“Yeah, well there will still be secrets, but not inside this school. Right?”
“Are we a secret?”
“Maybe. For now. But I don’t want to be a secret forever.”
“Me neither,” she said, her voice soft.
“Good.”
“But don’t think you can boss me around just because you’re an instructor, and we havethatkind of secret.”
I almost laughed. From her voice, I couldn’t tell if she was pissed, flirting, or petulant. I figured Jared couldn’t tell either. But he rolled with it.
“Of course I can boss you around. And that’s another reason I have to tell them I’m a vampire. Because if I’m going to be an instructor, I have to go all in. So since I’m supposed to be educating them on supernatural creatures, I need to tell them about myself.”
“At least you’re something they’re familiar with, even if Hollywood mostly got it wrong.”
“Yeah. I’ve got a jumping off point. I can either go with the classics, or sparkles, or angst. What do you think?”
She laughed. “For you, angst totally fits.”
“You’re going to regret you said that.” I pictured him leaning closer to her as he spoke.
In my mind, she lifted her chin, staring him down. “I don’t think I will.”
Once again I smiled. Once again I told myself I needed to leave.
I was just about to slip away, in fact, when Allie said, “Am I one of the supernatural creatures you’re going to tell them about? Me and my dad?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t talked to your mom or Eric about that. I was going to talk to you first. And you already know I think it should come from you.”
“Do we really want to have this conversation now?” she asked
“No,” Jared said. “I really don’t. But I’m right,” he said, his voice pitched lower.
“Maybe. Don’t let it go to your head.”
For a moment, there was only silence, and I took a chance and leaned back just enough so that I could peek out the window. He’d pulled her into a hug. It didn’t look romantic. It looked like a friend hug. And I couldn’t decide if I was pleased or disappointed.
When they pulled apart, she smirked. “I think I’ll like Bruce. He sounds kick-ass. He took out that demon.”
I was still watching, and I saw Jared’s mouth quirk up. I wondered if she picked Bruce to mention because she really was impressed by what he did in saving the other students, or if she saw him as a possible foil to make Jared jealous. I hoped she wasn’t playing those kind of games, but I had to admit I wouldn’t be surprised. Still, with over a hundred years under his belt, I had a feeling Jared had seen every dating game in the book.
“I imagine he’ll like you, too,” Jared said.
“At least until I beat him. He’s probably used to always winning. To getting the drop on everyone. One round with me, and he might not be so happy to be my friend after all.”
“He will. Once he gets to know you. And don’t judge people too harshly. Not everyone sees the world in black and white, better and worse. They’ll see all your good qualities, and you’ll see theirs.”
“Sometimes it’s annoying that you’re so much older than me. You sound like an adult.”
He laughed. “I’ll try to do better.”
“Thank you.”
“They’re going to think of you in the same way. They’ll think you’re a freak. You’ll have to show them differently, too.”
“Yeah, well I think I can. I haven’t had human blood in forever, so I won’t be scary to them. Glowering at their necks with pulsing veins.”
