This chapter gets pretty intense, so be prepared!

Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Academy, it belongs to Richelle Mead.

At lunch, I was still in a mood. I was upset about what Aleks had said, and whilst I didn't regret anything I'd told him, I wished I had done it a different way. I realised now that I had sounded like a bratty bitch, and hated that.

I'd made a mistake. It seemed all I'd succeeded in doing was pushing Aleks closer to Brooke- literally. He was sat with his arm around her as they joked with the rest of Hayden's table. I pushed my food around my plate, appetite severely diminished.

"Are you still upset about what happened in Stan's lesson?"
Mason's voice broke me out of my daydream. Well, day-mare, really.

"What happened?" Sophia asked. "Did Stan rage at you again?"

I shook my head. "I basically told Aleks what I think of Brooke, and implied that she's cheating on him."

Ash shrugged. "And? He deserves to know the truth."

"Come on, you don't care about that."

"No, not really. But I'd like to see them all put in their place."

There was a murmur of agreement around the table.

Mason spoke, using his fork to stress some points. "Hey, don't worry about it. I think I heard you reference my name, right? Yeah, so you just gave my opinion. Whatever you said, she deserved it, and so did he. They're both..."

His words began to blur together as I glanced over at Aleks again, looking back down at my own plate as I felt their eyes on me.
I was sure they were talking about me, and not in a good way.

Giving up on listening to Mason completely, I stared down at the table, trying to focus on what they were saying.

Then, the world went slightly fuzzy, wavering like a heat haze. And suddenly, my friends' concerned faces vanished as in front of my eyes, a vision formed.

It was one of those where I was watching the scene without the feeling of actually being present. In front of me sat Aleks and the bang gang, talking in not-so-quiet tones.

"Can you believe what Gareth is saying? Apparently he hooked up with Anya in one of the abandoned lounges last night. Let him drink and everything."

"That's bullshit, and everyone knows it. Rule #1- if you're going to claim to have done it with Anya, don't make claim to have bitten her. That's just plain ridiculous."

Aleks spoke up. "I still don't get it. I've been here almost 6 months, and known her all my life before that, and never seen any evidence that she's as easy as you make her out to be."

Hayden laughed bitterly. "Well, she's never actually been seen with a guy here at St. Vlads, as far as we know. That's why it's so easy for guys to claim they have- they won't call each other out because if one story wasn't true, then theirs would lose credibility too."

Aleks frowned. "But why hasn't she been out with anyone here? It's not like she's not girlfriend material."

They all looked at him like he was crazy. I, on the other hand, was pleased that he was still sticking up for me, and there was a little burst of light when he said about me being 'girlfriend material'.

"Because of her boyfriend..?" Brooke said slowly. "The one in Russia, who she 'loves so much'?" She said the last part dripping with sarcasm and distain. Oh shit.

Aleks was really confused now. "What boyfriend? She never told me about a boyfriend, and we used to tell each other everything."

The 'used to' cut me deep, since it was him that had caused the rift between us.

"Well, that's her excuse, unless she has some weird 'waiting' thing going on. That lucky bastard is the reason nobody's been able to get her to put out yet."

Aleks looked a bit pissed now. "He can't mean that much to her, because she had no problem with kissing me this summer."

Shock was on everyone's faces. And jealousy.

"You. You kissed Anya Belikova?" Bread asked incredulously.

"Yeah, for like a good 10 minutes. And she wasn't exactly shy about it."

Brooke made a disgusted noise. "She really is the slut I always said she was. Cheating on her boyfriend with a guy in the same town!" She paused. "But I guess that's why she didn't go for any of the Moroi here. She took after her mother, and prefers Dhamps," said the skank.

Aleks frowned. "Shit. I wonder who her boyfriend actually is. I'm friends with all the guys our age in Baia, so if it's one of them, they've been pretty good at hiding it. In fact, she'd have to be living a whole other life every time she was there." He looked hurt for a second, but then angry. "Why would she hide that from me?"

Hayden shrugged, but Brooke looked deep in thought. Just then, a small smile tugged at her lips and a vengeful gleam shone in her eye. It was gone so soon I thought I had imagined it, but what she said next proved me right.

