In the common area of our little hotel, all of the windows have been boarded up. No one, except for the staff, would be allowed to enter or leave. But even the staff is working on shortened hours. I heard from Harrison that the gorgeous windows of the hallways have been boarded up as well. If one little drop of light from the full moon hits us, we turn into the monsters that people see on TV.

I know that I'm safe, but I'm still scared of the fact that I could go wild tonight. I can't help but keep my leg bouncing, or my fingers tapping, or just keep moving. Even as Emma teaches me how to do makeup, the full moon is all I can think about. Sitting in my room, alone, right now probably isn't helping this either, but hey, what can you do? I feel my phone start t buzz in a pattern that I only know as what a call feels like. I see Gayle's name and accept as quickly as my thumb will let me.

"Hello?"

"Canada?" Gayle's voice asks.

"Yes?"

"Oh thank goodness."

"Everything okay back home?"

"Yeah, it everything's fine, we just really miss you round these parts."

"Really? Who's we?"

"Well, Ma and Mom, and everybody else at Save the Planet, and of course there's me. It's mostly me." Gayle says the last part rushed, as if he was hoping that I wouldn't actually hear it.

"Aww, that's sweet. Miss you guys, too."

"So, how is it in wherever you are?"

"It's good. Very cold, but good."

"And your speech?"

"Went over perfectly."

"Tell me everything!"

"Well, I did mess up, but like I told you, I recovered,"

"Much pride, my padawan."

"I'm the one who checked out the book on climate change, not you."

"Point taken." He says, nonchalantly. "What else?"

"Well, I've been getting questions and compliments, and-" I cut myself off before I say anything too revealing. "After college, they want me to come back, and help them improve the climate."

"Really?!"

"Yeah."

"You're lying, you've got to be. Unless there was some sort of government recruiter there."

"Sort of-"

"I think I know what's going on over there."

Oh shoot.

"You do?"

"Yeah, some sort of local village thing, right?"

"Yep. Absolutely."

"Good for you. Much pride." A silence sort fills our call. "Not that you need to know that I'm proud of you or anything like that, I mean you should, because I am very proud of you, of all the things you've done and all the thing you will do. But I just want you to know that I'm proud."

I like the way he rambles. He goes on and on for days, and I don't mind. He has a nice, distinct, soft voice. It sounds like the audio version of those melting glass videos. And now I'm rambling about him now. Great.

"Canada, you good there?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You just sort of... stopped talking."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Nah, it's fine. Don't sweat it."

"Thanks man."

"Anytime."

"So, tell me about that Christmas party?"

"It was so good, you would've loved it. The pizza was even better than usual , oh, and Ma and Mom made one of those Lucky Charms cakes, you know, like the ones that's covered in marshmallows? Ma found a bag of just the marshmallows at the store the other day and just had to buy it. Oh! And we played games! Ya boi killed it at Uno, just saying, then we played Twister. But, we had to cut it short because Jordan twisted their ankle."

"Are they okay?"

"Yeah, they'll be fine, we were going to cut back on foot posts anyway because, you know, Michigan winter?"

"I get it, I'm sorry I couldn't be there."

"Hey, you were spreading the good word." Gayle says. "And some minor house keeping, please tell me that you've submitted your applications for college."

"I did, don't worry. The big ones already have my applications, don't worry."

"Where do you want to go?"

"There's a school up in the UP, it's called Lake Superior College, it's number 1 in the nation for the study of Earth sciences, and they specialize in that kind of stuff, like, they don't have any other sort of major that isn't Earth related. Not to mention, their whole college is environmentally crazy."

"That place sounds amazing."

"Not too late to apply, you know?"

"Maybe I will. But, I've already submitted my application to the Conservation Officer academy in Georgia."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it's a 20 week training program. I want to protect the wildlife, so this is what I've got to do."

"Not a cop, right?"

"Nah, definitely not a cop." I can hear his smile through the phone.

"I miss our conversations." I roll over so I'm laying on my stomach.

"I do, too. What'll we do in College?"

"Text, call, Facetime, then there's the holidays and visits."

"I know. I'll miss our conversations."

"Me too." Gayle utters. We sit in a comfortable silence for awhile. Even though we're not physically together, we still bask in the fact that should either one of us want to tell the other something, we can. "Mom's calling me, I better go."

