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Thirteen

Chapter 15

RPOV

Stan Alto stormed to the front of the room, eyes scanning the desks. His gaze fell on me and his lips lifted into a cold smile. I adverted my eyes quickly. God, I hated him. He gasped in fake shock.

"Do my eyes deceive me?" he asked dramatically. "I didn't know we had a special guest speaker today! Miss Hathaway! To the front of the room. I'm sure everyone is dying to hear your guarding techniques!" My mouth went completely dry.

"My techniques? You're kidding, right?" I practically squeaked. His eyes grew even harder.

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" he snapped, pointing to the spot beside him. I took a deep breath and stood with my head high. I wouldn't let that son of a bitch make me cry in front of the novices, in front of Dimitri.

"So, Miss Hathaway," he began. "Tell us, how did you manage to protect the Princess from Strigoi out there?"

"We didn't run into any Strigoi," I all but snapped.

"Obviously," he rolled his eyes. "If you did, you'd both be dead." I looked at the floor, not before noticing sympathetic looks coming from a couple of friends. Dimitri kept his mask in place but his eyes were stormy.

"It's not like you guys make it out to be," I defended myself. "Strigoi aren't lurking around every corner."

"You got lucky," he snapped, harshly. "Did you avoid going out at night? Live on a human schedule? Avoid crowds?"

"Sometimes," I bit out, feeling my anger rise. "I kept her safe."

"You endangered her life!" he boomed. "She is the last of the Dragomir line and you and your stupidity could have allowed the Strigoi to snuff out that incredibly important royal line!"

"But they didn't!" I yelled back. "She's alive and well. We didn't get attacked and I. Kept. Her. Safe." I put emphasis on each word, rage swirling within me.

"I won't be spoken to in that tone," he said coldly. "Out of my class." I bit my tongue so hard I almost drew blood, feeling angry tears prick at my eyes. I threw one last glare at him, grabbing my bag and storming out of the room and into the hall. Dimitri met my eyes as I left, sorrow swirling in those brown orbs. I pointedly turned away and slammed the door, leaning against the wall next to the room. I hung around in the hall until the bell rang and fell into step beside Mason and Eddie.

"What a prick," Mason rolled his eyes. "You okay, Rose?" I nodded as we made our way to lunch, our next period.

"I just need to get to lunch and check on Lissa," I told him, parting ways after walking through the lunch line together. I let the bond lead me to Lissa, walking straight past Dimitri as he sat by himself. A twinge of guilt hit my heart but I shoved it down, needing to check on Lissa. I sat beside her, putting my tray down and hugging her.

"You okay?" I asked, studying her.

"Don't you already know?" she gave me a half-hearted smile.

"I want to hear it from you," I told her, meeting her eyes. Her smile turned genuine.

"I'm okay," she said, honestly. "Lots of stares and some whispers but it's not bothering me." I nodded, accepting her half-truth, even though I'd know without the bond that it is bothering her. I popped a fry into my mouth.

"Let me see your schedule," I said, between bites of food. Lissa handed it to me, nibbling on her own lunch. I compared them, then groaned. I handed it back. "If you were in stupid math like me, we'd have the same afternoon schedule. Why are you in elemental basics? That's a lowerclassmen course."

"I still haven't specialized, Rose," she said, voice low as Natalie squealed behind us. I winced at Lissa, then turned to smile politely at Victor's daughter.

"Cousin!" she exclaimed, embracing Lissa. Lissa patted her back gently. "I'm so glad you're okay! You too, Rose."

"We're great," I replied, coolly. She sat next to Lissa, chattering on and on. I repressed a groan but listened to her prattling anyway as she filled us in on the gossip we'd missed.

"Hey," I interrupted her. "Who's the chick with Aaron that keeps glaring at us?" I'd noticed her shooting daggers at Lissa as I got to lunch but promptly ignored her.

"Mia Rinaldi," she answered, not minding that I'd cut her off. "She's a year younger. They started dating about eight months ago." I nodded, glancing over at her. Her eyes met mine and her glare intensified. I shot back one of my own and she looked away, fear flashing in her blue eyes. She looked every bit like a porcelain doll, with blond ringlet curls and bright blue eyes. She was surprisingly short for a Moroi.

"I have to hit the feeders before next class," Lissa suddenly stood from the table. She looked at me. "Come with me." A pang of…something hit me. Longing? Jealousy? I didn't know but I needed to shake it. I wasn't an addict. I stood anyway, getting rid of my garbage and tray on the way to the feeders' room. I felt eyes on the back of my neck and looked over my shoulder. Dimitri's eyes locked with mine and for just a few seconds, the mask was gone and he looked pained. He broke eye contact first and I sagged as I followed Lissa. The receptionist gave me a funny look but let me walk with my friend to her feeder, an older woman named Alice.

