Disclaimer: Richelle Mead owns Vampire Academy. Not me :(

Chapter 6

I sighed in pure happiness as I entered our new room. It was bigger than last year, and in a better position. Maybe we only got this room because Sophia was the Queen's daughter, but I didn't care. We actually had our own en suite bathroom for the first time ever.

The first thing I did was claim the bed closest to the single window, leaving Sophia the one in the corner furthest from the sunlight. We were both happy with this system, and had done this our whole lives.

I then threw my case on the bed, pulling my speakers out of the side pocket and plugging my iPod in. I hit shuffle, cranked up the volume, and began unpacking.

Well, I say unpacking. It was probably 30% moving clothes and stuff from cases to the wardrobe, 70% dancing around to the music whilst Sophia rolled her eyes and shook her head disapprovingly. I managed to get her to join in eventually, though.

I was just sticking my favourite photos above my bed when I heard a knock on the door. Sophia opened it, and I put up the last picture, before turning and somersaulting off the bed.

Jet raised an eyebrow. "I could hear the music from down the hall, and figured it was you."

Aleks stepped out from behind him. "That and your singing gave it away."

I turned away, hoping desperately that I wasn't blushing. It didn't help that I noticed a stray bra on the floor at the foot of my bed. Flicking a nearby T-shirt on top of it, I grudgingly went to turn the music down.
"Came to join the party, did you?" I asked as I shoved my now-empty suitcase under the bed.

Turning back, I saw Sophia and Jet already eating each other's faces off. It was actually a little nauseating, since they were doing it in my room.
I threw a pillow at them. "And I did not mean the party in your pants!"

I rolled my eyes, looking at Aleks. "You'd better get used to this. One minute you're having a civilised conversation, the next this is happening, like something off the discovery channel. It's awful, but there is a guaranteed way to stop them."

I moved closer to the couple, and forced my face between theirs, making kissy noises.
They broke apart almost instantly.

"Eew, Anya!" Jet shouted, as I cackled evilly.

Aleks shook his head in resignation.
"I may be on the other side of the world, but some things stay the same."

I grinned. "I will never change!"
With that, I turned up the music and began dancing again, grabbing Aleks' hands and forcing him to move with me.

A minute later, we were interrupted by my stomach growling loudly. I glanced at the clock to see that we only had 5 minutes until dinner.

"Hey, food! We gotta go!" I shouted, grabbing my jacket and darting out of the room, leaving my laughing friends trailing behind me. They knew that when it came to food, they would always come second.

They were just about to open the cafeteria doors when we reached the hall. I shoved through the crowd, pushing towards the front and ignoring the grumbles of the people I knocked out of the way. Whatever, they should have moved when they saw me coming. The others following in my wake.

I reached the door just as it opened and I darted through, much to the annoyance of everyone else there. But nobody said anything- getting in the way if Anastasia and something she wanted was a one-way ticket to a fight. Getting in the way of a hungry Anastasia and food was a one-way ticket to the afterlife.

I was first in line as they piled lasagna onto my plate, and I picked up the biggest slices of brownie and syrup cake I could see. With a small smile at the accuracy of my prediction, I avoided the custard and made my way to the best table- the one 2 away from the food counter. That way, we were close enough to get seconds if there were any, but the dinner ladies wouldn't see if I ate everyone else's as well as my own.

A moment later, Aleks, Sophia and Jet joined me. Sophia, I noticed, also had a custard-free desert.

The rest of the gang soon joined us. We now had a full table for pretty much the first time in forever. The long benches seated 10 people, and there had always been an empty seat before.

It was so weird to have Aleks here sitting next to me, to see him joking with the others. He was such a likeable person that I was unsurprised to see that he had fitted right in with our group.

Sophia and I watched intently as Ash raised the first spoonful of syrup sponge to his mouth. I'd already finished both of my custard-free cakes, and was doing a mental victory dance that Ash would be the first victim of the school food this year.

After less than a second in his mouth, Ash spat the mush back into the bowl.
"What the hell is that?" He almost shouted, as the rest of us laughed at him.

Mason, being the guy he is, dutifully tried some of his, wrinkling his nose at the taste.
"I think they used salt instead of sugar." He choked, causing another round of laughter.

The people on other tables were starting to discover the latest school-food cockup, and Aleks turned to me.
"I see why you don't stay here in the holidays now. This isn't exactly Olena's cooking, is it?"

"Nothing compares to my babushka's cooking. It's worth the plane ride just for that."

"Is that the only reason you keep coming back?" He asked, looking up at me through his lashes.

"Of course not." I replied in mock outrage, trying to think coherently as my brain turned to mush.

"Because of me?" He asked hopefully.

"I was thinking more towards the lines of cheap, gorgeous clothes, but yeah, that too."

"You break my heart, Anya." He said, clutching his chest.

You break mine too, I thought.

Mason spoke up. "That's our Anya, the little heartbreaker. Always makes all the boys cry."

"You want to be next?"

He shook his head. "Nah, you'll do that in combat class tomorrow anyway.

That reminded me.
"Hey, I picked up our schedules on the way over here. Let's see what everyone's got."
I spread the papers out flat on the table, scanning them to find my schedule.

