Chapter 4: Issue

"Professor Nolan?" I asked, knocking on her open classroom door and poking my head in her room.

"Come right in, Jessica," she said, smiling warmly at me. I went further into the room. "How's your day been?"

"It's been okay," I said. The room itself was filled with stools and had an open area that was probably what would be used as a stage. Prof. Nolan had a desk in the corner, which she was sitting at, so I sat across from her. "It's kind-of overwhelming."

She nodded in understanding. "I know, it is quite overwhelming, but as you spend a few days here you'll get used to it. Before you ask me whatever it is that's on your mind, I meant to ask you-I suppose you heard about the two human boys? The one whose body was discovered near here, and now the other one who has been missing?" I nodded. "Humans seem to think that we vampyres had something to do with it." she paused to allow that to sink in. "Now, don't think I'm blaming you-or assuming anything-but you said that you knew them. Do you have any idea what could have happened?"

I shook my head. "I have no idea."

"Did you know them?"

"Kind of," I said. "My boyfriend knew them better than I did."

"I hate to ask this, but did you possibly have something do with it?"

I shook my head again. "I haven't seen them in days." I could understand why she was asking, I was a new entry to the House of Night, of course I would be a suspect.

"Just to warn you, a couple police officers may be coming to question you and-for some reason that I don't know-Zoey. I will be with you during your questioning, as will Neferet. I promise that you'll be completely fine." She smiled warmly at me. "Now, on to your questions."

"Well, I was wondering if there are any rules about going off property?" I asked.

She entwined her fingers together and folded them onto her desk.

"Well, on weekends fledgings are allowed to leave property, but there are rules," she began. "As you know, you cannot be away from a vampyre for too long, as you can die from it. If you're away from us for too long, your body will slowly begin to reject the Change and it won't stop. The maximum we allow you to stay off property is six hours. Higher formers are allowed to stay out a bit longer, but not much." She paused before continuing. "When you leave school property you are not allowed to wear any type of school symbol, and you must cover up your mark with the concealer we gave you along with your uniform. Humans would not take kindly to know that we allow our fledgings to leave. Of course, you may visit your friends-but only those who are trustworthy. We don't need this getting out."

She paused to allow that to sink in, before continuing.

"If you do leave the property, please come to me first, it isn't to ask permission, but it's so that I know where you are. This won't be permanent, it's just until the issues of the two human boys has been solved. If anyone assumes that you're a fledging, they may try to take you in for questioning, which of course would not be good-especially not on school property and without me there. Or, they may try to harm you-we all know that the relationships between humans and vampyres is rocky."

I nodded. "That makes sense. I'll probably be going out tonight, that's okay right?"

"Yes, that's fine," she took a deep breath. "Jessica, I didn't want to have this conversation with you…but romantic relationships between a human and a fledging is not allowed. There are very strict rules against it."

She allowed that to sink in. I was silent. I had to break up with Jason? So soon after promising him that we would make it work?

"I realize that this is difficult to take in, but it is much too dangerous for both of you. I think it would be best for you to end it with him as soon as you can. The longer you remain with him, the harder it will be. He'll be drawn to you, regardless. Even though there isn't an Imprint between you two, he will still be drawn to you no matter what."

"An Imprint?" I asked, trying to get my mind off what she had just told me.

"It's a connection that occurs between two vampyres, or a vampyre and a human-and in very rare cases it may occur between a fledging and a human-sometimes even a fledging and a vampyre. It happens when blood has been shared between both parties. It can occur when one party only drinks the other one's blood, but it's stronger when it has been shared," she explained. "It isn't as common with fledgings as you don't have much of a grasp of bloodlust yet. Fledgings don't really see blood as a necessity to live just yet, it doesn't appeal to fledgings. For vampyres who have completed the Change, the lust and need for it is much stronger. I won't tell you everything about it, as you learn more about when you're a sixth former."

I was still trying to come to terms with what she had told me about breaking up with Jason. I had known him forever, and now I would have to break up with him so suddenly? And on my first day here, they had assured me that I could still see him-had that been a lie to make me feel better about leaving my human life?

She placed a hand on my arm. "I know how difficult it is, trust me."

I wanted to burst into tears. "I don't know how I can tell him."

