SUMMARY: At the beginning of Vampire Academy. A day in the life of two high school girls.
WORDCOUNT:~800
Written for 100moods. Prompt: accomplished.
BABY STEPS
by Leni
When I entered her room, Lissa looked up, a smile ready on her lips. Then she tilted her head and her eyebrows did that thing that meant she knew I was up to something. That bond between us may be one-sided, but that girl could read me like a flashing billboard with ten-feet tall letters.
Perhaps the huge canary-eating grin I was wearing tipped her off?
"Spill," she ordered as she pointed me to the spot next to her. Best friend or not, she could act like royalty whenever she pleased.
In response, I stuck out my tongue. She should have known better.
Lissa laughed. "Keep it to yourself then."
But as I said, she knew me too well, and she did know better. I sat down, and lasted eight full seconds before I gave up the info. "I beat Dimitri at training!"
Her lips quirked up. She knew how I felt about always losing those matches – no matter that they were all just for practice, or that Dimitri was years more advanced. "That's amazing!"
I squirmed. It was one thing to tease my trainer, or to lord it up over my classmates, but Lissa's faith demanded I tell the whole truth. "Well…. I managed to hold him down for a couple seconds. But that counts!"
Her green eyes flashed in amusement, but she soon was sympathizing with me. "Sure it does, Rose." She thought better of patting my knee, knowing I didn't need comforting, and instead settled for a bit of cheerleading. "And one day you'll get him."
I sighed and lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. "I sure hope so." I flashed back to earlier that afternoon, when I'd rolled up on top of Dimitri and managed to push him down with knees and hands and keep him there. It'd been only a moment before he'd thrown me off, but I still remembered the expression on his face.
Surprise, yes. And something more. Something like… pride?
I didn't have a lot of experience with that kind of look, but I figured that must be it. He was proud of the seventeen-year-old who'd been this close to being expelled – even before she'd run away with the last surviving Dragomir.
Dimitri was so weird.
Lissa laid herself down next to me, not bothering to ask what my sudden turn in moods meant, and reached for one of her pillows. "Here."
I took the pillow and tucked it under my head. I had realized that I'd started to like Dimitri; we wouldn't be best friends anytime soon, but he was a good guy – and an excellent teacher. But shouldn't I blame him for bringing us here? I was still sure that, had the guardians sent anyone else, we'd have managed to escape. "Lissa…" I said after a moment of silence. "Is it okay that we came back?"
She frowned, but I could tell it was because she was considering my question rather than an answer in itself. Finally she shrugged. "Can't you just read my thoughts?"
I was surprised. "You want me to?"
Lissa smiled. "Lots easier than trying to put it into words."
A moment later, I realized what she'd meant. She was afraid, but she washome, and she felt guilty for her fears. Then her thoughts turned to me, and I saw myself through her eyes: three weeks ago I'd walked around tense and stressed, always looking behind my shoulder while being worried sick about our housemate breaking through Lissa's compulsion; now I laughed more, and even if I kept getting new bruises between classes and Dimitri's training, I just shrugged them off, clearly happy for the chance to become a real guardian.
And she was proud of me for making the best of that new chance.
There was that word again. These days, everyone seemed proud of Rose Hathaway.
Maybe I should think about getting aboard that train, too.
"Thank you, Lissa," I told her, closing the link as best I could. "You have a world of possibilities, too, you know."
Lissa just smiled back. In her mind, I saw a flash of black hair and ice-blue eyes, a secretly amused glint in them.
Christian Ozera.
I hid my reaction by grinning at her. Inside, I assured myself that it was either a kink in our link, or a passing fancy. A verysmall one. "What plans for later?"
"Well, Natalie said…."
I groaned. I liked the younger girl, I did. But would it kill her to be more interesting?
"Rose," Lissa scolded. "She's a sweet kid, and she's been nice when everyone else-"
"Stop, please stop." I pulled out the pillow and covered my face with it. When I peeked out, Lissa was still waiting for my answer. "Okaaaaaay," I mumbled. "I'll go with you."
The End
05/12/12