Blissful Ignorance: In a Vampire's World

“Kyle! I can’t believe you took me into town! I’m barefoot!” I whined as he walked through the town square. There was a big fountain in the middle and expensive stores surrounding it.

“Hey, you’re the one who chased after me.” He shifted his hands under my butt, not in a sexual way though. “Besides, I’ll just buy you some shoes. Your Converse are worn down anyway.”

I gasped and gently smacked the back of his head, though it only made my palm throb and turn red. “Blasphemy! Don’t dis the sacred shoes for they gain more comfort as the years pass by!”

He just chuckled, the melodic sound melting my heart. “Yeah wait until it starts snowing around here while you have holes in your shoes.”

“Kris we’re going to buy you new shoes whether you like it or not so stop complaining,” Marcus glanced over at me, then at a group of gorgeous girls (obviously vampire) walking into a fancy store you might see Beverly Hills.

“No,” I said as I glared at him. “I’m not going into a store like that. It’s not my style.” I wrapped my arms around Kyle’s neck more tightly, and rested my head on my arm. As I looked around the town square, I realized that I was being glared at from all directions. They were all girls. Vampire girls, looking all sophisticated and beautiful…it made me feel incredibly self-conscious, but I just smirked at them all to tell them without words that they couldn’t get to me with their death glares.

“Unfortunately, Krissy, the only other place that has your kind of shoes is out of our way, so you either buy the heels or meet the vampire King barefoot,” Kyle said as he walked towards the store.

“The King?! Kyle are you insane?! I’m dressed so inappropriately! I’m wearing jeans and a plain red t-shirt! What are you going there for anyway?” I was panicking! And why shouldn’t I? I was going to go meet the most powerful vampire in the world!

“He wanted to discuss some important matters. Don’t freak out, Kris. Jonathon isn’t the type to judge a person by their looks. Especially when that person is a good friend of Kyle’s,” Marcus held the door open for Kyle as he walked into the store, and we were immediately approached by a lovely young woman with a perfect figure and a natural tan. A human.

“Hello, can I help you with anything?”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the double-meaning in that question. It was in her tone. She really would help them with anything. I just dulled the chuckle to a smirk when I saw her glancing at me trying to feign innocent curiosity.

“Yes, we need some nice shoes that this girl can wear with what she has on,” Marcus pat my head with a smile, ignoring our subtle, silent way of showing our distaste for each other.

“I think I have just what you need.” The girl whose nametag read Samantha replied with a perky smile and flirtatious glance before she walked off towards the shoes, swaying her hips.

“Slut,” I murmured under my breath, but I earned myself a pinch in the butt from Kyle.

“Here we are. These are very fashionable right now,” Samantha had stopped in front of a wall of shoes on display and grabbed a hideous pair of shiny gold stilettos.

“Yeah sure. Because gold shoes totally go with jeans and a red shirt.” I couldn’t help but give her some of my famous attitude. I mean shiny gold heels with jeans that were a bit tattered on the bottom and a red t? That’s ridiculous. I glanced around the store until I found a pair of candy-apple-red open-toe heels. “What about those?” I pointed to them, and tried to reach but they were too high up on the shelf, and too far away.

“I got them,” Kyle chuckled as he reached up and snagged one of the shoes, then put it in my hands.

I turned the shoe around in my hands, examining it until I saw the price tag. “Three hundred bucks?! Are you insane?! I could find the same pair at Marshall’s for sixty!” I shrieked, trying to lean over Kyle’s shoulder to put it back on the shelf, but I was still too far.

Kyle snatched the shoe out of my hands and handed it to the girl. “We’ll get these in a size six and meet you up at the check-out desk when we’re done shopping.” He shifted me on his back then went to the women’s side of the store.

“More shopping? Are you mad? You’re buying me a pair of three hundred dollar shoes and you think you can just buy me more? I don’t think so! It’ll take me months to pay you back!” I whined as he stopped in front of a rack of jeans.

“Who said you’re going to pay me back?” He picked out a pair of size two dark blue skinnies and then kept walking around the store.

