by Dima Zales
"Oh, I love the seat warmers," he said, reclining his seat back.
I reclined my seat as well, and we sat in silence for a while.
"Did you end up going to Hailey's last night?" he asked me.
"I did, and she's one arrogant fool. Any normal person would have been shaking and begging for mercy. Not her. She was adamant that she had done no wrong and even spat in my face."
"Why does that not surprise me?" he asked, shaking his head. "You must have scared her more than she let on though. Did you know that she didn't come to school today?"
I looked at him. "I didn't know that. All of my classes are with the honors students. Obviously she isn't in any of those classes. That does explain why people seem to be worse today."
"I heard your sister telling people that the rumors are lies started by Hailey. Nobody wants to hear it. Maybe if I start pounding a few faces, people will stop."
"No. You'll just get in trouble and besides, people will start saying that I gave you an STD and you'll be in the line of fire too. It's best that you just stay out of it. You've already had rumors spread about you."
"I don't care what anyone says about me."
"I do," I told him. "Just let me fight my own battle. I don't want you getting dragged into it. You can keep being my friend and giving me support. That helps more than you know."
19
I was sitting with Clara in the living room, and we were talking about how she wanted to train me. We were the only ones home, so it was a safe topic for the time being. She was discussing some techniques that she wanted me to understand before I tried them out.
The only problem was that I could not focus on what she was talking about. I was looking at her, saw her mouth moving, and I was aware of sounds coming out. But I was thinking about Tanner at his football practice. I wondered what he was doing at that exact moment. Maybe he was thinking about me too.
"Alexis."
I shook my head. "Sorry, Clara. I just can't focus."
"What has you so preoccupied?" she asked.
"You know what I'm going through at school," I said. "How can you ask what I'm thinking about? Speaking of school, when are you going to start?"
She smiled. "I'm taking full advantage of the jet lag. Your parents agreed to let me begin after the weekend."
"Ugh. I have to go the rest of the week getting hit with objects while walking down the hall. You know, people will probably leave me alone if you're with me. You're a weasel."
She laughed. "A weasel? I hear you missed a lot more school than a few days. Actually, weasels are very useful creatures. Did you know that at Buckingham Palace, they used ferrets to get the wiring in through the walls?"
"That's superb. And yes, I did know that," I said. "So you're making yourself useful around here while I'm suffering in school?"
"Actually, I am. I'm helping your mom get some things done around here. I get the feeling that she gets a little lonely during the days."
"That's not surprising," I said. "Spending all of my time in a house is not my idea of fun. That's one reason that I've worked so hard all of my life to do so well in school. I've always wanted an exciting career. I had no idea what was actually in store for me though."
"Exciting it will be. Your parents are so busy running the kingdom. They travel all of the time. Have you heard about their current trip?"
"Vaguely, nobody is in the habit of informing about much around here."
"They are in Europe going through several countries, dealing with issues that have arisen there. In many ways, they serve as judges because they have to solve disputes that the local leaders can't handle on their own."
"Really?" I asked. "Will I get to do things like that? One of the many things that I've always wanted to be is a judge."
"You'll get your fair share of time serving as judge, believe me. Maybe more than you want. You would be surprised how often these so-called leaders can't handle issues in their own areas."
"That sounds so much better than being a judge. Being able to travel and then serve as judge in different places all over the world. I can't wait."
"Then you had better get ready to buckle down and learn about vampire culture, history, and governing rules. It's time to get your mind off human boys."
I blushed furiously. "What? How did you know? I didn't think anyone could read a royal's mind. Not even other royals."
She laughed. "I don't have to read your mind, Lexi. It takes one to know one, and I can read you like a book right now."
"You're not angry with me?" I asked. "I mean I'm in love with Cliff and destined to be with him. But he's not here, and the human guy is being such a good friend to me."
"Is he the one that you kissed, that caused Cliff to take off in the first place?"
I looked down and sighed. "Yes."
"Be careful of those humans," she told me. "It's not like the movies and the books. They don't usually want to be turned to stay with you forever. I've been around for over 230 years, and I've fallen in love with quite a few mortals. They always end up wanting someone that they can have kids with and grow old with. We can't do that with them."
"They don't want eternal life? I thought most people want to live forever."
"People are drawn to it obviously, but in their minds, vampires are repulsive creatures. Even if they fall in love with us, they don't want to become one of us."
"That just doesn't make sense, but I guess I'm brainwashed from the few movies that I've seen."
"It's romantic in the books and makes for a great story. I just wish that it were true."
"Is there one guy in particular?"
She half smiled. "Yes, there is one who stands out above all the rest. I fell in love with him about 200 years ago when I was still very young. His name was William, and he was a lawyer. We were both madly in love with each other, and we kept a secret romance going for nearly five years. It was truly amazing. But then he got the bug to settle down and have a family. I begged him to let me turn him so that we could have each other forever. He broke it off, saying that he was as heartbroken as I was, and two years later, he was married and had his family. I watched him from a distance until he was buried."
