"Y'all, it's not that bad. I mean, obviously it's a new bus. Check out the fresh black House of Night lettering," Stevie Rae said.

"It might as well say Social Suicide," Aphrodite said, frowning at Stevie Rae.

"I'm not lettin' you rain on my parade. I like school," Stevie Rae said. She stepped up into the bus, grinning at the Son of Erebus Warrior who had, unsmilingly, opened the door for her.

"Priestess." He greeted her somberly with a nod, and then, totally ignoring our own Son of Erebus Warrior, Darius, he looked at me and, with even a more clipped nod said, "Zoey, I am to notify you and Stevie Rae that there will be a school Council Meeting, which will convene in a thirty minutes. You are both to attend."

"Okay, well, Stark's letting everyone else know you're here, so we'll be ready to leave in just a sec," I said, smiling at him like his face didn't look like a storm cloud.

"Hey, y'all, it still smells new!" Stevie Rae yelled. I could see her short blond curls bobbing as she gawked around inside. Then she popped back out and skipped down the stairs to take Rephaim's hand and grin up at him. "Wanna sit in the backseat with me? It's real bouncy!"

"Seriously," Aphrodite said. "That bus is perfect for you; you're a retard. And I hate to be the one to break it to you-oh wait, that's a lie; I don't really hate it-but even though the Vamp High Council has clearly put the pressure on Neferet and forced her to bus us back to the House of Night, birdboy is still not welcome there. Did you forget in the afterglow of whatever you two could have been doing in the one-point-two seconds between sunset and now that he wasn't a bird?"

I saw Stevie Rae tighten her hand clamp on Rephaim. "I'll have you know it's been more than one-point-two seconds since sunset, none of your business what we've been doin', and Rephaim's goin' to school. Just like the rest of us." Aphrodite's blond brows went up to her hairline. "You're not kidding, are you?"

"No," Stevie Rae said firmly. "And you should understand that better than anyone else."

"Me? Understand? What in the hell are you talking about?"

"You're not a fledgling, red or regular. You're not a vampyre. You're maybe not even a human."

"'Cause she's a hag," I heard Shaunee whisper.

"From Hell," Erin whispered back.

Aphrodite narrowed her eyes at the Twins, but Stevie Rae wasn't done.

"Just like Rephaim, you're something that's not quite normal, but Nyx has given her blessing to you- even if none of the rest of us understands why the heck she'd do that. Anyway, you're goin' to school. I'm goin' to school. So's Rephaim. The end."

"Stevie Rae has a point," Stark said as he joined us in the parking lot outside the depot, the rest of the red fledgling kids trailing along behind him. "Neferet's not gonna like it, but Nyx forgave and blessed Rephaim."

"In front of the entire school," Stevie Rae added quickly.

"They know that," Rephaim murmured to her. He looked from her to the rest of us, his gaze finally settling on me. "What do you think?" he surprised me by asking. "Should I try to go to the House of Night, or would that just be causing trouble for no reason?" Everyone gawked at me. With a quick glance at the stony-faced Son of Erebus Warrior in the bus, I said, "Uh, would you guys go ahead and get on the bus? I need to talk to my ... uh..." I trailed off with a gesture that took in Aphrodite, Stevie Rae, and the rest of my closest friends.

"Your circle," Stevie Rae said, smiling at me. "You're goin' to talk to your circle."

"And their accoutrements," Damien added, nodding at Aphrodite, Darius, and Kramisha.

I grinned. "I like that! Okay, would you guys get on the bus while I talk to my circle and their accoutrements, please?"

"I ain't sure I like being called accoutrements, " Kramisha said, narrowing her eyes at me.

"It means-" Stevie Rae began, but Kramisha interrupted her with a shake of her head. "I know what it mean. I'm sayin' I ain't sure I like it."

"Could you journal about it later and right now shut up and follow Zoey so we can get this over with?" Aphrodite said while Kramisha sucked air and glared. "And for the record," she pointed at everyone except Darius. "You are a Nerd Herd. I am your token Popular and Perfect." The Twins looked like they were taking verbal aim at Aphrodite so I said, "Guys, focus. Rephaim's question is important." Thankfully, that shut everyone up and I motioned for my circle, accoutrements, and Aphrodite to follow me down the sidewalk and out of hearing range as the red fledglings clambered into the bus and I frantically tried to think about Rephaim's very important question.