'I don't think this was planned,' said Lissa. Malloy arrived and checked everyone off on her clipboard, satisfied no one had been left behind. They reached their class's meeting spot out on the quad and joined in the semblance of a line the others were trying to form. She made a face in return and gave him a light punch. 'Let that be a lesson to you, Little Miss Lush.' Lissa followed the others and fell in step with Christian. 'You know where to go.' Fire drill procedure was pretty standard. Malloy in annoyance, grabbing a clipboard. Malloy didn't wear the usual weary expression teachers had when trying to figure out how much time the drill would cut from their lessons. Teachers usually had a heads-up when there were drills, and Ms. Lissa's instructor also looked a little caught off guard, and after a quick examination, Lissa decided this wasn't a planned alarm. The rest just looked surprised and waited. Naturally, some students started cheering while some pretended to be scared. In a corner of the room, a small fire alarm flashed and shrieked its warning. Lissa's head shot up, along with everyone else's in the class.

Suddenly, a high-pitched wail pierced the air. Both of us overindulging, despite being miles and miles apart.

It wasn't unlike my situation with the vodka, ironically enough. She'd abandoned her partying days a long time ago, but she'd finally succumbed last night and drunk more glasses of wine than she really should have. Adrian had taken to this right away, but Lissa had been a little more hesitant. Avery seemed to have a never-ending supply of liquor. It was hard to concentrate on The Scarlet Letter while fighting a slight hangover. Avery's new friendship was also making me feel less guilty about leaving Lissa. I knew Avery was responsible for Lissa's happiness, and that bothered me on a petty level.

I couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of jealousy. The memory brought a smile to Lissa's face, even as she stifled a yawn. They'd stayed up late last night, sneaking out past curfew. Lissa was thinking about that as she sat in her first-period English class the next morning. Everyone had hit it off so well at lunch with Avery that the group had gotten together again that evening and had kind of a wild time.

Blood Promise by Richelle Mead