edited

|Adara De Clare|

"Are you coming to school tomorrow?" Via asks me as she returns from the kitchen with two bowls of popcorn.

I graciously take one of them from her and I chuck a handful into my mouth. "Yeah, but I need to get to bed soon if I'm gonna wake up on time," I tell her then I look at the time.

It's 8:33 p.m.

I'll go to bed at nine.

"You wanna sleep over?" I ask her and she nods eagerly with a mouthful of popcorn. We continue watching the show.

I take glances at Nikolai as he sleeps, just to admire him, and to make sure that he's alright. He hasn't moved from the spot he's been in for the past ten minutes.

"So how are things with you and the Prince?" Via asks and I exhale.

"Everything's fine," I answer her.

She grumbles, "So, is there really nothing going on between you guys, and it's just for show, or am I wrong?" She asks me.

I tense up. I want to tell her that we're really dating but honestly for how long? Once this contract ends we'll have to go our separate ways and he'll be King. All his plans for global domination, and being a world-renowned dictator will come true. How will I fit into that? I'm a human.

There's no way I will be able to fit into it. We will break up. My chest twists up into knots at the thought of it.

I decide to be truthful. Via's my best friend. What kind would I be if I lied to her?

"We're dating, for real," I answer her and she gasps.

Setting the popcorn down, she stands. "What?!" She yells, and Nikolai twists and turns a little. I put my arms around him, and he curls up closer to me.

"Shh!" I say to her, caressing his fur.

"You're dating the Vampire Prince?" She asks me, needing me to confirm it again.

"Yes, I am." I nod and her eyes nearly pop out of their sockets.

"Oh my gosh, my best friend is dating a prince, a vampire prince." She says slowly, trying to wrap her mind around it all.

I manage to crack a small smile.

"Yeah," I tell her and her mouth falls open.

"Oh wow, just wow." She says taking up her popcorn and falling onto the couch.

She grabs the remote and turns down the tv. She turns toward me looking eager. "Well, what's he like? Is he rude, or mean? Sweet? Cute—Of course, he is, he's hot as hell." She begins rambling and I laugh a little.

"At first when it was just the contract, and nothing more he was rude, mean, rough, and just terrifying. Then halfway through he became a little more caring, he would sometimes give me compliments on my outfits, and how I looked. He'd begin warming up to me, not thinking of me like an insect beneath his shoe." I reminisce and she begins cooing and squealing.

"Aww! Oh my! That's so sweet and cute, I'm genuinely so happy for you. I have a question though, what about Justina?" She asks me and my chest begins to feel heavy.

Why did she have to bring that up? I can't exactly tell her that I'm figuring that out and that Nikolai and I have a plan so what can I say?

I'm not going to lie, but I can't tell the full truth. Besides, I don't know a sensible half-truth that I can tell.

Sigh.

Just then, Nikolai stirs and he wakes up. He looks up at me with bright, light brown eyes. I'm assuming he heard what she said.

I look from him and I look back at Via, "Umm, it's just a rumor you know." I say, patting Nikolai's fur.

Via raises an eyebrow at me and she sighs, "Alright, if you say so. Where is the Prince anyway?" She changes the subject and I nearly giggle.

In my lap.

Woah, that sounded a bit odd.

"Uhh, not too sure actually. The palace, I'm assuming." I lie and she nods then I yawn.

"I'm gonna hit the hay right now. Where are you going to sleep? In my room?"

She looks up at me for a short second before being attached to the tv again. "Uhh, no I'm gonna stay in here. I still have some episodes to catch up on."

"Okay, don't stay up too late though. I'm not really looking forward to spending twenty minutes trying to wake you up." I tell her and she chuckles a little.

"No promises." She tells me and I roll my eyes with a smile lingering on my lips as I walk up the steps, resting Nikolai on my chest. I hold him with one arm and I use the other to hold onto the railing, making sure that neither one of us fall.

•

"Via! Get up!" I shout, and she wakes with a startle, she jumps up and falls onto the floor. I cringe at her fall and I help her up. There are small bags under her eyes. Hard to notice but they're there. Her skin is dry and pale, she's clearly not ready to be woken up.

She mutters curses at me as she holds onto my arms, trying to pull herself up. She sets herself on the couch and she goes to lie down again but I slap her arm.

"Get up Via, we have school to get to," I tell her and she groans at me, slapping my hands away.

