[[A/N: I've been thinking about writing an Abe and Janine fanfiction for quite some time now. But I haven't gotten around to it until now. I wrote an outline and everything a couple months ago, but I've been so caught up with school, sports, and my other VA story, I haven't had time to write it down.

I don't plan on making this too long. At least not as long as my Spirit Bound story. And it won't be updated as quickly either. But I wanted to get the idea out there before I completely forgot.

Full Summary:

Janine Hathaway is a 17-year-old teenager whose beauty, strength, and innocent narcissism make her a well-known figure at St. Vladimir's Academy. One day, she meets a young Ibrahim Mazur, who, unlike the guys at the school, does not fall head over heels with googly eyes the minute they meet. Something attracts Janine to his wit, sarcasm, and mysterious nature, but before she can figure him out, a devastating Strigoi attack on the Academy leaves Janine changed for better and for worse. The story follows the months following the school's closure as Janine deals with death and her out of control emotions. P.S. You also get to see Rose's conception, but that's later.

I'm going to tell you this now that the story is not meant to be action. It has…one Strigoi fight planned. Mostly, I'm focusing on romance and emotion and angst. Not a whole lot of badass fight scenes. If you want to read about action, go read my story Spirit Bound: Blood Red—yes this is a shameless promotional tidbit.

Note that this will take place in modern day. VA hasn't specifically set a time period, so I won't either. But there will be allusions to modern day technology and references. I wasn't born in the 70's so I don't know how to write vintage. So just put all of this as if it was happening today.]]

[[2nd A/N: The title comes from the adage "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." Of course I'm referring to the similarities between Janine, Abe, and Rose.]]

Not Far from the Tree

Boring. This is all boring. My thoughts were on everything but the Russian language class. Bring me the person who made learning a European language a St. Vladimir's requirement, and I'd have him speaking out a tube by the time I was done.

Counting, my best guess was that I knew…three words in Russian. And so listening to Guardian Viskov ramble on about the history of Moscow in his ridiculously over-done Russian accent could make anyone snooze. He wasn't even Russian. His family had immigrated to the U.S. five generations ago.

I trudged out of the stuffy classroom, glad to be met with a fresh blast of cold, October wind. St. Vladimir's in the wintertime was beautiful. The snow seemed to drip down in puffy white piles.

"Janine, let's go. It's cold," Marie complained, stamping her booted feet.

"Why did you move to Montana if you hate the cold?" I asked her teasingly.

"Because I visited here in the summer," she mumbled, her words hard to distinguish behind her thick, purple muffler. "And it's hot in the summer."

I was about to respond when I heard someone call my name.

"Looking good, Janine," a group of Dhampir guys crowed over by the gurgling fountain. I waved at them, to which they all ooed. I recognized Chandler in the crowd. God, that face looked like it was carved from the same stuff Angels were made from. His blue eyes caught mine. Winking, he waved discreetly. I giggled, tilting my head to the side.

Marie grabbed my hand and pulled me faster down the hall "Should I get a bucket for that drool?"

I chuckled and kept walking. Marie sighed, trailing after me. "You know, you could tone down the sex-that-isn't-actually-sex. It was like you were stripping Chandler down with your eyes."

"I was not," I protested.

Marie nodded, not believing a word I said. "And the sky isn't blue."

"It's grey today," I pointed out.

"You know what I mean."

I wasn't about to agree to her accusation. I understood Marie's jealousy. She was envious of me because she was basically my shadow. No one ever called out to Marie. She was cute, I thought. In fact, she had this certain youthful beauty that I was envious of. But I wasn't complaining. I was sexy, and I knew it. I had the curves that most Moroi would die for and most Dhampir girls were not fortunate enough to have.

We passed by another group of guys, and I could feel their eyes follow me as I passed them. The attention was great. I'm not going to lie. I enjoyed their attention.

We stopped in front of our usual parting point, the library. "You sure you don't want to come in?" Marie asked.

"I'm sure."

Marie clucked her tongue. "Your father isn't going to appreciate it when your report card comes home with all F's. You really should focus more on your studies than guys."

I leaned on one leg. "Yes, Mother."

"I'm serious Janine."

I shrugged because I repeated the same speech over and over to Marie every time she asked me to be more diligent at school. "Dad doesn't care. He's to busy doing his business with all his lady secretaries."

"Your father doesn't do that," Marie chided.

I snorted. "Do you know my father? That bastard doesn't have one faithful bone in his body. The second I was born, he tossed my mom out. And now look where she is. Half-dead in the cuckoo hut."

Marie shushed my quickly. She drew me aside, out of the middle of the hallways. St. Vladimir's had long, windy outdoor hallways. While they provided a good amusing sport of letting yourself "fly" through the halls on stormy days; they also made keeping secrets extremely difficult.

"Don't say that," she scolded me. "You know you should respect your father more. He could be your boss one day."

"Yah right," I said. "He wouldn't have me as his Guardian if I was the last one on Earth." My mood was horrible now. Leave it to Marie to bring me down from Cloud 9. And here I was just enjoying the harmless attention of some of my classmates. I didn't see anything wrong with that.

"You going to the practice fields again?" Marie asked.

"Yup." I said goodbye to my friend and parted from her. If her sanctuary was the library, mine was the wooden bleacher that sat at the far end of the practice field. No one would bother me there. Most of the students hung out in the great hall or their dorms.

