The Vampire Prince returns to High School (Book 2)

Soul Searching

Sitting next to Sonia wasn't as painful as I had originally thought. It was worse. I guess I could understand why she ignored me and acted like I didn't exist, but that was my job since I had more reason to do that than her. Surprisingly, I took the high road. I wasn't in the mood for any more drama today.

I got the "get to know" worksheet completed almost painlessly. At this point, we handed each other our worksheets and filled out our portions. There wasn't any talking. If there were, people were just catching up with friends. We had a handful of vampires in class and they branched out and talked to others. I wasn't approached by any one of them.

Mrs. Ramirez gave us twenty minutes to do everything before starting class. Even though this was our first day back, that didn't stop her from assigning us homework. She'd mentioned that our assignments from over the "break" hadn't been graded yet but they would be up soon.

The rest of the morning passed without incident. To be honest, everyone ignored me. It was probably safe to say that some of them blamed me. After all, hadn't I been Alexander's "mentor"? If you thought about it, part of all this was kind of my fault. Violet and her committees used my experience with Alexander as evidence for her law. Plus, she hadn't asked me anything. She literally put words in my mouth. The only comfort I had was that I didn't have to see her again.

Unfortunately during our rescheduling, I was given the last lunch period of the day. My stomach was tight with hunger and I felt dizzy. If this was how it was going to be, I'd have to bring snacks with me tomorrow.

Once I'd gotten my tray, I headed towards my normal table off in the corner. I sat in one of the empty chairs and stuffed the broccoli in my mouth. It wasn't the greatest tasting thing, but it was something. Plus, starvation numbed the taste. I was halfway finished with my meal before I felt like I wasn't dying any longer. It was also then when I realized that I wasn't alone.

Cassidy and three others sat at the table; one girl and two guys. First guess, those three were most likely vampires. They were also staring at me like I was an alien or something.

"H-hi," Cassidy stammered out.

The other three frowned. Their lips might have moved but I wasn't sure. I still wasn't an expert in vampire lip-reading even with all my experience with Alexander and his tutor last semester. Well, if they had something to say, they could just say it.

"I'm Lisa," the girl said. "This Connor and this is Miguel."

Connor had freckles and orange hair. Miguel had dark hair and was a larger guy.

"Uh, hi," I said.

There was no point in being rude. We were all stuck here together. Might as well make the most of it. But, as I sat there, I realized that there was an uncomfortable air around me. I looked back at the cafeteria. Everyone sat in groups. There were human groups and vampire groups and nothing else. Other than my table, no one else mingled.

"So, how do you know our . . . esteem royal heir?"

This came from Lisa. At a closer look, it seemed like the scowl on her face was permanent. Plus, the way she phrased her question, she didn't quite seem to like Alexander and I could understand why. Then again, she probably didn't know that he'd grown and he wasn't like before.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

She raised an eyebrow. "You two were friendly earlier."

I frowned. She probably meant when we talked in the hallway. Right.

"Al - the Prince attend school last semester with us. I was his mentor, so to speak. So, that's how I 'know' him. Plus, we have class together." I shrugged.

I glanced at Cassidy. She deliberately kept her gaze on the table. It was clear from my interactions with Alexander earlier in class that we were close, but no one needed to know how close.

"Well, just so you know, the heir won't be here much longer. The only reason he attended was for more publicity. Plus, our parents had to beg for him to attend school with us. It's an insurance policy if you will."

"Lisa," Miguel spoke up. "Stop."

Lisa crossed her arms. "I'm just telling the truth."

Miguel met my gaze. "This doesn't concern humans. No offense."

I bit my lip. It was too late for that. Lisa had piqued my interest. Was Alexander going to stop coming to school? That was - I didn't want that.

"None taken," I murmured.

Lisa's words followed me all afternoon. If Alexander didn't attend classes then, when would I even see him? It wasn't like he answered any of my messages. He was never around due to his responsibilities. It wasn't his fault. I just wanted him to put more effort into our relationship. Was that too much to ask? As of right now, it felt like a one-sided romance.

Did I want to be in this relationship? I knew the answer to that. Yes, I did. I did want to be with Alexander. We just needed a way to make it work. I had to stop being butthurt because he didn't talk to me for almost two months -

Yeah, no. I wasn't going to forget that anytime soon, but we could talk this out and come up with a solution. The only issue would be getting Alexander to talk to me. He hadn't exactly been around and school wasn't the best place for this. With vampires around, they would all know our business and that was the last thing that I wanted.