Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Academy.

Ch. 4 A Little Revenge

Well then. Now I knew why Dimitri had stayed in the house – so he could attempt to talk to me and try to kiss me.

Although my mind told me to forget it, and that he was just being a huge asshole…I couldn't help but recall that his voice sounded sincere when he told me he didn't love Tasha – that he loved me.

I also recalled his kiss. The feeling of his lips against my own…

I had to stop this way of thinking or next thing I knew I'd end up in his bed. Not going to happen.

He probably just wants to get you into bed, I said to myself. Yes, that's it. He's just acting like he doesn't love Tasha and that he loves me so he can get me into bed with him.

Why didn't he try that at the Academy? a little traitor voice asked me. Why did he wait so long before you slept with -

I pushed those traitorous thoughts out of my head. I heard the door open downstairs. Tasha and the others must be back from the tour.

"Where…where's Rose?" I heard Lissa ask from below.

I faintly heard Dimitri's reply. "Upstairs." His voice sounded a bit glum and morose.

Lissa ran up the stairs and barged into our room. "Rose, what happened? You look like someone died. And he doesn't look that much better."

I hesitated. Should I tell her about the kiss Dimitri stole from me?

As if she could read my mind, Lissa sighed. "Rose, I'm your best friend. What happened?"

I told her the whole story, leaving nothing out. When I got to the part about the kiss, Lissa gasped but kept quiet.

After I finished, she still didn't say anything. Then, she asked very softly, "What did you feel while he was kissing you?"

"That he was being a two-faced asshole who's cheating-"

"That's not what I meant," she said dryly. Come on, you can read my thoughts. You know what I mean. Between being able to read her mind, and her ability to see auras and tell if anyone was lying, it was hard to lie to each other.

I groaned and flopped down on the bed. "It felt…nice. For about two seconds." I left out how I wanted to keep kissing him.

Lissa looked down at her hands and then at me. "I can't see auras that well, like Adrian. But…when I look at him, his aura around Tasha…it doesn't show love."

"What about Tasha herself?" I asked, then chastised myself for caring.

"She still likes him a lot."

There was a question on the tip of my tongue. If Dimitri's aura didn't reflect love while he was around Tasha…then what did it reflect when he was around me?

Of course, I couldn't ask it. I would never know that.

Lissa opened her mouth to say something, but I cut her off. "Please, Liss. I don't want to talk about this anymore. I don't care about him."

"You…you're more hurt than you're letting on," Lissa said sadly. "You can try to put on a tough act and pretend that you're fine. I've known you the longest, and you're not fooling me. You can't lie to me."

"I'll be fine," I said, putting on my best Rose Hathaway face. I had to pretend I would be fine, for everyone's sake. I didn't want everyone worrying and fussing over me. "Besides, it's almost Christmas! Time to go shopping sometime, huh?"

Lissa frowned, but dropped the subject. At least, for now. "Yeah, it is. We'll have to go out to the mall sometime."

"Do we need to get gifts for everyone?" I asked.

"Yes, to be polite," she said patiently. "Even a certain someone you don't want to talk about."

I groaned, and flopped down on the bed. "Are you serious? Nothing in the world will get me to shop for him!"

"Oh, come on, Rose. It'll at least make him feel a little awkward," Lissa said, keeping her tone light.

"Fine!" I grumbled, and turned around so I could punch the pillow. "But I really want some revenge on him. I'm only giving him a present to make him awkward."

"Revenge, huh?" Lissa said, arching an eyebrow at me. Why could everyone do that, except for me?

"Yes, I want revenge," I asserted.

"So much for acting like you don't care," she muttered. I opened my mouth to retort, but she cut me off. "But…if you really want revenge, I guess you could just act like a flirt around Liam or Dash-"

"Or Adrian," I put in.

"Liam doesn't know about you used to be with Dimitri," Lissa reminded me. "But Adrian does, and he does genuinely care about you. Are you planning to get Dimitri jealous?"

I sighed in resignation. Damnit. She'd seen right through me, as I'd known she probably would. "Yeah. I guess you could say that."

Lissa studied me. "You're trying to see if he genuinely means his words, aren't you?"

"Not really…it would be a bonus though. Besides, I haven't exactly used all of my charm and flirting skills for a while. Might be funny to knock Adrian over when I do that," I said, trying to sound blasé.

Lissa smiled briefly. "Work your goddess magic when we go out. And maybe you could also flirt with Liam to confuse him…"

Finally it was time to get ready for going out to dinner. Even though it was winter in LA, we just dressed like it was summertime.

