Hunter chuckles without much humor. “You could say that, yeah,” he replies.
“Why is she in your class?” Silas asks, shifting a little in the grass. “She’s supposed to be past the beginner level.”
“It’s a long story,” Hunter replies. “I don’t really want to get into it right now. I just wanted to tell you I’m sorry for her,” he continues, looking back at me. “You didn’t deserve to get called out like that in front of everyone. You didn’t do anything.”
I blink, feeling myself relax just a little. “It’s okay,” I reply, giving him a small smile. “Thank you. I appreciate it.” Glancing over at the others, who seem as bewildered as I am, I ask, “Do you want to come sit with us?”
“I…” Hunter takes a nervous glance over his shoulder. “Okay, sure. For a little while, anyway. Is there room in the shade?”
“For you, vampire boy, always,” Landon replies, scooting over.
Hunter is just making a move to sit down when a yell pierces the tranquility of the quad. “Hunter, what the fuck are you doing?!”
We all look up to see Amelia making a beeline towards us, seemingly out of nowhere. How did she even know we were here? “This ought to be good,” Landon mutters, getting up. The rest of us follow suit, and I dust the grass off my behind just as Amelia approaches, looking fit to be tied.
“Amelia,” Hunter begins, “I just came over here to--”
“I can’t believe you,” she says, her eyes flashing. “I literally just had this conversation with you. What did I say about hanging around the hybrid?”
Her pseudo-maternal tone seems to light a fire in him, since Hunter crosses his arms, his expression going cold again. “Amelia, I’m nineteen years old,” he snaps. “And the last time I checked, you were my sister, not my mom.”
Amelia isn’t fazed. “And the last time I checked,” she shoots back, “Dad told me to look after you, and that means keeping you away from her.” She nods in my direction.
“Listen,” I plead, not wanting this to escalate, “I don’t know what I did to you, but I’m sorry. I really don’t want you to think that I’m--”
“Was I talking to you, hybrid?” she demands, rounding on me. I feel my heartbeat pick up a little. “My brother has been here for six months, and he can’t even transform yet. What he needs is support, not some freak who will put him in danger.”
I bristle at the word freak. “That’s not fair,” I reply. “I didn’t ask for any of this!”
“But you got it,” Amelia fires back. “You’re an abomination, and you’re a danger to everyone here.”
Silas takes a step forward. “What the hell is your problem?” he demands. He dwarfs Amelia at his full height. “Do you just get off on being a bitch to the new girl? Is that it?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Hunter putting his head in his hands. To my left, Hazel is watching the exchange with wide eyes. Landon, meanwhile, looks like he’s debating whether to get involved. “What’s it to you, dragon?” Amelia asks Silas. “She your girlfriend? The latest and greatest?”
Silas bristles. “No,” he replies, “but I guess common decency is a foreign concept to you.”
Amelia quivers for a moment and then turns back to me. “Stay away from my brother, hybrid. If I need to have him taken out of that class, I will.”
“Oh, sure,” says Landon, rolling his eyes. “Get Daddy to fight your battles for you, right? Is that what the problem is--you’ve finally found something his money can’t buy, princess?”
“Who the hell are you?” Amelia demands, shooting him an incredulous look. Not waiting for a reply, she shakes her head, looking from each one of us to the next angrily. “You know what? This doesn’t concern any of you guys.”
“I think it does,” Silas says, and just having his presence next to me is enough to make me feel more safe. “You don’t get to just chew out the new girl because you’re afraid of her powers.” Amelia goes rigid, staring at him, and Silas continues. “That’s what this is about, right? You’re afraid of her.” He glances over at me.
“Guys,” pleads Hazel, “let’s not go there.”
“Too late for that, Hazel,” snaps Amelia, and she takes a step closer to me.
“Come on, Amelia,” Hunter pleads, but she doesn’t listen, already glaring down at me, the sun gleaming on her impeccable auburn waves.
By now, my heart is racing, and my stomach feels ice cold. This isn’t how I was hoping my first day would go. “Okay, okay,” I say, holding my hands up. “If it’s this much of a problem for you, then I’ll--”
“It’s not my problem!” Amelia yells. “You’re the problem, freak!”
There’s that word again. I can feel myself getting frustrated--angry, even--in spite of my intimidation. “Stop calling me that,” I tell her.
“Why?” Amelia demands. “It’s what you are.”
“Do you think I want any of this?” I demand, my voice rising. The fear is giving way to rage. Everything was finally starting to feel like it was going right last night. And now, on my first day, this girl won’t leave me alone. Is this what I’m going to have to deal with for the rest of my time here? How many more Amelias am I going to encounter? This was exactly what I was afraid of, I think, stiffening. “My parents abandoned me,” I say. “I don’t even know where I came from, or how I got this way! I just want to learn how to control this thing, not start shit with people!”
Amelia shakes her head. “You’d better get used to that,” she says, “because that’s all you’re going to find at this school. Did they tell you that if you can’t learn to control your
