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Victoria nodded, noncommittal
Blithely Penny continued "So why’d you move to Oklahoma, of all places? Isn’t that, like, hickville to soh with the inquisition," Mary Ann said on a sigh Victoria had only attended the school for a feeeks, but the vampire had held herself aloof from everyone except Aden, Mary Ann and Riley all that ti she would be here or what her father, Vlad, would order her to do And really, she considered huh Mary Ann liked to think the va because of Aden Aden Where are you? Had Riley found him already?
Riley Hurry up! Every minute he ay, her worry for him increased And for Aden, of course With that du over their heads…oh, God She hadn’t needed the re else Couldn’t…breathe…
She’d been on edge all day She’d been distracted, too, and had no idea what her first three classes had even covered
Victoria’s gaze met hers, and they shared a moment of silent communication
Entertain me, Mary Ann mouthed
I can’t You entertain me, Victoria ood kind
A joke The first she’d ever heard Victoria tell, though she doubted Victoria realized the hurin Entertainment achieved Intended or not
"When will this day end?" an exasperated Victoria asked everyone at the table
"Not soon enough," Pennynow? She’d seeo
"I--I--like it here," Shannon said, stuttering slightly He’d ad teased about that stutter his entire life, but it was getting less pronounced every day "You kno r-rare it is to meet someone who accepts you for who you are?"
Now she did Now that she knew she merely calmed people with otherworldly powers, and they weren’t actually charmed by her But whatever Riley liked her for herself Oh, the things he’d said to her this h off those coh the rooet in a line--tacos and pizza slices were on today’sto find their friends in the vast bench-filled cavern that was the cafeteria Plain white walls circled the on your perspective) by the occasional poster proclaih today and suddenly scraped at Mary Ann’s nerves
"Hey, Penny Wanna come to my house later?" a jock asked as he strutted past their table The boys around him chuckled "We can study anatomy"
Penny’s cheeks reddened
"Jackass," Mary Ann shouted, her hands fisting Some of the conversations around her tapered to quiet, andwas unlike her, but the word had just sprung fronant With Mary Ann’s ex-boyfriend’s baby That had been hard to get over, since the two had cheated on her And really, she was still dealing with lingering feelings of hurt and distrust, but she loved Penny and orking on forgiveness Still That didn’t ht to tease her
The jocks stopped, facing Mary Ann as one A frowning Shane Weston stepped to the front, big and strong and clearly angry "You better shut your mouth, Gray Tucker isn’t here to protect you anymore"
Mary Ann opened herAnything She reood at confrontation, and nohen she needed the courage Riley had praised, she found none Shaht," Shane said with a laugh
"G-get the h-hell out of here," Shannon suddenly growled
"What? Are we ry? Whatever, Stutter" Laughing again, Shane and his gang wandered off
"Shall I kill him for you?" Victoria asked without any inflection in her tone
"Yes," Penny snapped as Mary Ann rushed out, "No" Penny had no idea that Victoria really would do it Her fangs were hidden right now, but she could drain Shane Weston dry in seconds
Victoria shrugged "If you change your e Mary Ann’s mind I’m all for jockicide" Penny pushed to her feet as if she hadn’t a care, but hurt lingered in her eyes "Anyway, I’ve got a paper due next hour, and I haven’t even started it"
"N-need help?" Shannon asked, standing before she could answer
He meant to protect her, Mary Ann realized, in case anyone else insulted her That brought tears to her eyes, because dang it, she missed her own protector
Penny blinked in surprise, but strode around the table and linked their arood with Sylvia Plath?"
"No"
"Excellent You can help hed as they walked off, Penny throwing a ser-wave over her shoulder at Mary Ann
Alone at last
Mary Ann propped her elbows on the table and leaned toward Victoria "We’ve got to work on your…humanness" Was that even a word?