“It’s kind of cold out. Do you mind if we stop by my locker to pick up my coat before we go outside?” he asked, suddenly sounding casual.

“It’s no trouble,” she said, her breath uneven. She held her red rose and blankly touched the thorns protruding from the stem. Even though it was difficult for her, she managed to say, “Is this really you? Are you really the type to meet a girl on the internet, bring her a beautiful flower, and help her with the door like a gentleman? Your post online made it sound like you were a bad guy who took advantage of women and hated himself because he couldn’t help it.”

Seth grimaced and shook his head cynically. “I’m sorry. I expected tonight to go much differently. I expected you to be a different sort of person.”

“Really? Who did you expect?”

He paused before he answered her. He seemed to be thinking very carefully. “Would it be all right if I told you the truth?”

Juliet’s mouth went completely dry, but she nodded and gave him an encouraging smile. “You can tell me anything.”

“It’s just that if I explain it to you... I don’t know how you’ll react. You might not believe me.”

“Do I look like the sort of person who would have a hard time accepting something unconventional? You’ve just met my friends.”

Seth smiled like he was thinking something ironic. “What I want to confess isn’t really in the same class as your friends’ secrets. It’s a little more unrealistic.”

“And you think those guys are realistic?” Juliet smiled. She was trying to predict what he was going to say. It seemed too outrageous for him to come right out and admit to being a vampire, but after being with those crazy people who thought they were witches, one soul separated by two bodies, and conjoined twins to boot, then maybe it wasn’t that strange. Would he tell her his secret? But what about the pomegranate? Wasn’t he a blood drinker?

“This is different,” he said after a moment. “You might think it is an act I use with every woman I meet.”

“You’ll have to take a chance,” she said, flirting.  

“All right, here goes,” he said, sucking his breath in and making his chest puff out. “Last Friday night,” he began, “I posted my blog about meeting my goddess, the post you responded to. It was about you. I have seen you around campus several times and I’ve always been... drawn to you, but I…”

Juliet frowned deeply. “So, you think a relationship between the two of us would end in heartbreak and ruin?”

“Yeah. I was coming here tonight because I thought Pearl Moon would be the kind of woman I could complain to about my problems and she would take my attention away from what I really wanted... you.”

“You’re saying, you wrote about me on your blog after you walked me home last week?” Juliet asked, skeptical. She had been expecting something much different.

“Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?”

“Sure does,” she mumbled, trying to remember what he had written about his goddess. She had been so mesmerized by her vampire that she hadn’t given ReadyEyes’ posts much thought until this second. “So, I look innocent?” she continued, once she remembered his exact impression.

“Extremely.”

“A blank sheet of paper that you have no business writing on,” she said, trying to quote his post.

“You read that carefully, huh?”

“I’m sure every girl who reads your blog reads it carefully.”

“Well,” he said, touching her waist briefly and drawing her eyes to his eyes. “I need to amend what I said then. I don’t think you’re a blank piece of paper, but maybe more like a spring after a long winter—a new beginning that hasn’t been trampled on or spoiled. A piece of paper sounds pitifully plain and you are far too lovely for that.”

“You sound like you’ve thought about this a lot,” she commented dryly. He was right, she wasn’t convinced it wasn’t a line he fed every girl he met.

“Maybe,” he said, running his fingers through his hair and leaving his hands behind his head as he walked.

Something triggered in Juliet’s brain just then and she suddenly understood. “This isn’t a line you tell every girl, is it?”

“No.”

“You’re saying all this because you are trying to scare me away, aren’t you?”

“Is it working?” he asked hopefully, dropping his hands and giving her the most charming smile.

