Going back to class on Monday had me more anxious than even my first day had. Kaz, San, and I walked together, huddling close to fend off the early morning chill. San prattled on about the video game he'd been playing well into the night while I looked around for Adora. She hadn't joined us and I realized she must feel just as embarrassed as I did. I would clear things with her up first.
Claude wasn't anywhere to be seen, either. When we entered the classroom, I found Adora already seated by herself in a corner next to some other students, leaving no room for us to sit near her. I frowned, hoping to just settle this right now. Instead, I followed Kaz to the other side of the room and took a seat beside him. San sat on Kaz's opposite side, leaving the seat next to me open. I stared hard at Adora, trying to get her attention so I could wave her over, but she kept her head down, focusing on the book splayed in front of her.
I let out a small sigh, pulling the grammar book that'd been delivered to me over the weekend. Doing so made me to knock my pen off my desk and when I reached down to grab it, a hand appeared and snatched it before me. I straightened up, moving back in my seat slightly.
A girl with long black hair dyed purple at the ends held my pen out to me. "Here."
"Oh, thanks."
She eyed me for a moment. "I heard what you did for Esgi."
Esgi? I shook my head to indicate I didn't know who she meant.
She cleared her throat. "She's my twin. She was, um, part of that group the other day."
I stiffened. "Oh." I had no idea which of the girls there she was referring to. I probably couldn't place a face to anyone besides Rehan.
"I'm sorry for what she did to you, but thank you for not having her expelled. My parents would have killed her. They're all about prestige and the bragging rights Maiestas Regia gives them."
"You don't need to apologize for her," I said, suppressing a shudder. Her family would kill her? I wished I could say I doubted that, but I knew that feeling all too well. "And I didn't do it for your sister specifically."
She tucked her hair behind her ears, taking the seat next to me. "I know. I've heard the rumors."
"Rumors?"
"That was just you reaffirming your stance, right? I can't speak for everyone, but you've changed my mind about you. Daughter of the Levant family or not, I can tell when someone has good intentions. I hate war, too. So many of us do. I hope that they can believe in you, too. Maybe the peace treaty is the start to true peace."
I stared at her, my heart constricting.
She fiddled with the edge of her blouse. "Was that weird to say?"
"No!" I said immediately and loud enough that people turned to look at us. I hunched my shoulders. "It means a lot to hear that. It gives me that same hope. True peace."
She grinned at me. "I think a lot of students here are too shy to approach you, but I'm glad I did. You're not intimidating at all."
Was that a good thing? I supposed it was. "Really?"
"You hanging around Prince Claude, Kaz, and Adora doesn't really help though."
"What do you mean?"
She looked past me at Kaz, but he was in conversation with San and wasn't paying any attention. "They're intimidating."
"Because Claude's the prince?"
"Hmm, amongst other things."
"They're really nice," I said. "Well. Kaz and Adora are."
"I've never tried talking to them. They all hold that air about them. Like they can't be touched. Like all three of them are royalty."
I could see that. The way they held themselves, spoke, presented themselves. It was very similar to how Claude did. The other two were nicer, though. I knew the students avoided them, but didn't know it was for that reason. Did they really look that hard to approach? Did I just think they didn't because they'd been nice to me first?
"I'm Esin, by the way."
"Oh, I'm Cleo."
"I'm curious about your plan."
My heart skipped a beat. "My plan?"
"Yeah, for when you return home. You must be planning on becoming the head of your family, right? That's probably the easiest way. If your father is out of the equation, I think there wouldn't be anything stopping us from achieving the peace we want."
My father out of the equation? What did that mean? Her question made me uneasy. What was my plan after this? Talking to my father and trying to convince him? That would never work. And there no way I would be able to become the head of the family. Even if my father retired to some random part of the world and never caused trouble again, my sister would be the next to step up into his position, not me. I hadn't even thought about that.
"Judging by your face, it won't be that easy, huh?"
"My father is very... stuck in his ways."
"Bloodthirsty is what he is. And he says vampires are? Ha."
I bit my lip. No matter what, it felt weird to hear people talk negatively of my father, even if what they said were true. I couldn't imagine what he would do if he heard what they were saying. I remembered when I'd back talked him once. He made sure I learned to never do it again.