“Me!” I got a glance at the jeans and nearly shit myself. Two-hundred and ninety-nine dollars and ninety-eight cents! “No! Those are too expensive! They’re just jeans! I can buy them at Ross for ninety percent off this price!”

“You’re not paying me back, and I don’t want to hear anymore whining,” he said casually as he continued to search for a shirt. He finally stopped at a rack with a blouse on it that was the same color as the shoes I had picked out. It was modest, but sexy at the same time. It isolated, and brought more attention to my breasts by seaming right under them and lifting them a bit. It then curved in all the right places and the straps were one inch thick. It was a beautiful shirt that was something I would love to have, but would never buy because of the two hundred dollar price tag. But of course, Kyle picked it up and headed towards the fitting rooms.

“No Kyle. I mean it. There’s nothing wrong with going to Target.” I said half-heartedly. I knew there was no point in trying to stop him now.

Once we reached the fitting room, he had a woman set up a room for me and then bent down so I could slide off his back and onto the floor. “Stop trying to argue with me. You know you like the shirt.” He stood up and turned to face me.

“How could you tell?” I half-smiled and watched the pretty werewolf girl take the clothes Kyle picked out into the room she had cleaned out.

“Because I know you,” he smiled and gently pushed me towards the fitting room. “Now go put the clothes on and come out when you’re dressed.”

“K!” I smiled fully and sauntered off into the room, closing the door behind me and locking it. The jeans were so tight I had to jump up and down a bit but when they were on they were comfortable as hell! And kind of stretchy. Then it was the shirt and…honestly, I never thought I could look so good in a fashionable outfit! I’m more of a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl, as you could’ve guessed, but this was an amazing look on me! Once I stopped staring at myself in the mirror, I opened the door and peeked out at Kyle and Marcus.

“Come on, Kris. I’m sure you don’t look bad.” Marcus waved his hand to call me over, and when I came out it dropped, along with his and Kyle’s jaws.

“How do I look?” I turned my back towards them. “Do these pants make my butt look big? I’ve always had a bubble butt.” I stuck my hands in the back pockets, then turned back around to face them, smiling when I saw that they had regained their composures.

“You look great, Krissy.” Kyle looked me up and down once, then walked into the fitting room I was in and snatched up my clothes. “Let’s go,” he grabbed my hand and walked towards the front desk. The dumb broad Sam pushed some buttons in her register while I looked up at Kyle.

“I can’t just walk out of here wearing these-”

“That’ll be eight-fifty-seven.” Samantha put both hands on the desk in front of her and squished her arms to her sides, making her cleavage more noticeable. I swear I could hear her smug thoughts mocking me for being wrong.

Kyle pulled out his credit card and handed it to the girl without a second glance, then looked me in the eye. “I have everything covered.” He smiled and kissed my forehead. “Don’t worry about it, love.” After that, he looked at Samantha, took his card back, and picked up the box with my new shoes in it before walking with me out of the store, hand in hand. “Damn. That girl could not take a hint,” He sighed as he stopped me in front of a Starbucks and had me sit in a chair under a green umbrella.

“What are you talking about? You didn’t throw any hints at her other than kissing my forehead and holding my hand.” I grabbed the shoes out of the bag Kyle had tossed on the metal table the chair was in front of, and slipped them on.

“When a guy walks into a store with a girl on his back, that’s a huge clue! You don’t hit on a guy when he has a girl on him.” For some reason, Kyle seemed upset that a girl was hitting on him. It confused me.

“So…it’s a bad thing that a pretty girl with huge knockers was hitting on you?” I stood and picked up the bag that had my other clothes in it.

“She’s not pretty, trust me,” he seemed disgusted with something, but before I could ask he changed the subject. “So are you ready to go?”

“Sure. I guess. Are we walking there?” I stuck my hands in the back pockets of my new jeans, the bag dangling from my wrist, and glanced from Kyle to Marcus--both of them started laughing.

“Of course not. We’re meeting Damien’s driver in front of the church on Kale Avenue,” Marcus started walking off, knowing me and Kyle would follow.

“Is that ok? I mean…you boys going near a church and all…” I had to ask. I’ve seen quite a few movies where vampires who entered churches would burst into flames, or even being in front of one would send them running off in pain.