“I did not expect a romance out of you,” she said forcefully, getting his attention. “I said on the internet that I wanted to be friends. I don’t believe your story about me being your goddess. It’s not true. You’re just using it as an excuse so you can pardon your way out of a romantic relationship you don’t want because I’m not the sort of woman you expected. You’re not attracted to me, and in reality, I’m so far beneath you that you don’t even want to play around with me. Well, don’t worry about it. Just walk me home and get on with your life the way you were going to.” She stomped down the hallway three steps before she blurted, “I hate these awkward moments when a guy I’m not even dating dumps me. Especially after getting me a rose and saying those nice things to me in the greenhouse. Where do you get off?” By this point, Juliet was staring straight ahead and she was getting more and more angry, angry enough to tell off a conceited jerk—no matter how handsome he was. “You know what? You don’t have to bother walking me back to my dorm. I can manage quite well on my own. See ya!” Juliet dropped the rose on the tiling, turned around, and started walking the way they had come.

“Where are you going?” Seth asked, scooping up the rose and hurrying after her. “Aren’t the dorms this way?”

“Yeah, but I’m going back to Rylan. He won’t mind walking me back, and when he spends time with me, he doesn’t try to fill my head with crap.”

Seth caught her by the elbow. “Rylan? Don’t do that. Something is wrong with that guy. Didn’t you hear me say that he has red eyes—naturally? Pink eyes occur rarely, but not blood red.”

Juliet rolled her own eyes and tried to pull her arm away. “Yeah, well, he never took his contacts out, so you didn’t prove that little theory.”

“It’s not a theory. Something is wrong with that guy.”

Juliet stopped resisting. “And you’re perfect?”

Seth held onto her arm and gave her a serious look.

She faltered. “Okay, fine. What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s... not what he seems to be.”

“So, he is a chick?”

“No, no, no,” Seth said, shaking his head. “I can’t explain it.”

“Well, could you please explain to me why you couldn’t be civil enough to simply take me to my room without making sure that I knew there was no possibility I could be your girlfriend? Because I’ve got news for you. I already knew that. Probably every girl who looks at you simultaneously knows she’s not good enough for you.”

“No!  You are the one who is too good for me!” he said, desperately seeking her eyes.

“Whoa,” Juliet laughed, squirming in his grasp. “Did that lame excuse actually come out of your mouth? I think everyone knows what that line really means, so you might need to learn a new one for letting the girls down easy. That one doesn’t work. Sorry.”

He looked at the ceiling and seemed to be frantically searching for a solution. “I can’t convince you?”

“No, but don’t let that bother you. Since your object is to get away from me as quickly as possible, you shouldn’t have any problem letting go of my arm and going to your office, or wherever the heck you were planning to go once you had dropped me off. I get the hint, so let go already.”

He took a deep breath. “I can’t. I can’t leave you to go back to Rylan. You would be better off with me.”

“Well, what if I don’t want you? What if you’ve offended me so badly that I never want to hear from you again? Ever think of that?”

“Wait!” Seth said. His face lit up slightly. He looked like he had just discovered the answer he had been searching for. “You said in your post that you fell in love with a vampire. Was it him?”

What?

Now Juliet was the one who was stuck since she had written those posts about Seth and not Rylan. She took a deep breath to prepare herself for what she had to say. “No,” she said, her voice sounded like she was underwater.

“But you are attracted to dark things?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?” he asked, and when she didn’t answer he went on. “You know if you keep walking down that road, you’ll end up dark too.”

“How is that any of your business?”

“You are Spring and you want to make yourself Autumn? Why?”

Juliet fought his arm harder and when her voice came out, it was much louder than she expected. She was panicking. “Couldn’t you tell from my posts?” she practically yelled. “You look at me and you see Spring. I look at myself, and I see that something is missing.”

“Missing?” Seth yelled back. “What could be missing from the purest of beginnings?”

“Experience... Pain... Love... Joy... The white moon’s body against the black velvet of a midnight sky? An ageless passion that would fill the void of loneliness I want to escape from? That’s why I am interested in the dark side of life. I want a love that’s agonizing in its sweetness, untamable, eternal,” Juliet belted out. Now she was saying things she had never put into words and expressing opinions she didn’t know she had. “I want a love that will not turn its back on me or change its mind about me. I want a love as strong as blood and just as hot.”

“Is that what your love for your vampire is really about?”

“Huh?”

“Who is that guy? You said you first saw him at school. Have you had the courage to introduce yourself to him when you like him so much, or are you choosing to live with unrequited love?”

