Disclaimer: Vampire Knight does not, has not, or will not ever belong to me. I only ask that nobody takes my characters or ideas.

Not my Time
A Vampire Knight Fanfiction

Chapter Fourteen: The First Night

Just as I feared, I woke up around two in the afternoon, and was unable to sleep anymore. Instead, I found myself sitting with my knees drawn up to my chest on the window seat. From my perch, I watched the Day Class students going about their routine, and I wondered if anyone noticed that I was missing.

If they had not noticed my absence yet, the fangirls would certainly notice my presence in the Night Class. They wouldn't be happy about it; first, I had managed to join the Disciplinary Committee, and now, I had managed to switch to the Night Class.

I hoped that the headmaster and Kaname realized that there was a better than likely chance that a revolt would occur tonight.

As I considered how I might avoid the fangirls, I decided that an underground tunnel could make drastic improvements. While I was in the middle of construction plans, Nasrin joined me at the window seat.

"'eh.." she greeted me, tiredly rubbing her eyes. "That's where I sit."

Rolling my eyes, I moved over slightly, so she could have equal access to the window's view.

"Do you wake up early, too?" I asked her. If Nasrin couldn't get accustomed to the sleeping habits of a vampire in a few months, then there was no way I ever could.

Nasrin nodded. "But I've been sleeping later and later," she admitted. "I try to wake up early because I think I would become depressed if I never had a chance to see the sun."

I nodded. It probably would be depressing to never see the sun. I would have to be careful with how like a vampire I became in my rituals.

After a while, I pulled out a card deck, and Nasrin and I played a few rounds of Go Fish before deciding to get ready for class.

Having a full-bathroom in our dorm-room was much more convenient than the common bathroom the Sun Dormitory provided. For the first time in months, I felt that I didn't have to rush as I showered and changed into my uniform.

Back in the bedroom, I stood in front of a full-length mirror, and perfected my uniform. I tied the ribbon more carefully than I normally would have, and I was extra certain that my skirt and jacket lay flat. The part of my outfit that was giving me the most problems were my socks; they refused to stay up, and they kept bunching.

Eventually I gave up my attempts to make my outfit perfect, and instead focused on brushing my hair so that it wouldn't appear so wild. Unfortunately, the more I brushed my hair, the more it refused to behave itself.

Shrugging, I put down my hairbrush, and grabbed a hair-tie from a small table beside the mirror.

"What time is it, Nasrin?" I called to Nasrin, who was now lazing on her bed.

"Almost seven," she answered. "We can head down; I just need my books."

I had placed my own books into my bag the previous night, so all I needed to do was toss my messenger bag over my shoulder.

"Do you have Calculus?" I asked Nasrin, hoping that she could suffer through advanced mathematics alongside me.

I was relieved when Nasrin nodded sadly. "Difficult math that I will probably never use in my life: check."

"And… biochem… Already know you have that," I continued. "I agree… Aerodynamics seems much more interesting… Biochemistry doesn't even sound like something I'll enjoy."

"It's not interesting at all," Nasrin lamented. "And it makes me hurt psychologically… It's as if the Lab is torturing me all over again…"

During our walk to the common area in the foyer, Nasrin and I discussed a new system for categorizing classes. Instead of using groups known as "sciences," "humanities," or "arts," Nasrin's and my system utilized groups labeled "too difficult to be enjoyed," "too dull to be interesting," and "useful for real-life."

Until we entered the foyer, I had been relatively at-ease, but as soon as I glimpsed the area crowded with vampires, I felt a chill run down my spine, and I suddenly didn't feel so relaxed.

"Is it always like this?" I whispered to Nasrin, slowing down to put off stepping into the foyer.

Nasrin nodded, and I noticed that she was no longer smiling, either. "I still haven't gotten used to it," she admitted. "That's part of the reason I was so glad you would be here with me."

"What? You feel better, as long as I'm uncomfortable, too?" I asked her, sarcastically.

Nasrin smiled, shrugged, and said, "Actually, yeah."

"That's a bit selfish… Don't you think?" I snorted.

"I'm not selfish; I'm a self-advocate," Nasrin corrected me.

We both laughed briefly, but the dark aura projected by the horde of vampires in the foyer soon overcame our brief elation.

Luckily Ichijou came over to us from across the foyer, and I felt reassured by his presence.

"You feeling all right, Lily-chan?" Ichijou asked. "Ready for classes?"

I nodded slightly, but wasn't certain I would be able to hold myself together if I actually spoke. The closer it came to twilight, the more distressed I became.

"The fangirls are going to kill me…" I whispered unintentionally.