"Princess," Alice greeted warmly, eyes hazy. "Welcome back." Lissa smiled sweetly at her, before leaning forward to sink her teeth into her neck. I felt that pang again and adverted my eyes. I took a slightly shaky breath as Lissa finished up and bid her goodbyes to Alice. She linked arms with me to head off to our next class. Art history. Boring.

"Why didn't Dimitri sit with us at lunch?" Lissa asked as we walked. I let out a heavy sigh.

"He hates me," I whispered, feeling hollow. "I don't even blame him. I was just really hopeful that he wouldn't." I felt sympathy flash through the bond.

"I'm sure he doesn't hate you," she assured me. "He's just hurt. He'll come around."

"He won't have time," I sighed. "I'll figure out how to get you back out of this soon." She shook her head.

"Actually," she began, slowly. "I think we should stay." We stopped outside the door of our classroom, leaning close together to whisper. We still had a full minute before the last bell.

"What are you talking about?" I hissed.

"I don't feel like before. People are staring, yeah, but only because we're back. That'll blow over," she waved her hand for emphasis. "But I don't feel like anyone is following me this time. And I saw how all the novices were falling all over you at lunch. You looked happy. You deserve to be happy too." She whispered the last part so quietly, I had to strain to hear her. I studied her face and the bond for any signs of doubt. I didn't find any. I nodded, slowly.

"Ok," I murmured. "We'll stay. But you tell me the second anything happens. And we're gone." I tried to sound firm and it must've worked because she nodded immediately. We slipped into the room as soon as the bell rang. My heart sunk as I saw Dimitri in the back of the room. Of course he's in this class too. I took a seat next to Jesse Zeklos. He shot me a smirk and I flashed my man-eating smile back at him. If Dimitri wanted to be rude to me, I was going to flirt. Mr. Nagy made his way to the front of the classroom, calling us to order. The rest of our classes passed in a blur. I grimaced when I stood up after last period, sore from getting back into training this morning.

"Can I walk you to the gym?" Lissa asked, falling in to step next to me.

"Of course," I smiled at her. "I'm going to need the moral support." She smiled sadly at me, guilt filling her.

"I'm so sorry, Rose," she whispered. "If I hadn't…done what I did, you and Dimitri would probably still be together." I shot her a bold smile.

"We technically still are, since we never actually broke up," I joked. "I simply left, while we were together." She rolled her eyes, not entering the gym with me as we arrived.

"See you at dinner!" she called over her shoulder as she scurried off. I shook my head, feeling like staying wasn't such a bad idea after all. She seemed okay. I took a deep breath, then entered the gym to see Dimitri and Mikhail already setting up some mats. I tossed my bag to the floor and approached them.

"Hear me out," I announced, turning both sets of eyes to me. "Just let me off the hook today, since I already got my ass handed to me during group this morning and we'll jump right in before class tomorrow." Mikhail squinted, studying me to see if I was kidding but a smirk graced Dimitri's face. He seemed lighter than he had earlier today.

"Tell me, Roza," he said, my Russian nickname slipping out and making my heart soar. "How do you feel right now?"
"Like I got hit by a truck," I admitted, wincing.

"You'll feel worse tomorrow," he informed me, not sugar-coating it.

"Might as well jump in now, while it's still not as bad," Mikhail added.

"You guys make a terrible case," I rolled my eyes but knew neither of them was going to let me skip out on practice. "What are we doing?"

"You," Mikhail pointed at me. "Are running thirty laps. Belikov, we're picking up where we left off this morning." My mouth dropped open in shock.

"Excuse me?" I asked, stunned.

"You need to rebuild your stamina," he explained. I swallowed any further protests and nodded once, accepting my fate.

"Guardian Tanner," Dimitri said politely. "Perhaps I could run with her instead?" Mikhail studied my former boyfriend, before sighing and waving us both off to run. I watched him flop onto the mat and pull out a book.

"Thanks," I said shyly, as we started off at a light jog. He nodded but didn't say anything. He kept pace with me, regardless of the fact that he could easily outrun me. I took comfort in his presence, even with him mad at me. We were ten laps in before he spoke.

"I'm glad they didn't kick you out," he told me, sounding earnest. I glanced at him, almost tripping in my surprise.

"I am too," I replied. "It'd be kind of hard to protect Lissa from, well, wherever the hell they'd have sent me." A small, barely noticeable smile graced his lips and my heart fluttered.

"It'd be hard for us to be friends again too," he whispered, voice almost getting carried away by the wind. I stopped running. He kept going a few paces before realizing and stopped too, turning to face me.

"Friends?" I asked, softly, eyes downcast. He approached me and lifted my chin with his finger.

"Yeah," he replied, tone gentle but eyes hard. "You really hurt me, Rose. I don't think I can be more than that." My heart shattered right there, but I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded.

"Okay," I breathed, picking our run back up as tears threatened the backs of my eyes. Friends.

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