The Human Vampire Mate

Author’s POV It was now or never. And Alice was currently leaning towards never. She had lived down the hallway from him for two entire years, and she had only spoken to him a handful of times. For made-up reasons, of course. ‘There is a mandatory meeting this afternoon.’ ‘I saw someone looking into your car earlier today. Watch out.’ She has not been proud of the last one. Truth be told, she only had a couple of months left until she graduated from college with her education degree, and she had to grow some courage at some point in her life. Why not now? Biting her lip, she nodded her head and glanced down the hallway as he pulled out his keys and began to lock his door. Were those new jeans? She liked the way they looked at him. Stop it. Stop procrastinating. Go for it. “Do you always talk to yourself?” Part of her was shocked. She had said any of that out loud, and she wanted to turn to her other neighbor and stick one particular finger in his face. “Do you always stand silently behind your neighbors and gawk at them?” She asked, digging her keys from her cuttered purse. Why were there so many things in her purse? His laughter traveled along her spine and worked its way to the back of her neck. Ethan made his way down the hallway, and her heart stumbled silently, “Hey!” She said aloud, not wanting to miss her chance. Ethan smiled, his blond hair falling onto his forehead like some rom-com movies. “Hey, Whitney”, he said. Whitney? He called her Whitney. To regain whatever dignity she had left, she shouted, “See you later, Eddie.” He gave her a weird glance over his shoulder but didn’t respond. Her neighbor laughed loudly, holding his stomach and tossing his head backward. “Oh, you are a piece of work, girl. Eddie, right? I’m guessing your name is not Whitney? How sad. You’re gawking over your neighbor that doesn’t even know your name.” Alice turned on her heel and came face-to-chest with him, the new neighbor, whatever his name was. He was tall, which was not saying much because she was short herself, but he towered over six feet, easily. She was lady enough to admit that he was good looking. Probably more so than her crush, but this guy talked too much. He had many opinions, and she felt opinions were like assholes. Everyone had one, and she had no intention of hearing his. “Listen…” “Drake”, he answered. “Drake”, she said. “This has been fun and all. Your inability to mind your own business really brings on a good time, but I don’t need a recap on my life. Thank you and have a good day.” She struck her key into the door dramatically. Drake leaned against the wall between their apartments. Oddly enough, he was a quiet neighbor. No hitting of the headboard at 1 am, or loud music. He just seemed to always be there. It was creepy. “Don’t give up, champ. If you keep stumbling over words and hanging around outside your door to catch him, he will eventually realize how desperate you are.” Alice slid her tongue over her teeth and mimicked his laugh from earlier. “Your conversation skills really need work, Drake. Why don’t you run into your apartment and find something to do other than stalk random women.” Drake chuckled. “Sure thing, Alice.” She was shocked he knew her name, but she wouldn’t show it. Shoving her door open, she leaned against it and sighed. Her cat, Rory, stared at her from the kitchen counter. “Down”, she hissed, shooing Rory who took her time. Her cat did not even pay her any attention. How sad. Alice kicked off her shoes and took down her hair. She had a shift at Bubba’s in thirty minutes, and she could not be late. She worked there most nights to pay her bills. It was not the nicest establishment. It was a restaurant aimed towards men. So the outfits were to appease them. It was not Alice's first choice in a job, but they were few and far between, since the town was a college town. She fed Rory, got dressed, and tied her dark brown hair into a ponytail. The fact that her shorts were getting tight around the waist had not gone unnoticed. Those freshman fifteen had settled to the sophomore twenty and now she was at the senior thirty. Sighing, she grabbed her purse, and her keys before leaving. She drove a rundown Honda, like every other girl living in that apartment complex. This was not an apartment that rich kids were sent to. It was for the ones that struggled to pay their bills and did not have parents that could afford another monthly p*****t. The door creaked when she opened it, and the engine stuttered but she got there right on time. Tying her apron around her waist, she walked into the back door and into the kitchen. Her shift started right as the night rush began, so the kitchen was a madhouse of servers and cooks going at it. Sarah walked past her with a tray full of hot wings, her boobs pushed to her chin. She didn’t blame her. The tips were better that way. “Oh, thank God, Alice. Here” Sarah said, shoving a ticket book at her. “Can you please go take half of my section? I’m swamped.” “You bet”, Alice said, grabbing her time card and clocking in. She maneuvered past the crowd of servers, tossed her head into her manager’s office to say hello, and walked toward the Sarah section. There were three tables- a crowd of college students, a couple, and one guy sitting by himself. She walked over to the group, tossed down menus, and grabbed their drink order. The couple was ready to order, so she took down their requests and slid a menu in front of the guy alone. He glanced up from his phone, and Alice cursed under her breath. “Seriously? Here I thought you only stalked me at my house. Silly me? Why wouldn’t you come and harass me at work.” Drake chuckled, his darling blue eyes were playful and it irked her. “I would not be a good stalker if I did not follow you everywhere. We can tell who wasn’t a true crime junkie.” “What do you want to drink?” “Water for now, and a beer. Whatever is on tap.” She left to go grab their drinks when she heard someone shout at her. “Waitress!” She hated being called that. She turned towards the group of college students and glared. “Alice” she responded, pointing towards her name tag. “Our drinks!”, the redhead in the group shouted. “Or is that too big of a task for you?” She added sarcastically. Alice's eye twitched, and she noticed Drake turned to look at her. The glare of fear in his face stunned her. Did he know her? “I’ll be right out.” Alice said with a plastic smile. She felt Drake’s gaze on her back as she walked into the kitchen. Something felt so wrong, and she was about to find out why.