"Are you sure the restaurant will let us in like this?" Eddie asked, looking somewhat perturbed.

"Of course," Tasha said cheerily as she led the way out to the cars.

I strolled by Dimitri with Lissa, making sure to be flaunting the skin I hadn't covered up in my summer clothes.

If you're trying to give him a heart attack, it's working, Lissa said with a sigh. He's staring at you like…you're the moon.

I was wearing a pale blue tank top that emphasized my tanned skin. It revealed my slim shoulders, and hugged my body very tightly. It also had a somewhat low neckline that showed off part of my cleavage. My jean shorts were very short, only reaching to my fingertips when my hands were by my sides.

Adrian let out a low whistle when he saw me. "Damn, you clean up well, little dhampir."

"Why thank you," I said with a grin. I trailed my fingers over his arm, and whispered as sultrily as possible, "You don't look too bad yourself, Ivashkov." I gave him my best man-eater smile, a smile I hadn't used to full effect (if at all) for a very long time.

Adrian looked surprised at my touch, and coughed to hide his surprise. He caught hold of my hand and kissed it. "Ladies first, ma chère," he added in a really bad French accent but gesturing me towards the van.

I laughed. "Merci beaucoup," I said in an accent that wasn't much better than his.

Look at the expression on his face, Lissa said to me.

I let myself briefly see through her eyes. She was standing near Tasha, and Dimitri had a very dark look on his face, no doubt from the exchange he'd just witnessed. If I didn't know any better, I would've said he was jealous.

I smiled wickedly to myself as I left her mind. This was only the first phase of my plan.

Since there were too many of us to fit into the van, Tasha and Dimitri drove to the restaurant in their own car. The rest of us got into the van we'd rented from the airport, and as usual, Liam got to take the wheel. I couldn't help but wonder when I would be able to get to drive. I'd gotten my driver's license about a month ago, and I couldn't wait to drive.

I sat with Adrian in the back. "So what was with the touching back there?" Adrian murmured, careful to keep his voice low enough so no one else could hear.

"I can't flirt every now and then?" I asked, trying to sound innocent and demure. Liam backed up the van and we were on our way.

"You don't flirt very often nowadays," Adrian pointed out, his voice turning serious. He studied me with those emerald green eyes, and I kind of felt like I was drowning in depths of green. "Rose, why are you flirting with me now?"

I sighed. He'd seen right through me. "I just wanted to flirt a little to make someone jealous," I muttered as fast as I could.

Adrian was silent for a moment before he laughed. "And people say I'm the bad one. You're terrible, little dhampir."

"Flirting isn't a crime," I said airily as Liam pulled up at the restaurant and we filed out.

The restaurant was called the Butterfly Hour. Ugh. Embarrassing name, but oh well.

It served all types of food, which I was grateful for. I was really in the mood for sushi.

"How'd you even find out about this place?" Adrian asked, sipping a glass of champagne halfway through our meal. I stared – how the hell had he gotten alcohol so soon?

"You need to find places that cater to Moroi once you're out here," Tasha explained as she cut up her steak. "This is also how I get feeders."

That was the thing about being Moroi – they couldn't go without blood for very long. And if you were out in the world instead of somewhere like Court, you couldn't exactly find fringe humans around every corner to feed from. In major cities like LA, there were places that were especially for Moroi.

"I'm getting a little…thirsty," Lissa admitted. In the dim lighting, I could tell she looked a little pale and weak.

I shook my head at her. "For someone who lives at Court, you sure don't act very responsible. You need to get your blood more often."

"I'm busy at Lehigh!" Lissa protested. "I can't always remember to go get blood every_"

"The feeders are that way," Tasha said, pointing towards a room that was obscured by a red velvet curtain. "But I'll show you the way."

She got up and led the Moroi towards the feeder room.

"Well, that's the benefit of eating here," Liam noted, looking around the room. "Feeders for the Moroi, and more protection."

Because so many Moroi frequented this place, there were always a few guardians on hand. And the guardians that other Moroi had with them always came along to look after their charges.

I now put my hand on Liam's arm just like I'd done earlier with Adrian, and gently moved my fingers up his arm. "Less strenuous on us, and definitely more relaxation," I purred.

Across the table, I could see Dimitri's rigid posture as he sipped his soda. He did not like how I was flirting with Liam. This was way too fun.

