AN: Hi guys! This is my first fanfic for Vampire Academy. I really love Christian Ozera, which is why this story will be from his point of view. It won't exactly follow the story line of the books, but I think it will be interesting anyway. I really hope you give it a chance and I guess there's nothing more left to say than -enjoy!

Chapter 1

The moonlight seeping through the dimmed window cast shadows across the old wooden floor. Honestly I was quite surprised it was still holding; all these dusty boxes full of books must have weighed a ton. I sat cross legged on the floor. It was a beautiful night. The moon was shining high in the sky and there was not a cloud to be seen in the dark starry sky. It was ironic really, the weather was displaying a complete contradiction to what was going on in my head. I wasn't really sad, just comically tired with the everyday routines of St. Vladimir's. Everything was just too peachy and perfect, it made me want to retreat to the darkest and quietest place I could find. Now that I think of it, this situation was actually goddamn hilarious; a vampire lurking in the dark. Ha-ha, right? If only the dark hadn't been the attic of a church, then maybe the situation would have had some comical value.

Now, usually I could take everything St. Vladimir's had to throw at me, but today was just a real pain in the ass. The royal society –that I unfortunately was a part of- had gone mad on gossip. It was like a drug to them. You see, today was the day. And by that I mean it was the day that the infamous princess Vasilisa Dragomir returned to St. Vladimir's. I'd never met her back before she ran away, but I'd seen her and I'd heard rumors. After all rumors were the very thing this school lived on. What I had heard about her seemed typical for a royal princess; self centered party girl with a drinking problem. Some even said she cut herself. I wouldn't blame the poor girl. In my humble opinion she'd gone through enough shit in her life to justify some crazy behavior. Losing your family in a car accident qualified as a traumatic event, even in my book. But you shouldn't believe everything you hear, especially here at St. Vladimir's, so I guess I'd have to give her the benefit of doubt. I'd certainly suffered my way through some rumors of my own so it only seemed fair. If I didn't, I'd feel like a hypocrite and if there was one thing I prided myself on, it was that I wasn't a hypocrite.

I looked at my watch; it was ten to two…AM. Well, time goes by fast when you're stuck inside your head debating whether to hate the golden girl or to give her a chance. My second to last class of the day was starting in ten minutes. I felt like skipping it, but then again I was hoping I might hear something about the elusive princess. Now, I wasn't a big fan of rumors, but it was always useful to know what was happening, to keep up with current events. If you didn't, you'd probably get eaten alive.

As I walked out of the chapel, I found the air to be chilly. It was mid autumn and I was already waiting for the Montana snow to cover the ground. I liked everything being white, like a real winter wonder land. I hated the cold though. I guess you just can't have everything. It was such a shame that our school ran on a nocturnal schedule. I liked the sun, even though it wasn't really considered healthy for Moroi, but it was nice to see things in daylight.

The campus was buzzing with life. People, Moroi and Dhampir, were shuffling around, all trying to get to classes or; skip classes. I made my way through the courtyard and into the main building where all the classes were held. I couldn't believe I was doing this. I was pretty sure that due to all my skipping class I wasn't even going to pass Slavic Art, so I might as well have just skipped this class among the others, but my curiosity got the best of me. I walked into class and got a surprised look from Mrs. Reed. She raised her glasses a bit and the squinted her eyes to make sure it was really me.

"Mr. Ozera," She said with a lazy voice. "How nice of you to join us." She frowned at me and beckoned me to my seat. I sat in the back row, I liked to see who was in class with me and the best way to do that was to sit in the back. Also this way I didn't have to pretend to be too interested in what Mrs. Reed was talking about.

People shuffled into class and a steady amount of whispers and random laughter filled the room. In the corner of my eye I saw Mrs. Reed tap her foot on the floor impatiently. She wore red ballerinas, perhaps a strange choice for a woman her age, but then again she was quirky to say the least. She was a Moroi in her forties. She always wore her sand colored hair with red streaks in a loose bun, letting strands of hair escape to frame her oval face. She always wore colorful clothing and humongous earrings of different shapes and forms. And she had this pointy nose she would crinkle if something she didn't like happened. I guess she could have looked pretty if it hadn't been for the horrid frown that was ever-present on her face. It really just made her look like a harpy. Yeah, a harpy, that's right. I smiled to myself and shook my head.

