Bloodlines Page 0,34

time, and it was both startling and luxurious to think I now had a class whose sole purpose was to learn about this and that my knowledge would be valued - by the teacher, at least.

I parted ways with Eddie after that and went off to AP Chemistry. While I was waiting for class to start, Trey slid into a desk beside me.

"So, Miss Melbourne," he said, imitating Ms. Terwilliger's voice. "When will you be starting up your own history class?"

I was sorry Ms. Terwilliger had picked on him, but I didn't like his tone. "Are you actually taking this class? Or are you going to lounge around some more and pretend to be helping the teacher?"

This brought a grin to his face. "Oh, I'm in this one, unfortunately. And I was Ms. T's best student last year. If you're as good at chemistry as you are in history, then I'm nabbing you for a lab partner. I'll be able to take the whole semester off."

Chemistry was a crucial part of the Alchemists' trade, and I doubted there was anything in this class I didn't already know. The Alchemists had arisen in the Middle Ages as "magical scientists" trying to turn lead into gold. From those early experiments, they'd gone on to discover the special properties of vampire blood and how it reacted with other substances, eventually branching out into the crusade to keep vampires and humans separate from one another. That earlier scientific background, and our current work with vampire blood, made chemistry one of the main subjects of my childhood education. I'd received my first chemistry set when I was six. When other kids were practicing the alphabet, my father was grilling me with acid and base flash cards. Unable to admit as much to Trey, I averted my eyes and casually brushed hair from my face. "I'm okay in it."

His gaze moved to my cheek, and a look of understanding came over him. "Ah. So that's it."

"What's it?" I asked.

He pointed to my face. "Your tattoo. That's what it does, huh?"

In moving my hair, I'd revealed the gold lily. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"You don't have to play coy with me," he said, rolling his dark eyes. "I get it. I mean, it seems like cheating to me, but I guess not everyone cares about honor. Pretty ballsy to have it on your face, though. They're against the dress code, you know - not that that stops anyone."

I shifted and let my hair fall back into place. "I know. I meant to put makeup on it and forgot. But what do you mean about cheating?"

He simply shook his head in a way that clearly said I'd been dismissed. I sat there feeling helpless, wondering what I'd done wrong. Soon, my confusion was replaced by dismay as our instructor gave us an introduction to the class and its setup. I had a chemistry set back in my room that was more extensive than Amberwood's. Oh well. I supposed a little elementary review wouldn't hurt me.

My other classes progressed in a similar way. I was on top of all my subjects and found myself answering every question. This got me in good with my teachers, but I couldn't gauge the rest of my classmates' reactions. I still saw a lot of rueful head shakes and intrigued expressions - but only Trey actually condemned. I didn't know if I should hold back or not.

I ran into Kristin and Julia a couple of times, and they reminded me to join them for lunch. I did, finding them sitting in a corner table in East's cafeteria. They waved me over, and as I wove through the rows of tables, I did a quick scan, hoping to see Jill. I hadn't run into her all day, but that wasn't too shocking, considering our schedules. Presumably, she was eating over at the other cafeteria, maybe with Eddie or Micah.

Kristin and Julia were friendly, chatting me up about how my first day had gone and imparting wisdom about certain teachers they'd had before. They were seniors like me, and we shared a couple classes. We spent most of lunch exchanging basic info, like where we were all from. It wasn't until lunch was winding down that I began to get answers to some of the questions that had been bugging me all day. Although it required wading through still more questions first.

"So," said Kristin, leaning across the table. "Does it just give you a