Letters to Romeo

Though slightly worried, Conner appeared to look in awe at Simon because of his age.

Melanie doubted she had seen anyone lie in such a straight face and make up crap in the air. Rolling her eyes, she said, "He's only a century old, Conner."

"Is she always a party pooper?" Simon asked Conner while Melanie glared at him. "We aren't that old. Because we spent quite some time sleeping in the coffins. Now where were we with the studies?"

Everyone at the table went back to read their books.

If it was possible, Melanie would have eaten the book through her eyes with the intensity she was looking at it. She didn't look up, nor did she look to her right to know what the boys were doing. On one side, Conner couldn't help but occasionally look up to see Melanie and Simon reading, and on the other side, Simon rubbed his chin, feeling the gaze from Conner.

While Melanie was busy studying, Simon poked her arm with the tip of the pencil to get her attention.

"Ouch!" whispered Melanie, and she glared at the vampire. "My ears are working."

"I didn't want to disturb Conner," came the innocent words from Simon, and he looked at Conner, who looked up from his book.

"So you decided to poke me?"

"Very gently," pointed Simon, and Melanie pressed her lips.

She closed her eyes for a moment before opening them and asked, "What do you want?"

"Do you have an eraser? I think I made a mistake," he said, leaning closer to her, and Melanie moved backwards.

"I don't have one," she replied to him. "I don't think anyone would notice a little strike on the page." It was because she doubted Simon had written even a word on the book and was only looking for a reason to annoy her.

Simon gave her a nod, "Actually I would love for people to see my little art. What do you think?" he asked her, raising the book so that she could take a look at it.

Melanie's mouth fell open before she quickly closed it. Where was that pencil that she had been poked with. She would stab him to death with that! It was because Simon hadn't made a line as she had guessed, nor had he made any notes at the side of the page. Instead, there was a heart that had an arrow, and right above and below it were their names as if they were star crossed lovers.

I will kill you, thought Melanie to herself before she calmed herself. This was the person, who had a bad childhood, and the trauma probably led him to be the person he was. He could find any girl he wanted, and technically he did date many girls here. Why her now?

"Did you draw something?" asked Conner out of pure curiosity.

Melanie's eyes widened, and she replied, "It is just something stupid, Conner. Do you have an eraser with you?"

"How rude! This is anything but stupid, I took a great deal to work on it. I am sure Conner will appreciate it," one side of Simon's lips pulled up in pure mischief, and Melanie could feel her heart pumping loud and quickly.

She somewhere noticed how Simon was more than happy to drive Conner out of her line of sight so that he was the only person she was looking at. At that thought, she didn't know what to think because somewhere, she felt one of her heartstrings being pulled towards him.

Conner was more than willing and curious to take a look at what Simon had made, and he said, "Here let me see. I will be able to tell if it is good or bad," and just like that, Simon handed the book to her friend.

Melanie bit the inside of her cheek. Conner was going to get the wrong idea, and things were already messy enough to make it even worse, she thought in her mind. With her hands clenched and holding her breath, she saw the smile on Conner's face fall, and he stared at the page.

She wet her lips as they suddenly felt too dry, and she said, "Conner, it is not how it looks like…" but her friend didn't respond. "Simon is just goofing around."

Conner didn't listen to her, and instead, his gaze moved up and towards Simon, who stared back at him with a calm expression on his face. He asked Simon, "I don't know what to say about this…"

"What do you think?" came the challenging words from Simon.

Conner's eyebrows raised. He then replied, "I didn't know you had a talent in sketching. This is really amazing," placing the book on the table.

Melanie looked at the book side where Simon had earlier drawn, and when her eyes fell on the page, her mouth was left agape. The page wasn't the same. Instead, it was a person's sketch on a new page. Conner's sketch, to be precise.

"I don't think it's bad at all. Why did you feel that way, Mel?" questioned Conner with a look of question in his eyes.

"What can I tell you, Mel seems to be having a hard time when it comes to trusting me. Even after we have come to be this close with each other," explained Simon. That was because you are a suspicious person, Melanie accused him in her mind. "Don't worry though, one day Melanie will come to trust me when she falls…"

"Falls?" questioned Conner, his face turning serious.

"In trouble," Simon completed his words.

Melanie didn't know why, but she felt like Simon was poking Conner over and over again with many subtleties that she doubted Conner had not caught hold of it. When they went back to reading, she glared at the red-headed vampire, who touched his lips. That little action was enough for her to stop glaring at him and avert her eyes.

No one had ever moved that close to her, nor did anyone ever attempt to have her heart shake in that manner. She could still feel the little jolt her body had produced because of his finger grazing across her lip.

Far away from their table, two girls sat at one of the tables. And they looked at Simon and Melanie, who were sneakily staring and glaring at each other in the middle of the library.

"Is he doing her?" asked one of the girls to the other.

The other girl was Nylah, the vampire student in her senior year of Veteris. She watched Simon look at the human sitting next to him and said, "I don't think so."

"Huh, looks like he's having quite some fun with her. The rumored girlfriend of Simon Wallace. I thought you guys were closer and he would choose you next to him," remarked Nylah's friend.

Given Nylah and Simon didn't stick around each other even though they knew each other from their past, Nylah didn't like Melanie's closeness to Simon. She was the one who had helped him clean up when he had turned into a vampire even though she had been in pain herself.

When she saw Melanie stand up, excusing herself to fetch a book, Nylah stood up from her chair and walked towards the rack of books.