Chapter Four
The common room looked oddly… well common. I expected something a little more extravagant based on the fact part of me still pictured vampyre society to be this elegant aristocratic group. Part of me hoped some of it was still like that. The more pressing issue was each of the eyes that burrowed into my forehead. They stared at the filled in crescent. Although most were men, there were a few girls. It must have been the 'men's' commons. "Hi." My voice quivered slightly as I raised my hand. The murmuring began as I took in a deep breath and made my way towards the first flight of stairs that Phoenix had mentioned. I really did not want to sit in that room any longer than I needed.
I looked at the room numbers making my way down the hallway, a couple young men seemed to move out of my way. "I've been moving around the school for less than an hour and I'm already a pariah. Welcome to Vamp High." I muttered this to myself as I made my way to the door. I knocked lightly wondering what the guy on the other side would be like.
"Come in," The voice was elegant, much like Phoenix's, but didn't have the odd resonance that the vampyres voice had. I opened the door, and was greeted by a smiling young man who seemed to be a couple years older than me. "You must be Quinn. I've been waiting for the last couple days for you."
"I was…this some sort of vampyre precognition thing?" I made my way over to the bed that wasn't surrounded by posters of James Dean, Marilyn Munroe, and Audrey Hepburn. I sat down feeling what I quickly believed was the softest bed I'd ever been on.
The man smiled in reply as he put out his hand. "Something like that, I'm Alexander Mayfair." He seemed to command the room he entered, although he stood only a few inches taller than me. He had delicate features, almost feminine, but his broad shoulders and chest made him seem far from effeminate. His black hair was cut short, which seemed out of place. It was only then that I realized how many of the students had longer hair.
"Birth name or chosen name?" I stood up, and instead of grabbing his hand outright, I grabbed a hold of his forearm, which I'd only seen on Xena or Hercules. Oddly, it felt more right in this situation than a handshake.
We held each other for a second after the initial shake, "Both actually, my mom named me Alexander after the vampyre. She actually helped me choose the last name, saying I looked like Julien Mayfair from these Anne Rice books. She said I was leaving my old life behind, but she was still there if I needed her." He moved back over to a desk he'd placed up against east wall. "From what I hear, your mom was fairly supportive?"
"You sure hear a lot," I sat down on the bed again, sinking into the cushiness of the mattress, "What is that all about?"
"The vampyres tend to keep us informed about our roommates. I've known you were coming for two days or so." He was talking more to the wall than to me, but I heard him fairly well. He was shuffling through a few papers. "Sorry, I don't mean to be rude, I'm looking for your class schedule. They gave it to me right after Vampyre Sociology, and I put it with my notes."
"Talking about classes, what am I taking?" I stared up at the ceiling, noticing Alexander had several posters up there as well. "And…do you go by Alex? Xander? Lex?"
"Alex is fine." He stated with a smile as he pushed his chair back a little bit further than it had been sitting and walked a small piece of paper over to me. He stood over me for a second as he waved the paper. "You have to choose what you're taking for second period. Drawing, Drama, or Dance."
My brown eyes met his blue ones for a second and I smiled as the realization hit me. "Well, I can't act. I can't draw. I guess… wait didn't Phoenix say he taught that?" I looked over the sheet of paper, and when I pulled it down, I realized Alex had been looking at the crescent moon on my forehead.
Alex nodded as he made his way towards his side of the room. I think he wanted to pull my attention away from the fact he had been staring, "Yeah. He's a wonderful teacher. I'm in Drama, but I can introduce you to a couple of ladies I know who are in dance. They're cool."
"You can ask about it, you know." I did not want him to think that I would keep anything from him. For some reason, I felt like I could trust him. Maybe that was part of the 'vampyres keeping them informed.' Maybe they set up roommates who could potentially grow from the other one being around them.
He put his hands into his pockets. For the first time, I might actually think he was the same age as me. He looked boyish when he looked up at me. "My mom once told me that if you wanted to know something about a friend, that if you gave them time they would come to you about it. I'm going to be honest." He took his hands out of his pockets and folded them across his chest. "I've had a couple of other roommates. Neither of them, made it through the Change."
The silence crept in almost instantly.
The Change was something that scared me, mostly because of this reason. I'd met Nyx, and people seemed to think that I was Marked of her own, but did that make me different than any other fledgling. I wondered if she Marked me only to watch me die.
I sat up, looking down at the ground. It took me a second to look over at him and give him an apology. "I…don't know what to say. I'm sorry."
"It's nothing you could help." Alex moved over and sat beside me. "One thing you'll learn really quickly here, is that when a fledgling doesn't go through the change, they tend to hush it up fairly quickly. Most people tend to try and put it behind them. It took me a while, and I still haven't forgotten Anthony. The other roommate who didn't make it may have been a bigot, but he didn't need to die. Some people say I'm cursed."
Although I knew the smile seemed a bit giddy, I shook my head. "You're not cursed, Alex. Didn't I read somewhere that only 12 percent of fledglings make it through the Change?" The recent of the words seemed to come from some place inside me. "They said it's gone up in recent years, but…. twelve percent is only twelve people in a hundred. Besides, I'm going to make it. You're going to make it. Have faith in the goddess, and we'll both make it through." I knew the statistics were right, but it seemed almost like something had helped me along.
"Yeah, you and I are going to be friends."
"Eh, you'll learn to hate me." Even as I said it, I knew it wasn't going to be true.
Alex turned to look at the clock, his eyes widened. It was four forty-five in the morning. "Come on, we have to go eat. The dining hall closes in about fifteen minutes, and you're going to need your strength. Besides, Missy and Lexi should both be there." The drastic subject change was needed; I didn't want to think about rejecting the change; I didn't want to think about being Nyx's chosen; and, I just wanted to find out if I had a place at the House of Night.