Thank God I don’t have to deal with her anymore.
“So… what do you think?” Cayson leans against the doorframe leading into the bathroom and crosses his arms over his chest.
“I’m thinking it’ll be nice to get a shower every morning without fighting my stepsister over the bathroom.” I look around the room again. “Why do I feel like this room is missing something?”
He raises and eyebrow. “Maybe a toilet?”
I nod and look around. “Wait… where is the toilet?”
He grins. “Have you not noticed yet that you haven’t needed the bathroom?”
My mouth falls open. “Ever?”
He shakes his head.
“Wow.” This is actually crazy, but also convenient. “I can’t wait to go on a road trip.”
“What?” Cayson gives me a confused look.
“You know… you won’t have to stop every couple of hours to pee.”
He laughs. “That’s what you’re excited for?”
I nod. “I’ve never actually been on a road trip though. I will… someday.”
“I prefer flying.” One side of his lip curves upward. “But if you really want to go on a road trip, we will.”
We?
I like the sound of that.
“Come on.” He motions me with his finger. “We have a lot to talk about.”
And he’s right. We do. I guess I was just hoping to put this conversation off a little longer.
4:30 am
It links our souls together.
Cayson and I walk over to the couch and take a seat. I glance at a clock on the wall and see that it’s after four in the morning. I can’t believe I’m not tired yet, not even a little bit. I’m a night owl, but I’m usually asleep by one every morning.
“So, this is your school,” I say.
He shakes his head. “I graduated a long time ago.”
I raise an eyebrow. “How long ago?”
Cayson shifts in his seat. “Uh, quite a long while.”
“I need a timeline.”
“Uh…” He clears his throat. “Like… a couple hundred years ago. Whenever I graduated from Mystic Academy, it was in Europe. Technically, my brother, sister, and I were the first students there.”
My mouth falls open. “A couple hundred?”
“I told you that we’re immortal.”
“I made out with an old dude.” I laugh, rubbing my forehead with my hand. “So how old are you?”
“I was turned when I was nineteen.”
I nod. “Okay.”
“It was two hundred and thirty years ago.”
I choke on my own saliva.
“But it’s not that big of a deal,” he says.
“So you won’t even be going to school with me.” I frown. “What if those other kids don’t like me?”
It’s a very real possibility. I mean, nobody at my last school liked me either. I don’t know if it was because of me or because of Cassie. I remember having friends before my dad married her mom, but those are distant memories. Those so-called friends ditched me the second Cassie arrived.
“I’m going to be here with you.” He grabs my hand, holding onto it. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“You promise?” I look up at him through my lashes.
“I promise.”
His words relieve me. I can’t do this without him. I don’t want to do it without him.
“Are you sure I need to finish high school?” I ask, offering up a smile.
“Yes.” His answer leaves no room for argument.
I suppose he’s right. Being a high school dropout would be bad.
“So what does this whole soulmate thing mean?” I ask. “And what were you even doing in Colorado?”
“Asa and I were in Colorado for work,” Cayson explains. He traces my fingers with his thumb. “We get called in for cleanup duty sometimes when a vampire goes feral.”
“Feral.” I pause. “Like a dog?”
He nods. “Kind of like that, yeah.”
I swallow hard. “Am I going to…”
“No. No, never,” he assures me quickly. “It’s just… sometimes when a vampire loses their mate, they tend to lose their mind too. This guy… he was a friend. But he lost his mate last year. I saw the signs, I just… I hoped I could help him. In the end, we had to take care of him.”
I want to ask what ‘take care of him’ means, but I can’t do it. Cayson looks so sad and I don’t want to bring up any painful memories for him.
“Okay. And you were there when my soul called out to you,” I say. “Does that happen a lot? Like… somebody’s soul calling out to yours.”
“It’s never happened to me before.” He looks down at our intertwined hands. “Finding a soulmate is a once in a lifetime thing. Really, I’m lucky I was there and found you. Or else… you may have lived your entire life and I might have never met you.”
The thought of that makes my chest feel heavy. “Does being your soulmate mean I’m your girlfriend?”
He grins, looking up again. “It means a lot more than that, but we can say you’re my girlfriend for now.”
I like that.
A lot.
More than I probably should considering I just met the guy. But then again, he is my soulmate, so things are different. This is probably normal for soulmates.
“You said you followed me for three hours in the park.” I look at him and he nods. “Well… I remember something. Before you… bit me?” I pause reliving the moment. “Um… I heard two people fighting.”
“Me and Asa.” Cayson sighs. “I didn’t want to turn you. I was fighting against my own nature not to do it. I was going to follow you home and find out who you are. I was going to find a way to be a part of your life, but I didn’t want to turn you. Asa said if I didn’t turn you, he would. And that’s why we fought.”
“What made you change your mind?”
“Asa said that he wouldn’t watch me go through what our friend did.” Cayson shakes his head, like he’s shaking away a bad memory. “So… I decided to change you. I know I should have asked your permission—”
I cut him off. “No. I’m glad you did it. I probably would’ve thought you were nuts if you asked me anyway. I didn’t believe in the supernatural when I was human. And my life… it was miserable. I was counting down the days until I left for college and never had to see my family again. You just… helped me move up my timeline.”