"When I was Marked, I had a boyfriend. Now, this was quite a long time ago-I don't want to tell you exactly how long ago that was, it'll make me feel old-" I scoffed at that. Professor Nolan, old?! She looked like she was in her twenties! "But, back then, it was quite…shall I say, scandalous? To have a boyfriend at my age. I was from a respectable southern family, and I was to be married before I turned twenty. I was your age when I was Marked, and my boyfriend and I had been together secretly for three years. When I got here, and my mentor told me that I had to end all ties with him, I was heartbroken, and I actually ran away from my House of Night. But then, I realized that he was just a human. I shouldn't throw my life away just because of one human boy." She seemed lost in her own world, and it made me smile to see her like that. "Of course, he was angry when I broke it off with him, but in the end it was for the better. It will be the same for you."

"We've known each other since we were kids," I said. "We've known each other since we were four years old…I can't just break off all ties with him so suddenly."

"You don't need to break off all ties with him," she said calmly. "You can still keep in touch with him, just as you are still allowed to keep in touch with your family and any other friends, but you cannot be romantically involved with him. It truly is for cautious measures, we cannot allow an Imprint to happen. It may have already happened with another fledging and human, we can't risk another one."

I could see why. I guess it could be dangerous. But I still didn't like it.

"Now, that isn't to say that you have to remain away from him," she began. "When you're a full vampyre you can do whatever you please. There are no rules against a full vampyre and a human having a relationship."

"So I need to wait four years to have a relationship with Jason-that's considering I actually make it through the Change," I said.

She smiled sympathetically. "I know it seems like a long time, but who knows; you could go through the Change tomorrow. It's different for every fledging. Some fledgings make it through the Change within their first year here."

"But some don't," I said softly.

She nodded. "Yes, some don't, but there is a higher amount of fledgings who actually do make it through the Change." She met my eyes. "Don't worry too much about it; don't let it get you worked up. It isn't a good thing for a fledging to fret over something like this."

I sighed. I was still lost in thought thinking about how I would say what I had to say to Jason. How could I break up with him? But, I could get back together with him after I completely the Change, but what if I didn't?

I thanked Professor Nolan and left her classroom.

If I didn't complete the Change, would it be better or worse for Jason?

Or, would it just be better for me to completely end it with him? I wasn't sure. I didn't want to break up with him; I didn't want to lose him. Could I pretend I had broken up with him? Would the vamps find out if I did?

I figured that they probably would. If the vamps knew what size clothing I was before I got here, I was sure they'd easily know that I was still dating my human boyfriend.

I was so lost in my thoughts about breaking up with Jason that I walked right into someone.

"Sorry," I mumbled, not realizing who he was as I didn't even look up.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked.

I looked up, oh it was Erik. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"Something's bothering you," he noted. "Don't worry; you can ask me, I know sometimes the vamps can be intimidating."

I took a deep breath. "What would happen to my boyfriend if I stayed in a relationship with him?"

"Well, I don't think anything would happen to him, but you'd get in serious trouble," he said. "It'd be on your hands, not his, since you know the rules and he doesn't. They wouldn't do anything to him."

"What would happen to me?" I asked quietly, almost afraid of the answer.

He shrugged. "I honestly have no idea. It rarely happens-or at least it happens, but the vamps haven't caught on."

"So it's possible to hide things from them?" I asked.

He nodded. "It's super hard to hide things from Neferet, she has crazy intuition powers, and it's difficult to lie to you mentor."

I nodded and bit my lip.

"Trust me; it'd be better to just end it with him-at least until you complete the Change," he suggested.

"I just have lots to think about," I said. "Thank you, Erik."

"Anytime," he grinned and we went our separate ways.

Okay, so it was possible to hide things from the vamps. It wasn't completely impossible, but it was idiotic. I was stupid to think that I could hide my relationship with him. I rushed back to my room and changed my clothes, and I smeared some concealer over my mark. I sent a quick text to Jason, asking if he could meet me, and his reply came almost immediately saying that he could come meet me. We were going to meet at the Starbucks at Utica Square.

As I was leaving the property, I bumped into yet another person-a person who I hadn't met yet-a man-sorry, vampyre, who was literally the hottest person I had ever seen in my entire life.

"I'm sorry," I said, feeling flushed and thanking Nyx that I had remembered to do my makeup nicely today.

