A/N: It's been a while! But seeing a notification of a new follower reminded me of this story, so hi! Just a warning I will not be updating regularly but I'll try and update as often as possible :) Also, I know I mentioned Lia knowing about spirit and stuff in the last chapter, but ignore it because it doesn't work with what I've said in this chapter. From now on, Lia doesn't know about spirit or Rose and Lissa's connection.
++ Hi, can you reply to reviews on here? I can't work it out, so in reply to the person telling me they wouldn't read this because of how 'lazy' it was not to change the first chapter, I had no idea how to do it, and in all honesty, I'm sure I'll survive if you don't read my story, I'm not a professional, I'm doing this for fun. Thank you :)
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters other than Emilia Faire. They all belong to Richelle Mead, along with a lot of the plot and settings.
Synopsis: Emilia Faire is so happy to have her two best friends back with her, but how will she handle Lissa's spirit, and the side effects it gives Rose? What about Victor Dashkov, does she risk her life for Lissa when it comes down to it? Or does she run away, scared stiff? Through a series of love, happiness and tears watch Lia grow closer to her two best friends.
Chapter Two
Before we could totally walk away, Mia's angry little features contorted as she yelled, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Rose scrunched up her nose as Mia attempted to go right up to her face, absolutely livid. I could see Rose examining her, finding something to say back, she wasn't one to be talked to like that.
"Are you lost, little girl? The elementary school's over on west campus." Rose's tone was biting, her face set in stone as she crossed her arms and looked at Mia. Smiling, I watched her cheeks begin to turn pink in embarrassment and frustration.
"Don't you ever touch me again. You screw with me, and I'll screw you right back." Rose's face lit up at that, however Lissa shook her head next to me, stopping Rose from retaliating. However, I wasn't Rose.
"And if you mess with any one of us again, I'll break you in half, along with Rose I guarantee, not that she's needed to deal with a babe like you. If you don't believe me, go and ask Tom Fletcher what happened to his nose a couple years ago." I groaned inwardly at the example, it was a big regret of mine, but it got me the reputation I needed.
"And when it comes to me helping her, I'll be right there don't you worry. Dawn Yarrow knows the damage I can do." That story was legendary, Rose was in third grade, and even then, she was insane. She shoved Dawn right into a tree, breaking her arm in the process. It made people scared of Rose, and the damage she could do. Mia knew these stories, the worry on her face shone through quite plainly.
We all noticed the patrolling staff at the same time, giving us dodgy looks. Mia saw that too, so she grabbed Aaron's arm and started to walk away. "Come on," she said warily, eyeing Rose and I up and down.
"Hey Aaron," Rose grinned. I totally forgot he was there, wow. "Nice to see you again." He nodded uneasily and flashed a nervous smile, before being dragged off by Mia. Surprise, surprise.
Rose turned to Lissa instantly. "You okay?" Lissa nodded at her, not smiling. Why so worried? Rose turned to me. "Any idea who I just threatened to beat up?"
I nodded at her. "Yeah. That's Mia Rinaldi. She's only a year younger, but yes she looks like she should still be in a cot and crying for her feed." Rose looked shocked, which was understandable.
"She's only a year younger?"
"Yeah. I guess she's all fussy because of Aaron, literally no one knew her until you left, she could very easily lose her newfound popularity now that you're back." I saw the realisation dawning on Rose and Lissa, Mia was scared of losing everything she'd gained in the past year. Makes sense, she took over from Lissa's reign basically.
Rose and I started to head towards the lunch line, but Lissa hung back, before shaking her head when we turned. "Gotta go see the feeders."
Rose thought for a moment, before smiling uncomfortably. "Sure."
"Rose I can go if you want, you can go and grab some food, I had a big breakfast." I said, assuming Rose's discomfort was due to watching Lissa feed.
"Thanks, but I don't mind." Rose smiled at me much more easily than just now and began to walk away, towards the feeding room.
"Neither of you have to come, I could go on my own." Lissa's feelings of guilt showed plainly on her face, making both Rose and I try to quickly cover up what we'd said as nothing.
"No. Come on."
"I'll pick some food up for you Rose, you want anything Liss?" We walked away from each other, Lissa shaking her head and Rose thanking me.
I wondered what Rose was thinking about when Lissa mentioned feeding, the look on her face had been… strange to say the least. She seemed, I don't know, almost jealous. Of me, maybe? For not having to watch the feeding. Or, surely, she wasn't jealous of the feeders? No, it's Rose, of course not. She's not like them. I turned and watched them, Rose had her head up as high as she always does, Lissa's, down low. All normal. I didn't understand.
I got food for Rose and I, and picked up yogurt for Lissa, just in case.
I saw them come into the cafeteria not long after I'd sat down with Natalie, her moroi friends and a few dhampirs, I checked that no one minded them sitting with us and then waved them over. They came over quickly and Rose's eyes went instantly to the food, whilst I handed Lissa the yogurt and she looked at me gratefully.
