Rose POV

We walked out of the school, crunching snow underneath my feet. We walked past an old Guardian post that was now white from the snow, and headed towards a fire burning in the center of the field that was now a winter wonder land.

As we got closer, a shape ran up to us and practically tackled Dimitri.

My mind started to overflow with images of hate and murder. God, did I want that woman dead. How dare she throw herself at Dimitri? Who the hell did she think she is?

To my disgust, Dimitri actually wrapped his arms around her and there was that extremely rare happy smile on his face. A smile that he rarely shot my way. My heart ached at the thought of him loving her over me, but I quickly brushed it off when I felt a snow ball slam into my shoulder.

I turned around just in time to see Christian laughing his ass off.

"Oh god, you're so dead, Ozera," I yelled, scooping up a pile of snow and throwing it at him.

He was still laughing when it hit him in the face. Then, I joined in on the laughter.

"Oh come on, Hathaway, can't you take a joke?" He asked, wiping away the snow.

"Yeah, when it's not coming from you," I replied.

Christian stalked towards me with Lissa in tow. I glared at him, I didn't know why he was mad, but he looked pretty pissed.

"How come when someone else plays a joke on you, you're all 'that was pretty funny' but when it's me, you're like 'Christian I'm going to murder you!?" He asked.

"I didn't say that, I was just playing along," I told him.

"Oh," He nodded, face thoughtful.

I then heard Mason running up to us, "Hathaway, what up!"

I laughed as he threw his arms around me, "What's up?"

"Nothing," I told him, wrapping my arms around him too, fully aware that Dimitri was staring at me with disapproving eyes. But if he could be all over Tasha, I get to chose my guy.

He let go of me and faced the others, "What's up Ozera, Lissa, Guardian Belikov, and----

His eyes lingered on Tasha, confused. "Tasha," She said.

He nodded, not saying anything else.

Tasha turned her eyes on me, she was giving me a bright smile, probably trying to make me forget about what I had seen. Yeah, like I could ever forget.

"Rose, Christian has told me so much about you!" She exclaimed.

I glared at Christian, shooting him daggers.

"They were all good," She told me quickly.

"No they weren't," Christian muttered.

"Well, he told me that you're the best novice there is in this school," Tasha continued.

"So how about it, Rose, think you could take her?" Dimitri asked me.

I looked her up and down, "Why not give it a try?"

My evil side seemed to be coming out, the one that just wanted her dead, and this was a perfect opportunity to inflict pain on her and get away with it saying that it was unintentional.

Tasha gave me a smile, and nodded, "But go easy on me, how embarrassing would it be to get my butt kicked by a 17 year old girl?"

I nodded, but I was so not gonna go easy on her. In her effing dreams.

She nodded to show that she was ready, I took off my jacket despite the cold weather, and heard Mason whistle. I saw Dimitri shoot him a disapproving look, and turn towards me again.

I nodded as well, and we circled each other, finally, she jumped at me, going for my legs, I dodged it easily, managing to grab her arm and pin her in the snow before she kicked my back. The wind was knocked out of me, but I ignored it. I intended to beat her ass at this. After all, how hard could it be?

I stepped back and she advanced on me, her face serious, and there was no trace of that happy smile I had seen before. It was cold, calculating. As if she really did want to hurt me.

Like that would ever happen. I kicked her in the stomach, heard her groan and didn't waist my chance, kicking her again in the same place before she was down for the count. I was on her in a second, pushing her into the snow.

Dimitri came up to us, patted his hand down three times, and I got off of her.

"Rose, that was amazing!" Christian exclaimed.

I shrugged, "No big deal."

"It was a big deal, Hathaway, you were awesome," Mason told me, wrapping his arms around me. I laughed, this is how he flirted with me, in his own twisted ways.

Tasha got up and dusted the snow off of her clothes.

"Wow Rose, you truly are one of the best novices in the school," She said, giving me a smile which I promptly ignored.

I felt Mason's hands trailing along my exposed stomach, giving me warmth where ever he touched. I felt him bring his lips down to my neck and gasped in surprise, looking up to meet his face. Love and passion were written across it, so intense that I thought I would faint. Good thing Mason was holding on to me.

I heard Dimitri cough, and looked up at his face, which was filled with disappointment.

"So, how's the Karate lessons going, Tasha?" Lissa asked, obviously she hadn't caught what Mason was doing, or maybe she was just trying to make this easier on me, I wasn't sure.

"Good, I'm taking a break though, to come hang out with you guys on the ski trip. But I need to get a few things, Dimka, would you like to come with me?" She asked.

He nodded, "Yes, I would be honored to guard you for the night, Tasha."

Crap, no! God, why did Dimitri have to go? Why did she have to take him away from me? I didn't understand what he saw in her anyways, her face was full of scars, which I remembered Christian saying were from protecting him the night his parents came to turn him. Why couldn't she die? I thought bitterly. It was a selfish thought, but hey, I was plenty pissed.

I slid out of Mason's arms and back into my jacket while Christian, Lissa, and Mason stayed behind to talk to Tasha. Dimitri was walking with me.

"So, do you understand?" He asked.

I nodded, "Yeah, you were right. The scars didn't represent honor," I told him icily.

"Rose, is something wrong?" He asked.

I shook my head, "Nope."

I headed towards the gym with the mats that covered the floor, and left Dimitri standing outside his room, shocked.

That night I don't know how many times I fell on that mat, from despair or hurt or pain, or all of the above, I don't know. All I knew was that it hurt like hell when he left with Tasha. I really wished that it was me, but it wasn't.

At around 11pm I was pretty tired, but I kept on trying to do a few flips off the mat, fifteen in a row to be exact. I got up to 14 when I hell back down again, too dejected to move and get up again. It hurt so bad, I didn't even know that I could feel this kind of pain.

I sighed, walked up to my room, and fell asleep. When I got up to practice, I thought that it was too quiet. I opened the door to see the lights turned off, and tensed myself, waiting for Dimitri to strike. But he never did. I saw one spot light being shone, and in that spotlight was my mother. Janine Hathaway. A.K.A the Queen of the Bitches.

"Shit," I murmured.

"Where's Dimitri?" I asked.

"He was up all night taking care of Miss Ozera, and he couldn't make it, so I offered to fill in."

"Shit," I said again.

"Watch your mouth," She snapped.

This was going to be a long lesson.