He frowns. “I’m sorry things were so bad.”
I shrug. “It’s okay.”
Cayson takes a deep breath. “I do have one more thing to tell you.”
I raise an eyebrow.
“Um… well…” He rubs a hand at the back of his neck. “This room is ours, not just yours.”
My mouth falls open. “Seriously? The school allows that?”
“We’re mates… soulmates. They couldn’t keep me away from you if they tried,” Cayson says. “But they wouldn’t try.”
“Oh,” I say. “Okay.”
“Are you okay with it? I mean… I can sleep on the floor or whatever.”
“You can sleep with me,” I say quickly. Too quickly. “I mean… cuddling would be nice.”
He smirks. “Cuddling?”
“I don’t know exactly what this whole ‘soulmates’ thing means, but I can feel it.” I put a hand to my heart. “It’s stronger than anything I’ve ever felt before. And it’s not just a feeling… it’s also a physical thing. Like… I want to do a lot more than just cuddle.”
“There is something you need to know before we take that step.”
I look at him, waiting for him to elaborate.
“Whenever soulmates are intimate for the first time, it completes the mate bond.” He seems scared as he waits for my reaction.
“What does it mean to complete the mate bond?”
He purses his lips. “I forgot that you’re new to all this for a second. Um…” he pauses. “Completing a mate bond is… kind of like a
marriage, except stronger. The bonds between soulmates can never be broken.”
My jaw goes lax. “Ever?”
“No.”
I wait for panic.
I’ve been asked out on a date one time in my life. One time. I was in another town, shopping for some back to school clothes. Dad let me take his car and it was nice to just get away from our small town for a little while. While I was there, I stopped by a bookstore to look around and I ran into this guy. He was really good looking and we had a lot in common. After a short conversation, he asked me if I wanted to go out on a date. I completely panicked. Instead of answering, I just turned and ran from the store.
But now, there is no panic.
No anxiety.
Only… excitement?
“Tell me more about the mate bond,” I say, after a few breaths. “I feel like there is more to it.”
He nods. “It links our souls together. Not just our souls, but our minds and our thoughts and our feelings. We will be able to hear each other’s thoughts and feel what the other feels. But I’ll teach you how to block your thoughts from me. It’s really easy. You only have to share the thoughts you want to share.”
It links our souls together?
That sounds big.
But… don’t I already feel like my soul is attached to his? I feel so much for this boy I just met.
“I know I probably should be freaking out, but I’m not.”
Cayson smiles. “Good. I don’t want you to be freaked out.”
The two of us just sit there and talk until the sun begins to rise.
I start to get a little sleepy as it peeks over the trees, so we go to bed. And we just cuddle, but I don’t think I’ll want to wait much longer to complete our mate bond.
8:00 pm
Mean girl.
One of the weird but cool things about vampire school is that it happens at night.
Cayson tried to explain it to me, but I’m still figuring it all out. Vampires don’t burn in the sun, but they’re naturally nocturnal. So, we have a harder time being awake during the day, where a human is opposite. I kind of like it. Especially since I know I can still enjoy the sun.
Before going to class, Cayson got me more blood. It’s weird, because I love the taste of it, but when I think about it, it’s so gross. I guess that’s another thing I’ll get used to over time. I also asked where the blood bags come from and he explained they’re from different blood drives and such. He also told me that when he was first turned, he had to drink directly from a human and compel them to forget. I’m glad that’s not the case anymore.
After eating breakfast, I went to take a shower and realized that I literally don’t have clothes. I was still wearing Cayson’s shirt and I don’t have anything to wear. Cayson seemed to forget about that fact too. He found a girl similar in size to me and borrowed a pair of jeans for the day and he’s letting me wear his shirt again. He got my sizes and is going to the store to grab a few clothing items for me to wear and promised we will wake up early Saturday evening to go shopping. I feel kind of weird having him buy me clothes, but it’s not like I have another choice. I can’t go naked. And I also can’t go to my house and just steal clothes from my closet. This is my only option. But I’ll find a way to pay him back.
My first class of the day is history. Nothing exciting, until I look at the book and realize it’s ‘History of Vampirism.’ That’s actually pretty cool and I’m excited to learn more.
When I walk into my first class, I realize all thirty students are here. And every single one of them is staring at me. Even the teacher is staring, which makes me very nervous. I walk up to his desk.
“Um, hi.” I push a piece of hair behind my ear. “I’m Riley Green. I’m new.”
Obviously I’m new.
Why do I have to be so awkward?
“Hi, Riley. I’m John.” His smile is friendly enough. “Do you want to introduce yourself to the class?”
I swallow hard and look behind me.
Yep, everybody is still looking. Great. Perfect. Just what I wanted.
I clear my throat. “I’m Riley. I’m from Colorado. And I died, like, a week ago. And then I woke up in a coffin and the last almost twenty-four hours have been crazy.”
