Kidnapped By The Vampire Prince

.

By the time lunchtime rolled around, Vincent, Fiona, and Joel were the talk of the school. I wasn’t too surprised though- every new kid had their five minutes of fame at my school. While it was large structure wise, it contained a small student body. We barely got any transfer students.

Currently Fiona, Joel, Vincent, and I were headed toward the school cafeteria. Somehow we’d all managed to find each other in the mob of students who were also moving toward it. Fiona was chattering excitedly, telling me how awesome her day was going. Not to anyone’s surprise, she got three guy’s phone numbers. Joel, on the other hand, was sulking.

“What’s wrong with you?” I asked him as soon as Fiona was done ranting.

He heaved a heavy sigh. “The things you guys are learning are things I’ve already learned more than-”

“Don’t say it,” I interjected quickly, making a face. “Just use a general term.”Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

After giving me a curious look, he shrugged. “Okay. I’ve already many years ago. It gets really boring after awhile.”

“You’re telling me,” Vincent grumbled, his face set into a moody scowl. “The teachers make me feel like I’m three with the way they teach. How can you stand it?”

I winced, a little insulted by that. Sometimes I had a hard time understanding what they taught… “Haha,” I laughed awkwardly. “Who knows…?”

“Well knowing you, you probably have trouble understanding it, huh, Stupid?”

Gritting my teeth together, I decided not to answer him. How long was he going to keep calling me stupid? He must use the damn word one hundred times a day! Didn’t he ever tire of it?

“Emily!”

By the sound of his voice and the annoyed expression that crossed Vincent’s face, I knew it was my brother who’d called out to me. Turning around, I greeted him with a bright smile. “Hey Jake!”

“You forgot your lunch money this morning,” he informed me, handing me a five dollar bill.

I blinked. I hadn’t even noticed. I’d been too busy forcing Vincent out the door. “You’re a life saver, Jake.”

He ruffled the hair on my head. “Someone’s gotta keep an eye on you… Who are these people?” he added, noticing Fiona and Joel staring at him.

“Umm, these are my friends Fiona and Joel. Fiona, Joel, this is my brother, Jake.”

“Hi!” Fiona chirped brightly, her eyes lighting up. “As Em just said, I’m Fiona!”

I suppressed a grin. She definitely had her flirt on. Unfortunately the poor thing didn’t know my brother he had a crush on Leah. I had to remind myself to tell her later… and tell her all the other guys at school were taken. Even if it were fun to her, Sebastian would probably be hurt if she progressed further than friends with any of them.

“I’m hungry,” Vincent grumbled, shoving me in the back. “Show me where the food is.”

“Hey-”

“Don’t shove her!”

“I wasn’t talking to you, guard dog.”

Joel snickered as Jake glared at him. “I could have my parents kick you out.”

He rolled his eyes. “No you couldn’t, trust me.”

“You little brat-”

“Hey, hey,” I interjected, pushing my brother back as he tried to advance on Vincent. “Can’t we all get along?”

Jake jutted out his chin stubbornly. “No. Not when that monster is around my little sister.”

An awkward silence passed by us. Monster . That’s what I’d referred to Vincent and his family by at one point. Now the word made me feel uncomfortable. It sounded degrading.

.

.

Luckily, Leah, who nearly tackled me to the ground when she seemed to jump out of nowhere, broke the moment. Joel reached out to steady me as my brother started laughing, relieving the tension. Vincent looked down at her like she was an unwanted bug in his room. Grimacing in pain, I unwound her slim arms from around my neck, pushing her off me. She beamed at me. “Hey Emily! You didn’t tell me you knew the transfer kids!”

“I haven’t seen you all day,” I pointed out.

“Are we going to go eat or not?” Joel complained. “I’m with Vivi. I’m hungry.”

Vincent threw an elbow in his direction. “Don’t call me that!”

Jake looked at Joel appreciatively. “Vivi? I see great minds think alike.”

“You call him that too? Well, great minds think alike,” Joel responded smugly. “Two against one, Vivi.”

“Whatever,” he growled, pushing past me. “I can figure out things by myself.”

On instinct I made to go after him, but my brother grabbed my elbow, yanking me to a stop. “Hold on there.”

“What?” I asked wearily.

“Make sure he doesn’t deal any drugs or anything, Em. He looks like the type.”

I almost laughed. Drug dealing? Vincent? Could vampires even do drugs? That wasn’t actually a bad question. I’d have to ask one of them when no humans were around. “I’ll be sure to, er, keep an eye on him.”

Jake crossed his arms. “Good. I have to go; otherwise I’ll be late for fourth period. Enjoy your lunch.”

