wolfgoddess77

CHAPTER ELEVEN

I didn't think I'd sleep. I figured I'd lay there and miss home

Why would you possibly miss home? You’ve made it more than clear that you hate everything to do with your home and your family, Miss I Hope They All Drown. Oh, yes, I remember that. If you want me to believe that you might miss them even a little, maybe you shouldn’t have spent all that time badmouthing them.

and think about the bizarre twist my life had taken.

Given how many vampires there are in the world, I would hardly say it’s a bizarre twist. Now, if you were turning into, say, a xenomorph, that would be bizarre.

Disturbing flashes of the guy in the hall's eyes drifted through my mind, but I was so tired I couldn't focus.

Translation: PCK are waving a giant flag and jumping up and down screaming “REMEMBER THIS FOR LATER!”

Even Aphrodite's psycho hatefulness was something else that seemed sleepily far away.

Here’s the thing, guys. Aphrodite was nasty to Zoey exactly once, and then she went out of her way to come find Zoey and invite her to the ritual thing. She was being…well, perhaps not nice, but she was trying to include Zoey and potentially make her part of the group. And you can’t even say that Aphrodite was being mean to the others, because they were just as venomous to her in return. In fact, Aphrodite started off being polite. Erin was the one who started it, not so subtly calling her trash.

Actually, my last worries before I could remember nothing else were about my forehead. Was it feeling sore again because of the Mark and the cut over my temple—or was it because I was getting a ginormic zit?

I swear, if you don’t stop using the word ‘ginormic’, I’m going to ram a chainsaw up your ass. It’s not cute or charming, it’s irritating. Besides, I seriously doubt a zit could survive on your perfect Mary Sue skin. Gods forbid you suffer any normal teenage ailments like skin breakouts.

And would my hair look okay for my first day of vamp school tomorrow? But as I curled up with my comforter and inhaled the familiar smell of down feathers and home,

Which you supposedly hate…

I felt unexpectedly safe and warm…and was totally out.

I didn't have a nightmare, either. Instead I dreamed about cats. Go figure. Hot boys? No. Cool new vampire powers? Of course not. Just cats. There was one in particular—a small orange tabby who had little tiny paws and a pot belly with a pouch that looked kinda marsupial.

Hmm, I wonder if Zoey might soon obtain a small orange tabby who has little tiny paws and a pot belly with a pouch that looks kinda marsupial.

…naaaah. I’m sure it doesn’t mean anything.

She kept yelling at me in an old lady's voice and asking what had taken me so long to get here. Then her cat voice changed to an annoying buzzing beeping sound and I…

"Zoey, come on! Turn that stupid alarm clock off!”

"Who—, huh?" Oh, hell. I hate mornings.

Hello, random present tense. What are you doing here?

My hand flailed about trying to find the off switch of my annoying alarm clock.

Have I mentioned that I am totally, completely blind without my contacts?

No, you haven’t. We’re eleven chapters in, and I’m pretty sure you’ve mentioned wearing contacts exactly once, and only in passing.

I grabbed my nerdy glasses

SHUT. UP.

and peeked at the time. Six thirty P.M., and I was just waking up. Talk about bizarre.

Uh, no, it’s not. Even if you weren’t a vampire, there are millions of people out there who sleep during the day and are awake at night. It’s actually quite common. And find a descriptor other than ‘bizarre’. You just used that word less than a page ago.

PCK has a serious problem with repetition, I’m noticing.

"Do you want to take a shower first, or do you want me to?" Stevie Rae asked sleepily.

If this was any other book, in any other series, I wouldn’t have had a problem with this. I would have seen it as Stevie Rae being polite and offering the use of the bathroom to her roommate first.

However. Because this is Zoey, and because of the way everyone treats her, that’s not how I’m looking at it. I’m seeing this as Stevie Rae waiting for Zoey to tell her what she should do, because she can’t so much as sneeze without Zoey’s permission.

"I will, if you don't care.”

"I don't…," She yawned.

" 'Kay.”

"We should hurry, though, 'cause, I don't know about you, but I have to eat breakfast or I feel like I'm going to starve to death before lunch.”

"Cereal?" I suddenly perked up. I seriously adore cereal, and have an ‘I <3 CEREAL’ shirt somewhere to prove it. I especially love Count Chocula—yet another vampyre irony.

Name Drop: 40

Vampire irony, huh?