Ichijou laughed slightly, but he seemed to have a nervous glint in his eyes. "That's all you're concerned about? If that were the only problem, I'd feel much more relaxed about this decision…" Ichijou admitted.

Suddenly I became uncomfortably aware that I was surrounded by a group of predators who could attack and eat me if they wanted. I was no match for them. Even Ichijou could have overpowered me if he'd wanted to.

It was like being surrounded by wolves…

Wolves… A wolf was drowning in a frozen lake. I had to help it… I couldn't ignore it…

Carefully, I maneuvered across the frozen lake… Only a little farther…

"Lily-chan, you're certain you're all right?" Ichijou asked me.

I jumped slightly. "Yes," I answered, a little too fast. "I'm fine."

Ichijou kept his hand on my shoulder as we emerged into the fading sunlight. I hid between him and Nasrin as much as I could, but the fangirls still managed to catch sight of me.

"No way! The Disciplinary Committee member was able to join the Night Class!" I heard one cry.

Another added, "It's not fair! The Disciplinary Committee members get all the perks!"

Sensing a revolt, I started to walk faster. I only slowed when I had entered the school-building. I had never felt so relieved to be inside the school-building before.

Ichijou led me into a wing off the ground floor, and then to a classroom that I hadn't used before. When we'd entered, it was empty, but soon we were joined by Aidou, Kain, Ruka, Shiki, and Rima. I guessed that Kaname was enrolled in this class, as well, but he must have business with the headmaster.

I followed Nasrin and Ichijou to the seats nearest the window, then sat next to Nasrin two rows below Ichijou without even considering.

"Calculus, right?" I asked Nasrin in a whisper.

"Dull and useless," she replied, stoically. "Category three."

I grinned at her. We picked up where we'd left off, and almost didn't notice when the instructor walked into the classroom.

After the instructor's appearance, Calculus did really become dull and useless. I understood very little apart from recognizing a few random numbers which didn't really make much sense either considering that I couldn't understand their context.

"According to … blah, blah theorem … x is blah to seven, and …"

When the instructor drew a chart on the board, I became even more confused. Giving up on listening to the lesson (the lesson had only successfully given me a headache), I began sketching on my note-sheet. Nasrin slept beside me.

After what certainly felt like eternity, the lecture completed, and we were given a short break to switch to a science classroom.

I elbowed Nasrin sharply to get her attention before gathering up my books and stowing them back into my bag.

"Ugh… Biochem…" Nasrin groaned, stretching. She had nothing to gather up. She hadn't bothered to take out a sheet of paper for notes – clearly she'd realized long before that she wouldn't be able to grasp Calculus.

"Biochemistry should be fun today, Lily-chan," Ichijou told me, smiling. "We're doing a lab today."

Nasrin froze momentarily, as if she had pushed the thought of labs to the back of her mind. "I forgot… What are we doing again?" she asked.

"It's more chemistry than biochemistry today," Ichijou continued. "It'll be a good transition for you, Lily-chan. You were doing well in chemistry, so you should do well in biochemistry." He answered Nasrin, "It's just mixing solutions. Nothing complicated."

Biochemistry's lab really wasn't that complicated. It took me only a few moments to balance the formulas I was presented with, and identifying their solutions was a breeze. In fact, I was one of the first to finish the lab.

Unlike me, Nasrin did not balance her formulas correctly, and she ended up causing her solutions to be skewed slightly. She spent the majority of the lab attempting to correct her errors, and only managed to balance one of the formulas correctly, and that one by accident. The instructor was not too happy, and seemed to be relieved when class-time was over.

I separated from Nasrin and Ichijou after biochemistry, and set off for the art classroom. I was eager for the subject that I was already familiar with.

As I sat down, I realized that the class-size was small. Besides myself, there were only ten other students. Three of which were Aidou, Shiki, and Rima. Despite seeing familiar faces, I chose to sit by myself toward the back of the room.

After pulling out my sketchbook and a few drawing materials, I discovered that Aidou had come to sit next to me.

"Kaname-sama told us to be extra certain nothing happened to you," he told me, as if needing to justify sitting next to the human-girl.

I nodded. "I really didn't expect you to be taking art," I told him.

"Ruka tricked me into it," Aidou admitted. "She told me that if I really was a genius that I should be naturally good at all subjects, including arts."

"Are you any good at art?" I asked.

"Well, what I have gleaned from this class is that art is merely perception, so even those less gifted at real academic classes can succeed at art," Aidou answered.

"In other words, you're not very good at art," I translated.

"Well… If it's abstract… then I can draw well," Aidou retorted, blushing so much that he turned red as a beetroot.

I smiled slightly in amusement, then flipped my sketchbook open.

"You draw well," Aidou told me.

