Bloodlines

From the way his attention focused solely on her, it was obvious that the "if you need anything" was directed at Jill, and her blush showed that she knew too. She smiled, holding his gaze a moment, and then looked away shyly. I would've found it cute, if not for the alarming prospect it presented. Jill was in a school full of humans. It was absolutely out of the question for her to date one, and guys like Micah couldn't be encouraged. Eddie didn't appear to care about the comment, but it seemed to be more because he was still troubled about Micah in general.

Micah called our group to attention and began the orientation. The first part of it was simply a tour of the grounds. We followed him around, in and out of air conditioning, as he showed us the important buildings. He explained the shuttle system, and we rode it up to West Campus, which was almost a mirror of East. Boys and girls were allowed in each other's dorms, with limitations, and he explained those rules as well, which caused some grumbling.

Recalling the formidable Mrs. Weathers, I felt sorry for any boy that tried to break her dorm rules.

Both dorms had their own cafeterias, where any student was welcome to eat, and our orientation group had lunch while we were still on West Campus. Micah joined my "siblings" and me, going out of his way to talk to each of us. Eddie responded politely, nodding and asking questions, but his eyes still looked vaguely haunted. Jill was shy at first, but once Micah starting joking around with her, she eventually warmed up to him.

How funny, I thought, that it was easier for Eddie and Jill to adapt to this situation than it was for me. They were in a strange environment, with a different race, but were still among familiar things, like cafeterias and lockers. They slipped right into the roles and procedures with no difficulty. Meanwhile, despite having traveled and lived all over the world, I felt out of place in what was for everyone else an ordinary setting.

Regardless, it didn't take me long to figure out how the school ran. Alchemists were trained to observe and adapt, and even though school was foreign to me, I quickly picked up on the routine. I wasn't afraid to talk to people either - I was used to striking up conversations with strangers and explaining my way out of situations. One thing, however, I knew I would have to work on.

"I heard her family might be moving to Anchorage." We were at orientation lunch, and a couple of freshmen girls sitting near me were discussing a friend of theirs who hadn't shown up today.

The other girl's eyes widened. "Seriously? I would die if I had to move there."

"I don't know," I mused, moving my food around my plate. "With all the sun and UV rays here, it seems like Anchorage might actually provide a longer life span. You don't need as much sunblock, so it's a more economical choice as well."

I'd thought my comment was helpful, but when I looked up, I was met with gaping stares. It was obvious from the looks the girls were giving me that I probably couldn't have picked a weirder comment.

"I guess I shouldn't say everything that comes to mind," I murmured to Eddie. I was used to being direct in social situations, but it occurred to me that simply saying "Yeah, totally!" would've probably been the correct response. I'd had few friends my own age and was out of practice.

Eddie grinned at me. "I don't know, sis. You're pretty entertaining as you are. Keep it up."

After lunch, our group returned to Central Campus, where we parted ways to meet with academic advisors and plan our class schedules. When I sat down with my advisor, a cheery young woman named Molly, I wasn't surprised to see that the Alchemists had sent along academic records from a fictitious school in South Dakota. They were even fairly consistent with what I had studied in my homeschooling.

"Your grades and tests have placed you in our most advanced math and English classes," Molly said. "If you do well in them, you can receive college credit." Too bad there's no chance I'll get to go to college, I thought with a sigh. She flipped through a few pages in my file. "Now, I don't see any records of foreign language here. It's an Amberwood requirement that everyone learn at least one language."

Oops. The Alchemists had messed up there in faking my records. I'd actually studied a number of languages. My father had made sure I had lessons from an early age, since an Alchemist never knew where he or she might end up. Scanning Amberwood's list of offered languages, I hesitated and wondered if I should lie. Then I decided I really didn't want to sit through conjugations and tenses I'd already learned.

"I already know all of these," I told Molly.

Molly regarded me skeptically. "All of these? There are five languages here."

I nodded and added helpfully, "But I only studied Japanese for two years. So I suppose I could learn more."

Molly still didn't seem to buy this. "Would you be willing to take proficiency tests?"

And so, I ended up spending the rest of my afternoon laboring over foreign languages. It wasn't how I wanted to spend my day, but I supposed it would pay off later - the tests were a breeze.

When I finally finished all five languages three hours later, Molly hurried me out to get fitted for my uniform. Most of the other new students had long gone through already, and she was concerned that I might have already missed the woman doing the fittings. I moved as fast as I could without running down the halls and nearly bumped into two girls rounding a corner.

"Oh!" I exclaimed, feeling like an idiot. "I'm sorry - I'm late for my fitting - "

One of them laughed good-naturedly. She was dark-skinned with an athletic build and wavy black hair. "Don't worry about it," she said. "We just walked past the room. She's still there."

The other girl had blond hair a shade lighter than mine that she wore in a high ponytail. Both of them had the easy assurance of those who knew their way around this world. These weren't new students.

"Mrs. Delaney always takes longer than she thinks she will with the fittings," the blond girl said knowingly. "Every year, it's - " Her jaw dropped, her words freezing up for a few moments. "Where... where did you get that?"

I had no clue what she meant, but the other girl soon noticed and leaned closer to me. "That's amazing! Is that what they're doing this year?"

"Your tattoo," explained the blonde. I must have still looked clueless. "Where'd you get it?"

"Oh. That." My fingers absentmindedly touched my cheek. "In, um, South Dakota. Where I'm from."

Both girls looked disappointed. "I guess that's why I've never seen it," said the dark-haired girl. "I thought Nevermore was doing something new."