Lissa hung her head low as she walked through the halls at St. Vladimir's. It was the middle of the night, lunch time, but she didn't feel like eating. Not today at least. All she could do was go to class. On her way to history, Lissa observed her fellow classmates. She watched as girls hopelessly flirted with the boys, hoping to get attention from them. While twirling strands of their hair, they would laugh at every joke. Meanwhile, the men would flash their gleaming smiles and stare at the girls' breasts and butt. They leaned against the wall or stood in a way to show off their muscles. Lissa scoffed. "Disgusting…" she thought. She hated spring for two reasons, and this was one of them: mating season. It seemed as if no one escaped from it, even humans and vampires.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a spunky brunette calling her name. To her right, Rose sat on a picnic table. Quickly she hopped down and strolled over to Lissa. "Earth to Lissa," she teased. "What's up? Have you eaten lunch yet?"

Lissa looked back over to the teenagers sucking each other's faces off. She grimaced. "No, I'm not hungry right now," she said. "I'll eat later, like after history or something." Lie.

Rose eyed her fanged friend carefully. Lissa never skipped feeding time. She always enjoyed listening to feeder Alice's ramblings with Christian. Rose could tell something was up; in fact, she could literally feel the depression emitting off of her. "What's wrong, and don't tell me 'it's nothing', because we both know that it's not nothing." Lissa looked surprised. Rose just stared, waiting for the answer.

Lissa gave Rose a pained look and sighed, her hands resting on her hips. "You know, sometimes I really wish you couldn't see inside my head and read my thoughts."

Rose laughed. "That's the thing. I didn't have to. I could feel it. It's like radiation." Lissa rolled her eyes and smirked.

"You can be such a pain in the ass sometimes, but at least you know a thing or two about privacy." A bell rang signaling for class. "I got to go: history."

"More drivel about dead royals?" Rose joked.

"Hey, I actually find that interesting, and no: World War II. We're studying the Manhattan project. You know…atomic bombs and all that?" Lissa said.

Rose nodded. "Hmm, that's fitting, with your emotions. I'll talk to you later. Eat something!"

"Yeah I will," Lissa replied as she turned and left towards class, leaving Rose worrying about what could possibly be bothering her best friend.

History droned on for what seemed life forever, and Lissa couldn't pay attention for the life of her. Not today. She just spent each minute doodling in her notebook, her thoughts filling with images of–

"Miss Dragomir," Lissa's head shot upwards. Her teacher, Mrs. Callahan, was staring right at her, along with the rest of the class.

"What?" she asked innocently. The class snickered.

"Will you please answer the question?" Lissa just sat there. She hadn't heard the question. If she were to spew out some random answer, she would look stupid, but if she asked the teacher to repeat it, Mrs. Callahan would know she wasn't paying attention. Both decisions were unfavorable, but she had to choose one.

"Um…can you repeat the question?" The room burst into laughter. Mrs. Callahan sighed and looked at the floor. Lissa could feel her cheeks burning.

The teacher hushed the class. "I asked 'What was the purpose of Hanford in the Manhattan project?'" The room was silent.

All eyes were on Lissa. She began to panic. She forgot to do the reading last night. "It was for the atomic bomb, right?"

"Yes. What part of the bomb specifically?" the teacher asked. "Damn…" Lissa thought.

"I don't know. I'm sorry."

Mrs. Callahan shook her head and leaned against the desk. "Vasilisa Dragomir, I must say I'm a little disappointed. You've always been so studious, but lately it seems your mind is distracted." Lissa began to feel every pair of eyes on her. "Too much partying of late? Look, I know it's hard, but just because you're the last Dragomir and your parents and brother are deceased doesn't mean you can slack off your work without consequences." Lissa was speechless. That was out of line, especially today. Her eyes began to water, and it took every inch of her being not to cry in front of everyone. The teacher went on about how Hanford held the plutonium for the bomb, and Lissa felt like an atomic bomb herself.

When the bell rang, despite sitting near the back of the class, Lissa was the first one out of the room. She couldn't bear the thought of her classmates seeing her like this. She had to hold her composure. She rushed her way past the clumps of students bundled together, ignoring their glances. She thought she heard someone say her name but she just continued on towards her dorm room. Once inside the safety of her room, she began to break down. The memories began to flood her mind: the car, the blood, and her family's lifeless bodies.

From the courtyard below, Rose felt a disturbance in the bond. Rose zapped into Lissa's head immediately to figure out why. From what she saw, Lissa was crashing. She watched as Lissa began sob. Suddenly it all made sense: it was the anniversary of the crash. It was hitting Lissa extra hard this year. The tears cascaded down her cheeks as she fell to the floor. Rose could feel the deep pain growing in her stomach. She felt Lissa's nausea. Suddenly the room began to spin. Lissa was out of control; but she had to calm down first, so she rushed to the infirmary.

Two nurses ran with Rose to the girls' dormitory with a syringe of sedatives. Rose continued to check on Lissa to make sure she wasn't harming herself, but she could feel that Lissa might resort to it soon.

Lissa began to get violent. She was tearing things off the wall and hitting the floor with her fists. She almost didn't hear someone banging on her door. She couldn't open it. "No one should see me this vulnerable," she thought. "Lissa," they yelled, "Open the door!"

"Go away!" she screamed back. The pounding continued. Lissa ignored it and continued to cry. Her eyes caught the sight of her razor. The door was busted down as Lissa began to reach out towards the cold metal.

"Lissa, no," Rose yelled as she and one nurse held Lissa down. The other got ready to administer the sedative. Lissa began to put up one hell of a fight.

"Get off me and go away!" she cried, but she couldn't get free. The tears continued to roll down her cheeks. The other nurse injected the needle into Lissa's flank. She pushed in the plunger as Rose cooed, "It is ok, Lissa. Everything is going to be fine. They're just injecting a sedative. You're going to be ok. It is ok."

After a couple seconds Lissa began to put up less of a fight. Her breathing slowed and she began to weep softly. Rose smoothed out her hair. "Everything's ok, Lissa. It's all fine."

Before she went under, she looked up at Rose and said, "I just wish we didn't get in a crash…" and then she was out.

"I know, Lissa…I know."

Hey, let me know how you like it. I'm excited for this story!

~B