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"You mean we have to make sweets and bring candy?" Zaylee asked, raising her brow at me.

I flipped the paper back around so I could read the cursive writing again. I nodded my head, slightly disappointed we couldn't prepare a different event.

"Can anybody bake?" I glanced up at everybody. Every single person looked a bit unsure about it.

"Bake? Like, make actual food?" Waverly asked me with disbelief, her green eyes widening.

I pursed my lips, knowing she wouldn't like my answer. "Well, I'm sure two of us could make Halloween- er, Hallow's Eve pastries and the other two could bring store-bought candy."

Waverly muttered something incoherent under her breath and turned her face to the side. I scratched the back of my neck uncomfortably. This was not going well.

I heard a group of students behind us begin talking about what sounded like a haunted house. Damn, that group project sounded way more fun. But I'm not quite sure how our group would have been able to handle it.

"I refuse to bake." Waverly folded her arms across her chest, pouting like a child.

Reece and Zaylee were both keeping quiet. I sighed, this project was no longer bringing any fun to my day. Why? I don't understand what I did to deserve this.

"Well, I guess if I had to I could bake." I shifted back and forth on my feet, nervous about taking on this role.

Zaylee looked at me and smiled. She raised her hand and opened her mouth about to say anything. Someone else spoke before she could which caused us both to snap our heads to the other voice.

"I'll bake pastries too." Reece grinned at me.

Waverly turned her attention towards him, giving off a surprised look. Zaylee gave off a sour look and sighed. I raised my eyebrow at him.

"You will?" I asked, almost a hundred percent sure he was going to pair up with Waverly.

"Yeah." He continued grinning.

I felt another sneeze coming and instantly held my elbow to my mouth. Within a second, I sneezed into my blazer. I almost forgot that I'd been constantly sneezing all day. Almost.

Even though Zaylee didn't say anything, I know she wasn't very happy about having to pair up with Waverly to buy candy. I have a sneaking suspicion that one of them will not participate.

"Do you want to make the bloodless or the blood-filled pastries?" Reece suddenly asked.

"Huh?" I looked up at him with a puzzled expression.

He rolled his eyes and smiled playfully. I pushed some loose dark strands of hair behind my ear, feeling my cheeks heat up.

"Do you want to make the bloodless or the blood-filled pastries-"

"Bloodless!" I suddenly blurted.

Reece stared at me with his mouth still open. He closed his mouth after a few seconds. I nervously laughed and looked away, knowing I probably sounded suspicious.

"Huh, I would've bet that you'd choose to make the blood-filled sweets," Reece said.

I flinched whenever he said 'blood-filled'. It didn't sound right at all. Just imagining it made me want to cringe and hide in a corner.

I'll make sure not to eat that type of pastry at the carnival. Wait, I'm not even sure that I'll be going. I'm sure I don't want to be surrounded by even more vampires. It's bad enough I'm attending this academy.

The bell rung and everyone's heads turned towards Mrs. Neille. She stood up from her desk and held up a colorful stack of papers.

"Before you leave, take one of these flyers. The Hallow's Eve carnival will be open to the town community, so any vampire can come." She said, holding up one to show the class.

Students departed from their groups and grabbed their bags. People piled to hurriedly grab a flyer to quickly leave the classroom. It was finally lunch after all.

I walked to the other side of the room where my stuff was. As I grabbed my bag, I remembered the perfume bottle that I had put in it.

I walked towards the front and grabbed a flyer from Mrs. Neille's hands. As I walked out of the classroom, I studied the colorful, yet spookily themed flyer. Wow, whoever made this did a good job.

I glanced up to make sure I wouldn't bump into anybody. I've had enough accidents in the past three days. I'm not even quite sure where any of the bathrooms were.

As I walked farther down the hall, I saw a set of bathrooms on the right side in between some classrooms. I neared them and entered the deserted women's bathroom.

It was relatively small, with tiled floors and the stalls on the right side with the sinks and mirrors on the left side. I walked over towards one of the sinks and unzipped my backpack.

I pulled out the small clear bottle. I uncapped it and took a small sniff of it. It smelled like a field of flowers. With three quick sprits, I capped the bottle and put it back in my bag along with the carnival flyer.

