richellemead-vampireacademy01-vampireacademy-110824015328-phpapp02

"Hey, Natalie," I said, turning around and cutting her off. She didn't seem to notice or mind.
"Who's Aaron's new girlfriend?”
"Huh? Oh. Mia Rinaldi." Seeing my blank look, she asked, "Don't you remember her?”
"Should I? Was she here when we left?”
"She's always been here," said Natalie. "She's only a year younger than us.”
I shot a questioning look at Lissa, who only shrugged.
"Why is she so pissed off at us?" I asked. "Neither of us know her.”
"I don't know," answered Natalie. "Maybe she's jealous about Aaron. She wasn't much of
anybody when you guys left. She got really popular really fast. She isn't royal or anything, but
once she started dating Aaron, she—”
"Okay, thanks," I interrupted. "It doesn't really—”
My eyes lifted up from Natalie's face to Jesse Zeklos's, just as he passed by our table. Ah, Jesse.
I'd forgotten about him. I liked flirting with Mason and some of the other novices, but Jesse was
in an entirely different category. You flirted with the other guys simply for the sake of flirting.
You flirted with Jesse in the hopes of getting semi-naked with him. He was a royal Moroi, and
he was so hot, he should have worn a WARNING: FLAMMABLE sign. He met my eyes and
grinned.
"Hey Rose, welcome back. You still breaking hearts?”
"Are you volunteering?”
His grin widened. "Let's hang out sometime and find out. If you ever get parole.”
He kept walking, and I watched him admiringly. Natalie and her friends stared at me in awe. I
might not be a god in the Dimitri sense, but with this group, Lissa and I were gods— or at least
former gods—of another nature.
"Oh my gawd," exclaimed one girl. I didn't remember her name. "That was Jesse.”