Now that Mia no longer felt like she had to avoid Zev at all costs, her classes had become much more bearable. Even better, this was the last week she'd have to worry about swimming. Only three more days and she wouldn't have to even think about the pool anymore; she'd be able to go back to rolling her eyes as she got picked last for things like soccer.

Zev still looked amused whenever he saw Mia sitting on the side of the pool, but she didn't really care. She'd brought a book with her the last couple of days, and it made the period go by much faster. She was right in the middle of a page when out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone swim under the lane rope and pop up right in front of her. Mia didn't even need to take her eyes off the page to know who it was.

"It's the last week of swimming." Zev told her. As if she didn't know.

"Yep." she said, still concentrating on her book.

"Are you really going to sit there the entire time?" he asked incredulously.

"Yeah."

"You should at least spend one class where you're not on the steps."

"I'm fine here." she said, finally looking up. The look on Zev's face told her he wasn't going anywhere until she agreed to whatever he was planning. She put her book down on the side of the pool, sighing.

"Come stand here, next to me." Zev told her. "I already asked Miss Danby, and she said I could try to help you, so you don't have any excuses."

He held out his hand for her like he was asking for a dance, and Mia almost laughed in spite of herself. He looked so ridiculous that even her perfectly normal fear of the pool couldn't keep her from smirking. Still, she hesitated to actually take his hand.

"It's ok." he smiled reassuringly. "We'll go really slow. We won't even leave this little section if you don't want." He made a gesture marking off a five by five square in front of the steps.

Slowly, Mia got up. She couldn't believe she was actually going to go along with this. She took his hand, and the butterflies in her stomach almost masked the sinking feeling she got as she slowly stepped off the third step, down the fourth, and onto the bottom of the pool.

The water was incredibly cold, almost like ice pressing up against her. But it didn't particularly bother her. What did bother her was the fact that the water didn't seem to support her at all. It was just like walking through really cold air. Her feet hit the bottom of the pool, sinking as effortlessly as if the pool had been completely drained. Fortunately, Zev was concentrating intently on her face and didn't notice.

"See? That's not so bad, is it?" he asked.

"I guess not." Mia said, still trying to decide if it was. As long as she didn't have to try any actual swimming or floating, she guessed she'd be ok.

"Let's try walking around a little, ok?" he said gently. Mia was surprised; she'd never seen him act so caring before.

They took a few steps together, Mia grabbing onto Zev's arms for dear life. She wondered vaguely if this was his way of punishing her for not talking to him for almost a month.

"Don't look so scared!" he told her. "I promise, nothing's going to happen." Obviously, her face hadn't been as calm as she'd hoped.

The water swirled around her, but she moved through it effortlessly. After a few minutes, she started to think that maybe this wasn't so bad after all. Just as long as it didn't lead to any actual swimming.

"See? You're doing fine." Zev told her. "You want to try floating?"

"No." Mia said quickly.

She knew from first-hand experience that vampires didn't float; it was a lost cause. All it could possibly do was make everyone in the pool realize that something was wrong. And that kind of attention was the last thing Mia needed right now.

"Ok, that's fine. Let's just stand here then."

"Aren't you going to get bored?" she asked. Unlike her, Zev actually seemed to enjoy being in the pool.

"Nah, I'll be fine." he said, almost laughing.

They stood there for a minute, Mia trying desperately to think of something to say. She wanted to talk about something nice, something simple. But there was one topic her mind kept coming back to.

"Are you really going to help us with the Dullahan?" she asked, working her way up to what was really on her mind.

"Of course! You think I'd let Luke have all the fun?" he laughed. His face darkened slightly as he added, "Even though I'm not sure why you'd want to go after it in the first place."

"It's Summer." Mia sighed, wondering how she ever got in to this mess in the first place.

"Summer?" Zev seemed confused.

"She's a girl in my history class." Mia said glumly.

"Oh. You mean Summer Ashwood." Zev said, his eyes narrowing.

"Why don't you like her?" Mia asked.

