People laughed. Skye flushed with shame; the taunt struck too close to the truth. What had happened to Mr. Lovejoy was, however indirectly, because of her.
And it was one more reminder that school was not just unbearable now—it was also unsafe. If Redgrave or any of the other vampires came in here, who was going to stop them? The elderly school secretary who sweetly asked visitors for their ID at the front door? Not likely.
Maybe it was ridiculous to think that vampires would come barging into Darby Glen High, but she didn’t know how far they’d go, or what they would or wouldn’t risk. Surely they wouldn’t want to kidnap her in public. But who knows?
She’d gotten up early enough in the morning to walk to the bus while her parents were going to their cars. That wasn’t much protection, but it was something. Here at school, she was totally exposed.
To everything, including Britnee Fong.
“Should we be quieter?” Britnee was perched on the edge of Craig’s desk; he’d hitched two of his fingers through a belt loop at the waist of her denim skirt. “Because, like, won’t they come in here? And tell us to shut up? Then we’ll get a substitute?”
Madison glanced at Skye, like My God, that girl is stupid, before she said, “Do you seriously think that we’re not getting a sub? Is your big plan for us to just sit in here silently all semester and hope they don’t notice Mr. Lovejoy is out?”
“It’s weird they haven’t gotten anyone in here already,” Craig said quickly, obviously trying to stand up for his dimwit girlfriend. “The other teachers are probably pissed off by now.”
Probably this was true, Skye thought—in the absence of Mr. Lovejoy, her homeroom had gone from hushed voices to the verge of anarchy. So far, the drawings on the dry-erase board weren’t obscene, but they’d probably get there in five more minutes. Wasn’t it bad enough that she was going to have to go through every school day in fear for her life without everybody being completely obnoxious in the bargain? She slumped down over her desk.
Madison said, “Be careful, Britnee. You don’t want Craig’s desk to collapse under the weight.”
Skye looked up, startled by how seriously bitchy that was; it was nice that Madison stuck up for her, but that had been mean. Britnee chewed on her lower lip as she slid off Craig’s desk. Craig gave Madison his most searching stare—and he could really do that, look at you like he was looking into your soul. Madison didn’t seem to notice or care. Then he glanced at Skye, and she knew exactly what he was thinking: This is the kind of person you want to be friends with?
Which was judgmental of him. Madison’s jokes were only meant to make Skye feel better, even if they were a little out of line. Plus, what right did Craig have to judge anybody? He was the one who had dumped her while she was still grieving for Dakota, and only a short while after they’d slept together for the first time.
Skye deliberately turned to Madison and said, “So has anybody come up with anything interesting to do in Darby Glen since I left? Or is Café Keats still the only game in town?”
“Pretty much.” Madison tossed her coppery ringlets as she frowned at a chip on one manicured nail. “But, hey, basketball’s started back up. We can go to the game tonight. That’s something, anyway.”
Craig was the basketball team’s star forward, so Skye figured the game was the last place she wanted to be … even if it weren’t exposed to vampire attack, which was definitely reason enough on its own to say no. As she started to make an excuse, though, the door to their classroom opened and Principal Zaslow walked in. Everybody fell silent at once as people dove for their desks.
Skye gaped as Balthazar walked in after the principal.
He’d brushed his hair back and put on glasses, which made him look older, but no less hot. Instead of the dark jeans and long coat he’d worn yesterday, Balthazar now had on pressed slacks and a tweed coat over a sweater vest—and somehow he made even that look hot.
The hush in the room took on a different quality the minute Balthazar walked into it, signaling the rapt attention of nearly all the girls and at least a couple of the guys. Madison leaned closer to Skye and murmured, “Oh, my God. This semester just started looking a whole lot better.”
Taking her glasses from the beaded chain around her neck and putting them on her nose, Principal Zaslow said, “As all of you know, Mr. Lovejoy is looking at a long hospital stay and recovery. Luckily, we’ve already arranged for a full-time substitute. Mr. More will be taking over both homeroom and history teaching duties from now until Mr. Lovejoy can return to us. I trust you’ll show him a warm Minuteman welcome, and your full attention and respect.”
“That’s not all I’d show him,” Madison whispered, and a couple of girls nearby sighed as if to say, Me too.
Skye could hardly do more than stare as the principal walked out and Balthazar wrote his name on the board. “Hello, everyone. As you can see, it’s More with one o, not two—pet peeve of mine.”
“More as in give me more.” Madison’s crush was clearly already in full swing.
Balthazar had to have heard that—he had powers and abilities nobody else in this room could guess—and it hit Skye all at once: Nobody knows the substitute teacher is a vampire.
She put her hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh. Although Balthazar looked reasonably confident to anybody who didn’t know him well, Skye knew him well enough to realize that, six weeks ago, he’d been on the other side of the classroom and now had no idea what to do. “I know we’re all thinking of Mr. Lovejoy and hoping he’ll recover soon. I was called in at the last minute, and I admit, I’m going to need some time to get up to speed. For today, you should treat this class as an extra study hall. We’ll dive in again tomorrow.”