Most people sitting near their table stopped what they were doing and turned to see where the sharp sound came from. The students who caught the sight of what had happened, their mouths fell wide open as something like this had never happened before, at least not the famous five.

  Melanie's hand had harshly touched Simon's cheek in anger while her face held clear embarrassment written on it. She couldn't believe Simon would do something like this about her feelings.

  Simon stared at the surface of the table as it had moved to the side after the impact Melanie's hand had caused.

  Though no one who sat at the table uttered a single word, it was only the two vampiress' and the two humans who stared at them, with a look of surprise and shock on their faces. Roman didn't bother himself with it, and instead, he continued to gulp down the blood from the can while Maximus was busy eating his food.

  Conner's eyes moved from Melanie to Simon before his eyes fell back on his best friend, as he didn't know if Simon was joking.

  Melanie pulled her hand away from Simon's face, her hands turning into fists, and as seconds passed, she came to realize that the lunchroom had turned quiet and many eyes were focussed on them. On the other hand, Simon moved his head back to look at Melanie, and he ran his tongue at the corner of his lips which held a spot of blood on it. If it was another time, Melanie would have felt bad and would have apologized, but Simon had made sure to step on her nerves enough to deserve it.

  Simon's green eyes looked straight into her eyes before he said, "How rude. I was only giving you the push that you haven't got until now."

  He stood up from his chair, picked up his bag, and left the lunchroom. Suddenly the lunchroom broke into a series of chatter and whispers with students discussing what could have possibly happened.

  Before someone, especially Conner, could speak, Melanie was quick to stand up from her seat. She turned to look at Julie and said, "I will see you in class," with an awkward smile that miserably failed.

  Julie could feel Melanie's distress and the panic evident in her eyes where she wanted to hide somewhere. She said, "Let me come with you," and she picked up her bag. But Melanie shook her head.

  "I just need to pick something from my dorm," and Melanie was quick to dart out of the lunchroom.

  Conner, who was left confused, quickly grabbed his things, and he said, "I will see you all later."

  And he went after Melanie. But when Conner stepped out of the lunchroom, after a few seconds, Melanie left, he couldn't find her outside, and it was as if she had disappeared in thin air. He decided to go to the girl's Dormitorium to meet her, as she had mentioned.

  Back in the lunchroom, after Conner left the table, Victoria uttered, "That wasn't awkward at all."

  "I didn't know a human's hand could result in a vampire having a split lip," murmured Olivia.

  Maximus gave a nod, "He probably had his fangs slightly out or maybe Melanie is stronger than she appears to be. You know there are some humans who sometimes turn out to be as strong as us."

  Julie heard the three of them speak, and she turned to Roman, who was on the next blood can. She asked, "Why did he do that?" She never knew apart from her, there was another person who had noticed Melanie's feelings towards Conner.

  Roman licked his lips and said, "Simon has an odd way of connecting with people."

  Julie fell speechless on Roman's words because Simon was uncalled for, and she could tell her friend was utterly embarrassed. Because until now, Melanie had herself never confessed her feelings to Conner.

  From what she had seen and known, Simon was a laid-back person, and he was the most cheerful person in Roman's group. She wondered if people pairing him up with Melanie had somewhere bothered him, which was why he had tried to clear things to the people at the table and some of the vampires who sat at the nearest table.

  Roman then said, "Come let me see you to your class."

  "Will you be attending classes today?" Julie asked him, and he leaned his back against the chair.

  "Do you want me to?" he asked her, and Julie shrugged her shoulders.

  "Only if you want to," replied Julie, and Roman stared at her. Remembering something, she then said, "We were going to study together."

  "You are right, but I think your friend might need you today, so we can postpone it for the day," replied Roman, and Julie smiled at him. He then said, "How are you feeling? Any pain or fatigue?"

  "Nothing so far. I think I fell asleep a little too fast yesterday," replied Julie, and she asked him, "How about you?" her voice dropped an octave lower, but Roman's friends who had the vampire's hearing ability caught it.

  "My body feels light and healthy," he responded to her question. "I heal faster than anytime before."

  "I am glad to hear that," said Julie, feeling relieved that there were no side effects to what she and the Corvin had tried on him. Having stabbed no one before, it took everything in Julie to put faith in Roman and the Corvin before she had run the knife through Roman's chest.

  After seeing Julie in her classroom, Roman went to his classroom to notice that Simon wasn't there. He stepped out of the Blue Block, walking to the place he knew where he would find his friend. And as expected, Simon was found sitting on the roof of one of the buildings of Veteris. The ceilings and roofs of most buildings here were high, making it difficult for a person to look at it from the ground.

  "What are you doing sitting here as if you are depressed? She cannot see you here," stated Roman offering a dead look to Simon, who sat with his legs stretched, facing the forest.

