I sat on my bed and thought about what had just happened in the last hours. Brian wanted to kiss me, he didn't but he wanted to. I could see it in his eyes. He said he'd see me tomorrow. Shit. Tomorrow is so far away, why not tonight? I hate that he's so educated and sweet.

I grabbed my hair and braided it down completely. It always looked so much longer when it was braided. I lay on the bed and looked over at my alarm clock, which read 2:15 p.m., we've been together for four hours it seemed like less. Time always flew along so quickly when I was with Brian.

I closed my eyes and thought of his skin on mine, his breath and the way his eyes read desire in mine. After what seemed like 5 minutes I fell asleep thinking about all of those wonderful qualities Brian possessed.

I woke up and looked around desperately thinking it was already morning. I caught a glimpse at the alarm clock; it was 6:05 p.m. I had been asleep for four hours! What was wrong with me? I blinked a few times and ran towards the shower.

I got out of the shower after a while of washing off the feeling of Brian's cold hands on my arms and my face. I began thinking about Dakota, and how much I missed her. I decided to call her.

When I was downstairs I found my Mom watching TV. Not sure if she was asleep. I grabbed my cell phone that was lying on the kitchen counter and dialed Dakota's cell number.

"Hey!" someone answered perkily. Obviously it was Dakota and she was happy.

"Hi, how are you?" I ran upstairs to not awake my Mom.

"I'm good, I was just thinking about you."

"Really? What about?"

"I wanted to stay over today, if that's okay. I'm just nervous about my new school tomorrow and I thought maybe it will calm me down to be with a good friend before" she sounded sad behind all of her perkiness. I could tell the Kevin thing was still bothering her.

"Yeah, sure. Mom's asleep anyway," I said. I remembered Brian had said he wasn't coming over today so I might as well hang out with Dakota.

"Ohmygosh I've missed you and it's only been like three days. I'm on my way . . ." she said and hung up. My heart sort of cuddled at the thought of her missing me. I've missed her too. Brian has been refilling in the space she's left behind but it's still not the same. Brian is now to me what my father used to be. He's the one who listens and sees beyond. Dakota is that girl friend every girls needs.

While she was on her way I noticed I had a bit of time on my hands so I decided to think more about what I was going to do with Belvedere. He's my teacher, he's a vampire and he's definitely the love of my life. I had never met anyone near how amazing he is, other than my Dad. I wanted so badly to be with him but I'm not sure that's what he's going to do. For all I know he just wanted to be my friend. I thought of the way his gaze always softened when they met mine, the way he smiled, the way he hated being wrong, his cool breath and touch. I decided I wasn't going to think it over again. I wanted Brian Belvedere and I was going to do everything I could to make that happen. If he ever left me I would have to move on and that's what I would do. For that moment I decided to leave that thought in the back of my mind.

I was so distracted by my thoughts that I didn't hear someone knock on my bedroom door. Suddenly I heard it crack open and I sat up quickly. Dakota was entering with a smile on her face and a sleeping bag in her hands. She looked different. I could tell she hadn't slept, she had big black bags underneath her eyes and her skin looked pale as opposed to sun kissed.

"Hey" she said. She smiled bigger, ran to my bed and jumped on it.

"What's up?" I asked. I began to unravel the braid I had done earlier in my hair and let it flow behind my back.

"Nothing much, just nervous."

"Everything will be fine," I said. I smiled weakly and brushed my hair back with my fingers.

"So, nothing new?" she asked raising and eyebrow sheepishly. I smiled and shrugged.

"Nah. Well, Kevin was expelled. Just so you know."

"Really?" she asked. Her eyes widened and her mouth formed a big O.

"Yeah, they found him passed out drunk in front of the school. They said he was giving a bad reputation to our school so they expelled him" I said. I nudged her on the arm and she smiled. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know, just hearing his name. It just . . ." her body shuddered and she scowled. "It sucks, to be the girl that was raped. You see it in movies but never think it would happen to you" I could note the sadness in her voice. She frowned and looked down.

"It happens Dakota. He tried to rape me that morning, if it weren't for . . ." I trailed off. I pinned my mouth shut and mentally slapped myself. I didn't know if it was okay to tell her anything about Belvedere.

"For what? For who? Ohmygosh tell me" she seemed to read my mind and sat up straight expectantly.

"For me taking a bottle of pepper spray to school, I would've been in the same position as you" I lied. She frowned again as she had been disillusioned. "Look Dakota, I know it must hurt. I don't know what you've been through but I do know it must hurt you. Don't keep it inside, express yourself" I said. I put my hand on her shoulder and smiled. She smiled back reluctantly.

"I don't know how," she said. She sat up with her face in between her knees.

"Call Sebastian, he'll be glad to give you art classes," I suggested. She winced at the thought of seeing Sebastian again but then grinned at the same thought.

"That's not a bad idea."