1st Guardian Combat Techniques
2nd Bodyguard Theory and Personal Protection
3rd Language Arts (Novices)
4th Weight Training and Conditioning
5th Moroi Culture 2
6th Precalculus
7th Animal Behaviour and Psychology
8th Slavic Art

I then checked the others' schedules.

Yes! As well as Mason, Aleks had exactly the same timetable as me. I'd get to spend every lesson with him. I did an internal victory dance.

The other novices had practically the same as me, but 5th and 6th were switched. Except Lily of course- she had nerd maths, where she went into class with the year above.

I then checked Sophia's schedule. Ash had the same one as his sister.
1st Russian 1
2nd American Literature
3rd Basics of elemental control
4th Self-defence
5th Moroi Culture 2
6th Precalculus
7th Animal Behaviour and Psychology
8th Slavic Art

Everyone else then looked at theirs.

Mason looked at Aleks, a cocky grin sliding into place.

"We have combat next lesson. We can finally see if you're as good as you're supposed to be, Aleks."

He caught my eye, grinning.
"Yes, we'll see. I'll finally know if the American system is really any better at training, or if it's just Anya who can kick my ass."

Mason glared playfully. "Oh, it is on, Ruski."

Mason hit the mat with a loud thud. Aleks stood over him with a triumphant smile.

"Apparently you Americans do nothing other than sit around all day eating donuts." He said, as he helped Mason off the floor.

I stepped forward, out of the rind of spectators that had left their own fights to watch the new guy.

"Hey, the amount of donuts eaten by an individual has no detrimental effect on their fighting."
I stood in front of Aleks with my arms crossed, eyes narrowed.

"Prove it." He said, and I didn't waste another second.

I leapt at him, feinting right before striking out with my left elbow. Aleks blocked the blow to his face, and I used my downward momentum to kick him in the knee. He barely flinched, but the momentary lapse allowed me time to hit his open chest.

We went on like this for a while, giving everyone a show, until I got bored.

Grabbing Aleks' right forearm as it swung towards me, I forced it down whilst twisting my wrist and bringing my knee up to his stomach. I then nailed behind his right shoulder with my right elbow, and in the half-second this gave me, I caught his left fist in my own, and brought it up and towards me, kicking him in the knee again.

As he lost balance, I pulled on his shoulder, spinning his body until his back was to me. I then slammed both palms against his back, forcing his already unstable body to the ground.
He rolled with the impact, but I managed to stay on top, before slapping his chest above his heart, 'staking' him.

People around us clapped, but the sound seemed to fade as my proximity to Aleks made my head spin. The memory of that kiss came flooding back, and I forced myself to stand up.

Aleks got up too. "Ok, so the donuts aren't weighing you down. I never even saw that coming. Did you learn that one off your dad?"

I shrugged. "Kinda, if by that you mean watching him suffer the same fate as you. It's one of mom's favourite 'take down the tall guy' moves."

Aleks laughed, hitting my shoulder playfully. "You Hathaway women will be the death of us St. Basil's guys."

My already racing heart beat a little harder. Was he putting me and him in the same context as my mom and dad?

I forced myself to ignore it. To cover up my mini-analysis lapse, I grinned. "You better believe it." Then I winked, before walking towards Marina and Lily, who were staring at me incredulously.

"What?" I whispered. "Just because the guy turns me into a jittery mush on the inside, doesn't mean I have to let the world know that!"

Marina frowned. "Maybe you should, or at least let them know he's off-limits. Or we may have some trouble with the natives."

She nodded over my shoulder to where Carrie, another friend of ours, was flirting with Aleks.
I fought back a territorial growl, and thankfully the bell went before Aleks could respond to her advances.

In the changing rooms, Carrie approached me.
"Hey, is Aleks single? Because he's really hot and that accent-"

I cut her off with a glare. "He's not looking for a relationship right now. He's only been in the country for 3 days, and already every girl is trying to get it on with him! Can't he at least get through the first day without being molested!? It would be nice if people made the effort to get to know him and make him feel welcome first!"

She blinked, put off by my outburst. "Uh, sure. You're right, I wasn't thinking. He seems like a nice guy, I don't want him feeling pressured or anything."

I forced myself to smile, trying to repair the mess I'd already made of this.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to shout. It's just that he's a great guy, and my best friend. I want him to settle in here and stay, not be scared off before the term is up. He's been sent here to study, and I'm worried that if he gets distracted by a girlfriend, he won't get high enough grades to be allowed to stay here by his school."

"Ohhh." Carrie breathed. "That's a good point. He's lucky to have such a considerate friend."

I nodded gratefully. Yeah, considerate, as in -for a minute there I had been considering the possibility of a full make-out session right there on the gym floor.

I shook the mental image off, waking with Carrie and the other girls to out next lesson. Nothing more was said about Aleks.

1 girl down- 99 to go.

EeeEeeEee! That picture of Zoey and Danila after training X.X I'm pretty sure they heard my squeal from London, even though I live 70 miles away... just realised I AM LESS THAN 100 MILES AWAY FROM ROSE AND DIMITRI!

How is my brain still functioning?

Review please :)