"What is it with the staring? They act as if they've never seen a woman before." I mutter under my breath, feeling watched like a hawk as me and Phoenix walk down the street. After being here a week, we had decided to go on a shopping trip together, and it has seemed to get a lot of attention. Phoenix only chuckles as she gives me a sideways glance.

"Well, it's not every day they see a woman who looks like she came straight off the Paris runway." She chuckles again, and I roll my eyes.

"Please, this isn't even my fanciest outfit, I have much more high end things in the closet at your place." I mutter. My outfit of black over the knee, high heeled boots, a soft red mini skirt, and a black long sleeve shirt is one of my favorites...but it's not my fanciest. I have designer cocktail and evening dresses much more flashy, but considering most of the people around me are wearing jeans and sweaters, I suppose I do stand out.

"I know that, but with your looks and figure, the done up hair, and that amazing outfit, you are seriously turning some heads." She points out, and I turn my head to face her.

"As are you, don't sell yourself short doll." I reply, her outfit of a black leather jacket over a purple crop top, with skin tight high waisted blue jeans and a pair of black ankle boots...she is getting just as many double takes as I am.

"This old outfit? Please, this is far from head turning." She scoffs, and I give her a pointed look.

"We've talked about this Doll, you do look gorgeous...I know your mate certainly thinks so. That boy can't seem to keep his hands off of you." I chuckle the last part, recalling how every time I see those two Theo is either: nuzzling her neck, hugging her, kissing her, or cuddling with her on the couch....in fact, just this morning I caught them in the living room with her in his lap, talking about something I can't remember...because I was too distracted by the sight of her mark on his shoulder.

I figured it wouldn't take long for those two, but it still caught me off guard.

"I know, he's wonderful isn't he? Handsome, polite...and so affectionate...I love it..." She sighs dreamily, and I ignore the sting in my chest as I smile.

"And him?"

She blushes fiercely, that sheepish smile telling me all I need to know.

"I'm happy for you Phoenix, you deserve a mate who treats you like a queen. Goddess knows you do."

"Thanks Vi, you've always been my biggest cheerleader...which is exactly why you deserve an amazing mate yourself." She smiles broadly, and I smile back while biting my tongue...this isn't the time to tell her about Jacques, not when she's so happy.

"Say, you want to stop here and get an early dinner? They have the best soup and sandwich combos here, and their smoothies are the best!" She asks as we stop in front of a small cafe, and we both laugh as our stomachs simultaneously growl with hunger.

"I believe that's a yes." I say, both of us giggling as we both set our shopping bags down at an empty outdoor table, the smell of the food making my stomach rumble again. I can guess that based on her description, the place is one of her favorites, and considering I'm still learning about the best places to eat and shop, I'm following her lead until I'm better adjusted.

I've also been searching for teaching positions available here, as well as affordable apartments and houses for rent, and submitted my resume with multiple high schools, local colleges and universities. I haven't gotten any replies yet, but I have confidence that I will...and once I know where I'll be working, I'll know exactly what home will be best suited.

"Well, I'm starving...what do you want to eat?" Phoenix murmurs, picking up a menu from the center of the outdoor table we're sitting at, and I do the same. Truthfully it all sounds delicious, so I can't really decide.

"What do you recommend?" I ask, and she taps a finger on her chin in deep thought.

"Well, I personally like a lot of the combos, but one of my top three is the turkey club sandwich with baked potato soup. It's really good."

"Then that's exactly what I'll get." I chuckle as she nearly drools, and she immediately controls her expression.

"And I'll get the rotisserie chicken sandwich with the broccoli and cheese soup." She murmurs, just as our waiter arrives at our table. I have to admit that he is a bit handsome, and it was plainly obvious that he was trying to flirt with us both...though his eyes seemed more focused on me.

"Girl, that boy has got the hots for you. Did you see him wink at you when he said 'any way you like'?" Phoe giggles after he walks away, and I can't stop the grin that splits my face as I shake my head.

"He wasn't subtle, that's for sure." I murmur, surprised to find myself blushing at the human boys transparent flirting. He can't be much older than eighteen, but it feels nice nonetheless.

"Definitely, a semi is more subtle than he is. But he is cute, I'll give him that." She murmurs as we see him go to a nearby table, and I grin again as he flashes me another smile.

"Don't let Theo hear you say that." I tease, and she shakes her head.

"Goddess no, that boy is so territorial...but in a cute, endearing kind of way."

We talk a few more minutes before our drinks and meals arrive, and then burst into laughter again when the boy, named Jamie, crashed into a potted tree as he walked away...no doubt because he was too distracted with flirting with us. I noticed one of the waitresses has been giving him looks whenever he flirted with us, along with blushing every time he spoke to her. I can take a wild guess and say she has a crush on him, no doubt the boy is too oblivious to see it.

We ate our food while we talked, and it was just as good as Phoe said. I'll definitely have to keep this place in mind, as well as the boutiques we visited today. After we finished our meals, we both ordered lattes...and were surprised to see a large piece of strawberry cheesecake arrive with them.

"Our special dessert of the day, and the best in my opinion. Enjoy ladies, it's on the house."

He walks away with our empty plates before we can stop him, and Phoenix looks at the dessert and laughs.

"Goddess he is really pouring on the charm, that cheesecake is the best dessert they have." She murmurs as she takes a sip of her latte, and I offer her a fork.

