“Calm down!”

There is a reason Jackson is telling me to calm down. He just broke the news that he is my ing father. I am thrashing around the room in an attempt to get away from him. A part of me doesn't want to believe him. The other part of me feels sick to my stomach because it all kind of makes sense deep in my mind.

“Get the off of me!” my voice is hoarse and unrecognizable.

He doesn't let me go. He's strong and that hidden strength that I had before doesn't seem to be coming to save me. It's the opposite. I'm weak as and instead of fighting Jackson off I fall into his muscular arms and let him hold me up.

My legs are weak.

“We are the lucky ones,” He tells me, “Your mother used to sing that to you all the time when you were a kid. You remember, don't you. You were just 5 the last time I saw you.”

I attempt to push away from Jackson but he doesn't let me go. He begins to hum these ing lyrics and the more he sings the song the more I realize this could be real. And what's sick about this is the fact that I was attracted to Jackson. Worse...I wanted to be with Jackson and I acted out on it. I kissed him. I kissed him hoping that he would ing kiss me back.

When he lets go I am pressed up against the side of the wall and I can't bear to look at him. I stare at the floor as though it's the most interesting thing in the world.

“You're lying.”

I don't think he is. I know he isn't actually, but that's the only thing I can say right now that would help me save face that I just tried to kiss this dude.

“I'm older than I look,” he explains, “Vampires stop aging when they are bit. You know this. You'll look like that forever. I'll look like this forever. That's how it is. You know that.”

He's young. He's attractive. He's more than attractive. He's one of the iest vampires in Eden and everyone ing knows that.

“This has to be some sort of joke,” I tell him.

He crosses his arms, “We named you Jinyoung. You look just like her. It's hard to look at you. How can you think you repulse me. You're the most beautiful thing in the world to me.”

“And if you are my father then wouldn't that mean you left me?”

My eyes are solid right now. All of a sudden I'm looking directly at Jackson. If he is my father I don't get anything from him save my skin tone. He's way more handsome than I am. I feel like I look like a child. My eyes are too big. My ears are too small. My lips are too thin. My head is too big. Jackson looks just perfect, with these perfect curls on the top of his forehead with a perfection like only a vampire could.

“I had no choice,” Jackson tells me.

“Well I have a choice and I choose not to listen to this bull.”

I start walking off at that moment. I am halfway out of the room when Jackson runs at me. He grabs me with a speed that only a vampire can have. I'm standing there looking at him. There is a passion in his eye but I know there is one in mine as well. I don't want him to touch me. I don't want him to explain his side of the story. My whole life I was raised in a ing hell hole.

“Can you please let me explain?”

“Would it make me feel any better? Honestly?” I ask him.

He shakes his head. Even if he is my father he is Jackson and even if this is the most emotion he's ever shown it's still now a lot. He's calculating right now. He's thinking about the answer. Every second that passes he seems to be turning back into his old role as the Captain of the Guard.

“No Jr. It won't make you feel any better.”

“Then I don't want to ing hear your ing excuse.”

Jackson crosses his arms.

“I have none. In the end...I abandoned you,” Jackson explains to me, “I left you. I thought it was for the better but it wasn't. It was me making a young mistake. I was attempting to save you from this vampire life and in the end it didn't matter. You're here now anyway.”

“Well then it's decided. Right. It doesn't matter. Right?” I ask.

I would have expected I'd be emotional if I ever met my real parents. I guess this was just half of it but I am not emotional. There is a coldness that comes over me. A part of me wants to go into Jackson's arms and cry and throw a tantrum. I don't do it though. I turn to the door. I'm eager to leave. Jackson.

Jackson instead is the emotional one. His eyes seem heavy and burdened when he asks me, “Is there a chance we can build anything...anything at all...”

“No.”

He nods. He turns away from me. I wonder if he is crying but I don't care enough to check it out. I don't care enough to even stay in this room any longer. The only thing keeping me in this room is the fact that Jackson is the Captain of the Guard.

His voice quivers, “I understand.”

Yes. Jackson is crying. As cold as he is I know that this can't be a trick. Either this man is completely crazy or he really is my father. Jackson didn't seem like the crazy type either.

“Am I free to go Captain?” I ask him.

