Vampire Academy: New Generations

Chapter 10

"Excuse me, Mr. Nagy? I can't really concentrate with Evangelista and Eden passing notes over there." Mia was attempting to distract attention from herself—as well as from her inability to answer Mr. Nagy's question—and it was ruining what had otherwise been a promising day. A few of the fox rumors still circulated, but most people wanted to talk about the mysterious attacking of Ian. Whatever their motives were, they'd certainly managed to shift the attention off Eden, just as Jasper had said.

Mr. Nagy, legendary for his ability to humiliate students by reading notes aloud, homed in on us like a missile. Luckily, a quick hair-flip of mine and a gust of wind by Eden made the tiny note fly away and into my open backpack. "If only students would write this much in their essays." He said as he got to us. But, no note, no trouble. "Miss Rinaldi are you sure you saw a note?" He asked when he looked at both of our mostly clear desks. "What?! I saw them! They were smiling and laughing! It's probably somewhere there!" She squeaked, turning red. "Are you trying to imply that I'm a deaf and blind man, Miss Rinaldi? Because I won't have any of it. Answer my question, please!" He said, turning the tables on her. We watched as Mia turned red after hearing some more giggles in the room. And Nagy's British accent only added to the hilarity.

More snickers ensued. Straightening up, I said boldly, "Yes, sir, Mr. Nagy. That would be correct, sir." A number of people in the class laughed outright. That's when I saw a tiny pink paper on her own desk, covered by her notebook and hand. She was really going through a lot of trouble to hide it. Which gave me an idea. "Actually, Mr. Nagy. I think she meant she couldn't concentrate with her own passing of notes." I said to Mr. Nagy. This made Mia's eyes grow large as Mr. Nagy walked over to her desk. Luckily, she didn't have any air user friends and he got to the note before she could even deny it. "I do thank you, Miss Winchester." He said as he began to read it.

"'Is it true that your mom's a maid? And your dad's a gardener?' says Speaker 1. "No. Who told you that?" Speaker 2 replies. 'Daniel Petrov, Stella Conta and Hilda Badica said so.' Speaker 1 replied. 'Don't listen to them. They just like bitching on me.' Speaker 1 says. She then writes 'I have an idea to get Tarus and her sidekick in trouble' Oh! Speaker 2 then says 'Go ahead but leave me out of it.' Good choice Speaker 2. Can't say the same for Speaker 1 through. Am I right Mia Rinaldi and Izabela Lazar?" But no one heard the last part because the class lost it, both from hearing Mr. Nagy say "bitched" and from finally getting some participants named.

"Well, while I applaud a good misadventure as much as the next teacher whose time is utterly wasted, do remind your 'friends' in the future that my class is not a chat room." He tossed the paper back on to Mia's desk. "Miss Rinaldi, you will serve two detentions instead of one on behalf of your friend Miss Lazar who seems to not want to get into your messes. Stay here when the bell rings, please." I smiled as I looked to Mia who seemed like she was on the verge of exploding. At the end of class she walked straight to us and got both of our attentions. "How'd you know? Also, how'd you get rid of your note?" She asked as Eden and I shrugged. "Oh, you're getting late. We'd better go. You've got desks to wash." I said as we left her, heading back for my dorm.

"Nice gust." I said to Eden as she smiled. "Nice hair flip. Though I can't figure out how Mia found out." She said as we passed a number of students gathered in small clusters outside the building. I regarded them wistfully, wishing I had the free time to socialize. "Listen!" I whispered to Eden as we passed one of the bigger groups. "No, it's true," I heard a confident voice say. Stella Conta. Beautiful and popular, from one of the most prestigious families in the Conta clan. She and Eden had sort of been friends before we left, in the uneasy way two powerful forces keep an eye on each other. "They, like, clean toilets or something." Her friend made a gagging sound. "Oh my God," her friend said. "I'd die if I was Mia."

I smiled. Apparently my quick plan had spread some of the stories I'd told him last night. "I don't know how you got that information, but I'll leave you to it. You have practice, right?" she asked as I nodded, prompting her to wave goodbye to me as we split ways. Unfortunately, the next conversation I overheard shattered my victory. "—heard it was still alive. Like, twitching on her bed." I sighed as I looked to the group. "That is so gross. Why would they just leave it there?" One girl asked. "I don't know. Why kill it in the first place?" Another girl argued. "You think Ian was right? That she and Evie did it to get kicked—" They stopped talking when they saw me and shut up.