His comment startled me momentarily. I hadn't expected him to compliment me – if he actually meant it as a compliment remained to be seen.

"Thanks; it isn't difficult once you've practiced a few times," I replied. "Drawing in and of itself isn't raw talent; it's a developed skill. Anyone can improve."

When Aidou suddenly reached for my sketchbook, I protested a little angrily, "Hey! What's with everyone trying to pry into my personal drawings!"

Aidou stopped as suddenly as he'd started, and sat back into his seat. "Just curious. I've only seen a few of your drawings, and rather briefly. I just wanted a better look," he answered a little haughtily.

At that moment the instructor came in, and handed out an assignment. It was rather simple: Due in one week: an 11" by 14" canvas painting of a subject matter of our choice. What was not specified was whether we should use oil or acrylic.

When nobody seemed as if they would be asking this question, I hesitantly raised my hand. When the instructor recognized me, I asked, "May we use either oil or acrylic?"

For a brief moment, I thought I saw the instructor smile, but then he answered stoically, "You may use either. I would recommend to the majority of this class to use acrylic." He glared around at the students who hadn't thought to ask for this specification. Most now seemed to be scribbling down on the instruction sheet, but a few didn't seem to be interested enough in the subject to care what they used on their canvas.

Beside me, Aidou whispered, "What's the difference?"

"Oils are easier to blend, but take more time to dry, and are potentially more toxic than acrylic. They can also be more difficult to use if you're just beginning canvas painting. For a beginner, I would highly recommend acrylic. Because they dry faster, you can cover up the majority of errors," I answered. "Also, remember to prime your canvas with gesso before you begin painting."

Aidou was busy scribbling next to me, and I thought I heard him mumble "gesso" under his breath.

The majority of the class was simply scribbling on pieces of paper, as they attempted to plan out what they would later paint. Many students had already gone through three or four sheets of paper. However, other students were simply chit-chatting with their friends, and not interested at all in planning out their projects.

"I thought for certain more of you guys would be good at this sort of activity," I told Aidou.

"I think it just happens to be this class," Aidou confided. "We do have a number of talented artists, but this school emphasizes research science and humanities more than actual arts."

I nodded, then pulled out an unused sheet of paper from the back of my sketchbook. Since I had already decided what I wanted to paint, I began sketching quickly, and in no time I had drawn a horse and rider who were about to rope a small steer. In the background, I envisioned purple-colored mountains, crisp blue for the sky, and white sheen for a layer of clouds. As if the scene were taking place at twilight. To contrast the lighter colors above, I would blend red, orange, and brown for the ground below.

"Horse and rider will be covered in shadow mostly, but slight color … here…" I mumbled, labeling part of the horse, so that I could remember while I was painting. "More red for the steer…"

When I glanced up, I noticed that Aidou had pulled out a sheet of paper, but he was too busy watching me sketch to do his own.

"It's frustrating… Watching you…" Aidou told me. "You've practically finished the assignment."

I shrugged. "I've been doing these sort of assignments since I was five years old," I reminded him. "You start off simple, and then you move onto more challenging subject matters once you've mastered the simple subject matters." After a moment, I suggested, "Paint a butterfly. It's simple, but it gives you an opportunity to demonstrate color contrast."

For a moment, I thought Aidou was going to begin fuming about how insulting it would be if he painted a butterfly, but in the next moment, Aidou began to sketch what appeared to be butterfly wings.

To be honest, Aidou's finished product was not artistically appealing at all, and despite trying, I could not hide a grimace. Noticing my grimace, Aidou placed his head onto the table, and muttered, "I can't even draw a butterfly."

"Well… Um… It would be good, except it's out of proportion," I assured him. It's very out of proportion… The lower wings are much too small… And the body is much too large… "You need to think logically. Think to yourself 'could this insect actually fly?' If the answer is no, draw larger wings, or a smaller body. And, the lower wings should be about one-fourth the size of the upper wings, and they should overlap slightly." I grabbed the sheet of paper. "Draw circles and ovals first, so you can be certain the proportions are accurate." I sketched a series of circles and ovals onto the back of the paper. "Then add in the details."

I handed the paper back to Aidou, who didn't seem at all certain he was capable of drawing anything at all.

"You make it seem so simple," Aidou told me.

I shrugged. "Just practice sketching before you begin painting. Then you'll have an idea what you want to paint, as well as how you want to paint it."

As we walked out of the classroom, I realized that I felt just as comfortable with Aidou as I had with Ichijou.

After a short break intended to be a lunch-break, I was relieved to walk into my final class of the day (or night). Instead of paying attention to the instructor, I began jotting down a list of painting supplies I would need to complete my art project.