Natalie and the others hadn't really realised they were there yet, and I took advantage of that. "So, how'd classes go?" I asked Lissa, causing Rose to turn her attention away from her food to listen.
Lissa shrugged, even I could see the difference in her face, she looked more alive, less like your typical vampire. "Okay. Lots of questions about where we were. Whispering."
Rose nodded. "Same here." Rose looked at Lissa quickly. "You okay with that? They aren't bothering you, are they?" So worried all the time.
"No – it's fine." I could see Rose didn't believe her, but I couldn't understand why. Lissa just shrugged and handed Rose her schedule, I peeked over and had a look.
1st Period Russian 2
2nd Period American Colonial Literature
3rd Period Basics of Elemental Control
4th Period Ancient Poetry
– Lunch –
5th Period Animal Behaviour and Physiology
6th Period Advanced Calculus
7th Period Moroi Culture 4
8th Period Slavic Art
"Nerd. If you were in Stupid Math like me, we'd have the same afternoon schedule." Rose frowned, and I knew what it was instantly, but unlike her, I also knew the answer. "Why are you in elemental basics? That's a sophomore class."
Lissa looked at her pointedly. "Because seniors take specialized classes." Rose went quiet and looked down, while Lissa continued to look at her. No matter how rich you were, how famous whether you were one of the 12 royal families or not, Moroi had magic. It was a sign of life in the vampires, as the Strigoi couldn't wield magic. Moroi saw the magic as something that was a part of them and connected them to the natural world. It was a gift.
Some time ago, Moroi used magic in the open, helping the human race. But not anymore. The magic was still there but they didn't use it to help the world anymore, it stayed there, encouraging them to wield it, as though the earth was calling them. St Vladimirs was one of many academies that helped the Moroi learn about their magic, to do insanely cool stuff with it, but students had to learn the rules as well, the rules which hadn't changed as long as anyone can remember.
Moroi all had a small amount of control over each element, however at our age, or younger, they specialized. One element of the four grew stronger, either earth, fire, air or water. Specializing was like… puberty, I guess. But Lissa hadn't specialized yet.
"Is Ms. Carmack still teaching that? What'd she say?" Rose said, sounding concerned.
"She says she's not worried. She thinks it'll come."
"Did you—did you tell her about—" About what? Was I even with them anymore? It hurt, the thought they shared secrets I could never guess at. Three's a crowd, I guess.
"About what?" Lissa and Rose both snapped away from their conversation to look at me. Yes, I'm here, that's right.
"Oh, nothing, just something stupid that happened before." Rose said quickly, much too quickly. They weren't going to give this up.
"Lissa!" Natalie had caught on. Here we go.
Natalie was one of the most unroyal royals I'd ever met. She was nice, really nice, but so boring it was unreal. She was so plain and didn't care about Academy politics the way most royals did, and she didn't share the celebrity status at school. Natalie stood up and walked round the table to hug Lissa and Rose, I watched Rose wince as she did so and laughed internally. Natalie's eyes were similar to Lissa's, jade-green, but she had jet black her, contrasting heavily with Lissa's blonde.
"You're back! I knew you would be! Everyone said you were gone forever, but I never believed that." I saw Rose's expression turn grim; she'd hoped it would be forever. Natalie chattered on. "I knew you couldn't stay away. Why'd you go? There are so many stories about why you left!" We exchanged glances between the three of us, Natalie didn't notice and continued talking. "Camille said one of you got pregnant and went off to have an abortion, but I knew that couldn't be true. Someone else said you went off to hang out with Rose's mom, but I figured Ms. Kirova and Daddy wouldn't have been so upset if you'd turned up there. Did you know we might get to be roommates? I was talking to…" Natalie prattled on and on and on, Rose and I turned to each other and gave each other looks as the conversation went on and Lissa dealt with her, but my interest piqued when Natalie asked a question I'd been wondering myself.
"What'd you do for blood, Lissa?" The entire table was watching, wondering what the answer would be, I was one of them.
"Oh, it's easy. There are a lot of humans who want to do it." Rose jumped in.
"Really?" One of Natalie's friends asked, her eyes wide in interest.
"Yup. You find 'em at parties and stuff. They're all looking for a fix from something, and they don't really get that a vampire's doing it: most are already so wasted they don't remember it anyway." Rose's shrug indicated to everyone else that it was no big deal, but the flash of worry I'd seen in her eyes before she answered Natalie's question said otherwise. She was lying. "Like I said, it's easy. Almost easier than with our own feeders." Everyone nodded and it all relaxed, Natalie moving onto another topic, and Lissa looked at Rose quickly, thanking her with her eyes.
I saw Rose and Mason smile at each other, and I felt my blood boil. I don't know what's going on with me, but it's like now that she's back, I've realised I quite enjoyed having Mason's company, and hi flirting, all to myself, and I don't want to lose it. However, I then saw her turn to look at Jesse Zeklos.