PCK, liking a stupid cartoon mascot cereal does not make it ironic. Irony would be if she liked drinking holy water. Hell, even liking garlicky spaghetti is more ironic than this! At least garlic has lore significance in some vampire myths! The only time I’ve ever seen cereal associated with vampires was in Blade Trinity (and gods, that was a terrible movie…). ~~But then again, the store that sold vampire cereal also sold vibrating vampire dildos, so make of that what you will.~~

"Yeah, there're always lots of those tiny boxes of cereal and bagels and fruit and hard-boiled eggs and stuff.”

"I'll hurry." Suddenly I was starving. "Hey, Stevie Rae, does it matter what I wear?”

"Nope," she yawned again. "Just pick one of the sweaters or jackets that show our third former symbol and you'll be fine.”

Uniforms? What uniforms? One tiny symbol does not a uniform make, PCK.

I did hurry, even though I was really nervous about not looking right and I wished I could take hours doing and redoing my hair and makeup. I used Stevie Rae's makeup mirror while she was in the shower, and decided that under-doing was probably a better choice than over-doing. It was weird how my Mark seemed to change the whole focus of my face.

That’s what happens when you have a big honkin’ crescent moon right in the middle of your forehead. It might as well be a flashing neon sign saying LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME! There’s a reason why facial tattoos are so risky, especially large ones. A person’s gaze is automatically going to be drawn to it, and very rarely does it ever look good.

I've always had nice eyes—big and round and dark, with lots of lashes.

Well, aren’t you the humble one.

So much that Kayla used to whine about how unfair it was that I had enough lashes for three girls and she only had short little blond ones. (Speaking of …I did miss Kayla, especially this morning as I was getting ready to go to a new school without her. Maybe I'd call her later. Or e-mail her. Or…I remembered the comment Heath had made about the party, and decided maybe not.)

Oh, bull-fucking-shit! You don’t miss Kayla. You don’t miss anything about your human life. What’s more, why the hell are you taking Heath’s word over Kayla’s? Wasn’t she your best friend? If a guy badmouthed a person’s best friend, normally, that person would give said best friend the benefit of the doubt and hear their side of the story. Not Zoey. Heath said Kayla was a cheating bitch, so a cheating bitch she must be!

Anyway, the Mark somehow made my eyes look even bigger and darker. I lined them with a smoky black shadow that had little sparkly flecks of silver in it. Not heavily like those loser girls who think that plastering on black eyeliner makes them look cool.

You Judgmental Bastards: 48

Yeah, right. They look like scary raccoons.

You Judgemental Bastards: 49

I smudged the line, added mascara, brushed some bronzing power over my face, and put on lip gloss (to hide the fact that I'd been nervously picking at my lips).

You know what has a tendency to make a person look like a raccoon? Smudging their eyeliner. It’s one reason why I don’t like wearing it, myself; it has a tendency to smudge, no matter how carefully I apply it, and I end up with dark shadows under my eyes!

Then I stared at myself.

“Let me explain to all of you how beautiful I am. Are you all paying attention? You better be.”

Thankfully my hair was acting right, and even my weird widow's peak wasn't sticking all up crazily like it did sometimes.

Sticking up? PCK, do you even know what a widow’s peak is? It’s when the hairline dips down in the middle of the forehead, creating an effect that looks like an upside-down triangle. You either have one or you don’t; it doesn’t randomly appear and disappear, and it doesn’t stick up. Are you thinking about a cowlick, perhaps? Because those do stick up. Please do you research so you don’t end up using the wrong names for things.

I still looked…umm…different, but the same.

I hate this. I hate it when people use contradictions like this. Either you look different or you don’t!

The effect my Mark had on my face hadn't faded.

Yes, you already said that just a few sentences ago. Stop it with the repetition! Are you trying to pad your word count, or do you really think we’re so forgetful you have to keep telling us the same things over and over?

It made everything that was ethnic about my features stand out: the darkness of my eyes, my high Cherokee cheekbones, my proud, straight nose, and even the olive color of my skin that was like my grandma's.

Oh, look, her skin is changing colors again. It can’t seem to make up its mind whether it wants to be white or olive.

The sapphire Mark of the Goddess seemed to have flipped a switch and spotlighted those features; it had freed the Cherokee girl within me and allowed her to shine.

Okay, wow. PCK literally repeated themselves in two subsequent sentences. The mark makes her features stand out, and the mark spotlighted her features. I just…wow. Does PCK have short-term memory loss? Because that’s just terrible.

"Your hair looks great," Stevie Rae said as she came into the room toweling dry her short hair. "I wish mine would act right when it's long. It doesn't. It just frizzes out and looks like a horse's tail.”

