I half-wondered if she thought our room was big simply because we had so little to put in it. Neither of us had been able to do much packing with such swift departures. The furniture gave everything a warm, golden feel, but without personal decorations or other touches, the room could’ve come straight from a catalog. The dorm matron, Mrs. Weathers, had been astonished when she saw us and our minimal luggage. The girls I’d observed moving in earlier had arrived with cars packed to bursting. I hoped we didn’t look suspicious.
Jill paused to stare out the window as we got ready for bed. “It’s so dry here,” she murmured, more to herself than me. “They keep the lawn green, but it’s so strange not to feel the moisture in the air.” She glanced over at me sheepishly. “I’m a water user.”
“I know,” I said, not sure what else to add. She was referring to the magical abilities all Moroi possessed. Each Moroi specialized in one of the elements, either the physical four—earth, air, water, and fire—or the more intangible and psychic element of spirit. Hardly anyone wielded that last one, though I’d heard Adrian was one of the few. If Jill couldn’t access her magic easily, I wasn’t going to be disappointed. Magic was one of those things, like the blood drinking, that served as a slap-in-the-face reminder that these people I was laughing and eating with were not human.
If I wasn’t still exhausted from the drive with Keith, I probably would’ve lain awake agonizing over the fact that I was sleeping close to a vampire. When I’d first met Rose, I hadn’t even been able to stay in the same room with her. Our hectic escape together had changed that a little, and by the end, I’d been able to let my guard down. Now, some of that old fear came back in the darkness.
When morning came, I couldn’t help looking in the mirror to make sure I had no bite marks or other sign of vampire harm. When I’d finished, I immediately felt foolish. With the difficulty Jill was currently having waking up, it made no sense to imagine her sneaking up on me in the night. As it was, I had a hard time getting her out the door in time for orientation. She was groggy, with bloodshot eyes, and kept complaining about a headache. I guessed I didn’t have to worry about nighttime attacks from my roommate.
Nonetheless, she managed to get up and around. We left our dorm and found Eddie, gathering with other new students near a fountain on Central Campus. Most of the crowd appeared to be freshmen like Jill. Only a few were the same age as me and Eddie, and I was surprised to see him easily chatting with those around him. With how vigilant he’d been the day before, I would’ve expected him to be more on guard, less capable of normal social interaction—but he fit right in. As we walked up, however, I caught him glance around stealthily at his surroundings. He might be playing a student, like me—but he was still a dhampir.
He was just telling us about how he hadn’t met his roommate yet when a smiling guy with bright blue eyes and reddish hair strode up to them.
“Hey there,” he said. Up close, I could see a smattering of freckles. “Are you Eddie Melrose?”
“Yes, I’m—” Eddie had spun around with that guardian efficiency, ready to take on this potential threat. When he saw the newcomer, Eddie went perfectly still. His eyes widened slightly, and whatever he’d been about to say faded away.
“I’m Micah Vallence. I’m your roommate—also your orientation leader.” He nodded toward the other mingling students and grinned. “But I wanted to come say hi first since I just got here this morning. My mom pushed our vacation to the limits.”
Eddie was still staring at Micah as though he’d seen a ghost. I studied Micah too, wondering what I was missing. He seemed normal to me. Whatever was going on, Jill was also out of the loop because she was regarding Micah with a perfectly ordinary expression too, no alarm or surprise.
“Nice to meet you,” said Eddie at last. “These are my, uh, sisters—Jill and Sydney.”
Micah smiled at each of us in turn. He had a manner about him that made me feel easy, and I could see why he’d been drafted as an orientation leader. I wondered why Eddie was reacting so strangely.
“What grades are you in?” he asked us.
“Senior,” I said. Remembering the cover story, I added, “Eddie and I are twins.”
“I’m a freshman,” said Jill.
Looking over our “family,” I noticed that Eddie and I could probably pass for siblings pretty easily. Our coloring was similar, and of course, there was the fact that we both looked human. While a human wouldn’t necessarily look at Jill and say “vampire!” she still possessed certain features that marked her as unusual. Her build and paleness were definite contrasts to me and Eddie.
If Micah noticed the lack of family resemblance, he didn’t let on. “Nervous about starting high school?” he asked Jill.
She shook her head and smiled back. “I’m ready for the challenge.”
“Well, if you need anything, let me know,” he said. “For now, I’ve gotta get this party started. Talk to you guys later.”
From the way his attention focused solely on her, it was obvious that the “if you need anything” was directed at Jill, and her blush showed that she knew too. She smiled, holding his gaze a moment, and then looked away shyly. I would’ve found it cute, if not for the alarming prospect it presented. Jill was in a school full of humans. It was absolutely out of the question for her to date one, and guys like Micah couldn’t be encouraged. Eddie didn’t appear to care about the comment, but it seemed to be more because he was still troubled about Micah in general.
Micah called our group to attention and began the orientation. The first part of it was simply a tour of the grounds. We followed him around, in and out of air conditioning, as he showed us the important buildings. He explained the shuttle system, and we rode it up to West Campus, which was almost a mirror of East. Boys and girls were allowed in each other’s dorms, with limitations, and he explained those rules as well, which caused some grumbling. Recalling the formidable Mrs. Weathers, I felt sorry for any boy that tried to break her dorm rules.
Both dorms had their own cafeterias, where any student was welcome to eat, and our orientation group had lunch while we were still on West Campus. Micah joined my “siblings” and me, going out of his way to talk to each of us. Eddie responded politely, nodding and asking questions, but his eyes still looked vaguely haunted. Jill was shy at first, but once Micah starting joking around with her, she eventually warmed up to him.
How funny, I thought, that it was easier for Eddie and Jill to adapt to this situation than it was for me. They were in a strange environment, with a different race, but were still among familiar things, like cafeterias and lockers. They slipped right into the roles and procedures with no difficulty. Meanwhile, despite having traveled and lived all over the world, I felt out of place in what was for everyone else an ordinary setting.
Regardless, it didn’t take me long to figure out how the school ran. Alchemists were trained to observe and adapt, and even though school was foreign to me, I quickly picked up on the routine. I wasn’t afraid to talk to people either—I was used to striking up conversations with strangers and explaining my way out of situations. One thing, however, I knew I would have to work on.
“I heard her family might be moving to Anchorage.” We were at orientation lunch, and a couple of freshmen girls sitting near me were discussing a friend of theirs who hadn’t shown up today.
The other girl’s eyes widened. “Seriously? I would
“I don’t know,” I mused, moving my food around my plate. “With all the sun and UV rays here, it seems like Anchorage might actually provide a longer life span. You don’t need as much sunblock, so it’s a more economical choice as well.”
I’d thought my comment was helpful, but when I looked up, I was met with gaping stares. It was obvious from the looks the girls were giving me that I probably couldn’t have picked a weirder comment.
“I guess I shouldn’t say everything that comes to mind,” I murmured to Eddie. I was used to being direct in social situations, but it occurred to me that simply saying “Yeah, totally!” would’ve probably been the correct response. I’d had few friends my own age and was out of practice.
Eddie grinned at me. “I don’t know, sis. You’re pretty entertaining as you are. Keep it up.”
After lunch, our group returned to Central Campus, where we parted ways to meet with academic advisors and plan our class schedules. When I sat down with my advisor, a cheery young woman named Molly, I wasn’t surprised to see that the Alchemists had sent along academic records from a fictitious school in South Dakota. They were even fairly consistent with what I had studied in my homeschooling.
“Your grades and tests have placed you in our most advanced math and English classes,” Molly said. “If you do well in them, you can receive college credit.”
