Hi! I'm ba-ack! Let me start off saying how really-super-sorry I am about not updating sooner. First: I was being lazy. Second: my English teachers gave out to major essays AND I've had to do research for her and my science teacher. Finally: Microsoft Word messed up so I couldn't write for awhile. But I'm here now and I promise, cross-my-heart-hope-to-die promise, that it won't be this long before I update again. Thanks to everybody who hasn't given up on me yet. Y'all are awesome.

By the way, I hope this is OK. Since I'm not a guy, I'm not sure I got guy pov right. I tried.

Enjoy!

"Like me with my slingshot."

Bianca looked at me, eyebrows raised. Probably wondering about my sanity. But all she said was,"What?"

"Back when I was five, I thought my mom was being mean to me, so I decided to run away. Carried my slingshot with me because I was a big strong man, you see." Bianca giggled and I grinned even wider. It felt weirdly good to be telling this story to somebody non-Black Cross. Even if that somebody was a stranger I had just tackled. "Could take care of myself. I believe I also took a flashlight and a package of Oreos."

"I think you packed better than I did."

"I swaggered out of the house" Well, safe-house, actually; but she didn't need to know that. "Where we were staying and took myself all the way to…the far corner of the backyard. There I made my stand. Stayed out there all day, until it started to rain. I hadn't even thought to bring an umbrella."

"The best laid plans…" Bianca sighed.

"I know. It's tragic. I came back in, all wet and my stomach aching from eating about twenty Oreos, and my mom—who is a smart lady even if she drives me nuts—well, she acted like nothing had happened." I paused. Where had I been going with this? Because I was pretty sure I had been going somewhere with this. Oh, yeah. Then I shrugged at her. "Which is what you're parents are going to do, too. You know that, right?"

"I do now." She said softly, almost sadly. She looked away from me. I studied her for a second. Something about Bianca just made me feel so…protective. Like I had to help her, like that was my job instead of Black Cross hunter. Bianca Olivier was a normal girl and she didn't deserve to be stuck in the middle of all this craziness. Even if she can make me spill my guts faster than anybody, even Mom.

"Do you want out of here for real?"

Bianca looked at me again, startled. "Like—run away? Really run away?"

I nodded slowly. What else? She stared at me for a second, looking like she was wondering what mental hospital I came from, and I stared back. Bianca didn't realize just how much danger she was in. Sweet, beautiful, defenseless…perfect pray for the vamps.

Have I mentioned how much I hated those things?

Finally, she gave me a slight smile and said, "No, I don't. I'll go back. Get ready for school like a good girl."

I grinned when she said that; I couldn't help myself. I knew I probably shouldn't tease her, that Eduardo definitely wouldn't think it was mission-appropriate, but it was just too good an opportunity to pass up. "Nobody said anything about being a good girl."

'Embarrassed' really did look great on Bianca. Like I've said before, her eyes sparkled when she blushed, her skin glowed, and she bit her lip nervously. "It's just—Evernight Academy—I don't think I'll ever belong there."

You don't want to, believe me. "I wouldn't worry about that. Might be a good thing, not belonging here." I didn't say what I wanted to, that Bianca and people like her would never belong at Evernight. I doubted that that would make her feel any better. It made me feel better, though.

I was watching her, thinking about how, if it weren't for my mission and the fact that she was probably raised by vampires, how she might have belonged…and then she scrambled up off the forest floor, and that idea went out the window. "So what were you doing? When you saw me?"

I stood up, too, wondering about the best way to answer that without lying or revealing too much. I decided to pretend like I hadn't understood the question. "Like I said, I thought you were in trouble. There are some rough characters up in these parts. Not everybody has self-control." I glanced at Bianca when I said that last bit. She didn't even blink. Either I'm really good at this, or Bianca is really clueless. I was betting on the second choice. I continued carefully, staying as honest as possible. "I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. My instincts got the best of me. I'm sorry about that."

"It's okay, honestly. I realize you were trying to help." Well, that was good to know. But she wasn't finished yet. "I meant, before you saw me. Orientation doesn't start for another few hours. It's really early. They told students to arrive around ten A.M." She sounded suspicious, but only a little. Still, maybe Bianca wasn't quite as clueless as I'd thought.

"I've never been very good at playing by the rules." Still avoiding the subject.

"So—you're a morning person, getting a jump on the day?"

Damn. She wasn't going to let this go, was she? It looked like I was going to have to either A) Lie. But I did NOT want to lie to Bianca, especially after I had just tackled her. B) Do a little bit of what Dana called "Creative Truth-Telling". "Hardly. I haven't gone to bed yet. Anyway, my mom couldn't bring me herself. She's away, on business, I guess you'd say. I caught the red-eye train in and thought I'd walk up here first. Get the lay of the land. Rescue any damsels in distress."

Well, at least that was basically honest. Bianca smiled at me, and for one bright second I thought that was the end of the awkward questions. And then, "Why did you come to Evernight in the first place?" Damn. "I'm stuck here because of my parents, but you could probably have gone someplace else. Someplace better. So, like, anywhere else."

Any question. She could have asked me any question, and that's the one she chose. I almost wished she'd asked about my ex-girlfriends. What could I say? 'I'm here because this school is full of vampires, including the people you believe are your family, and I'm a vampire hunter sent to figure out why humans like you are suddenly being accepted. I had a feeling that wouldn't go over well. I started marching in the direction of the school, and she followed me. I made sure the branches didn't smack her in the face. If I couldn't be honest with Bianca, at least I could try to be a gentleman. Notice I said "try".