“Yes,” he replies before quickly adding, “You won't tell anyone about what happened here to tonight Mr. Jr.”

He isn't asking.

***

As I make my way back to the dorms I realize that Jackson didn't stop me from leaving that second time. I didn't want him to and I didn't want to hear the explanation he had. Still I don't get why I'm so ing sad. I feel like a victim again. The boy whose father left him. I find myself struggling to even believe that he is my father.

But if Jackson is. What difference would it make?

Would he teach me how to play catch now?

Would he teach me how to ride a bike?

Would he teach me what it took to be a man?

It's a little too late for all of his so I shake off the thought almost completely by the time I get back to the dorms. I am living a new life now. I don't care if he is my father. I don't care to know what happened to my mother. I push all of that to the back of my mind because I don't see how it's going to affect my life now.

“How was it?”

I'm not surprised when I get back to the dorm and the first people to see me are Bambam and Satyr. They must have been waiting by the door.

“Get the hell out of my way,” I respond to them.

I make my way to my bed. I lay down on my bed at that moment. I'm not emotional. That isn't the problem. I'm just over it all. I'm over this place. I was better off in Harlem. Mino and Roman were rubbing their relationship in their face, JB probably hated me, Nelly was jealous of me, we had a traitor running around, the Dean of the school and his daughter were plotting against me, I was failing and now on TOP of all of that I'd just kissed a guy who was convinced he was my father

Yes. I was over it.

“We heard what happened,” Satyr states, “Don't let them get to you. Sure JB may be over you but I'm sure Jackson...”

“The two of you better SHUT the up right now,” I respond, “And leave me alone. I listened to you two idiots and now my life is ruined.”

My voice is angry. However Satyr and Bambam decide to leave me alone. They must get it. I wouldn't have pursued Jackson if it weren't for them. I wouldn't have kissed him. JB wouldn't have caught me. Jackson probably wouldn't have told me that he was my father.

I would have been happy still.

I am realizing. I don't have any friends here. I don't have anyone that I want to be around. Eden is worse than Spanish Harlem. Paradise is hell.

I'm woken up by Bambam the next morning.

“The prince wants to talk,” he said.

“To me?”

“To all of us.”

I'm confused at that moment. I don't even have a chance to shower or brush my teeth before I'm pulled into the common area. The others are sitting around waiting. I see JB standing by the window. He's talking to a guy. The guy is cute. I have to admit. I don't like how close the guy is to JB either.

“Whose that?” I ask Bambam.

Bambam crosses his arms, “JB's personal guard. Supposedly his father only let him back in Class O if he took on a personal guard.”

“Also happens to be y as ...” Satyr adds in.

Bambam elbows Satyr to shut her up. She's right. JB's personal guard is handsome as hell. He's about JB's height. He has light skin but bright eyes just like JB. They actually look good together. The guy has a bald head. He looks in his early 20s. He isn't my type personally. He seems too much of a pretty boy. He looks like he gets his eyebrows waxed and he's a little too pretty. I don't expect this from the King's guard. I'm assuming all of them were manly men like Jackson. This guy isn't Jackson though. He's the opposite of Jackson.

“Jackson personally picked him,” Bambam whispers in my right ear, “That's the same guard who had an interview a few weeks ago saying how attractive JB was. Now why would Jackson choose a guard for JB who had a crush on him?

Satyr is in my other ear, “Jackson's playing the game. Just like everyone else.”

I roll my eyes at that moment. I cannot deal with the two devils on my shoulders right now. It's entirely too early and after listening to them about Jackson I completely embarrassed myself. I stand up and take a seat away from those two. I can't take too much of their plotting and bull. Not today at least. I can see their eyes staring at me as I leave.

I take a seat across the room away from everyone else. I'm alone. Just the way that I want it.

Roman walks into the room after the rest of class O is there. He doesn't give me even the slightest look but takes a seat next to Mino. He puts his arm over Mino's shoulder. I roll my eyes. Yes. This was definitely hell.

“What'd I miss?” Roman asks, “What's this house meeting about?”

JB is there, “You seem to miss a lot when it's most important.”

“I don't get into all the drama,” Roman states.