“Churches don’t hurt us. In fact, some of us are avid church-goers,” Kyle stated calmly, but it sounded to me like he was talking to a child.

“Oh,” was all I could think of to say. I was glad I learned something new about my friends, though. As we walked through town, we passed by an IHop, and I managed to keep my stomach under control, but then we came up to a Denny’s and I couldn’t help but stop and smell the sweet syrup that was thick in the air.

“Krissy! Come on.” Marcus called from up ahead, realizing that I had stopped.

“I haven’t eaten all morning.” I put my hand on my stomach. I glanced behind me at three giggling girls sitting at a table outside of the Denny’s. They were glancing at me, then back to each other, talking about me and letting me know it. They’re human, I can take them. I walked my way over to them, holding my chin up high to let them know I could be sophisticated. “Excuse me, but if you have something to say, you should say it to my face instead of behind my back.” I looked from face to face, girl to girl. They were mostly pretty in the face, but one was a bit thick.

“If it’s none of your business, then why should we?” A blonde one stood up in my face.

“Because it’s rude. But I shouldn’t expect any better from a group of mindless, stuck-up whores.” I smiled sweetly, keeping my hands by my side to be ready for a fight.

“Like you should be one to talk. Following those two boys around like a lost puppy. They look too good for you. You must be screwing them to be staying around them.” The other blond girl with brown streaks in her hair stood up on my left.

“Actually I’m a virgin.” I smiled at her, but it just made them all laugh at me.

“If you’re a virgin, I’m Axel Rose.” The thick brown-haired one laughed so hard her face was turning red.

“I can see it.” I tilted my head as I glanced at her, pure innocence on my face.

“That’s it!” Axel Rose got up from her chair and took only one step before Kyle came up behind me and wrapped an arm around my waist.

“Krissy, baby, what did I tell you about starting trouble with prostitutes?” He smiled as he spoke softly and glanced from girl to girl. They were flabbergasted! It was hilarious!

“Sorry Kyle. I forgot.” I had turned around in his arms and wrapped my arms around his neck, then got on my tip toes to kiss his lips. He fell into it completely, kissing me back passionately, then pulled back and smiled down at me.

“You ready to go?” He unwrapped his arms, then placed his hands over mine and brought them out from around his neck.

“Yeah.” I let Kyle walk first, holding my hand until…

“Slut,” the blond girl who was the first to get in my face fake coughed the word, and that was it.

I jerked my hand out of Kyle’s, since it was my best hitting hand, dropped the bag, twirled around and pounded my fist into her face so hard it made her turn and fall onto her side. She rolled on the ground, her hands over her face as she groaned. “Does any one else have something to say?” I glared at the others, and much to my surprise, they came at me. One grabbed my hair, but I wrapped my fingers around her wrists just below the bones and gripped it hard until she let go and managed to punch the other girl in the gut. Only one problem with that, the girl had a fork in her hand and stabbed me in the upper arm. “Ow! You bitch!” I screamed then kneed her in her face while she was still bent over trying to catch her breath. Before the girl who grabbed my hair could come back, Kyle and Marcus had grabbed me and were dragging me away. For once, I didn’t struggle against them.

They walked me into the nearest doctor’s office and straight up to the desk.

“Can we get some gauze and antiseptic ointment please?” Marcus asked while Kyle grabbed some tissues that were on the desk and pressed them against the four little dots the fork made.

“This is pretty deep,” he said calmly, lifting the tissue to look at the wound.

“She’ll be fine. There wouldn’t be any point in using stitches on such small wounds,” Marcus replied, opening the tube of antiseptic and putting some on his finger. “Lift the tissue,” he said, and once Kyle did so, he rubbed the ointment on the little dots, making me flinch a little from the pain.

I didn’t want to say anything. The boys seemed very serious, possibly angry right now. And why shouldn’t they be? I probably just embarrassed them in front of every person in the square…but I had to apologize.

“Guys I-”

“At least those girls got what was coming to them,” Kyle interrupted when Marcus wrapped my arm to keep the gauze pad in place.

“Definitely. Did you see the way that blond bimbo went down?” Marcus chuckled softly as he taped the wrapping down.