"Bye, Gayle."

"Bye, Canada. I'll talk to you later."

"Same to you." There's a long pause following our farewell. A pause where neither of us presses the red button that ends the call. Finally, Gayle does, and I hear the tone that signals that our call has ended. I push up on my palms to go back into a sitting position. I look at the board where the window usually is. I stare at it for awhile, until David opens the door.

"Hey, dinner's arrived, if you want it."

"Oh, thanks. I will." I stand back up onto my feet and walk back out to the sitting room. Dinner sits on the coffee table, as does extra glasses of blood. We'll need them for tonight.

"So, what have you been up to, Canada?" Abigail asks.

"Nothing much, really." I say, starting to cut into my meat.

"I heard talking in your room, were you listening to a podcast?"

"No, just talking to Gayle. He called today."

"That was very nice of him."

The awkward conversations continue on in the meal. Abigail goes around the circle to each individual person. She asks them the usual type of mom questions. I feel bad for her. She tries so hard to be a mom figure, and we don't give her anything. I feel bad.

Everything we eat tonight has some form of blood in it. The sauce of the pasta, the glaze on the garlic bread, the cake, everything. Full moon's here are no joke. They're no joke anywhere, but especially here, as night slowly falls on the castle.

We all retire to our rooms, and go to bed, knowing that tomorrow, we all fly home. I close my eyes, and am at first greeted by utter darkness

"Hey," The voice of Gayle greets me. When I wake up, I wake up on his couch, in his family living room.

"What'd I miss?" I ask, slowly sitting up.

"Not much, dearest."

"Dearest?" I raise my eyebrows a little bit.

"Figured a nickname would be a nice change of pace. Do you like it?"

"I do." I smile a little bit.

He suddenly grabs my hand, and smile at it. Then, he raises it to his lips. My heart starts going fifty miles an hour, I get butterflies, but my face doesn't get warmer. My face reacts like I'm used to this, which I'm not. Nevertheless, a smile forms on my lips. A smile that I'm sure looks dorky, but hey, Gayle just kissed my hand.

He smiles too, and slowly starts leaning in. As do I. I don't stop myself. I don't stop myself even though last time we kissed, it was awkward, and left my broken hearted. When our lips match, it feels too good to be true. It feels perfect. When we brake apart, he smiles a the ground.

"How do you feel?" I ask to his silence.

"I feel so lucky to have that to look forward too, everyday."

"Everyday?"

"Everyday." He nods.

"Where are your parents?" I ask as he gets up to walk away.

"They're out of town, don't you remember?"

"Yeah, I must've forgotten." I say. Now that I think about it, I do remember him telling me this. We planned this out a little while ago.

"I made breakfast." Gayle says. "I hope the waffle machine didn't wake you."

"I didn't, trust me." He brings two plates over to the coffee table. "It's perfect, I love it."

"Figured you would. You always seemed like more of a waffles kind of a gal to me."

"What made you think that?" I ask.

"I don't know, vibes."

Gayle seems more confident than usual. Usually, he would've taken something back by now, or rambled on, but no, he hasn't.

"Thank you for making me breakfast."

"Anytime, what are boyfriends for?"

Boyfriend. My heart flutters even more. Once more, he brings his lips to mine, and I relish the sweet feeling. I close my eyes for a split second. When I open them, suddenly we're standing in the middle of the forest. Gayle's back is facing me. This is the exact same spot where I had twisted my ankle on my way to Save the Planet for the first time. I walk over to him, and put my arm on his shoulder.

"Gayle, are you okay?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" His voice is harsh. I've never heard him talk like this before in my life.

"What?"

"Why didn't you tell me you were a vampire?" He demands.

Oh shoot. He knows. This can't be happening. Which means that last scenario probably didn't happen either.

"I'm sorry Gayle, I'm sorry. We had to make vows to never tell anyone." Tears start streaming out of my face from nowhere.

"If you didn't, would you still tell me?"

"I don't know!" I throw my hands up in frustration.

"Did you ever think about that when you hurt me?"

"I didn't, Gayle, and I'm sorry."

"After all the lies that you have told, I don't think I can believe this one."

"Gayle, please believe me. I didn't mean to hurt you, or anyone else. I'm sorry, okay?"

