Chapter 7
Jo'anne
Notes: Thanks for reading guys, this was just a spur of the moment story but I've had a few people tell me they enjoy it so I guess I'm going in the right direction. Here you go!
"Honestly, I don't know how long she's been sleeping for. She must've had a long trip or something... oh? Oh okay. I'll talk to you later then Mike. Yep. Yep. Okay. Bye."
I heard a click of a cellphone and footsteps as I came out of my slumber. I didn't know how long I was out for, but I knew I probably miss my roommate's entrance by a few hours. I sat up slowly, observing her bent over her trunk, rummaging through her clothes. She picked up a sweater and turned around. She held it up to herself before she noticed I was awake. She smiled and threw the sweater back into the trunk and sat onto the bed next to me.
"Why, you sleep forever if you don't mind me saying. You arrived here around dinner and that was four hours ago." I rubbed my eyes, feeling astounded that I had slept that long. "I'm Jo'anne." She held out her hand, I noticed it was perfectly manicured, but I shook it nevertheless. "So, you were Marked three days ago, huh? Yeah, there was a rumor going around that someone new was going to show up, we just didn't know when."
I scratched at my eyes, standing up, stretching a little before I looked out the window, it looked to be about midnight, the moon was high in the sky. "When do classes start?"
Jo'anne stood up with me and then she went over to her desk over near her bed and picked up a paper, bringing it back to me. "Here's your time sheet. You missed classes, they start at eight o'clock at night and run until two o'clock in the morning. Everyone's practically sleeping now, that's why I wasn't going to wake you up." She went over to her bed and sat down on it, smoothing out her blanket. "Nice hair by the way, very seventies."
I blushed as I touched the top of my head and stuffed my time sheet into my bag before sitting back down on my bed. I rested my back against the matress, staring the ceiling.
"It's a lot to take in, I know." Jo'anne's voice interrupted my thoughts. I turned my head sideways to look at her as she did the same. "I haven't gotten' used to it yet and I've been here two months."
"Where were you Marked?" I thought about my old high school, the bathroom and still felt as embarrassed and terrified as I did on that day.
"At night right as I was going to bed. I had a big exam the next day and I was going to bed early." She laughed, her short red hair making her look like a pixie, "it was something out of a horror movie. The Tracker appeared at my window and I freaked." Her expression was very heated, like she could recall the memory very well and her feelings in the situation. "My mom was totally cool with it. My Aunt was Marked when she was fifteen, we have a lot of vampires in the family."
As I looked at her, I noticed her Mark was different, it was filled in. Everyone else, other than the adult vampires had had a blue outline of a cresent moon, hers was completely blue and she had an array of sparkles decorating her forehead. "What's with the mark?"
Jo'anne suddenly looked annoying, swatting at her forehead. "Oh, this thing? Apparently I've been gifted by Nyx. I'm a life bringer. I am able to bring back someone who has been dead for only a few minutes. Now, this is just what they say, I haven't actually done it or anything." She looked like it was no big deal but I stared at her, my mouth agape. She looked at me defensively. "What? Have they not told you about Nyx and her gifts? You can't just get one, you get chosen or something like that. It's a really high honor but I find the gifts more burdens than anything else. They just screw with your mind, make you think loony and all that."
I suddenly wished that I could just go to sleep so I could find Neferet and have her answer all my questions. I had an uneasy feeling of being in this place and not knowing what it was about. These gifts seemed like something I should inform myself about.
"Anyways," she said as she pulled herself under her blankets and shut light off. "You need to get some rest and I'm tired of talking, no offense. Goodnight."
I didn't say anything back as I stared at the ceiling for a good house, horror and wonder battling in my mind. I finally stopped fighting sleep and let it take me into a restless state, making me more tired than anything.
"Hey you, new girl. Wake up. I never got your name, by the way. Someone said it was a month?"
I sprang up in bed, feeling really aggravated that I had been woken up by people the past four mornings a in row. I had a stitch in my neck because I had fallen asleep before making my bed, therefore I had no pillows and my arms were red from the scratchy matress. The day wasn't looking good for me.
"Ugh..." I groaned, holding my head, "what time is it?"
Jo'anne looked at her watch, smiling gleefully at me. "Seven o'clock. Class starts in an hour. I was up about an hour ago and I already showered so you should do the same. Oh, and I also got your uniform from Neferet this morning, it's hanging in your closet." She was about to exit the bedroom before she turned around in the doorframe. "When you're done come downstairs, we've got cereal and all that waiting for you." Jo' anne finally left and I was grateful. I was definitely not a morning person.
