How It All Goes Down
- It looks like the girlfriend isn't done with her insults, because she follows Lissa and Rose to slight them a bit more. Before she can do any damage, Rose threatens to beat her up, and she runs.
- Lissa and Rose aren't really sure who this chick is… or what her problem is.
- The girls go off to the feeders so Lissa can get her fill of blood. Who are the feeders? They're humans who have nothing better to do than donate their blood to the Moroi; not only do they get cared for, but they're addicted to the high of the bite.
- Everyone kind of accepts that Morois need blood to survive, but no one really thinks too highly of the feeders—they're treated more like drug addicts doing a dirty job.
- Rose is a little jealous that her BFF no longer needs her to feed, but she berates herself for thinking that way. This was dirty work that left her feeling dazed, and she should be happy that Lissa had feeders now.
- Once the blood sucking is over, Lissa and Rose exchange schedules. They've got the same animal behavior, Slavic art, and Moroi culture classes in the afternoon, but Lissa has different ones in the morning. Her classes are elemental control, ancient poetry, and Russian.
- Each Moroi specialize in an element like earth, air, fire, or water. They use their magical abilities in each of these areas, but they have to show strength in one over the others. Lissa hasn't specialized yet, which is a little late for her age.
- While the girls are chitchatting about this, Natalie comes up to them to catch up. Natalie is Victor's daughter, so she's like a cousin to Lissa, and even though she's pretty boring she's also very sweet.
- Natalie wants to know how Lissa fed while she was gone, and Rose says they found humans to use. Then she fills Lissa and Rose in on who Aaron's new GF is: her name's Mia Rinaldi and she's gotten really popular since the girls left.
- Just then, Jesse, a hunk who Rose is crushing on, walks by. He thinks Rose is a perfect ten because she's a half-Moroi with human looks… so basically, he likes her for her body.
- Once the crowd clears, Rose and Lissa fill each other in about what to do next. Rose thinks they should make a run for it again, but Lissa isn't so sure. She thinks Rose loves being back with the in-crowd—she was quite the party animal before they left.
- Lissa's not that far off, but Rose wants to protect her friend more than live it up. She agrees to stay as long as Lissa stays out of the limelight. Since Lissa is a Dragomir, one of the twelve ruling families, she's got appearances to keep up with.
- Sure, it's fun hanging with the royals and going to crazy parties, but Rose isn't so sure it's a good idea.
- Plus, Rose thinks Lissa's only interested in that stuff because her big bro Andre was before he died. She makes her friend promise that she'll only hang out with boring, safe people like Natalie because the royals (aside from Lissa) aren't all that nice. At the first sign of trouble, the girls agree to split from the Academy again.
- Rose runs off to training with Dimitri while Lissa goes to the attic at the Russian Orthodox chapel, which was her secret hiding place before she left. Rose slips into Lissa's mind, without meaning to, because Lissa is confused, nostalgic, and an all-around emotional basket case. She knows Rose will make everything okay, but she's still worried.
- In the darkness, a voice tells Lissa she can't have the window seat. It's coming from the mysterious Christian Ozera, who lurks around corners and doesn't really make a good impression on people.
- Why? His parents were Strigoi.
- We get to learn the difference between Strigoi and Morois: Strigois are immortal, undead, and they were made by biting a Moroi; Morois, on the other hand, were mortal, alive, and actually born.