“Or the way she kneed that girl in the face? I mean, damn Krissy. For such a small person you certainly pack one hell of a punch,” Kyle smiled and pat my back before grabbing my hand and leading me out the door.

“You guys aren’t mad at me?” I raised a brow as I followed. We weren’t too far from the church now.

“Well, at first we kind of were, but once we realized that they were talking shit on you, we were cheering for you silently.” Kyle smiled softly, then turned the corner with Marcus and still towed me. When we rounded the corner the church and a limo came into view.

“We’re proud of you for standing up for yourself and winning the fight, but you really need to cool your temper. It might get you in a whole lot of trouble in the future,” Marcus warned as we crossed the street and up to the driver who had gotten out of the driver’s seat. “Hey Timothy.” He shook hands with the driver.

“Hello Marcus, Kyle.” Timothy dropped Marcus’s hand and nodded at Kyle, who was too busy wrapping his arms around my waist to shake hands.

I guess I could see why Kyle was acting so protective. The driver was only about eighteen or nineteen, and very beautiful, but had a look of mischievousness in his eyes.

“Who is this delicious-looking young woman?” Timothy held his hand out towards me for me to shake it, but Kyle pulled me into him more to make me take a step away from him, but it only made Timmy Boy chuckle. “Alright Kyle, I get the point,” he said as he opened the back door of the limo.

Kyle pushed me in first, blocking me from Timothy’s sight, then he and Marcus got in with me. The seats were unbelievably comfortable, and luxurious. The inside was the kind of a limo with the window that would pop up to give the people in the backseat privacy from the driver. Once the car started driving off, I pushed the button to make the window go up and I looked at Kyle curiously.

“What’s the deal? Why were you so cold to Timothy?”

“Because he’s new, bitten by a low-life vampire and acts like one too. He’s a womanizer, and you’re too good for him,” Kyle replied, looking out the window.

His words sent warmth throughout my body and I couldn’t help but smile at his caring quality. “Aww that’s so cute. Kyle’s protecting me from bad boys,” I said in a cute voice while I gently pinched his cheek.

Kyle raised a brow, then smirked. “I don’t want my little Krissy to get seduced by a lowlife vampire like him. Friends look out for each other.”

“Woah. Pause. Do you see him as a lowlife because he’s a womanizer or because he was bit by a vampire with diluted blood?” I raised a brow, hoping that Kyle didn’t judge his own people by the purity of their blood.

“Because he acts like a lowlife. Parties all the time, sleeps with any woman he chooses, feeds off whoever he wants as long as he kills them and gets rid of their body. That is usually the life of his ‘blood-type’.” He responded, glancing at the window separating us from the driver.

“But not all of them are the same, right?” I followed his eyes to the window, then looked back up at him.

“No, not all of them. Some of them decide to do better with their lives and become doctors or lawyers, or just live normal lives.” He gazed down into my eyes, then back out the side window at the scenery.

“What do you think would happen if I were to be changed by one of you?” I asked softly, hoping I could get a good answer because honestly, I had been thinking about it a lot lately. Ever sice I was small I wanted to be a vampire.

“Things would be a lot easier for you than they were for Timothy. You wouldn’t go insane with thirst, it would be easier for you to control, and you would be more like your normal self. It would be better to be changed by a pureblooded vampire, than one with a lower purity.” Marcus answered for him, making me turn my head to look at him. “But if you want to be turned into a vampire, I suggest that you only do it if you’re in love with that vampire. A human who is turned has an eternal bond with the vampire that changed them. They can feel when the other is in pain, or when they’re happy or sad, and the vampire who changed the human can control the new blood at will”

“New blood?”

“That’s what we call the newly changed human.” Marcus stated matter-of-factly.

“Oh,” I replied softly, then looked out the same window Kyle was looking out. I didn’t want to be exposed like that to any man just to become a vampire. Honestly, the thought of getting married or falling in love like that scared the crap out of me. It seems that all humans and vampires do is hurt each other and others. I don’t want that.

It took us about an hour to get to Damien’s father’s mansion, and almost another hour to walk to his office. I’m exaggerating of course, but you get my point.

“Ah, boys. You’re a little late.” A gorgeous vampire got up from behind the big desk and walked casually over to us.

