THE FUTURE MRS CIARA

WEDNESDAY, 10 FEBRUARY, END OF LUNCH

I got to class early, so after catching my breath, I took out my manga to read. Only those two girls were in class. I made sure not to look and buried my nose into the pages of breathtaking unreality.

I've always thought fantasy books were about dragons and magic, but I'm beginning to feel manga was like another type of fantasy. There weren't any dragons or unicorns, but I swear none of it could possibly be real.

Now that the hot stylist heir student president guy had taught his good natured nice guy friend how to be cool, he was about to work his magic on the plain girl. He got her into a cute outfit, did her hair and make up, and was now running her through the date verbally, just to prep her.

I wondered if my betas would do the same for me if I had a date.

Anyway, he broke the first date down to a few phases. It was very technical. There was the meeting, where the guy would meet the girl for the date. According to him, the guy should arrive at the meeting place at least 15 minutes early, and the girl could arrive anytime after that, but not more than 15 minutes late.

On meeting, the cute girl had to say, "Oh, hi! I'm so sorry, did you have to wait long?"

And the guy should answer, "Hi, it's okay, I've just arrived."

No matter how long he had really been waiting.

When they reached the amusement park and collected their tickets, they should look for an opportunity to take a selfie together. That's why there were so many photo opportunities around the entrance of dating places. Just one or two selfies together would be fine.

It would break the ice and start the date smiling. But you shouldn't get overexcited and take more than two selfies right at the beginning or your date might feel you are narcissistic.

Before rushing to the rides, you need to ask your date, "Is there any ride you'd like to try first?"

And if your date asked what you wanted to do, you should suggest two different rides of different fear factor.

Before going up any scary ride, a cute girl should ask, "Are you scared of roller coasters?" And say stuff like, "I'm a little nervous."

This would be a good time for the guy to hold her hand or for her to reach out and tug his sleeve.

Oh... I see.

Tugging gently at his sleeve, his arm, or even his the back or side of his shirt was all good.

This would trigger the guy into feeling protective of his date, thus feeling something for his date.

It was all very tricky, like manipulating the other party's senses and instincts.

Also they must try at least one or two scary rides because the exhilaration would pump their systems with excitement and a bit of fear, raising their heart rates, imitating the feeling of love when your heart beats faster or you feel this breathless sense of excitement when someone you love was near.

Oh, so that was why my heart liked to malfunction when Mate was near.

Wait, did that mean I loved Mate? O.o

And then the lesson went on to stuff like how to order food. By this point, I had the urge to take a highlighter to mark out the key points because it was that complicated.

There were three ways of paying for a date.

The first was that the guy pays for everything. This was the most traditional way and on the first date especially, guys should always opt for this method because it shows the girl your sincerity and leaves a good impression.

The second was for the couple to go dutch. Splitting the bill in half everytime. But this made whoever doing the calculation look calculative, and it would be more like friends going out than a real date.

The third was for the guy to be prepared to pay for everything, but because they were both students on a limited budget, or because the girl was working and earning an income too, they would do reciprocal paying. For example, if the guy paid for the tickets, then the girl could offer to pay for the food.

But this would be tricky. The guy can't ask the girl to pay. So the girl should offer. And the total amount should not exceed the amount for the tickets.

And when the girl offers to pay, she had to do it delicately so she would not be seen as taking over the reins or looking down at the guy's ability to pay for his own food. She had to say, "I want to thank you for the tickets today, so lunch is my treat!"

Furthermore, whoever is paying should be the one to suggest the restaurant. If the guy suggests a restaurant you hate, you could suggest something else either within the same budget as the one he suggested or within the budget you want to "treat" him with.

Choosing from the menu was the same. The one being treated should ask, "What are you ordering?"

And then order something similar in price.

That's why girls always wait for the guy to decide what they want to eat first! They weren't being indecisive, they were waiting politely to be told the budget. Hahaha.

Just kidding. Most of my girlfriends were just indecisive. Honestly. You should see Lizzy and Savy try to decide what they want at a restaurant!

I don't even need to look at the menu when I go out to eat.

Me: Burger and fries!

Mum: Sam, you know they don't serve that here.

Me: What about a club sandwitch?

Mum: Sam, pick something from the menu.

Anyway, after I've picked something, and everyone else had picked something, Savy and Lizzy would still be discussing it until they narrowed it down to two choices and they still wouldn't be able to decide until Lizzy says, "Alright, maybe you can get this, and I'll get that. And we can share it."

"My stomach just digested itself." Ben would groan.

Hahahaha.

Oh, but on a date, you can't order messy foods like burgers. You needed to order something you can eat daintily with, like salad. Or at least something without bones, that you can comfortably deal with a fork and knife.