"Well, I know it can't be easy to go against your family. If you want to brainstorm or anything, I'll lend an ear. My parents work for the Scouts. I think no matter what the Scouts will need to have more responsibility over Leechers. That might be a good first step. The fewer humans going after vampires might lead to less hostility toward them, you know?"
Leechers were the vampires who broke the laws and preyed on civilian humans. Not only that, but that was their main offense. The blood from the hospitals wasn't enough for them. They wanted fresh, flowing blood. Scouts were the group of vampires in charge of hunting down the Leechers and dealing with them. My family dealt with Scouts directly, so I knew a lot about them.
Esin shared the same thoughts as me. Scouts knew what they were doing and were more than qualified to deal with Leechers. My father constantly stepped in and hunted down Leechers instead, striking them down even if they didn't kill the human they leeched from. I didn't think that was right— they deserved to be punished by law, not by a human's hands. But no one went against my father. No one went against the Levant family. Not with our reach, our influence.
The Scouts were limited, too. There were not as many as before the Blood war. There weren't as many vampires in general. They were a breed dying out. They knew they were outnumbered. That's why they went for the peace treaty. And a reason for sending me here—
the younger generation made it through the Blood wars. They would be the ones responsible for the future peace, just as I was.
Esin's idea wasn't bad. Maybe I could even convince my father of it. He always complained about dealing with Leechers. The less interaction hunters had with vampires, the better. If they knew how much they were just like us, would they want to kill?
"There would still need to be hunters stationed around the cities," I told her. "For peace of mind."
She nodded. "Definitely. I don't think we can expect trust between us immediately."
"And I think it would be beneficial for the Scouts of one district to meet with the hunters in charge of it, too. Rather than them working independently, it would make sense for them to work together and maybe get to know each other, too."
"Yes, exactly! I also think the border separating us doesn't help our relations, but that's a talk for much later."
That surprised me. She thought vampires should take down their magic border? Even I didn't think that was a good idea— I didn't trust many hunters. The border protected the remaining vampires. It was impossible for a human to cross over it. It'd been implemented many years ago, way before I was born. Had the walls been down, the second Blood war would have ended much worse, I was sure.
"I can tell by your face you don't think that's a good idea."
I frowned. "Not yet, at least. It wouldn't be safe."
"I know. I'm just tired of being trapped, you know? Well, you probably don't know. You have the entire world to explore. We only have one part of it."
I did understand being trapped. But she was right. I had the entire world. They had one fourth of our continent, and that was it. Crossing over meant giving up safety. Not many vampires did. Not unless there was a war.
"That is something we'd have to work on eventually," I said. "I've never really thought about how it must make vampires feel to be stuck in the same area."
"It's big enough to travel around, but I want to visit the places I've seen online. The ocean. Lakes just aren't the same."
I tried to remember the map of their territory. It was inland with only a great lake. I'd never seen the ocean, either. But at least I could go to it if I could escape my father without risking my life.
Then a different part of her sentence stuck out. "There's internet here?"
Her eyebrows shot up. "Uh, yeah? How do you not know that?"
"I've never had internet," I told her. "My father shut it off on my phone, too."
"What?"
"I heard we can borrow laptops from the library. Are we allowed to take them to our dorm room?"
"Give me your phone for a second."
I handed my phone to her, feeling unsure.
She opened and tsked. "You don't even have a passcode on it? What if you lose it?"
"I didn't know you could do that."
"You're seventeen. Or eighteen? I don't know. But you're old enough to need your own privacy. Good thing I know how to undo parental restrictions."
"You do?" I hesitated. "Would my father know?"
"Does it matter? He's not here right now. Enjoy your freedom." She gave me my phone back. "All set. I connected to the school's internet for you, too."
I tapped the Safari icon on my phone. To my amazement, the search engine loaded. A feather-light feeling spread throughout me. "Oh my gosh."
"How have you lived?" she asked in disbelief. "I need the internet."
I didn't even know what to look up. I didn't know where to start. My pulse began to race. "Can you show me how to put a lock on my phone too?"
