first of all, i would like to thank you for taking time to open this.

you've come this far so you're gonna have to read it. LOL.

co-written with Nicole Roza Ozera. i wrote this chapter and she'll write the next one.

hope you like it! [fingers crossed]

Chapter 1:

Christian POV

Where could Lissa be? I've been searching for her a long while ago. She wasn't in the library or the church attic. I walked down the hall from the feeding room when I ran into someone.

"Hey, watch it!" I met Rose's eyes.

"Oh, hey Christian." She said in a puzzled expression.

"Hey, um, do you happen to know where Lissa might be?" I asked.

"Wow. Is this actually Christian Ozera asking a question to Rose Hathaway?" she said in that bitchy bravado of hers.

"Look, I'm not here to squabble with you. So would you please tell me where Lissa is?" I said, annoyed.

"Wait. You're a control freak now?" she said sarcastically. God, she really annoys the hell out of me.

"Will you just tell me where she is? Damn it." She blinked and smiled. My face might've given out a really annoyed expression.

"Wait a sec." she said as she closed her eyes. She was obviously using the bond she had with Lissa. A minute later she opened her eyes.

"She's with Adrian."

"What?" I asked, bewildered.

"Are you deaf? I said she's with Adrian." I didn't bother to put up with her crap. Instead I ran all the way to the guest housing where Adrian Ivashkov had been staying since coming to the academy. I barged inside the room, not bothering to knock. The first thing I saw was Lissa sitting on his couch.

"Lissa." I said, keeping my voice even. She was surprised to see me there. I glared at Adrian.

"Hey, Christian. Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Will you explain to me why you're with Adrian Ivashkov and in his room?"

"We're practicing Spirit. That's the whole reason of why he came here in the first place." She said easily.

"Are you sure it's for that reason?" I asked sarcastically.

"Jealous much?" Adrian cut in. I shot him a glare.

"Christian. We're not doing anything wrong. We're just talking. About spirit." Lissa assured me. I dropped the subject. For now, at least. I trust Lissa. It's Ivashkov I didn't trust.

"Come on, Liss. Let's go." I said, taking her hand. She let me lead her out the door, leaving a shrugging Adrian in the room.

Rose POV

I stared behind him as he ran towards the guest housing. What was wrong with him? It's not like Lissa was hooking up with Adrian. I shrugged and made my way to the gym for my after-class practice with Dimitri. I went inside and found him in a corner, reading one of those western novels that he loved.

"You're late. As usual." He said.

"Sorry about that. I just ran into a friend." he studied my expression.

"Friend, huh." He mumbled.

"Look. Could we start training already? I need to get my mind off things." I told him. I wasn't sure what we're working on. We were last practicing on stakes. But the dummies are nowhere to be found.

"You're working with me." He said and I blinked. In my mind I was thinking about something dirty.

"What?" I asked.

"I think you've learned so much by this point that you could actually take me. Let's test your skills, Rose." I felt like my ears would burst from his praise. I took the challenge and he gestured me in the middle of the gym. I followed him and stood on my ground. He attacked. I started to dodge by the side, but boy wasn't he fast. I continued dodging until I found an opening where I could attack him. But he was ready. After a blink of an eye, he had pinned me to the ground.

"Damn it." I swore.

"Even if you're attacking, you shouldn't let your guard down. Let's try again." he said as he helped me to my feet. Our training went on like that for hours until it was finally over.

"You did a good job, Rose. See you tomorrow," he said "and try not to be late." He added as I made my way out of the gym.

Adrian POV

What the hell was that? I swear to god, that guy's crazy. I shook my head and went out of the room. I needed to get away from all this craziness. I was just trying to learn spirit, what's wrong about that? Lissa and me? That's just insane. Rose is the reason I came here aside from learning spirit. But she's been avoiding me, ignoring all those flowers I sent her everyday. I went to the cafeteria. It was almost dinner time. I made my way to the cafeteria. From where I stood, I could see Christian sitting with Lissa. They seem to be making up, so I obviously couldn't sit with them. I sighed and went out of campus for a cigarette, since I don't find eating alone a bit appetizing. Suddenly, the door behind me swung open, and Rose descended from the shadows. I wasn't out of luck after all.

"Little Dhampir. Did you come here to finally confess your love?" I asked. She scoffed.

"You wish."

"Ouch. That hurt." I clutched my heart for a more dramatic effect.

"What happened? With Lissa, I mean. She's with Christian and she seemed upset." Her brow furrowed.

"His guy thinks I'm moving in on her." I explained.

"Are you?" her eyes widened in sarcasm.

"You know my heart belongs to you." She rolled her eyes at that.

"Cut the crap. I'm leaving," she stopped to think. "you coming?" she added, heading for the door.

"Sure. Anywhere with you is like heaven for me." I said with a wink. We went inside the cafeteria and looked for Lissa and Christian. They weren't at the table anymore.

"That's weird. When I left, they were sitting by that table." I told her. She shrugged and went to one of the tables. I followed her.

"I'm eating, anyway. I'm hungry after all that training. But feel free to go if you want."

"I'm not going anywhere. And eating alone isn't very appetizing, you know. So I think I'll stay." I said, sitting across her.

N: what will happen next?

C: how should i know? YOU'RE writing the second chapter. :D

N: hmm.. oki doki.

C: okay. attention people! if the next chapter disappoints you-which i'm sure it won't-you know who wrote it okay? LOL.

yeahh.. review please!

-C & N- 3