she wakes to a knock at her door. it frightens her, but she then gets up and answers it. she opens the door, no one is there. but at her feet is a white box with a card on top. she grins, excited. she picks it up and opens the card in her doorway
"Heard you needed a few things -J"
she blushes. there's definitely something between them. she goes back inside and sits on her bed. she pulls off the lid.
inside is a small white digital clock. she smiles. finally! she places it on her nightstand. she looks down again to see a white apple phone. she gasps! he bought her a phone!? shes shocked. these things are expensive. she pulls out the box from within the box and places it next to her. shes shocked but grateful. she can call home now. in the box is also an iPod touch and earphones and a Mac book and $100 cash. she cant even talk. how did he afford this. shes so happy. shes nearly crying. this is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for her. she spends a good while turning on all her new toys. when shes done, she gets dressed and organised. skinny jeans and a singlet. shes relaxed today. she slips her phone into her pocket and leaves. she heads down to the lobby and heads outside. she touches her phone in her pocket. i need to tell everyone im okay...
she walks back to Isabella's courtyard. aria looks around. people aren't staring at her like last time; they're smiling. she smiles back at whoever she makes eye contact with. she makes it to the yard and sits down on the fountain. she takes out her phone and stares at it and sighs. she unlocks it, and opens the browser. it automatically opens to a news page. she freezes. she sees a picture of her face on the screen. shes been reported missing. she clicks it and sure enough the story is about her, where shes from and how she hasn't been seen in a week or so. Aria thinks of her family and her friends. she closes it. she quickly taps in a number and hesitates. she wants to call her parents, but doesn't know if its the right thing. she makes the split second decision, and presses call. it rings. there is a crackle on the end of the phone.
'Hello?' a woman answers. aria cant speak.
'Hello?' she repeats. its her mum.
'Hi mum' aria squeaks.
'Aria? Oh my god youre alive' her mum starts crying. aria smiles
'Y-Yes, mum im okay...'
'You scared us so badly! come home right now! Ed, its aria!' her mum calls to her dad.
'Mum listen to me!' aria raises her voice. her m is silent.
'Mum, im okay, and im safe. i didnt mean for this to happen. but im good. and im not coming home...'
'Dont be ridiculous! you get home right now!' shes shouting.
'Mum im not coming home. just know that i am safe and happy. tell dad i love him...' her mum becomes hysterical.
'I love you mum.' arias eyes are welling.
'Aria please dont go, i love you! come home! please!' she can barely understand her.
'Goodbye mum...' aria ends the call. she puts her phone beside her. she presses her hand over her mouth and begins to cry. tears stream down her cheeks. aria really is happy here but she wants to see her parents again. she tilts her head down. there is a arm around her shoulder, then a breeze. she looks up. jackson is beside her.
'What happened' hes frantic, trying to figure out whats going on.
'nothing... its nothing...' she sniffs, trying to calm herself.
'Aria tell me!' Hes urgent.
'Wait... how did you get here so fast? I didnt tell you where I was...'
'I felt you. All of a sudden I was so upset, and I ended up here.' He stops for a moment. 'Dont change the subject!'
'Its my parents'

Jacksons face softens. 'You called them?' She looks at him and nods.
'Jesus aria, you know they can track calls from that phone...' he rubs his head
'I'm sorry I wasn't thinking I just did it' she looks down.
'Its fine. We'll exchange the phone and get a new sim card.'
'I'm so sorry' aria starts to cry again.
'Hey.' He pulls her closer.
'Its okay. I'm not mad. I just want you to be happy.' He smiles
She nods 'I'm glad I spoke to them again. They know I'm safe.' She smiles.
'You wanna know something?' Jackson asks. She looks confused.
'Sure'
'Vampires dont cry tears.' Shes puzzled.
'What? How do they cry?'
'They cry blood instead of water. Humans are 70% water, were 70% blood.'

Aria laughs. She finds this so funny for some reason.
'I know, its pretty weird and funny. I'm glad I made you smile' he winks at her. She laughs a little more.
'Thanks.' She wipes her eyes and face. She feels better.
'The guys and I are having a party tonight, just us. Would you like to come?' She looks at him, excited.