A grin spread across her face. "Totally. Let me see. Here. Just put in the numbers you want to use. Don't use 1, 2, 3, 4."
I removed my finger from the one, smiling sheepishly. Esin laughed. I tried to think of a number no one in my family would know, but one I would remember. I turned to look at Kaz. "Kaz? When is your birthday?"
"October 31st, why?"
"Huh? Your birthday is at the end of the month?
He nodded. "Yup. I'll be nineteen."
"Nineteen? Not eighteen?"
"Yeah, I came here under a special circumstance so I'm a bit older than most of the students."
I hummed to myself and turned back to Esin. "Okay, I've decided." I typed in 1031.
"Is he your boyfriend?" she asked, winking.
"Kaz? No. Why does everyone think that?"
"Who thinks that?" Kaz asked, leaning around me to butt into our conversation.
Esin's cheeks turned pink. "I was just kidding."
"Cleo said everyone. Who else?"
"Uh, no one," I said.
"Hmm."
"I couldn't date anyone here, anyway."
"Why not?" Esin asked.
"Human?" I said, pointing at myself.
"And? Who said there can't be relationships between vampires and humans?"
I choked on a laugh. "My father would murder me. And then cleanse my body."
"Who cares what your father thinks?" Kaz said sharply.
I faced him. "You don't think it'd be weird?"
"What would? What's so different from you and me? These?" He pulled back his lips to show his fangs.
I didn't even flinch. Was I used to it now? Or was I not scared enough of Kaz?
"I think it wouldn't be bad at all if you ended up dating a vampire," Esin said. "In fact, I think it would bring vampires and humans closer."
Me dating a vampire? I couldn't even imagine it. It'd been nice to hold hands with Felix, and maybe I did want to kiss him, but dating him? Or anyone else? Dating a vampire who I was brought up to hate and kill? The idea was so wild it made mind spin. Dating in general did. I'd never even considered it before coming here. I figured one day my father would introduce me to someone he decided would be good for the family.
But did I want that? What did I want?
I shook my head. I had more important things to worry about than dating.
"You don't think anyone is cute?" Esin pressed. "No one at all?"
"I do."
"Who? Who?"
I could feel my cheeks warming up. "I mean... everyone?"
Kaz snorted.
"No preference? No bias?" Esin asked.
I thought about it. "No?"
"I see. So, there are many options available."
Kaz leaned forward, smirking. "You think you can be considered one of the contender's for Cleo's heart?"
Esin met his challenge with batted eyelashes. "A vampire hunter's daughter and a Scout's daughter seems almost destined, doesn't it?"
"You barely know her."
"You barely know her, too."
"More than you."
"Isn't the point of dating to get to know someone? She doesn't need to know me to date me."
Kaz's mouth fell open and Esin tossed her hair over her shoulder. Kaz pulled my chair closer to him. I rolled my eyes at their antics. Any further banter was cut off as Lietz entered the room. He looked worn out, deep purple bags under his eyes, long jacket wrinkled and shirt buttoned incorrectly.
"Work on your vocabulary amongst yourselves today," he told the class. "Tomorrow we will discuss your next essay, but I'm moving the vocabulary quiz from Friday to Thursday so I suggest you do study it today instead of goofing off."
"What's up with you?" San asked, long arms dangling from the desk as he stretched forward to see Lietz better. "I don't think I've ever seen you less than immaculate."
Lietz pursed his lips at him. "Thanks for pointing that out, San. I bet you want bonus points for using a vocab word from this week."
"That would be nice."
"No."
"Okay, but you do look worse for wear," another student pointed out.
Lietz dropped his messenger bag on his desk with more force than necessary. "As much as I'd love to tell you guys what I've been up to, I've been asked not to. I haven't been able to sleep all weekend."
This got Kaz's attention. His eyes narrowed at Lietz. Lietz must have sensed Kaz's glare, because Lietz looked straight at him. Kaz gave a shake of his head so slightly I barely noticed it.
But I did.
"You know what's weird?" Esin whispered. "Ms. Maharaj is in the same exact state. I had to see her this morning to drop off work, and she was nearly asleep on her feet. Did these two go on a romantic getaway for the weekend?"
