Behind Me

2: attention

The cafe wasn't half as chaotic as I'd imagined. The slight murmur all around couldn't be helped though

We took our seats at a table by a window which had been just as refreshing as the atmosphere. The food wasn't bad either. Rather it had been just as good as Mei had said.

After a few bites I had to confess," this is actually really good."

Mei smiled." i told you so."

My heart would burst if she kept smiling like that.

She kept her cutlery down and looked up at me.

"I really love your necklace." She said.

I really loved it too. My mom had packed it for me with a note saying it was from my dad. The gemstone would glitter in the lights so frequently that I had to keep it tucked into my shirt. It didn't help that I'd had it between my fingers the whole day.

"Thanks."

"Like, is the stone authentic? I mean, what kind of stone is it?"

It did carry some weight, as for the colour...

"Some kind of sapphire maybe?" It was a bit too light coloured to be sapphire, or maybe I didn't know my gems.

At that moment, another character, just as light skinned as Mei was, only a male this time with no amount of shame regarding the amount of white light that bounced off his skin and uniform, slid a tray onto our table and sat.

"Good day, Ladies."

You'd have had to be blind to not see Mei roll her eyes. Clearly the two knew each other. It didn't look to be a good relationship though.

"Good day, Minyu." Replied Mei dryly as she took a bite of her wing.

Wanting to see how far this would go, I smiled and offered a small reply, "hi." In return he gave a charming smile through thin lips, batting his lashes at me as though it were a habit. A sight I wasn't so sure what good deed I must have performed in my past life to be able to witness.

"So Mei, are you going to introduce us?" He asked calmly. His ears perked up as if waiting in anticipation for her reaction.

Mira instead, gave an exasperated sigh and said, " Erica, this is Minyu, first prince of foxes. Minyu, meet Erica."

She seemed to be quite familiar with someone who was in fact, royalty. It only made me wonder if the gap between royalty and common did not exist here.

"Well Erica, nice to meet you." His voice was gentle and soft, only a little bit deeper than Mira's which was slightly high pitched, definitely not for screaming.

"Same." Came my short reply.

"Can I have your phone?" He asked. His strange request directed at no less than a stranger had surprised me at first, regardless, I handed over the device. He offered His gratitude and after pressing a few buttons, scooted over a little closer to Mei and pulled her into himself with an arm much to her dismay and before any words could be said, he clicked a picture where he grinned with all perfect white teeth unhidden.

"Thank you very much." He said as he handed over the device. I took it and instinctively took a look at the picture, probably the most adorable thing I'd ever have in my camera roll. Mei however, didn't seem to be too pleased with it despite not even seeing the picture yet.

"Delete it."

"Why? this is absolutely cute." I was going to defend that photo like it was my baby.

"Yeah why should she Mei? We are practically friends now aren't we?" I wasn't sure if merely being acquaintances counted as friendship but the question had Mira stunned or she was simply at a lack for words.

"That's not... We're not... You don't..." Her face had developed a bright shade of pink to accompany her stuttering and i smiled at it wandering if a banter would ensue, but Minyu kept his eyes on her in what looked like admiration.

"Fine, fine, whatever. Just tell me what you want so we can focus on more important things." Minyu frowned clearly understanding how unwelcome he was. I didn't in the least bit mind his presence. Heck I was a whore for beauty and I wondered why Mira seemed to be so irritated by him.

"Well to be honest, I came on behalf of Aevis to invite Erica to go meet with them, but then I thought you two go well together and to leave it all behind." he had suddenly lost his enthusiasm. He gave a long sigh and Mei rolled her eyes yet again.

His bright smile returned And he said," I'll see you some other time." Turning to me he said with glee, "pleasure meeting you Erica."

"Pleasure meeting you too" I replied.

As I watched his retreating form I had the urge to give Mei a good spanking but instead I asked, " may I know why the rude behavior. I mean he's cute, and he's like the prince of all the foxes?"

"Tch. Maybe. Its not my business anyway. "

However Minyu must have offended her, it must've been really bad to have pissed a particularly cheery person such as her. I decided not to press further... Heck, we only just met.

"So... How many royals are there here anyway?" I asked trying to change the subject. Mei looked up at me gnawing on a bone, eyes wide as if she hadn't been paying attention. If I were to have her as my bestie her pictures would be the only thing in my gallery. Her facial expressions were hilarious and absolutely cute.

***

As we walked through the hallways making our way back to class, I couldn't help notice how many eyes were on me. Maybe I was being paranoid and self conscious but this wasn't your everyday highschool.

I couldn't quite remember what my first day of school was back in the human world, although it was only a few short years ago. But maybe that was because I didn't make so much of a dent then as bumping into and intriguing the wolf prince. But here I was...

I remembered what the redhead had said to me a while back before lunch, and only if I had enough gut to say I wanted to know him more too. Maybe I did but was still trying to asses the situation. I may have been giving it too much thought but I shouldn't be exaggerating when I say he was the man of my dreams. I let out a little snicker. What was wrong with me? I've only ever had little to no dating experience in my life and now my mind was running like some horny bitch.

"I know it's a bit too early to ask this but, do you like it here?" Mei's voice interrupted my thoughts.

"It is quite interesting, I'll give you that. Why, don't you?"

"No, I do. Just curious. And maybe just tired of the silence."

"Oh."

At my previous school, I discovered that friends you make on your first day don't always stay till the end. At least with all the attention you get about half a dozen trying to make you their favorite classmate. Maybe due to lack of interests, some of them decide you're not worth it and move on.

I wasn't drawing that much attention. Sure my classmates were nice and all, they hadn't seemed like the beginning of a two day friendship. I did wish however, that Mei and I turned out really close. I didn't exactly have anyone at the moment besides her. I chuckled internally.

Just then, I felt Mei yanking slightly on my shirt as if trying to get my attention which anyone might have guessed I wasn't paying.

But by the time I had come to, I'd bumped into someone, suddenly losing my footing and falling behind. Their lean arm wrapped around my waist and the other to the back of my neck trying to steady me.

My heart was beating fast thinking of how much of a fool I would've made of myself as I firmly gripped on this person's sleeve. Regret washed over me in waves as I recognized his appearance.

Blond hair fell down both sides of his face as golden eyes stared at mine. His lips formed a smirk at my frightened expression and my throat went dry.

Val..

Behind Me.