I realise the last couple of chapters have been kind of same-y, but since we're nearing the end of the story, hopefully things will pick up again. There's only a few chapters left, and then I'll start writing the second instalment of this series. That should shake up the plot a bit :)
As always, I don't own Vampire Academy :(
The weeks blurred by in a flurry of rehearsals and trying to keep on top of work before the real revision for finals kicked in.
After class on Friday, the day before the concert, all the girls met up in mine and Sophia's room. We watched a couple of movies, before making sure that our outfits were all ready for tomorrow and that we had all the makeup and hair stuff that we needed; fully prepared to go and raid some of the other girls' rooms.
As the sun began to rise and the rest of the school began to make their way to bed, I began piling stuff into a rucksack.
"What are you doing?" Lily asked.
"I'm going up to the roof." I replied, digging through my wardrobe for a sleeping bag. "I need to be outside, need some time to think before tomorrow."
Sophia already knew about this, so didn't comment.
"Have you been back there since..." Marina began, before trailing off awkwardly.
I turned to face them. "No. But I can't keep running from it anymore. That's my place, and I miss going up there to think. And if ever there's a time I need to sort things out with myself..."
Lily looked as though she wanted to ask something, but closed her mouth and looked down.
Allowing her emotions to reach me, I sensed compassion, sadness and a compulsion to help and support me. I guessed what she had been wanting to ask, and after a moment's consideration, did it myself.
"Do you want to come with me?"
This time, all of them looked shocked.
"Really? You're sure? I mean, you've never taken anyone else up there before, except Aleks." Lily said quietly.
It was actually strange to think of letting anyone else into my special place, especially after Aleks' betrayal. It was more than just a rooftop for me, it represented a part of myself I rarely showed, even to my best friends.
Covering this up, I rolled my eyes jokingly.
"Don't worry Lily. I might have given up on guys, but that doesn't mean I'm going to try and seduce you lot once we're away from everyone else."
This seemed to reassure them enough to agree.
"Plus, we can get a tan so we look extra hot tomorrow. Stage lights make you look paler anyway."
I shook my head sympathetically at Sophia.
"You'll have to stay in the shade though, so no tan for you. Fortunately, you can totally pull off the alabaster look."
After that, Lily and Marina went back to their own rooms to get some stuff to sleep on instead of the concrete and tile, and Sophia laboriously put on a load of factor 50.
Half an hour later, missing curfew by about 2 minutes, we met outside the door to the maintenance stairs.
After checking to make sure no one was around, I pulled out my spare key and opened the door. I ushered the others up the small staircase, again opening the door at the top.
The tiled terrace was lit up with the early-morning rays as I led the way through the maze of pipes and wires, behind the generators and stopping at the ledge.
Sophia looked nervous, but the other Dhampirs didn't seem fazed by the precarious crossing ahead of them. Leading the way, I climbed onto the nearest metal box, then the one above it. Pulling myself up onto the roof tiles, I turned and gestured to the others to follow me.
Lily came next with Marina bringing up the rear, making sure Sophia had help if she needed it. Once I was sure they were following, I stood up and walked quickly along the narrow apex of the roof, dropping down onto the balcony on the other side.
I waited for the others to appear before I turned around, dropping my bag onto the floor and making space for the additional people.
The girls were wide eyed as they took in my little safe haven and the view out over the woodlands of Montana.
Whilst they were busy gawking, I pulled off the tarp that covered the collapsible crates I kept stuff in.
I laid out the sleeping bags, making sure that Sophia's one was in the shade of an electrical box so she wouldn't be weakened by the sun. I lay on top of mine, shorts and cropped tank top pyjamas meaning I could tan whilst sleeping.
The others did the same, and we were quiet for a while. Lily fell asleep first, followed by Marina. Her snoring meant that Soph and I would be awake for a while longer.
"Anya?" She asked.
"Yeah?" I replied sleepily.
"Do you still love Aleks? Do you still want to be with him?"
I sighed, not really sure how to answer that question any more.
"Yes, I still love Aleks. But the person he is now isn't the one I fell for, and I don't know if he even exists anymore. And I can't keep chasing a ghost. So if he suddenly became who he was again, and realised what he's done, then maybe. But I can't wait for that to happen. He's had enough chances, I don't know how many more I can give."
I was quiet for a while, before I spoke again. "I feel kind of empty. Not in a bad way, like something's missing, though. Like after you clear out an old room, getting rid of old things that you couldn't let go of before. Now, it's like I have this empty room, and I can start to fill it with things I need and like, start again, you know? The old stuff isn't gone, but it's running out of time. It's bagged up neatly and ready to be thrown out, but it's in an attic somewhere, fading and gathering dust. It's time to change, and I'm getting stronger every day."
Somewhere during the second part of my speech Sophia had fallen asleep, I'd realised it but kept talking anyway. Being up on the roof again, in my own safe bubble, really had cleared my head.
Reaching for my old diary I wrote down my thoughts. One thing was for sure- all this wouldn't go to waste. I'd never forget this; there was too much to be learned from it.
My alarm went off for the second time in 4 hours. The first time was to allow me to turn over and tan my back, and I'd gone back to sleep with that smug feeling of knowing you have hours left before you have to get up.
Now, we had to get off the roof and back to our dorms before someone caught us somewhere we shouldn't be.
I woke everyone up and we packed everything away, before making our way back across the rooftop, through the doors, down the stairs and back to our dorms before anyone else even stirred.
