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like they can really provide thorough coverage of these issues.
I think it s just supposed to be a quick overview, said Trey. Not like they re trying to do a
seminar or anything.
Well, I declared. They should.
Did we miss anything? Julia and Kristin pushed their way through others and squeezed
themselves in between Trey and me. Trey didn t seem to mind.
We re trying to explain the point of this to Sydney, Trey told them.
I thought the point was to get out of class, said Julia.
Kristin rolled her eyes. This ll show you what you were missing by being homeschooled,
Sydney.
Nothing could have prepared me for the spectacle that followed mostly because never in
my craziest dreams had I imagined weighty social issues would be addressed in musical
numbers. The group performing for us called themselves Koolin Around, and the inappropriate
use of that K was nearly enough to make me walk out then and there. Before each song,
they d give a quick and totally vague info-blurb about the topic or even worse a skit. These
little lectures always began with, Hey, kids!
The first song was called STDs Are Not for Me. That was when I took out my math
homework.
Come on, Eddie told me, laughing. It s not that bad. And people should know about this
stuff.
Exactly, I said, not looking up from my homework. In trying to be hip and relatable,
they re trivializing issues that need to be taken more seriously.
The only time I tuned in again was when Koolin Around had moved on to the evils of alcohol.
One of the lyrics in their particularly atrocious song was, Don t listen to what your friends
say / Bourbon will totally ruin your day.
Ugh. That s it, I muttered. I sought out Jill again. She was watching with kind of a
stunned disbelief, but just like earlier, there was none of that despair or melancholy. Some gut
instinct told me why she d had the mood change. Adrian hadn t snapped out of his gloom.
Most likely he was drinking his way through it. Sometimes Jill would pick up some of the sillier
side effects of intoxication like the giggling I d observed earlier but eventually, alcohol actually
numbed the spirit bond. The bright side of his indulgence was that it spared her some of
his depression. The down side was that she could actually suffer the physical effects of a
hangover later.
Koolin Around mercifully reached their last song, a big production number celebrating the
joys of feeling good and living a healthy, happy lifestyle. They pulled up members of the student
body to dance with them, earning a variety of reactions. Some students just stood there
frozen and embarrassed, wearing expressions that said they were counting the seconds until
this ended. Other students particularly those who normally sought attention in class made
the biggest, most outlandish spectacle they could of themselves.
Sydney.
The warning note in Eddie s voice stopped me as I was about to return to my homework.
That kind of concern could only be reserved for Jill, and I immediately looked at her again.
Only, she wasn t the issue. Angeline was. One of the Koolin Around members was trying to
coax her out and even grabbed her hand. Angeline shook her head emphatically, but the guy
seemed oblivious. Angeline might be okay around wild dances in the backwoods of West Virginia,
but this was not a situation she was comfortable with.
To be fair, what happened next wasn t entirely her fault. He really should have left her
alone when she said no, but I guess he was too caught up in his feel-good mood. He actually
managed to drag her to her feet, and that s when Angeline made her disapproval perfectly
clear.
She punched him.
It was pretty impressive since the guy had almost a foot on her in height. I supposed that
came from Eddie s training in how to take out taller Moroi. The guy staggered backward and
fell, hitting the floor hard. There was a gasp from most of the students sitting nearby, though
only one of the band members a guitarist noticed. The rest kept on singing and dancing.
The guitarist hurried forward to her fallen colleague and must have threatened Angeline s personal
space because Angeline punched her too.
Eddie, do something! I said.
He turned to me in astonishment. Like what? I d never make it there in time.
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