Vampire University (Book One in the Vampire University Series) (13 page)

"Joseph Evans..." the man repeated, while looking down at his binder. "Ah yes. Unfortunately, you are in the right place. How disappointing. Any relation to an Eric Evans? Eric Evans. How charmingly alliterative. Is Eric here?"

"Uh no, sir. I mean, yes, we are related, but no he is not here."

"How terribly disappointing for all of us that we are only graced with one Evans today. Since there are only three sessions of this class, I'm sure he won't mind that missing one third of it will most surely ensure his failure."

Taylor noted that his expression seemed awfully smug for one who claimed disappointment.

"I, uh... I have a doctor's note, sir," Joseph said while pulling a blank sheet of paper from Hannah's notebook.

He approached the podium hesitantly and handed it to the teacher, who looked at it for a few moments and handed it back.

"Very well. Please do pass along my wishes for a speedy recovery," he said flatly.

"Yes sir," Joseph replied and returned quickly to his seat.

"And make sure he gets a copy of the syllabus. I will excuse his absence, but he gets no free pass on the work."

"Yes sir," said Joseph.

"Now that you've found more appropriate seats," the man said, addressing the room, "we can proceed as if you are all attending a real university-level course. My name is Dr. Alistair Dean. I am the Dean of the Freshman class. I can see your little gears turning right now so let me alleviate you of any notions that you are clever. Call me 'Dean Dean' and you will receive an F. I am Dr. Dean or simply the Dean, but never Dean Dean. Is that clear?"

There were uncomfortable nods, but no one had the nerve to speak up.

"As I have already indicated, this is, in fact, a real course and you will receive, in fact, a real grade. Judging from the looks of you, many of them will not be the ones you are accustomed to. There will be homework. The homework is indicated on your syllabi," Dr. Dean said, gesturing towards a stack of papers besides him.

"My TA, Alexander, will assist now by distributing them. Alexander here will be the one grading your assignments, so I will suggest that if you have any questions, you ask him and do not bother me with them."

He said this while gesturing to a tall slender dark-haired boy sitting off to the side. Taylor hadn't noticed him and was surprised to note that the one handling their assignments looked as young as she was, if not younger. He stood up and smiled and waved.

"Just Alex is fine. And unlike Dean Dean here, I'm always happy to help," he said, to which Dr. Dean gave an audible
harrumph
. "My office hours are listed in the syllabus along with my email and phone number, so don't hesitate to reach out!"

"Do not follow Alexander's example, students. In any respect. He is not receiving a grade for this, though he does forget that there are... other consequences," said the Dean.

Alex seemed not to notice, however, and instead went about cheerfully handing out the syllabus. He had a disarming smile and he gave it freely to each of the students as he handed out the syllabus to each student. Perhaps it was merely in contrast to the stern Dean, thought Taylor, but Alex had an extremely comforting presence. She was glad it was him that her grade depended on, not the Dean.

"Now, if you will follow along, I will go over the expectations of this course with you. It is only three days, but it will lay the foundation of the rest of your academic career her at VanCamp. I do not," he said and then paused to look them in the eyes, sweeping slowly over the auditorium, "recommend taking this lightly."

He then proceeded to go over the expectations of the course, which involved slowly reading the syllabus verbatim. This took the better part of a half hour and Taylor wondered if this was efficient use of time for a three session course, but didn't feel inclined to question him. His expectations seemed to have far more to do with behavior than with anything to do with orientation or academics.

It was only after a page-long sermon on plagiarism ("it will not be tolerated"), another on tardiness ("it will not be tolerated"), and a third on speaking when not spoken to ("it will not be tolerated"), he finally arrived at the assignments.

For such a strict and unpleasant man, the homework itself was surprisingly flimsy, involving such things as visiting the library and interviewing classmates, but this was explained when the Dean assured them that these requirements were standardized and that he reserved the right to give "additional assignments based on your performance."

Taylor resolved to perform as well as possible.

When the Dean reached the end of the syllabus, he looked up and asked, "So, are there are any questions?"

He said this with a look that did not particularly invite participation and no one raised their hands.

"Very good," he said coldly. "If you do come up with any questions, as I'm sure you will
—
freshman can't seem to do anything without hand-holding
—
then Alexander is here to assist you. Please do avail yourself of his services before bothering me."

With that he slammed his binder closed, grabbed his briefcase from the podium, and exited the room without saying another word.

Once the door shut behind him, Taylor leaned towards Hannah, still not making eye contact.

"So, I guess that was it?" Taylor asked.

"Guess so," Hannah replied.

"Only three sessions and he spends one of them reading directly from a syllabus that he has already given us?"

"Yeah, welcome to college!"

"Yeah, welcome," said Joseph. "So glad we came."

-13-

"So, guys," said Hannah, as they all stood outside in front of the building, "guess we should get started on these assignments, right? How's your brother, Joseph? He up to joining us?"

"I um...," Joseph began, shuffling nervously, "I mean, don't you think that would be weird?"

"Yes!" said Taylor quickly. "Hannah, really. I know you like everyone, but I just don't think Eric and are I going to be friends. He tried to attack me."

"Assuming Joseph did his job," said Hannah, looking at Joseph who nodded in agreement, "that version of Eric is no longer with us. We all have to act like nothing happened."

"That's all fine and good, but before 'nothing' happened, I was still not interested in hanging out with him. I mean... not really. I mean... sorry Joseph, it's just..."

"Say no more," said Joseph. "I love him, but I don't want to be around him most times either. Besides, I need to get this syllabus to him. Apparently it is of most grave importance according to Dean Dean there."