'Really? Oh... well.. sure, I'd love to!' Arias never been to a party before, like a real one. Shes grinning from ear to ear.
'Awesome. Well, starts at 5pm in the common room. Drinks provided.' Jacksons happy. Aria gives him a funny look.
'We've got drinks for humans too' he laughs and so does she. They stand from the fountain. He pulls her close and hugs her.
'No more crying okay, you scared me'
'I'm sorry I won't.' She mumbles into his chest. They separate and say goodbye. Jackson speed runs through the gate. Aria follows at her human speed. She heads through the courtyard hoping no one can tell shes been crying. She keeps her head up. She makes it back to the lobby where she stops. The headmistress is at the reception desk. She turns and sees aria
'There you are' she smiles and heads over.
'Hello. Were you looking for me?'
'Indeed I was. I ran into jackson not long ago. He told me what happened with your parents.' It was less than ten minutes ago, how do you know already?
'Oh.. yeah..'
'Anyway, he gave me your phone. I have a spare to give to you thats identical. No tracking.' She hands aria a new white phone.
'Thank you, I appreciate that.' She smiles at Victoria.
she heads back to her dorm. she enters her room and locks the door behind her. she grabs her laptop off her nightstand and turns it on. aria relaxes, she has a few hours to kill before the party. she begins to think about how jackson found her so quickly. how was it possible for him to find her, yet again? This was the second time. how could he 'feel' her? she rubs her head. her laptop automatically connects to the schools internet and she opens her facebook and she makes a mental note not to like or post anything. shes just catching up on all her friends. she sees pictures and posts from her closest girlfriends from school. theyre about her.
'Aria, if youre reading this please come home. we miss you 3'
aria feels humbled that her friends do care for her. she smiles. she doesnt realise how many hours shes spent on the computer, but when her phone starts buzzing in her pocket, shes shocked. almost 6 hours! she closes her laptop and grabs her phone. its an unknown number
'Hello'
'Hey aria its Finn'
'Hi! how did you get my number?'
'Jackson gave it to me. he asked me to call you to check up on you.' aria smiles
'Oh okay. im fine, thanks'
'Good. we didnt know what happened. we were with him when he just stood up and took off. then he told us what happened. im sorry.' finn sounds really saddened
'Dont worry about it.'
'So youre coming to the party?'
'Yeah im really looking forward to it.' and this is the truth
'hey finn, why didnt he call me himself?'
'Jacksons sleeping, then hes going out before the party...'
she remembers that vampires only need three hours sleep. and going out must mean hunting.
'Okay, well ill see you in a few hours.'
'See you' Finn hangs up.
aria grins. tonight shes going to impress! she throws herself off the bed and into the shower. she washes her hair and picks out her makeup. she heads to her wardrobe and picks out a long sleeved white lace shirt and black skinny jeans. she then picks out a pair of fluorescent pink heels; the perfect party outfit. she realises theres still an hour to go til the party. she decides its best to eat before she gets there. she walks to her kitchen and grabs an apple and eats it. she walks to her balcony door, still eating, and heads outside. she sees heaps of students on the courts. she looks around, liking her view. she watches a vamp guy shoot hoops in a row in 10 seconds. super speed comes in handy for sport... aria thinks. in an instant, jackson is in front of her, on the opposite side of the rails surrounding her balcony. she screams and steps back. he laughs.
'How the hell did you do that?' aria is breathless
'super speed and super strength means we can jump extremely high' he grins at her
'You scared the shit out of me! dont do that!' she chucks the remainder of her apple at him and he dodges. hes still laughing.
'Go away! stop laughing at me!' she jokes with him as she heads back inside.
'You look great.' he says just before she gets inside. she turns and smiles.
'Thank you.' she smiles. 'Now, get off my balcony' she closes her door once shes inside. hes still there. she looks at him through the window and mouths "Go away". he shakes his head. she opens the door.
'Dont make me snap the canopy off my bed to stake you' she grins. he looks a little scared.
'Come to the party' he says
'you told me in starts at 5, its only 410.'
'So? just come now'
'Fine okay! just get off my balcony!' she closes her door again. he smiles and disappears.