It was their evening class again the following day since the attack, and Lira had no idea what to do if she saw the three vampires who tried to assault her. She also appeared to be bolder now than last night. It was only after she overcame her fear last night that her anger towards those vampires started building up. Ha! Trying to make her their dinner, did they? She could tolerate the bullying from her peers, she could even ignore their existence, but never did they try to make a meal out of her! Oh, those vampires were so going to get it: a lengthy letter to the office of the Head Mistress!

Lira tried to control her erratic heart. She still hadn't recounted the incident with her friends yet, and she contemplated whether to tell them or not. She caught a glimpse of Matt at the side. Matt caught her eye, and Lira smiled at him. He then gave her a curt nod before he averted his gaze.

Mari witnessed their exchange of glances making her ask Lira "Is there anything I should know between you and Matt?"

Lira looked at Mari and was surprised to find her friend jealous. Lira surmised Mari's feelings for Matt might have evolved deeper. "It's nothing Mari, really. Matt is off limits. He's all yours."

Mari chuckled. "Oh I was just joking on you. But really, you and Matt are friends now?"

Lira decided to tell Mari and Yumi about what had happened and how Matt saved her. Ian who just arrived was able caught snippets of the story.

"Oh Lira! Why didn't you tell me last night?" Yumi asked, looking worried. "Oooh! Those vamps just made me angry! I don't like vamps anymore. If I could hex them, I would hex them. Oh how I wish I could hex them!"

"Are you alright now. Lira?" Mari asked with concern.

"I'm sorry Lira, I wasn't there to protect you," Ian said.

Lira broadened her smile. "Guys, guys, I'm okay, really. I'm still alive and breathing. I don't need any hexes and protectors. But thanks for the offer."

The class went on as usual that evening. It was when the class ended that something spectacular happened. Lira and her friends were already outside the room when the crowd around them parted, revealing the three vampires who had attacked her, making their way towards her. They gave her a low bow and one of them spoke. "We apologized for the incident last night and we were hoping you'd find it in your heart to forgive us."

Lira was so stunned it took her a moment before she realized they were waiting for her answer. "Uh... okay." Another bow and they took off. What even stunned Lira even more was when the Imperials passed by them and she became the recipient of a meaningful glare from Nicholas, a nod from Sevastian, a wink from Stephan, and a smile from the beautiful fair haired vampire named Elisabeth.

It was the first time and the closest thing for an acknowledgement made by the vampires to their human classmates. And this was witness by the rest of the students, who were also as baffled as Lira was. But Lira knew she was in a big trouble when she saw Lavinia eyeing her, seething with anger.

***

Lira was not mistaken when she said that Lavinia's ire towards her and Yumi had escalated to a degree. In addition to the Elites usual scrutinizing glances was Lavinia's evolved scathing remarks: from "poor caste" to "caste climber" solely directed to the two poor girls. Lira surmised Lavinia was actually envious of the fact that she was not the center of adoring attention last night. Although, the remark really hit the spot—it was kind of the reason why she was in the academy in the first place: to belong in a better caste someday.

Lira didn't mind Lavinia's snide, however. She was just satisfied that she and Matt had their truce since the night of the attack. He and his group would often drop by their table during lunch or dinner whenever Mari called him, and aside from that one time he asked her "You okay?" he never bothered Lira at all. This worked well for Lira, since it meant one less mortal enemy to deal with during senior year.

Later, however, Lira realized she made the wrong assumption. Again. They were in their DAVA club when she deduced the truce between her and Matt was only short-lived. When their instructor asked them all to perform the basic moves of modern arnis, Matt was at her side, again, with his swatting and whacking and saying "is that the best you can do? No wonder you almost ended up a vampire food" with an additional "are you always this stupid? Or this is just a special occasion?"

They were now sitting on the floor, forming a circle with their instructor and Claire at the center. Claire was performing a cool self-defense move that their instructor taught them earlier when Lira said, "I wonder what's for dinner?" and she heard Matt's voice booming "thank you for volunteering Lira. I do hope you were paying attention a while ago instead of gossiping." And Lira ended up with a stupid look on her face and said, "Huh?"

Yumi nudge Lira on the side and whispered, "He wants you to go in the middle."

"He hates me," Lira muttered.

"No he doesn't," Mari said reassuringly.

"Lira Santos, stop wasting my time and get your lazy butt here!" Matt commanded.

"Yup, he hates you," Lira heard Yumi said before she hesitantly went in the center. She stood a few feet away from Matt, waiting for him to tell her the instructions.

"I will be attacking you from behind and you will perform the counter attack, clear?" Matt said.

Lira nodded. Matt positioned himself behind her. Lira sighed and wished this would end soon. She could hear Matt closing in behind her, and a moment later, his strong arms wrapped around her pinning her arms and locking her in a tight embrace from behind. Lira remembered what she was supposed to do; she dropped her weight and tried to deliver a rear head butt, only Matt's face wasn't directly behind her. He slightly moved his head to the side avoiding Lira's attack. That was cheating! Lira's mind shouted. He shouldn't even move his head! She attempted to stomp his foot but he was unaffected by it. Lira tried to struggle Matt's hold on her when she felt his breath on her neck, and... did he just sniffed on her?

"They were right. You really do smell good," Matt whispered.

Matt's mouth, which was an inch away from Lira's ear, made her went out of focus. Matt suddenly tangled his foot on Lira's leg and shoved her forward causing her to swirl around and she ended up landing her back on the floor with Matt on top of her pinning her to the ground.