Ha, funny. This is how I've been feeling these past few days. Just exhausted, foggy, and not about to deal with school and work right now.

She was cursing at me some days ago for missing school just because of being tired. Now she understands how I felt. I literally couldn't get up.

"Are you feeling okay enough to go to school?" I ask her, running my hand on top of her short black hair.

She grumbles something incoherent then she lifts her head a little and nods. "I'm gobba go." She says, her voice muffled.

After a minute or so, she lifts her head then she swings her feet onto the floor and she wobbles up to my room. "Hey, Ara!" She calls me from upstairs.

"Yeah?" I say, loud enough for her to hear.

"Where's that cub of yours? I wanna pet him." She says and my eyes widen a little.

She just said she wanted to pet Nikolai. I'm pretty sure he'd bite off her hand. Good thing he left when I woke up half an hour ago. If he was still here and Via had found him, I'm pretty sure that she would've screamed when she found out that it isn't a cub but actually the Prince, my boyfriend.

That's so weird to say. The Prince is my boyfriend. Boyfriend, boyfriend. Woah, such a weird word.

"I carried him to the shelter!" I lied, shouting back at her. She says nothing back. I'm assuming that she bought my lie. I mean, why wouldn't she? How and why would she think or even believe that the Prince is that cub she oh so wants to pet. She'd think I was lying.

After a few minutes, she comes downstairs wearing my clothes. She's in ripped black pants that I never really wore because it's not my style; along with a baggy long-sleeved shirt. She skips down the steps.

"How are we going to get to school? Neither one of us can drive and I'm pretty sure that the bus is gone by now." She says.

"Ni—The Prince," I pause for a second, "Is picking me up for school, he can give you a ride also," I tell her then we sit and wait for him to arrive.

After ten or so minutes, someone knocks on the door and I open it, revealing Nikolai. "Sorry I'm late, I had some early business to attend to this morning." He tells me with a small hint of a smile playing on his lips.

He looks behind me, seeing Via. "Hello." He greets her, with monotone and power evident in his voice.

Via gulps and she shyly waves at him, "H-Hello."

Another thing that makes Via and me such great best friends: we both become very shy and nervous around someone holding authority or power.

Nikolai turns back to me, "Are you ready to go? Do I need to give her a ride also?" He whispers to me, trying to make sure that she doesn't hear.

A smile forms upon my lips and I blush a little, "Yeah, could you?" I ask him, biting my lip a little.

His eyes drop down to my lips and I notice his adam's apple bobbing up and down. I release my lip from being bitten then I look up at him.

His eyes widen a little and he gulps again.

Is he okay? Why does he look like that?

He clears his throat, and takes two steps back, putting his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, I can do that, of course." He says, not whispering anymore.

I turn to Via, "Come on."

We both walk outside; I lock the door with the key, and I get into the car. I sit in the passenger seat and Via sits in the back.

The entire ride to school no one says anything. It's a bit awkward. Usually, Nikolai and I would talk about the plan on how to get Justina to confess to lying about her supposed pregnancy. We can't do that now though, Via's in the car and she has no idea about it. I don't want to rope her into all of this mess.

"How's your Art project going, Ara?" Via says, trying to quell this awkward tension of silence in the air.

"Great, we're finished. Sasha got a little bit carried away and ended up finishing the painting, all that was left to do was the essay. I wrote that when I wasn't at school yesterday." I tell her and her face falls; dejected.

"Oh, that's great. My partner, Brenna? She's a great artist but she procrastinates way too much. We'd start doing the painting then she'd stop and spend an hour trying to find the right song to play." Via rolls her eyes and crosses her arms over one another.

"Wow, yeah I worked an assignment with Brenna once. She has ADHD you have to understand that. I once saw her take four pills of Adderall to help her focus. It's really bad. Just have patience with her, she can't help it." I tell Via but she doesn't answer me.

I look into the rearview mirror at her. She's looking outside, her face looking irritated.

Why does she look ticked off?

If it's still about the painting she can try to help Brenna by doing some painting too or even writing the essay. The assignment's due. . .Monday? I think I'm not too sure.

The Prince pulls up at school and we get out of the car. "See you later?" I ask him while getting out and he smiles at me.

"You will." Is what he says then I close the door and Via and I get into school.

As we're walking into school my heart is beating fast, butterflies swim around in my belly, and there's that happy feeling in my chest. Not being able to wait for this evening.

I can't wait to see him again.

-