This seems kind of backwards to me. My mother has curly hair, and she’s always said that it’s easier to deal with when it’s longer. It’s when it’s short that it has a tendency to misbehave. Also, Stevie Rae, have you never heard of a flatiron? It tends to help tame unruly hair. What’s more, a horse’s tail is not frizzy. Most horses’ manes and tails are extremely straight, as a matter of fact. Every now and then you’ll find a breed that has wavy manes and tails, but they’re few and far between.

"I like your short hair," I said, moving out of her way and grabbing my cute sparkly black ballet flats.

"Yeah, well, it makes me a freak here. Everybody has long hair.”

Hmph. *plays with her short hair* Screw that. I like my short hair, thank you very much.

"I noticed, but I don't really get it.”

"It's one of the things that happens while we're going through the Change. Vamps' hair grows abnormally fast, just like their fingernails.”

Why? And if it grows abnormally fast, why don’t those who prefer shorter hair just make regular appointments to have it trimmed?

I tried not to shudder as I remembered Aphrodite's fingernail slashing through jeans and skin.

Thankfully, Stevie Rae was oblivious to my thoughts, and kept on talking.

"You'll see. After a while you won't have to look at their symbols to know what year they are.

I guess the sixth-formers all have Rapunzel hair and nails that stretch halfway across the room. For real, though, why do they not just cut their hair?

Anyway, you'll learn all about that kind of stuff in Vamp Sociology class.

Why would they learn about a vampire’s biological makeup in a sociology class? I know ‘biology’ and ‘sociology’ share quite a few letters, but they’re not the same thing, I guarantee you. Not even close.

Oh! That reminds me." She rifled through some papers on her desk until she found what she was looking for and handed it to me. "Here's your schedule. We have third hour and fifth hour together. And check out the list of electives you have for second hour. You can choose from any of them.”

My name was at the top of the schedule, printed in bold letters, ZOEY REDBIRD, ENTERING THIRD FORMER, as well as the date, which was five (?!) days before the Tracker had Marked me.

Okay, to be fair, finding out this had been printed out almost a week before being marked would freak me out, too. That’s a decent little ‘wtf’ moment.

1st hour—Vampyre Sociology 101. Rm. 215. Prof. Neferet

2nd hour—Drama 101. Performing Arts Center. Prof. Nolan or

Sketching 101. Rm. 312. Prof. Doner or

Intro to Music. Rm. 314. Prof. Vento

3rd hour—Lit 101. Rm. 214. Prof. Penthesilea

4th hour—Fencing. Gymnasium. Prof. D. Lankford

LUNCH BREAK

5th hour—Spanish 101. Rm. 216. Prof. Garmy

6th hour—Intro to Equestrian Studies. Field House. Prof. Lenobia

"No geometry?" I blurted, totally overwhelmed by the schedule, but trying to keep a positive attitude.

Since when do you have a positive attitude about anything, Zoey? I want to direct you to the ‘You Judgemental Bastards’ count. We’re currently standing at forty-nine points because you only know how to be nasty to people.

"No, thankfully. Next semester we'll have to take economics, though. But that couldn't be as bad.”

"Fencing? Intro to Equestrian Studies?”

"I told you they like to keep us in shape. Fencing's okay, even though it's hard. I'm not very good at it, but you do get paired with upperclassmen a lot—kind of like peer instructors, and I'm just sayin', some of those boys are just plain hot! I'm not taking the horse class this semester—they put me in Tae Kwan Do. And I have to tell ya, I love it!”

I’m of mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, having classes that require physical exertion does make sense, but why does it have to be fencing or martial arts or horseback riding? Why can’t it be your normal old physical education?

"Really?" I said doubtfully. Wonder what the horse class would be like?

"Yep. Which elective are you going to pick?”

I glanced back down the list. "Which one are you taking?”

"Intro to Music. Professor Vento is cool, and I, uh…" Stevie Rae grinned and blushed. "I want to be a country music star. I mean, Kenny Chesney,

Name Drop: 41

Faith Hill,

Name Drop: 42

and Shania Twain

Name Drop: 43

are all vamps—and that's just three of them. Heck, Garth Brooks

Name Drop: 44

grew up right here in Oklahoma and you know he's the biggest vamp of them all. So I don't see why I can't be one, too.”

I wonder what all of these people would think if they found out that a set of authors not only changed their species in these books, but also implied that their success in the music industry came about only because they were vampires. Because apparently humans can’t be successful in anything they attempt to do.

And no, Stevie Rae, I don’t know that Garth Brooks is the biggest vamp of them all. What makes him so? What is even the definition of ‘the biggest vamp of them all’?

