Mother."
"Good, now walk us back to the reception hall so that we can mingle with the others."
"Can I please stay here for a little while? I'm really not feeling very well."
"Absolutely not. What would people say?" her mother said. "Pull yourself together. You'll escort us back to the hall and you'll be gracious about it. Now."
Aphrodite was slowly standing up from the bench, and heart beating so hard I was afraid it would give me away, I hurried back down the path till I came to the fork that would take me out of the courtyard. Then I practically ran from the garden. I thought about what I'd overheard all the way back to the dorm. I believed that I had nightmare parents, but they were like The Brady Bunch mom and dad (hello--I watch Nickelodeon re runs like everyone else) compared to Aphrodite's hateful, power-freak parents. Much as I hated to admit it, what I saw tonight made me understand why Aphrodite acted like she did. I mean, what would I be like if I hadn't had Grandma Redbird to love me and support me and help me grow a backbone these past three years? And that was something else, too. My mom had been nor mal. Sure, she'd been stressed out and overworked, but she'd been normal for the first thirteen of my almost seventeen years of life. It was only after she married John that she changed. So I'd had a good mom and a fantastic grandma. What if I hadn't? What if all I'd ever known was how it had been for the past three years--me being an unwanted outsider in my own family? I might have turned out like Aphrodite, and I might still be let ting my parents control me because I was hoping desperately that I would be good enough, make them proud enough, so that some day they would really love me. It made me see Aphrodite with totally new eyes, which I wasn't particularly thrilled about.
Chapter Three
"Yeah, Zoey, I understand what you're sayin' and all, but hello! Part of what you overheard was that Aphrodite is gonna try to set you up so that she can get you kicked out of the Dark Daughter leadership, so don't go feeling too darn sorry for her," Stevie Rae said. "I know--I know. I'm not getting all warm and fuzzy about her. I'm just saying that after overhearing her with her psycho parents I understand why she is like she is." We were walking to first hour. Well, actually, Stevie Rae and I were practically running to first hour. As usual, we were almost late. I knew I shouldn't have had that second bowl of Count Chocula. Stevie Rae rolled her eyes. "And you say I'm too nice."
"I'm not being nice. I'm being understanding. But under standing doesn't change the fact that Aphrodite acts like a hag bitch from hell." Stevie Rae made a snorting noise and shook her head, causing her blond curls to bounce like she was a little girl. Her short cut was odd at the House of Night where everyone, even most of the guys, had ridiculously long, thick hair. Okay, my hair has always been long, but still--it was really weird when I first got here and was bombarded with hair hair hair. Now it made perfect sense. Part of the physical Change that happens as we become vampyres is that our hair and nails grow abnormally fast. After a little prac tice, you can tell what year a fledgling is without checking the crest on her jacket. Vampyres looked different than humans (not bad different--just different), so it's only logical that as a fledg ling passes through more and more of the Change her body looks different, too. "Zoey, you're so not paying attention."
"Huh?"
"I said, don't let your guard down about Aphrodite. Yes, she has nightmare parents. Yes, they're controlling and manipulating her. Whatever. She's still hateful and mean and vindictive. Watch out for her."
"Hey, don't worry. I will."
"Okay, good. I'll see you third hour."
"See ya," I called to her back. Jeesh, she was such a worrier. I hurried into class and had just taken my seat in the desk next to Damien, who raised an eyebrow at me and said, "Another two-bowl morning?" when the bell rang and Neferet swept into the room. Okay, I know it's bordering on weird (or maybe queer is the better word choice) to continually notice how gorgeous a woman is when