The door to Rachael’s soon-to-be new home clicked shut behind her as she followed Graham back out into the hallway, wondering exactly how much paperwork there would be to fill out. She hadn’t gotten very specific when she’d mentioned it in the books, so it was hard to say. Hopefully, everything was streamlined. She really didn’t feel like signing over her first born.

They didn’t get too far down the hall, though. The door right next to Chell’s old room opened up as they were passing by, and Rachael turned to see a young, thin girl with a mass of wild curls held back by a cloth headband, dressed in athletic clothes. Her face was lit by a large smile. “I thought I heard your voice,” she said to Graham, her arms folded as she kept the door slightly ajar with her back foot. “You sellin’ the place next door?”

Graham chuckled. “Yeah, Jazz, and I think I have a buyer.”

The girl’s eyes flittered over to Rachael as she tried to determine if she had any idea who this young lady might be. She looked like she was fresh out of high school, probably seventeen or eighteen, with large brown eyes and that sort of creamy skin that makes you just want to pat her cheek. “Hi,” she said, studying Rachael’s face a moment, likely trying to figure out how old she was. “Welcome to Silverwood.”

“Thanks,” Rachael said, extending her hand. “I’m Rachael.”

“I’m Jasmine, but everyone calls me Jazz,” she said, shaking Rachael’s hand like she didn’t do that too often and wasn't quite sure she was doing it right.

“Jasmine?” Rachael echoed, suddenly putting two and two together. She had created a list of potential students for Graham to go visit a few weeks back. Jasmine had been on that list, but she had never actually written the scene for him to go recruit her because of everything that happened with Chell. “Jasmine Butler,” Rachael muttered.

“Uh, yeah. How did you know that?” Jazz asked, folding her arms again, her head tipped to the side as the scrutinizing look increased in intensity.

Immediately, Rachael looked to Graham to see if he had also noticed her mumbling. His expression was similar to Jazz’s. A stream of obscenities echoed through Rachael’s head as she tried to come up with an explanation. None would come to her. “Uhh…” she stammered. She hadn’t been anywhere near a computer or any paperwork yet, so she couldn't say she saw it there. There were no names posted by the doors. “The cafeteria,” she blurted, hoping she didn’t sound as deceitful to them as her voice did to her own ear. “I heard some of the other students chatting in the cafeteria a few minutes ago when Graham showed me where it was. One of them mentioned your name.” She nodded, trying to be nonchalant.

“They did?” Jazz asked, not quite sure what to think about that.

“Yeah, they did?” Graham was just as puzzled as Jazz. Maybe more so. He rubbed his chin. “I didn’t hear that.”

Rachael shrugged like that was his problem. “I have pretty good ears. Some guy at one of the tables. He was just saying something about the new students. I didn’t catch all of it. But I heard your name.”

“Huh.” Jazz seemed to buy it now. “Was he cute?”

Rachael laughed. “I didn’t get that good of a look at him.” Since she had no idea who she was even pinning this on, she didn’t want to get the girl’s hopes up that it was a potential romantic connection.

“He couldn’t be as cute as this guy.” Jazz winked at Graham in an over-the-top, silly flirtatious way that had him laughing while he turned red, and Rachael smiled but also wanted to be defensive.

“I told you Jazz, I’m waaay too old for you.”

“No, you’re not,” she said turning on the charm. “You talk like you’re a Boomer or somethin’.”

“Yeah, twenty-eight isn’t that old,” Rachael agreed, though she thought it was too old for Jazz.

It took longer this time for her to realize she’d slipped up again. Graham was giving her that look. “How do you know how old I am?”

Her eyes widened again. “What?” she asked, stalling. “You, uh, told me. In the car. On the way here. Remember? When you were talking about how I shouldn’t feel like I’m old just because I’m nontraditional.” They had had a conversation about that topic, but she was almost positive he hadn’t been specific about his age. She had to sell it, though. And quit saying stupid things. She turned to Jazz, “I hope you don’t mind living next to someone who isn’t exactly a kid.”

“Nah, I don’t mind,” Jazz said, grinning at her. “You don’t look that much older than me.”