Finally, just being a vampire shouldn’t guarantee your success in something. You still have to have talent; even if you don’t write your own songs or play the instruments, you still have to be able to sing. Not only that, but even people who can sing aren’t automatically granted a career. It’s very hard to become a successful singer.

I wouldn’t mind someone having confidence that they’ll be able to achieve something; that confidence actually can help you go farther than you would otherwise be able to. But the way that is phrased just makes me think Stevie Rae believes this is going to be a sure thing for her. I don’t know whether she’s just naïve, or if she’s truly delusional.

"Makes perfect sense to me," I said. Why not?

BECAUSE JUST SAYING YOU WANT TO DO SOMETHING DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU WILL BE SUCCESSFUL IN ACTUALLY DOING IT!

"You want to take music with me?”

"That'd be fun if I could sing or play anything resembling an instrument. I can't.”

Have you ever taken the time to practice? Yes, some people are born with the innate ability to sing well, and some people can pick up playing an instrument ridiculously quickly, but both still require practice to be good at it!

"Oh, well, maybe not then.”

"Actually, I was thinking about the drama class. I was in drama at SIHS, and I liked it okay. Do you know anything about Prof. Nolan?”

"Yeah, she's from Texas and has a major accent,

And this matters…why? Accents can be hidden or faked. I’ve seen interviews with people on television, and been blown away to realize that they have a particular accent, because everything I had seen them in before that, they hadn’t had so much as a hint of it.

but she studied drama in New York and everyone likes her.”

I almost laughed out loud when Stevie Rae mentioned Prof. Nolan's accent. The girl twanged so bad she sounded like an ad for a trailer park, but no way was I gonna hurt her feelings by mentioning it.

You Judgemental Bastards: 50

You won’t say it aloud, but you’ll sure as hell make fun of her for it in your mind! Bitch. I guess if you have a thick southern accent, you’re trailer trash. And don’t think I’m exaggerating, either. She’s clearly implying that living in a trailer home means you’re trash.

Go French kiss a pissed-off king cobra, you whore.

"Well, then drama it is.”

"Okay, grab your schedule and let's go. Hey," she said as we hurried out of the room and skipped down the stairs, "maybe you'll be the next Nicole Kidman!”

Name Drop: 45

Well, I guess being the next Nicole Kidman wouldn't be bad (not that I plan on marrying and then divorcing a manic short guy).

No, you’ll just collect your own personal harem. Also…

You Judgemental Bastards: 51

I see that dig at Tom Cruise, ~~Zoey~~ PCK.

Now that Stevie Rae mentioned it, I hadn't really thought much about my future career since the Tracker had thrown my life into complete chaos,

So, for all of one day, then. I’m pretty sure that teenagers can go for longer than twenty-four hours without thinking about what they want to do when they grow up.

but now that I was actually thinking about it I still really wanted to be a veterinarian.

An obese long-haired black and white cat sprinted down the steps in front of us chasing a cat that looked like its clone. With all these cats you'd think that there would definitely be a need for vamp vets. (Hee hee…

STOP THAT, YOU IRRITATING TWIT.

vamp vets…I could call my clinic Vamp Vets, and the ads would read: "We'll take your blood for free!")

Which makes no sense, in more than one way. If it’s a vet clinic, they would have no need for human blood, freely given or not. The ad should be something like, “We’ll take your pets’ blood for free”. And even then, it’s a stupid ad, because you don’t have to pay to donate blood.

Hell, there’s still a way that PCK could have spun this to make it relevant to vampires! Have Zoey joke about setting up a vet clinic where she takes blood in lieu of monetary payments!

The kitchen and living room were crowded with girls eating and talking and hurrying around.

Why are they not eating in the dining hall? Or does it only get used at dinner, and the kids are on their own for breakfast and lunch?

I tried to return some of the hellos I was getting as Stevie Rae introduced me to what seemed like an impossibly confusing stream of girls and keep my concentration on finding a box of Count Chocula.

Name Drop: 46

You know, Zoey, you could be polite and stop looking for food long enough to introduce yourself. You’re not going to starve in the meantime.

Just when I was starting to worry, I found it, hidden behind several massive boxes of Frosted Flakes

Name Drop: 47

(not a bad second choice, but, well, they're not chocolate and they don't have any yummy little marshmallows). Stevie Rae poured a quick bowl of Lucky Charms, and we perched at the kitchen table, eating fast.