"Maybe she was scared of losing you. Maybe she was ashamed. You say there's no way she could have been seeing someone you knew, that she would have to be 'living a different life' in Baia." She paused for effect. "You were the one that told us that certain parts of your town were like a completely different world. Maybe she did have a whole secret life- in underground Baia."

The blood drained from Aleks' face. "What are you saying, Brooke?"

She smiled sympathetically, placing a hand on his arm. "I know how it feels to be betrayed by Anya Belikova. And though we all tried to believe the best of her, looking back, the signs were always there. Her mother certainly wasn't perfect, and what better way to disguise being a bloodwhore than acting like a, slightly psychotic, angel at school, and waiting until you were out of the country on the pretext of seeing family? I bet the reason she didn't get with any Moroi here is because she wouldn't be able to resist asking them for more!"

Hayden was clearly enjoying this. "Yeah, which is why she has no problem with Dhamps! I swear she's secretly screwing Castile."

I kept waiting for Aleks to defend me, and for a moment he looked like he wanted to speak. But then, he sighed.

"All those nights she'd say she was busy, she couldn't come into town with the rest of us. She'd say something like she had to call her parents, or had promised her grandmother something. Maybe... I guess that was all just a part of her elaborate lie." He looked up from the ground, a hard look in his eyes. "She's not the person I thought she was."

Just as the vision began to fade, I saw someone from the next table lean over and tap Brooke's shoulder. "Hey, what's this?"

Brooke had an undeniably evil look on her face as she said, with gleeful conviction; "Anya Belikova is a blood whore."

The world was still spinning as I opened my eyes.

What was that? Did that really just happen?
Praying it was just a mistake, I turned around to see Brooke laughing, spreading the hottest new gossip to the table next to hers. The disgusted look from the girls on that table told me exactly what they were hearing.

The pain of Aleks' betrayal cut deep. It was like a wave had crashed over me, chilling me to the bone, washing away all thoughts of happiness.

"Anya? Anya, what is it?" Mason asked, shaking my shoulder.

I glanced around the table, my friends all looked concerned. Looking down at my hands, I noticed I was shaking.

I laughed bitterly. "I'm sure you'll hear all about it in about 3 minutes. The gossip fire has been pretty tame lately, but Aleks just threw a whole load of gasoline onto it."

"What did he say?" Sophia asked gently, but with an edge to her voice that told me she wasn't going to like the answer.

I gave my friends a huge false smile. "Meet Baia's hottest blood whore."

Shock showed on all of their faces, followed by anger. But I barely noticed.

As I had said that, it was like that fire started in me, burning away my pain and fear. My impulsive nature had been oppressed long enough, and now, I was about to explode.

Still shaking, with rage now, I got up, ignoring the pleas from my friends. I walked slowly down the lunch hall, people staring and whispering on both sides of me. A couple of teachers noticed, but didn't want to get involved unless they were sure there would be trouble.

The whole table was deep in conversation when I arrived, deliberately ignoring me until I stood right behind Brooke.

"Hey, can the Psycho Angel/Secret Bloodwhore get a say in what she's called? Because I don't particularly like either of those names."

Brooke turned to look up at me, a bored expression on her face. "Sorry, Anya. Your name reflects you, and that's the truth."

"If you think that's true, then I guess your name would be Braindead Barbie."

She batted her eyelashes. "You think I look like Barbie now? Isn't that a compliment?"

There were a few snickers, but other than that, the hall was silent. "Well that depends on whether you like being called cold, brainless and fake, doesn't it." I smiled.

There was a collective gasp from the girls in the room, whilst the guys seemed torn between shouting 'burned!' and thinking 'catfight!'.

Smiling back, she showed her fangs. "Well, at least if I'm made of plastic I'm pretty. Better than being a living, breathing blood baggie."

My patience for this bitchy banter ran out. "You'll be the one resembling a blood baggie once I'm done with you!"

I got in one good punch before I was pulled off the screaming Moroi. I recognised the strong arms that held me back, and had to remind myself that we weren't fighting on the same team anymore.

Though he was stronger, I was faster. Slipping out of Aleks' grip, I whirled round to face him. "Don't you fucking dare touch me!"

"Then don't touch her!" He shouted.

