There is really no particular place I meant to start this story in. Dimitri is still Rose's instructor, but she has been to Russia. Heh.. Sorry. It's confusing, I know. Please just go along with it? ENJOY!

~Jessi

"Okay, Rose. Let's get started. First, I want you to go outside and run 20 laps." Dimitri said as I walked into the gym. He had one of those dorky western novels in his hand. I groaned in annoyance.

"Why don't you do it too, Comrade?" I asked. He shook his head.

"Because I've been through my training. I am a guardian. You, on the other hand, have a long way to go. Now change into your clothes and get outside."

"I am too ready to be a guardian. I just proved myself for two years! You know that and because I kept Lissa safe the whole time we were out there, I don't even know why I'm here right now." I put my hands on my hips in a defensive state.

"You see," Dimitri said, putting his book down. "This is where you are wrong." He stood up and came towards me. "The truth of the matter is if you were ready to be a guardian, you wouldn't have been brought back to the academy. You would make sure, for whatever reason, that you and Vasalisa wouldn't be caught. You are here because you are incompetent and unable to protect the last Dragomir on your own."

I didn't know what to say. In a way, he was right, but there was no way in hell I was going to say that to him. "Shut up." He smiled as I walked to the changing room to get my clothes on. When I had finally stripped off my clothes, I was starting to slip on my shorts, when I heard him knock on the door.

"You know, when a girl is in a changing room, it means she's changing. You don't try to talk to her- unless you're a pervert. Are you a pervert, Dimitri?" I shouted, smugly

"Actually, I was just going to ask if you were coming out soon. It's been seven minutes."

"Sure. Whatever. I'll be out in a second." I slipped my tee- shirt over my sports bra and ran- more like hopped- out of the room while tying my shoes. "Happy?" I asked.

"I will be when you give me fifty push-ups." I yelled in irritation, but complied. I honestly was happy I was back working my body. I loved feeling the strain of my muscles being tested. I was almost sad when I finished. Almost. This training session had just started.

"Now go and run." Again, I wouldn't mind running, but I wanted to make this hard on him. I stood right up in front of him, looked into his dark eyes, and said,

"I could take you any day, any time, any place. I'm ready to take you down. If I defeat you, I don't need to do training sessions anymore." He lifted his eyebrow at me with suspicion.

"And if I win?"

"You wont. But you can think of something for me." I replied.

"Fine then, Rose. In thirty minutes, be back here. If this is the only way you'll learn, so be it. Bring your friends."

I was so excited! I wasn't going to have to train anymore. This was going to be too easy. I had told everyone, and they were all coming to watch the "Russian god" and the "Heartbreaker" face off. No one would want to miss that.

As I ran back to the gym, I saw that it was packed with people, students and teachers alike. I saw Mason, Eddie, and Lissa, of whom I smiled and waved to. Sadly, I also spotted Stan, Kirova, and many guardians I just couldn't put names to. They looked very content and buisness like, as if wondering what I had been up to this whole time.

"Are you ready to get this over with?" Dimitri whispered in my ear.

"Is someone scared their going to get their ass kicked?" His lips tilted upwards into what almost seemed like a smile.

"Good luck." He said. And turns out, I needed it.

We shook hands, and he gave me a stake. Then the competition took off. We circled the "arena", waiting for someone to make the first move. He stepped in first, stake aimed at my chest. I quickly deflected it, but he was fast to make the next move. His stake circled around my waist, and was again coming at my chest. I stepped back and was out of reach of him. When he came forward, I tripped him. He fell to his knees. I grinned. When his head lifted back up, my stake was against his diaphragm. I knew I had won.

The audience erupted in cheers of joy. I went to face my fans, and when I bowed, someone head-locked me. I couldn't breathe. I started to claw at the person's calloused hands, but it did nothing to help. I dug so hard, I saw the blotches of crimson that came off of my fingernails. When the person finally let go, I dropped to the floor, gasping for something to fill my lungs. When I rolled over, Dimitri's stake was at my chest.

"I believe I won." Dimitri said with a smug look on his face.

"Shut up." I said again, heading to the locker room. Shit. He was right. He had won. Now I wanted to know what he was going to have me do. Probably something like cleaning his toilets. I shuddered at the thought.

Dimitri was not getting away with this. Revenge was going to be so sweet.

Chapter two

Dimitri needed to learn. He needed payback. When someone kicks Rose Hathaway's butt in public, they need to realize they won't get away with it. So, inside my gym bag, sat a fish I just bought from the market, and the key to Dimitri's room. Why do I have his key? Well, when you've got devious friends like I do, you can get just about anything. Silently, and evilly, I smiled to myself. This was going to be so awesome!

As I came up to his room, I used my guardian skills to scope out the place. I didn't hear him in the room, and all I saw in the hallway was the ugly royal blue wallpaper. This was picture perfect revenge. I took out the key, gagging at the smell of the cod in my bag. I opened the door and stepped inside. It kind of shocked me. I had never been in Dimitri's room. It was… well… What was it?

There was almost nothing on the hardwood floor but a bed and a grand piano, yet that's not what surprised me. The walls were filled with pictures. They filled every inch of the walls. No wallpaper was visible between the frames. Some pictures were of beach scenes, some of forests. I saw some of his sisters, and of his mom and Grandmother. They all were breathtaking.

As I looked through the pictures, I saw little notes at the bottom of each one. One that I really loved was a black and white picture of his grandma smiling the brightest smile I had ever seen. She held a cup in her hand, and it said in his fancy handwriting, Grandma with her vodka. I smiled, though I knew that Russian vodka was just about the worst thing I'd ever tasted. I was opened to Dimitri's world. It was so cool.

The biggest picture, however, was one I didn't expect. It was a picture of a girl with reddish brown hair, big, round eyes, and a small nose. She was short in stature, but with a lot of curves. It was as if I was standing in front of a mirror. He had a picture of me! I didn't know what to think. When I looked at the frame, it said,

What do I do with you?

I smiled. Of course that's what he wrote, because he's Dimitri. I touched the frame. It was smooth and black with an intricate pattern of vines carved within it. I traced the lines of the note, wondering what Dimitri really thought of me.

A rattling of the bed brought me back to reality. Someone was coming, and it was probably going to be Dimitri. Shit. Thinking quickly, I bolted under the bed, just in time for the door to open. I heard someone walk in, throw their keys onto the table, and sit on the bed. They took off their shoes and put it under the bed, where I was hiding. His shoes smelled horrible! But I recognized them. It was Dimitri's shoes. As I went further back into the bed, I hit something. And that's when I found it.