Disclaimer: Sydney, Adrian, Vampire Academy and Bloodlines belong to Richelle Mead.

It was a spur of the moment decision, a spontaneous act of her subconscious, that Sydney Sage grabbed a piece of paper and wrote 10 Things I Hate About Adrian Ivashkov in an uncharacteristically messy scrawl at the center top of the paper. She didn't care though. Her perfectionist self aside; what had to be done must be done.

She eyed the number 10.

To say that there were only 10 things she hated about Adrian was an understatement. She could think of a million but then, her small piece of paper couldn't possibly hold that many words.

Whatever. She began writing.

1. Adrian Ivashkov is the cockiest vampire to have ever stepped on the planet.

As an alchemist, Sydney never liked vampires. However, she also knew that it's not their fault for being born into the evil creatures of the night that they were, so really, no point in blaming them for that. But, if there was one thing she hated more about vampires, it was their cocky attitude. It was bad enough that they were evil creatures of the night, but being proud of it was over the top. She never went well with cocky vampires and it didn't matter that Adrian was actually the first cocky vampire that she ever had the misfortune to be acquainted with.

She hated the combination of his crooked smile and the delicate lift of his brow as he looked down upon her; like he was mocking her existence. That definitely did not, and she meant never, sent butterflies to her stomach.

2. He smokes like a chimney and drinks alcohol like there's no tomorrow.

Aside from cocky vampires, Sydney absolutely did not like anyone or anything that smokes. The factories, cars and cows were already doing a very good job contributing to global warming. Besides, Palm Springs was hot enough as it was. The world didn't need another vampire to make the world hotter. Literally hotter. Not figuratively hotter. There was no was no way she'd admit that Adrian was hot. He wasn't.

And alcohol! Lord, vampires were born evil creatures of the night. They did not need those evil liquid to make them evil. If anything, alcohol made Adrian more the evil creature that he already was. Sydney shuddered.

3. He is the laziest guy I have ever met.

He never did anything that was productive. It baffled her why Adrian always chose to do things that are a waste of time. He always wanted to do things the easy way; like waiting for Sydney every Saturdays to have her drop off his laundry at the Laundromat when he already had his own washing machine. She had scolded him several times, and several times he would argue that his washing machine required him to hang his clothes to dry-off. And well, he didn't sully his hands with manual labor. So basically, he depended on her about everything.

4. He is more immature than a 5-year-old.

Aside from always doing the unproductive stuff, Adrian also seemed to do things he knew that would infuriate Sydney.

It was a well-known fact among their circle that Sydney was a bit of an OC. She itched to organize things; like color coding the cups. It made her loosen up a little. While Adrian, well, he itched to unorganize things; like say, uncolor coding the cups. Just to see Sydney lash out at him; to feed his amusement. Jill, Eddie and Angeline thought it hilarious, but Sydney certainly did not.

5. He is selfish.

Jill's hangovers and already lost innocence were a testify to that. Out of all the things that Adrian did that earned her anger, the latter was what enraged Sydney the most. Adrian might have apologized, but she still couldn't shake the fact that he did it in spite knowing that Jill could see and feel everything he could.

True, she felt sorry about what happened to him with Rose, but that wasn't a valid reason for what he did. He wasn't stupid and he was old enough to be able to take care of himself. He should've known better, and yet he chose to be weak. As a result, Sydney had to babysit him.

6. He always screws things up.

Every time Adrian did something; even if it was a very simple task, he always found a way to screw up. She couldn't care less if he screwed up everything actually so long as it wouldn't affect Jill or her work as an alchemist. But always, always it had something to do with Jill or her.

Sydney was writing furiously; too invested with her list that she did not notice someone slid into the seat across her. The list was supposed to make her feel better, but all it did was to remind her of all the things Adrian did to make her feel this way.

Suddenly, a fake cough pulled her out of her thoughts, obviously to get her attention. She looked up from the paper and was almost disappointed. She put on a straight face.

"Why, Sage. It's a pleasure to see you here."

Adrian said too cheerfully, as if he really was surprised to see her there. He knew that Sydney always went to the coffee shop around this time of the day.

Great. Now he sounds like Abe.

7. He sounds like Abe sometimes.

She never liked the old man. Especially when he used that voice that was too pleasant to be real when acknowledging her. It made her feel like he was going to do something very unpleasant in a matter of seconds. She got the same feeling about Adrian now.

"What is it, Ivashkov? I'm busy."

She didn't bother to hide the disdain in her voice. Not like Adrian didn't know already that she was mad at him. Her aura said it all. But instead of cowering in fear, he chose to enjoy the moment.

He grinned. The glee in his emerald green eyes apparent.

Sydney scowled. She hated that.

She bent down and wrote furiously on her paper.

8. I hate his emerald green eyes.

His eyes were too expressive for his own good. They made her aware of when he was mocking her. Like now. Sometimes, she wanted to grab a stick and poke them out. It also added to his cockiness. (See number 1 for explanation.) She wrote down beside it.

"There's something I'd like to show you."

"I don't want to see it." Sydney muttered, not looking up from the paper, much to Adrian's amusement.

