“Hey,” she said. The wide bandage was gone, replaced by two neat stitches. She wore a Helios-Ra Academy T-shirt with the rising sun logo and yoga pants. “I heard you guys had quite a night.”

“Yeah, between the Hel-Blar and the Huntsmen, life is never dull,” I agreed. “But they have nothing on Tyson. He’s way tougher to outsmart.” I showed her the essay he’d marked. It was practically dipped in red ink.

Jenna made a sympathetic face, then took a closer look. She rolled her eyes. “Well, no wonder. Helios-Ra don’t wear spandex tights and capes. We’re not superheroes.”

“But you kind of think you are.” I winked. “I just wrote that to see if he was paying attention.”

“You wrote it because you’re a brat,” he muttered.

I beamed at him. “Now you sound like one of the Drake brothers.” I shoved my new crop of books into my knapsack. “But despite your sweet talk, I have to go. I was supposed to pass on a message to Hunter from Quinn,” I lied. I didn’t go far. I just hid in the next aisle, peeping at them between the books.

“How’s your head?” I heard Tyson ask her.

“I’m cleared for class again.” She rubbed her hands together gleefully. “I’m going to go watch the sparring match in the gym and then run a few laps.” It was saying a lot when my vampire friends weren’t my weirdest friends. Hunter and Jenna just loved running laps way too much. And Jenna, apparently, loved it more than Tyson. I mentally apologized to him. I’d been so sure they’d at least make really good friends.

Then Jenna paused, her red ponytails swinging. “Are you coming?” she asked him over her shoulder.

He practically concussed himself with his own bag in his hurry to follow her. I popped my hand out for a high five as he passed my aisle. He obliged, trying not to grin, and took off. I snuck out the back door, also grinning. I decided to go visit Hunter anyway since we had an hour to kill before the next round of classes. I knocked on the door.

“Go away,” Chloe yelled.

“It’s me,” I yelled back. She was notorious for scaring all the ninth-grade students who came to talk to Hunter, since she was their floor monitor. Half of them had memorized Chloe’s schedule so they wouldn’t run into her.

“Oh. Come in, Lucy.” She was sitting on the edge of her bed eating chocolate. Hunter stood by the window, staring out at the pond with a weird look on her face. She forced a smile before going back to brooding. Since she wasn’t usually a brooder, I felt instant trepidation. Solange hadn’t been a brooder either.

“Please tell me you’re not possessed too,” I said. Hunter half smiled in response. Her eyes were a little red. “What’s wrong?”

“Her grandfather just hung up on her again,” Chloe explained.

“That sucks,” I said. Her grandfather was an old-school vampire hunter and as long as Hunter was dating Quinn, he refused to acknowledge her.

“It’s fine. I’m used to it.”

“Still sucks,” I said.

She nodded. “Really does.”

“Shouldn’t you be eating chocolate?” I asked. “Guaranteed cure-all.” I motioned at Chloe. “Give her some.”

“She didn’t want it,” Chloe said. “And you can’t have it.” She stuffed the rest into her mouth, nearly choking.

Hunter chuckled. “I swear she’s going to choke to death on chocolate one day,” she said. “I feel sorry for whoever has to write her epitaph.”

Chloe swallowed. “Please, if I had a boyfriend as hot as Quinn, I wouldn’t need so much chocolate,” she said. “Making out would be my new preferred therapy for everything all the time. Stress, bad marks, splinters. Basically, why aren’t you kissing him right now?”

Hunter smiled, looking more like herself. “Because I’m in the sparring match in ten minutes.” She grabbed her gym bag. “So I should go.”

Chloe looked disappointed, as if Hunter had personally betrayed her. “You are wasting a perfectly hot Drake brother.”

She smiled wickedly. “I’m seeing him tonight.”

Chloe sighed. “Take pictures.”

Hunter glanced at me. “Does this happen to you?”

I thought of my friend Nathan and his crush on Nicholas. “All the time,” I confirmed. “You get used to it.”

“I guess I should go to the match and cheer her on,” Chloe said reluctantly.

“Careful, all that enthusiasm will wear you right out.”

She grimaced. “Since Dailey and her weird-ass drugs are gone, and Mom’s weird-ass steroids are out of my system, I just don’t care as much. I’d rather break through Bellwood’s personal firewalls and encryption codes. There are secret e-mails flying around the League,” she said. “And I want in.” She grabbed her laptop. “What about you? Want to watch Hunter wipe the floor with some guy twice her size?”

“Actually, that does sounds like fun,” I agreed as we headed to the front door. “But I’m going to the Drake farm.”

“What, all the detention we already have isn’t enough for you?”

“I have permission this time,” I said.

“It’s still daylight,” she pointed out.

I glanced at the sky. The sun wasn’t anywhere near enough to the horizon. “I know. I’ll just study over there.”