richellemead-vampireacademy01-vampireacademy-110824015328-phpapp02

Thirteen
THE AFTERMATH OF JESSE AND Ralf's lies was about as horrible as I'd expected. The only
way I survived was by putting blinders on, by ignoring everyone and everything. It kept me
sane—barely—but I hated it. I felt like crying all the time. I lost my appetite and didn't sleep
well.
Yet, no matter how bad it got for me, I didn't worry about myself as much as I did Lissa. She
stood by her promise to change things. It was slow at first, but gradually, I would see a royal or
two come up to her at lunch or in class and say hello. She'd turn on a brilliant smile, laughing
and talking to them like they were all best friends.
At first, I didn't understand how she was pulling it off. She'd told me she would use compulsion
to win the other royals over and turn them against Mia. But I didn't see it happening. It was
possible, of course, that she was winning people over without compulsion. After all, she was
funny, smart, and nice. Anyone would like her. Something told me she wasn't winning friends
the old-fashioned way, and I finally figured it out.
She was using compulsion when I wasn't around. I only saw her for a small part of the day, and
since she knew I didn't approve, she only worked her power when I was away.
After a few days of this secret compulsion, I knew what I needed to do: I had to get back in her
head again. By choice. I'd done it before; I could do it again.
At least, that's what I told myself, sitting and spacing out in Stan's class one day. But it wasn't
as easy as I'd thought it would be, partly because I felt too keyed up to relax and open myself to
her thoughts. I also had trouble because I picked a time when she felt relatively calm. She came
through the "loudest" when her emotions were running strong.
Still, I tried to do what I'd done before, back when I'd spied on her and Christian. The
meditation thing. Slow breathing. Eyes closed. Mental focus like that still wasn't easy for me,
but at long last I managed the transition, slipping into her head and experiencing the world as