She remembered the tension between Luke and Summer on the roof and how he seemed to sneer at the mere mention of her name. Mia could understand not liking her, but this seemed extreme. Summer was a pain, sure. But Mia would have thought that since none of them were exactly human, they'd have enough in common to at least be nice to each other.

"They don't like us." he told her. Then, glancing around he said, "Let's sit down, ok?"

They made their way over to the steps, Mia's thoughts racing. Zev had said they. Did that mean he knew about Summer? It sure sounded like he did. When they sat down, she asked him about it.

"Yeah, we know about them. And her whole group has decided that we're not worthy of being anywhere near them. When we first moved here, they wanted to kick us out of town. My dad told me all about it – apparently there'd been a huge fight of some kind, but none of the adults will really tell us what happened."

"I see." It was all she could think to say. It was obvious he was mad, and Mia couldn't say she blamed him. It was true Summer had threatened her and Anna, but part of her had always hoped it would just stay a threat. But if they'd actually tried it before, Mia knew she was going to have to go along with Summer – at least for now. Zev closed his eyes for a minute and took a deep breath before continuing on.

"They couldn't kick us out, and we couldn't beat them. So now we live on opposite sides of town, and they do their best to pretend we don't exist. They don't ever tell anyone about us, because they're too afraid we'd expose them if they did. Blackmail works both ways sometimes." Zev smirked. "So they stay in their little neighborhood, and we really don't have much interaction with them."

"So, they don't like anyone who's...different?" She was trying to figure out if they really would try to kick her and Anna out of town, but it was hard to ask that question without pointing out that they were vampires.

"They just don't like people they've decided are 'bad.' And apparently werewolves fit into that category." Zev said, a trace of bitterness in his voice. Mia sighed; she was pretty sure vampires would fit in the same category as far as Summer was concerned.

"But they don't really seem like they're actually good themselves." she pointed out.

"Of course they're not." Zev laughed at the thought. "But try telling them that. Fortunately, they've realized that they don't have the power to actually kick anyone out of town. So now they just sit there, fuming quietly to themselves."

"At least they don't bother others." Mia said. She was happy for Zev and his family of course, but most of her relief was for herself. She was so glad that she wouldn't have to move – and more importantly, that she wouldn't have to tell her parents why they were being forced out again.

"We're really not bad." Zev told her.

The look on his face took her aback. He looked earnest suddenly, like he was trying desperately to convince her while he had the chance.

"I know." she told him. But she still wasn't quite sure.

"I mean, people think we're just killing machines, – that we just go crazy, but that's really not true."

"It isn't?" Mia asked. She'd been planning on pretending that of course she knew he wasn't like that, but she'd been caught off guard. Zev stared at her in surprise.

"You really thought that?" he asked, stunned. Mia felt her cheeks start to turn red.

"I'm sorry." she mumbled, staring down at the tiling on the edge of the step she was sitting on. "But it's not really my fault! I mean, all I know comes from movies."

Zev laughed. "I guess that's true... So, there's probably a lot you don't know..." He seemed to be saying the last part to himself, but Mia answered anyway.

"I guess not." she admitted. She thought she knew all the important details, until he said they weren't killing machines. But that comment had actually raised a few questions in her mind.

"Well, I'll be happy to tell you anything you want to know." Zev said, making a grandiose gesture with his hand and bowing his head slightly. When he looked back up at her, he was smiling broadly, and Mia could see he was glad for the opportunity to prove he wasn't a monster. Then, he turned serious. "But not here."

Mia nodded. As much as she would like to hear what he had to say, Mia knew that the pool was too public for this conversation. They would have to meet somewhere where they wouldn't have as high a chance of being overheard.

"Do you have any plans tonight?" Zev asked her.

"Not really." She'd been thinking about maybe going hunting, but that could still wait for a day or two.

"Great. Why don't you meet me for dinner tonight?"

"Tonight?" she asked. That seemed pretty sudden.

"Sure, why not?" he asked.

"Ok." Mia was pretty sure her parents would let her go out, even if it was last-minute. And if it was to find out about Zev, how could she refuse?

"Great. Why don't I meet you at the mall about six? We can grab something to eat, and I'll answer as many questions as you can think of."