"No, no, I should have been watching where I was going," he said. "I'm guessing you're Jessica?"

"How did you…?"

"I'm your poetry teacher," he said. "My name is Loren Blake. Neferet informed me that you wouldn't be in class today, and I assumed that you're the only one who is excused from class today and able to leave school grounds."

"Oh," I said brilliantly. "Um, pleasure to meet you."

He smiled and it made my heart skip a beat. "Let me know if you need anything, I'm normally in my classroom or my room-I have a floor to myself in the teacher's housing-so if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." As he walked past me, he placed his hand lightly on my shoulder and met my eyes. "If you need anything at all, just let me know."

I nodded at him as he walked away, and then began to hurry to my car again.

Whoa, what had that been about? The way he had emphasized the "anything at all" made me think that he had more than just schoolwork on his mind. The thought both intrigued me and scared me. I mean, he was absolutely gorgeous, and he was interested in me?

I got into my car and drove to Utica Square. I pushed all thoughts of Loren out of my mind and focused on the task at hand. I needed to break up with Jason.

I wasn't sure if I was ready for it, but I oddly felt calm. I blew all the air out of my lungs and leaned back in my seat when I was stopped a red light.

I didn't want to, but I knew that it needed to be done. I thought about how I would go about telling him. As I pulled into the parking lot, I saw him sitting at a table with two Starbucks cups in front of him. I took a deep breath. You can do this, you can do this, you can do this. You have to.

I got out of my car and made my way over to Jason. His eyes lit up as soon as he saw me. As I got to the table, he stood up and kissed me on the cheek before we both sat down.

"How have you been?" he asked. "Are you okay there?"

I nodded. "Everyone's been very nice to me, and I'm fine."

He smiled. "I worried that you'd have a hard time settling in."

"No," I said with a smile. "I'm doing just fine."

"I got you a pumpkin spice latte," he said. "I know it's your favourite."

"Thanks," I whispered, taking a sip of it.

We were both quiet, and I thought about what to say next to him.

"Are you okay?" he asked, green eyes studying me.

"Yeah," I said. "Well, no, I'm not."

He covered my hands with his. "Talk to me."

"Jason…I…I…" I took a deep breath before continuing. "Jason, I need to tell you something…and neither of us is going to like it."

He leaned back in his chair, expression becoming slightly guarded. "You found someone else."

"What?" I asked, surprised.

"I knew that it was going to happen," he said. "Vamps are hot, I get it, you found someone better than me."

"Wait, wait, wait-Jason, I didn't find someone else," I said.

"Then why do you look so scared?"

"I'm not scared, I'm sad," I said quietly. "Jason, I have to break up with you." I paused to gauge his reaction. His face didn't necessarily change, but I knew him well enough to see the pain clear in his eyes.

"Why?"

"It's against the rules," I whispered, feeling like I was close to tears. The calm I had felt earlier in the car had vanished, and it had been replaced with dread and sadness.

He exhaled deeply. "Against the rules?"

I nodded. "The vamps don't want to risk an Imprint between fledgings and humans." Normally I would be more cautious about talking about what I was in public, obviously, but there was literally nobody around, so I was safe.

"An Imprint?" he asked.

"It's when a vampyre feeds off a human, or another vampyre, or when blood is shared between both people. It's a connection that forms between the two, and it can apparently be dangerous if it happens between a fledging and a human, since there's a chance I won't make it through the Change, it'd be super bad for you."

He squeezed my hand. "I don't want to lose you, Jess. Since when have we ever listened to what a teacher told us to do regarding our relationship? Remember in third grade when Mr. Moore didn't want me to sit beside you, but I did anyway because I knew that you wanted me there?"

I smiled at the memory. "Yes, of course I remember, but this is different. This could actually be dangerous for both of us."

"So then what are we going to do?" he asked. "Just throw away our entire relationship? That isn't happening, Jess, you know me better than that."

"Professor Nolan said that we can still be friends, but then after I complete the Change we can get back together, but I don't want to force you to wait for me, that isn't fair to you."

He was quiet, and not looking at me, and it made me wonder what was going on inside his head.

"Say something," I said finally; I couldn't take the silence anymore.

He looked at me again, eyes penetrating my soul.

"Imprint with me."