I could smell the fragrance of the perfume as soon as I sprayed it. I'll have to thank Zaylee later for lending it to me. Stupid Nolan. Why did I have to be stuck with him as my lab partner?

With a loud sigh, I threw my bag over my shoulder and exited the bathroom. Harley said to meet him at the school's library. Problem is that I don't have a clue where it's at.

Deciding to take a left towards where I think the cafeteria was, I walked down the empty hallway. Students fled quickly when it came to our lunch period. On cue, my stomach growled at me like a snarling wolf.

I guess when I get home I'll have to come up with ideas for Halloween themed pastries. Maybe I'll ask my mother for help. I sure have been lucky with getting no nightly homework, it frees up my afternoons.

With only the sound of my squeaky shoes, I charged on to where I hope the library was located. Maybe if I see someone I'll ask them where it is.

I turned the corner sharply and slammed into something solid. And damn, right when I thought I was doing better about not being clumsy. I stumbled back and blinked away my dazed vision.

"Sorry about that-" I stopped mid-sentence when I realized who I had run into.

There standing in front of me was a glaring Nolan. I gulped and looked away embarrassed. I felt his intense gaze on me and forced myself to take a small step away.

He only stood there and made no attempt to move around me. The way he was standing was starting to intimidate me. What? Does he expect me to move?

"Um...do you know where the library is?" I whispered, even though I knew he could hear me.

Nolan only stayed silent and I slowly made myself look up to meet his cold gray eyes. I swallowed the lump in my throat, the only noise between our silence.

When I couldn't handle the tension anymore, I made an attempt to move past him. I kept my eyes on my shoes as I passed his side. Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder stop me in my tracks.

I looked up to see Nolan pointing behind me. I glanced over my shoulder to see he was pointing at the hallway behind me. My face went red and I nodded my head, too afraid to speak.

I turned around and walked down the hallway he was pointing at. That was so awkward. I can't believe I have to sit next to him every day, but maybe he was trying to be helpful this time.

As I made my way down the hallway, I was aware of the footsteps following behind me. Although I hope that it was just a random student, I couldn't help but feel nervous.

Come on, where's the library? I looked both on the left and right sides of the hallway. When the footsteps continued to echo my own, I took a brave glance behind my shoulder.

My heart pounded in my chest and I abruptly snapped my head forward again. It was Nolan. Why was he following me? Wait- he's probably just going this direction. It has to be a coincidence.

I quickly sped up my walking pace and turned the corner. Yeah, it must be a coincidence. As I made it farther down the hall, I spotted a sign with 'library' on it at the end.

I sighed in relief and continued to walk towards the sign when I heard the footsteps again. With a slight head turn, I saw it was still Nolan walking behind me with a stoic expression.

You have to be kidding me. My heart pounded even louder and I was afraid he could hear it. Don't tell me that he knows! With fear in my system, I began to jog towards the library.

When I finally made it to the end of the hallway, I quickly opened the door and rushed inside. I felt sweat trickle down my temples and my nerves were still going wild.

I clutched my aching chest and made my way towards one of the bookshelves. What was I getting so scared of? He definitely wasn't following me-

The library door opened and someone walked in. For some reason, I instantly froze. It's some other student, right? I peeked in between the books of the shelf I was hiding behind and felt my heart drop.

His gray eyes scanned the library. I can't believe this. He can't be following me. Suddenly, Nolan's eyes met mine through the books I was peeking through. I jumped away and turned to hide somewhere else or find Harley.

Yeah, I just need to find Harley. I should be safer with him than Nolan. I quickly moved behind a different bookshelf. Harley should be by one of the tables or- there he is! He was sitting down in a green beanbag with a Math book.

"Harley-" I about made it out of the shelf when someone pulled me back roughly.

My back slammed against what felt like the bookshelf and I squeezed my eyes closed. Someone's rough hand was pressed up against my mouth and had pinned my left hand above my head. My heart was pounding so fast I thought it was going to explode.

Damn, that hurt. My shoulder blades were burning and my wrist was painfully hurting from being gripped. I peeked opened my eyes to see Nolan's gray eyes looking at me in the dim light. My eyes widened and I could barely breathe.

I gripped the bookshelf with my free hand and tried to move away from him. He was too strong and had the unfair advantage here. Crap, what was I supposed to do?

