A/N: Again, this is pretty fun to write. Enjoy!

Chapter 2: Eagles and Tigers and Guys, oh my!

I gulped as I saw the cockroach man from ten years ago," Who are you and how did you get in my apartment?" I asked, edging towards the door.

He gave me a dark grin," I'm Horvath, and I'm a sorcerer after all. It wasn't hard getting in," he said, pointing his cane at me," Where is the Grimhold?"

I laughed a little," Uh, as I said to your friend, Balthazar, no idea gotta go!" I said, bolting out the door and running as fast as I could. Suddenly, a loud roar came from behind me, and I saw the tigers from my calendar chasing me.

Immediately, I started running faster and headed towards the subway. I barely squeezed through the gate when the tigers caught up to me, and I let out a nervous laugh as the big cats snarled at me from the other side of the gate. Suddenly, the gate began turning, and I took off running again.

Sadly, I was wearing slippery socks that caused me to slip and fall onto the tracks. The tigers leaped at me, and I braced myself for the worst then a couple of kittens landed in my lap," Kittens?"

I looked up and saw Balthazar on a giant steel eagle from the Empire State building swoop down and come to my rescue," This is the second time in the past 42 hours that I've done this," Balthazar said," Get up here," he snapped," Quickly!"

I scrambled up onto the eagle and bit down on my lip as it prepared to take off into the air. " Take it easy," I said as I climbed onto the eagle," I hate flying!" I squeaked as it took off, and I fell back against Balthazar.

He laughed and flew up to the Empire State building and returned the eagle to normal. I quickly hopped off the giant bird and shook myself a bit to get over the shock of flying on a giant bird. Apparently, the look on my face was hilarious because Balthazar hunched over laughing nonstop until I smacked his arm," Sorry, but you can't go back to your apartment. You are going to be living with me and Dave while you are my apprentice," he said, straightening up.

I looked at him weird because he was crazy and laughed a little bit. " Ha ha, good one. I have exams in the morning, and nothing and no one is going to keep me from graduating," I said, heading towards the stairwell to get out of the building.

Balthazar grinned," You have a strong will and a creative mind. Perfect tools for a sorceress. You are my apprentice now. You need to excel in training before you can do much with Horvath after you," he said, freezing my feet to the floor, literally.

I frowned," Fine," I growled, flexing my hand with the ring," But I'm going to take my exams in the morning."

The old sorcerer smiled," Ok. You're still going to be living with me and Dave," he said, trolling me ultimately and smirking like my brother. For his sake, I better not miss my exams.

Luckily, I woke up at the crack of dawn, rushed back to my apartment, pulled on some of my normal clothes, and woke up Shelby. Just because she was awake, that doesn't mean she was alive. When Shelby first wakes up, she's a zombie.

I smiled and strode into the kitchen, whipping out pancake mix and chocolate chips. After several minutes of cooking a ridiculous amounts of pancakes, I dragged Shelby in and seated her in front of a stack of deliciousness," Wake up and eat up!" I yelled into her ear, shocking her to life.

We ate quickly, chatted about the show last night, and rushed to the university for our exams. Lucky, brilliant me, I finished early and wandered around the school until I heard my phone start to play Shelby's ringtone in the back pocket of my ripped, black skinny-jeans.

I answered it and heard her jabbering away about how long the exams were and that she was going to be with her boyfriend, James, for the evening. I rolled my eyes and told her that if wasn't home at midnight for her not to worry.

I strode out onto the street and pulled my leather jacket tighter around me," Oh geez, it's gonna rain," I thought, gazing up at the sky. I began wandering the streets and unconsciously made my way to the building where Shelby and I had seen Drake Stone the night before.

I smiled as I looked up at the building and began wandering around mindlessly, humming random songs that ran through my mind. Suddenly, I was soaked and freezing as rain began pouring down from the sky.

I muttered a few expletives under my breath and ran under the awning of the nearest building. I stood there and shivered for a little bit until a man with a cockney accent asked me if I was alright.