Jesse Zeklos is uh… well, good-looking is one way of putting it. All novices had their chance with him, but Rose was onto something, he liked her. For a Dhampir anyway. I knew they'd got up to some stuff, but I didn't know what. He grinned at her.
"Hey, Rose, welcome back. You still breaking hearts?" I could see her face; I knew she was ready for this.
"Are you volunteering?"
I watched as Jesse's grin got even bigger. "Let's hang out sometime and find out. If you ever get parole." He walked away, and everyone on the table watched, before the attention turned to Rose.
"Oh my gawd. That was Jesse," one girl gasped, quite loudly.
Rose was smiling to herself; she knew that was a big deal. "Yes, it certainly was."
"I wish I looked like you," another girl sighed, looking at Rose in awe. Maybe I shouldn't have been jealous, I knew Rose was prettier than me, and she had a better figure, but it still hurt a bit, I guess. I feel like… like I don't know, I'm nothing next to Rose. She's such a huge presence, she gets attention everywhere she goes, and I don't want that but… Mason. She had Mason. Ugh.
I stayed with Eddie for the rest of the afternoon, I wasn't in classes with Rose and Lissa, other than math, when I was with Lissa. People were asking me questions about Rose and Lissa, as if I knew anything. I mean I did, but not much more than they did. I just knew there was something secret, that they didn't want anyone to know.
I was walking out of my classes to go and get something from my room, but I saw Lissa and Rose talking, both looking very serious. I knew I shouldn't, but I decided to listen in on their conversation.
"… If you…" Rose trailed off. Don't tell me I came right at the end of this.
"It might be better, I haven't had as many… you know, things happening in a while," no, I don't know, I thought to myself. God did these girls have to be so cryptic. What was going on? Lissa kept talking. "I haven't felt like anyone was following or watching us."
Rose said nothing to that. She just stood and thought.
"What's wrong?" Lissa asked her, tilting her head in the way everyone does when their worried about someone. Strange that is, that people have the same movements, it's so predictable. I wish they'd change it up a bit.
"Huh? Nothing. Just thinking." Rose snapped her head up and painted a smile. "Liss, we can stay, I guess… but there are a few conditions." Stay? So, they were thinking of leaving again. Or Rose was at least.
Lissa laughed. "A Rose ultimatum, huh?"
"I'm serious. I want you to stay away from the royals. Not like Natalie or anything, but you know, the others. The power players. Camille. Carly. That group." Rose's expression was grave, dead serious.
"Are you serious?" Lissa furrowed her eyebrows, confused, not to mention shocked. It's funny how well I know them, their expressions, their tone of voice, everything.
"Sure. You never liked them anyway."
"You did." Lissa had a point, Rose and I loved the parties, the drink, all of it. Well, I loved the drink, Rose stopped drinking a while before she left.
"No. Not really. I liked what they could offer. All the parties and stuff."
"And you can go without that now?"
"Sure. We did in Portland." Rose said that's how they fed didn't she? Parties?
"Yeah, but that was different. Here… here I've got to be a part of that. I can't avoid it."
"The hell you do. Natalie stays out of that stuff." Natalie wasn't the right example. Lissa was right, she couldn't get out of that stuff.
"Natalie isn't going to inherit her family's title. I've already got it. I've got to be involved, start making connections. Andre—" Andre… Lissa's brother. Mr Popular.
"Liss, you aren't Andre." Rose groaned, frustrated.
"He was always involved in that stuff." I saw Rose's face change; I knew she was going to say something stupid and I silently willed her to think.
"Yeah, well, he's dead now." Oh, Rose…
"You know, sometimes, you aren't very nice." Lissa had a point, but so did Rose. Even if she shouldn't have come out with it like that.
"You don't keep me around to be nice. You want nice, there are a dozen sheep in there who would rip each other's throats to get in good with the Dragomir princess. You keep me around to tell you the truth, and here it is: Andre's dead. You're the heir now, and you're going to deal with it however you can. But for now, that means staying away from the other royals. We'll just lie low. Coast through the middle. Get involved in that stuff again, Liss, and you'll drive yourself…"
"Crazy?" Lissa thought what Rose had said before she even thought it. Rose looked to the side and I slipped around the corner, so she couldn't see me.
I heard footsteps behind me, and I spun around, to see Guardian Belikov walking in this direction, a couple metres away. Time for me to move.
I ran past Rose and Lissa, smiling as I went. "Forgot something in my room, can't talk." I gasped, as though I'd been running for a while.
I slowed down once I turned the corner, giving myself the chance to think. What on earth did I just hear? What things was Lissa having before they left? And why did Lissa and Rose talk about her going crazy so… sensitively? So many questions, so little answers.
I turned to see Guardian Belikov again, with Rose next to him, looking very unfocused. Strange. I turned and sped up again, walking as fast as I could to my room.