Finally, the guy should send the girl home, especially if it's late. And then they could say goodnight and maybe have their first kiss.

The perfect first kiss... was found at the end of the volume. Apparently there was a formula, was when the guy leans down 90% of the way, so that the girl just needs to reach up the other 10% for their lips to meet.

So like, he shouldn't just go 100% of the way, going 90% would put his face close enough, but leaving 10% would give the girl room to lean forward and complete the kiss or turn away.

Dating was so complicated. I'm glad wolves didn't have to do stuff like that. We just find our soul mate and bam! Instant mating bond. All done.

Good thing too because I was sure I would fail miserably at dating.

If any guy put his face that close to me, I would probably just head butt him. Oh wait, that was exactly what I did to mate last night.

But it was his fault for sticking his face so close. Why did he keep doing that?

And then it hit me, like a bolt of lightning out of the blue. WAS BELL TRYING TO KISS ME?

I tried hard to remember what happened, but it was like a blur. His face coming close now and then... And at one point, I think when he saw us off at the car, Mum actually thought we did kiss, but I was only just whispering a warning to his ear to expect me at the Underground.

WAS BELL TRYING TO KISS ME?

ALL NIGHT?

Seriously?

I shook my head. There was no way. This stuff was all made up. There was no such thing as a perfect kiss rule. And if there was, it wouldn't have math in it.

The lunch bell rang. I put the manga away. Everyone came back to class.

Henry, Marcus, and Liam came in looking serious. Henry actually growled at me, "What the hell, Sam." But he didn't elaborate why he was so irate.

Maria came in on her own. Opps, I had forgotten about meeting her at the library to take our walk past Dino's classroom. I doubt he was there though.

She sat down primly next to me, and then she smiled creepily and mindlinked, "You got Dionysus into a lot of trouble."

Opps again.

But Maria seemed rather pleased about it, "He kept complaining about it to me."

Ah. Okay, in that case, "You're welcome."

"Xavier has a crush on you." Maria continued.

Who?

"He said you stole his heart." Maria said.

Gah! I flared. No, thank you.

"I already have a mate." I reminded her.

Maria laughed the sound of clear little bells, "Don't worry. We all know."

Eh? They do?

"Yes. Lord Edward Ciara had made the formal announcement." Maria smiled.

"What formal announcement?" I just had a bad feeling about this.

"He had named the Little Blue Alpha as the Ciara Queen." Maria told me.

"What exactly does that mean?" I asked carefully.

Maria smiled, "It means you are his mate."

I flared at that, "I am not!"

"No, you're still underage. And there are rules. He has to wait at least a century more before turning you." Maria said.

"Plus I'm a wolf. Wolf and vamps don't mix." I told her.

"Yes, but once he turns you, you'd be a vampire." Maria pointed out.

Wait, what?

Her laughter tinkered at my shock. Vampires loved nothing better than messing with people like this. I was sure she was lying.

"I'm not lying, Alpha." Maria said, easily reading my distress, "My grandmother was a wolf in her former life. It was long ago and she said she barely remembers it."

I shook my head again. She's just messing with me. They're all just messing with me.

"It's a great honor. The Ciara Coven is very influential." Maria said, "All the female vampires are green with envy."

I imagined a row of green female vampires.

"You're just messing with me." I said.

"I'm telling the truth." Maria answered calmly.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked.

"Because I'm happy. In a century or two, you would be Lord Edward Ciara's Queen, and I would be Lord Dionysus Kosan's Queen. Dionysus is heir to the Upper Kosan Coven. We would be best friends forever." Maria said.

Normally, when a girl says "best friends forever", it's cute. But when Maria said it, it was scary - because when a vampire said "forever", they meant it quite literally.

"I'll be dead in a century or two." I comforted myself.

"Not if he turns you first." Maria said. I think she meant to reassure me, but her words had an opposite effect.

I shook my head, "No."

"Do you prefer Xavier? He is heir to the Lower Kosan Coven. It's large but Ciara is a much older bloodline, and directly related to our Royal Queen."

I don't care! And no I do not prefer Xavier.

Do I want to mate with a vampire? That like asking me if I wanted to mate a rat! It's all very ewww...

And I definitely did not want to become a vampire.

I've never heard of it before. A wolf being turned... It's just so unnatural and wrong. A human, yes. Lots of times. But a wolf?

Did I want to be turned into a rat? Eww to the power of infinity.

"No." I told Maria firmly, "I'd rather die."

"You can put it that way." Maria agreed, "It would be like your afterlife."

That girl didn't seem to understand.

No way. There was no way I was going to spend my afterlife as Mrs Ciara. No thank you!