Vampire Knight Chpt. 2



The faces of two sleeping teenagers abruptly glowed orange with the arrival of the sun over the horizon. Awakened by the sudden light, Zero groaned and sat up in his bed, rubbing his gray eyes groggily. Silver hair glinted in the light that shined through the windowpane. Drowsily, Zero rose and pushed the curtains aside, letting the full force of the sun into the Cross Academy dorm room.
A yawn sounded from across the room. Jacob awoke and dug the eye-crust out from his blue eyes, running his hand through tangled yellow-brown hair. “Good morning, Zero,” he told his roommate.
“G’morning,” was Zero’s faint reply.
  Jacob stretched his stiff muscles, and then slipped from his bed. “I’m going to take a shower, alright?”
“Leave some hot water for me.”
“Sure.” Jacob dragged himself into the bathroom. The sound of running water could be heard from the dorm room. Zero sighed.

***
Alyssa hovered in front of the mirror with a brush through her curly black hair. The door to the bathroom opened, and out stepped Morgan, already dressed in the black Day Class uniform and a towel curled up in her head.
“What time is it?” asked Alyssa, admiring herself in the mirror.
“It’s about…6:30AM.” Morgan was checking the dorm room’s digital clock.
“Then I guess we have time for breakfast, if you want it. Wanna go see what they’ve got?”
“Sure. Just let me get this towel out of my hair. I’ve always wanted to know what Japanese people ate for breakfast.”
This made Alyssa smile. She dressed herself in her Day uniform and the two walked out. Morgan locked the door behind her.

***
Emily watched Stephanie check her DeviantART account on her laptop and tried to tie a ribbon on her uniform at the same time. The stupid thing kept slipping out of the knot. Her frustration was broken when she heard Emily’s disappointed voice.
“Huh. No new messages. Bummer.”
Stephanie sighed, agitated. “Are you kidding? How can you possibly think something as trivial as that is a bummer when this stupid ribbon won’t tie?”
“Oh, relax. I’ll do it. Wait a sec.” She hit the power button on her computer and tied the ribbon successfully into a bow. “There. You happy now?”
“Yeah, sure. Thanks. Who was that boy you were talking with on the patio? I saw you on the balcony. You were eyeing him up!”
“I was not eyeing him up!” The two started to walk out, giggling. “And his name was Jacob.”

***
Raquel stood over Kiana, yelling at her to get up. “Lazy! Wake up, Kiana!”
“But it’s so early…”
“Not if you want to get a shower and eat breakfast!”
“Can’t we just get up at 7:30 and rush everything last-minute?”
Raquel smiled wryly. “Don’t I wish? Now, get up. Look, see? I already got a shower. Now I have plenty of time to go on the computer.”
Kiana propped herself up on her elbows and stretched. “Is that your only motivation for getting up early?”
“Isn’t it everyone’s?”
Kiana and Raquel laughed.

***
The tower in the middle of campus struck 8:00AM. Everyone was assembled at its base, giving each other their morning greetings and some of them still trying to wake up. Josh rocked out to music from his iPod while Alyssa munched absently on a granola bar. Yuki slipped a notebook into her backpack. Morgan, panicked, was searching through her backpack for her Chap Stick, which she always carried with her wherever she went. It was controlled chaos.
Finally, Raquel broke the randomness and asked what time class started.
“8:15AM sharp,” Yuki replied, staring up at the clock tower.
   “Disciplinary Committee members take the same classes together,” Zero cut in, “so we all have Algebra first.”
“Yay!” Morgan screamed triumphantly.
Alyssa gawked at her, some crumbs from her granola bar stuck to her lip. “Morgan! I didn’t know you liked math that much!”
Morgan stared, confused. “Math? What are you talking about? I found my Chap Stick!” She held up the Chap Stick roll in the dim light and put some on her lips satisfactorily. She looked around with a stupid grin on her face, saw no one else was smiling, and let her face fall. “What is it?” she asked.
“We have math first period,” Josh replied glumly.
“God damn it!” Her scream rang throughout the campus. The others laughed.

***
No one pays attention in math anymore, Yuki noticed, looking around the classroom. The teacher was saying something, but her drowsiness didn’t let her grasp what it was. Dimly, she registered this much: “Attention, class! There will be no homework due to the St. Xocolatl’s Day ball. In case some of our American transfer students didn’t know, St. Xocolatl’s Day is like Valentine’s Day in America. The tradition is for the girls to give chocolates to the boys they, ahem, ‘admire’. This is the first year for the ball…so don’t ruin it!”
The classroom was suddenly more alert. The bell for the next class rang loudly, dismissing the students.
“Yuki Cross!” the math teacher called.
“Yes sir?”
“Jacob Judge fell asleep throughout my entire lecture! Go wake him up and tell him he is dismissed!”
“Yes sir!” Yuki trotted to Jacob and nudged him gently. His eyes opened—and then he groaned and held his head in his palm. “What’s wrong?” Yuki asked.
“I’ve got a headache. It’s okay, though. I’m just really tired. Life in Japan and life in America are different things.” He smiled painfully at her.
Yuki straightened, her eyes concerned. “Okay. Let’s go. The teacher says we’re dismissed.” The two walked out.

***

“What’s next?” Emily asked when they met up in the hallway.
“Music,” said Yuki.
“The music teacher is just as dramatic as the Headmaster,” Zero informed them, looking down at his feet.
Alyssa and Morgan glanced at each other meaningfully. “Do we need anything for the class?” asked Alyssa, fighting to suppress a smile.
“No,” said Zero, almost annoyed. “It’s pretty much a free period. You just have to play a few notes on an instrument and you’re fine. You two play clarinet, right?”
“Nah, we gave up the clarinet months ago,” Alyssa said with a wave of her hand.
“It’s oboe now, baby! Woo!” Morgan yelled happily, locking arms with Alyssa. They started to skip down the hallway chanting “Oboe! Oboe! Woo!”
Yuki stared after them with an eyebrow raised. “And you say my father is dramatic, Zero,” she whispered, amused. Jacob heard that and laughed. Then he cradled his head in his palm again, saw Yuki’s inquisitive look, and nodded away any questions.
They entered the music room. Morgan and Alyssa were testing their oboes, blowing funny notes at each other. Jacob sat down at the piano and began to plunk out theme music from Kingdom Hearts. Zero studied a sheet of music for the drums. Then the music teacher walked in with a happy grin on her face, shouting “Hello, darlings! Today, we shall search for talent! Or who knows? Maybe talent will find you! Also, there are no grades! Just express yourself! Ah ha ha!” She began to revolve around the room, asking students to play something for her. Morgan and Alyssa had busted out laughing from her theatrical entrance and were trying to recover enough to play a song. Jacob stared in their direction, chuckling quietly.
“Ow!” A girl playing the guitar had cut her finger. It was bleeding. Jacob glanced at Zero and saw that he was pale and twitching. The silver-haired boy rose and left the room, his mouth covered by his hand.
Jacob sauntered over to Alyssa and Morgan and whispered, “Cover for me. I’m going to go see what’s up with Zero.” The two girls nodded, and Jacob left the music room without being noticed.