I grabbed my beach towel that I had had for many years and trudged to the bathroom, locking the door behind me. It was quite a large bathroom for only two people but I didn't mind, it meant more space. I stood in front of the mirror for awhile, gazing at my reflection, shaking my head.
My mother, Autumn Hatten, was a beautiful woman but she had the world's word frizziest hair. It honestly looked like one of those jumbo cotton candy wads that you get on a stick. It was so huge that when we went to the movies people would complain. Now, when I was younger, I hoped that I would bloom when I hit my teenager years and look more like my mothers side but apparently the only thing I inherited from her was her hair, the rest was completely my father, who I did not know.
Apparently he was Danish. He and my mother had met shortly after Jonathon left Tiffany. She had told me this, although at the time I did not know that Mrs. Forrest was Tiffany and that Mr. Jonathon was actually Mrs. Forrest's first husband. My mother and my father had a short affair. They partied in Denmark, Sweden, all around Europe until my mother found out she was pregnant. When she had told him, he left her in the morning, completely vanishing from her life completely. She told me the last I had asked that he hadn't tried to make contact with her since.
I touched my flat, danish nose in my reflection and sighed, my throat feeling hot and tight. I had always dreamed of my father showing up, taking me to Europe, but I knew he wouldn't. I knew didn't care about my mother and I. I touched my lips and knew they were Danish as well. I knew everything about me resembled him. Maybe I would see him one day, maybe I would see a man that looked exactly like me and we would both know in our hearts that we found each other.
I finally gathered myself up and got into the shower, feeling a lot better after I washed the grim from my body and the dirt out of my hair. In about half an hour I was out again, standing in front of the mirror as I had before, brushing my hair. I wrapped myself in my towel shortly after that and left the bathroom, heading to my closet. I grabbed a black blazer with a black shirt adjoined to it, a black skirt with polished shoes accompanied by black knee high socks to match. I dressed in it quickly, not wanting to make a bad impression by complaining about the clothes and headed downstairs, shutting the room door behind me.
The common room was packed with girls and I suddenly felt like I was back in the cafeteria of my old high school, dodging the sneers and laughs of other people. I suddenly spotted Jo'anne sitting with two other girls in bean bag chairs in the corner. One of the chairs was free. I walked fast through the chair and heaved myself into a chair, heaving a sigh of relief.
Jo'anne laughed, pointing at the crowd of students. "Like a zoo in here, isn't it?"
One of the girls sitting beside Jo'anne laughed, her honey blond waist length hair slapping her fellow friend in the face. "It's always like this in the morning, it's like they don't feed us or something. Breakfast is like the busiest time in here, lunch is like... second busiest or something like that."
I wanted to snort and roll my eyes but I didn't. However, Jo'anne did it for me pointed at the blond teen. "That's Natasha, she's not exactly the brightest person here."
"And I'm Nanah." The other girl said whose face I could not see due to a wall of blond, almost gray covered hair, "it's nice to see another face here."
"She could say the same thing to you, Na, but she can't see your face!"
Nanah pulled her hair aside and I almost gasped. Her skin almost looked translucent and her eyes were a shocking light, light blue. I was entranced as Nanah smiled and pulled her hair in front of her face again. The three girls laughed, I just stared at my hands, feeling more like an outcast than ever.
"Oh yeah," Natasha said, leaning close to me, "Neferet came and told me to escort you to her office before classes, she wanted to talk to you or something?" She stood up. "Want to go now?"
I nodded, standing up as Jo'anne grabbed my leg. "Nice uniform by the way, fits you good. I thought we were about the right size." I grabbed her arm and squeezed as I followed Natasha out into the hallway.
We walked in silence for a bit befoer Natasha spoke, her voice quiet but loud in the empty hallways. "I wanted to warn you. Jo'anne isn't exactly the nicest person and she has a reputation for backstabbing. She is very unliked in this school, don't let her fool you. She is not powerful here."
I was surprised at Natasha but nodded nevertheless, storing the information in my brain for later, a feeling in my head telling me I would need this information later.
We continued walking and soon we stopped before a large wooden door. She smiled, pointing at it. "Yep, the taxi has stopped, we're at your destination. Good luck, by the way don't let Neferet overwhelm you, it's really not all that much information to take in."
"O-okay..." I stammered as the doors opened creepily.
I didn't know what I was in store for. I was in a building full of people who I did not know, with not a recognizable face or a friendly in the masses of the students. Nevertheless, I opened the wooden doors, walking through them, holding my breath.
Alright so, here we introduce a new character, Jo'Anne. She is pretty much an Aphrodite type character although she isn't so heartless in the beginning, just troubled.
We'll be dealing with Neferet in the next chapter so, let's have good time with it.
R&R guys! Thanks!
