Ok guys, I would really like some support! I know its the same as the book right now, but it won't be for long. Dimitri has to leave Rose sometime, right? Anyways, enjoy and review please!

Chapter three

Alberta and I escorted Rose to her first class, not giving her any chance to sneak off or socialize. She had gym first, and when we walked in she was greeted with silence and everyones eyes. She, aparently deciding to show out, smiled and said to one gawking kid," Hey Mason, wipe the drool of your face. If your going to think about me naked, do it on your own time." That earned a few laughs, and the boy, Mason I was guessing, didn't stagger.

"This is my time, Hathaway. I'm leading todays session."

"Oh, yeah? Huh, well I guess it is a good time to think about me naked, then." Rose replied. Not olny was she bad-behaved. She had a smart mouth and was very bold. This is definately going to be interesting with her.

"Its always a good time to think about you naked." another voice said.

Decided I had heard enough, I walked out of the gym, murming in russian about how Rose was acting like an Idoit and the two boys were following her exapmle.

I technically didn't have much work today. But just to be safe, I checked the perimeter before heading to one of the classes. Guardians always lingured in the back of classrooms, not only for protection, but just to monitor things. All the classes I looked into had enough gaurdians already in there, so when i found one that only had two already stationed, I slipped in.

And what a class to slip into. As soon as the next class shuffled in, I noticed Rose in the group. I wondered how she did in the gym. Probably almost killed herself. I felt kind of smug, because I knew it woul be hard on her. I planned on making it harder.

Guardian Alto, the instructor of this class, noticed Rose first thing as well.

"Whats this? No one told me we had a guest speaker here today. Rose Hathaway. What a privalage! How very generous of you to take time out of your busy schedule and share you knowledge with us."

I could tell she was blushing, even from here. At least there was some way to make her back down. Humilation. Guardian Alto had her standing infront of the class, answering questions that there was no possible way for her to know because she hadn't been here to learn them. Rose had gotten really mad when Guardian Alto told her the only reason her and Valissa was alive was because they were lucky.

"Strigoi aren't lurking around every corner out there. Its not like we've been taught. Its safer that you guys make it sound!"

"Safer? Safer?" Guardian Alto imediately lauched into how a strigoi could have 'snapped her pretty neck' before she noticed it, so on and so on. I had an urge to pipe in and defend her again, but I knew i couldn't. And where did this urge come from? I barely knew the girl, and yet she was driving me crazy already.

Rose looked as if she were going to cry. I felt pity, but not enough to think that she didn't deserve some good scolding. After a few more m words, Gaurdian Alto finished with.

"Now we'll have to see if you can learn enough to pass this class and qualify for your feild experience next semester."

I have to admit that he was being a little cold. And I knew Rose would more than likely be gettin more scoldings, so just to be safe that I wouldn't run into her again, I stayed inside Stan Alto's class until luch, and thats when I purposefully walked up to her to talk.

"I suppose you saw what happened in Stan's class?" she asked me. I almost corrected her, but decided against it because if i did, I knew it would take the conversation off track.

"Yes."

"And you don't think that's unfair?"

"Was her right? Do you think you were fully prepared to protect Valissa?" I questioned her, hoping for her to see both sides.

"I kept her alive..." She mumbled, looking at the floor. What I asked next wasn't nice, but it got a point across.

"How did you do fighting against your classmates today?"

No answer.

"If you can't fight them-" I started, but she cut me off.

"Yeah, yeah. I know."

"Your strong and fast by nature. You just need to keep yourself trained. Didn't you play any sports while you were gone?" I asked.

"Sure. Now and then."

She was making me very, very tired. "You didn't join any teams?"

"Too much work. If I wanted to practice that much, I'd have stayed here."

I gave a look, and said," You'll never be able to protect the princess if you don't hone you skills. You'l lalways be lacking."

Then, reminding me why I was helping her in the first place, the hope and determination showed up again. "I'll be able to protect her."

I tried to sound like I wasn't fully convinced of that. I tried to sound a little cold. Mainly for her own good. But partly because something inside me was telling me not to let her know I wanted her to succeed. It was telling me to shut up that I believed with some hard work and dedication, she would be able to properly gaurd the princess. I told her how she wasn't guarenteed to have Valissa after graduation. I told her that no one wanted to waist the bond, but that wasn't gong to make her Valissa guardian automatically. She had nothing to say but

"Lissa. Call her Lissa." I sighed and walked away.

