So, Zoey’s new friends all talk about how Aphrodite and her group are all such meany-heads who no one likes, and yet are somehow inexplicably ‘popular.’  This book, like so many others, doesn’t realize that ‘popular’ means people fucking like you.  Or, at the least, want to know about you and meet you. 

Somehow, because Aphrodite asked Neferet if Zoey could join, that means that Zoey now has to join.  Seems she can’t just go up to her mentor and fellow Sue and say “Hey, about that pep squad, not really my thing.  That cool?”

“That means she’ll expect you to go. You can’t tell your mentor no.”

“Especially when your mentor is Neferet, High Priestess of Nyx,” Damien said.

I guess not.  Yet another reason why someone like High Priestess shouldn’t be mentoring new kids.

Either that or her new friends are just trolling her.  I mean, why should we take what they say as gospel truth?  We just met them, and they seem like petty, mean, and vindictive people.

They tell Zoey that if she refuses, word will get back to the Dark Daughters and they’ll think that Zoey is afraid of them, which is ‘worse’ than standing up to them in some undefined way.  Uh…why?  What will they do?  Mock you in front of the whole school?  Look, when the social pariah group mocks you, it’s actually not that bad.  Why?  Because they are the social pariah group and no one listens to them.

“Around here they pretend to be all sickeningly sweet so no one knows what they’re really like.”

“No one except us,” Erin said, sweeping out her hand so that she included not just our little group, but everyone else in the room, too.

See?  It’s not just me misinterpreting things.  It’s not that only SR’s little group hates them but they’re queens of the rest of the school, and the book failed to get that across.  Here we have textual proof that they are considered mean and hated by everyone in the school.  That’s not how sociology works!

But, there’s no help for it, Zoey has to go or else she’ll get mocked by the people that everyone hates anyway.  It’s inevitable.  There’s just no way around it.  Because I said so; shut up, logic!  Therefore, Zoey changes the subject and asks about all the symbolic sweater patches people are wearing.

The others once again explain that the different patches signify different grade levels (forms) and then explain the mythological meaning behind each one.  It’s all…mythy and shit.  Correction, it’s all Greek mythy.  Because for all Nyx claims to be a compilation of night goddesses from different religions, really, we’re just going to stick with Greek shit here.  The author didn’t want to do hard research, or patch up the holes in that wall-banging claim, and Greek mythology is just easier.

There’s only four classes, like a normal high school, but the freshmen are called ‘third form.’  Are there two more forms for middle schoolers that turn early, and they’re just at a different campus?

They banter a bit and tease Damien for being smart.  He insults one of the girl’s hair.  For some reason I’m supposed to believe all these people are friends.

Also, uhg, great.  Hammer in that old line about girls always going ballistic over their hair.  It’s not like that’s misogynistic, or perpetuating the idea that women are all vain and shallow and should be focused on looks.  Oh, wait, yes it does.

SR pulls Zoey out of the group, since Zoey looks so tired.

“Oh, they’re great. They bicker a lot, but they’re totally loyal and will never let anyone talk about you.” She grinned. “Okay, they might talk about you, but that’s different, and it won’t be behind your back.”

It’s cool.  We’ll insult you and say horrible things, but it’ll be to your face so you won’t mind!

So, really, it’s not ‘different’ at all, because it’s still insults.  Sure, some people can get along with that kind of bickering and enjoy it, but not everyone.  It’s rude and cruel to assume a new person will be fine with that kind of thing and the just do it.  It’s like saying “eh, I don’t mind it, therefore you can’t either.  After all, everything I do is right and if you disagree with me you’re wrong, which makes things easy on me because I don’t want to put in the effort of considering your feelings.”

I hate these fuckers.  I hate them almost as much as I hate Zoey.  So, I guess that makes them a good match?

So they talk about how Damien has a room to himself because his old roomie complained and called him a bunch of slurs.  But…it also sounds like the rest of the school now shuns the homophobe, not Damien.  So…oppreshun?