Liam looked a little stunned, his blue eyes wide. I rarely took the first move and flirted with him. I usually responded a little to his flirtation, but never initiated it. He put his hand over mine, and stroked my thumb. "More relaxation is good," he agreed, still seeming dazed by my flirting.

"You know what type of relaxation sounds good?" I continued. Dimitri's fists were balled, and he definitely looked mad now. The best part was that he couldn't do anything or he'd cause a huge scene here.

"What?" Liam asked, moving his hand up to my neck. I sighed as he started stroking my neck.

"Massages."

"Why don't I give you a massage once we go back?" Liam asked, his voice low and sexy as he spoke.

I smiled up at him as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "That would be amazing, Liam. I'm so stressed and tired, and I really need a way to relax."

"Will you stop flirting with each other while we're out on duty?" Dimitri demanded from across the table, slamming down his glass. Some of the other patrons looked over but quickly looked away when they saw the angry look on his face. I thought I could see a little bit of jealousy but I had to be dreaming. Even though I wanted to make him jealous, I doubted he would get jealous easily.

Dash looked at him in shock. "You are being so rude. Take a chill pill and relax, Belikov."

"Excuse me," Dimitri muttered, putting down his napkin and quickly heading for the men's bathroom.

Liam raised his eyebrows at me after Dimitri was out of earshot. "Your mentor sure gets jealous easily."

I shrugged. "He's acting really weird. I have no idea what his problem is."

And I still sort of didn't.

Adrian drank way too much alcohol so we had to drag him out with the help of Dash, Liam, and Dimitri.

"Why do you always go overboard on alcohol?" Lissa chastised as they put him in the front of the van with a bag in case he threw up.

"Alcohol's very good," Adrian slurred with a slight smile on his face.

Christian shook his head in disgust as he looked down at Adrian. "He won't have a liver by the time he's thirty."

"Er, Rose, do you want to drive?" Liam asked me with a slightly hopeful look on his face.

Wow. Now he wanted me to drive, with a hung over Adrian in the front as my passenger? No thank you. Even if Adrian didn't throw up, being near him while he was hung over was nauseating. "Nah, the honor's all yours," I said cheerily, making a gesture towards the front.

Liam groaned and got into the driver's seat as the rest of us filed in.

The drive home was very quiet. No one made conversation. I felt a little sleepy from all the food I'd eaten.

Tasha and Dimitri arrived before us, and were already chilling in the living room when we walked in.

Tasha looked over at us and groaned. "Put Adrian in his room across from the bathroom. And I'll get some water." She got up gracefully and hurried to the kitchen for a glass of water.

With a lot of effort, Dash, Liam, Eddie, and I managed to haul Adrian into his room from the van and get him on the bed. I tugged off his shoes and put them in the corner.

Tasha appeared with a glass of water and put it on the nightstand. "Does this always happen?"

"Yes," Dash groaned. "From what I hear, he always gets hung over when he drinks, and then we need to carry him home. I don't want more arm muscles from carrying him."

"I really need a massage now," I groaned. I really ached all over from carrying Adrian now.

"Here, Rose, I'll give you a massage," Liam said with a wink. He led me to the couch, and put his hands on my shoulders, and I sighed in contention. "Does that feel better?"

"Mhm," I sighed, snuggling a little closer against his chest.

From across the room, I could hear someone clearing his throat. No doubt it was Dimitri.

Rose, don't you think you've had enough with the plan? Lissa asked in exasperation. I am not kidding when I say that Dimitri is probably ten shades of jealous right now.

I raised my head and allowed myself to see through Lissa's eyes.

She was sitting beside Christian with his arms around her. Dimitri was sitting across from her, but he was looking in my direction. His face was a thundercloud, and from what I could see of his aura…it was ringed in green. Definitely jealous. He quickly composed his face when he noticed me – I mean Lissa – looking at him.

I allowed myself to feel a sense of satisfaction as Liam kept rubbing my shoulders. My plan had definitely succeeded.

Dimitri abruptly stood up. "I'm going to make a patrol of the house now."

Tasha looked up at him in confusion. "I thought you already made a round-"

"Better to be safe than sorry," Dimitri said to her, and I felt a nostalgic pang at his Zen wisdom. I used to complain so much during our lessons in the gym about it. The nostalgic feelings vanish when I saw him look over at Liam with a hint of jealousy in his face.

I smirked to myself. You don't even know what you're in for next.

Mwahaha...Rose's revenge on Dimitri :D Reviews/ideas would be nice too :D