“Sorry Uncle John. This little spit-fire kept us.” Marcus smiled and pointed his thumb at me, making me blush.

Nice going Marcus. I tried to smile up at the man as he examined me.

“So this is the girl Peter has my son looking after,” he smiled and held out his hand. “It’s nice to finally meet you Kristiana.”

I shook his hand firmly and let a real smile light up my face. “You can call me Kris.” I dropped his hand slowly.

“Well you can call me John.” He said before glancing at the door. “Ah, Damien. You’re even later than your friends.”

I half-turned to partially face Damien, my face serene and indifferent.

“Wow, I’m impressed,” Damien seemed surprised as his eyes glanced over my figure, then at Kyle and Marcus, making me smile. “You actually made her look like a girl.” Whoops. There goes my smile.

“God Damien you’re such an asshole.” I rolled my eyes, then froze, feeling the eyes of everyone in the room watch me.

“Yes, Damien. That was very rude. Apologize to the pretty girl.” Jonathon said from behind me as he rested a hand on my shoulder.

“It seems you’ve been fooled by the nice clothing, father. This girl is as pretty as-”

“Finish that sentence and you’re a dead man,” Kyle glared, “besides, I didn’t see you fighting that kiss earlier.”

I could see the anger building up inside of them both, so I had to intervene. (Plus I didn’t want to go into the conversation about “the kiss”) “Boys, stop.”

“That was involuntary and you know it.” Damien folded his arms over his chest as he glared at Kyle, who glared back in turn.

“Kiss? What kiss?” Jonathon looked utterly confused as he glanced from face to face and finally landed on me.

I smacked my forehead, then stuck my hands in my back pockets and walked out of the room, not even looking at Damien as I passed him. I didn’t have to sit around and listen to this bullshit.

Kyle’s P.O.V.

“Nice going, Damien! We finally had her feeling good about herself and acting like a normal girl and just because you’re shy about that kiss you go and put her down!” He pissed me off! She didn’t deserve his crude remarks.

“I’m not-”

He started, but his father cut him off.

“Boys, can we let that go for now? We have important issues to address.” Jonathan walked behind his desk and sat in his large leather chair, keeping his eyes on us three.

Back to Kris’s P.O.V.

I found myself heading for the door. Where else was I going to go? I didn’t know my way around this mansion, and I’d most likely get lost.

“Ma’am, I’ve rescheduled your meeting with Amelia until tomorrow at twelve.”

I glanced over at a woman in her mid twenties following a black-haired beauty. I couldn’t help but notice the striking resemblance between her and Damien. She had to have been his mother. Her gorgeous blue-green eyes, her perfect figure, and her sweet pale face that appeared to be glowing made me stop in my tracks. I couldn’t get my eyes off of her until I realized she was staring right back at me. I averted my eyes to the floor, my cheeks warming, and continued on my way to the door.

“Excuse me?” I lifted my eyes to gaze into the woman’s who had appeared at my side. “Are you Kristiana?”

I nodded softly. “Yes ma’am.”

“It’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard you’re quite the fighter.” She smiled sweetly as her follower came up behind her. “I’m Damien’s mother, Delia.”

“I guessed. You’re son looks just like you, but you seem much sweeter.” As soon as the words left my mouth I wished they hadn’t. I thought she might cop an attitude and be like “bitch are you trying to say my son isn’t sweet?” but she instead, she just kept on smiling.

“I know he can be a bit of a tough cookie at times, but he does it to protect himself. He has to when he’s in the position he’s in.”

“Position?” I furrowed my brows and tilted my head to the side a bit as I watched her smile turn into a polite curve of the lips.

“Well, he’s the Prince of vampires. He can’t trust everyone and he can’t get too close to girls. You’d be surprised to know how many girls just throw themselves at him for his money.” She stated matter-of-factly, then glanced at my arm. “I have the feeling you’ve already engaged in a fight with one.” Her eyes met mine and I just shrugged.

“How could you tell?” I glanced at my arm, then back at her.

“I can sense things. Like the past, present, and future, but I never get to see them in visions.” She tapped her head lightly as she explained this.

