"What are you supposed to be?" Lissa asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Rose scowled, holding out her arms. The black sleeves of her costume fell almost to the floor.

Lissa wrinkled her nose. "Ummm..."

Rose groaned, pulled off the costume, and threw it across the room. She was now standing in shorts and a tank top. "Fine, what do you think I should be? What are you dressed as this year?"

Lissa spun in her floor length gown. It looked like something from a history book, long and embellished. She wore a thin tiara on her head. "Queen Alexandra. You know how mom and dad always call me queen nicknames because my name means 'queen', well mom and I decided that dressing up like the youngest Moroi queen was a fun idea."

"You're a nerd."

"Whatever. So, what was that?"

"I was trying to be a student from Hogwarts, but clearly I didn't do a good enough job."

The battle between amusement, pity, and compassion was plain on Lissa's face.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Just laugh. Clearly it sucked if even you aren't able to keep a straight face."

Giggling, Lissa picked up Rose's discarded costume. "How did you make this?"

"I stapled a sheet together."

"Where did you get a sheet?"

"I swiped it from the laundry commons."

"Rose!"

"What? It's a sheet from the guest apartments. No one will know it's missing."

Lissa sighed, tossing the sheet onto the ground, and taking a seat on Rose's dorm bed. "You can't just steal sheets."

"Why not?"

"Because stealing is wrong..."

"It helps me learn stealth. Which is important for when I'm fighting Strigoi."

"You won't be fighting Strigoi for five years."

"Exactly!" Rose beamed. "I have five years to practice before I am out there protecting you. Five years to learn stealth, and the best way to do that is to swipe things around campus. It's not stealing if it never leaves campus."

Lissa took a deep breath, pressed her lips close together, and stared at Rose. "I wonder about you sometimes."

"You would be bored without me."

"Yes, but I wouldn't need to worry about you being thrown in detention, again."

"It's been two months since my last detention!"

"You're the only person in this school to get detention on the first day of class three years in a row."

"I was only testing my aim."

"By throwing a stress ball at Mason?"

"He was throwing it back!"

Lissa buried her face in her hands, exasperated and amused.

"Well he was..." Rose insisted, pouting slightly.

Lissa laughed, looking back up at Rose with a shake of her head. "So, do you still want to come to the school festival?"

"Yeah, but not in that." She looked at the rejected costume mournfully. "I don't have a costume now."

"You could go as a thief." Lissa suggested dryly.

"Boring."

"What are your other friends going as?"

"Mason and Eddie decided to be the Mario Brothers. Meredith is going as a mermaid. Your brother is Batman. I don't remember what everyone else is going to be. I could have coordinated with you if we hadn't decided to surprise each other this year."

"You still could if you wanted."

"I'm not going as a medieval guardian."

Lissa laid back on the bed, groaning. "What do you want to be?"

Rose didn't hesitate. "Fabulous." She flopped onto the bed beside Lissa and both burst into giggles.

"You know," Lissa began slowly, "I think you should just wear your red dress."

"It barely fits anymore." Rose's hips and bust had both filled out considerably since turning thirteen.

"Which is the perfect costume for a Bond girl." They looked at one another, Lissa grinning broadly. "You'll be fabulous."

An hour later, Rose was ready. The red dress was very tight, but not enough for Rose to complain. Lissa had also done Rose's hair and makeup, which made her look much older than thirteen.

"I think that you might get called on the dress code..."

"Lis, it's perfect." She twirled. "I just need to avoid Kirova. The new head guardian, Petrov, seems to like me well enough that I don't think she'll tell me to change."

"I think you've been her favorite since we were little."

"I don't know about that. She's given me detention multiple times."

"You probably deserved them all."

Rose shrugged, tossing her hair over a shoulder. "At this rate I'll have the highest record for detentions of anyone in the school by the time we graduate. Someone has to hold the record. Anyway, let's go!"

They left Rose's dorm arm in arm. A few other middle school novices were walking out as well, though most had already left for the festival. The central courtyard between the upper and lower campuses was lit up with carnival games. The scent of food wafted across campus, beckoning the students to come.

Rose and Lissa saw the youngest students first. The students from the first few years were running around, shrieking with delight. Some of the oldest students, along with several teachers and guardians, were watching them.

"Do you remember when we used to do that?" Lissa smiled, watching the kids play.

"I'd still do that if I felt like it."

"Yeah," she laughed. "You would."

"We're only thirteen Lis. We can still have fun."

"Yeah, but now your idea of fun involves kissing boys." She teased.

Rose stuck out her tongue. "Yours does too. Speaking of which..." She spied Eddie and Mason in the crowd. "I have a few people I want to show this dress to."

They walked across the courtyard, dodging groups of students, until they came to a cluster of students in their grade. Rose's grin widened as she noticed the looks of the boys. She was used to getting attention, mostly because she drew attention to herself, but being attractive was still new to her.

"Nice costumes," she said.