"Even if this is technically mine, you know I won't be able to finish it all by myself." I explain, and she sighs as she takes it from me.

"You know I won't turn down a free dessert."

We eat the large slice as we sip our coffee, each of sighing as we both eat a strawberry and polish it off. As delicious as it was, I'm now stuffed...and no longer want to move. But, considering it's starting to get dark I suppose I have to. So we split our bill and leave Jamie a good tip before we grab our bags and head to Phoenix's car, the ride home quiet as we both are tired.

Once we get home we both head to our rooms to change and put our things away, and I enjoy I long hot shower before I change into my comfy pajamas consisting of an oversized t-shirt and fuzzy shorts. As I'm brushing out my hair I hear a knock at my door, and I'm surprised to see Phoenix there in her pjs when I open it...holding a pink box full of things for a manicure...a box that I recognize very well.

The last time I saw it was when I brought to her, and had a heart to heart with her over something important.

"I think it's time we talked Viola..." She murmurs, and I sigh in resignation as I let her in and close the door. I sit down on the floor in front of her, not sure how this is going to go.

"To start off with, I know that something has been troubling you since you came here...there has to be considering you left your home, job, and life in Paris to move here. I've also noticed the tense looks you try to hide whenever I'm with Theo, talk about him...or bring up mates..." She starts, picking up my left hand as she begins taking off the red polish with a cotton ball covered in polish remover.

"So, I need to know what's going on, because I know when you're just pretending you're happy."

She looks up at me with a serious expression, and I lower my eyes before I speak.

"Three years ago, I met my mate...a human named Jacques Laurent. He was a student in my art class, and I was a first year teacher there at the college." I begin, and her soft gasp fills the temporary silence.

"I couldn't do anything about it at first, for even though he was nineteen at the time, he was still a student while I was his teacher...which is not allowed. So I had to keep my distance at first, which was difficult considering he showed so much interest in me."

I swallow and try to focus on Phoenix as she does my nails, needing to keep it together for the rest of the story.

"But once he graduated from the school two and a half years later, he came to me...and we ended up both admitting our feelings for each other."

"So long..." Phoenix whispers, now working on my other hand.

"Our relationship was complicated, and it took me a month to tell him that I'm a vampire...and he took it better than I expected." I pause, thinking about how his eyes sparkled with excitement when I showed him my fangs.

"He was fascinated, and in the next few months of our short relationship, he convinced me to turn him into a vampire. I was thrilled...he wanted to be part of my world, to spend eternity with me...and him being a vampire had made us impossibly closer than before..."

Phoenix looks up when I trail off, noticing the tears welling in my eyes. She halts her work and squeezes her hand in mine, sitting patiently as I try not to choke on my own tears.

"But that was at first...within a month of him turning he started to change. He became distant and detached, and no longer seemed to want to spend time with me...and whenever he did he was irritable and rude..." I recall, and she squeezes my hand again.

"I was afraid that he changed his mind, that he regretted turning into a vampire and blamed me for it...but that fear was dismissed after he came to meet me at our favorite park...with another female vampire on his arm."

My tears finally pour down my cheeks, and Phoenix moves so that she's sitting next to me, pulling me into her side to comfort me.

"Oh Vi...I'm so sorry..." She murmurs.

"He rejected me Phoe...after all this time of waiting for each other, and giving him everything...he cast me aside for another woman..." I sob into her shoulder, and she rubs a hand up and down my back.

"You remember the last time we did this? Back when I was a teenager dating that pompous bad boy? Back when I was still human?" She whispers after a moment, and I nod.

"Well, he was so sweet in the beginning...but after a while he went from calling me beautiful to giving me backhanded compliments and cracks about how much I ate...and paying more attention to thinner girls when we went out..."

She pauses, and I recall the jerk well.

"I started to believe him...to the point I did whatever I could to lose weight...and developed anorexia."

I look up to see her face, a bit anguished at the memories.

"I started to drop weight drastically, but no one said anything to me about it. Not my friends, or my family...they would dance around it like it was a stick of dynamite. But you...you came here around Christmas, took one look at me and knew something was wrong...and that same night nineteen year old you came to seventeen year old me's bedroom with that box...and you got me to open up about it all."

She looks at me with a sad smile, her own eyes a little teary.

"I remember what you told me...'That man is a grade A asshole, and you are too good for him...too good to destroy yourself over a man that doesn't treat you like the queen you are. You don't need to hold onto a toxic man because you think he's the only one who'll love you...because there is someone else out there for you, and they will be so much better than that saluad will ever be. And you certainly don't have to starve yourself to find them...'"

I'm a bit stunned, she had remembered every single word I said.

"You were right...I have Theo now, and he is so much better than my ex. Jacques may have been your first Vi, but he wasn't love, he was a parasite...he took everything you had and moved to someone else once he did."

She wipes at her eyes before continuing.

"You have a Theo out there too, I know you do. You just got let go of the pain and focus on you until you find them...okay?"

I nod, wiping my own eyes. "Thank you doll, I needed to hear that." I murmur, and she smiles.

"Good, now to focus on you, let's finish that manicure of yours!" She exclaims, and I laugh lightheartedly as she gets back to work...the weight once on my chest now much lighter.

I do have a second chance out there...and once I meet them, I'll understand exactly what Phoenix means...I hope.