Chapter 2

After that conversation with my mother I figured I would go over Lissa's and talk to her about changing schools.

I grabbed a banana from the counter and headed next door to Lissa's house. The sun was close to setting and the breeze made the April air feel so good against my tan skin. Little kids played in their yards and some raced on bikes in the street. My neighborhood consisted of very wealthy Moroi and their guardians. Most were royals and a few weren't. I only lived here because Abe was very wealthy and promised only the best for my mother and me. In reality I was a very lucky Dhampir. My mom was his guardian so it all worked out. Abe and my mom moved here a year before I was born next door to Lissa's parents. I was born March 28th and Lissa was born September 28th. It wasn't until kindergarten when Lissa and I became inseparable.

I stepped into my yard and saw some of my friends from school.

"Hey Rose!" they all said. I waved at them.

There was six girls altogether. Three were Moroi and three were dhampirs. Most of the girls went to my human school and two of the Moroi went to St. Vladimir. One was Lissa's cousin Natalie; another royal. I had almost forgotten that she went to St. Vlads.

Natalie spoke up and invited me to join them on their walk around the subdivision. I declined telling them I had something to do. Which was true; I had to talk to Lissa. They all moaned but continued walking.

Not even seconds after they had past my house I heard them giggling. "Hi Guardian Belikov!" they all sang in unison. I looked to my left and saw my other next door neighbor, Dimitri Belikov, outside wiping his hands on a towel. He was working on his Black 2010 Audi TT, and he was dirty and sweaty.

He politely nodded at my friends and looked back at his car. The girls giggled again and rushed past his house.

I could definitely understand why my friends acted like giggling school girls around him. Well for one they were giggling school girls…, and two Dimitri was really hot. The fact that his muscles bulged underneath his t-shirt every time he moved, and that he was hot and sweaty only made him more attractive. Dimitri had moved on the other side of me 4 years ago when I was only 13 and he was almost 20. He had just gotten a new job out here and I guess they bought a house for him so he could be closer to the job. He was very quiet, reserved and very scary.

Over the years he had become a very well respected guardian due to the number of Strigoi he killed. He was almost as famous as my mother. Sometimes he would say hello to me, or he would ask me about school whenever he came over to fix something that Abe had broken. He would always do it for free so my mom would send me over to his house with some kind of pastry.

The first time I showed up at his door un-announced was last year. When he opened the door he was shocked at first but then he actually smiled at me. Two emotions I had never seen from him before. At the time I had just turned 16 and my body was starting to fill out and EVERYONE noticed. Except for Dimitri; that is until I handed him the plate of brownies I had been holding in front of my body as a shield. At the time I was very self conscious of my newly curvy body, so when I noticed Dimitri checking me out I blushed and tossed my hair over my face so he wouldn't see. I mumbled something about my mother needing help then left hurriedly.

I almost laughed at how self conscious I had been back then. Now I loved the attention guys showed me. It was fun, fun until they got too touchy. I didn't like guys being to grabby or possessive of me, it was a big turn off for me. A lot of guys thought that they could get in my pants and that pissed me off too. I was a virgin and I planned on staying one. That was one thing that both Lissa and I were proud of. We weren't like most girls, and although we liked to party hard and get wild we weren't easy.

I remember one night a couple of weeks ago I had come home late from a party with Lissa and tried to sneak in the back door. Luckily for me Dimitri was outside staring at the stars. With his guardian instincts he heard me and his head snapped in my direction.

"Rose?" he asked making sure that it was indeed me. I slowly turned away from the back door and faced him noticing how fast he had crossed from his patio to standing at the bottom of mine.

"Heyyyy Dimitriiii…. Why are you still up?" He just looked at me with a very cold stare.

"I should be the one asking you that." He walked up the five steps that were in between us coming closer. "Have you been drinking Rose?" I had in fact been drinking and was slightly drunk, but I said nothing. He just shook his head at my silence. "You're only 17 Rose." This was a part of Dimitri I had never seen before either and I didn't like it. Normally I didn't care what people thought of me. As long as they didn't think I was some easy slut, I didn't give a fuck. But with Dimitri it was different.

For some reason I wanted him to only think the best of me, and I had no idea why considering he barley talked to me. So I responded defensively. "What are you my dad?"

He sighed and shook his head again. "I just don't want you to be out there getting drunk and doing Lord knows what with those guys you always hang out with." His Russian accent got thicker with each word, his jaws clenched, and his eyes darkened with… jealousy? No, that couldn't have been it.

I couldn't help but notice how sexy he was angry, or how delicious his lips looked. It took me a moment to realize he was implying that I was one of those girls that got drunk and slept with the first guy who asked. I was so pissed off that my buzz instantly went away and I sobered up. I looked him squarely in the eye and slapped him with strength I didn't even know I had. His eyes widen with surprise. I turned on my heels then slipped inside the house. I hadn't spoken to him since.

Suddenly I felt like someone was watching me. I snapped out of my haze and saw Dimitri staring right at me. I blushed, much to my dismay, when I realized that I had been staring at him while I recalled those memories. He looked at me expectantly like he thought I might say something to him. I kind of did want to tell him sorry for slapping him. Instead I turned to the right and went into Lissa's house.