It took Mason, Eddie, and the other nearby boys a few seconds to close their mouths. "Thanks," Eddie said. "What's your costume?"

"Generic Bond girl."

"It's really nice," said Mason.

"Better than what I had originally planned. You have Lissa to thank for it."

The boys bowed slightly toward Lissa. "You have our thanks." Eddie told her.

Lissa laughed. "Don't trip over your selves. Come on, let's go do something fun."

So, they did. The four of them walked through the courtyard. They played games, ate snacks, and chatted with their friends.

Some of the time, Rose practiced the skills she was being taught in her novice classes. She would scan her surroundings, observing the people around her. She caught sight of her teachers. Some of the teachers were at the game and food booths while others walked the grounds to keep an eye on the students.

She saw a younger girl with a mass of curly brown hair playing a game which involved throwing balls to knock down cups. The girl lost, but kept trying. Rose saw the very weird Christian Ozera walking around with a petite blonde Moroi girl. The pair split off after a short time, she to join other friends, while he disappeared toward the dorms. Rose and Lissa saw Natalie Dashkov, and stopped briefly to talk with her before they continued on their separate ways.

"Camille Conta has a party planned." Mason told them as they walked from a game of darts. "We're invited."

"I think Andre is having one too," said Lissa. "And you know that the older students are going to be having a better party than the kids our age."

"True, but are you really invited to your brother's party?" Eddie asked.

She shrugged. "I don't like the parties much anyway, but if you three want to go to a fun party, then go to one the older kids are throwing."

"I wish we could get into the senior parties." Mason sighed.

"I probably could." Rose told them, grinning.

"Of course you could," said Eddie. "You're gorgeous."

She twirled, laughing. "Why thank you. So, which party do you want to go to?"

Lissa came up with a solution. "Camille's will be the easiest to get into. After that, we can sneak into my brother's. He might be able to get us into the senior parties."

Rose hugged her. "You're a genius."

They planned to slip away to Camille's party within the next hour, afterward they split up. Mason was interested in playing a game of ring toss, so that was where he and Eddie stayed, while Rose returned to the cotton candy stand for the third time.

"You're going to make yourself sick." Lissa warned Rose. She was licking flavored ice while Rose was attacking her cone of fluffy sugar.

"It'll be worth it. They only give us carnival food at four celebrations each year, and I refuse to waste my time at any of them."

Lissa let out a soft hum of agreement as she enjoyed her own carnival treat. "Less than two months until we get to go home for the holidays."

"You get to go home."

Lissa rolled her eyes. "You'll be my guardian, and you're my best friend, which makes you family. My home is your home."

They smiled at one another. "It's only Halloween now, and you're already thinking of Christmas?"

"I'm thinking of not being stuck at school and spending time with my parents and Christmas food."

"I like those things too, but we still have November and most of December to get through before break."

"Yeah, but we need to use that time to plan presents."

"What are you going to get me?"

"Hmm, I wonder if they make a book on how to be better behaved at school."

"Hey!" Rose gave Lissa a playful push. Lissa was laughing.

"You asked. I don't know what to get you yet." She looked Rose up and down appraisingly. "Maybe another dress like that, but in the right size. The boys are tripping over themselves looking at you."

Rose laughed. "The dress is perfect." She threw away the remnants of her cotton candy in a nearby bin, then pulled her jacket close. "But it is also really cold. I don't know how you can eat that ice in this weather."

Lissa threw away the cone. Her lips and tongue were now rather purple. "The same way you can eat three cotton candy cones, determination. Also, this dress is pretty warm."

They began walking toward Lissa's dorm, where Camille's party was being held. They were almost to the dorm when they ducked behind a tree to avoid catching the eye of one of their teachers. They need not have worried, Ms. Karp and the male guardian never noticed Rose and Lissa, being too engrossed in their own conversation.

"She looks happy for a change," Lissa whispered once Karp and the guardian were a few yards away.

"Yeah. She looks less weird and crazy tonight." Rose shrugged. "Anyway, let's go."

They continued to the dorm, making their way up the stairs to Camille's room. The party was already in session when they arrived. Rose and Lissa were welcomed with drinks- cheap malt liquor- and they began to mingle. They settled on one of the beds in the room, which was considerably easier than attempting to sit on the floor.

The conversation was light and fun. Costumes were complimented and the customary gossip of teenagers began. Gossip grew infinitely more complex and salacious as they grew older. Jokes about crushes as eleven and twelve year olds had grown into rumors about genuine relationships and flirtations as thirteen and fourteen year olds.

They began playing drinking games, which consisted of asking "I've never..." causing everyone to drink if they had done the statement in question. Some of the statements were innocent- "I've never skipped class". Some of the statements were less innocent, often involving various levels of physical contact with another person.

Buzzed, and slightly nauseous from the amount of sugar she had consumed, Rose asked Lissa if they could sneak upstairs to the other parties. Lissa agreed, and they slipped out without much notice. Eddie joined them, but Mason stayed behind to continue flirting with some of the girls in their grade.

