The Beautiful Monster

"Do you… have trouble controlling your thirst?" Melina asked him. She didn't know if that was a very personal question or not for vampires, but she was curious.

She could imagine it being hard to get through life when they felt like tearing someone's throat out all the time.

Tyler slowed his pace a little before shaking his head.

"Not really. At my age, it's common for us to have it under control," he explained to her.

"And what age is that?" Melina replied before she could even process her question. He looked a little older than her, which would make him too old to attend this school.

Tyler chuckled as he narrowed his eyes slightly.

"I thought it was rude to ask people that," he teased her.

"I think that's just women," Melina replied, feeling her face burn as she smiled back at him. Maybe she did pry a little. She didn't want to scare him off, so she decided to back off.

"What about you? Anything hard for you to control?" Tyler asked, their arms brushing as they walked close to avoid running into other people in the hallway.

Melina swallowed hard, immediately thinking about her attraction to him. That was hard for her to put a handle on, but she wouldn't actually act on it. She knew not to cross that line.

They probably wouldn't even see each other after the end of the semester anyway, so what was the point of getting involved?

"Well, I did make a lightbulb explode the other day," she said, watching his eyes widen as she lifted up her bandaged hand. "I overdid an electricity spell."

"Wow. You're dangerous," Tyler smirked.

Melina couldn't help but laugh, shaking her head at his words. She was far from dangerous. Plus, she hurt herself more than anyone else.

Not that she wanted to hurt anyone else anyway. She wanted to use her magic for good. Maybe she could be a healer or an herb supplier when she graduated.

She hadn't exactly decided on what she wanted to do after graduation. She had a limited of time to decide, but the time pressure didn't make it any easier for her to decide.

She loved practicing magic, but she didn't know how she wanted to use it. She just hoped that something came to her before graduation.

"I'm untrained," she corrected him. "That's why these classes are important. Enough dangerous stuff goes on in the world. We don't need untrained witches and vampires destroying everything."

"Training is very important," Tyler agreed before stopping with her next to a classroom people were walking into. "This is me?"

Melina smiled and nodded.

"This is you. I hope you have a good first class," she told him. She wanted him to like this place. For some silly reason, she had this random fear that he wouldn't like the place and leave. Maybe they could be friends or something. They got along well.

"Thanks, Melina," Tyler replied as he faced her. Tension crackled in the space between them as their eyes locked. "I'll see you around."

Melina could only muster a smile as she watched him stride into his classroom with more confidence than she could ever hope to have.

She sucked in a deep breath as she walked away from his classroom to go to her own, her legs nearly feeling numb.

This morning was definitely already eventful. She didn't expect to be approached by a cute guy who needed directions and actually wanted to talk to her. It seemed too good to be true, but she couldn't fight the smile off her face as she went to her own class.

She hoped that she would be able to see again. He knew where to find her, but she didn't venture to the vampire side much. Maybe she needed to increase her walks over there a little more.

She was only doing this for a friend, though. She couldn't have a boyfriend, and she didn't want one. She could hardly land a friendship, and the complexity of a relationship made her nervous.

"Take out your spell books and turn to page 102," her professor announced to the class once everyone got settled.

Melina pushed Tyler out of her mind, focusing on her studies like she was supposed to be doing in the first place. She wanted to make something out of herself. That meant learning the intricacies of witchcraft, not another person.

******

"So, who was that weird guy you were walking around with this morning?"

Melina looked up from the table she sat at in the vast, golden-lit library. She gave Blair a confused look at first before her eyes widened. She then looked confused again. How did Blair know about that?"

"Tyler? He just needed help getting to his class," she replied. "Why do you think he's weird?"

Blair shrugged her shoulders before sitting down across from Melina.

"We were all talking about him, and it's just weird for him to show up at this point in the semester, especially with all the weird stuff going on," she said.

Melina's eyes grew bigger as she processed Blair's words. She wondered if Blair had made a good point or not. It was strange for Tyler to randomly show up, and it kind of seemed like he was waiting outside of her dorm.

She didn't want to jump to any conclusions, though. Tyler had been perfectly kind to her, not making her uncomfortable at all.

"I guess. He was really nice, though," she replied as she closed her spell book. She wasn't in the mood to study anymore.

All that she could think about was Tyler and Blair's words. Were they even connected and true? Or was this meaningless gossip about the new kid?

"What all did he say to you?" Blair asked, leaning closer.

Melina wondered why Blair was so interested. She didn't seem to like Tyler all that much. All Melina could think was that Blair was going to use Melina's words as gossip, which didn't settle well with Melina.

She had been the new kid before.. It wasn't fun, especially when people started gossiping about things that weren't even their business.

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