A couple weeks had passed since my birthday and St. Vladimir's had officially moved on from the Strigoi attack and most students were focused on the school year ending soon. I was one of the many who could not wait for their final year to end. For them it was the anticipation to leave high school and move onto collage or to become an official guardian. For me it was a little of both but it was also when the many lies I kept from those closest to me would end. I still have not told Lissa about Dimitri and I. The only one who knew anything was Adrian, who had long since figured it out, but I knew he would keep the secret. Not that it changed the fact that he was always flirting with me. So when I went to sleep it did not surprise me when I felt a spirit dream curl around me.
"We've been through this Adrian," I said before I turned around to face him. "I prefer to actually 'sleep' when I go to bed."
"You are asleep little Dhampir." I turned to him and his eyes widened slightly followed by a frown, just enough that without my amazing eyesight I would have missed it.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing― "He scanned me for a moment and I thought he was going to give me one of his romancing lines. Instead he shook his head and pulled out a cigarette from his pocket.
"Really?" I complained with rolling eyes. "Even in my dreams I cannot get away from your bad habits?"
"Bad habits die hard Rose. It's not like I can help it much." There was a hardness in his voice and his expression grew serious. I knew that the effects of spirit were eating at him more and more since he and Lissa started with their tutoring lessons. I did not say anything about it. The look on his face told me that he didn't want to hear someone scold him for only doing what kept him sane, at least for the most part.
He didn't say anything else and I finally noticed the scenery we were in. It looked like a park; one I had never been to before. There were flowers of all colors scattered around the large gazebo that we stood in. I wore a sundress with my nazar dangling around my neck. The chotki that Lissa had given me was also around my wrist. The cool breeze of wind felt nice on my skin as the sun beat down from the sky. The air smelled like freshly cut grass and I wanted nothing more than to lay on it and bask in the sunlight.
After a couple moments later I broke the silence. "So, was there something you needed? Why the spirit dream?"
He gave me a small smile, not fully letting go of his mental issue problems. "What little Dhampir, I can't just want to visit the most beautiful girl in the world?"
There it was. The cheesy pick up line. I knew it was coming. "Adrian, we've been over this. No amount of flirting is going to change my mind about dating you. I'm sorry."
"Oh, admit it already. Even though you tell me to stop you really like the compliments." He replayed with a wink. I let out a sign. He was right. I did like being reminded of my beauty. It wasn't something I could deny. Unlike most Moroi women who were tall and thin, I was shorter and had way more curves. I knew I was pretty much eye candy ro the guys around campus.
"It doesn't matter." My voice was stern. I may have liked being flattered but I still wanted Adrian to get the hint. "I'm just not interested in you in that way."
"Bet if I had a duster and an accent you would." I don't think I was supposed to hear that last sentence as he mumbled it to himself but boy did it boil my blood. He may have known about Dimitri and I but that gave him no excuse to mock him.
"Adrian, you're being ridiculous." Frustration filled my face and I could feel it warming up.
"I'm being ridiculous?" There was tension in his words but he was not raising his voice which I was thankful for. I really did not want to be yelled at in my own dream. He tossed the unlit cigarette onto the floor. "Rose, I'm not the one sleeping with a cradle robber." Ouch. That comment hit a nerve.
"What? How?" I was taken by his comment so much that I had to take a step back. How did Adrian know that Dimitri and I slept together. I sure as hell kept that part a secret from everyone. "That's none of your business." My eyes were glaring at him now and I was pretty sure that my cheeks were red.
"It'll be the whole schools business soon enough." He gave me a look. I was not sure if it was judgment or something else.
"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked as I crossed my arms.
"It doesn't matter."
"It sounds like you want to ruin our friendship." I said dryly.
"I'm not ruining anything. This is your fault, not mine." His voice grew louder but he still did not yell. "But it still wont matter. What I wanted doesn't matter. Like I said, your secret won't stay a secret for long."
"Are you threatening me now?" I could not believe he was making threats to tell everyone about my relationship with Dimitri. What happened to the cute and charming guy who was here a moment ago? My fists were clenched and I had the biggest urge to punch his pretty face but I held back. I'm sure he is being effected by the emotions that spirit toyed with.
"It's not a threat but a warning and I'm pretty sure things are not going to end well for either of you."
I was about to come up with some snappy insults but before I could gather a full sentence in my head the spirit dream was gone and I woke up with anger still fueling me. What the hell did he mean by all that and why was he acting stranger than usual?
Later after school I had training with Dimitri. I had spent all day worried and angry that Adrian was going to come clean about my after school activities with Dimitri that I did not talk much to Lissa and Christian throughout the day. They asked me what was wrong but I just told them that I did not want to talk about it and they respected my privacy by not bringing it up again.
When I got to the gym my bad mood lightened when I saw a very gorgeous Russian god laying flat on some sparring mats with a book in front of his face. I could not help but smile at his love for old western novels. He always looked so focused and calm when he was reading. He turned his eyes away from the book once I set my bag down and came closer to him.
"Hello Rose." He said with a smile. There were three dummies lined up in the middle of the gym which made me happy because I desperately needed to punch something.
"No running today?" I said a little too enthusiastically.
"I thought we would practice inside today." He said as he got up from the floor. He set the book off to the side by his own bag before taking out a silver stake from it.
"sweet," I breathed. I pulled out my own stake from my bag; the one my mother gave me for my birthday. I was excited to finally break it in. I walked over to the first dummy and waited for instructions but Dimitri shook his head.
"Not yet. I wanted us to spar with one another first."
