"Don't remind me. Summer is over."
"Can you believe we'll be juniors?" she asked like she'd won the lottery.
Becky was lucky. She had an interest in school. Her best friend and boyfriend were by her side. I would have been excited to go back to school, too, if I were going to be seeing Alexander instead of my lifelong nuisance, Trevor Mitchell.
3
NIGHT CALLS
The night before school started, I was stroking my kitten, Nightmare, and surfing the Net when she began to glare at my window and hiss. Her back arched and her fur stood straight up. I couldn't contain her in my arms. She bolted across my bed and jumped on the windowsill. She batted the glass with her paw.
"It's probably a bird, Nightmare. Calm down."
Then I heard a tinyping,like something had hit the outside glass. Nightmare freaked. She dashed across my room and pushed through the cracked open door.
I peeked out into the darkness. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust.
I didn't see anything unusual around the garage or the swing set that was a few yardsaway .
But a shadowy figure was leaning against the tree. I pressed my face to the window.
There he was. My Gothic Guy, my Knight of the Night, my Vampire Prince.
My heart throbbed.
I raced out of my room, down the stairs, out the back door, and into my boyfriend's arms.
Alexander greeted me with a long kiss. It sent shivers down my spine.
"I had to see you," he said. "I can't stay long but I wanted,to wish you luck before school."
"I've missed you so much."
"Me, too. I think even the Mansion misses you."
" Howare your parents?"
"Fine."
"What are they like?" I probed.
"I don't know...The same as any others."
"Are they happy to be home?"
"My mom says the Mansion smells like flowers."
"Did you tell her I placed them around?" I asked.
"I think she guessed."
"I bet you're glad to see them."
Alexander shrugged his shoulders.
"It'sokay-I know you had to have missed them."
He hesitated and then began as if he were revealing a national secret. "It's been great to talk to my dad. He's an art dealer. He's very interesting and has so much to share about the art world. He brought me a painting from a rising artist inFrance ."
"Does he like your artwork?"
"I'm not sure he takes me seriously yet. He thinks I just I -.tint for fun."
"And your mom?"
Alexander's eyes couldn't help but twinkle.
"I bet she dotes on you," I said.
"She's my mom. She's insisting that I haven't eaten and I us promised to fatten me up."
"When will I meet them?"
"Hopefully soon."
"I think you're hiding me."
"It's true… I want you all to myself." He squeezed me hard and swung me around.
"Do they know everything?"
"I don't tell my parents everything. Do you?"
Alexander had a point. I certainly didn't tell my parents I hat we had dates in the cemetery and I slept during the day with him in a coffin.
"Do they know Tm not a vampire?" I asked.
"Do your parents know I am one?"
I was shocked. Did Alexander have to hide my identity like I had to hide his? I thought maybe they knew already or they'd gotten wind of it from Jameson or the Maxwells .hut either Jagger and his siblings, Luna and Valentine, hadn't returned toRomania or they hadn't wanted to share i hat Alexander had preferred a mortal to Luna.
And maybe Alexander chose not to tell his parents that L was mortal-like I'd chosen not to tell mine that he was a vampire. It didn't occur to me that he couldn't tell them the truth about me, I never realized how painful it must be for him that I couldn't disclose his reality to my parents or even my best friend.
"You don't want me to meet them, do you?" I asked. "Then they'll know."
"What?"