The Vampire Prince goes to High School (Book 1)

To Believe or Not to Believe.

"The Royal family had refused to give any information regarding the video last night," the anchor lady stated. "Many have expressed their concern -"

"Can you turn it down?" I asked.

I started down at my uneaten scrambled eggs and toast. The sofa shifted and the volume of the television dropped. Moments later, Dad joined me at the kitchen table. From underneath my hair, I saw my parents share a glance. Mom poured herself a cup of coffee before taking a seat at the table too.

"No hungry kiddo?" Dad asked.

With my fork, I poked at the egg. "I don't really have an appetite," I said truthfully.

A vehicle pulled up in front of the house. I sighed. And so it begins again, I thought. Even before Sonia and I had ended our call in the wee hours of the morning, the reporters had stationed themselves outside my house. Sleep hadn't come easily. I could already hear all the questions I was going to be asked at school. 

My mom's phone suddenly shrieked from the kitchen counter. We all looked at it. Had the reporters gotten a hold of our cell phone numbers? Warily, she stood from her chair and grabbed her phone. To our surprise, she answered it.

"Good Morning, Mr. Keys," she said. 

Mom's lips set into a thin line. Dad and I shared a glance. 

"Yes of course," Mom said. "Alright, bye now."

"What did he want?" I asked.

Mom delicately placed the phone on the counter and put her hand on her hip. "He said not to talk to anyone regarding this matter."

Duh. 

"Captain Obvious should find another profession," I muttered. I sighed. "What can I even say? I don't know what's going on."

Mom walked up beside me and placed her hand on my back. I leaned toward her taking in her scent of green apple.
"Just don't let it get you," she said. "If you feel like coming home, call me and I'll come get you, okay?"

She rubbed my back as she spoke. She always said the right thing. I looked down at myself and sgrugged. Sonia would have to forgive me. Today seemed like a sweat pant, t-shirt, and loose hair bun type of day.

* * *

Thanks the Principal's quick thinking I didn't have to get dropped off at the front of the school building. We used the faculty entrance instead. At least I didn't have to deal with the reporters again.

It was no surprise that the Prince and the Tutor weren't at school. That didn't help all the cold shoulders, glares, and insults. Sonia walked beside me without a word and didn't comment on my choice of wardrobe either. It was strange attending my regular classes.

I'd forgotten that the teacher lectured.  I actually misses having self study. My assignments were always finished on time and I wasn't behind. Come to think about it, did having study hall with the Prince change anything? Did it make any difference to his behavior?

I chuckled. Everything had been a joke to him. So why was there a knife twisting into my chest. Had I believed, deep down, that the Prince was going to change? How could I have been so stupid? Sure, with his attention focused on me, he hadn't gone off and kidnapped Official's daughters. Or done a publicity stunt for attention. Even so, thinking that it was going to last was naive.

"Miss Borek, is there something amusing to you?"

Surprised, I looked up from my book. Everyone was staring at me. Feeling my cheeks warm up, I shook my head quickly and looked back down. Yes, some thing was funny. I had actually, for a moment, thought the Prince would change.

* * *

"Are you alright?" Sonia asked for the tenth time. "You haven't eaten any of your food. Do you need me to call your mom?"

I poked at the mash potatoes. "No," I told her. "I'm just not hungry."

Carlos leaned forward with a grin on his face. "Does that mean I can have your ice-cream?"

I shrugged. "Go ahead. I don't want it."

I poked at the mash potatoes again. I really didn't want to be here. Calling my mom sounded better with each passing moment.

"Rin," Sonia began. A small crease formed between her brows. "You don't have to listen to what everyone is saying-"

"NOT right now," I told her. "I really don't want to hear it."

"But Rin," she said. "You can't-"

I stood. "I'm going home," I announced. "Let's talk later."

Grabbing my bag, I shouldered it. I left my tray behind figuring that it be better for them to eat my lunch rather than toss it. As I left the cafeteria, I could feel everyone's stare. Ignoring the whispers and stares had been easy enough. If anyone asked what I had learned so far, I wouldn't be able to answer.

Once outside the lunch room, I let out the breath I realized I'd been holding. Wearily, I dragged my feet down the hall. Convincing the office that I needed to go home shouldn't be a problem. Or maybe they would put me in studyhall. I wouldn't mind that.

Suddenly, a loud bang came from the girl's restroom to the left. I jumped. I waited for a few seconds but no one came out. Glancing up and down the hallway, there was no one coming to investigate. Compelled to investigate, I opened the door to the restroom.

On the ground was the girl I recognized from before. She had asked for the Prince's autograph. There were three other girls around and one of then had her shoe on the other girl's head. One look at the scene before and I was already dashing forward.

Before I knew what I was doing, I pushed the bully off the girl. With a yelp, she stumbled back.

"What do you think you're doing?" I blurted out.

Before anyone could stop me, I yanked the girl off the ground and wrapped my arm around her waist. She collapsed against me sobbing. I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat. My palms itched.

At a closer look, the three bullies weren't from my grade. I hadn't seen them before. They all wore matching clothes like the Power Puff girls. One was dressed in pink, the other blue and so forth but they didn't look like sisters. The one I pushed was the pink one.

"What the heck?" she exclaimed.

"I should be asking you that," I retorted.

I kept an eye on the other two. "Why don't you move along before-"

"What?" The green one asked. "What are you going to do?"

Good question. I didn't want to fight them but I also couldn't let them bully this girl.

"I already called a teacher," I bluffed. "Why don't you leave before you guys get in trouble."

"No you didn't."

They saw right through me. I straightened to my full height. If the prince of vampires didn't scare me, they sure as hell didn't.

"Take your racist butt out of here before you regret it," I threatened.

All three of them took a step forward. I swallowed thickly and tightened my grip on the girl. Maybe I could kick them or something. A shiver crawled down my spine. It was cold all of a sudden. The three girls stopped. Their face paled.

Before I could react, they bolted out of the restroom. What the heck just happened?

"Did you miss me?" asked a familiar voice in my ear.

My heart skipped a beat. I stood frozen in place.

The Prince was here. Right behind me.