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particularly anxiety and excitement. It had to be hard hanging out all night with a guy you didn't
really like.
About ten minutes after the dance's start time, I decided to clean up and take a shower. When I
came back down the hall from the bathroom, a towel wrapped around my head, I saw Mason
standing outside my door. He wasn't exactly dressed up, but he also wasn't wearing jeans. It
was a start.
"There you are, party girl. I was about ready to give up.”
"Did you start another fire? No guys allowed in this hall.”
"Whatever. Like that makes a difference." True. The school might be able to keep Strigoi out,
but they did a horrible job at keeping the rest of us away from each other. "Let me in. You've
got to get ready.”
It took me a minute to realize what he meant. "No. I'm not going.”
"Come on," he prodded, following me inside. "'Cause you had a fight with Lissa? You guys are
going to make up soon. No reason for you to stay here all night. If you don't want to be around
her, Eddie's getting a group together over in his room later.”
My old, fun-loving spirit perked its head up just a bit. No Lissa. Probably no royals. "Yeah?”
Seeing that he was starting to get me, Mason grinned. Looking at his eyes, I realized again how
much he liked me. And again I wondered, Why couldn't I just have a normal boyfriend? Why
did I want my hot, older mentor—the mentor I'd probably end up getting fired?
"It'll just be novices," Mason continued, oblivious to my thoughts. "And I have a surprise for
you when we get there.”
"Is it in a bottle?" If Lissa wanted to ignore me, I had no reason to keep myself sober.
"No, that's at Eddie's. Hurry up and get dressed. I know you aren't wearing that.”
I looked down at my ripped jeans and University of Oregon T-shirt. Yeah. Definitely not
wearing this.