"Hello," I heard a voice say next to me. I looked up to the seat next to me and felt a little gasp of air leave my lungs. So, I had hoped for rumors from this class, but it seemed I had gotten something better –the princess herself.

"I didn't mean to intrude; I was just wondering if I could have this seat?" She said with a fairly distracting accent covering her rich voice.

I looked at her, feeling puzzled. Why would the infamous Vasilisa Dragomir want to sit next to me? This was practically outrageous in royal standards. It was basically in their genes to discriminate me for my family name. Note to self: Perks of being and Ozera, number one; I don't have to deal with royal bullshit. Baffled as I was, I looked around to see what others were doing and how they were reacting to this 'scandal'. As I looked around I noticed that all the other seats had already been taken. Well I'll be damned; I never would have thought people actually liked Slavic Art.

"Please, have a seat," I said, trying to muster some kind of politeness in my voice. It didn't really come naturally to me.

"Thank you," she said and sat down in one graceful movement. Not that I was looking. We sat there cradled in silence, like suddenly there was a bubble around us. I thought it was just my imagination, but as I snapped out of my thoughts I noticed everyone staring at us. It was unnerving, I hated it. Vasilisa didn't even flinch; I guess she was used to people staring at her. That did come with being the last of her bloodline after all. Instead of saying anything she flipped her hair over her shoulder and raised her chin. Bold. Like a lamb facing the slaughter house without a shred of fear clinging to her.

"Alright now," Mrs. Reed said. She clapped her hands together in an expectant manner. "Let's get started then!"

Gradually people began to mind their own business, or at least they didn't out right stare. Which was saying a lot considering most of them believed staring at people like they were animals at the zoo was their birth right.

The class flowed in its course. Boring pictures of paintings were shown on the screen in front of class. We wrote notes. I doodled on the corners of my notebook. The class was beginning to seem irritatingly uneventful. The bright florescent lights made me want to close my eyes and frankly, if I weren't afraid of Mrs. Reed smacking me with a ruler, I'd gladly take a nap. Unfortunately I wouldn't put the ruler incident past her, so I fought to keep my eyes open.

I looked to my left. I wanted to see what Vasilisa was doing. Secretly I hoped she would look as bored as I felt, but instead I saw her hunched over her notebook, feverishly writing down notes, even some that Mrs. Reed didn't have on her slideshow. Who knew, princess Dragomir had a thing for arts. I smiled to myself. She looked so absorbed in her work; I couldn't remember seeing someone so concentrated in a long time…Except perhaps me when I tried to use my fire magic to make Jesse Zeklos burst into flames. Needless to say I didn't succeed in that mission. Still, there was something about the look on her face that made me feel good about giving her the benefit of doubt. It was something that made me wish I was that social type of guy, who could just seem nice and easy to talk to.

"Is there something wrong?" I heard Vasilisa ask me. She wore an easy smile on her face, a face that was framed by platinum blond locks falling down in light curls. She looked up at me from her notebook and arched her eyebrow as if she was challenging me to answer honestly. So I did. "Nothing is wrong; I just can't believe you're actually interested in this stuff."

"Why wouldn't I be?" She asked me, seeming truly surprised. A few little lines of worry appeared on her forehead and I, for some reason felt immensely guilty. It made no sense. I couldn't help it if she was confused. Still…

"Well…" I said, trying out a nervous smile. "It's a bit boring."

"You think art is boring?" She asked, no she demanded an answer and I couldn't help but give it to her right away.

"Yes, but maybe I don't get it," I said trying to defend my lack of interest.

I could sense her green eyes piercing my soul, searching for something. It was an odd feeling of someone invading my privacy, but I couldn't break the illusion I was so caught up in. For a moment there was nothing in the world but her green eyes. I wasn't even sure if I liked green eyes. And just like that the illusion was shattered and she gave me another smile. "Maybe you should give the arts a chance, you never know, you might like them after all."

"Wise words," I sighed.

She gave me a curious look, then tilted her head and pursed her lips, as if she was trying to decide weather not to say something.

"What is it?" I whispered, because Mrs. Reed was giving me the evil eye.

"I just…" She shook her head. "I feel like I know you from somewhere, but I can't remember your name. I'm terribly sorry."

Oh great, she didn't remember my name. So she didn't know who I was. That must be the reason she actually dared to sit next to me. God she would be mortified when she found out about who I was. Sitting next to the black sheep of the royal society, way to make a comeback princess Dragomir.

