It was a pleasant morning. I felt better. It felt like I’ve been gone from school for months but it was only two days.

I walked through the hall as people looked at me with concern in their eyes. Of course, all the students here already knew about my father’s death. Some of them approached me, asked if I’m okay, and gave their condolences.

When I went inside our classroom, I saw my bestfriend, Giselle, sitting near my desk. She stood up when she saw me.

“Chesca,” she said. Her face was usually happy but not this time. Her blue eyes were not as cheerful as before.

“Good morning,” I greeted like usually. I put down my bag and I sat at my chair. I waited for her to talk. Every morning, she always talked first. For seconds, she only stared at me.

“I’m relieved that you’re okay,” she sighed. I nodded. “So what will happen now?” she continued.

“A man named Louis d’Artois will be my new guardian.”

“Is he your relative?” she asked.

“I don’t know but it was my father’s wish that he will take care of me. Maybe he’s a close friend,” I replied.

I discussed to her the other details like where I will live starting tonight. Monsieur d’Artois will pick me up at our house after school. I already packed my things earlier this morning. I also told her about Hans and Alexis.

“So you’re living with only three men?” she asked. Her eyes were now full of curiosity.

“Uhm. Yes. But maybe they have servants or relatives in their house,” I said while doubting myself.

“You’re right. If they don’t have servants, who will cook your food, do you laundry and clean your room?” Her expression was now exaggerated. “What if you’ll be like Cinderella and make you their slave?” I felt like laughing now. Giselle had a wild imagination.

“Don’t worry, my father trusted them so I should also trust them,” I assured her.

Giselle stopped her whining.

“And I guarantee you that they won’t eat me,” I added. I knew what she was thinking. She really was a fan of vampires. Whenever we talked, there’s always a topic about vampires.

We both laughed.

Giselle and I became close friends because of our one common hobby – reading vampire books. The only difference between us was that she believed in them while I’m not. I only liked vampire novels because of their story. I found it interesting. It shows that living forever is not a good thing. Vampires sacrificed their mortality, their friends and family in order to live eternally. But the novels showed that even if they were immortal, they can’t have the happiness they wanted. Being immortal only prolong their sufferings. They only live to watch other people die. My best friend and I always argue about this thing.

After class, I excused myself from basketball practice. I’m a member of our school’s basketball team. We always have our practice everyday for 2 hours. Today I talked to our team captain and Giselle’s older sister, Angela, to skip practice because I will transfer to a new house. I explained to her my situation. She was very understanding and she told me that she will explain it to our coach.

When my father died, I thought I was already alone. I was wrong. I still have Giselle, Angela, and my other friends in school. And now, three men came into my life who were willing to take care of me.

I watched as two cars drove in front of our house. I was already outside with my things in my bags and boxes and two servants were there to help me. The cars stopped in front of us. I was amazed with the cars. They were expensive cars that my father told me he wanted to buy for me. The first car was I think a BMW X6 and it was a black one. The second car was a silver Mercedes-Benz. It was sleek and it looked fast.

From the BMW, Hans emerged from the passenger seat while Alexis came out from the driver seat. Then, Monsieur d’Artois went out of the Mercedes. The three of them walked towards me and I felt that my heart beat fast. Their good looks really affected me.

They stopped in front of me. Monsieur d’Artois was the one who talked first.

“Good evening, Francesca,” he said as he smiled. There’s something different in the way he talked.

“Good evening, Monsieur,” I said but stuttered a little.

“Please, just call me Louis.” And again he smiled. He faced his two brothers who were at his right side. He said to them that they should bring my things to the car. The two of them went to our servants to get my things. Louis’ attention returned to me.

“How are you today? Are you feeling better? You looked ill yesterday,” he said. His eyes showed great concern.

“Well, I hope you’re not mad that I’m your new guardian.”

“No. It’s okay.” Actually, I felt better that he was my new guardian and not Victoria. Then, I realized what was different about him today. It seemed that he talked today without his accent. Yesterday, he talked with his French accent.

I was distracted by a noise that sounded like something heavy was dropped. I turned and I saw Hans picking up my books. The box where I kept my books gave in. Maybe my books were too heavy and it caused damaged to the box. Louis and I moved closer to him. I stooped down and helped him pick up the books.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized.

“It’s okay,” I said as I looked up and met his gaze. His eyes brought chills to my spine. I was certain that his irises were deep red.For a few seconds, he stared at me like it’s as if he was reading my mind. Finally, he looked away and faced Louis.

“You should be more careful next time,” Louis said.

“Yeah. You too,” he replied.

Then Louis chuckled, walked away and talked to one of our servants. Hans picked up one of the books and stared at it. I saw him grinned.

“Vampire books? You read this kind of book?” He was amazed.

I felt embarrassed. No one except Giselle and my father knew about my fondness for vampire books.

“Do you believe in them?” he asked again.

“No. Not really,” I blurted out. “How about you? Do you believe in vampires?” I returned the question to him.

He did not answer right away. He smiled, trying to suppress his laughter.

“Yes, I do,” he said firmly.