"Sorry won't cut it, Canada. You know what we do to people of your kind?"

"Throw us in exile, I know." The lump in my throat makes this sound like a glorified screech.

"Oh, you wish." He shoves me to the ground, and pulls out a gun.

"Gayle, please! Don't, Gayle. You're my best friend!"

"We can't be friends, we were never friends, so don't go spitting out nonsense!"

"You have to believe me, please!" I cut him off of his sentence a little, but he doesn't stop talking.

"I could never believe you." He turns off the safety, and points it straight at my heart. I don't move. It won't be of any use, no matter what. "Because your a sinful, ugly, vampire." He fires, and I sit straight up. I'm back in the room, I'm out of breath, and sweat brakes over me.

"That never happened, you're okay, Canada, you're safe Canada-" I cut off my self pep-talk when I turn my head and see Emma, in her nightdress, standing in my doorway.

"Did I wake you?" She asks, holding up a small light.

"No, you didn't. You're fine. What're you doing?"

"I need to ask you a favor." Emma comes and sits down on my bed.

"What's up?"

"I need to get out of here." She breathlessly whispers.

"What?"

"I need to get out of here, and I need for you to use your instinct to make that happen. I need to know which hallways are clearest, here." Emma hands me a map of the castle.

"Emma, are you insane, this is dangerous, and could get not just you in trouble, but our whole family."

"I know, but, if you use your instinct, I won't get caught."

"And what if it's wrong?"

"It's never wrong."

"You said it yourself, there's a slight chance that this could go wrong. It's a guess, that's all it is. A guess that, the times I've used it, has worked out in our favor, but I've only used it less than thirty times outside of the academy!" I whisper shout.

"But it's been right so far,"

"I thought you were a skeptic of my ability."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take."

"It shouldn't be. Why do you even want to go out this late?"

"Mikah."

"Mikah?"

"Mikah. He said he wanted to talk."

"Okay, and?"

"And?"

"There should be a good reason why this stuff shouldn't happen over text or a hone call." Emma shyly looks at the ground. "You like him, don't you?"

Emma's cheeks turn a little pink. "I think I love him."

"Love him? Emma, are you being irrational? You haven't even known this boy for two months!"

"I know but... I just feel something between us."

"You do?"

"When you've been around the block as much as I have, you know what these things feel like."

"All but what, around about 140 years?"

"Trust me, Canada. I know what love feels like. I feel it every time that I look at our family. It's the knowledge that you want to be better for them, and when you're not with them, it hurts you." She looks me dead straight in the eyes. "Please, Canada, please."

I stare at her eyes for another minute, and nod my head. "Alright, fine. But if you get caught Emma, so help me-"

"I'll just use my ability. They won't even remember my name."

"And if the cameras find you?"

"Mikah says that during a certain time, the cameras stop working."

"And you're sure about all of this?" I ask.

"I know I am."

"Fine." I sigh. I close my eyes, and focus on the halls.

No, not that one, there's guards down there. Not that one either, authorities are about turn that corner. That one! I place my Emma puts a pen in my hand, and I drawn on the map. When I look at it, I see the exact route that I saw.

"This is it." I say, handing her the parchment.

"Are you going to come with me?"

"Emma, I can't, it's too risky if you get caught, and we both know that I'm more... susceptible to the effects of the full moon."

"If you're sure,"

"I am."

"Thank you, Canada. I owe you one, I really do." Emma wraps her arms around me tightly. "I have my phone on me. if anything changes, text me, okay?"

"Okay." I nod, and just like that, she vanishes out the door, using her accelerated speed. I watch over the route the whole time, when I see a gust go past, I know it's Emma. I watch it for a long while, until I see the gust come back again, in the opposite direction. In a matter of minutes, Emma's back in. She opens my door again, and just stand with her back against the wall. "Did you get caught?"

"No." She almost sounds paralyzed, like something else is commanding her.

"Are you alright?" I ask, getting up and putting my hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She nods, and swallows hard. "Thank you, for getting me through the castle."

"Not a problem. I'm going to miss you."

"Me too." I don't need an instinct to know that she's holding back tears. "I'll-I'll get back to bed. Good night, Canada."

"Goodnight." I say, slowly slipping underneath my covers, and find myself praying that I never get another dream like the one I had before.