When everyone stood up to leave from dinner, I found myself gazing up at the moon. Slowly, I felt my sadness over come me.

" Are you ok Alexandra?" Lissa asked. I nodded.

" Yea . . . I think I'm going out for a little bit." I say.

" Alright, just be back by curfew."
I nodded. " I will, I promise. I'll see you all later."

They all nodded and walked off. Kai gave me a worried look.

" Aleksandra, ty v poryadke? ( Alexandra, are you ok?)" She asked me in a soft whisper. She looked just like a little kid.

" Konechno , ne bespokoytesʹ obo mne i idti spatʹ. ( Of course, don't worry about me and go get some sleep.)" I smile as I gently patted her head. Kai had always been short to begin with. When I had first met her she was being picked on because of her height. Since I have always been tall for my age, I have always towered everyone and earned the respect I demanded.
Kai gave me one last look then hugged me tightly, nearly taking my breath away from me.

" YA tak tebya lyublyu Aleksandra. ( I love you so much Alexandra.)" She whispered into my clothing. I smiled gently and hugged her back. My hand rested on my back then the other in her soft tangles. I leaned my head down and rested my head on the top of her head, getting a soft scent from her shampoo.

" YA tozhe tebya lyublyu Kay." I whispered into her hair. Lately she had been having a lot on her mind. Not only had this move taken a big toll on her as well as being homesick, her mother was back in Russia with her life on the line as she rested on a hospital bed. Kai had refused to leave her side but her mother had told her that her wish was for her daughter to go to this academy and stay over here. I knew that there had to be something going on, but I couldn't seem to figure out what it was.

Kai stayed there for a moment, then slowly pulled back.

" Spokoynoy nochi Aleksandra. ( Good night Alexandra.)" She smiled, holding back tears in her eyes. I guess she too was thinking of everything that was going on. I gently grabbed her head and kissed the top of it.

" Spokoynoy nochi Kay. ( Good night Kai. )" I returned. Kai smiled at me and hugged me one last time.
" Vse budet khorosho , ya obeshchayu. (Everything will be alright, I promise.)" I promised to her. Kai nodded and slowly pulled away before running off to catch up with the others. I stood there and watched her talk to the group with a smile on her face. In a way she reminded me of Lissa, only she was much more fragile. I could feel Dimitri's eyes upon me as he stood there watching me. I only ignored him and sighed as I pulled my scarf up to my nose before stuffing my hands in my pockets and walking outside.

The fresh snow crunched under my feet as I walked along. I really didn't know what I was doing out here, I'm sure I looked weird, but I didn't care. In fact, I was kinda happy. I have always enjoyed the snow, I just had to make sure I stayed warm.

I looked up at the moon and let the snowflakes fall gently on my face. I smiled even though my mouth was covered. I hear footsteps behind me and turned around, expecting Dimitri. But instead I found a young boy walking up to me. I had to admit, he was good looking but something about him I didn't like.

" What's a pretty thing like you doing out here alone?" He asked as he walked up. I narrowed my eyes in annoyance. I definitely found the reason why I dislike him.

" Who are you?" I asked, ignoring his question. He continued to walk up closer to me. A little to close than I had preferred, but I didn't budge.

" The name is Jesse. Who are you?" He asked. His smile may say innocent, but his eyes were something else.

" Alexandra." I answered with a growl in my voice.

" Are you the new girl?"
" Yes. "
" Well welcome to the Academy." He said with a small bow. I just stood there, my look in my eyes not changing. Jesse looked at me, his eyes shifting down to my scarf.

" Why hide such a pretty face?" He asked as he reached forward. Before his finger tips touched my scarf, I snatched his wrist up. My eyes shifted down to see how close he was to touching the fabric then they narrowed and again and looked at him.

" I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't start stripping me down." I snapped. Jesse laugh. There was a dirty tone hidden behind the playful one he used.

" None the less, shall we take it inside then?" He asked me. I felt my anger starting to boil. I scoffed and threw his hand out of my grasp. He gave me a look, somewhat surprised at my actions.

" You're a feisty one aren't you?" He asked.
" No, I just don't like it when –" I gasped at the feeling of my scarf being removed. I had been so caught up in disgust at Jesse, I didn't even hear his friend sneak up behind me. I went to pull up my scarf but my hands where snatched up and pulled back and held against me.
" There's that pretty face." Jesse smiled. Then he winked at his friend behind me.

" Good job. Now why don't we see that pretty neck of yours?"
I began to struggle against the boy who was holding me, but I started to become weak from getting cold to fast. Slowly, Jesse started to remove my scarf from my neck. As his hands gently ran against my neck, he flashed his fangs. I had to hurry before I got too cold. I raised my foot and kicked Jesse right in the stomach and flipped the other guy over my back. I quickly grabbed my scarf and began to take off.

As I ran, my knees started growing weak. Since I was still new to the school, I didn't know my way around. What made everything worse, every entrance I'd find would be locked. I stopped for a moment and tried to catch my breath. After hearing Jesse and his friend run after me, I rushed myself as I wrapped my scarf back around my neck before taking off. But even with my scarf on it was no use. With me running it continued to slip from the bridge of my nose and hung around my neck. I had to find a way out of here before those boys came back and strip me naked and bite me to their pleasure.