Also, it seems it’s okay to be a gay guy in this book, but not a gay girl.  Zoey and SR go on to talk about how the few open lesbians in this school are all super-into the religious aspects (yay, they finally admitted it’s a religion!) and are cliquish.  Then they deride girls who make out without being lesbians, because apparently those girls are ‘moronic.’ 

Hey, you know what’s fun?  Kissing.  You know who’s really good at kissing?  Other girls.  Sexuality is a very fluid thing, and it is entirely possible to enjoy kissing girls without enjoying anything else physical with girls.  Don’t judge people you don’t know.  In fact, just don’t judge people, because who fucking cares if they are doing it for the attention?

Actually, this gets into a bit of a sticky subject.  Girls who make out in order to titillate guys and get their attention are playing into the ‘slutty coed’ image that is, actually, misogynistic.  They contribute to a cultural view of women and sex objects, to be viewed instead of interacted with.  HOWEVER, that is only a bad thing when taken in context.  It’s bad when men view women that way, and it’s not…helpful that women feed into it.  On the other hand, there’s also nothing wrong with sex or wanting sex or sexual attention.  If the whole ‘coeds making out for the sake of putting on a show’ happened in a vacuum, without all the other bullshit that goes on around us, then it would be fine.  Women are allowed to want sex, to want sexual attention, to enjoy that attention, and to sexually explore with people from both genders.  There’s nothing wrong with that, in and of itself.

I can’t really say “it’s wrong to show off” any more than I can say “it’s wrong to side-eye the practice.”  Perhaps I should just say “Damnit, culture, why must you turn good things sketchy with your complicated-ness?”

So, there’s a bit more talk which, I think, is the book trying to show off that it’s okay with gay people.  It fails pretty hard when everything is a caricature, though.  For instance, there’s other gay men, but Damien doesn’t like them because they are too campy.  Also his parents “didn’t know what to do with him” because they are also evil Christians, and we need to keep harping on that for some reason.

They get back to the dorm and SR leads her into a kitchen, which is fully stocked at all times, but only with health food.  And sodas.  Because…yeah, sodas are totally healthy as long as you drink them with carrots?  And I guess vampyres exude pest-repelling vibes, too.  I mean, the main reason dorms don’t like you having excess food around is pest control, especially since teens are known for being really, really messy.

Anyway, SR says that all the food is health food and not junk food to keep the students healthy.  Except there’s a lot more to eating healthy than just cutting out Twinkies, and people take in as much as half their calories by drinking them instead of eating them, but whatever.  Sandwiches and soda it is.

Oh, yes, and adult vampyres never get fat but don’t have to eat their veggies either.  Because ‘thin’ is apparently a sign of health in this book.  Because this book is stupid, that’s why.

Oh, but it gets worse.  The school makes them eat healthy and exercise to help them survive the change.  No, wait, that’s not quite right…

because if you start getting weak or fat or sick, that’s the first sign that your body is rejecting the Change.

So, rejecting the change means you get weak.  Therefore…we’re going to make sure you don’t get weak?  That’s like saying that if you get sunburned your skin starts peeling, so you should lather up with lotion every day and that way you won’t get sunburned.  Or that if you get athlete’s foot your toenails turn green, so make sure and keep them painted so that you don’t catch a fungus.

It would be one thing if being unhealthy led to death-by-change, but that’s not what the book is saying here.  It’s saying that they treat the visible symptoms, but not the root cause of a failure to change.

And what is fat doing on that list?  These are teenagers!  They are growing and changing even beyond the whole vampyre thing!  They are going to gain weight, and that’s a good thing.  You don’t want teenagers to stay too skinny, because it’ll fuck them over.  I mean, yeah, obesity isn’t good for your health.  But to say flatly that any weight gain at all is a bad thing?  That’s ridiculous and, frankly, more unhealthy than just letting them eat HoHos.