Camarilla | z.zy ✓

CHAPTER 12

'Those girls really like Zhenyuan,' Yaxuan commented as he walked to the cafeteria with Mia and Jungwon.

'Yeah they do,' Mia answered flatly. She didn't know why for some reason she felt mad that Zhenyuan was sitting with those girls. Was she perhaps jealous? Why would she be jealous when there was nothing going on between her and Zhenyuan?

'What do you expect from someone who could be one of the hottest guys in school?' Jungwon answered Yaxuan with a smirk. The three of them lined up in front of the counter and held out their trays to be served.

Mia was feeling annoyed with the conversation the boys were having.

'No wonder he's about to replace me in the crew. That was fast.' Yaxuan complained with a chuckle. 'I don't mind though.'

'It's so weird, I always thought you were obsessed with being popular.' Jungwon answered him. After the three had had their food served in their trays, they went to their usual table by the window. Mia and Yaxuan sat together while Jungwon sat opposite them.

The three continued to converse after Mia had deftly changed the subject, and Yaxuan was full on laughing at the topic Jungwon was explaining about his grandpa.

Zhenyuan later walked into the cafeteria and grabbed his tray, but Jungwon was the only one who could see him. Mia and Yaxuan had their backs facing him. Jungwon wondered if Zhenyuan was going to join them, but it was improbable since he was probably one of the popular kids.

Zhenyuan put his tray forward and kind of frowned at the food that was being served. It's not that it was bad, but once again, he had a feeling that this food will not suit his palette. All the students seemed to be happy with the food that was being provided that day though.

'Where did Zhenyuan go?' he heard someone say as they approached the cafeteria. He could recognize the voice as Chengxin. 'I didn't see him leave.'

'Let's find him, I bet he's in the cafeteria.' Yaowen answered him.

Zhenyuan agitatedly looked around the cafeteria to find somewhere to sit to avoid the people who wanted to be his friends. His focus had to be on protecting Mia, and these guys were going to be a distraction. Besides, Zhenyuan didn't really associate himself with the popular kids.

In the crowd of students, Zhenyuan was able to recognize Jungwon's face. He wasn't his favorite person, but sitting with him was probably better than ending up with Chengxin and his friends. Jungwon was looking back at him, so he felt he would be welcomed.

Zhenyuan was supposed to rush over to the table, using all the speed he felt he could muster. But all of the sudden, he found that he had bumped into the back wall of the cafeteria hard and fell onto the ground. He was confused at what had just happened, but he knew he had ran too fast.

Jungwon had felt the wind as Zhenyuan ran past him, as well as the sound of the slicing of the air. He had even seen Zhenyuan run at super speed to the back of the cafeteria; unnaturally super speed. He widened his eyes as he turned to look at Zhenyuan who had sat up and was rubbing his head. The tray he was carrying had produced a loud sound as well when it fell to the floor, giving Zhenyuan more attention than he thought he'd get.

'Whoa what was that?' students asked each other. 'Are you okay dude?'

'Why is he so embarrassing?' one other student whispered to their companion. The way students had reacted told Jungwon that he was the only one who had seen Zhenyuan run at super speed. Probably, they had not been paying attention to him to see what had happened.

'You okay dude?' Chengxin asked as he walked over to him, picking him up. 'You got a bruise on your forehead.'

Zhenyuan groaned. 'I think I'm fine.'

Yaxuan, who was still sitting at the table, looked at Mia who was looking at Zhenyuan with shock as well. 'Well, won't you go help him? You guys are friends by default.'

'Well, Chengxin's already gone to help him so...' Mia slightly shrugged, not wanting to go over anyway. She knew people would probably once again talk about how he was so popular and she was just that invisible girl.

'Let's go to the nurse's office, you're bleeding.' Chengxin told him.

'Okay.' Zhenyuan had now completely stood. He was able to walk on his own as Chengxin led him out of the cafeteria. He felt embarrassed and confused as all eyes were on him, he still didn't understand why that would happen to him.

'I saw him run at super speed.' Jungwon leaned in to his two friends.

'What? Are you serious?' Yaxuan seemed very skeptical and a small smile appeared on his face, as if he was about to laugh.

'I'm serious.' Jungwon turned to Mia, who had her eyes wide open.

'What is that? Super speed? Maybe he's an athlete?' Mia said, but she realized her statement didn't make much sense. 'But if it was actually super speed, what could be the explanation to it?'

'You know vampires can move at super speed right? It's one of their abilities. They're really fast.' he informed them in a serious tone.

Mia and Yaxuan stayed quiet for a moment, overwhelmed by the news.

'Well that would make sense,' Yaxuan said in a shaky voice. 'If he was bitten by a vampire, he was converted into a vampire. That's why he's a vampire right now right?'

'Not necessarily,' Jungwon's eyes were looking out of the window in thought. 'There are two types of bites a vampire can give. Either the bite to convert one into a vampire...usually isn't painful, and the only wounds you can find are just two small holes caused by fangs. Then there's the bite meant to attack someone, it's bloody and leads to an open wound.'

Mia and Yaxuan listened attentively with strange looks on their faces.

'So if he actually has a wound that needed treatment, the vampire bit him for attack. So he can't be converted by that kind of bite.' Jungwon concluded the explanation.

'Whoa...all that stuff is in the books?' Yaxuan could not hide his fear as they asked.

Jungwon shrugged and took a sip of his milk. 'He's probably not a vamp but something suspicious is going on here.'

'It was probably an optical illusion.' Yaxuan gave the safest answer he could. He didn't want to be afraid of anything he didn't really have proof on. But his hands were shaky as he ate.

...

'You need to be more careful.' The nurse told Zhenyuan once she had covered his forehead with a plaster. 'So what happened you say? I don't understand.'

'I don't know either, I just found myself bumping into the wall.' Zhenyuan said then looked at Chengxin who was standing next to the bed.

'Um...alright.' The nurse scratched her hair which was in a bun, not sure what to say at this point. 'Just take some painkillers when you feel more pain. Thankfully you're not very hurt. I don't think it's right for you to be bumping your head on other things when you already have amnesia so please be careful.'

'I will, thank you ma'am.' Zhenyuan got off the bed. He and Chengxin walked out of the office silently, going back into the cafeteria.

'So what really happened? You don't know?' Chengxin asked Zhenyuan seriously. 'Maybe you were embarrassed to say it to the nurse if it's an embarrassing story?' he chuckled.

Zhenyuan shook his head. 'I really don't know, I found myself just bumping into the wall when I was trying to take a seat on one of the tables. I was running and then...bam.'

Chengxin nodded. 'I guess you're having some problems with distinguishing features because of how hard you fell? You probably thought you were running towards a table when you were running towards a wall instead. Just take it easy and give your brain some rest.'

Zhenyuan slightly smiled. 'Thanks.' Maybe Chengxin's explanation was right after all. He was already having problems with appetite because he had hit his head so hard, so this explanation could probably make sense as well. He had nothing to worry about.