Yep.
Great introduction.
Clearly everybody is going to want to be my new BFF.
I walk over to the one empty spot in the room. It’s directly in the center, which makes me feel really awkward, but I sit and try not to look at anybody. They’re definitely all still staring.
‘John’ gets up to teach the class. I let out a breath in relief when he does because most people turn away from me. Not all of them. But enough that I feel like I don’t have to sit up so straight.
I wonder why he has us call him John. I’ve never called a teacher by their first name in my life. It feels so… disrespectful. I make a note to ask Cayson about it when we get our break.
I found out that we don’t have ‘lunch.’ I guess vampires only need to eat once a day, so our thirty minute ‘lunch’ break is just a break. People can use their time to study or socialize. I also find out that school doesn’t last for seven hours like it does for humans. We only have four hours worth of classes. I’m glad about that.
During the middle of class, a folded up piece of paper lands on my desk. It has my name on the outside, so I open it. I’m a little nervous to see what it says. Anytime I got notes at my old school, they were usually people being mean to me.
Hi, new girl. I’m Ashley. I saw you come in with Cayson yesterday.
I want to roll my eyes. Like, no kidding. Everybody saw me come in with Cayson yesterday. But I refrain.
I do want to make friends here and clearly Ashley is trying to start a conversation with me.
Hi. It’s nice to meet you, Ashley. I’m Riley.
Yeah, I came in with Cayson.
I don’t feel comfortable telling Ashley that Cayson turned me into a vampire, so I keep that bit of information to myself. I’m not exactly sure what the rules are about turning somebody, but I think there is an exception because he’s my ‘mate.’
I look around for the Ashley girl to pass the note back to her, but a hand reaches out and grabs the note. I can only assume she’s Ashley.
The girl kind of reminds me a little bit of Cassie. Not her personality. Obviously I don’t know the girl yet, but definitely her looks. She has the same shade of blonde hair and big blue eyes.
I wonder what everybody’s story is here. Like… how they got turned. Or maybe they were born? I don’t know a lot about vampirism yet. In books and movies vampires can never have children of their own, but I wonder how realistic that is. I add that to my mental list of questions to ask Cayson later.
The girl beside me slips the note back on my desk.
You know Cayson has a girlfriend, right? I’m just telling you as a friend. I don’t want you to get your hopes up.
I try not to react to the note.
I mean… what she’s saying stings, but I don’t know if I really believe her. I’ve been around enough mean girls in my life to recognize that she might not be telling me the truth. It’s something I’ll have to ask Cayson myself.
I don’t bother responding to her note because I don’t have time for girls like her. I literally just died and got away from a girl just like her, so I don’t want to voluntarily let another mean girl into my life.
The girl doesn’t give up though. A few minutes later, another note lands on my desk.
You should hang out with me and my friends during free period.
I would literally rather eat dirt than hang out with this girl, but I can’t say that because it’s rude.
Instead, I tell her the truth.
Thank you. That’s sweet. But I already have plans.
The second I fold the note up, Ashley snatches it from my desk and frowns when she reads it. She turns and glares at me, her blue eyes darkening a shade.
Well… I think
I’ve just pissed off the queen bee.
I grin.
Bring it on, Ashley.
10:00 pm
A theory.
The thing about vampire school, or Mystic Academy, is that we stay in the same classroom the entire day. At ten, we go on our thirty minute ‘break,’ or ‘free period,’ as Ashley called it. On the way out the door, she bumps her shoulder hard against mine. I just roll my eyes at her immaturity, but I don’t give her the satisfaction of reacting. I can tell by the look on her face that she really wanted me to react.
Cayson is waiting for me outside the classroom. He sees what happens with Ashley, so he steps in front of her.
“Are you causing a problem for my mate?” Cayson asks her. I can see his jaw flexing as he speaks. He’s really pissed at her.
Ashley’s mouth opens wide as she glances over at me, then back at Cayson. “She’s your mate?”
Cayson nods.
Ashely gets over her shock very quickly. She stands up straight and crosses her arms over her chest. “Does your girlfriend know that?”
“What girlfriend?”
“That redhead I always see you with.”
Cayson laughs. “That’s my sister.”
Ashley narrows her eyes. “Whatever.”
She stomps away leaving me there with Cayson.
He turns to me. “Did she cause you any trouble?”
“Nah.” I wave a hand. “She just did her standard mean girl duties. She tried to warn me to stay away from you because you have a girlfriend, which I didn’t believe. And then she tried to invite me to hang out with her during free period.”
“If she bothers you again, let me know.” He grabs my hand. “I got you some clothes that should fit if you want to change.”
I grin.
I would very much like clothes that fit. I’ve been wearing Cayson’s shirt since we met, which is nice for when I’m sleeping, but it would be nicer to wear something my own size. And these jeans that I borrowed are just a little too big, so I have to keep pulling them up. I’m scared they’re going to fall and I’m going to moon the entire class.
Mystic Academy Page 4