What kept the teachers up all weekend? I hadn't heard anything at all... but then again, I'd basically kept myself locked up. But what did Kaz know? He was with me most of the time. I nudged him at the side and he shrugged. He wouldn't tell me if I asked, then.
I dug for my vocabulary book. Whatever it was, it probably didn't pertain to me, otherwise I would have been told. After everything that had happened, I didn't think I would be left in the dark. Maybe it had something to do with another student. A runaway? Was that a thing here?
"I'll be right back," Kaz said, standing from his seat.
"Sure."
He marched down to the front of the classroom and San slid over next to me. "Kaz knows something," he decided.
"If Kaz wanted us to know, we would."
"I'm so curious though," San sighed.
"It can't be anything too serious. If anyone was in danger, they would let the students know, right?" I asked.
San nodded. "Yeah, probably. There haven't been a lot of instances with stuff like that, but I remember one time a student drowned in the lake and they only announced it after they retrieved the body. They were acting fishy for a few days before that."
My heart sunk. "You think maybe they were searching for a dead body?"
"I think there would be rumors if it was. Maybe I can wheedle some information out of Lietz or Kaz."
"If you do, let me know."
"Of course... if you help me out in return."
"With what?"
"I heard you have already studied everything we're learning. I never turned in my last essay. Can you help me work on it?" he asked, puppy dog eyes in effect.
"Yeah," I agreed. I probably knew all the vocabulary words already, anyway. "Where is it?"
He slapped some tattered pieces of paper on the desk in front of me. I could barely read his chicken scratch. "Your spelling is terrible."
"I know right?"
"Why do you sound happy about that?" I squinted at his writing. "I'm going to need you to read this out loud for me."
"Yeah, I can do that... I think."
I sighed. This would take a while.
I didn't manage to catch up with Adora until classes ended for the day. She'd successfully evaded me until I'd all but tackled her after being let out of my last class. Her eyes went wide, and she tried to bolt, but I yanked on the back of her backpack, pulling her back to me. A few students looked like they wanted to intervene, as if I were attacking her, but none of them did.
Once I noticed their reaction, I let her go and put my hands up to show my innocence. We moved to the side of the science building, standing on the browning grass.
"Did you need something?" Adora asked lightly.
"For you to stop avoiding me."
"I'm not—"
"You are. I don't like it. I'm over what happened the other day, Adora. It's fine. I don't want this to come between us."
Her eyes lit up with hope, but she set her jaw. "Yeah, but I..."
"I also spoke without thinking," I said. "I know your words came from a place of concern. I really appreciate that, Adora. I just want you to know I can handle myself."
"I think you can too," she agreed. "And you're right. I am just worried."
I grabbed her hands. "Thank you. I worry about you, too. You're my best friend, Adora."
"I am?"
"I've never had a friend before. Ever. You were the first person here to be excited to meet me and offer me friendship. I won't forget that. I won't forget that you've cared about me all these years when I thought even my own family didn't. I don't want things to be awkward between us."
Adora squeezed my hands. "Me either."
"It's stupid for us to avoid each other over this. Don't you think so?"
"Yeah, it is."
"This weekend sucked without you."
Now she perked up completely, stepping closer to me, smile growing on her face. "Ohh, really? I heard you had a good time with a certain someone though."
"Who told you that?" I asked, butterflies erupting in my stomach. Butterflies? No, nerves. Not butterflies. I only felt like that because I thought Adora was going to lecture me. Not from thinking of Felix. I hadn't been able to talk to him in class today. Kaz had rushed me in and out of the classroom, making sure I didn't get a chance. Felix had only been able to give me an amused look as Kaz shoved me out the door.
"Claude."
"What did he know about it to tell you?" I muttered.
"He mainly was going on about how you forgot your phone. And he had a good point too, Cleo. That was dumb."
I narrowed my eyes at her. "Do you wanna fight again?"
Her eyes widened. "No."
"It was just an accident. I won't leave it behind again."
"Not you won't hang out with Felix again?"
"I'm not going to promise that. Claude didn't tell you what I said to him?"
Adora gave me a confused look. "No?"
