Eva couldn’t wrap her head around it. First vampires, her being a Halfling, and now this. She felt like it was all a little too much. A little too crazy. Definitely more than she could handle right now.
“Of course. Why wouldn’t they?” Bella answered, and then, seeing the look on Eva’s face, started laughing. “Boy, they really kept you under a rock, didn’t they?”
“What do you mean?”
“I guess your dad really wanted to keep this entire world away from you until he thought it was the right time to introduce you to it.”
The thought of her father brought sadness. Eva felt that same heaviness of heart, like she couldn’t breathe properly. Bella noticed it immediately.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…” Bella bit her tongue. She felt bad. Sometimes, her mouth was faster than her mind, releasing words before she thought them through.
“It’s not your fault,” Eva smiled, “and besides, what you said really makes sense. I guess he wanted to show me this world himself, when he was ready or when we were both ready. Unfortunately, now I have to learn all about it by myself.”
“You have me,” Bella reached for Eva’s hand and squeezed it. “Now, let’s go kick some werewolf ass!”
Eva laughed and allowed the general euphoric feeling of excitement which reigned in the air to wash all over her. They reached the gymnasium quickly and found good seats. The place was packed. It was noisy but no one seemed to mind. Everyone was cheering for their own team, trying to give them extra courage. For a second, she almost forgot that these were vampires and werewolves, and not just two regular human teams playing basketball.
Eva noticed that there were two separate sets of bleachers. One housed Ridgeview Academy supporters and the other one students wearing and waving emblems and flags of Pleamore Academy. They didn’t mix.
“Why are we separated?” Eva leaned in and asked Bella.
She almost had to shout in her ear, because everyone around them was so loud that they were barely able to hear each other.
“The werewolf boys, they um… cheer a little hard, and also play a little hard,” Bella tried to explain.
“Is that fair?”
“Of course not,” Bella shook her head, “but, that’s how they are, even in human form. Of course, no special skills and powers are allowed. No transformations. Just good old, human basketball,” she laughed.
Then, she leaned over, taking a long hard look at the opposing team’s supporters. A few seconds later, a guy’s head was popping out in the same way, looking their way. He had bushy hair and a square face. Bella blushed a little, waved at him, then sat back down, hiding from his sight.
Eva watched all of this with curiosity, then turned to her friend, waiting for an explanation, but not really saying anything. At first, Bella pretended not to see or feel the burning gaze Eva was sending her way, but then she finally gave in.
“He’s... just a friend,” she tried to wiggle her way out, still blushing a little.
“Oh really?” Eva eyed her skeptically, with a wide grin on her face.
“Fine!” Bella hissed playfully. “He’s kinda like my boyfriend, or other…”
“Kinda like your boyfriend or other?” Eva couldn’t prevent herself from laughing.
“Yes,”
Bella rolled her eyes, but it was obvious that the girls were enjoying this conversation, and despite her weird way of replying, Bella had no problems sharing this secret with her new best friend. “But, you can’t tell anyone.”
“Why?” Eva wondered. “Aren’t we all on the same side here? Unless we’re playing the game, of course,” she tried a joke but Bella didn’t seem to hear it.
“Vampires don’t really like werewolves that much,” Bella whispered, as if she was afraid that someone might hear her, but everyone was too immersed in the cheering and no one was paying attention to their barely audible conversation.
“Why?” Eva repeated.
This world was completely new to her and she was learning something more about it every day, which made it all the more appealing, more cryptic and unfathomable. She didn’t want to admit it to herself yet but she was delighted and even aroused to be a part of it.
“I think it has something to do with the principals,” Bella started the story she herself had heard upon arriving to Ridgeview Academy. “Apparently, Ridgeview and Pleamore were one school back in the day. It was called,” she paused a little to remember, “Holmerry, Institute of the Arcane. Vampires and werewolves attended it, all together. No fights, no arguments, no nothing. We all seemed to get along just fine. The main person responsible for all those students was Principal Sorwyce. He was a vampire, married to a werewolf. He had two children. One of them you’ve met.”
“I have?” Eva was surprised to hear that.
“Of course. It’s Principal Rannulf,” Bella nodded. “The other is that man over there.”