My blood boiled, and I felt like I would spontaneously combust. "I'll do what I like, Aleks! I don't give a fuck if she's your girlfriend or not, she's been screwing with me long before she even knew you existed."

Aleks closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. I also made an effort to calm myself, becoming fully aware of the people around us.

When I spoke again, it was quieter, and in Russian.

"You don't talk to me for weeks, barely spare me a glance, because you're with those Royals. When they insult me, you just keep quiet. Now you believe the shit they're saying about me, worse, you're saying it yourself? I always knew this place was full of backstabbers, but I never expected to turn around and find you holding the knife! You're supposed to be my friend, Aleks. My best friend would never believe bullshit like that."

"Because you lied to me Anya! And best friends don't keep things from each other. I wouldn't have judged you if you'd just told me-"

"There you go again! Believing everything those fuckwits tell you. They're the liars, Aleks! Why can't you see that?"

"You can't just call people liars, Anya. Even if what they were just saying is wrong, I think you're just jealous because I spend more time with them than with you and your friends. And they're not perfect either, Anya. I've seen the way they look at me, like I'm not good enough or something."

"That's bull. You liked Sophia before. I know the guys can be irritating sometimes, but they really liked you."

"Not enough to accept that I'm friends with Hayden and dating Brooke though."

"Because they made my life hell!" I screamed, exasperated.

"Because of their theory-" I cut him off, glaring.

"No, Aleks, let me explain something to you. This all started long before you arrived, long before they had any sort of evidence of my 'activities' or love life, which is frankly none of their business, and is untrue. But you only heard their side, what they want you to believe. Hayden said that the whole 'not giving people a chance because I was already in love with someone else' thing was a cover up because I'm just a blood whore. Yes, Aleks, that story has been circulating for years already, today you just gave them 'proof'."
Aleks looked taken aback at this.
"Yes, they were just feeding you an old rumour they had made up years ago. He'd say that whenever I went to Baia I act like the rest of my blood-whore family and that's why I go every holiday, because I put shame on the Queen just being at Court. I'm an unnatural freak and my parents regret having me so they send me away to my disgraced family in the bloodwhore commune."
Now he looked really stunned.
"Yes Aleks. All the women in Baia are bloodwhores, and the men are no better. So that includes your mother, brother, and you Aleks, whatever they have led you to believe!"

Now he went on the defensive. "Well, they've never said any of that before. And aside from today and Hayden's occasional comment, they really don't have a problem with you."

I laughed harshly. "Oh yeah, I'm sure it seems that way when Brooke has her tongue down your throat. But when you're not around, she's leader of the Anti-Anya club and is fooling around with Drew, as well as having an ongoing thing with Hayden. She's been cheating on you for weeks, as I tried to tell you!"

Any sympathy I might have gained dissipated, and he looked seriously angry. "Thanks for the memo. Why do you even care? Are you jealous or something?" He sneered.

I snapped completely then. I lost all of my reservations, and let it all out. "Well done Aleks! Who knew that with your head shoved so far up your own ass you'd finally be able to see what you've been blind to for years! I want to protect you from them because you're my best friend, and I care about you way more than I should. I love you, Sasha, I've loved you for years. I've accepted that you're never going to see me in the same way, but I never thought I'd lose you as a friend." I took a deep breath, trying to control the raging emotions inside me. "I'm sorry Sasha, but that's the truth."

I turned and stalked away, shoving my way through the small crowd of people who had left their seats and gathered in a circle. Some tried to ask me what was going on, but I glared and they shut up pretty quickly.
I was immensely glad that the whole argument had taken place in Russian, because I so didn't want them knowing what I was saying.

But still, this was St. Vlads, so gossip would travel anyway, and at least half the crowd spoke some degree of Russian. I just had to hope that we'd been speaking to fast for them to keep up, and that it had been complex enough to keep them in the dark.

I locked myself in my room over that, trying to comprehend exactly what had happened. Before too long Sophia came up to see me. According to her, the tale of the 'epic battle of the Russians' had spread around the whole school. Apparently, I'd bitch-slapped Aleks because he's got me pregnant with another 'freak' baby, and was refusing to marry me.

Fuck my life.

Wow, what a dick. I kinda want to punch Aleks in the face. Then again, he's my character. I can throw him off a cliff if I want ;D

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