My Ice Prince
Шрифт:
When Misha opened the door, I immediately noticed that she held her left shoulder a little higher than her right: almost imperceptibly, just a couple of millimeters.
But what was a mortal doing in her house? Who was she? A guest? Or worse, a neighbor? What's the whim? Misha shouldn't get close to people, much less share living quarters with them. This is nonsense, we'll have to look into it. Why, though? Well, she reminds me of Maria, well, lives with this mortal, what do I care? Let her live, study, have fun. After all, she has a lot of relatives who should take care of her. I wonder how old she is. And how does she eat: does she still drink donated blood or does she already hunt?
But, since Misha did not want to communicate with me, no, not that – since she was forbidden to do so, it means that she knew nothing about me and Maria – it was obvious: she was angry at me for small trifles, not for what I
«If this damsel does not wish to see me, why should I see her? But what if she asks for my help? Who? Her? That hussy? She'd rather eat her own head than bother to do so.
Fine, let her live the life she wants. But if I broke her bike, I'll fix it» I thought as I steered my Mustang onto Abington Road.
CHAPTER 6
– What's wrong? You're just like on fire! Who was that? – Mary asked, barely had I entered the kitchen after kicking that ignorant Haraldson out.
«An ill-mannered brute! A lover of reading other people's letters and running over girls on the road! It's a good thing Maria warned me about him, otherwise, who knows, maybe I could have been fooled by this impudent man's appearance and actions, and mistaken him for a normal vampire who might even have some advice for me!» – I thought angrily.
– That was the guy who hit me and crumpled your bike! – I answered Mary. – «And my parents also forbade me to talk to him, they said 'not a word, not half a word.
«Why am I telling her such personal things?» – I thought to myself, but in my heart I wanted to talk to Mary about what a bastard Haraldson was. I wanted to sling mud at him from his gorgeous hair to the soles of his shoes.
– And he's handsome, I'd say he's very handsome, but his white skin spoils the whole impression-» Mary trailed off, because I gave her a stern look. – I made you a bath like you asked.
He was handsome, but no more handsome than my brothers-I'd always liked blondes, and his very pale skin, dark hair, and bright, almost blue eyes made him look as cold and aloof as an iceberg. He was a Viking, the perfect Nordic type. Ha! And Mary thought he was handsome, but not very handsome!
– Something I do not understand: your parents forbade you to communicate with him … And what are the reasons?
– I don't know. I have no idea! – I answered honestly.
– Then why do you think he's a scoundrel? You know absolutely nothing about him, don't you? – Mary asked.
I didn't know who or what he was, my family had told me nothing about him, and I had already set myself against him. Although, no, I knew for a fact that he had hit me and dented my bike. And he didn't even apologize!
– Do you think I'm wrong? – I asked: Mary's thoughts were surprisingly sober, breaking down my prejudice against this vampire, but I clung to my beliefs with every fiber of my being. I wanted to cling to them because it made me feel better to think he was to blame, not me.
– Did you two ever talk? – Mary asked.
– No» I answered quietly.
– Well, look what happens: you don't know anything about each other, and you've never talked to each other, but your parents told you to ignore him … Did they say why you should? Did they say he was bad or maybe a bully?
– No, nothing like that. They didn't explain anything to me at all, they just told me absolutely not to. But aren't there enough reasons for that? It is not necessary that all those with whom we are forbidden to socialize, must be bullies! – I objected.
«But she's right: how do I know he's a rascal? Maybe he didn't do anything wrong at all. Yes, he hit me, but even then you have to be objective: it was my fault for the accident – I didn't want to ride on the bike path myself. And when he came over today, I yelled at him and started blaming him. Why? Why? Because I found out he was the vampire I was forbidden to even talk to? – I wondered. – How weird and stupid was that? And he had a right to think I was hysterical, like Cedric had been… No, I shouldn't make excuses for him: he'd read my letter! He opened the envelope with my name written in black and white and read it. He didn't dare do that! It's not his personal item, it's mine!»
– You're only mad at him because the psychologically heavy word «ban» was said about him. Very silly, in my opinion» Mary said confidently.
I immediately wanted to tell her that he had read my letter and had no right to do so, but I gave up the idea: Mary had, with a few sentences, reduced my anger at Frederik.
«Okay. I really don't know anything about him, and I have no reason to think he's a scoundrel, much less to hate him. When he does something mean to me, then I'll hate him. I'll have the right» I decided. – Right now, it was pointless and ridiculous to hate him just because I'd been told to. Mary was right: the word «forbidden» always becomes a psychological factor in unconscious dislike. And he's right, as is Cedric: I'm acting like a child, and I thought I'd outgrown that role. I must have been flattering myself, intoxicated by the mere step of getting into Oxford… And in fact, my reasoning and actions remained childish and naive!»
These thoughts suffocated me, and I again acted like a child and did what I had long dreamed of doing: I locked myself in the bathroom and cried there until Mary asked me to come in.
When morning came, I looked outside and saw my bent blue bicycle.
«Riding to college on that handicapped thing? No! I'd rather walk!» – I thought grudgingly.
I washed my face, did my morning jog, took a quick shower, dried my hair, put on my uniform, put my hair in a high ponytail, grabbed my bag, put on my shoes, and quietly left the house so as not to wake up my roommate: she slept late again after watching movies all night and didn't get to bed until three in the morning.