richellemead-vampireacademy01-vampireacademy-110824015328-phpapp02

We had been out in the woods near campus one evening, having skipped out on our last class.
I'd traded a pair of cute, rhinestone-studded sandals to Abby Badica for a bottle of peach
schnapps—desperate, yes, but you did what you had to in Montana—which she'd somehow
gotten hold of. Lissa had shaken her head in disapproval when I suggested cutting class to go
put the bottle out of its misery, but she'd come along anyway. Like always.
We found an old log to sit on near a scummy green marsh. A half-moon cast a tiny sliver of
light on us, but it was more than enough for vampires and half-vampires to see by. Passing the
bottle back and forth, I grilled her on Aaron. She'd fessed up that the two of them had had sex
the weekend before, and I felt a surge of jealousy that she'd been the one to have sex first.
"So what was it like?”
She shrugged and took another drink. "I don't know. It wasn't anything.”
"What do you mean it wasn't anything? Didn't the earth move or the planets align or
something?”
"No," she said, smothering a laugh. "Of course not.”
I didn't really get why that should be funny, but I could tell she didn't want to talk about it. This
was around the time the bond had begun forming, and her emotions were starting to creep into
me now and then. I held up the bottle and glared at it.
"I don't think this stuff is working.”
"That's because there's barely any alcohol in—”
The sound of something moving in the brush came from nearby. I immediately shot up, putting
my body between her and the noise.
"It's some animal," she said when a minute went by in silence.
That didn't mean it wasn't dangerous. The school's wards kept out Strigoi, but wild animals
often wandered into the outskirts of campus, posing their own threats. Bears. Cougars.
"Come on," I told her. "Let's head back.”