The student lounge was crowded even though the party there was meant mostly for non-traditional students and those whose families hadn’t come for the ceremony. Of the thirty-one graduates, only three fit into that category. But many of the students still in the program were there for cake, punch, and other beverages--if they were old enough. The room was decorated in red and silver, the academy’s colors, with streamers, balloons, and matching tablecloths, etc. Rachael didn’t spend too much time taking it all in, though. She was looking for Graham, but his face wasn’t in the crowd.

He’d come back into the gym briefly to see the students receive their diplomas, but he’d stood by the door, not moving toward the rest of the faculty, and not staying for the end of the ceremony. As soon as the last student was done, he’d bailed again. Rachael hadn’t even contemplated following him at that point even without Sammi’s eyes boring through her. She’d learned her lesson.

But this was different. She was leaning against the wall pretending to listen to Jazz talk about what a snooze her date had been. Belinda, Brit, and Karma were entertained at least. It seemed like Belinda could get on board with Jazz. Maybe Rachael could like the girl after all if Jazz could turn her into an ally. The boy in question was across the room with some of the upperclassmen, and he didn’t look as if he’d had enjoyed his time with Jazz either. What one could gather about a person from sitting on the bleachers next to them at a graduation ceremony was beyond Rachael, but she was sure Jazz would recover and move on soon enough.

Checking the time, she saw that it was 8:30. The ceremony had ended over a half-hour ago. She’d congratulated the three hunters, each of which would be going back to their hometowns across the country to join local teams, and then fell into this conversation. Even if she couldn’t find Graham, standing here seemed to be sucking her life away as surely as any set of fangs could do.

Rachael fake yawned, really throwing herself into it. Apparently, she’d overdone it because Jazz stopped talking to look at her. “Sorry. I’m just… tired.”

“You don’t say?” the girl asked, smirking. “Anyway, all he could talk about was Star Wars. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I like Star Wars, but I don’t want to talk about it all damn night.”

“You know… I think I’m gonna head back to the room.” Rachael had to wait for Jazz to take a breath to slide that in. “I’m beat.”

“It’s only 8:30,” Karma reminded her.

“Yeah, but she’s old.” Belinda rolled her eyes.

Though tempted to put the girl in her place, Rachael just ignored her. “I was up late last night. You kids have fun.” When she said kids, she looked right at Belinda--who rolled her eyes again.

Cutting through the crowd, she dropped the drink she’d been holding into the trash and made her way out the door, only to take two steps and freeze. “Dr. McCall. We’ve got to stop meeting like this.” Jared was headed back into the lounge from the looks of it.

He chuckled softly and pulled on his tie as if it was strangling him. “Hi, Rachael. How are you?”

“I’m good.” She had a feeling he could read her mind somehow, to see that she was lying, that she was a total fraud. Swallowing hard, she asked, “How are you?”

“Good. I see I have you in class starting Monday. I’m looking forward to it. It’ll be a small group, so we should all get to know each other well.”

“I’m looking forward to it, too.” She wasn’t--she really wasn’t. Even though she’d loved Jared when he was a figment of her imagination, now that he was real and standing in front of her, he made her so nervous, she felt as if her fingernails were vibrating.

“Where are you headed? Back to the library?”

There was a threat or a dare or something in that question, despite his smile. Rachael choked on her own saliva in her throat. “Uh… no. I was going to go to my room, but I thought I might get some fresh air first. It was… stuffy in there.”

He nodded. “Well, I hope you have a good night, Rach.”

“Thanks. You, too.” She started to walk around him when he spoke again, causing her feet to adhere to the tile.

“By the way, Rachael, did you find the book? The other night? When you went to the library?”

Slowly she turned to look at him. “The book?”

“Yeah, my grandfather’s book. The one your grandpa helped him with. Did you find it?”

“I… uh….” How did he know she’d gone to the library to read that damn book? If she lied, would he know that, too? Would he know she’d put it on the wrong shelf? “Yeah… I found it. But it didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.”

He nodded, his smile looking as if it had gone through the wash a few times, it was so faded. “Well, if you have any questions, maybe I can help. I’ve read it a few times. I don’t have all of the answers. But the pieces are starting to come together.”

Rachael’s eyes bulged as she realized, once again, he was saying more than his words conveyed. “Thanks. I’ll… remember that.”

“Good. Yes, you should remember that.” Jared didn’t look at her when he spoke, and then he walked into the lounge, not acknowledging her again.

Holding her breath, Rachael stared after him for a moment and then pivoted toward the door, letting her feet carry her to open air as quickly as possible. Clearly, Dr. Jared McCall knew more about who she was and what had happened than he was willing to tell her. Rachael had to find a way to win him over before her world came crashing down around her. Again.