I was currently talking to Mike, an 'eligible bachelor' for me to marry.

Corey was leaning against the wall across the room; looking bored as hell.

"Excuse me for a second, Mike." I said.

"Okay," Mike nodded, smiling at me.

I returned the gesture before walking over to where Corey was.

I leaned up against the wall beside him.

"Having fun?" I inquired, though I knew he wasn't.

"Oh, I'm having a blast." He answered sarcastically.

"You're sarcasm is out of hand."

"Is it?" He looked at me.

"There it is again." I noted jokingly.

My best friend, Mary, walked up to me with a bright smile over her features, her grey-blue eyes soft.

"Hey Bells," she greeted. "You look gorgeous." Mary said, appraising my dress.

"Thanks." I smiled, then glanced over at Corey, thinking I should introduce Mary.

"Mary, this is Corey." I gestured.

"Hi," Mary smiled softly at him.

He nodded, not returning the smile.

Mary's smile dropped slightly. "Is he a...?" She trailed off, but I got what she was implying.

"Vampire?" I finished with a slight smile.

She nodded.

"Yup,"

"Oh, so your parents made you...?"

"Yeah," I answered, getting what she was implying once again.

One of the boys from school came up and asked Mary to dance; she obliged, and headed out to the dance floor with him.

I glanced at Corey, who was standing with his arms crossed, looking unamused.

"Do you wanna dance?" I inquired offhand.

His eyes found mine, looking taken aback by the acquisition.

"...No." He said slowly, still looking shocked.

"Okay, so we'll just stand here then." I muttered to myself.

After a few minutes of silence I decided to break it.

"Okay I'll make you a deal, if you dance with me, we'll leave." I offered.

He pursed his lips, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"One dance." He affirmed.

"Deal." I agreed.

I took his hand and dragged him out to the dance floor.

It was a slow melody, my parent's had hired a band to perform classical musical with violins and beautiful piano composure's.

He stood uncomfortably, and I took his hands, placing them on my waist.

As we danced I caught sight of my mother sitting at a table.

She smiled at me and I returned it.

I looked back into Corey's harlequin green eyes. His eyes were actually really beautiful.

"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, you're going to school with me." I claimed lightly, holding onto his shoulders.

"You're kidding me. School?" He looked at me cynically.

"My dad wants you to be there, so I won't be alone. Because you know, school's are very dangerous places." I nodded.

"Actually they are, considering the amount of school shootings each year."

I arched an eyebrow.

"I've seen the news." He retorted at my look.

"Either way, the chances of that happening is pretty low."

"Not really."

"Anyways." I was done arguing about my safety.

"Can we go now?" He asked stiffly.

"Sure," I let go of him and his hands fell away from my waist.

"Do you wanna take a walk outside?" I offered, leading the way towards the exit.

"You aren't afraid I'll try and make a run for it?" He questioned scathingly.

I shrugged and headed for the front door.

Corey and I walked side by side through the rose garden.

"So, do you have any family left?" I asked hesitantly.

"No." He answered simply.

"How long have you been a slave?"

"Fifteen years, give or take."

"That's a long time."

"Yeah,"

It was silent for awhile.

"I'm sorry." I said, glancing over at him.

"About what?" He inquired blankly.

"Everything. I feel...really bad. About everything you've had to go through." I bit my lip.

He stopped walking, making me stop as well and turn to look back at him.

"Look, I don't need your sympathy. Stop pretending like you actually give a fuck."

"But I do." I protested adamantly.

"The fuck you do." He remarked, rolling his eyes away.

"What's it going to take for you to believe me? I'm being honest."

"Just stop," He sighed.

"What do you want me to stop exactly? Being honest with you?" I was a bit of a smart-ass that time, I couldn't deny that much.

His eyes narrowed faintly and a growl came from the back of his throat.

I inhaled through gritted teeth. "I'm just trying to help you."

"It would help if you would shut the fuck up." He remarked.

"Well, that's not going to happen. I'm incapable of shutting up."

"What is wrong with you?" He demanded. "Don't you understand that I don't want to talk to you, I don't want to interact with you in any way. I hate you."

"I didn't personally do anything to you, though. You're judging me based off the fact I'm a human."

"Yes, exactly."

"That's not fair." I muttered.

"You wanna talk about fair?" He asked, his green eyes burning with a fiery rage.

I shook my head. "I'm sorry."

He grimaced, shaking his head. "I'm already so sick of hearing you say that."

I swallowed thickly, not knowing what else I could do.

He turned and started walking back to the house.

"Corey, wait." I tried, not wanting to leave things on rocky terms.

I was going to be living with him, he was technically my responsibility, I wanted some sort of peace between us.

He ignored me and dissapeared into the shadows, leaving to sigh heavily as I stood alone in the garden.

© hauntmeup