Huh. Interesting. "I said I would be the judge of who I hang out with. I appreciate everyone's concern, but I don't think Felix is a bad guy."
"Well, I'm not going to tell you not to, but just be careful. I don't really believe in the rumors either, but he's still kind of scary."
"He's not."
Adora didn't look convinced, but at least she wasn't telling me to stay away from him. That was a good sign.
"Umm, have you ever kissed anyone?"
Adora's jaw dropped. "Cleo! You didn't! With Felix? Kiss—?"
I slapped my hands over her mouth. "No!"
"Mmhgh!"
"What?"
She pulled my hands away. "I said liar."
"I'm not lying. I didn't kiss him... but I did think about it. Is that weird? He held my hand and I felt hot and then I saw his lips and..." I trailed off, my cheeks on fire. Oh man, this was harder than I thought to talk about out loud. "Uh. Well. I've never kissed anyone. Or really ever thought about it. But all of a sudden, I can't get it out of my mind, you know? Is there something wrong with me?"
It seemed like a thousand emotions were running over Adora's face, and she finally settled on a grin. "Is it just Felix you want to kiss?"
I shook my head. "I would kiss anyone, I think. Felix just happened to be there. And tall and warm and nice."
Her eyebrows rose. "Sounds like you're finally around people you're not related to and are thinking about these things now. There's nothing wrong with you, Cleo. Everyone feels the urge to experiment in one way or the other. I was obsessed with kissing everyone I could when I was thirteen. You think Felix is attractive, of course you want to get closer to him."
"You think so?"
"I know so. Your curiosity is completely natural. Just like if you weren't interested at all, that can be normal too. Everyone is different. Everyone has their own preferences. No one should judge each other for them."
"I still kind of want to kiss him."
Adora winced. "I wish it was someone else, but I can't stop you."
"Have you ever dated anyone?"
"Oh, yeah. Kaz, San, the sister of the girl you were talking to in class earlier."
I balked. "Kaz?"
"Yeah, what a train wreck that was. We are too close to date."
"What about San?"
She shrugged. "I think he was just testing dating out and decided it's not for him. Fair enough."
"I see."
"And Esin's sister used me as a practice girlfriend because she'd never dated a girl before and we never made it public. I didn't really care though, I just knew we wouldn't last."
I nodded, taking this in. Good thing Adora didn't end up with Esin's sister. Did Adora even know she was part of the group that attacked me? I hoped not. I hope she never found out.
That aside, though. I learned something. Dating could be casual. I still couldn't imagine dating a vampire, but being close to someone like that sounded nice. Holding hands all the time, kissing.
"If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask me," Adora continued. "I'm not sure the boys would have much advice. I don't think they've dated anyone aside from me."
"No one can compare to you?"
"That or I scared them off from dating."
"What about Claude?"
"Why the interest in him, hmm?"
I shoved her lightly. "He'd be the last person I want to date. Or kiss. I take back that I'd kiss anyone. I wouldn't kiss him."
She laughed. "Ouch. But I respect it. He's never dated anyone. That would be quite a responsibility for the person he dated."
"Oh, right. Because he's the prince."
"Yep. Royalty is so lonely sometimes."
I could imagine. I stretched out my arms, rocking onto the heels of my feet. I felt a lot better after talking to Adora. I was having normal thoughts, not going boy crazy. I was being a normal teenager. Something I hadn't had the chance to be.
I smiled a little. I liked it.
"Are you thinking about kissing Felix?" Adora teased.
"No!" I denied, but knew the truth to her teasing.
I would enjoy being a teenager for a little bit.
And I would kiss Felix.
____________________
Sorry, I don't think this chapter is as good as usual. It's been hard to focus because of outside issues :/ I still hope it was enjoyable, though! I hope everything can settle so I can go back to normal and not be distracted while writing for next week's chapter!
In better news, I commissioned an artist who did an illustration of Cleo and Claude before to do the whole crew! From left-right, Kaz, Cleo, Adora, San, Felix, and obviously Claude sitting on the chair.
This again is by nolawforthedamned on deviantart! It's so awesome! She even gifted me this sketch!
And also I decided I didn't like the new header. So we are back to the original one and the new header is now the new chapter divider lol.