richellemead-vampireacademy01-vampireacademy-110824015328-phpapp02

"I know. Ignore them.”
"I hate it," she said angrily. A surge of darkness shot up into her and through the bond. It made
me cringe. My best friend was lighthearted and kind. She didn't have feelings like that. "I hate
all the gossip. It's so stupid. How can they all be so shallow?”
"Ignore them," I repeated soothingly. "You were smart not to hang out with them anymore.”
Ignoring them grew harder and harder, though. The whispers and looks increased. In animal
behavior, it became so bad, I couldn't even concentrate on my now-favorite subject. Ms.
Meissner had started talking about evolution and survival of the fittest and how animals sought
mates with good genes. It fascinated me, but even she had a hard time staying on task, since she
had to keep yelling at people to quiet down and pay attention.
"Something's going on," I told Lissa between classes. "I don't know what, but they're all over
something new.”
"Something else? Other than the queen hating me? What more could there be?”
"Wish I knew.”
Things finally came to a head in our last class of the day, Slavic art. It started when a guy I
barely knew made a very explicit and nearly obscene suggestion to me while we all worked on
individual projects. I replied in kind, letting him know exactly what he could do with his
request.
He only laughed. "Come on, Rose. I bleed for you.”
Loud giggles ensued, and Mia cut us a taunting look. "Wait, it's Rose who does the bleeding,
right?”
More laughter. Understanding slapped me in the face. I jerked Lissa away. "They know.”
"Know what?”
"About us. About how you…you know, how I fed you while we were gone.”
She gaped. "How?”