by Bailey, G.
Hunter turns to me, an apologetic look flashing across his face, and opens his mouth to speak, but I beat him to it. “It’s okay, it’s fine,” I rush to say, already struggling to gather up my stuff, which has somehow spread out. “I’ll… uh… leave you alone, I guess.” I turn to Hunter. “It was nice to meet you,” I say hurriedly, and turn to go.
Amelia’s voice stops me in my tracks. “Are you really doing this in front of me?” I turn back to her, and her mouth twists like she’s just tasted something sour. She shakes her head, laughing a little. “You know, I’m not sure if you’re incredibly brave or incredibly stupid,” she tells me, eyes narrowing.
“I…” I look to Hunter as I stand up, hoping he’ll step in and intervene, but he’s just watching the exchange, his brow furrowed. So much for that. “I’m sorry,” I begin, wanting to be anywhere else in the world right now. “I didn’t realize--I, I mean, I didn’t mean to offend you or something--”
“Offend me?” She snorts. “How adorably naive. I’m not worried about you offending me, Millie Brix,” she says, leaning forward and punctuating the last two words for emphasis. How does she know my name? Come to think of it, why did she call me a freak when she saw me.
Come on, I think to myself. The cat’s out of the bag, that’s how. Briefly, I wonder if Hazel or Landon might have let something slip, but I push the idea away. They wouldn’t have.
“My brother, though,” Amelia says, nodding at Hunter, “that’s a different story. I would recommend not dragging him any further into your shit.” I open my mouth to reply, but she doesn’t stop. “I heard about you,” she says, eyes flashing. “You’re the hybrid everyone’s been talking about. They’re being generous, I think. ‘Mistake’ might be more appropriate. Stay away from my brother if you know what’s good for you.” That’s all she has to say. The conversation apparently over, Amelia turns, tossing her scarlet hair over one shoulder and dropping into my desk, crossing her legs like it’s the most normal thing in the world.
“Still no progress, huh?” I overhear her asking Hunter, but I don’t wait to listen to his response. I’m already shuffling over to the free desk on the other side of the room. A few other students are staring at me, having watched the exchange, but Professor Huxley is still blissfully distracted, now at the podium desperately trying to sort out a pile of documents. Maybe it’s for the best that he didn’t witness that. The last thing I need is a teacher rescuing me from bullying on my first day here. That’s a guaranteed way to ruin one’s reputation at a new school, if experience has taught me anything.
So much for making new friends, I think, awkwardly inviting myself into another group and returning to my efforts to make my fangs appear.
No such luck on that front, either.
The rest of my vampire shifting class goes by in a blur, but at least there are no further incidents after the Amelia Ash debacle. Occasionally I look over at her and Hunter, seeing her making animated gestures in her attempts to show him how to make his fangs appear, something she seems to be able to do effortlessly. Eventually we stop the practical drill and do a guided meditation, something I never would have imagined them teaching in school, before a brief overview of the way shifting magic moves through the body. The information is interesting, but I’m too rattled from the confrontation to do much more than take notes and bite my nails.
After that is siren shifting, and I’m blessed to have Hazel and Landon in my class. Once again, I don’t manage to change during any of the transformations, but at least I don’t get chewed out by a stranger this time, so I suppose I’ll take it. At the end of the class, the lunch bell rings and the academy students disperse, heading for the quad or the cafeteria. The others invite me to eat outside with them, and I eagerly accept, grabbing some food from the dining hall before following the two sirens out onto the grass. Around us, students sit in groups, talking and eating, and Landon leads us to the shade of an enormous oak tree, its branches casting a shadow almost all the way to the road.
There’s a guy already sitting under the tree, sprawled out with an open book in his lap, and Landon waves to him as we approach. “Hey, Silas!” he calls.
The boy looks up, and I realize with a start that he’s the same tall guy I met yesterday, when I ended up in the boys’ wing of the dormitory. Small world, I think, unable to keep the smile off my face. “Hey, Landon,” Silas says, closing his book and sitting up. “I figured I might see you out here today.”
“You know me,” Landon replies. “I’m a sucker for nice weather. Anyway,” he says, stretching a little, “I heard something about a pop quiz in Morris’ class today.”
“Damn, really?” Silas wrinkles his nose. “Well, I guess I know what I’m doing for the rest of the period.” His eyes turn to me, and he gives me a crooked smile. “You look strangely familiar,” he says, pulling a face and stroking his chin. “But I can’t put my finger on it.”
“I’m the girl you saved from untold amounts of embarrassment yesterday,” I remind him, laughing.
Hazel raises her eyebrows, looking between the two of us. “Oh? This I have to hear.”
Silas scoots back to make room for us, and we sit down in a loose circle. “It’s not that dramatic,” he explains.
“Oh, no, it really is,” I say, letting my eyes go wide with mock-seriousness. “I was trying to find my room yesterday and I ended up on the boys’ side of the dorm.”
Landon laughs. “Classic. Happened to me on my first day, too.”
“Well,” Silas says, his amber eyes settling on me, that knowing half-smile still on his face. “I’m glad you found your room. Eventually, anyway.”
Hazel sighs contentedly. “See? This is what I like: when the introductions have already been made.”
“Actually,” Silas replies, his eyes still on me, “I don’t think I ever got your name.” His tone is calm, not revealing much, and I wonder if anyone’s ever been able to avoid answering a question from him. The combination of curiosity and faint amusement in his voice is enough to make me want to start talking and never stop.
I feel a faint burst of color come to my cheeks under his thoughtful gaze, and I bite my lip. “Millie,” I reply. “Millie Brix.”