There is a tension between the two. I just roll my eyes though. I can't take Roman sometimes. Sometimes he's the most humble person in the world and then other times he's just the opposite. I can't take his bi-polar reactions today. Everything is getting on my nerves today. I cross my arms and look at JB. He's dressed in gold. He looks amazing. Everyone but him is getting on my nerves today.

I realize JB also is avoiding eye contact with me. He stands in the front of the room. His guard is by his side.

“I'd like to introduce all of you to Youngjae,” JB explains about his guard, “Captain Jackson has assigned him to protect all of us. He'll be staying here in the dorms with us.”

“You mean to protect you?” Roman corrects JB.

JB ignores him, “I gathered all of you here to talk about yesterday...last night in particular.”

I know JB is talking about me kissing Jackson. I knew this was going to have to come up. I can tell even more when I look over at Candy. A smile spreads across her cheek. Nelly and Mino also seem a little excited about this. I guess I could see it coming a mile away. I don't blame JB. Why continue to have this fake ing relationship when I can't keep my hands to myself.

“I'm sorry you had to see that,” Candy explains, “It was never my intention to see you hurt JB but I think it's for the best.”

I sigh a little bit. I want to run out of the room from embarrassment.

Roman raises his hand, “Wait...I'm lost. What happened last night?”

There is an awkwardness in the room. I'd expect Mino to tell him but Mino just looks awkward. Nelly is crossing her arms. The ring leader of the haters is Candy though and I realize when the other two aren't pouncing to tell him that Candy wouldn't waste any time.

“It was the worst,” Candy explains dramatically, “Jr was caught kissing Jackson.”

“No wonder why he's still here,” Nelly adds abruptly, “Especially with his grades.”

Roman raises an eyebrow. That's all. He looks over at me. He doesn't seem upset like I think he would be. Roman doesn't seem jealous. At that moment, he just seems...interested. That is the only way I can describe it. I'm not necessarily shocked though. This is Roman and he does have a million personalities.

I want to defend myself but there is no excuse. I sit there and take it. They got the better of me. Candy, Nelly and Mino got the upper hand.

They won.

I was beyond embarrassed. I was beyond defeated. I was sitting there drenched in my own sweat. And the worst part of this moment was JB. JB was looking down and he was embarrassed too. Fake relationship or not, I shouldn't have embarrassed him in front of all those people.

“Can we get this over with?” I ask JB.

He still hasn't looked over at me. He's not even acknowledging me.

Candy stands up and looks over at me, “I wouldn't be in such a rush. You know what will happen when people find out you cheated on JB? You'll be hated in Eden. The golden child will finally be revealed for who he is.”

She's trying to get underneath my skin. It would be easy to let her too. I mean she's won. This was what she wanted ever since JB ignored her for me. There is a look of satisfaction in Candy's eyes. You would think she just won a ing Oscar or something like that. I can't help to feel the pain in my stomach. How could someone who didn't even know me spend so much time and energy in an attempt to take me down. What was worse was that she had help now. Her, Nelly and Mino had all gathered because they had one thing in common.

They all wanted me away from the men they were interested in.

And in a way...they all succeeded.

“I understand,” I respond, defeated, getting up at that moment, “Are we done here?”

It's hard to save face. I dust myself off. I'm trying to leave this room with any dignity that I have left. It's not every day that people plot against you and try to rub it in your face. Candy's eager smile is something that I can't deny. She wants to see me crackle and cry. I can at least not give her that. I can at least go find a corner to soak in my misery without her seeing me.

“Sit,” JB orders me.

Great. I can't even be miserable in peace. There is a forcefulness about JB. He usually treats us all equal and seems to hide the fact that he is royalty. Today is different though. He has that royal regard written all over him. I have no choice but to go ahead and take a seat. The others are looking at me. They are looking for reaction. I wonder if they want me to break down or cry or maybe go off on Candy. They might think I'll just try to beg JB for forgiveness. A part of me wants to do all of those things.

JB doesn't give me the chance though. He is looking at Candy when he says, “I don't want anyone to go to the media about what happened.”

What?

Candy damn near jumps out of her skin, “Why are you protecting him?”

“I'm not protecting anyone,” JB explains, “I'm going to go to the media in a few days. I'll let them know Jr and I mutually parted ways due to some differences but we still love each other and will continue to be friends.”<