Checking the time, I decided it probably wasn't worth going back to sleep for another hour, but did anyway.
We were meeting the rest of the band at 11:00 for a full rehearsal in the music rooms, which would take around 2 hours. Then we had to set up the stage- another hour. Sort out the sound system, lights and Ash's drum kit- yet another hour. Final run-through of a couple of songs to check everything worked, get dressed, made up and then get everyone into the hall before the show: we weren't leaving much time to spare.
For the rehearsal I threw on comfy jeans and a t-shirt, and was pleased that I had actually managed to catch a few rays last night. It hadn't made much of a difference for the other girls, but thanks to my Turkish background I already had a head start on them, and tanned really quickly.
We got to the music rooms to find the guys messing around with the synth sounds on Mason's guitar.
"Haven't you got anything better to do? Unless you were planning on making this an underwater concert." I said, rolling my eyes at the distorted sounds coming from the amp.
"We weren't planning on it, but maybe the underwater thing would work since you're so crabby this morning." Ash shot back.
"You better watch what you say to a shark, or the only concert you'll be a part later of will be a seafood medley." I retorted.
"Careful Ariel, remember what happens when the little mermaid thinks she can take on the powerful magic person? Wouldn't want to lose your voice today."
It took me a moment to catch up to his Disney references. Was he comparing himself to Ursula?
"What's the matter, catfish got your tongue?" Ash taunted.
"Not a catfish, just a pussy." I said, one-upping him again. He didn't have a comeback for that.
"Ok, let's stop for the ocean jokes, because we could be here all day." Said Marina, cutting in.
"Sure thing Marina, you know how to keep us little boats safe." Ash replied, and we all looked at him weirdly.
"Too far, Ash. You killed it." Mason told him, shaking his head in disappointment.
Lily let out an exasperated sigh. "Can you please just get on and play so I can see if I have to go beg Kirova for more equipment to be brought out of storage? This is ridiculous; we don't have enough time to waste talking about sea life!" She shouted.
A moment later, we were all scrambling into place. Normally only I had this effect on people, but when somebody jeopardized Lily's perfectly planned schedule (or organised folders), she turned into a demon even I didn't want to face.
I picked up my guitar, putting the strap over my shoulder as Lily plugged the jack into the main amp. She did the same for Mason and Jet's guitars, and I could hear Ash banging around behind the drumkit.
Marina leafed through the set list, and after making sure everything was in place, nodded to Mason.
"From the top!"
After the rehearsal, Sophia and Ash left to go put up a load of "TONIGHT" stickers over the various posters telling people when the concert would be. This left the Dhampirs to do the backbreaking work of setting up the stage.
The fact that our stage was made of wooden platforms on metal legs, and was stored with these 'tables' stacked up 15 high on top of each other made for a really hard, really boring hour to set it up. Especially when we couldn't find the little clips to hold it all together. We eventually found them behind a basket of tennis balls. Finally, finally, it was finished, just as my phone buzzed with a text from Sophia. She wanted us to come back to the room.
"Hey, can you guys clean up here? We need to go and get ready."
Mason shrugged. "Sure, we've got this. Go get pretty."
"They're already pretty," Marina teased. "They're gonna be stunning wearing what I've picked out." Then she smirked. "And don't forget, you'll need stage makeup too."
Mason flicked imaginary hair over his shoulder, giggling. "Sure thing, sis. Didn't you always want a sister to give makeovers to?"
I snorted. "As if being a boy ever stopped you from wearing makeup." I remembered the time he'd paraded around Court in stolen heels and Mia's lipstick smeared all over his face.
We left Jet teasing Mason and headed over to our dorms, and after Marina dashed off to grab our clothes, Sophia and I sat on the bed whilst Lily fussed around making last-minute preparations. Being the resident techie of the group, she'd be the one behind the scenes making sure everything went right. Her role in this was perhaps more important than the rest of us put together.
Marina passed me the covered hanger with my stuff on it, and I smiled when I saw what Marina had picked out for me to wear.
A red and black plaid cotton shirt with glitter threads and rhinestones, and short black shorts. There was a black tank as well, so I left the shirt unbuttoned and tied it at the waist.
Sophia had practically the same as me, but her shirt was black and white and she had a tight black skirt instead of shorts. Both outfits were probably school-dress-code-challenging, but for tonight, I didn't care. We looked hot, and we'd probably get away with it.
Lily was dressed all in black, jeans and a T-shirt, since she would be backstage, and Marina had a dress on. She had the job of introducing us and making sure everything ran smoothly.
After curling my hair and doing my makeup, I was starting to get nervous. So was Sophia, if stabbing herself in the eye with the mascara wand was anything to go by. Even Marina looked nervous. It was up to me to calm them down.
"We're going to kick ass out there." I said, fastening my necklace. "It's going to be awesome."
They didn't look convinced. "What if we screw up?" Sophia asked quietly.
I fixed her my best cocky, defiant look. "We won't screw up. We're too good and we've worked hard for this. Even if something goes wrong, just BS your way through. They'll never know." Sophia nodded, seeming to loosen up a little. "And stop being so nervous- it's getting to me." I added.
They all laughed at that, and some of the tension lifted, leaving just enough to be beneficial at a time like this.
I pulled the girls into a hug, before giving them one final piece of Anastasia inspiration.
"Let's make tonight our bitch."
Yep, I borrowed that last line from the VA movie trailer. It was too good an opportunity to pass up :D Less than one month to go now! Squeee! :D:D:D:D:D