"That is so tragically sad."
"It is, but that's not the worst of it," she said with a tear in her eye. "They grow old and die, but we don't get the privilege of forgetting about them. It's over two hundred years later and I still long for William."
"Have you tried following his descendants?" I asked. "I know it's not the same, but you might find one who looks like him who might…help you feel better. Or that could be a stupid idea, because you can't replace the one that you love."
"It's not stupid," she said. "I did try that actually. About 80 years ago one of his great, great (times whatever) grandsons was a spitting image of him. He did like me until he found out what I was, and then tried to have me burned at the stake."
"Isn't that supposed to be witches?"
"Yeah, he wasn't as bright as William. I stopped following his descendants after that."
"Haven't you found a vampire to hook up with since then? Forget the mortals. You're better than them anyway."
"I'm not looking for a relationship right now," she said, perking up. "I am in my prime and I am having a lot of fun. I'll settle down either when the right guy shows up or when I get bored with having fun."
"It's nice to have someone who not only understands me, but who also tells me more about vampire life."
"I definitely understand," she said. "It's like I said before, we come from a long line of rebellious spirits. My father would be the king now instead of your father if he hadn't chosen to marry my mother. But our grandfather kicked him out of the royal line."
"You don't think it's the end of the world that I have feelings for someone other than Cliff," I said. "It's so hard to imagine."
"If you were to choose this human and he was to choose you, the world would not fall apart. You'd be out of the royal line, and y
our parents would have to figure something out. Have another daughter perhaps."
"What about the blessing? Cliff and I are destined to be together."
"You still have a free will."
"I'm so torn. I am truly in love with Cliff. He is the most perfect being, and we could rule the world together. What more could I want? He's the most handsome guy ever to walk the earth, he is kind and compassionate, and he truly cares about me. Yet at the same time, I'm undeniably drawn to Tanner, who is such a kind soul despite all kinds of odds against him. He cares about me too. He also just happens to be here, and I have no idea where Cliff has been in close to a month."
"There's no doubt about Cliff's love for you," she said. "Wherever he is, I know that he isn't trying to torture you."
"That's what everyone says, but nobody heard him when he told me to get out of his sight," I said, and my lips began to quiver again. "How can I feel love for two guys? I'm a horrible person."
"You're not a horrible person, Alexis. You just found two amazing men who both also happen to think that you're pretty amazing too. Do you know how many people long to find just one true love?"
I sighed. "I feel like a terrible person."
"The fact that you do shows that you're not."
I raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't make any sense."
"If you didn't care about holding the hearts of two men, you would enjoy this and revel in it. You would think that it was proof of how awesome you are, and you wouldn't care about hurting them. But you do care about them, and you don't want to hurt either of them. I can see that."
"I suppose that's one way to look at it. What am I supposed to do?"
"It all depends on what you want, although before leaving everything to go after the mortal, I would make sure that he is willing to spend eternity with you. By choosing to stay with Cliff, you also get to keep your title as princess, and you get to have the real 'job' of your dreams."
"That's a rotten reason to choose someone, and I would never choose Cliff just so that I could keep my title and position. That would be using him."
"Maybe, but it is also part of the package that you have to consider when you make your final decision. Anyway, you have months left before you complete your transformation, and even then you won't be ready to step into your position of leadership and have your enormous wedding."
"What am I supposed to do for now while I'm waiting for Cliff to return?" I asked. "Do I avoid Tanner, the only friend that I have in a school full of people who hate me?"
"No, don't avoid your only friend. Spend time with him and get to know him better. Make darn sure that you are making the right decision. He showed up in your life at this time for a reason. Don't leave yourself to regret not looking into this further. Since Cliff is gone, you have the perfect opportunity to make sure that you're making the right decision."
"That seems to make sense. What do I do if Cliff comes back?"
"We'll figure that out if and when it does. For now, he's not here, so you can figure things out on your own. In the meantime, we still need to make sure that you receive training in case you become princess. That's why I was sent here. Not to give you romantic advice—that's just a bonus!"
"I need to get prepared. When do we start?"
"Let's go out tonight after everyone is in bed. Then we'll go a little further away on Saturday and get some real training in."
"I can't wait. I better go get started on my homework."
An hour later, I had barely touched my homework. My mind kept wandering to Tanner and then to Cliff. I wondered what both of them were doing. I hoped that Cliff didn't hate me, but wouldn't have blamed him if he did.
There was a knock on my door.
"I'm studying."
"Emma's here," my mom shouted from behind my door.
I opened the door. "She has ruined my life. I will not see her."
"She says it's important, and she's already waiting for you at the kitchen table."
"Are you kidding me?"
"I didn't even know that you two were fighting, Alexis. Don't blame this on me."
"You've never liked her. I don't know why you invited her in."