I sighed and relaxed my shoulders. “I ran into three of them in the square. They were making fun of me because they were jealous that I was with Marcus and Kyle. So I confronted them about it. I guess the whole fight was my fault, but I’m not one to just brush disrespect off my shoulder. One of the girls managed to stab me in the arm with a fork, but trust me, they look worse.” I smiled slightly at the end.

I half expected her to frown and give me a long lecture about how fighting is wrong, but all she did was giggle a beautiful sound. “My my. You are quite the fighter.”

My smile grew as I heard her melodic laughter and realized how accepting she was of who I am. It made me happy. She reminded me of my mom. “Well that’s what you get when you grow up around two boys.”

“Oh! You have brothers?” She asked innocently, her eyes gleaming with the thought of two boys who look similar to me.

“No. I have two best friends I’ve known since I was a baby. They’re both boys. I recently found out that they’re parents were hired by my mom to protect me until the boys were old enough to take over.” I stated matter-of-factly. It didn’t phase me anymore when I thought about my friends keeping a huge lie from me.

“I’m sure they didn’t tell you out of love. When someone loves a person, they don’t want to ever lose that person, even if--in the back of their mind--they know that that person will accept the secret, their fear overrides it and keeps them from telling that person the secret.” She was so understanding. I could be friends with this woman.

“I guess but-”

“You still can’t shake the feeling of betrayal.” She finished my sentence for me, and just smiled, seeing the ‘yes‘ in my expression. “That’s natural. You just need time, and they’ll understand if they’re true friends.”

I smiled sweetly and was about to say thank you when Kyle walked up behind her.

“Hey Delia, it’s nice to see you again.” He smiled as Delia turned around.

“Hi Kyle!” Delia gave him a big hug then released him and motioned towards me. “You’ve come to check on Kristiana, right?”

Kyle nodded then glanced at me with a apathetic look on his face. “Yeah. Damien pissed her off.”

“I know. I’ll have to give that boy a good talking-to.” Delia glanced at me, but I just kept my eyes on the floor, remembering the reason why I walked here in the first place. “Anyway, I better get going. It was nice to meet you, Kristiana. I’ll see you soon.”

I looked up, about to ask her when we were going to see each other again but all I saw was Kyle.

“We do that a lot.” He smiled and took a step closer. “Are you okay? You seemed pretty upset when you took off.” He put his hands on my shoulders caringly, trying to look into my eyes.

I just sighed looked back into his dazzling eyes. “I can’t take much more of his crap, Kyle. He’s proud, and rude, and acts like he doesn’t give a shit about anybody around him except for you and Marcus. Those kinds of people bother me. That’s the kind of person whose head I would bash into a wall.”

“He’s really not such a bad guy, Krissy. He just…” He couldn’t finish the sentence, but I already guessed what he was going to say.

“He doesn’t like humans,” I finished the sentence for him and watched the ‘yes’ appear in his eyes. “Why is that? Is it because he sees us as inferior creatures?”

“No. He’s just jealous of you because you can live in the real world with no worries. You don’t have to worry about people finding out that you’re a vampire, and then have them try to kill you.” Kyle let go of my shoulders but let his hands travel down to my forearms and pulled them toward him, making my hands slip out of my back pockets, then he gently took my hands in his. “Come on. Let’s go take a walk.” He subtly let go of one of my hands, then towed me along with the other, walking down the hall and toward the back of the house. He opened the back door that led out to a beautiful, gigantic maze-like garden with stone pathways leading and curving to every corner of it. There were short trees in the front of the garden in little squares that the paths made, but then the paths stopped at a creek that ran from the right wall of the yard to the left wall, with a concrete bridge running over it. On the other side of the bridge were big trees and lots of foliage with a single path leading into it and disappearing when it got too far for me to see. It was my dream backyard. Lots of trees for me to climb!

Kyle glanced down at me as I stood next to him and smiled before taking a path all the way to the bridge. We walked over the bridge, and Kyle took me to a stone bench that sat underneath a tree and was only fifteen feet from the creek. “Sit,” he said, motioning for me to do as he said.

Of course, I did, then he sat down next to me.