“I’ll walk you to class!” Leah offered enthusiastically. She threw me a quick glance. “Make sure you save me a seat at the table.”

After bidding adieu to her and my brother, I gestured for Fiona and Joel to follow me the rest of the way to the cafeteria. When we entered, the first thing I noticed was Vincent. He was sitting at one of the tables to the far right, brooding. No one was approaching him. A gaggle of sophomore girls stood near him idly, shooting glances at him and whispering every now and then, almost as if they were trying to gather up enough courage to go sit with him.

“Can you guys figure out the lunch lines?” I asked, turning to Joel and Fiona. “The one on the far left is a la carte, and the two on the right are main lunch.”

Joel flashed me a grin. “I think we can figure it out.”

“Okay, then meet me by the door again, okay?”

They nodded and took off together. I turned back to Vincent and his followers. One of them took a hesitant step forward, causing her friends to giggle. After a second she moved back into her group, shaking her head. Before any more of them could try to approach him again, I quickly strode across the cafeteria, coming to a stop next to him. “Let’s eat outside,” I blurted.

He glanced up at me, dropping his brooding look for the moment. “Why?”

“Because there’s-” I cut myself off, my eyes widening. I couldn’t say it was because there were too many girls in here. That would make it seem like I was jealous… While it was okay to be jealous since I had a crush on him, he didn’t know I did, so I couldn’t act like it. “It’s a nice day?” I finally finished.

“So?”

I scowled at him. He had to make it difficult, didn’t he? “Look, I’ve been locked up inside your house for nearly two weeks. I want to eat outside,” I told him, lowering my voice.

He gave me a bored look. “Why do I have to come?”

“I want you to,” I responded in a duh voice. When I realized what I said, I bit my cheek to stop from blushing.

.

.

He gave me an annoyed look. “Stop being such a pansy.”

“I’m sorry I don’t want to get suspended!”

“We’ll be back before anyone notices we’re gone.”

“Fiona!” I shouted, seeing her enter my field of vision. “Help me!”

She turned to me, her eyes widening slightly in surprise as she took in Vincent dragging me. “Where are you guys going?” she inquired, jogging up to us.

Vincent paused for a moment. “Taco Bell.”

“Oh, dang. I wish I could go. I already bought my lunch though,” she said glumly, holding up her lunch tray of food.

“We’re not going! Tell him to stop!”

Her head titled to the side. “Why would I do that?”

I gaped at her. Did these two even know the meaning of rules? “It’s against school rules!”

She laughed softly. “If they’re not vampire rules, we don’t have to follow them.”

“See? Now let’s go,” Vincent ordered, staring toward the day again.

“Ugh!” I groaned in frustration. “Fiona, we can’t just leave you alone in here-”

“Your friend Leah is over there,” Vincent interjected. “Fiona, go hang out with her.”

Fiona followed his gaze and nodded. “Will do!”

“At least come with us, Fiona,” I begged her. I wasn’t going to go down alone if I was going down.

She shook her head. “It’d be a waste. I’ll see you two when you get back!”

“What about Joel?”

“He’ll sit with Fiona,” Vincent told me. “Now you have no more excuses. Move.”

Grumbling under my breath, I allowed him to lead me away from the crowded cafeteria and into the now empty hallway. If it weren’t Vincent, I’d be putting up more of a struggle. Since it was, and I knew he was a hundred times stronger than me, I knew it was no use. He’d kidnapped me once. He could do it again with ease. “I hate you,” I finally settled on.

He smirked at me. “No you don’t.”

“It’s getting there. Why do you want to go Taco bell so bad?”

“To get out of this place,” he responded simply. “It reeks of cheap perfume and body odor. And that cafeteria food.”

I sniffed the air, furrowing my eyebrows. “It doesn’t smell to me.”

“You’re not a vampire.”

“Shh!” I hushed him, whipping my head around. “Don’t say that so loudly!”

He rolled his eyes. “No one else is in the hallway.”

“Still you can’t just say that word out loud. People will think you’re crazy. Or like, a Twilight fan.”

“What if I am?”

I gave him a flat look. “You’re not.”

“I said what if.”

“You know what? You’re really annoying. I liked you better when you didn’t talk.”

He gave me a sly smile. “You like me?”

I struggled to keep my composure. “N-not like that.”

“Sure,” he responded skeptically.

“I don’t!”

He feigned a hurt look. “Ouch. You don’t have to deny it so vehemently.”

I clenched my fists. He was doing this on purpose. “You stupid, narcissistic vamp-”

.

.