"It's a long story." Nineteen years long, so please, please don't make say more.

"I'm not in a hurry to go back. Besides, we've got a few hours to kill before orientation."

"It's also kind of a secret." An understatement if there ever was one.

"I can keep a secret. I mean, you're going to keep this whole incident a secret for me, right? With the running and the freaking out—"

"I'll never tell." And that was the truth. It wasn't like I didn't trust Bianca. I trusted her a lot more than I should trust a girl I just met in the woods. But I couldn't tell her the truth, and I thought she would be able to tell if I started lying.

Suddenly, I flashed back to when I was twelve years old. Eduardo had been explaining to Dana and me about the vampires' gathering places. It was the first time I'd ever heard of Evernight. Eduardo was a lecturer, and we had been bored out of our minds. Mom noticed, and she interrupted Eduardo with an amazing story about the first and, at the time, only Black Cross hunter to infiltrate a vampire place of gathering. And I then I knew what I was going to tell Bianca.

"An ancestor of mine tried to go to school here almost a hundred and fifty years ago. He…washed out, I guess you'd say." I chuckled darkly. If 'washed out' meant 'cover totally blown and had to run like hell to avoid getting ripped to pieces' then yeah, my ancestor definitely washed out. "So it's up to me to 'restore the family honor'."

Yes, I'm aware that sounds cheesy and no, I didn't come up with that. It was the last thing my dear stepfather said to me before I left. I think he was trying to be encouraging.

"That's not fair. You shouldn't have to make all your decisions based on what he did or didn't do." I couldn't agree more. I liked Bianca. I liked her a lot. I wished I could introduce her Eduardo; she'd drive him more nuts than he already is. Mom would like her though, and Dana and Mr. Wantanabe would love her. Too bad she'll never be able to meet any of them.

I shook off my dark thoughts and grinned at her. "Not all my decisions. They let me pick out my own socks." I showed her, and she smiled. She really did have one hell of a smile.

"How did you're great-grand-whatever was out?"

I almost didn't tell her, but I decided it wouldn't really make any difference. "He got into a duel in his first week." Hopefully I'd last longer than he did.

"A duel? Like, somebody insulted his honor?" Sort of, I mean, they accused him of wanting to kill all of them, which was true, and then they all tried to kill him, which couldn't have been very flattering. Bianca cocked her head to the side, thinking. "Or was it over a girl?"

"He would've had to move fast, to meet a girl in the first few days of school." I realized how stupid that was as soon as I said it. After all, school hadn't even started yet and I'd already met Bianca. Her smile got even wider, as if she could tell what I was thinking. I felt this weird tug, like something was pulling me towards. I had the strange urge to put my arm around her shoulders. But of course, I couldn't. If Bianca and I…got involved, and the vamps found out who I really am, well, I didn't even want to think about what they'd do to her. I glared at Evernight, which I was starting to be able to see over the treetops. I decided to keep talking before I did anything stupid. "Could've been anything. Back then, they'd duel at the drop of a hat. Family legend says the other guy started it, not that it matters. What does matter is that he survived but not without breaking one of the stained windows in the great hall."

Bianca's eyes lit up. "Of course. There's one that's just clear glass, and I never understood why."

I nodded. "Now you do. Evernight's been closed to my family ever since."

"Until now."

"Until now. And I don't mind, I think I can learn a lot here." Like why vamps would be letting humans into one of their most sacred refuges. "Doesn't mean I have to like everything about it."

"I don't think I like anything about it." Bianca said, but then she blushed and looked down. Hmmm…

"I like the gargoyles, the mountains, and the fresh air." Which was extremely true. We'd been stuck in a Black Cross cell (hideout) for two months very recently, and I had a bad case of cabin fever. "That's it so far."

"You like the gargoyles?" She sounded shocked.

"I like it when the monsters are smaller than me." Definitely true.

"Never thought of it that way." And then we reached it. Evernight. And I had to agree with what I'd said to Bianca. This place was spooky. As. Hell. "I'm dreading this."

I was, too, but my reasons were probably very different from hers. "Not too late to run, Bianca." I was only half-joking.

"I don't want to run. I just don't want to be surrounded by all these strangers. Around people I don't know, I can never talk or act normal or be myself at all—why are you smiling?"

Was I? I'd been having too much fun watching Bianca babble to notice. "Seems like you know how to talk to me."

Bianca's eyes got huge. "With you—I guess—I think you scared so badly that I got all the fear over with right away."

"Hey, if it works—"

"Yeah." She glanced at Evernight again. "I should go back before my parents realize I'm gone."

Yes you should. I still wasn't convinced that her "parents" never did anything to hurt her. "Don't let them hassle you."

"They won't."

I just nodded at her and watched her turn towards Evernight. "See you around, then."

And with that, I strode back into the forest, thinking that maybe this wasn't the worst birthday, after all.

Thanks to the many wonderful people who reviewed, this chapter DOES NOT go to the red telletubby. Yay!!!!!!!

It's dedicated to: dark_fly, emrb87, Ivoryyy, tinydime, Evernight Freak, JennaBookworm88, CloudedMindx, crazyperson17, Jalyn, slsilver, Tam4eva, purplerandomtwilivic, Isabella, The Red Alligator, 20love2read, and emilyeeelliott. I bet you guys thought I'd forgotten you.

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