"You sure you can take me on Comrade? I mean, I've been in battle and won. I'm pretty much a hot in the eyes of the schoo―" My boasting was cut when Dimitri lunged forward with his stake. I barely had time to react but the blades collided and I switched over to defense mode.
Just like it always was with Dimitri and I, our movements were in sync. His unarmed fist shot out and connected with my upper arm and I grunted from the hit. It always amazed me how he could be so fierce and strong in our practices, not wanting to go easy on me, and yet so soft and gentle when the mood was right.
I maneuvered myself around his attacks and before I knew it all the anger that held me up today was placed in every punch and kick. If I was not so irritated about Adrian I would have felt bad for taking it out on Dimitri but I was not really able to control it.
The sparing ended after what seemed like forever when Dimitri finally pinned me to the floor. Even with my merits I was still no match for him.
"Is everything okay Rose?" Like always, he was able to tell when something was wrong. Still pinning me down he looked into my eyes and I knew that I would not be able to avoid telling him about Adrian. With a sign I sat up and went over the event in the spirit dream as quickly as I could to him. I was not able to tell what he was thinking through his blank expression so I kept ranting about how upset the situation made me.
"I don't think he will say anything, Rose." He was trying to make me feel better but the tone in is voice made me doubt whether or not he believed it himself.
"This cannot be happening," I said. "Not this close to graduation." The field experience tests had just ending and in a short four weeks the trials would be held. I was both nervous and excited. If Adrian was really planning on betraying me it would ruin all of it for me.
"Roza, just know that no matter what happens, I will always love you." He touched my cheek and flashed me a smile which I returned.
"Leave it to you, Comrade, to bring a smile on an angered girls face." Gracefully, Dimitri swiftly stood up in a single movement. I took a deep breath. My rib cage was a bit sore from the fighting. I exhaled, inhaled again, inching my arms under me and pushing myself up onto my feet. I think I got up too quickly because my head began to swim and suddenly I was nauseous. I felt my stomach tighten and I fell down to my knees and threw up, which hurt the ribs some more. I stayed that way for a bit, on my hands and knees with my head hanging. Dimitri was instantly at my side and I felt embarrassed that he saw me get sick.
"Roza. Roza are you okay?" There was an urgency in his voice now. I waited a little bit before I spoke.
"I―I think I'm okay now." I was pretty sure I was trying to convince myself that I was okay but my head still spun and I was still a little queasy. I looked back at Dimitri and saw how worried he was.
"Are you sure? I did not hurt you or anything?" With his help I carefully stood back up.
"I'll be fine Comrade. Just a little dizzy."
"You should go see a nurse," He urged me.
"I'm fine Dimitri. I just think all this stress is getting to me is all." I thought he was going to press more for me to see a nurse but to my surprise he reluctantly nodded his head.
"Just take it easy okay." He brushed my shoulder ever so gently. "You should at least lay down and rest."
"But practice is not over? We still have another half hour?" Even though I felt like crap and still pissed off at Adrian I hoped to get as much practice as I could in the next few weeks before my trials.
"Yes they are." His expression told me that it was not up for debate so I sighed and walked over to get a towel to clean up my mess. Dimitri shook his head and took the towel from me, "I'll clean this up later. Right now I'll take you to your room." He put up a hand when I started to argue. My cheeks were flushed with embarrassment. I didn't want Dimitri to have to clean up my mess and I felt terrible that it had to happen in front of him. Sometimes the universe seems to hate me.
I felt a lot better once we got to my dorm room. My body was still a bit sore but I was pretty much used to pain now. When Dimitri was convinced that I was not dying he left me to rest thought I had a hard time doing so. My head was filled with too much so instead I decided to visit Lissa's head. Unpleasantly not surprised to see her with Adrian. They were in one of the common areas with Christian. I could feel that Lissa was upset. With a little poking and prodding Lissa was able to get Adrian to tell her why he was upset. Apparently I was the one who angered him. "Like Hell I started this," I said out loud.
"I get that you are mad at her Adrian, buy why?" It bothered her that her friends were at odds with each other and even more so that he wasn't telling her the whole story. "What did she do? What did you do?"
"Why do you think I did anything?" Adrian's voice sounded defensive and Lissa could smell alcohol on his breath. "It's not my fault that she makes bad decisions."
"What are you talking about? You're making so sense," She sighed.
"Just tell us so you can stop acting this way. Whatever she did It can't be that bad right?" It was Christian who spoke. He had kept quiet the whole time they were talking but I could tell that he was getting as annoyed at Adrian as I was.
"If you really want to know then ask her. She's the one keeping secrets. I'm done talking about this." He quickly got up from the chair he sat in and rushed out of the room without looking back. Lissa turned to Christian who looked confused.
"What do you think happened?" He asked her.
"I don't know," she replied. Adrian's comment about me keeping secrets did not settle well with her. We pretty much told one another everything and it hurt her that there was a possibility that I was keeping stuff from her.
"Whatever it is I'm sure it'll blow over soon." He leaned over and kissed her cheek which brought a smile to her face. I did not stick around for much longer as they started being too friendly with each other for my taste. I was happy that Adrian had not told them about Dimitri and I. That was something Lissa needed to hear from me. It also meant that he might not tell the whole school after all. A while later I finally got my eyes to stay closed long enough to fall asleep.
I'm sorry for keeping you all waiting for this chapter and I hope you like it. I had a busy week but I'm back in action and ready to get things moving in this story. I am happy to welcome all of the newcomers who are following this story! Please leave me your feedback and like always, suggestions are highly valued (thank you Alexlc, who informed me that a certain choice of word would be best to change!)
I also wanted to add that i am currently reading the fanfic Better With You by RozaBelikova-x and it is AMAZING! If you would like to, go check it out! It's really good!