My pace started to slow and my knees were shaky. I really had to hurry before the cold got to me. I suddenly saw a person ahead of me and prayed to god that it was someone who could help me. But before I could see who it was, my knees gave out and the cold over came me. As I fell into the snow I saw a world of darkness envelope me.

" Alexandra, Alexandra wake up!"

I suddenly shot straight up, immediately thinking that I had to get away from Jesse and his friend. But when I finally got the chance to look around, I realized that I wasn't outside any more. Actually, I was inside someone's room. I looked around and laid eyes on Kai sitting on a chair with the look of worry in her eyes. My eyes drifted a little farther and found Dimitri sitting next to the bed I was laying on.

" What happened?" I asked. Dimitri and Kai gave me a worried look.

" You don't remember?" He asked me. I sat there for a moment. Then it all clicked. That damn Jesse. I began to curse in Russian underneath my breath.

" What happened? Why did you pass out?" He asked. I stopped my chants, surprised by his sudden question.

" That damn Jesse and his friend snuck up on me." I explained. Dimitri sighed with a frustrated tone.

" Of course." He stated, clearly not shocked." Why did you pass out though?"

I looked up at him for a moment then sat and thought how I could explain it and still have everything make sense.

" I don't have enough calories since I always burn a lot with running and everything. So when my body gets to cold I pass out." I stated. He seemed to understand. That shocked me. Not that I thought he was a dumb man, oh no, I knew he was a very smart man indeed, but most people just thought I was crazy when I explained everything to them.

" That's why I wear my scarf all the time during the winter time." I continued. I heard Kai get up. She looked at me in the eyes before falling onto the bed with her arms around me.

" I was so scarred." She said with her accent still there. " I've never seen you out for so long."

I stayed quiet and held her just like how I had before we had separated after dinner.
" I'm alright, I told you I wouldn't leave you before didn't I?" I asked her. I could feel Dimitri watching us, but I had to calm Kai down.

She sat there for a moment, trying to comprehend what I said.

" Accidents happen." She responded after a while.

" Doesn't mean that I will break my promise."
" Obeshchaniye? ( Promise?)" She asked me.

I nodded. " Obeshchanive. ( Promise. )"

So that weekend Lissa had took us all to the mall just as she promised. Of course Dimitri, Mason, Christian and Aaron had tagged along and were our guards since me and Rose had been able to take off on guard duty.

Lissa, Kai and Rose had immediately gotten along with each other. Then again, it didn't help that they all loved to shop until they dropped. They stopped in multiple stores and searched through racks and racks of dresses, shoes and accessories. I didn't mind shopping, but I wasn't use to being able to shop in these kinds of stores.

" What's wrong? I would have though that you would have been up along with the others." Mason said as he managed to get a few words with me. I shrugged.

" I'm not really a big shopper."
He chuckled. " Not everyone is. But I suggest you get in there before they chew your head off for not answering them."
I looked into the store and saw the three girls waving me in. I smiled with a roll of my eyes as I walked in.

" Alexandra! We found the perfect dress for you!" Lissa gasped. Rose and Kai nodded eagerly. I looked at the dress that Lissa held up. It was a dark purple, the one of a few colors that made my eyes pop. I did have to admit, it was rather cute. Short cut, strapless, it was simple but at the same time is was fancy.

" Come on Alexandra! Get it!" Kai begged. I smiled at how easy her English tongue was coming back. The last couple of days she and I have been working on it. Now everything was coming back to her. I looked at it one last time. I really did want it . . . I guess it would be ok to get it.

" Alright, I'll get it." I finally cave. The girls cheered and smiled before rushing me to the cash register. I looked over at Dimitri who was leaning on the rail outside of the store. I saw him show a small smile and I just returned it. ' These girls are crazy!' I mouthed to him. That seemed to get him to smile a little more. ' I know. ' he mouthed back.

We continued on and brought the rest of the things we wanted. Like shoes, hair accessories, a few pieces of jewelry or a purse. I did have to admit, I had a really good time with them. In fact, I was actually was really excited. I didn't get to go dances that often so I was looking forward to it.

I walked into my room and threw my bags down onto my bed before grabbing my stuff to take a shower. As I stepped in, I let the warmth of the water heat me up. I had always loved taking warm showers. It was one of my favorite things to do. Especially if I was stressed out. If I could I'd stay in a shower all day.

Once I was done I stepped out and dried out before rubbing on my lotion. I had always loved the smell of cocoa butter. It reminded me of hot chocolate. After I was done, I slipped on my pajamas and began to walk down the school halls. I didn't care if someone saw me. Pajamas were pajamas, big deal.

I managed to make it down the hall and to my room without getting too cold. I opened my door, threw my clothes in a corner and began to pull everything out of the bags from shopping today. My dress truly was beautiful. In fact, I kinda felt like it was too beautiful for me to wear it. But I still yearned to be that one girl who wore it. With a small smile, I set it aside and looked at my hair accessories I had gotten. They were pretty hair crystals that were out for a good price. So I figured why not. The store didn't have the shoes I wanted so I figured out something else to do. I wasn't a fan of heels anyways. I had told Kai that I already had a pair, which I did . . . I had

one . . . but I never said I was going to use them. So I decided that I would surprise everyone.

With an evil smile, I placed everything on my desk and laid down on my bed. I had one of those pillows where you could plug in your music player and it would play your music, so I was in heaven. I turned on one of my favorite songs, turned off the lights, and fell asleep.