School starts on Thursday, so this might be the last update in a while, until I get situated and have time to sit down and type up a chapter. Just a heads-up.

When I got to the cafeteria, most of the people were already gone. I had taken longer to shower and get down to dinner, since I was wrapped up in my thoughts about Dimitri.

Was I really in love with him?

No, I decided. I didn't know him well enough yet, and besides, what were the chances of that? I was reckless sometimes, but falling in love with my teacher was out of character, even for me. But I couldn't deny that I was attracted to him. A lot.

I couldn't believe I had a crush on my teacher.

And the fact of the matter was, unless I got over it soon, I was in deep shit. I was going to spend even more time with him than I already was, not to mention eating with him. If I hadn't felt the way I felt about him, I would be cracking jokes about having a daily dinner date.

As it was, all thoughts of The Dimitri Situation vanished once I walked into the cafeteria and caught sight of Lissa, who was still there. It wasn't that she had dyed her hair or gotten a tongue piercing or something. In fact, she looked relatively unchanged, other than the fact that she didn't even look up when I burst through the doors, unlike everyone else. But that was okay.

She was wrapped up in company. And when I say company, I mean Christian Ozera: loner extraordinaire.

Christian was something of an enigma to the school. He hung out by himself and seemed to like wearing black, although he couldn't really be classified as goth. He had no friends, as far as I could tell, but it was debatable as to whether that was his own fault or everyone else's. Why it could be considered his own fault was that he never had really made an effort to talk to anyone. Why it could be everyone else's was that they held his parents' actions against him and never really gave him a chance.

His parents had once been prominent businesspeople. They had owned a major technology company, been prominent socialites, donated to charities...you get the idea. It seemed perfect. Business was booming, and nothing was going wrong for them.

Well, not until they hired the mafia to murder a rising business competitor. As of right now, they were still in prison. Christian lived with his aunt, but she was one of the few relatives that could even stand to look him in the eye after his parents' crimes.

Still, Christian had been antisocial enough that people didn't really want to make the effort to prove that he was not going to follow in his parents' footsteps. While he was certainly pitiable, he was not someone most empathized and sympathized with.

Although, thinking back, his accidentally setting a table on fire in Chemistry in eighth grade probably hadn't helped, especially since he'd been too busy laughing to get the fire extinguisher.

I was pretty neutral when it came to him. However, when it concerned my best friend, I was bound to be wary. Lissa, after all, was sensitive. She was still grieving about being the last person alive in her family, and although she hid it well, I knew she couldn't help but feel guilty that of all people, she had been the only one with the safe seat when their car had wrapped itself around a tree.

I mentally shrugged and made my way over to them, plopping a tray with pizza, donuts, and water on the table.

"Hey, Lissa." I nodded at Christian. "Christian."

"Rose!" exclaimed Lissa. Christian watched me with an unreadable gaze, and for the first time, I realized how handsome he actually was, with black hair and bright blue eyes. If he talked a bit more, girls would definitely go for him. He was definitely not my type (6'7 guys with longish brown hair and brown eyes with a Russian accent were...), but he might have been Lissa's.

I laughed lightly at her excitement and winced. "Ow."

"Are you okay?" she said, overly concerned. I stifled the urge to giggle again. Lissa was like a mother hen sometimes.

"Yeah, I'm just a little sore. Belikov seems to think that every time I try to get him to start letting me practice is a warrant to make me do twenty crunches. Thank God he let me start today, although that probably has to do more with last night than me arguing."

Christian raised an eyebrow. "What happened last night?"

I hadn't realized he was actually talking, considering that I'd never heard his voice before.

"Nothing," Lissa and I said at the same time. "Long story," I added.

"I've got time," he replied dryly.

I glanced at Lissa, but she shrugged, as it to say Go figure it out yourself.

"Are you going to tell anyone?" I asked.

He snorted. "Are you stupid? Who, exactly, would I tell?"

He had a point there. Still, the fact that he called me stupid didn't really sit well with me. It didn't help that he seemed to actually mean it. And the fact that he was actually talking to me right now instead of brooding in a corner made me a little suspicious.

I glared at him. "Shut it, Pyro."

"'Pyro'?" he asked, an eyebrow raised. Damn...was I really the only one who couldn't do that?

"Are you stupid?" I said, mimicking him. "Eighth grade Chem? Fire? Table?"

He thought for a second, racking his memory, before recognition light up in his eyes and he began to laugh. "Oh, yeah, that was hilarious!"

I gave him an Are you crazy? look. "To you."