"Careful," said Hannah. "You never know who is listening."

"Right, well gotta go. I'm sorry about Eric. I really am. I wouldn't blame you for not wanting to talk to him ever, but he's not so bad. He's just had a rough go of things."

Taylor didn't know what to say to this. She had no interest in giving Eric another chance, but she didn't blame Joseph for his brother either. So, she said nothing.

"So, bye...?" said Joseph, stepping backwards tentatively.

"Yeah, bye," said Taylor.

"See ya!" added Hannah. "Maybe we can hook up later for this interview assignment?"

"Yeah, that would be cool," said Joseph and then he was gone.

"So, I'm thinking we should check out the library bit first," suggested Hannah.

"Oh?" said Taylor, not really paying attention as she watched Joseph walk off in the distance. "I guess Joseph seems nice enough. I would just as soon not have anything to do with either of them, really. I'm really not one of those people who needs this much attention."

"The library it is!" said Hannah, ignoring her. "It's right next to the science building, so we can kill two birds with one stone!"

She started off in that direction.

"Wait," Taylor said, while hurrying to keep up. "What is in the science building?"

"Science stuff," Hannah replied, as if the answer was obvious.

"What do we need science stuff for?"

"We're going to do science on you!"

"Oh, obviously," Taylor said glumly. "What are you going to do? Dissect me?"

"Good idea!" Hannah teased. "Hurry up. We haven't got all day!"

"Haven't we?"

"I thought if we finished up our assignments we could spend some time testing out your abilities."

"Do I... have abilities?"

"You might. Your blood certainly does seem special."

"What kind of abilities?"

"Well that remains to be seen, doesn't it? All the more incentive to get moving. Come on!"

Hannah picked up her already brisk pace and Taylor felt she had no reason not to just keep up. This whole situation up until now just seemed inconvenient and unfair but the idea of having abilities did a great deal to improve her outlook.

—
-

Joseph had been walking briskly to put some distance between himself and Taylor. He felt guilty being around her, though he had no reason to be. Eric's actions were his own, but Joseph still felt some kind of responsibility for him. They were, after all, all each other had. When he turned the corner and they were out of sight he slowed down a bit.

"Hey there!" came a voice shouting from behind him. Joseph didn't turn to look at first and then he heard:

"Hey! Joseph! Wait up!"

It was Tom, who was waving furiously and half-running towards him. His
brownish-red
hair was as much a mess as it had been at breakfast and he was still wearing the same cotton pajama pants. He had swapped the flip-flops he had on earlier for sneakers and Joseph supposed this was Tom's idea of getting dressed. Joseph found himself smiling at Tom's perpetual lack of self-awareness.

"Nice PJ's," said Joseph as Tom caught up with him breathing heavily.

"Thanks," Tom replied between breaths. "That's the joy of college, man. If you change out of your pajamas before noon, you're doing it wrong."

"Unless you have class, I assume."

"
Especially
if you have class, my friend. You'll see."

"Well they're cute. The pants I mean," said Joseph.

Cute?
You just called your RA's pajamas cute? Joseph thought to himself. Who are you?

"I know, right? And comfy," Tom replied, apparently thinking nothing of it. "So how's your roommate doing?"

"He's alright. Little hungover, I guess," said Joseph, remembering his cover story from before. "Wait... oh man. He's going to kill me for telling the RA that."

"Look," said Tom, his face looking serious for a change. "You're in college. You're going to party. Not my thing, but... wait a second. Are you...?"

Tom leaned forward and looked Joseph directly in the eyes. He stopped speaking for at least a minute and Joseph started to shift nervously.

"Are you...? Sorry, for a moment there I thought you reminded me of someone I knew back in the day. Anyway, whatever it is you guys were up to, my motto is 'ignorance is bliss'. Just don't bring it into the dorms and it's not my problem. Cool?" said Tom.

"Yeah, cool," replied Joseph, nervously scratching the back of his neck. "It's not really our thing either. Just, you know, first night on campus and all."

"Say no more," Tom said, patting Joseph on the back. "So what are you up to?"

"Was just going to check on Eric."

"Oh, I'm sure he's fine. Come on, let's go grab something to eat."

"Didn't you just have breakfast, like, two hours ago?"

"Yeah man, now it's time for brunch! It's an unlimited use dining card. If you're not eating
all
the meals, then you're doing it wrong!"

Joseph had to admit to himself that Tom was much more pleasant to be around than his brother, so he agreed.

"Okay, well I don't want to be doing it wrong," said Joseph.

"Course not. C'mon!" said Tom, squeezing Joseph's shoulder firmly for a moment.

Joseph found this oddly friendly, but Tom had such an easy demeanor that it made it seem like a perfectly natural thing to do, so Joseph did not object.

—
-

"Okay, science first," said Taylor as they approached the main part of campus. By virtue of its central location, the science building had the benefit of being one of the few not-ugly buildings on campus. It wasn't quite as historically memorable as the administrative building or library, but it was also not as utilitarian as the dorms were.

Over the massive double doors were carved various old science-related tools in a large circular emblem. There was a protractor and compass, a telescope, and a flask, all resting on a large open book. Above them, decidedly less science-y, thought Taylor, was a snake wrapped around an open-mouthed skull.

Hannah struggled a little to push open the large wood and steel door and they entered into a small entry foyer with an old worn desk in the corner. A security guard sat behind it, slumped over and half-asleep. Hannah walked straight for him, but he didn't acknowledge her.