Vampire Love

Chapter 23

Cheng POV:

The weather is atrocious because the sky is cloudless, with the sun hanging high and shining brightly. My skin burns from head to toe. If there's a lake, I will dive and never leave it until my body gets cooled down to my heart's content. But to my bad, there's nothing like that. Wiping the sweat off my forehead, I rub my hands together and focus on catching the ball Peixin has thrown in my direction.

Instead of catching the ball with my hands, I catch it with my head. It hurts, but thankfully I haven't been knocked out. I call it a break and grab a water bottle. Pouring some water in my mouth and the remaining over my head, I lay on the ground, checking my pulse and tapping my chest to reassure myself that my lungs hadn't collapsed. I'm exhausted.

I shut my eyes and take small breaths until familiar gentle fingers stroke my hair. My eyes blink open and meet with the dark brown eyes of Ziyi. An electric current passes through our eyes when light reflects in the dark. It's not the first time that I have felt like this. I feel butterflies fluttering in my stomach since she has crashed into my life, and I know it's called love, but I don't confess it. Because I'm not special when compared to her. What if she rejects me when I propose?

I can't bear that. So, as usual, I think to push Ziyi away, avoiding her as much as possible, and building a wall around my heart. But seeing her angelic face this close to me, I'm incapable of doing any of the above, thus I'm left barely managing to blink and unable to turn my head, even though I can already feel my neck aching. My hand reaches up on its own without I'm realizing it and stops in midair when I hear Ji Li's voice, which proposes what I need to care about now.

I jerk up and ignore Ziyi, glancing at him. "What?!"

"I thought Zhan would be here, but it seemed he was not." He murmurs, palming his head.

"What?" I'm confused just as much as him. "You two were always sticking together. Without telling you, where did he go?"

"I don't know. I-I really don't know. We were together in the morning, but he was lost when I grabbed coffee in the cafeteria." He explains, head lowering almost on impulse as he readies his apology. Hearing his rambling, I get tensed and take my phone to call my cousin, but his next words are the same as the ones I'm experiencing. "I tried for his phone, but it was out of coverage area." I drop my hand and squeeze my phone while pulling my hair frustratedly. Where did Zhan go?

Something gets into my mind. There will be a chance that he can be at home. I dial my mom's number but stop swiping when I realize I haven't received a text either from her or from Zhan about it, so if I call her when he might not be at home, she will be tense. Also, she would bring unnecessary fears concerning her. I don't want that. Making up my mind, I raise my head with determination and begin to search for him with his friends.

It's been thirty minutes since neither of us has heard about him, so the surroundings provide me mixed signals where my mind is meddling. I get panicked, trying hard not to let negative thoughts occupy my mind, but I'm seemingly distracted. When I pass over the hallway, I hear Yao Shuhao talking to Yang Zi about my cousin, so my legs stop and turn in their direction toward them. Now, I'm standing in front of them with a raised eyebrow. "What are you talking about A-Zhan?"

"We are talking nothing about him, we swear," Shuhao promises, glancing at his girlfriend and then back at me with an innocent look.

"Yeah. We didn't talk about Zhan." Yang Zi reassures, shaking her head lightly. She then gives me a concerned look. "You seem stressed about something. If you tell us about your problem, we will do our best to help." Joining her, her boyfriend nods his head.

Thinking about whether they can help, I rub my forehead with my fingertips and draw a breath. "Zhan is missing. Did you see him anywhere?"

Shuhao looks at his girlfriend with a glint in his eyes. Because of stress, I have missed noticing it. Turning his head to me, he says. "Sorry, man, for telling this to you, but it's true. Last time we saw him cuddling with the principal's nephew Wang Yibo near the giant tree in the garden."