𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐁𝐈𝐓𝐄 | 𝘺𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴

43: Ugly Prejudice

You awaken the next morning in a good mood.

For one thing, you drank quite a lot last night, so you were out cold the second you got home. You actually got a decent amount of sleep for a change. You're not hungover, either. You drank just enough to be pleasantly tipsy, but not enough to make your body pay for it the following day.

Last night was fun. You had a nice time, hanging out with so many of your friends at once. You've never done that before. It seemed like everyone was getting along too, right? Well, apart from the ongoing feud between Caleb and Kai, but even that seemed rather tame, all things considered.

Maybe they're finally starting to mend their relationship?

Unfortunately, the odds of that happening have completely gone out of the window, but you remain blissfully ignorant, hoping for the best.

One thing that's changed recently is that you don't dread going to work anywhere as much as you used to. Ever since you became closer with Caleb, and now, Ezekiel too, it doesn't feel like such a chore. Granted, there are days when your shifts unfortunately don't align with the ones your friends have, but you're choosing to look at the positives right now.

"Good morning, [Name]."

Ezekiel greets you with a smile as you step into the staff room. This day of the week is usually pretty slow for the restaurant, so it looks like it'll just be the two of you. Hopefully Caleb's getting some rest after last night. You were a little drunk yourself, but definitely not as drunk as he was. You should probably send him a text later, to make sure he's doing okay.

"Last night was fun," Ezekiel smiles, rolling up his sleeves. "You seemed like you were having a pretty good time, too. I didn't realize you were so popular."

"Popular? Me?" you laugh in disbelief. "I feel like you already know that's not true. That was pretty much my whole friend group, apart from Elliot."

"You don't have any friends that are girls?"

"I guess... not?"

You blink. To be honest, it only just now occurred to you. All of your friends are men. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. You're a firm believer that men and women can be friends. And it's not like you went out of your way to only become friends with guys. It just turned out this way. You've gone practically your whole life shutting people out and being reclusive, too caught up in your own problems to bother trying to have a social life. So, when the opportunity to make friends arose, you never really thought to be picky. People naturally worked their way into your life, and before you knew it, they had become important to you.

But that's precisely the issue, and you don't even realize it. Because of your lack of experience and your lack of closeness with others, when it comes to certain people in this world, you are the prime, ideal target.

You're far too easy to take advantage of, and Ezekiel knows this well.

Not that he's complaining, of course.

"It's all good," Ezekiel shrugs, doing his best not to look too amused. "I wasn't judging or anything. Just curious."

You set your bag aside and frown. "Do you think it's a bad thing? Sh-Should I already have made girl friends by now?"

"Nah. There's no rule about who you can or can't be friends with. You're a human that's friends with a bunch of different vampires. Normally, that wouldn't happen, but it's not like there's anything wrong with it. It just means you're more open-minded than most people. At some point, I'm sure you're bound to meet a girl you'll hit it off with too."