Big Vamp on Campus - Molly Harper Page 0,13

while we lived in the same room and could only stay awake for twelve hours of the night.

I wouldn’t have minded having a near-private room if Jamie had been around to make good use of it, but he’d also been scarce for the last week. The baseball team’s coaching staff was interviewing finalists for the student trainer positions so they could come up with an effective training schedule before spring. It was an honor for Jamie to be considered as a first-year student, even if the same coaching staff had scouted him seriously when he’d been a human student at Half-Moon Hollow High. I was happy for him but annoyed that he would have even less time in his schedule for me.

I’d filled the hours well enough. I’d worked ahead in the reading lists for several of my classes, worked ahead on the semester-long project for my economics class. Hell, I’d even joined the ladies of my floor in a Saturday “mock the teen vampire romance” movie night. I’d yet to clean Brianna’s side of the room, though. I hadn’t reached that level of boredom.

I had, however, voluntarily gone to Tina’s office after the orientation seminar earlier that evening, reacting to the first summons rather than waiting for her to leave me multiple notes on the message board on my bedroom door. Tina had been calling on me in class more often lately. And I hoped that an immediate response would keep me from having to parrot information about appropriate use of the campus intranet or why asking living classmates if you could “borrow a pint” might be unnerving.

In Tina’s office, I marveled that she’d managed to stuff even more tchotchkes into her personal space. “You rang?”

Tina took a pair of half-moon reading glasses off her nose and slid them over her hair, apparently unaware that she already had a pair perched on top of her head. She pinched the bridge of her nose in a gesture I knew had more to do with eye strain than frustration with me, because I hadn’t had time to annoy her properly.

“How are the plans for the mixer coming?” she asked, blinking owlishly as I sank into one of her office chairs.

I was not about to hand this woman a reason to take her obviously bad mood out on me. So I gave her a smile as cool and smooth as glass. “Beautifully, thank you.”

Tina tilted her fuzzy head and stared at me, her expression skeptical. “And I’m assuming that Galadriel is having equal input into the plans?”

Irritated with Tina’s insistence on honoring my roommate’s insipid moniker, I huffed. “Brianna has had some very interesting suggestions.”

“That is not an actual answer.”

“And yet it’s the only one you’re going to get,” I said sweetly.

Tina huffed out an annoyed breath.

“Oh, come on, Tina. You have to admit I’ve been a model student lately. I’ve participated in class. I’ve turned in assignments, complete and on time. Is it so hard to believe I would do what you’ve asked me to do for my punishment?”

Tina sighed. “No. And yes, you’re right. I have noticed an improvement in your attitude lately. I’m sorry if I don’t seem to appreciate that. Please don’t use that as an excuse to have a setback.”

“I will also try not to find that statement incredibly insulting,” I deadpanned.

“Thank you,” she said, sliding her glasses back onto her nose.

I rose from my seat and adjusted the weight of the book bag that took every ounce of my supernatural strength to tote.

“Oh, by the way, Jane asked me to have you write down a list of all the contacts you have on or near campus.”

“As in Jamie and Ben? Because those are the only two people I know socially.”

“I believe by contacts she means any operatives you might have used while working for the Council.”

I looked down at the printed request she’d handed me, which had indeed been marked with Jane’s sadly simple signature. I frowned. This was humiliating. Jane had no right to question me like this. I hadn’t been in contact with my old network in weeks. Why was she bringing this up now?

I gritted my teeth, feeling my fangs grind against my lower jaw. She had me over a barrel. Jane knew I couldn’t refuse the request. She knew I had to cooperate fully with her and Tina or face losing the Council’s good humor. It was exactly the sort of leverage I would have used against a subordinate in years past.