"What are you writing, anyway?"

This time, Sydney looked up and could see the questioning look on his face.

"It couldn't be possibly more important than me." He winked.

"It's something called 'none of your business.'"

Her voice was clipped, but again, it only made the Moroi's smile go wider.

He really liked seeing her like this.

9. He mocks me a lot.

Sydney cringed. She was starting to sound childish. Still. Nobody liked to be mocked. Even adults. Especially Alchemists by vampires. No matter how cute they were.

"Sage, I already apologized about the aircon. I told you I just bought it yesterday and I didn't know how to operate it. Come on, I promise I'll make it up to you."

Didn't know how to operate, your butt.

Sydney noted the insincerity of his voice. She knew he did it on purpose. Calling her at 3am to complain about a broken aircon that was not actually broken. She hurried to Adrian's apartment then, knowing that he would only pester her if she didn't oblige immediately. What angered Sydney though was that it took her about an hour to solve the problem. The problem? The extension socket where the aircon was plugged was not plugged into the wall socket. All the while, Adrian was watching her with an amused smile. She immediately launched into a verbal diatribe then and there.

Something changed with the way Adrian was looking at her. He stood up unceremoniously and grabbed Sydney's hand.

"Come on, I promise you'll like it."

With a squeak, Sydney was pulled out of her seat and was dragged out of the coffee shop and into the parking lot. She hated how he always made her do things that were against her will. This time again, she didn't have a choice but to follow him. She wasn't one to make a spectacle out of herself. But God, she really needed to have a talk with him about dragging people in public. With the paper now out of her reach, she only managed to mentally add another reason to the list.

10. I hate how he brings out the worst in me.

Ever since she met Adrian, another part of herself, one she wasn't familiar with had surfaced. She was never one to lash out at people. No matter how furious people made her, she fought hard to restrain herself from fighting back. But with Adrian, her emotions were all over the place. She couldn't seem to stop standing up to him; matching his arguments with her own.

Sydney didn't notice that they were in the middle of the parking lot until Adrian stopped.

He gave her one of his charming smiles.

"You see, when I bought the aircon yesterday, I was too excited – very, very excited to install it to my room." He eyed her closely. "You know how hot it is during night, right?

"So I hauled the aircon – which was inside a very huge box – from the store into my house. Because I was very excited. I figured my super vampire strength would be enough to carry the ginormous thing into my house. Which is around 3 miles from the store." Sydney gaped at him. "But I was wrong." Adrian heaved out a sigh as if he could no longer take the suffering.

"Then, I saw this car dealership. And since I still had enough money, I thought why not buy a car? It would lessen my suffering. And indeed it did. Lessen my suffering, I mean. But the car I bought is too old and very unflashy for me."

He swept his hand behind him to reveal an old and unflashy red car.

Anyone would've thought that, but what Sydney saw made her jaw dropped. It wasn't just an old and unflashy car. It was a 1972 Citroën! And it was red! And it looked very much like The Red Hurricane! Her heart ached a little when she remembered The Red Hurricane. She had to leave him in Russia when she was there with Rose.

"I don't like old cars. But I know you do. What do you think? I told you I'll make it up to you."

No way.1972 Citroën were rare. It was luck that she found The Red Hurricane in Russia. Never did she imagine she'd find another one in Palm Springs. And they weren't exactly cheap.

"You're giving it to me?" Sydney could only stare at him.

Adrian shrugged. "I told you I don't like old cars. Besides, I really feel bad about the aircon thing." He gave her an apologetic smile which she found slightly cute.

"Can I drive it?" She was already walking toward the car when a thought stopped her on her tracks. "Wait, where did you find that car dealership again?"

The closest car dealership Sydney knew was in LA and it wasn't anywhere near around 3 miles from Palm Springs.

Adrian shrugged. Something smelled fishy here. But when Adrian produced the keys from his pocket, she chose to forget everything and think about The Red Hurricane II. Her new car. She didn't usually accept this kind of gift from people. But she'd deal with it later. She still had to test drive The Red Hurricane II.

She got into the driver's seat and admired the car's interior. Adrian followed and got into the passenger's seat. He smiled at her. He liked seeing Sydney mad, but he liked seeing her excited and happy more than anything.

Just five minutes ago, she was seething over Adrian's selfishness. But now, she was all smiles and friendly with him. She still thought it was weird that Adrian managed to get a hold of a 1972 Citroën in Palm Springs. Or that whatever he did to her about the aircon thing didn't warrant a car like this as a form of apology. Or why he didn't just take a cab.

If she liked Adrian enough, she would've thought that he did the aircon incident in purpose so he could give her this fabulous car. If she liked him enough, that is. He already knew about her love for classic cars and the story of The Red Hurricane way before. And wasn't he searching about red cars on the internet a couple of weeks ago?

Anyway, she might be feeling friendly toward him now, but that didn't mean she didn't hate him anymore. She could still think of a million things to hate about Adrian. But maybe, maybe she could also list down a million things to like about him. Or not. It would probably depend on the size of the paper.

Edited April 15th 2015