“And… you are my new best friend,” Rachael joked, ignoring the fact that Graham still hadn’t said anything. She had an idea he wasn’t quite sure what to make of the fact he couldn’t remember mentioning his age. At least she hadn’t somehow incorporated the fact that she also knew his birthday was January 19. “Did you just graduate from high school?”

“Yeah,” Jazz said, nodding and smoothing back her hair with one hand. It sprang back into place. “I was gonna go to MIT to study engineering, but when I heard I could do this and take online courses at the same time, I jumped on it. I got some scholarships to MIT, but nothing like paying for my school and paying me to go to school.”

“It is an amazing opportunity,” Rachael agreed. She’d forgotten she’d written it into the manuscript that all of the students were allowed to take online courses to work on their degrees while they were at the academy so if they didn’t want to be full-time vampire hunters when they graduated, they’d have something else to do. Most of them couldn’t finish a bachelor’s degree in two years, but some got associates, and some got a huge jump on finishing their four-year degree. The academy paid for that.

“You good at laundry?” Jazz asked, resting her hands on her hips now. “I saw the little washers and dryers in our closets, but my mama always does my laundry for me. She said I'm gonna end up turnin’ all my drawers pink.”

Rachael laughed, imagining a woman a little older than her as Jazz’s mom saying that. “I do know how to do laundry,” she assured her. “I can show you.”

“Sweet.” Her smile broadened. “When you movin’ in?”

“I don’t know,” Rachael said, hazarding a glance at Graham. “Hopefully soon.”

“We were on our way to sign some paperwork,” he replied, the look on his face that said he was still trying to figure out what had happened a moment ago not leaving him yet, but at least he had rejoined the conversation. “If she wants to, she can start moving her stuff in tomorrow. I’ll have to schedule storage for your furniture, assuming you don't want to keep your apartment, and if you have any big items you want to bring, we can get movers for that.”

“Cool,” Rachael said, not able to control her smile. She still hadn’t completely accepted that this was real, but if it was a dream, she’d go ahead and do all of the things she would want to do if it was real. The idea of waking up in a few minutes had her stomach twisting slightly.

“Well, it sure was nice to meet you,” Jazz said, taking a step back toward her door. “The guy who lives across the hall is pretty cool. His name is Rex.”

“Good to know.” Rachael smiled at her. “It was nice to meet you, too, Jazz.” Even if she was seven years older than her neighbor, it would be nice to have someone to go through the program with who had a lot of energy and knew how to make her laugh. “Guess me and Grandpa Graham will go fill out the paperwork now.” She hooked her thumb in his direction, winking at Jazz with the teasing insult, and the girl giggled as Graham realized what she’d said.

“Hey! I’m not that much older than you, Rach,” he reminded her, giving her a playful nudge in the arm with his elbow.

It was just the sort of reaction she was looking for. “And yet you can’t hear or remember recent conversations,” she continued, trying to pin her slip ups on him. She went to swat him in return for the nudge, but he was so fast, he took hold of her arm before she even made contact with his and pulled her to him, spinning her around so her back was to him. “All right, you,” he said as Rachael laughed, pinned against his chest with her own arms crossed in front of her. “Looks like your new neighbor’s a trouble maker,” he said to Jazz, who had her mouth covered with both hands to hide her snickering, like she couldn’t quite sort out what was happening.

“Damn, you’re fast!” Rachael exclaimed as Graham let her go. She turned to look at him and saw he had surprised himself. His face was slightly pink, and it definitely wasn’t from exertion.

“For a grandpa?” he asked, still feigning offense. Graham shook his head slightly, and then said, “See you later, Jazz.”

“See ya,” the teen called and Rachael waved over her shoulder as she headed down the hallway with Graham, pleased that she had found a way to get his arms around her already and hoping she hadn’t pushed things too far. She was going to have to give the guy a little bit of room since he’d just lost the woman he loved, but it was going to be tough because Graham Halloway was even more perfect in real life than he was in her imagination, and that was almost as hard to believe as the fact that she was walking down the halls of Silverwood Academy.