I looked up, my hair dripping into my eyes and blurring my vision. " Uh, yeah. I'll be ok when the rain stops," I said, trying to look at the blonde man in front of me.

I could tell he was smiling at me," I'm sorry, you seem familiar. What's your name, love?" he asked, sticking his hands in the pockets of his coat.

I tried to smile at him," Jessica Knight," I said, blinking most of the water out of my eyes to see that Drake Stone was the man I was talking to," Oh my god, I just realized, you're Drake Stone," I laughed awkwardly," I was at your show last night with my friend Shelby."

He grinned," Oh yes, I remember you," he said," I brought you and your friend up onstage with me."

I nodded," Yeah," I laughed," Oh god, I'm so sorry we ran off all of a sudden. We had exams this morning at the university," I apologized.

He flashed me his dazzling smile," Oh it's alright. No offense, but you look like someone tried to drown you," he pointed out, and I blushed in embarrassment," Why don't you come up to my penthouse for a bit? It would make up for you and your friend running off last night," he offered, wrapping an arm around my tiny waist.

I smiled and nodded, allowing him to lead me inside and upstairs to his penthouse. When the elevator arrived on his floor, he flashed me another dazzling smile then led me into his apartment. " First order of business, we need to dry you off or you'll be frozen in minutes," Drake said, pulling a towel out of thin air and drying off my hair for me.

I closed my eyes as he gently dried off my face as well then looked up at him with my big, violet eyes. He smiled," Second, allow me to take your coat," he said, helping me out of my jacket and hanging it up by the door.

I realized that my choice of a thin, gray t-shirt was not the best choice this morning as I saw that it was soaked and nearly see-through. A light blush crept onto my cheeks as I took the towel and began trying to dry off my shirt.

Drake laughed a bit," Here, I'll let you borrow one of mine, and you can let that dry," he said, leading me into his room then handing me a small, black t-shirt.

I took the shirt gratefully and waited for him to leave the room before peeling off my wet shirt and putting on the one Drake had given me. I inhaled as I slipped the shirt over my head and detected the smell of Polo Black and aftershave. If he was trying to be nice, he had succeeded, but if he was trying to make out with me, he was on the right track for some disappointment.

I strode out into his living room and looked around in awe. It was impressive and cool and everything I would expect from this guy. Rich, famous, and a couple years older than me, Drake was definitely out of my league. Pity he didn't seem to realize that.

He walked up behind me and had me sit on the couch with him, drinking hot chocolate, and talking about ourselves. Mostly me though, he kept bringing the conversation back to me, so I pretty much told him what he wanted to know.

" So your mum died giving birth to you, your dad killed himself seven years later, and your older brother raised you to be such a great person. Well, Jessica..."

" Seriously, call me Jay."

" Well, Jay, you are one impressive woman. So is your brother. Impressive I mean, not a woman," Drake said, laughing a bit.

I smiled," Yeah, Luke was impressive. He was in the marine corps but went missing in action a few years ago," I explained," I've been sharing an apartment with my friend, Shelby, ever since then."

Drake smiled," You're still an impressive woman. Don't take this the wrong way, but how old are you?" he asked.

I smiled," I just turned twenty-one a few days ago. Shelby tried to get me drunk, but failed miserably," I laughed.

Drake and I talked a bit longer and the rain started to let up," Do you want a drink?" he asked, standing up and striding over to his bar to get himself something.

I thought for a moment," Why not?" I thought. " Sure," I said, running my fingers through my now dry hair and accidentally getting my ring caught in it," Crap."

Drake looked over at me with a raised eyebrow then laughed," You're a real diamond, love," he said, sauntering over and setting a couple drinks down before helping me get my ring untangled then our eyes locked. Now, remember my earlier statement about him trying to make out with me and that it probably wouldn't happen? Let's just say I was dead wrong.

A/N: Please review! :P