Oils: red, blue, white, yellow, black, brown… paint brushes since mine are all at home… gesso… turpentine… maybe a mixing palette…. And definitely a few canvases…

I spent the rest of class visualizing what my painting would look like on canvas, and how I would blend the oils together to produce the correct colors for the painting.

When class ended, I hardly noticed everyone standing.

"Come on, Lily," Nasrin said, poking me. "Class is over, let's get back to the dorm quickly…"

I nodded, and gathered up my books quickly before dumping them haphazardly into my bag. As Nasrin and I walked out of our row, Ichijou caught up to us.

"So, Lily-chan, how do you feel about attending classes with us?" he asked.

I shrugged. "It was fine," I answered. "Nothing went wrong… I'm more concerned about keeping my marks high…"

Ichijou looked relieved. "Well, I can help you study," he assured me. "If you ever need anything, you can always come by my room. Even during the day; I'm usually up reading manga, and sometimes doing my duties as vice dorm president."

I nodded, smiling slightly. "I'll keep that in mind," I replied. "Especially since I don't think Nasrin will be much help – considering that she slept through each one of her classes."

Nasrin, still in the middle of yawning, argued, "How would you know that I slept through psychology? You weren't there!"

"Spooky, huh?" I grinned.

We argued back and forth for a few minutes, but stopped abruptly when Ichijou laughingly teased us, "You two argue just like siblings." With a more serious expression, he commented thoughtfully, "It's strange… You two seem so alike… You even look alike when you look closely… Odd…"

Nasrin and I looked carefully at each other, and I thought not for the first time that Nasrin did look eerily similar to my mother… If it hadn't been for the purple-tinted eyes, Nasrin would have looked exactly like my mother.

Ichijou laughed lightly, "I'm just teasing you! You couldn't possibly be related!"

However, neither Nasrin nor I seemed entirely certain that we weren't related. The rest of the way to the dormitory, we didn't speak.

By the time we entered our dorm-room, we both seemed as if we might burst with emotion.

"I think we are sisters," Nasrin told me. "Most of my reasoning is based on pure desire, but you can't deny that we keep coincidentally meeting each other. It's as if the Lab were trying to get to you somehow."

"I was thinking about our names," I admitted. "Nasrin means wild rose. My middle name is Rose. Maybe my mother named me after the daughter she lost. We are only a year apart in age."

"Hey, we could do a blood test!" Nasrin suggested. "That would help us narrow it down!"

I shook my head. "I'm not cutting myself while I'm here. Not around a horde of vampires!"

Nasrin flushed pink, rubbed the back of her neck, and replied, "Oh, right. I forgot."

Still very excited over the possibility of being sisters, Nasrin and I changed into our nightgowns, and got ready for bed; although, neither of us seemed certain we would be able to get any sleep. In fact, we stayed up until three in the afternoon looking through my sketchbook and discussing the similarities between Nasrin and my parents.

"But your eyes are…" I pointed out.

"Chemical dyes," Nasrin admitted. "Some stupid experiment to see if they could manipulate my vision to see infrared. It didn't work, but luckily it also didn't harm my sight. It just changed my eye color. My eyes used to be light blue."

"Like my mom's," I whispered. "The lightest blue I'd ever seen… And a little hazy, as if she weren't really looking at you… As if she were seeing something tragic that had taken place."

"What was she like? Your mom? Maybe our mom?" Nasrin asked.

I hesitated. I had always imagined that my mother was wonderful, and loving, but to be honest, I hadn't known her very well. There hadn't been enough time. "I'm not certain. She was killed in a car accident when I was only six," I told Nasrin. "To be truthful, she seemed to have her secrets. Sometimes I would overhear her and Dad speaking in whispers, as if they didn't want anyone to hear what they said. And then there was the whole 'changeling' episode that one year in Alaska."

"What happened?" Nasrin asked, curiously.

I shrugged. "I disappeared for ten days, and when I was finally found, my eyes had become a much more vibrant green, so my mother thought I had been switched out by the 'fairy people.' It took a DNA test to prove to her that I was her own daughter."

"Wow… If we are related, our family is the definition of dysfunctional," Nasrin sighed. "I would be from the most dysfunctional family in history." Looking up, she said strongly, "But I'll take it!"

I agreed, despite wanting to assure Nasrin that our family used to be quite typical. Reminding myself that my family had not been themselves for years now, I crawled into bed and managed to catch a few hours of sleep before I had to get up and begin a new day – or night.

Chapter fourteen is re-written. :)

Apologies for the abrupt ending to the chapter; I lost track of what I wanted this chapter to accomplish. XD (I'll probably revise this chapter in the near future...)

Review to alert me to errors, as well as whether or not you're enjoying my story.

Cheers,
Mango