"It's okay; before you…left we only had three classes together. In case you're wondering that comes to an equal of nine hours together in the same room every week." I said rolling my eyes.

Her face fell; she looked down at her hands and pulled at her sleeves. "God, I'm sorry. I didn't really pay attention to anything back then."

"Well I can't argue against that," I said.

"Was I mean to you?" She asked me in a surprisingly fragile voice.

I grinned at her for no apparent reason. "Not really mean, you just didn't know I existed. But that's okay, that's how everyone treats me."

"That sounds awful," She said and looked down at her hands again. Why did she keep doing that?

"Would you tell me your name, please?" She asked, now looking at me.

I tried to avoid her eyes. I actually took a look at the painting on the screen. It was dark and gloomy, a mess of blue and black. "I'm Christian Ozera."

I dared to take a look at her. She seemed surprised, but then she visibly relaxed. It was quick. I could almost tell myself that I'd just imagined the shock on her face. Luckily I didn't have the habit of lying to myself.

"I should have known," she said and leaned against the desk with one hand.

"Yes, of course you should have. You should always be able to recognize a creature of evil," I said and looked down at my notebook.

She rolled her eyes. "I see what you are referring to, but I don't think you're a creature of evil…although saying that art is boring should be counted as a terrible monstrous act, but perhaps I can look past that."

"Yes, well I suggest you don't. I wouldn't want you to get the wrong impression of me. You do know what they say about first impressions," I said and pondered her words in my head. Was she just saying that because she didn't want to make this class anymore awkward than it already was or did she actually mean it. Could she be giving me the benefit of doubt?

The rest of the class we sat in silence, she writing notes like a good student and me doodling pictures of random stuff on my notebook. At last the bell rang and I could practically taste freedom, but then Mrs. Reed called my name. "Shit," I swore under my breath.

"Yes Mrs. Reed," I replied with my fake polite voice reserved especially for teachers I didn't like, which in case you were wondering was most of them.

"You have missed more than half of your classes," She stated.

"And?" I asked. "I'm not planning on an art career."

"Yes, God save us all if you were, but I can't possibly pass you with this little attendance…unless you of course do an extra project."

"And let me guess, that extra project will be a wide ranged essay about stuff I have no idea about," I asked. God I hated this.

"I'm not a monster, if you can come up with an acceptable topic for an essay by the next class, I'll let that count for your project." Mrs. Reed rolled her eyes at me.

"You mean the essay or the topic, which one actually counts as the project, because actually just coming up with a topic is awfully hard work…"

"Don't push it Mr. Ozera," Mrs. Reed snapped and dismissed me.

"Always a pleasure," I whispered under my breath.

I walked away as fast as I could and practically slammed the classroom door as I stepped out into the dimly lit corridor.

I was about to stalk away, maybe lock myself in my room and mope a bit until I felt a tiny hand grab my arm.

"Jesus you scared me!" I exclaimed.

Vasilisa Dragomir clung to my arm. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you." She looked up at me with those infuriatingly green eyes and bit her lip. She hesitated for a bit. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for the way I've treated you in the past. And I realize me saying sorry doesn't make up for anything, but I'm trying and that's all I can do right now."

"What the hell happened to you, you seem all guilty and stuff, it doesn't suit your royal status," I said.

She let go of my arm and looked a bit hurt. "Well it's hard not to reconsider your past choices when you've been left all alone."

Now I guess it was my turn to feel a pang of guilt. I honestly had to remember I didn't have a monopoly on pain and suffering. I guess when it came to losing people she deserved some credit as well.

"Well, it's better late than never, right?" I tried to make her feel better, which incidentally was not my expertise.

"Right," she said and pulled at her sleeve again.

Suddenly I got the most amazing idea. "You know…if I told you there was something you could do to redeem yourself in my eyes, would you consider doing it?" It was a long shot, but I really hated arts.

"I guess it depends on what it is I could do," she said and flipped her hair back again.

"Arts, I need help with arts," I said, feeling the need to clarify my suggestion.

"I know," she said and gave me a grin before turning around. "I need to go see the guidance councilor but we'll talk later."

AN: So? I would really like it if you told me what you thought about the first chapter. I'm really excited about this story, so I hope you liked it! I really appreciate reviews and they do make my day so if you have the chance, please do review! All feedback is appreciated!

Love Always, Alexandra!