Andre let them into his party, shrugging at his sister's request to join, then staring wide-eyed at Rose. He continued to watch her, speechless, as she stepped into the room past him.

"What," she giggled, "you're acting like you've never seen me before."

"I'm not sure I have. You look sixteen like that." He blinked a few times, swallowing hard. "You're stunning in that dress."

Rose cocked her head to the side, grinning mischievously. "Why thank you."

"How did you not get called out for the dress code by any of the teachers?"

She shrugged. "I was wearing a jacket outside... which I left at Camille's."

"I'll get it tomorrow." Lissa offered.

Rose flashed her a smile. "Thanks. Now... let's have fun."

Somehow, Andre and his friends had managed to get rum. They mixed the rum with cola and sipped the hard liquor mix slowly to avoid getting completely plastered. The crowd in Andre's room was a mixture of students from several different high school grades, most were royal Moroi, though novices and common Moroi were present as well. Rose, Lissa, and Eddie were the youngest students in the room, but they were able to ingratiate themselves quickly.

The guests were all at least semi-drunk, since the party had already been going on for over an hour by the time Rose and her friends arrived. Lissa was quickly absorbed in conversation with some of the Moroi girls. Eddie and Rose were pulled into a separate conversation with two older novices and a few older Moroi.

"These are two of the best novices in their year." Annie, a senior novice, told her friends. "And Rose here is already going to be a Dragomir guardian when she grows up."

"If she doesn't get kicked out for all her detentions," Eddie teased.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Please, don't make me kick your butt in class Monday."

"I can take you."

She shrugged. "Well, I'm sorry for the bruises you'll get later." She looked at Annie. "Do you have any idea if someone here is going to request you?"

Annie tilted her head across the room toward a small cluster of Moroi. "Nicole Szelsky plans to have her family ask for me. Her brother jokes that he'll ask for me if she doesn't get me. I'll introduce you to them later."

The agreed, continuing with their conversation for some time. Eventually, they were all roped into a game of truth or dare, which seemed like a perfectly good idea now that they were all drunk. Some of the questions and dares were innocent and silly while others were quite daring. Rose always chose dares. Lissa always chose truths. The group was all good enough not to dare the thirteen year old to do anything too bad.

Nathan Szelsky, the brother that Annie had mentioned earlier, was dared to kiss Rose. He grinned at her, showing his fangs. He was cute, Rose had decided, with his shoulder length blonde hair and dark brown eyes. She wasn't certain that she wanted to kiss him, even though she had already done three kissing dares.

"What if I say no?"

He laughed. "May I kiss your cheek?"

There were groans of disapproval, but she grinned at him. "You may."

He gave her a gentle peck on the cheek, then returned to his seat. He replied very diplomatically to the protests of the other guests. "I won't force the girl to do something she doesn't want to do." They agreed, reluctantly, to his reasons.

The game continued for a few more rounds before most of the guests grew bored. Some began to sneak off to their own rooms while others lingered. Lissa, exhausted and tipsy, left long before Rose and Eddie.

Yawning, Rose was resting on Andre's bed.

"You do have to return to your room," he told her.

She made a face. "I know."

Eddie and Annie approached, also yawning. "Come on, we all have to go back to the same dorm anyway." She said.

Rose held out her hands, letting them pull her while Andre pushed. She rose unsteadily to her feet.

Andre laughed. "Too much liquor for you."

She shrugged. "I'll sleep it off. Thanks for the party. It was fun."

"It was a pleasure to host you."

"It was also a pleasure to meet you."

Rose turned to the speaker, and saw Nathan standing in front of her. She smiled at him. "It was nice to meet you too. I'm sure we'll see one another around."

"I look forward to it."

Annie rolled her eyes. "Stop flirting with her. She's only thirteen."

He shrugged. "It's just innocent fun."

"She can kick your butt." Andre said from his bed. "And I don't want to defend the honor of my sister's future guardian."

"Noted," Nathan laughed. "Well, I should get going as well. Good party Dragomir, I'll be sure to invite you to some of mine."

They and the remaining guests left, all filtering to their own rooms. Rose threw up half way to the novice dormitory, having filled herself with far too much liquor and junk food. Eddie and Annie both helped her, and saw her safely to her room.

Years later, Rose and Lissa would forget most of the Halloween night when they were thirteen. They would forget seeing the young girl with curly brown hair who threw balls at cups, but they would know her as Jill. They would change their opinions of Christian Ozera, and come to know the blonde girl as Mia. They would understand why Sonya Karp was so 'weird and crazy' and know why she smiled so easily with Mikhail.

And Rose would forget the senior Moroi named Nathan Szelsky. She would forget his pretty smile and soft kiss on her cheek. She would forget his kindness and his flirtations. He would forget everything about her except her attachment to Lissa. Then, after all was forgotten, they would meet again. And he would become one of her worst nightmares.