Aphrodite and Zoey stand outside a dorm room. They knock.

Stevie Rae from inside: Come on in!

Aphrodite opened the door.

Stevie Rae: Hi y'all! Ohmygosh, come on in.

Stevie Rae goes from happy to like 'why is Aphrodite here?'

Aphrodite: I brought your new roommate to you. Stevie Rae Johnson, this is Zoey Redbird. Zoey Redbird, this is Stevie Rae Johnson. There, now ain't we all nice and cozy like three little corns on a cob?

Stevie Rae looks uncomfortable.

Zoey: Thanks for showing me up here, Aphrodite. See you around.

Zoey closed the door and looked back at Stevie Rae who appeared to be in a nervous state.

Zoey: What's with her?

Stevie Rae: She's . . . she's . . .

Zoey: She's a bitch!

Stevie Rae goes from a little shocked to then giggling.

Stevie Rae: She's not very nice, that's for sure.

Zoey: She needs pharmaceutical help, that's for sure.

Stevie Rae: I  think we're gonna get along just fine, Zoey Redbird. Welcome to your new home!

Stevie Rae stepped aside and made a sweeping arm gesture at the little room, like she was ushering Zoey into a palace. The room was decorated with a life-sized Kenny Chesney poster that hung over one of the two beds and the cowboy hat that rested on one of the bedside tables—the one that also had the old-fashioned-looking gas lamp with the base shaped like a cowboy boot.

Stevie Rae shocks Zoey with a big hello hug.

Stevie Rae: Zoey, I'm so glad you're feelin' better! I was so worried when I heard you'd hurt yourself. I'm really glad you're finally here.

Zoey: Thanks.

Stevie Rae: It's kinda scary, isn't it? I cried the whole first night I got here.

Zoey in a sad voice: How long have you been here?

Stevie Rae: Three months. And, man, I was glad when they told me I was getting a roommate!

Zoey: You knew I was coming?

Stevie Rae: Oh, yeah! Neferet told me day before yesterday that the Tracker had sensed you and was going to Mark you. I thought you'd be here yesterday, but then I heard that you'd had an accident and been brought to the clinic. What happened?

Zoey: I was looking for my grandma and I fell and hit my head.

Stevie Rae: Your parents freaked when you got Marked?

Zoey: Totally. Didn't yours?

Stevie Rae: Actually, my mama was okay with it. She said anything that got me out of Henrietta was a good thing.

Zoey: Henrietta, Oklahoma?

Stevie Rae: Sadly, yes.

Stevie Rae flopped down on the bed in front of the Kenny Chesney poster and motioned for Zoey to sit on the one across the room from her. Zoey noticed that her stuff was in the room.

Stevie Rae: Your grandma brought your stuff up here. She's really nice.

Zoey: She's more than nice. She's brave as hell to have faced my mom and her stupid husband to get this stuff for me. I can only imagine the overly dramatic scene my mom caused.

Stevie Rae: Yeah, I guess I'm lucky. At least my mama was cool about all of this.

Stevie Rae pointed to the outline of the crescent moon on her forehead.

Stevie Rae :Even if my daddy lost every bit of his mind, me being his only 'baby girl' and all. My three brothers thought it was awesome and wanted to know if I could help them get vampyre chicks. Stupid boys.

Zoey: Stupid boys.

Stevie Rae: Mostly now I'm okay with all of this. I mean, the classes are weird but I like them—especially the Tae Kwan Do class. I kinda like to kick butt. I like the uniforms, which totally shocked me at first. I mean, would anyone expect to like school uniforms? But we can add stuff to them and make them unique, so they don't look like typical stuck-up, boring school uniforms. And there are some seriously hot guys here—even if boys are stupid. Mostly I'm just so darn glad to be out of Henrietta that I don't mind all the other stuff, even if Tulsa is kinda scary because it's so big.

Zoey: Tulsa isn't scary. You just have to know where to go. There's a great bead gallery where you can make your own jewelry downtown on Brady Street, and next door to that is Lola's at the Bowery—she has the best desserts in town. Cherry Street is cool, too. We're not far from there now. Actually, we're right by the awesome Philbrook Museum and Utica Square. There's some excellent shopping there and—Do we ever get out of here?

Stevie Rae: Yeah, but there are all sorts of rules you have to follow.

Zoey: Rules? Like what?

Stevie Rae: Well, you can't wear any part of the school uniform—Shoot! That reminds me. We have to hurry. Dinner is in a few minutes and you need to change.

Stevie Rae jumped up and started to rummage through the closet that was on Zoey's side of the room, chattering at Zoey from over her shoulder the whole time.

Stevie Rae: Neferet had some clothes delivered here last night. Don't worry about the sizes not being right. Somehow they always know what size we'll be before they actually see us—it's kinda freaky how the adult vamps know way more than they should. Anyway, don't be scared. I was serious before when I said the uniforms aren't as awful as you'd think they'd be. You really can add your own stuff to them—like me.

Stevie Rae tosses Zoey some clothes.

Stevie Rae: Here ya go! Just throw these on over your jeans and we'll be ready.

Zoey looked at the sweater and saw a silver embroidery symbol on the front.

Stevie Rae: It's our sign.

Zoey: Our sign?

Stevie Rae: Yeah, each class—here they call them third formers, fourth formers, fifth formers, and sixth formers—has their own sign. We're third formers, so our sign is the silver labyrinth of the Goddess Nyx.

Zoey: What does it mean?

Stevie Rae: It stands for our new beginning as we start walking the Path of Night and learn the ways of the Goddess and the possibilities of our new life. It is one of the first things you learn in Vampyre Sociology 101. That's the class Neferet teaches, and it sure beats the heck outta the boring classes I was taking at Henrietta High, home of the fighting hens. Ugh. Fighting hens! What kind of a mascot is that? Anyway, I heard Neferet is your mentor, which is really lucky. She hardly takes on any new kids, and besides being High Priestess, she's way the coolest teacher here.

Zoey: Stevie Rae, why haven't you asked me about my Mark? I mean, I appreciate you not bombarding me with a hundred questions, but all the way up here everyone who saw me stared at my Mark. Aphrodite mentioned it almost the second we were alone. You haven't even really looked at it. Why?

Stevie Rae: You're my roommate. I figured you'd tell me what was up with it when you were ready. One thing growing up in a small town like Henrietta taught me is that it's best to mind your own business if you want someone to stay your friend. Well, we're gonna be rooming together for four years . . .I guess what I'm trying to say is that I want us to be friends.

Zoey: I want to be friends, too.
Stevie Rae: Yea for that! But come on! Hurry—we don't want to be late.

Stevie Rae shoved Zoey toward the door between the two closets before she hurried over to a makeup mirror on her computer desk and started brushing at her short hair.