  Simon turned to look at Roman, and a grin broke on his lips, "Is it that obvious?"

  "To me, yes, I cannot tell the same about the others. That is if you are asking about the girl you have been intent on annoying," stated Roman, making his way to where Simon was sitting, and once he got there, he took a seat next to him.

  "I am glad to hear that," chimed Simon, where his mood was back to its usual self. "Are you here to ask me why I did that?"

  "Do you think I care about it," remarked Roman, pulling out a piece of gum and putting it in his mouth.

  "No, I didn't think that. Is it because you were worried about me?" his green eyes brightened to only receive a stare from Roman. He then brought his hand to touch his cheek, "It's been so long since I got slapped like that. Reminds me of my dear mother. I mean your punches have been good, but nothing compared to what I felt today."

  Roman chewed on the gum, staring at the view in front of them, and he gave a side look at Simon before looking back at the view. He asked,

  "Are you fine?"

  "Hm?" Simon tilted his head to the side. "If you are asking about the blood, you should—"

  "I am not talking about that. You know it." Roman knew the blood that Simon had showed Melanie had nothing to do with the slap, and it was only for fake sympathy from the human.

  The smile on Simon's lips faltered slightly before the smile became more prominent. He replied, "I am fantastic, why wouldn't I be alright? Those things were in the past, and I ended things well."

  "If you say so," responded Roman, knowing as much as Simon said he wasn't thinking about some things from his past, his thoughts had drifted towards it.

  "You drank too many cans today. Thirsty much today?" inquired Simon, shifting the subject to Roman. It was because before they had headed to the lunchroom, Roman had downed three cans of blood and had drunk three more while they were at the table.

  "Maybe I am," hummed Roman.

  Simon's eyes slightly narrowed while his thoughts drifted to the past. But on thinking about the human, who had slapped him, his eyes brightened as if a child who caught sight of a rare candy.

  "If you plan to keep it, you should snatch it before someone else down," said Roman in a nonchalant tone, and Simon smiled.

  "Mhm."

  Back in the classroom, Melanie couldn't concentrate on what the teacher was speaking about; she eventually ended up zoning out from what was being said in the class. She had dashed out of the lunchroom earlier so that she could avoid any possible questions from Conner or confrontations. But she doubted she could forever keep avoiding him, they were bound to discuss it, and she wondered how to go about it.

  Maybe she should tell Conner that it was a joke by Simon, and he was only making up stuff, thought Melanie in her mind. Or was she supposed to agree that what was spoken before was true? The last thing she had imagined was her feelings to be known by Conner from a third person.

  She wanted to murder Simon! If it was possible, she would have pushed the red-haired boy into the trunk along with heavy stones before letting him live his life in misery in the bottom of the sea.

  "Ms. Davis, is there something that you don't agree with that you feel the need to glare at me?" asked the teacher, and the other students turned to look at her.

  It seemed like today was the day to embarrass herself. She shook her head, and in an apologetic tone, she replied, "I was trying to concentrate."

  "I hope you were," said the woman in the front before continuing with the class.

  Once they were on break, Julie asked, "Are you doing okay, Mel? I am sorry to see how things went down."

  "It wasn't your fault. I just didn't expect it," came the tired sigh from Melanie's lips. "I don't know how to face Conner. Did he ask you about it?"

  "I thought he spoke to you. He left right away after you left," and on Julie's words, Melanie softly whined, and she placed her head on the table. "On the brighter side, you don't have to hide your feelings now."

  "I wonder," murmured Melanie, her eyebrows furrowing. "I wish it isn't today. Only a few hours in the morning and it feels tiring. Can you stay with me? In the library later."

  Julie nodded, offering a smile, "I will be there with you."

  And as discussed, after their classes, Julie and Melanie headed towards the library. On their way, they met Olivia, Maximus and Victoria.

  "Good evening, here to fetch some books?" asked Maximus in a polite tone.

  "Probably to hide away from trouble," commented Victoria.

  "Melanie and I are here to work on our projects," Julie was the one to respond, and Maximus nodded. Olivia quietly listened to the conversation. "Did you finish your project?"

  "Done and submitted. We are very fast," said Maximus. He then turned to ask Melanie, "Have you seen, Simon? It has been hard to find him."

  Melanie had only imagined drowning Simon, did he drown for real?

  "I wouldn't know where he is," replied Melanie, and her lips set themselves in a thin line.

  "Mm, we thought he would probably be around you, apologizing for what he did this morning. But I see he hasn't," Maximus smiled, and on feeling Melanie's stare, he cleared his throat. "We'll see you both at dinner? Have fun working on the project."

  Seeing both Julie and Melanie disappear into the library building, Maximus said, "He could have dodged the slap easily. Not like he hasn't done that before."

  "We know," murmured Olivia.