It was a beautiful, warm morning of June. Sun shone brightly and there wasn't any need of wearing giant coats anymore or take shelter inside, as cold would be gone for another three or four months. Birds chirped, the wind blew freshly and very few people were at sight.
At any other time, Bianca would've considered this a perfect paradise, except for a couple of things; first, she was still in freaking Switzerland, many miles away from home; second, it seemed that food servings during vacation was limited to Swiss meals (where did the normal food go?); and third, the cafeteria lady had put on the radio a Swiss Folk song (no, it wasn't a 'yodeling' one) and happily mini-danced to it as Bianca grew desperate by it.
Bianca longed for a bowl of cereal with milk, instead of this plate of boiled egg, cheese, a weird-looking bread and ham in front of her.
How did she end up spending part of vacation there? Simple. Because she acted foolishly, she didn't get the minimum passing grade for Fighting Concepts; not even with the extra point and a half Mrs. Cathrina gave her for donating blood. She was disappointed, but only with herself: this was entirely her fault.
She finished her breakfast quickly to get away from that exasperating Swiss song playing, and almost had a panic attack at seeing a familiar, masculine back. Why was he here!? Shouldn't he be in America right now?
Maximilian Hamington, a brutish who only knew how to mishandle women and look for fights.
He probably was here to visit his air-headed brother, but she hasn't seen him. Weird. The few students staying ate their meals at the cafeteria, and not even once has Alexander shown up. She was worried, more than ever, because if that giant freak wanted to hurt her again he could easily do it now that there were very few witnesses.
Bianca didn't have to wait too much time to discover Alexander's whereabouts, because the guy himself went looking for her to the cafeteria a few days later.
"So... you failed a subject too?" Was his greeting.
"Yes".
He then invited her (awkwardly) to have an 'American breakfast' elsewhere. When she asked him why, Alexander replied he only wanted to make things right with her for once.
"Your brother won't be there, right?"
Yeah. She didn't want to die yet.
"No, no! I'm not that stupid. Besides, even if that was the case, he wouldn't do anything to you".
Ha-ha! What a joke. She reluctantly accepted his offer anyway, halfway regretting her choice and about to turn around, but she caught an amazing aroma coming from the 'Home Economics' classroom. Nothing like the bland food from the cafeteria.
Both Bianca and Alexander came into said classroom, which was adapted for cooking lessons. 'Home Economics' was a subject every student at International DeckerFord School had to take to prepare for family coexistence and home-related activities.
She quickly saw what smelled so great: two plates of golden, recently-made waffles and bacon on the side. This was heaven.
"Is that for me?" She asked, excitedly.
Alexander was astonished at seeing her so happy for the first time in years, but he just replied 'yeah' to her. It was a weird but satisfying sight. Meanwhile, Bianca earnestly took one of the plates of food, sat and started eating.
She let out a small moan, which increased Alexander's ego a ton.
"Wow, I didn't know you were that hungry" He joked, approaching his own plate of food.
"Mmmh..." Bianca murmured incoherently, still eating.
The boy sat in front of her to eat his food, much more calmly than her. Only one or two minutes later Bianca stopped concentrating on her breakfast, and started to feel weird with Alexander's closeness.
"And... how did you make the waffles?" She asked, only to avoid an uncomfortable silence.
He smiled at the girl's question, and puffed out his chest proudly saying it required a lot of creativity to make waffles without a waffle iron. He explained how he did it, but Bianca wasn't really paying attention.
He kept looking at her with an expectant face, maybe waiting to hear a compliment from her, which she did.
"It's really delicious, thank you".
"You're welcome".
Okay, food is gone. Time to go. As Bianca stood up and was on her way out of the room, Alexander called for her, making her turn around reluctantly.
"You're already leaving, now?" He stated the obvious.
Why did he look somewhat disappointed? Bianca thought, until she noticed a few dirty dishes from the breakfast.
"Ah, I'm sorry. I'll help you clean the dishes" She said, turning around.
Alexander hadn't stopped her for that, but she stayed so it didn't matter. Bianca took all the dirty dishes and started washing them, ignoring the boy's gaze over her.
"So... Principal Lowe let you use this classroom to cook?" She curiously asked.
"Yes, of course. Mmh, well, he wouldn't have if it wasn't for my brother".
Bianca tensed at the mention of that person.
"And where did you get the groceries?"
"Oh, my brother brought them. I just cook".
"How generous of him".
He definitely treats his family much different from everyone else.
"You know; you don't have to be afraid of him anymore" Alexander said awkwardly "He won't do anything to you".
"Oh really?" Bianca replied sarcastically "I don't believe that, sorry".
"He was just being prejudiced? It... it's that the word? prejudiced?"
Bianca shrugged, not sure about it herself. She wasn't an English teacher.
"Whatever. He thought it was kind of weird dad was helping you so much; he's not a kind soul at all..."
Well, she could agree on that.
"... so it seemed the most logical thing to think your mom was his lover. My brother adores mom more than anything in this world, even more after her death..."
The girl didn't have to make a big effort to remember the twin's mother, Mrs. Jenny Hamington. A beautiful, charming woman dedicated full-time to her home and her kids. Bianca remembered that, as a child, she was envious of the brothers for having such a perfect mom while hers was always away and careless.
Alexander and Maximilian were more similar to Mr. Zachary, having the same strong built and handsome face; but their blue eyes and dark blond hair came from their mother. She was so attached to her kids that, if she hadn't died, Bianca was sure the woman would never had let them come to a boarding school so far away from home.
"... he saw your family as a disrespect to mom's memory".
Bianca finished washing the dishes, and turned to Alexander. Serious.
"He can think whatever he wants to. I won't give explanations to someone who can pummel me into ashes".
"The thing is... he doesn't know what to think about you anymore".
Uh? What the hell does that mean?
"Dad explained to me why he supports you and your grandmother so much, and while I don't approve his reasoning, I know you don't have any fault".
What!?
"Why!?" Bianca asked him "What did he tell you!?"
"I can't tell you, I'd make everything more awkward. Not even my brother knows".
Bianca insisted for a while more, but Alexander kept it shut. He was very stubborn, and his unusual seriousness gave her a bad feeling.
"What I can tell you is why my brother is doubting. You passed the purity test, right?"
"The what?"
"The test where a teacher pinched your finger, to test your blood?"
Ah, that test. Bianca almost had forgotten about it.
"Yeah, that one where smoke came out of a liquid. I didn't remember the name".
"Well, everyone came to know your results..."
"So?"
She did know everyone started to look at her weirdly after that, maybe with admiration? No, more as if they were looking at a purple cow.
"Even students from the Honored Disciple's Academy came to know. Some of your samples were sent there for their Blood Of The Innocent supply, and your hybrid scent made obvious it was your blood".
Fantastic. Now her blood was being used by those monsters who knows for what evil purposes.
"You understand what this means?"
"Eh... nope".
Alexander sighed, exasperated. He knew he was a lost cause most of the time, but this girl was surpassing the limits from 'clueless' to 'plain stupid'.
"Am I getting discount coupons for it?" Bianca asked him.
"No?"
"Is this helping to find the cure to some disease?"
"No".
"Am I going to become stronger or smarter?"
"No".
"Then I don't care".
If this result was about some 'magic feat' or something, she was not interested. As soon as she could, she'd leave this stupid school and its stupid students, and would never look back. This useless knowledge about magic would stay at the back of her mind until it faded away for lacking a usage, a real purpose.
She thanked the boy again for the food, said goodbye and went her own way. Meanwhile, Alexander couldn't believe how indifferent was her reaction, and was disappointed because he expected more from her.