Nolan only stared at me with an expressionless face. I couldn't read him and that means I wouldn't be able to try to find his intentions. I felt sweat on the back of my neck when an idea struck me.

I moved my mouth up and bit down as hard as I could on his knuckle. Nolan finally showed emotion, but it was so slight that I almost missed it. He was pissed and it scared me.

Nolan gripped his hand tighter over my mouth so quickly that I had no time to react. My head was forced to the side and I involuntarily whimpered.

This was suffocating and I tried to pry his hand off my mouth with my right hand, though I knew it was no hope. I watched as his gray eyes turned red, sending my knees weak.

Not good. I've only seen their eyes turn red very few times, but it still was the scariest thing to encounter. Where was Harley when I needed him?

I watched in horror as Nolan opened his mouth and his canines elongated into fangs. His hissed lowly at me and I felt like I was staring death in the face.

How? Does he know? Nolan hissed lowly at me and inched closer. I squeezed my eyes closed and felt my body start to shut down. My eyes burned and I felt the tears slip out uncontrollably.

Even though it was useless, I continued to try and pry his hand off my mouth. A few seconds passed and I felt the tears continue to roll down my cheeks.

When I could no longer feel him moving, I braced myself and opened my eyes. My breathing was ragged. Nolan's eyes were back to normal, but they were slightly wide with confusion.

His mouth was closed and he stayed very still before moving his face in close. I tried to move my face as far away as I could, but the bookshelf made it very difficult.

I felt the pain in my wrist be released and my arm fell to my side. The pressure on my mouth was lessened, but it was still there. The chain around my neck moved and was lifted upward.

With tears still coming uncontrollably, I watched through blurry vision that Nolan had the small diamond of the necklace in the palm of his hand. He was studying it.

Nolan let go of the necklace and then let go of my mouth. He turned his back to me and quickly disappeared. It's not like I would have been able to stop him.

My hands were trembling and I could stop the painful throb in my chest. That was so scary. I thought I was going to die. My body felt so cold, even with a blazer on.

I stumbled forward and out of between the bookshelves. My book bag slipped off of my shoulder and to the carpeted floor. The library was surprisingly quiet.

"Saige?" Harley's voice had me moving my head to the left where the beanbag chairs were.

I watched as he stood up, a look of worry on his face. He approached me and I flinched away. I put my hands up.

"No! Don't touch me!" I whispered, stumbling backward.

"Saige? What's wrong? It's me." Harley came closer and I began hyperventilating with fear of the same thing happening again.

I shook my head and moved back more, but I couldn't handle all these emotions. I felt hands gently wrap around one of my wrists.

"No! Get-" I was cut off when I was suddenly pulled into a warm chest.

Arms encircled me and I realized Harley was hugging me. He wasn't going to kill me. My knees went weak and Harley slowly fell to the ground with me.

I gripped his blazer jacket and buried my head into his chest. Even though it was dark, it felt warm. I cried out and felt Harley's arms tighten slightly.

"Shh," Harley cooed. "You're okay."

I was so terrified. Why does this have to happen to me? Nolan's red eyes and fangs that had been so close to my face. I don't want to die yet, but with all these things happening it seems too real.

Harley moved his hands to my shoulders and slowly pushed me back so he could see my face. I probably look like a complete train wreck. I let go of my grip on his blazer and looked down at the floor.

His worried blue eyes were too intense for my troubled soul. I cupped my hands and put them on my face to cover my eyes. They felt cool on my burning face.

I felt Harley move away and stand up. With a quick sniffle, I rubbed my burning eyes. Harley held a hand out to me with a gentle smile on his face. Hesitantly, I reached out my hand to meet his.

He pulled me to my feet and bent down to grab my backpack. I followed behind him over to the beanbag chairs where all his Math stuff was. He set my bag down in the empty chair next to his.

I waited for him to sit down before I plopped down in mine. That was embarrassing, but I really shouldn't worry about that. I clutched my hands together in my lap.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" Harley's whisper made me look up.

I sadly shook my head and pursed my lips. I really want to tell him, but I'm afraid. If I told him, he could ask questions. Questions I wouldn't be able to answer without telling him the truth.

"Well, if you ever want too, I'm here." Harley gave me a truthful smile, and for the first time, I felt like I could really trust him.

Forcing myself to forget all my problems, I gave him a weak smile. "Thanks."

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