“I met him,” she claimed hotly.

“And?” 

“He turned out to be a jerk,” she accused without thinking. “It was really disappointing. He wasn’t dark at all. I wish I could find a guy who would treat me properly. I want to be seen as a real woman with needs instead of an adorable kid who has to be sheltered, but what does that have to do with you?”

Seth suddenly planted both feet right in front of her and put his face close to hers. His scent went straight through Juliet’s head like he had put a gun to her forehead and pulled the trigger. She couldn’t think straight with his heady cologne infecting her senses. He was too close to her. What was he doing? He no longer looked like a pearly statue crafted to look like a vampire. Now he appeared a demon from her dreams whose shadow covered everything. It was the flicker of violence in his eyes. It was the wetness of his bottom lip and the way he towered over her. Even though she wasn’t cornered, she couldn’t possibly escape.

 “Choose me,” Seth said, finally sounding sincere. 

“What?” she muttered, quite out of breath.

“If that’s how you feel, then I want you. If you’re just going to run out and let a monster like Rylan ruin you, then I want you.”

“Be real,” she said, closing her eyes and trying to brush past him.

“I am being real,” he said, clasping her elbow.  

Her shoulders fell. “Are you saying you want to be my boyfriend?”

“Sure. If that’s how you want to classify the love you want, then sure, I’ll be your boyfriend. I’ll be whatever you want.”

“Weren’t you going to ruin me?”

“Better me than anybody else,” he said persuasively.

“What if I don’t want you?” she asked, a small part of herself barring Seth from convincing her. Her mind was unraveling, but she still had one idea to hold onto. “What if I don’t want anyone, except a vampire?”

He faced her. “It’s true that I’m not a vampire, but I kiss like one.”

He warned her, so she should have been ready, but absolutely nothing could have prepared her for his lips. The fragrance from before, the spicy blend of leather and Paris, was gone, and instead, the taste of his saliva and the smell of his aftershave were like copper. Darkness enveloped her. It was as if her lips and nose had been lowered into a puddle of blood rather than been captured by the man she dreamed of. Her mind was flashing with images.  

There was an image of the man she loved and his body was bleeding and dying at her feet. Falling to her knees, she was embracing him—encompassing him with the greatest love she had ever felt. His face was hidden from her, but it didn’t matter. She knew him by sense if not by sight. She was bending over him and kissing him for the last time as she had kissed him thousands of times. This was to be the last kiss and her heart was overflowing with the intensity of the moment. Her mouth felt full of blood and she was choking, like someone choking on tears. She swallowed and with each swallow, she was safeguarding and sealing each one of their sacred memories.

Then she was kissing Seth. He was the one from her vision, the one she crushed to her chest and ached to be near. Nothing made sense except that she loved him and she wanted him. She tangled her fingers in his hair and drew him even closer, but the smell of blood was strong and she began feeling faint.

She slipped from his arms and half fell to the floor. Seth cradled her and lowered her gently until she sat upright on the tile flooring.

“What happened?” she asked, putting her fingers to her face. It felt like there was blood dripping from the tip of her nose and dribbling down her chin.

“I kissed you,” he explained.

Juliet pulled her hand away, expecting to see her fingers stained with red, but they weren’t. They were white. In fact, her face wasn’t even wet.

“I…?” Juliet began.

“Kissed me back,” he finished for her. “You’re a phenomenal kisser, Juliet. I think I even saw stars. And I thought you were going to resist me. Now you’ll never be able to get rid of me.”

“I don’t want to get rid of you,” she mumbled, still confused about what happened. She had been positive that she tasted blood in her mouth. She felt around with her tongue, but she couldn’t feel any cuts. She even put her fingers directly into her mouth and touched her gums and cheeks, but there was only saliva.

“What are you doing?” Seth asked, laughing at her.

“I tasted blood in that kiss. Are you bleeding?”

He examined her with amusement. “No.”

“Then...?”

“Just think of me as your vampire, if that’s the only kind of man you’ll take,” he said as he put his arms around her and lifted her onto her feet. “I’ll take you back to your room now, but I want to see you tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that.”