampirism in Modern Ages. Asa is my teacher, so I am very nervous about going into the classroom. I’m scared to see him. Anxious that he will ignore me again.
Something changed for us yesterday. I mean, he actually talked to me. That’s huge. But then he met Jude, and I don’t know what happened after that. Are things going to be better between us? Is he going to keep talking to me? Or are things going to go back to the way they were? I hope he doesn’t start ignoring me again; I don’t know if my heart can take it.
I show up to class a little early and take a seat in the front for this class. I don’t normally like the front, but I want to be near Asa.
I shouldn’t be like this. I have a mate. No, I have two mates. And Asa hasn’t once shown an interest in me that way. I have no right to obsess over him like this, but I can’t help it.
I’m glad that I don’t share this class with anybody else. Brody and Kolton decided to take other classes this semester, and Jude couldn’t fit it into his schedule.
Vampirism in Modern Ages is a mandatory class. Most of the people in here are seniors. I guess they put off taking it, and I can’t blame them. But me, I wanted to get it over with. Now that I know Asa teaches it, I can’t help but hope the semester is a long one. I want as much time with him as possible.
This class basically teaches us the importance of hiding what we are from the humans. Now that cell phones with cameras are a thing, we have to be cautious. And maybe this class was important fifteen or twenty years ago, but now it’s pointless. We all grew up with cell phones. We know exactly how important hiding what we are is. There is nothing we can learn in this class that we don’t already know. But, since the vampire council demands it, we do it.
Asa walks into the classroom with a cup of blood in one hand, and a tablet in the other. He doesn’t seem excited to be teaching this class, and he’s probably not. He’s probably just as bored in this class as the students are. Still, I will pay close attention. Not because I’m interested in the subject, but because I’m interested in the teacher.
When Asa starts class, he scans the room. His eyes land on mine for only a split second before he looks away, but that second of eye contact is all it takes for my heart to race and my stomach to be full of butterflies.
But then he doesn’t look my way again for the entire hour and a half long class. Not once.
He makes eye contact with everybody else.
He looks around me.
He even acknowledges other students.
But me? He acts like I’m not even here.
Maybe I am blowing this out of proportion. Maybe Asa doesn’t even realize he’s doing it. Maybe he doesn’t even notice me a little bit. My heart feels crushed at the thought, but it makes sense. Why would he notice me? I’m just
his best friend’s daughter. He knew me when I was a kid. He was even at the hospital when I was born. Why would he like me like that? He probably knows I have a crush on him and he’s trying to let me down easy.
I am actually pathetic.
I try to tell myself that I am okay, but the more he won’t look my way, the more my chest hurts.
I should focus on Jude. I should focus on Henry. But my heart is screaming for Asa to notice me. It’s confusing when your head and heart are screaming two different things.
A thought enters my mind. What if Asa is my mate too? The way that I feel about him is similar to how I feel for Jude and Henry.
But no. He can’t be my mate. If he was, he wouldn’t hate me like he does. He would feel how much it hurts for him to treat me like he does. Because I hurt around Asa a lot.
Besides that, I already have two mates, which is completely unheard of. I can’t have a third mate. I just can’t.
When class comes to an end, I gather my stuff slowly, hoping to get a chance to talk to Asa. But as I stand up, I look and see that some senior girl is speaking with him. She’s flirting with him, and he’s smiling at her. It’s just too much. So I turn and run from the classroom. I run to my room, trying to hold back the tears, but there is blood running down my face by the time I fall into my bed.
Why do I have to have such strong feelings for a guy who doesn’t even notice I exist? It just doesn’t seem fair.
4:47 am
Telling the truth.
I wipe the blood off my face with a wet washcloth, but it doesn’t do any good. About the time I get my face cleaned, I started crying again.
What is wrong with me? Seriously. I’m crying over a guy who doesn’t want me when I have two guys, two mates, who adore me. Asa isn’t worth my tears. He doesn’t even know that I’m crying.
Vampire School (Elite Academy Book 1) Page 4