"You're more than welcome to kick her out, but I will not do it."
I sighed, glared at her, and then walked down the stairs. I gave Emma the same glare and asked, "What do you want? Did you find a new way to ruin my life?"
She stood up. "What did you do to Hailey?" she demanded.
"Pardon me? She wasn't even at school, and if I did do something to her she would have had it coming after what you two did to me."
"She wasn't at school today because she was beat up in her room last night, and she's not in her right mind. She has been saying she was attacked by a vampire and that she thinks it was you."
The blood drained from my face. Had I been exposed, before I was even fully a vampire?
"Her parents were considering sending her to a mental hospital because she was saying crazy crap like that. The security system shows that nobody was there all night, so we figured you must have called her and threatened her crazy bad."
"So are you saying that I beat her up, or are you saying that I called her? Get your story straight, Emma. I have nothing to say to that low life."
"It's obvious that you did something. Tell me what it was before I really do something to ruin your life."
My anger rose past the ceiling. How dare she threaten me? I listened for heartbeats to see where my family members were before I ran to Emma in a blink of an eye and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt. I slammed her into the nearest wall and got a half an inch from her face and glared into her eyes.
"Don't you dare make any threats to me. Do you understand what I'm saying? Leave. Me. Alone." I let go of her shirt and backed up a couple of steps.
She was visibly shaken, and I could smell her fear.
"Get out of my house and tell everyone at school what liars you and Hailey are."
She just stared at me.
I opened the front and shoved her out. "I said get out of my house. Don't ever come back." I slammed the door.
Clara showed up behind me with a crooked smile. "That was subtle."
"I wasn't going for subtle," I growled. "Those two were made for each other. I'm actually glad that Emma showed up here. I would have had to play nice if she had confronted me at school."
"Do you think that she'll actually tell everyone that they are liars?"
"Not if she's anything like her coward friend who wouldn't even go to school today. They act like they are so powerful, but they're weak and afraid."
"Typical humans," Clara said, rolling her eyes.
I couldn't focus on my homework after that, so I texted Tanner to find out where he was. He had just finished with his football practice, so we decided to meet up at the school.
"Where do you want to go?" I asked when he got into my car.
"We can go back to that coffee shop or we can go somewhere closer. The location doesn't matter to me."
"I could go for a spicy pumpkin latte. The coffee shop sounds great."
"That sounds good to me, too. So what did you do to Emma?"
"What do you mean?" I asked. I didn't see how he could have known about that already.
"She showed up at the practice telling everyone that you had threatened her and saying that you are psychotic. She said something about Hailey being afraid to come to school because you threatened her too."
I sighed. "She doesn't waste any time does she? She showed up at my house, and I told her to get out. Well, I might have possibly shown her a little bit of what I'm capable of. But just a little."
He laughed. "I miss all of the good stuff."
"People are going to be even worse at school, aren't they?" I asked.
"If Emma doesn't change her tune, then I would assume they will be. They're like puppets."
"But she's not even popular, is she? She's just Hailey's sidekick. Will people really listen to her? What did peo
ple do when she was going off at your practice?"
He was quiet for a moment. "They were eating up. It was more fuel for their fire."
"I can't miss another day of school, what am I going to do?"
"Let's figure this out at the coffee shop. I don't want you to get upset while you're driving."
Once we were settled at the same table drinking our spicy pumpkin lattes, I said, "Okay, now let's figure out what I'm going to do. I really don't know how much more of this I can take. I want to lash out and use all of my powers, but for obvious reasons, I can't do that."
"I could walk you to all of your classes," he said. "Maybe people would leave you alone then."
"How is that going to work? You'll be late to all of your classes, plus they might start treating you badly. So far, I don't think anyone has picked up on our friendship."
"I don't care if they treat me badly. I've been down that road before, and I can handle it again. I would rather help you out. I'm not ashamed to be your friend. I'd be honored to have everyone see me walking through the halls with you."
"Thanks, Tanner. But I don't think that will actually solve anything. What else are we going to do?"
"I do think that it will help. I'd like to walk you to your classes tomorrow, and we'll see if it does. I can deal with a few tardies. I can't keep it up forever, but one day won't kill me."
I shrugged my shoulders. "I suppose that it's worth a try."
"You want to go outside? It's getting warm in here," he said.
"Is it?" I asked. "Sure, we can go for a walk. I need to stretch my legs anyway."
We started walking toward a park once we were outside.
"Want to play on the swings?" I asked with a laugh. "I haven't swung in years."
He smiled. "That's the best idea that I've heard all day."
"I'll race you." I ran at a fast human pace to the swings, beating him by a mile.
"Hey, no fair," he exclaimed. "You can't use your powers to win a race."
"I didn't, I ran slowly—and you still lost."
"Oh yeah?" he asked. He scooped me up in his arms and started running through the park with me shrieking and laughing. "I'd like to see you get out of this."