Chapter 2 - A new life
“You’ve changed a lot these past ten months, Blanche!” Jean says, with a beer in his hand and an unlit cigarette in his mouth, as he takes a break from writing his book.
“I did not change, I just see things differently now. And it’s quite liberating.”
That’s right, living with Jean has greatly changed the way I look at things. I used to feel like being a vampire is a curse, but helping Jean with his book made me learn to appreciate myself more. I still wouldn't say I'm truly happy, nor that I’m satisfied being a vampire, but it's a lot less painful and lonely now than it was before Jean took me in a year ago.
"Look at you using such fancy words; you definitely have changed. Hahaha!” He chuckles.
He’s still annoying though. Sometimes I feel like I’m his personal butler, the way he keeps asking me to bring him a beer, or to do chores for him. I can’t complain though, he’s letting me live here for free so helping him is the least I can do.
“Oh by the way, you’ve helped me a lot since you moved in with me, but I’m in a bit of a slump right now,” Jean adds, as he’s putting his beer on the table and grabs a pen and starts fidgeting with it.
Does he not need me anymore? “What do you mean?” I ask.
“You see, I feel like you’ve taught me everything you know about vampires already.” Jean says with a serious voice, as he looks at me with a cold gaze.
“Oh, I see.” He’s planning to kick me out?!
If he does, I’ll just have to accept it and go my own way again, staying here without being of help to Jean would just be me overstaying my welcome.
"So for that reason, I enrolled you at the Royal Academy of Paris, RAP in short!" Jean says, as he pulls out an envelope with a stamp saying ‘RAP’ on it.
“HUH?” You want me, to go to school? But I've never been around more than ten people at the same time in my entire life, it's too big of a change! Furthermore the Royal Academy of Paris? Isn't that the most prestigious school in the country?
My eyes widen out of disbelief, “A-are you serious?” I ask.
"Yes, I’m dead serious. I've already learned everything I needed to know about vampires as a species; now it's time for me to learn about a vampire's behavior. Do they fall in love, stress about tests, make friends, become jealous, engage in fights, and so on? This are all things I need to know in order to improve the quality of my book.
So I decided that school was the best place for a sixteen year old to experience all of these feelings, that’s why I enrolled you!” Jean clarifies, as he starts writing in his notepad, I can’t read what it is though.
Well, at least he isn’t kicking me out, for now, “But how did you even get me enrolled in the most prestigious school in the country? Don’t you have to meet like a shit ton of requirements to even be considered a worthy student there?”
I heard that the Royal Academy of Paris handpicks their students; nobles, geniuses, children from the most important businesses In the country, these are the only people seen as worthy of that school.
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“Hehe… Did you forget who you’re talking to perhaps?” Jean grins, looking like he’s showering himself with compliments.
So he got me enrolled through his connections huh. I can’t really tell him I don’t want to go now, can I…
“But I've never attended a school before, don't you think you're asking too much of me?” I try to explain myself, but it obviously didn’t matter to Jean, “Hmm, don’t worry about that, you’ll be fine,” Jean answers confidently.
“How can you be so sure of that?” I answer. Did he forget that I’m a vampire? There’s no way I can fit in at a place like that.
“Tsk… Haven't you noticed? For the past year, I have forced you to read nothing but books which have taught you all you need to know to enroll at that school. You're probably even more educated than the majority of the students there now.” He shrugs, as he points at the bookshelf next to the couch, as if telling he’s telling me it was obvious.
That explains why I could only ever informational books in his bookshelves though. Does that imply that ever since he took me in, he intended to enroll me into that school? Did Jean put this much trust in me ever since the day he met me?
“So you don't intend to kick me out?” I gently sighed out from relief.
“Kick you out? Why would I do something like that? Didn’t I tell you, I’m your guardian now, I not just going to abandon you like that,” Jean responds, with a hint of frustration.
“Also, you provide way to much value to my book to even consider something like that,” he continues, and begins to cringe shortly after, realizing what he had.
Upon observing the cringing Jean who is attempting to shift his attention back to his book. I came to the realization that I was foolish to think he would consider kicking me out. Because after taking me in, he took incredible care of me. And even though he often annoys me, always reeks of cigarettes, and drinks nonstop, Jean still has my undying gratitude.
“Thank you, Jean” I sigh, to show my gratitude.
“Hm?” He hums, as he’s reading the book he just managed to get his attention back onto.
“Ah, it’s nothing.” I answer, too embarrassed to repeat that.
“Oh by the way school starts tomorrow, and I already got your uniform,” Jean tells me.
Tomorrow? I’m not even getting any time to prepare?
“You and Jacques can ride the bus to school together, so be careful not to oversleep,” he mentions.
“Jacques goes to the Royal Academy of Paris too?”
Jacques Rousseau, he lives in the apartment next door, he’s a year older than me but we get along pretty well, he’s really tall and athletic, and I’m proud to call him my second friend!
Huh? Who’s my first friend, you ask? Hehehe, It's this little guy right here, Jean’s cat! His name is Eros, Jean gave him that name in honor of the main character of his first successful book. Isn’t he the cutest little furball you’ve ever seen?
I mean, back to Jacques! I must admit though, I'm pretty relieved that we'll be going to the same school. I'm sure it’ll help me feel less anxious to go to school if I go with Jacques.
“He doesn’t just go to the Royal Academy of Paris, he’s an honor student there!” Jean answers, shifting away his attention from the book he was reading once again.
“Woah, that must mean he’s really smart, right?”
“Hmm, well I guess you could say that. Though the real reason of him being an honor student is his blessing, he has the perfect photographic memory blessing.” Jean equivocates.
“Perfect photographic memory?” I repeat.
“His blessing allows him to see things in his mind just as clearly as if he’s looking at a photograph, resulting in him never forgetting anything he sees. Making tests, sport tactics and cooking recipes extremely easy for him to remember.” He explains, as he grabs his beer again and takes a sip.
“Woah, that’s really impressive!” I react, in awe of my cool friend, who apparently is a honor student.
“By the way, what blessing do you have?” I ask out of curiosity, I’ve been living with him for almost a year now and he never mentioned his blessing, could it be something really cool, like flying or telepathy?
“Me? I have the multitasking blessing! I can engage in up to five different thinking processes at once while maintaining a high level of intellectual performance with little to no distraction.” Jean proudly admits.
That’s… A lot less exciting than I expected, but wait, “Then how come you’re struggling so much with keeping your attention on that book?”
His expression suddenly turns really proud, “Oh, that. That’s because I’m drunk!” He says, hiccupping through every word.
Did he just become drunk out of nowhere? He was able to hold a normal conversation with me until now.I decided to act like I never asked, but I couldn’t mask the disappointment on my face.
“Hey why are you making that face! You don’t like my blessing?” Jean slurs his words
Ah- he noticed.
But damn, having a blessing must be nice, I suppose It can really come in handy in people’s daily lives…
I wonder if I’ll be able to fit in at school.