Name Drop: 48

Frosted Flakes, Lucky Charms, Count Chocula… You want to try again to tell us how strict the adults are about making sure the fledglings eat healthy foods? Because between all these sugary cereals and the fridge full of sodas, all I’m seeing is junk.

"Hi, Zoey!”

That voice. I knew who it was before I saw Stevie Rae duck her head and stare into her cereal bowl.

Jesus Christ…why not just hide in the corner and piddle on yourself while you’re at it? Why are you so scared of her?!

"Hi, Aphrodite," I said, trying to sound neutral.

"In case I don't see you later I wanted to be sure you know where to go tonight. The Dark Daughters' Full Moon Ritual will start at four A.M., right after the school's ritual.

How many rituals does this place offer? Is the school ritual mandatory? What if you don’t feel like doing them? What if you’re not comfortable performing or participating in any kind of rituals?

You'll miss dinner, but don't worry about that. We'll feed you.

Poison her food, Aphrodite. Please. I’m begging you.

Oh, it's in the rec hall over by the east wall.

It’s in the rec hall? Since it’s called the Full Moon Ritual, you would think it would be done outside, under the full moon. But okay, whatever.

I'll meet you in front of Nyx's Temple before the school ritual so we can go in together, and then I can show you the way to the hall afterward.”

"Actually, I already promised Stevie Rae that I'd meet her and we'd go to the school ritual together.” I really hate pushy people.

You liar. And she’s not being pushy! She just made an offer to meet up with you and show you where to go! There is absolutely nothing pushy about it!

~~Also, shock and surprise, yet another thing Zoey hates.~~

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that." I was pleased to hear Stevie Rae lift her head and say.

Gods, what an absolute bitch Zoey is! Not only is she putting Stevie Rae on the spot and pulling her into the lie, but she’s also throwing Stevie Rae under the bus, because you just know Aphrodite is going to be pissed off that Zoey chose someone else over here to show her around. Stevie Rae is clearly terrified of Aphrodite, and you just painted a giant target on her back. Well done.

"Hey, you know where the rec hall is, don't you?" I asked Stevie Rae in my most perkily clueless voice.

"Yep, I do.”

"Then you can just show me how to get there, right? And that means Aphrodite doesn't have to worry about me getting lost.”

Not that I think Zoey would have to worry about that, even without Stevie Rae’s help. The east wall really shouldn’t be that hard to find; all you have to do is locate the correct direction and walk until you hit a barrier. I don’t think an escort is really necessary for that.

"Anything I can do to help," Stevie Rae chirped, sounding like her old self.

"Problem solved," I said with a big smile at Aphrodite.

"Okay. Fine. I'll see you at four A.M. Don't be late.” She twitched off.

What, is she having a seizure or something?

"If she shakes her butt any more when she walks she's gonna break something," I said.

Stevie Rae snorted and almost spewed milk from her nose. Coughing, she said, "Don't do that while I'm eating!"

Oh, shut up, you shameless little brown-noser. That wasn’t even funny.

Then she swallowed and smiled at me. "You didn't let her boss you around.”

"Neither did you.” I slurped the last spoonful of cereal.

I hope you choke.

"Ready?”

"Ready. Okay, this'll be easy. Your first hour is right next to my first hour. All of the third former core classes are in the same hall. Come on—I'll point you in the right direction and you'll be set.”

I really don’t think this is necessary. When I was in high school, I had classes in four different buildings, and I didn’t need anyone to hold my hand and show me around. I figured it out for myself, and so did everyone else.

We rinsed off our dishes and stuffed them in one of the five dishwashers, then hurried outside into the darkness of a beautiful fall evening. Jeesh, it was weird going to school at night, even if my body was telling me that everything was normal. We followed the flow of students through one of the thick wooden doors.

"Third Former Hall is just over here," Stevie Rae said, guiding me around a corner and up a short flight of stairs.

"Is that a bathroom?" I asked as we hurried past water fountains situated between two doors.

No, it’s a tanning salon. Bathrooms typically have signs on them, telling you that they’re bathrooms. How stupid are you that you can’t read those signs and have to ask if that’s what they are?

"Yep," she said. "Here's my class, and there's yours right next door. See you after class!”

"Okay, thanks," I called.

At least the bathroom was close. If I had a case of raging nervous- stomach diarrhea I wouldn't have far to run.

STOP TALKING ABOUT YOUR DISGUSTING BOWEL MOVEMENTS. NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT IT! That’s twice now that we’ve had to hear about your loose stool, and that’s two times too many, in my opinion.

Speshul Snowflake: 71
Down With the Sickness: 65
Name Drop: 48
You Judgemental Bastards: 51