"And that is how you end up a vampire treat if you fail to listen in our class," he said to everyone in class. He lifted his weight off Lira and extended a hand towards her to help her stand. Lira ignored it and stomped her way towards Yumi and Mari, her face flushed crimson with embarrassment. She was so close to tears that she bit the back of her cheek to distract her from crying. They were dismissed from the defense class half an hour later. Lira waited for her classmates to leave the room. Matt was at the far corner, wiping sweat from his face, when Lira stormed her way towards him. And with all the energy and strength she could muster, she slapped Matt on the face so hard his neck craned to the side.

"I understand that you don't like me, but never try to embarrass me in front of everyone again!" she roared. She did not realize Mari and Yumi were already on her side and pulling her towards the exit.

During dinner, Mari and Yumi tried to distract Lira from her bad mood by setting up plans for the weekend. Lira saw Matt and his group coming towards them, with Matt eyeing her almost apologetically. Lira, however, was not in the mood to receive Matt's barbs that evening so she stood and announced, "I need to visit the library."

The library was again almost deserted that evening except for the lone boy at the far end of the room. Lira went to her usual spot, and sat on the floor with her back leaning on the wall. She tried to read the book on her lap, but she was just not in the mood for reading. Her thoughts were all jumbled up that when she tried to read, the words seemed to mix in her mind as well. Now that she was alone, feelings of sadness enveloped her. She missed her aunt. She missed Claire. She missed her town. She missed Isla del Sur.

Stupid of her really; she wanted to cry her eyes out. She couldn't help it. Tears were burning behind her eyes. She sniffed once, then twice, and then tears trickled down her cheeks. This was a really bad day for her, she deduced. She allowed herself to cry, just this once. As she sobbed quietly, a pair of shoes planted before her. The shoe' owner suddenly crouched low and Lira was suddenly gazing at a pair of mesmerizing gray eyes. It was the boy who Lira always saw sitting at the far end of the library; only this time, she recognized the boy as Sevastian Imperial.

He was looking at Lira curiously, as if she was something new and fascinating. He noticed the tears rolling down on her face.

"Tears," he said.

Lira choked back another sob and tried to speak. "Yes."

"Why?" he asked.

For a moment Lira was confused with his question, and then she realized he was probably asking why she was crying. "Because I'm sad," she answered.

Sevastian tipped his head to the side. "Why are you sad?"

Lira blinked several times before answering him. "Because I miss home. I miss Auntie, too."

Sevastian reached for Lira's face and wiped her tears with his thumb. "Don't be sad."

Lira was surprised to feel Sevastian's cold hand. She was also astounded to find him in front of her, looking like someone who wanted to comfort her and yet doesn't know how. Heck, she was just plain surprised to find him there. Period.

Lira then realized that she was with a vampire, and she should be frightened... and yet she wasn't. It was as if being with Sevastian was the safest place to be. Lira shook her head to clear her mind. "I—I better go back to the dorm now."

"I'll see you home," he offered.

Lira walked towards the dorm with Sevastian on her side. It was past nine in the evening, and most of the students were probably in the rec room or in their dorms, the reason why the lane was almost deserted. Maybe that was why Sevastian offered to walk her home to keep her safe? Or he was just being a gentleman. A gentleman vampire—that sounded funny. He didn't seem to be the aggressive type of vampire, though. Nevertheless, even if Lira was alone with only a vampire for a companion, she still felt safe. Well, if he ever did something nasty, she could always use her balisong she started to carry inside her pocket since the night after the attack. Yumi gave it to her saying she kept one because she used it to cut and dice small plants and scrape on tree barks which she used to mix on her own formula for a more natural facial mud pack.

Sevastian remained quiet all throughout their walk, which was good since Lira did not have any idea how to carry a conversation with a vampire. How would one start a conversation with a vampire anyway? If she stared with small talks, then she might go with talking about the weather. But then, most vampires were confined inside their houses all day to escape the sun, so he might not understand anything about sunny weathers. If she commented about the chilly night, well, Sevastian's hand felt cold earlier when he brushed her cheek. So a cold weather probably didn't make any difference to him. And asking him if he had his dinner was just the topic she would rather avoid. Do they sleep inside confines? Oh, now that's a stupid question to ask.

She was able to finally settle on a safe topic when she realized they were now standing in front of the dorm. She turned to face Sevastian and was about to thank him when she saw him eyeing her weirdly. "You really do talk a lot," he said.

Was he being sarcastic? Huh. And she hadn't even opened her mouth the entire walk. Poor boy, he must be hearing things.

"Thanks for walking me home," she simply said.

A wind came, rustling the leaves and sending strands of her hair flying covering her face. She was brushing the hair away from her face when Sevastian took a deep breath, as if he was trying to inhale the entire scent of the night, savoring the fragrance the wind brought. For a moment, she thought she saw Sevastian's gray eyes flickered black. But she must have been mistaken. It was kind of dark after all. He then exhaled slowly, nodded his head at her and sauntered towards the garden fronting the dorm.

Lira climbed the steps and went inside the building. She was about to close the door when she saw Sevastian entering the garden, and two looming shadows joined him.

She went inside of her room and found Yumi on the bed lying on her stomach, her chin propped on the palm of her hands. What looked like a large, old and battered book was atop her bed.

"What's that you're reading?" Lira asked.

"Oh it's just nothing," Yumi said then she hastily slammed the book shut and chucked it underneath her bed.

Lira did not mind Yumi's odd behavior. Well, Lira was behaving oddly, too. She leaned back on the closed door. She felt very much strange, and she couldn't even describe it. There's this warm sensation in her heart and she doesn't know where it came from. It's like she felt an inexplicable joy, sending butterflies to her stomach, making her heart melt and she couldn't stop herself from smiling studpidly. And did she just giggle? Oh my, she just giggled! Was she... crushing on Sevastian Imperial?

***

*balisong: a foldable butterfly knife