The Vampire Prince goes to High School (Book 1)

New Hope

After the King left, I headed into my room. It was colder now, darker. I stumbled around in the dark before arriving at my lamp. The sudden light stung my eyes. For some reason, the tears wouldn't stop.

Sniffing, I rubbed my eyes, trying to stop the tears. What was wrong with me? I shouldn't be crying. There was still something I could do. All I needed to do was think. I took a deep breath. Then another until the tears finally stopped. I got ready for bed. Maybe some rest would help reset my brain and help me think of a solution. 

Despite my best efforts, I couldn't fall asleep. There was no comfortable position and, my eyes wouldn't remain close. I was exhausted mentally and, somehow, physically. 

No matter how many times I thought about it, I didn't know what else I could do for Alexander Was this it? Was there really nothing else I could for him?

Quite frankly, I had exhausted every resource I had to help. Perhaps Mr. Keys could still do something for him but, if there was, he hadn't said anything. Lawyer confidentiality and whatnot. Even if I was somehow allowed to see Alexander, I could already imagine him telling me to go away. He probably didn't want me to see him locked up. 

Giving up, I turned the lamp back on. This time, there wasn't an overflow of tears. I rolled out of bed. From underneath the bed, I pulled out a shoe box and inside I found some play dough. It had been a long time since I last played with this. Before all of this, when I used to have nightmares, I used play dough to stay awake.

It was different now though. The reasons were different. Maybe if I tired myself out, I might be able to sleep. At least, that was the plan.

#

I woke stiff. Pain shot up the side of my neck as I moved. Wincing, I leaned away from the side of the bed. Even with my eyes closed, I could tell that it was morning. It took a while for me to finally open my eyes. The clock read 7 am. 

Groaning, I crawled into bed. 

When I woke up again, it was much later. I opened my eyes to an empty floor. Not exactly surprised, I leaned forward and looked underneath the bed. The shoe box was down there and so was the play dough. My mom knew me too well.

Somewhere around noon, I convinced myself to get out of bed. I probably wasted a few gallons of water during my shower and I burned too many eggs for breakfast. The food was tasteless and, even though I settled for cereal, a bite was all I needed. 

There were no new messages from Mr. Keys. Even the news repeated the same clip of Alexander getting hand-cuffed. Maybe the King was pulling some strings with the media. Then again, I couldn't prove it. 

I gave Mr. Keys a call but I only got his voicemail and even that was full. Either he was ignoring his calls or he was too busy to check his phone. Either way, it didn't help ease my thoughts. What if I called Carlos again? Would he answer? 

The doorbell rang. Puzzled, I stood and went towards the front door. Who was it at this hour? My parents hadn't told me that we were going to receive visitors. I looked through the peephole. 

What was Sonia doing here? I unlocked the door and opened the door. She appeared alone and there wasn't any car out waiting for her. 

"I need to talk to you," she said.

It was hard not to notice her red eyes and the forced smile on her face. I shifted my weight on one leg and crossed my arms. 

"What is it?" I asked. "Why are you even here?"

"Can I at least come in?"

"Sonia, we aren't even friends anymore. There's nothing else to say. Just leave."

"It's about Carlos," she blurted out. "I know what you told him."

My gut twisted. "So what?" I asked. "Are you here to leave him alone and that's he has nothing to do with this?" I sighed. "Don't waste my time on some lies."

Sonia stomped her foot. "Rin Elizabeth Borek, would you just shut up for one minute and let me talk?"

I swallowed thickly. 

Sonia sighed. "Look, I - I know you were telling the truth. Carlos admitted to everything and his parents are pissed. We all heard what happened to the Prince and we want to help. It's so Carlos can make up for his mistakes."

I bit my lip. She wouldn't come all this way just to lie. And yet, it was too good to be true. What if Micah had put her up to it? I didn't want to get my hopes up. 

"Just like that?" I asked. 

Sonia threw her hands up. "What more do you want? Do you want to talk to Carlos' parents? Should we go right now?"

I looked up and down the street. "Did you walk here?" 

She frowned. "What?"

"Did you walk here?"

She shrugged. "That doesn't matter." She sighed. "Look, I know we aren't friends but at some point we were. So, for the sake of that friendship, can't you just believe me?"

"You know, I half-expected you to apologize since now you knew what Carlos has done."

Sonia bit her lip. "Well, don't wait," she said. "I - I don't even know how to begin. If I'm going to apologize, I'll do it when I'm ready." She shrugged. "Besides, I think you care more about your Prince than my apology right now."

Sonia knew me to well too. 

"Fine," I said. "You can come in."