"I'm sure most of the people in class were thankful for the distraction. And plus, it gave them even more reasons to leave me alone. It's a win-win situation...you do know what that is, right? It's okay if you don't, since you don't seem to be the sharpest knife in the drawer."

Time for the death glare. Unfortunately, he was one of the few people who didn't cower. "I know what a win-win situation is, Sparky."

"Stop calling me that!"

I didn't grace that with a response.

"Seriously, I won't tell. Now spill," he said.

"Seriously, don't tell. I blackmailed Jesse to keep his mouth shut for a reason, you know."

Then I realized what I said. It was too late, though; Christian was smirking like the Cheshire Cat. "You blackmailed Jesse Zeklos? I've gotta hear this."

I sighed, and began talking.

Later that night, after lights out, I couldn't sleep. I could hear rustling coming from Lissa's bed, too.

"Liss?" I asked, my voice sounding loud in the darkness.

"Yeah?" she replied.

"I can't sleep."

She laughed. "You should, considering that you have to wake up at an insanely early time tomorrow."

I didn't respond for a moment, trying to keep the desire to see Dimitri again at bay. I briefly contemplated telling her, but decided against it. Nothing good would come out of a conversation like that, and besides, nothing would happen between us, anyway.

But still, the feeling remained.

I quickly turned my thoughts to another subject that had been plaguing my mind as well. "So, you and Christian."

I could practically see her blush. "What about it?"

"What's the story there?"

I heard a rustle, and I felt, rather than saw, her prop herself up on her side. "He's actually really nice."

"That's not really an answer."

Pause.

She sighed. "Everyone else had already left, and I didn't feel like sitting with Camille and her crew."

"And there were no other seats?" She was being uncharacteristically obstinate about withholding information.

She sighed again, this time in resignation. "Fine. I saw him sitting all alone, and I...I don't know. I felt bad for him. I mean, it's not his fault that his parents did what they did, but he's punished for it, too."

"And he totally hates being left alone," I commented sarcastically.

Silence.

"He's cute," I teased. Again, I could almost sense Lissa's blush.

"I guess," she said, trying to make her voice even.

I giggled. "Do you...do you like him?"

"He's nice."

I rolled my eyes, though she couldn't see it. "You know what I mean. Do you like like him?"

Even Lissa giggled at that. "No. Today was the first time I've ever spoken to him."

I figured that she would cut off the conversation there, but she didn't.

"But I could. He's different from the other guys here. He's...he's..."

"Snarky, sarcastic, annoying?"

"Yes. But can't you see it?"

What? "See what? His face?" I wasn't trying to be obnoxious, but Lissa was trying my patience.

Her voice got softer. "He's hurting. The way he acts is how he protects himself. If you look, you can see it in his eyes. He's still hurting over the fact that his parents betrayed him. That the only person who was willing to take him in was his aunt. That no one bothered to try more than once to be friends with him."

"He pushes people away, Liss," I said, my voice gentle. No one could dispute that point, but I wasn't closing my mind to outside opinions.

"I know. But I think he's sad that they don't push back."

I didn't know what to say to that.

After a beat of silence, I said, "You already can tell within the first real meeting?"

I heard another rustle and realized she was probably shrugging. "It's not so hard."

Actually, it was, since I had spent the whole meal studying him. I didn't mention that to her, though.

Abruptly, she changed the subject. "So, how's your love life? Any relationships waiting to hatch?" Never mind last night, I thought.

Yes, I wanted to say. I do have a relationship waiting to happen.

But I didn't have a relationship waiting to happen, and I couldn't tell her the truth about whom I secretly wanted it to be with. Surprisingly, it hurt, having to hide it from her. Over the years, we had shared everything with each other. It didn't feel right to have secrets.

Still, I had my priorities, and I knew what could happen if I acknowledged my feelings out loud.

"No," I said, my voice wistful to my own ears. I turned over.

"Goodnight, Lissa."

I know, this was a really short chapter. Sorry. I have to finish my summer reading novel (I'm reading Catch-22) and it's been slow going. Unfortunately, I have to finish it in two days...including today. I know, I should have finished the book first, but I'm not sure when that'll happen, since it's more complex than I had anticipated. I'm about 2/3 of the way through, at least.

So, Christian is now existent! Obviously, the Christian/Lissa thing got off on a totally different start, which also changes how Rose reacts to him. And since Rose and Christian are so alike, they're already not getting along. Should I have her break them up like she did in the book, or change the Lissa/Christian plotline with Rose deciding not to interfere? Review and tell me what to do!