What looks like a faint flicker of recognition passes over Silas’ face, and I see his eyes narrow for a moment, but his expression remains pleasant. “It’s good to meet you properly, Millie Brix,” Silas says, holding a hand out to me, and I take it and give it a gentle shake. For a moment, our eyes meet, and there’s something in his expression that I can’t identify. A brief surge of electricity runs up my arm, but the contact is broken before it can distract me too much. “I have to admit, though,” he continues, “your reputation kind of precedes you.”
My eyes widen. “Really?”
Silas laughs. “Don’t look so freaked out. I just mean I heard there was a hybrid starting here. I just didn’t realize we’d met already.”
Hybrid. There’s that word again. I guess it’s as good a term as any for what I am, and he isn’t using it with the same disdain that Amelia did, so I nod, replying, “Not everyone here seems okay with that. The hybrid thing, I mean.”
“I don’t think anyone here actually thought hybrids were real,” muses Hazel. “You’re rare, Millie. Like a unicorn.” Her eyes go wide, and I have to chuckle at the seriousness of her expression.
“I mean, we’ve all heard the stories,” elaborates Silas, “but I don’t think anyone thought they were true, you know?”
“I would be curious to know how it happened,” Hazel remarks, looking at me. “Was it a ritual or something, like back in the olden days? Or did you just hit the gene jackpot?”
“I’d be curious, too,” says Landon, but Silas remains silent, not meeting my eyes. Once again, that unreadable look passes over his face.
For a moment, no one speaks, all of us just looking at one another. I clear my throat. “Well, you guys have certainly been a lot more… accommodating than some of the other people I�
��ve met so far.”
Hazel’s eyes go wide. “What do you mean?”
I sigh, tugging a piece of grass out of the ground. “There was this girl in my vampire shifting class,” I reply. “She seemed to have a problem with me. She showed up late and she just… started going after me.”
“Well, who was she?” asks Landon. “Although now that I think about it, that’s about par for the course for vampires.”
“I think her name was Amelia,” I reply, frowning. “Amelia Ash.”
“Amelia Ash?” Hazel asks with clear suspicion in her eyes. “But she’s an upperclassman--one of the best shifters in the school, from what I’ve heard. What would she be doing in an introductory class?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. They said she transferred. I think maybe she wanted to be in the same class as her brother.”
“They usually don’t let anyone change classes,” remarks Silas.
Hazel gives him a look. “Come on. This is Amelia Ash we’re talking about.”
“What do you mean?” I ask. “Who is she?”
Hazel turns to me. “Her father is one of the board members. Human, but powerful. If anyone could get their schedule changed like that, it’s her. Still, I don’t know why she would…”
Landon cuts her off, his expression going sour as he sits up and looks over my shoulder. “Well,” he says, “speak of the devil.”
Chapter 13
I turn around, fully expecting to see Amelia coming after me and wondering once again what I’ve done to piss her off so much. Instead, I’m mildly surprised not to see her, but her brother, Hunter, making his way toward us across the quad. “Yikes,” mutters Hazel, fidgeting slightly. “I wonder what he wants.”
There’s only one way to find out, and I try my best to look non threatening as Hunter approaches us. He has an awkward, uncomfortable expression on his face, and he looks even paler in the sunlight than he did back in the classroom. Almost sickly. “Hey,” he says, coming to a stop in front of us and looking down at me. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
“Uh…” I glance behind me at the others, who sit there, looking bewildered. “Sure,” I say, shifting to make room in the circle. “Do you want to sit down?”
He shakes his head, swallows, and chews his lip for a moment before saying, “Listen--about earlier, in Huxley’s class…”
I raise my eyebrows, wondering where this is going.
“I just wanted to apologize,” he says. “My sister, she’s…” He rubs the back of his neck like he’s looking for the right word. He sounds almost… sheepish. Embarrassed. A far cry from the dark, stoic guy I sat next to just this morning.
“A handful?” I supply, feeling a strange sort of sympathy for him, but I can’t put my finger on why. Maybe it’s because he, like me, can’t seem to get the hang of shapeshifting.
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 powers, they will kill you? You don’t walk away from the academy, little girl. Foster kids like you are freaks, and in my opinion, should just be killed.”
“Guys...” Hazel says again. She looks totally panicked now. We’re far enough away from the main square that none of the others seem to realize what’s going on.
It’s as I’m staring defiantly up at Amelia that I feel a familiar feeling rising in the pit of my stomach. I had almost forgotten what it felt like, but my heart almost stops when that cool sensation floods my body once more. Shit. No, no, no. Not now. I take a step back from Amelia. “Listen,” I say, “can you please just--”
“I don’t take orders from freaks,” Amelia sneers, and the poison in her voice is enough to do the trick. Before I’m even consciously aware of it, I can feel the transformation starting again, and in spite of my efforts to control it, it hits me like a freight train. Fur begins to sprout on my arms, my nails turning to claws and my teeth turning to fangs. I’m losing control of myself, only vaguely aware of the others staring at me as I shift. Amelia’s eyes go wide, but she stands her ground. “Damn,” she mutters. “You’re even uglier than I was expecting.”
“Stop it!” I yell, and a burst of fire explodes from my mouth, the same way it did back at the warehouse.
Amelia darts back, looking startled, and before I can even react, she’s changing too. Her eyes go red, her hair turning the color of blood as fangs sprout from her mouth. “You bitch!” she yells, and then she lunges for me. She’s startlingly fast, like a bolt of lightning. Is this a vampire ability?