“What do you think? Beautiful, isn’t it?” He asked as we looked across the creek at the rose bushes, trees, and vividly-colored flowers surrounding the trees.

“I love it,” I said softly, not wanting to disturb the calm atmosphere.

Kyle just let out a soft sigh of satisfaction, then decided to strike up a conversation. “You know, Damien will come around. It might take him a while, but I have the feeling you two will be good friends some day.”

I huffed and rolled my eyes in response to the statement. “Yeah. When hell freezes over, pigs fly, and an angel fucks the devil’s son.”

Kyle chuckled but smiled. “You’ll see.” I was about to argue but he spoke before I got the chance. “So, what was your life like before all this shit happened?”

“Fantastic. I was doing well in school, had two of the best friends in the world, partied but kept myself under control while still having fun…It was every teenager’s dream high school life,” I answered, gazing at a beautiful red rose blooming next to a white budding rose.

“Damn. That does sound pretty perfect,” he nodded, his eyes following my gaze. “Did you get in much trouble?”

“Only when I got into fights at school. I don’t like preppy chicks and they hated me.” I leaned back, putting my hands on the back of the bench to keep me from falling backwards.

“Why?” Kyle watched me curiously, honestly interested in what I had to say. He was like a student eager to learn.

“Preppy chicks are manipulative, slutty, and often pretend to be good kids. They’re so full of themselves, too! They think every guys wants them, and the ones who don’t are either a fun chase or just stupid. They’re flirty with every cute guy they see, and know how to pull, tug, and manipulate a person’s emotions. They also know how to tear down even the most innocent girl’s reputation.” I glared up at the tree, thinking of all the guys I watched them tear apart. A couple of them my friends. “I don’t understand how guys keep falling head-over-heels for those vicious demons.”

“Because it’s a challenge,” he responded, making me glance his way. “They play hard to get and guys don’t like girls who are easy. Plus they have pretty faces and up-to-date styles. But guys always realize in the end that they should’ve gone for the more down-to-earth girl. Like you,” he said, turning his head to look into my eyes.

I had to look away. I hadn’t really had that many boyfriends, so what he said wasn’t really pertaining to me.

Kyle just chuckled and turned his head to look at the roses again. “You’ll see. You’re still young.”

“Kyle! Krissy! It’s time to go!” Marcus said from the mansion, making me look back at him.

I sighed and stood up, but was quickly swept off my feet by a tall white vampire and thrown over his shoulder.

“Kyle!” I shrieked from surprise, but he just started gracefully walking towards the mansion. “I can walk you know!”

“I know, but I also know that those heels are hurting your feet. So shut up and let me take care of you,” he said with a smile in his voice.

So I just shut my mouth and let him carry me into the mansion where Kyle suddenly stopped in the entrance hall.

“Well, this is interesting.” I heard Johnathan chuckle as he stood in front of Kyle, chuckling at the sight he saw.

“Her heels were hurting her feet so I figured I’d give them a break.” Kyle said, turning around so I could see Damien’s father, and I just smiled.

“Hi!” I waved.

“Don’t you mean, bye?” He smiled back and took my hand in his. “It was nice to meet you Kristiana.”

I shook his hand politely. “It was nice to meet you too sir, I-”

“Johnathan! I need you to-” A tall, pale man walked into the entrance hall behind Johnathan, saw me, and paused, awestruck. He had blond hair, blue eyes, and looked like the man in the picture my mother kept hidden in her nightstand. It was my father.

Kyle quickly turned around so I wasn’t facing the man my mother called my father anymore, and spoke as soon as he did. “Well we really gotta get going. My mom’s gonna be mad if I’m not on time for dinner so we’ll see you later,” he said, then swiftly turned and walked out the front door.

My eyes didn’t leave the gorgeous blond man that stood there stupidly, and before the door to the mansion was shut behind Marcus, I frowned at him. There were so many things I wanted to say--well more like scream. I wanted him to know how much I hated him for not being there for me. I wanted him to know how many nights my mother cried over him. But Kyle didn’t give me any time to do that. He threw me into the limo, then climbed in ahead of Marcus.

I was silent the entire way to Kyle’s house. I wanted to cry, but there was no point. What good would that do?