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Was there not, like, a furniture-creating spell or so low table that held all the food: big heaping silver bowls of shriooeychocolate cake, easily three feet tall, covered in dark crea and dotted with thick red strawberries

"This is a first-night spread only," Jenna warned

Once I had piled h, Jenna and I looked around for a place to sit I saw Elodie, Chaston, and Anna sitting at a glass-top table near the end of the room, so I immediately started to look for a table far away from them There were a couple of empty spots available at nearly every table, and I could hear , "Now, Sophie, please make an effort to meet new people"

But Mom wasn't here, and I could see that Jenna wasn't really in the mood to socialize either Then I spotted a small white table near the doors, and pointed it out to Jenna

It looked like it had once been used for soirl's tea party, but it was the only table for two, so, you know, beggars, choosers, and all that

I sat in one of the little white chairs My knees thwacked into the edge of the table, causing Jenna to snort with laughter

While I devoured the delicious food on my plate, I asked Jenna questions about various people in the dining hall I started with the huge ebony table that sat on a raised platform at one end of the room It was clearly the teachers' table, since not only was it the nicest, it was also the biggest Besides Mrs Casnoff picking at her salad at the head of the table, there were five other adults--two men and three wos, and Jenna told uson, a shifter

On his right was a young wolasses like Jenna's She was so fair-skinned I guessed she was the vampire Mrs Casnoff had mentioned earlier, but Jenna said she was actually Ms East, a white witch

"The guy next to her, he's the vah a uy in his thirties with black curly hair "Lord Byron"

I snorted "Oh God, how angsty can you be, na yourself after a dead poet?"

But Jenna just looked at me "No, he's the real Lord Byron"

Noasway! Like, 'She Walks in Beauty' and all that? He's a vampire?"

"Yup," Jenna confir in Greece The Council actually held hi tio back to England and turn everybody into vampires When they opened this place, they sentenced hi the guy I'd written a paper about last year boldly scowl at all of us "How bad would that suck to be immortal and have to spend eternity here?"

Then I re ata forkful of pie into herlife at Hecate, trust me"

I wanted to ask Jenna some more questions about what it was like to know you'd live forever I et to do that Even faeries will blink out eventually, and witches and shifters don't live any longer than regular people

Instead I gestured to the tall wo across the table froroaned "Ugh Ms Vanderlyden Or the Vandy as we all call her Not to her face," she quickly added "Do that and you'll never get out of detention She's a dark witch, or at least she was The Council stripped her of her powers years ago Now she's kind of like our dor, and she teaches PE or what passes for it at Hex

She's in charge ofsure we follow the rules and stuff She's also totally evil"

"She's wearing a scrunchie," I said I had rocked some scrunchies in ht of wearing one as a grooic

"I know" Jenna shook her head "We have this theory that it's her Portable Portal to hell You know, she just stretches it out and steps through whenever she needs to recharge her evilness"

I laughed, even as I wondered if Jenna was actually being serious

"There's also a groundskeeper," Jenna added "Callahan, but we all call hiht"

Weat a table with a bunch of other guys They were laughing at so I really hoped it wasn't the "Bad Dog" story "What about that guy?" I asked with forced casualness

"Archer Cross, resident bad boy and total heartthrob Warlock Every girl here is at least, like, half in love with hiht as well be a class"

"What about you?" I asked "You have a crush on hi, "He's not really my type"

"What, you don't do tall, dark, and handsouys"

"Oh," was all I could say to that I'd never had a gay friend Then again, I'd never really had a lot of friends

Still looking at Archer, I said, "Yeah, well, I attempted to kill him earlier"

After Jenna recovered from the sweet tea that nearly shot out of her nose, I filled her in on the actual story

"Mrs Casnoff didn't seem very impressed with him," I said

"She wouldn't be Archer was always in trouble last year Then he left in the middle of the school year for almost a ht he went to London"

"Why? So he could ride one of those double-decker buses?"

Jenna gave me a funny look "No, London is where Council headquarters is Everybody thought he'd gone through the Removal"