I had no clue what to do about Rose. She was definately going to be hard to break in, and even harder to control her additude. And as I walked away, I felt as though I should have stayed with her the rest of the day. I was almost afraid she would get herself into some trouble. But iI angrily pushed that worry out of my head, wondering why it got in there anyways. Rose wasn't my child. She wasn't even my student yet. I shouldn't care what happened to her.

But I did.

Later that day, as i prepared Rose's lesson, I heard one of the instructors talking.

"She'll be out of here in no time. Good riddence." Guardian Alto.

"Maybe not. Maybe this is just some rumor like the kids always spread." Another person said. I didn't know or recognize him, but I walked up to the two and asked what they were talking about as politely as I could.

"Rose Hathaway. She's already had a run in with another student. At least this one asked for it." The other man said.

Wonderful. Rose had already gotten herself in trouble.

"What happened to her?" I asked.

"Well I'm more worried about the Renaldi girl, but I'm guessing you meant Rose. Nothing. From what we've heard from the students, she just told her off and went about her day." I shook my head and walked off. The teachers wanted her gone, wanted her in trouble. And worst of all, Rose was making their wish come true.

I was walking around, trying to find Rose who was running a few minutes late. I found her standing in the hall, face blank.

"Rose! Rose?"

She finally came to. She told me that she had been in her head, and that it was aoart of the bond. Aparently Lissa wasn't in any danger, Rose might have been a little swayed.

"Can you keep going?" i asked her, truly concerened. Why? Don't ask me, I was still figuring it out myself.

She seemed to notice my concern, and told me she was fine. She changed, and said something that truly made me laugh until I wound out she was serious,

"Comrade, you think you could let me off today?"

I argued for a moment, and finaaly she followed me to the weight room. I told her what I wanted her to do, and curled up with one of my favorite western novels. When she was done, i showed her some stretches. Thats when we started talking.

"How'd you get to be Lissa's guardian? You weren't even here a few years ago. Did you even train at this school?" she asked me. I wasn't used to sharing things about myself with others, particularly with females. But we were going to be around eachother for the next year almost half of the day sometimes, so I decided to tell her.

"No. I attended the one in Siberia."

She made a crack about Siberia, and i wanted to smile. I did and I said," After I graduated, I guarded a Zeklo's lord. He was killed recently." My smile faded, and my thoughts were elswhere as I said," They sent me here because they needed extras on campus. When the princess turned up, they assigned me to her, since I'd already be around. Not that it matters until she leaves campus."

"Did this lord die on your watch?" Rose asked, not falling for my complete subject change.

"No. he was with his other guardian. I was away." I still felt like it was my fault, though. She noticed I had grown sad, and said

"Hey, did you help come up with that plan to get us back? Because it was pretty good. Brute force and all that."

I raised one of my eyebrows. I was geting a compliment from the person I captured about the capture...Hm. "Your complimenting me on that?"

"Well, it was a hell of alot better than the last one they tried." last one? i was told that thi was the only attempt to bring them back. I asked her, and she told me about some PSI hound that had once found them. This one the only time we had found her. I told her. Still not convincing her, she said that they just might not have told me about it. I knew i wasn't going to win, and I was suspicoius about the hounds. if she was telling the truth, then someon else had been trying to find them. I doubted that.

"Maybe." I told her. We departed, and I went back to my room. I had alot to think about.

First thing, what was up with the hounds? I didn't believe her completely, but I didn't think she would lie to me out right. Or maybe she would.

Second off, how was I to help her learn to fight when she was so far behind on every bit of training, such as runiing, and strength? I was going to have to work on that before anything else.

And last, and probably the most important, but the one i wanted to forget, why did i care about Rose? I had opened up, just a little, and show a bit of weakness to her. Why? And also, why did I feel the need to protect her, to keep her here, and out of trouble? I told myself that she was now my student, and I was basically her baby sitter. So it was normal for me to worry a little, right?

Wrong. I was in denial, and I didn't even know it, or know why. Yet, that is.