*Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy, Richelle Mead does!*

Rose's Point of View

Today was the day. We are going back to St. Vladimir's today. I know Lissa was nervous. She went to a very small school for moroi back in Indiana. Now she would be attending a large school that has a lot of male dhampirs and a lot of moroi.

And she wasn't only worried for herself. She was worried for me. The population of St. Vladimir's is tripling. That's a lot more people I have to be careful around. Not to mention the number of people who know I'm a girl have increased.

Now Eddie, Jill, and Mia know I'm a girl and they all attend St. Vladimir's. I still haven't had the chance to talk to Eddie. I saw him briefly and he just promised to keep my secret. I want him to understand why I do this. Jill and Mia are different. We've talked a lot. Jill and Mia both understand and respect what I do. Both of them disagree with Tatiana about the whole girls can't fight thing and the whole moroi can't fight thing.

We've been working together to figure out ways to use their magic offensively. Mia's magic saved me once. Maybe she could do it again.

Despite the added risk, I was excited to go back to school. School was a place where I could train again. School was a place where I would get to have sex with Dimitri and not have to worry that Lissa was going to bang on the wall and tell us to keep it down. More importantly, school was the place where I would get closer to becoming a guardian.

Lissa's stuff was packed into about eighty suitcases. Mine was in three. Dimitri and I had carefully discussed living arrangements at St. Vladimirs. Luckily, Dimitri was assigned to the same hallway that me and Christian were assigned to. It wasn't the same one as last year, but it was the same set up. Unlike last year when all dhampirs were spread out by year, we were all be crammed into one dorm now. Most of the rooms used to be empty and now every single one of them is filled. Construction was being done to build more dorms, but for now this is how it has to be.

Dimitri and I decided that after an entire summer of sharing the same bed, we really didn't want to go back to have separate rooms. I would put some clothes and some stuff in the room I share with Christian, just for appearances, but the stuff I actually need, will go in Dimitri's dorm.

We loaded up Dimitri's car with all of our stuff. If Lissa weren't with us, our stuff would have fit fine, but with Lissa's added luggage, Dimitri, Christian, and I had to be extremely creative to figure out how to fit all the stuff.

It took a while, but after about thirty minutes of rearranging, we were off to St. Vladimirs. When we got there, I was heavily disguised. I was in one of Dimitri's hoodies and I was wearing large sunglasses. After we dropped off our stuff and left Lissa and Christian to unpack, Dimitri and I left campus.

Dimitri took me to the barber, where I had to get my hair buzzed again. I watched it fall to the ground. I couldn't wait for the day where haircuts like this wouldn't be necessary.

After I got that done, Dimitri took me to the convenient store so I could pick up some more wrap to hide my curves.

I also had to get some more clothes. It was a relatively short trip. When we went out to lunch, I went into the boy's bathroom and became a boy. I was ready to go back to school.

I ate lunch, but I didn't really taste it. I hated the secrecy and lies that going to school entailed, but in the end, I knew it would be worth it.

Dimitri paid and we drove back to the Academy in silence. In the darkness of the parking garage, I gave Dimitri one final kiss before we parted ways. I headed to my hallway to meet my floor-mates and Dimitri was off to some sort of meeting.

When I got to my hallway, I wasn't surprised to see Christian talking to someone. What I was surprised to see was that that someone was Eddie. "Eddie?" I asked.

He smiled when he saw me. "Hi Robert," he told me. We man-hugged and he told us about how he had his own room. He was supposed to room with Mason and they didn't have anyone to fill Mason's spot, so he got his own room.

"Rosie, looks like we only have one neighbor," he said, shooting me a meaningful glance.

"Oh good Chrissie. Less people to notice how weird you are," I teased him. I got the message. Eddie is our neighbor. We were almost at the end of the hallway, so my continued absence would be less noticeable. We don't have a whole lot of neighbors.

The room on the other side of us was Dimitri's room. Because he was staff, his room was large with a bathroom and kitchen area in it. It was set up more like a suite than a bedroom. His room was technically next to ours, but because his shower and kitchen area line our room, we would have more privacy.

Eddie glanced at me. "Any chance we can talk Robert?" he asked me.

I hesitated then nodded. He motioned to his room and I followed, closing the door behind me.

"You know Rose, we really haven't had a chance to talk," he told me with a sigh.

"I know," I told him. I sat down in the chair, trying to mentally prepare myself for what's to come.

"I miss him, ya know," Eddie said, looking out the window. "He was my best friend. We grew up together."

I gulped. He was talking about Mason. "I'm sorry Eddie. I wish there was something I could have done. Some way I could have saved him," I told him.

He shook his head. "There was nothing you could have done," he told me. "Mason made his choice." Eddie hesitated then turned to look at me. "What I'm about to say… I'm not saying it to make you feel guilty. I think you have a right to know. it's about how Mason felt for you. Do you want to hear it?"

I considered his question carefully. Then I realized that I had to hear it. Out of respect for Mason. He died to protect me. The least I could do is listen to Eddie. "I don't want to, but I have to," I said quietly.

Eddie nodded. He understood. "At first, Mason tried to convince himself it was nothing," Eddie told me. "He would come back to our dorm angry and just talk about it. Try to say he was imagining it. But when you got into that fight with Christian? That day we were running?" I tried to figure out what day he was talking about. Then I realized. That was the day Dimitri found out I was a girl. I nodded to show him I knew what day he was referring to. "That's when he realized he truly cared for you. I want you to know Rose, Mason would rather die a thousand times then see you dead."

Surprisingly, Eddie's words went a long way to comfort me. "I always thought of Mason as one of my best friends here," I told him. "Other than Christian, you and him were my only friends."

"Dimitri?" Eddie asked.

"He's never been just a friend to me," I told him.

Eddie nodded. "I understand," he told me. The way he said it, made me think that he found someone he thought of in the same way.

"Who's the lucky lady?" I teased him.

He blushed and rolled his eyes. "Mind your own business," he said, punching me jokingly.

I chuckled. I'm glad I have Eddie as a friend.