I woke to pressure on my back. It was also warmer than usual. I went to kick off my comforter but found that I couldn't. Yawning, I tried to move to them and bumped into something. Wait, no, someone.
I sat up quickly.
"Alexander?" I whispered.
He didn't respond. In the darkness, I reached out and found his. I quickly moved my hand away. Adjusting the distance, I found his shoulder. Then his back.
Alexander's back rose and fell. I nudged him. Still, no response.
I search for my phone. The sudden light blinded me. It was 5 am. Even half-asleep, I knew Alexander would have been gone by now.
I nudged him again but he didn't respond. Maybe he was asleep? I couldn't tell. this never happened before. As the panic and surprise built, I heard footsteps outside the door.
It wasn't time to get up. Why were my parents awake? The thought made me stop. That didn't make sense. What did make sense was that my parents would be awake earlier than me.
"Rin?" Mom whispered.
I bolted up and stumbled to the door just as it opened. Mom's surprised face looked at me through the small crack.
The hallway light was dimmed.
Somewhere in the distance, I heard Dad.
"You're awake?" I asked Mom.
She blinked a couple of times.
"Y-yeah," she said. "Did we wake you?"
I opened the door just enough so she wouldn't get suspicious.
Glancing back, Alexander was safe, for now.
Meanwhile, my palms wouldn't stop sweating and my voice sounded too high-pitched.
"Yeah, a bit," I said, "what's going on?"
"Nothing," Mom quickly said. "Dad and I have to go in early."
I frowned. There hadn't been many occasions where they had been called into work early.
"Okay," I said, swallowing the words I wanted to say.
"We can't take you to school today," Mom continued. "You'll need to take the sector transit to the bus stop and take the bus to school."
I scratched my head. "How long does this trip take?"
"An hour maybe? Look, the schedule is online. Get ready then head out."
"Alright," I said.
I moved to close the door but Mom pushed it open. The light from the hallway spilled into the bedroom.
My heart jumped to my throat. I swirled around.
"Mom," I began. "I can explain."
"Explain what?" she asked. "That you're going back to sleep."
It took me a moment to register what she said. In that time, she turned on the light.
A large gasp rose out of my throat. In part, it was because of the bright light. The second part was because I was trying to hide Alexander in my room. Mom frowned.
"What are you doing? "she asked.
I looked at my bed and didn't see Alexander. My shoulders sagged in relief. A small hint of disappointment settled in my chest.
"Get dressed," Mom said and closed the door.
It took me several breaths to get myself under control.
First things first, I was not taking the transit bus today. This was too early. I wasn't mentally prepared for this.
Instead, I would call Joseph and have him drive me to school. But to fool my parents, I needed to pretend I was taking the transit.
I took my top off trying to think what to wear. Was it going to be cold?
"Hey, Rin- "
I quickly covered myself. Alexander peaked out from the other side of my bed. Our eyes met.
"Turn around," I hissed.
He ducked down.
Blushing, I put my shirt on. I thought he'd left.
"You can look now."
This time, he stood. His hair stood out on all sides. He wore his slacks and undershirt. No belt.
"I thought you left," I began
"I fell asleep," he said at the same time.
We laughed and quickly stopped.
"You look," he said began.
"Don't say it."
He gave me a thumbs up. I turned away my face beat red.
I cleared my throat. Now wasn't the time.
"Why did you hide?" I asked." You could have turned into a cat."
He rubbed the back of his head.
"I tried," he said, "but I couldn't. I'm trying and I still can't."
I frowned and walked over to him. That didn't make sense.
"I can't grow my teeth either."
"What?"
He showed me his teeth. "See? No fangs?
He paused. "My heart is beating too."
He placed his fingers on his wrist. "That's a pulse."
I frowned.
"So, um, vampires have to circulate blood too," he said. "Our hearts beat slower. Our pulse won't register on any machine. But right now, I counted them."
It finally dawned on me what he was saying.
"You're saying you're human? "I asked.
Panic flashed across his eyes. He sat down heavily and held his head in his hands.
I sat down beside him.
It made sense, right? He couldn't poof out of here. I touched his back. I could feel his heart beating just as fast as my own.
Alexander's shoulders shook. Muffled sobs came from him.
"Hey," I said. "It's okay. Th-this might be temporary."
Sobs got louder.
"We'll take you to your doctor and they'll check on you. Don't worry." As I said this, I rubbed his back
Alexander mumbled something. I leaned in closer.
"What?"
"You won't like me anymore."
The breath rushed out of my lungs. Why would he think that? My eyes prickled.
Wordlessly, I stood. I couldn't stay here. I needed some time to recover. Grabbing a pair of jeans and a long sleeve blouse, I went and changed in the restroom. I made enough noise so my parents wouldn't think to look in my room.
I even took the time to braid my hair in a French braid. My arms were sore by the end of it.
There was a knock on the door.
"We're leaving," Dad said. "The transit bus will arrive in twenty minutes."
"Thanks, bye."
I waited for a few minutes before stepping out of the bathroom. I made sure my parents were gone before going to my room.
"It's me," I said, coming in.
Alexander hadn't moved. I sat down beside him.
"I still like you," I told him. "Vampire or not. I care about you. How could you think I wouldn't?"
He glanced at me. His eyes were red and swollen.
"Comments," he said in a low, husky voice.
He cleaned his throat. "Some aren't happy - they don't approve-" he trailed off.
"It doesn't matter what they think," I said gently.
I kissed his cheek. "Right now, let's figure out what happened first."
"You have school," he began.
"That can wait," I said. "You're more important right now. I'll call Joseph. You call your physician and have him meet us at your house."
I moved to stand.
He grabbed my arm. "Don't tell my dad."
"I won't."
"Or Violet," he quickly added.
"Lips are sealed," I assured him.
He smiled at me. "Rin, I- "
I kissed him, cutting him off. "You're welcome," I said. "Now, let's see what we can do about your clothes."