Finally Giving In

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The next morning I wake up to my alarm clock. I walk over to my closet and pick out a pair of jeans with a sparkly gray halter top. Next I grab my purse and head out to my car to head to school. By the time I get to first period, Alexander is still nowhere to be found. As the class goes on, I realize he is not showing up anytime soon.

'Where could he possibly be?'

"Psst…. Hey where is Alexander?"

I turn toward my best friend.

"I do not know, I am starting to worry."

"It is okay, maybe he is just running late," Lauren says.

"Maybe you are right."

'The problem is I know she is not right at all. I feel like something is wrong with Alexander because I have not seen him since yesterday. He is always around, so why is he missing suddenly?'

Miss Settles puts in a rosetta stone disk for us to practice our spanish. No matter what I do, I cannot quit worrying about Alexander and where he is right now.

'He has never been late for school ever so where is he?'

The bell finally rings for second period so I grab my stuff and head off to the library.

"Hello Miss Swan, is there anything I can do for you today?"

"Well you could check in all those books and then reshelve them where they need to go. After that, I have nothing else for you to do today."

"Okay, thanks."

She walks into her office room and locks the door behind her. I immediately take all the books on the counter and scan them into the computer. After I am done, I grab all the books and put them on a cart to help reshelve them in the right spot. Once I put the last book up, I decide to try to find a new book to read for myself. The best books are in the fantasy fiction section in the far back corner. Glancing at the shelves, I start skimming the titles hoping something will pop out to me. Suddenly I get a cold chill down my spine, like someone is watching me. A shadowy presence comes up behind me then. I turn around to try and hit my intruder in case it happens to be Damon. My eyes connect with a pair of gorgeous brown eyes that have always made me melt at the sight of them. He catches my arm in mid air before letting it go at my side.

"You are finally here, why were you not in first period?"

"I was talking to your parents and then ran into Charles on my way out. He wanted to talk to me about something."

'Alexander looks so sad that it almost makes me want to cry.'

"What is wrong," I ask, reaching up to caress his face.

"Are you just marrying me because of the prophecy or do you actually have feelings for me?"

"Wait, what?"

"Please just tell me the truth."

I drop my hand and turn away from him.

"Why in the world would you ask such a question?"

"I was leaving when Charles told me he was super happy that the kingdom was going to be passed down and would be in great hands. He also said that he was sorry since he heard it is not what you wanted exactly."

I turn back toward him and look into his eyes.

'The look of pure hopelessness in them makes my heart ache so much. Charles must have overheard me when I was talking to my parents. Why did I have to say the things I did? What am I going to do?'

"Celeste, please just tell me the truth."

I look down at the floor then back up into his eyes.

"Alexander, I… I do not know what to say."

"Do you have feelings for me or am I just part of the deal for the prophecy?"

"I cannot tell you."

He steps forward to caress my face as I feel the bookshelf gently press into my back. His lips fiercely connect with mine in such passion. An electric feeling runs throughout my body. I wrap my arms around him and pull him closer to me. When we part, we are both breathing heavily.

"Just tell me the truth please. I know you have feelings for me," he whispers against my skin.

'He looks so sad.'

My eyes look up to connect with his as I see a lonely tear runs down his cheek. I reach up to wipe it away and smile.

"Of course, I have feelings for you," I whisper.

The gigantic grin on his face is priceless as he bends down to kiss me once more. When we finally pull apart, I look behind him to see the one person I have been trying to avoid recently. Alexander must have felt my body go stiff because he suddenly frowns and does not look happy at all.

"Hello Damon," he whispers.

His voice sounds so ice cold that it sends shivers down my back.

"Hello Celeste," Damon says, his voice matching Alexander's in coldness.

"You are not to address her or even talk to her from now on."

"Well, looks like someone is being very controlling."

"I mean it, stay away from her."

Alexander wraps his arms tighter around my waist.

"We need to get you to class," he says just as the bell rings.

I wrap my arm in his and let him pull me away.

"If you get tired of the controlling little boy, you know there is a man who will be waiting right here for you," Damon yells after us as we walk off.

Alexander walks me to my third period class before he goes off to his class. I sit down by Stephanie and Lauren.

"Hey are you free tonight," I ask.

"Yeah, I am not doing anything," Lauren says.

"Me either," Stephanie chimes in.

"Good, my parents are having a party tonight and I would like you guys to come with me if possible. You can come over to my house first so I can explain what the party is for."

"Sounds like fun to me."

"Yeah we will be there then."

I smile.

'Both of my best friends are going to be at my engagement party.'

Mr. Heights starts passing out a packet of notes. I look down to see it is over the Declaration of Independence and is due by the end of the class. I grab my history book and get to work right away. The questions are mostly about the document itself like when it was signed, who signed it, and when it became official. When the bell rings for the next period, I put my pack on Mr. Height's desk before heading to science class. When everyone is seated, Mr. Matthews begins passing out cards.

"Today we are going to review for the test on Monday. I need all of you to get into groups based on the same number that is on your card."

I move over and sit down in a chair next to these two girls who have the same number as me. Usually these girls never stop reading but for some reason they look up at me suddenly. It seems like they are going to say something until their eyes travel over to the seat beside me. I follow their gaze to see Damon sitting down beside me.

"What are you doing," I ask.

"I am in your group."

"That is not possible."

He shows me his card and sure enough, he has the same number as me.

'This is not happening right now. How can he be in my group?'

"Celeste, look I am sorry about the other day."

"Damon just please do not talk to me and how in the world do you know my birth name?"

"It does not matter how I know, will you please just talk to me?"

"No I will not and it is Audrey to you."

I watch as Mr. Matthews begins to put problems on the board for us to solve. I try to write them down but Damon will not let it go.

"I really am sorry," he whispers to me again.

"Damon, please just leave me alone. You should be writing these problems down."

He places his hand on top of mine.

"Audrey, I am sorry. I should not have done what I did."

"Both of you need to do these problems or you can go out in the hallway if you are going to keep disrupting my class."

I look up at Mr. Matthews to see he is not happy at all.

"Sorry for the disturbance Mr. Matthews. We will just go into the hallway," Damon says.

He grabs my wrist and leads me out into the hallway.

"Are you crazy?!? I wanted to stay and study for the test."

"Look, you can study another time, right now you need to listen to me. I really am sorry about the other day. I did not mean to scare you, I was just upset about the whole situation."

"Damon you do not understand. I cannot and will not leave him."

"I know you like him, but I know you also like me."

He steps toward me and caresses my cheek in his hand.

"Please leave him. I know I am the better choice for you."

"Damon you do not understand, we are getting married."

He steps back away from me like I just slapped him across the face.

"What? I thought your parents called it off."

"They did, but there is this thing that I have to follow and it involves me marrying him. Plus I really do like Alexander."

His face contorts into complete anger.

"Audrey, I know who Alexander is and you cannot marry him."

"Damon, I know who he is."

"No Audrey, I know exactly what he is."

"What do you mean," I ask.

'Wait, does he know he is a vampire? If so, how did he find out? Does he know I am also one? Wow, it is so weird to finally admit it to myself. All this time I have been trying to hide who I really am and ignore the fact that I could possibly be a vampire.'

"I know he is not like us, Audrey. He is not human."

'So he does not know about me yet.'

"Damon that is the craziest thing I have ever heard in my life."

The bell rings for fourth period. I walk away in a hurry, hoping he will not follow me. The problem now is that I am supposed to have Damon in the same lunch period. Instead of heading to the cafeteria to eat and join my friends, I head out to my car and take off for home.