Cassidy waited for me at the food court just like she said she would. Surprisingly, there were a lot more people than I had expected. Well, at least we weren't exactly alone. I couldn't tell if they were vampires or humans. What if someone heard us?
"Rin," Cassidy called out when she saw me.
Trying not to attract too much attention, I made my way across the food court. Honestly, I didn't know what I had expected to see. If I looked closely enough, only humans ate food and the vampires had their own specially made drinks. Cassidy had one such drink herself.
"Hey," she said as I sat. "I'm glad you could make it. You wouldn't believe how much Lisa wanted to join us."
"What did you tell her?" I asked.
"I told her next time. To be frank, you don't seem to enjoy vampire company that much. You put up with it at school because you had to."
Oh. Did I give off that vibe? Why hadn't Alexander tell me anything?
"N-no," I stammered out. "I mean, everything is just weird. My brain has to adjust. It's not like I don't like vampires. It's more like I don't like all humans and I don't like all vampires. Does that make sense?"
She smiled. "You can relax Rin. I'm not holding anything against you."
"Okay." I cleared my throat. "So, you wanted to talk?"
"Your crush," she replied.
You would think I'd come up with a game plan, but I hadn't and I had no idea what I was going to say.
"Why is that something we need to talk about?" I asked. "It's probably the Prince messing with me or something. You know how he is."
Cassidy bit her lip. "Yes, I do know which is why I wanted to talk to you. See, the Heir doesn't do anything without some motive. He's gone out of his way to, well, woo you, for lack of a better word. You should take that seriously."
I picked at my fingers. "So, what does that mean?"
Cassidy shook her head in disbelief. I was acting 'dumb' better than I would have thought possible.
"He's interested in you," she hissed. "Allure or not, he has instigated contact with you."
"Then I should avoid him."
At this, Cassidy shrugged. "It's up to you. I won't tell you what to do. If anything, I want to warn you."
Now she had my attention. I leaned in closer. "Warned me? About what?"
Cassidy stayed silent. If she didn't want to gossip, she shouldn't have asked to talk. What was the point of withholding information now?
"Cassidy?" I prompted.
She sighed. "The Heir has been with a lot of girls," she rushed to say. "He likes . . . playing around. I don't want him to do the same thing to you. All he wants is to feed on you and then leave."
If she only knew the truth. She wasn't wrong. Alexander had wanted my blood (I wasn't sure about his stance on it now) and, eventually, he had fed from me but he hadn't left. We ended up dating. Could I tell that to Cassidy? Definitely not. Plus, Alexander had already told me he hadn't been with anyone. It was stupid to doubt him now. I trusted him.
"What do you suggest I do?" I asked. "You seem to know a lot more than I do."
If she could have blushed, she would. "Rumors," she answered. "Some are louder than others."
"Well, I do appreciate you going out of your way to tell me all of this. I'll think on what you said and figure out what I'm going to do."
"I don't mean to make this difficult. I know it's not something you want to hear."
I shrugged. "It's fine. I can enjoy it while it lasts. I don't give in easily at all so, he might get bored after a while."
She smiled at me sympathetically. "Well, Lisa and I are always here if you want to talk."
My heart stuttered. "You've told Lisa?" I asked.
Cassidy shook her head. "No, of course not. It's your decision. Plus, if anyone at school found out, they'd have a fit."
"Let's keep it on the down-low," I supplied. "This is probably just a phase for him. No need to make this into a huge thing."
Cassidy pursed her lips. "You're right," she said after a while. "Who knows? This might be a good thing after all."
In response, I smiled at her. It felt weird talking to someone about all of this. Where was Cassidy a few months ago when this was happening?
"Hey," I blurted out. "Don't you find it weird if a human and vampire . . ." I trailed.
I wasn't sure what I was asking. This was the first time it had occurred to me. Did it make sense for a vampire and a human to date? If anything, did dating royalty make any sense?
"If there's an attraction I don't think it should matter," Cassidy told me. "You have to admit, the Heir isn't that bad looking. Just don't tell him that because you'll never hear the end of it. You also don't seem extremely put off about his advances."
"It could be his Allure," I said.
She shook her head. "The more I think about it, the less it seems likely that you're under his control. I'm a vampire so I know these things. When someone is completely under Allure, they're not themselves and you seem to be yourself."
I looked away. Yeah. I knew exactly what she meant. I'd hoped that by the end of this, Cassidy would be further and further away from the truth, but now she was closer than anything. I didn't think she was using her Allure on me. Even if it was subtle, I was sure I could tell. This just meant Cassidy had a way of reading people and it was scary, to be honest. What else would she find out?
Suddenly, Cassidy leaned forward. "Do you want to shop around?" She shrugged. "Since we came all this way, we might as well spend some time here."
I bit my lip. "We have homework though."
The look Cassidy gave me made me wish the ground swallowed me.
"An hour away from homework isn't going to kill anyone. And just because of that, we're going to go shopping. You don't have to buy anything but you're accompanying me."
