I flashed a smile. "Hi there."
"Uh, hi."
"What's your name? I've never seen you around?"
"That's because I tend to blend in with the wallpaper."
I looked around. "There's no…oh, you're being funny. Cute."
"How come you're sitting by me?"
"Just thought I'd say hi. I'm kinda new here."
"I've seen you around for a few months. You hang out with Tanner. Why aren't you with him?"
"He doesn't own me, silly."
"So what do you want?"
"What do you mean?"
"Girls like you don't talk to me unless you need something."
"Really? Girls like me?"
"Yeah, the 'it' girls," he said, rolling his eyes.
"I think you'll find that I don't fit into the normal types that you cast girls into."
"What do you want?" he asked, looking irritated.
"The-"
"Look, there's your boyfriend. I'm outta here." He stuffed his book into his backpack and stormed off. Where had I gone wrong?
I stood up and saw Tanner walking down the hall. His face lit up when he saw me. He walked faster and then wrapped me in a hug. "You're back. Did you manage to get that jerk off your trail?"
"The jerk? Oh, you mean the redneck vampire. Kind of."
"What do you mean?"
I had to think quick. "Well, that's why I was talking to that kid. I need to give the impression that I'm not with you."
He raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Well…if he thinks that we're together he might go after you. I can't have that. I need to protect you."
The scent of fear rose from him.
"I don't want you worried about some vampire coming after you. You're fine."
He narrowed his eyes. "Then why would you try to set up a decoy?"
Sighing, I said, "There is another option."
"What?"
"This," I said, showing him the ring. I wasn't going to find another guy to convince about vampires, so I decided that I may as well give him the ring. I loved Tanner, but it wasn't as though I was going to leave my position with Vince to be with him. Ruling the entire vampire kingdom was my most important objective and it could only be done with Vince. I couldn't let something as fickle as love get in the way of that. I'd been working on this since before Tanner's grandparents were even born.
He held the ring, flipping it around to see all angles. "What's so special about this ring?"
I looked to the side, not wanting to see him as I lied to him yet again. "It'll protect you from a vampire using mind control on you. If one comes to town and tries to take advantage of you, they won't be able to."