I made my way towards the fields, located on the outskirts of the campus. Snow had been shoveled out of the way, making a nice, easy path for me to the practice fields.

The bleachers rose up from the snow banks surrounding the east wall of campus. I breathed deeply, sending a cloud of white mist puffing in front of my face.

I climbed carefully, mindful of the ice that clung to the bleacher steps. The field was also iced over, showering reflected sunlight into my face. Maybe if I was lucky, I could get a nice tan.

To my surprise, there was someone else there. My first thought was that my little hideout had finally been found, but as I approached him, I realized I hadn't seen this guy around before.

His skin was a dark, olive color. What I mean is that he had that deep, richer skin color of people from the Mediterranean and the Middle East. You don't see a lot of these people somewhere like St. Vladimir's.

He looked up, turning towards me. In his hand, there was a packet of papers. I glanced down at them and realized they weren't in English.

"Can I help you?" he asked dryly, folding the papers back into his overcoat. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. My eyes drifted to his neck. A brightly colored scarf popped out against the darkness of his jacket.

I really didn't want to share the bleaches with him. That was not part of my afternoon plan. The guy was handsome, yes. He had that rugged, mysterious appearance that models sold their souls for. But after sharing my "tragic" past with Marie, I didn't really feel like socializing.

"I'm just surprised that someone else is here. That's all," I said defensively.

"Oh. Forgive my intrusion." The words were polite, but the way he said them really pissed me off. I could tell he was being sarcastic. And something else. This Moroi didn't seem at all interested in me. Not to be vain or anything, guy who didn't show interest in me was blind or had already gone out with me. I didn't get it. What made this guy so special?

"What's your name?" I demanded hotly, my pride a little broken.

"Are you cross-examining me, little girl?" I growled angrily. He threw his hands up in the air innocently. "Whoa. I didn't mean to incur the wrath of Janine Hathaway."

I frowned. I didn't remember giving him my name. And I didn't recognize him from school. So how did this bastard get it?

"I know things," he explained, seeing my face. He held out a hand. "Ibrahim Mazur, pleased to meet you."

"Ibrahim? That's Turkish right?"

He gave me a shocked look. He laughed. "That's exactly right."

I shook his hand hesitantly. After getting so angry with him before, I felt like I was shaking hands with the enemy. In retrospect, it was pretty childish, but he had hurt my pride and that was a criminal offense in my book.

Dusting off the snowy bench seat next to him, I sat down. "We can share," I supposed reluctantly.

Ibrahim chuckled. "I'm not sure I can handle that," he teased.

"I just want to be polite. You're a visitor right?" I said quickly. "Don't get any ideas."

"You're very gracious."

"I don't do well with sarcasm, F.Y.I."

"My apologies." His crooked smile gave me the overt impression that he wasn't going to stop. Something inside me started to light. It was a weird sensation. It was like I'd eaten a feather or something. But it was a pleasant feeling.

"So what are you doing here, Ibrahim?"

"I was enjoying the snow and solitude."

"I mean at St. Vladimir's."

Ibrahim shrugged. "Just here for a visit, I guess." He stood up, stretching. I felt disappointed. Something told me it was my fault that he was leaving.

"Ever been to the U.S. before?" I asked stupidly, in a hurry to keep him here.

"Is it that obvious?"

I paused. I'd gotten so used to his sardonic humor that I wasn't sure if he meant his answer or not. Damn, he had screwed with my head. Since when did I start wondering if someone was being sarcastic, moderately sarcastic, and just frank?

"Really?" I asked skeptically. "You're English is perfect."

"It's part of the job description."

"Job?" I repeated.

"I'm nineteen. I'm not a kid anymore," Ibrahim clarified slowly. "I have to have some way to put bread on the table."

It took me a second to realize that he was calling me a kid. "HEY!" I exclaimed indignantly. "I'm only 2 years younger than you."

Ibrahim looked at me carefully. "I had no idea." Why was he being so cynical?

"Can't you answer sans sarcasm for just five minutes?"

"Sure. Watch." He turned away and started stomping down the stairs. He waved so casually, not even looking back at me. My face burned with anger.

"HEY!" I shouted indignantly, leaping up to my feet. "STOP!" Ibrahim turned, his dark face grinning wickedly. He evidently took pleasure of my frustration.

"Yes?"

I bit my lip thoughtfully. "Are you staying at St. Vladimir's for a while?" Why am I asking a complete stranger this? The question swirled in my head, but I didn't mind leaving it a mystery. The guy intrigued me, I reasoned. There wasn't anything more to it.

"I'll see you later, Janine." He waved goodbye and headed off in the direction of the east gate of the campus. I watched him leave, until his vibrant scarf was the only thing left that I could see.

Breathing heavily, I sat down on the benches. Glancing back at the Academy, I debated whether I should spill the details about meeting Ibrahim to Marie. It was she who had just minutes ago, told me to stop being so flirtatious with every guy I met. She probably wouldn't even believe me if I told her about a mysterious, dark-skinned stranger who was as enigmatic as he was sarcastic. But she was my best friend, and I felt I owed her that. So, getting up, I left the bleachers. It's ironic that the first time I would step into the library was to tell my best friend another man walked into my life.

[[A/N: So we're introduced to Abe and Janine. I used his foreign name in this chapter because I remember Janine responding to that name in Blood Promise. But anyway... I hope you enjoyed this chapter. :D Not sure when the next chapter will come out but don't expect it anytime soon.]]