I sighed. "Alright. Fine."
For almost an hour, I followed Cassidy around. She walked to almost every store and tried out so many outfits. I didn't think that was necessary but I was sure she looked good in anything. She even tried to make me try out some outfits but I firmly refused.
"Come on," she whined. "Just this once? When's the last time you've been in a dressing room?"
There was an insult in there somewhere.
"I don't want to," I assured her. "Besides, the beauty of online shopping is that you don't need to try any clothes. You upload your measurements and presto. Instant clothes."
Cassidy frown. "Yeah, but it takes the fun out of shopping."
"Well, that's fun for me. Plus, you avoid lines and people."
She laughed. "I didn't think you were anti-social."
"Well, I am. People ask too many questions. They're noisy and don't know when to drop subjects."
I realized my mistake too late. Cassidy's face fell.
"Oh, well, I hope you don't think I'm being noisy."
"What? No, no. It's not like that. I just meant in general when people meet each other, you know? You haven't asked me anything about myself and that's a relief. I think it's better if people offer up information."
"It doesn't always work like that."
I shrugged. "I know. It's just I have to be comfortable with people to share information. I like my privacy."
"Well, I see nothing wrong with that, but if you ever think I'm being noisy, tell me. Deal?"
"Yeah. Deal."
Ten minutes before we decided to leave, I sent a message to my mom so she could pick me up at the entrance. Cassidy had said an hour And she probably had things to do at home.
We finished walking around the mall and headed towards the elevators. The first floor was below us and I didn't think my legs would hold me up if I kept walking. When the elevator door opened, a group walked out and we shuffled inside. There were two other girls apart from us in there.
They stayed in their little corner looking at their phones and giggling. Once in a while, they looked up at us and then back at their phones. They giggled again.
When Cassidy and I got off the elevator, so did they. I didn't think too much of it until I glanced over my shoulder and saw them again. Maybe they were leaving too. At this point, this was beyond paranoia. There was no reason to think they were following us.
Then, "excuse me."
On impulse, I grabbed onto Cassidy's arm. I don't think I would ever be used to suddenly getting called on. She stopped and looked behind us.
"You mean us?" she asked. "Is there something you need?"
"Well, kind of," said one girl.
"We did you see you and thought we'd say hi," said the other.
At this, I turned around. These girls were maybe my age. Taller and with very nice hair.
"But I don't know you guys," Cassidy told them.
The girls smiled at each other and then back at Cassidy. They were starting to creep me out. That smile on their face was extra creepy too. Who smiled that much?
"Well, it's obvious," said the first girl. "You're a vamp, right?"
"Yeah," supplied the second. "We can tell. We're like huge fans."
Cassidy didn't speak. I don't think she could have. I was taken back by them as well.
"Fans?" Cassidy finally asked. "What do you mean?"
"Well, duh," the second answered her. "Of vamps. We are super supportive of what your people are trying to do."
Cassidy frowned. Even I wasn't sure what to say. This was completely random.
"Uh, thanks?" Cassidy muttered. "I hope everyone shared your views?"
"It's only natural," the second girl continued. "But, hey, maybe we need to exchange numbers."
"Oh my god, good idea," said her friend. She beamed at Cassidy. "I need more vamp friends."
"Oh, um, I don't normally give my number out to strangers," Cassidy began.
"If you give us your number, we can talk and no longer be strangers."
The girls had their arms crossed and looked a bit offended.
"Don't you people want co-existence?" the first girl asked. "What's so wrong about giving someone your number?"
"N-nothing," Cassidy replied. "It's just that . . ." She trailed off.
Wow. That was beyond . . . I didn't even know a word to describe what I was feeling just listening to them. Well, this was going to stop now.
I cleared my throat. "Well, if she doesn't want to give you her number, she doesn't have to."
The girls turned to me for the first time realizing that I was there.
"Who are you?" they asked.
"It's nice getting noticed," I muttered. I stepped towards them. "You guys seem to be okay and all but how about you cool it? You're making her uncomfortable, so stop."
"We're just asking for her number. You don't have to get all defensive." This came from the second girl. Her cheeks were red.
"She doesn't want to give you her number though." I stood in front of Cassidy and crossed my arms.
The first girl stepped up. "I don't know why you're making such a big deal about it. I can't believe rude people like you exist."
I bit my tongue. Did that actually leave her mouth? I took a deep breath. This wasn't going to be easy.
"I don't care if you think I'm rude or not," I told her. "Back off."
Girl number two pulled at her friend's arm. "Let's just go. They don't think we should try to get to know them."
The first girl flipped me off before the two of them walked off. If I had something to throw at her, I would.
"You okay?" I asked Cassidy.
"Yeah," she replied. "Just, I couldn't, uh -"
"Rin," I heard a familiar voice.
I turned around and saw Carlos walking towards us. Cassidy turned towards him.
"Who's that?"
"Someone from school," I told her.
It'd been a while since I'd seen him. He had even grown out his hair. What was he doing at the mall?