I had to jog a little to keep up with Adrian's brisk pace, which was hard considering I was also juggling our bags as well. Adrian stopped and turned round, obviously suddenly aware that I wasn't right behind him, and laughed as he saw me struggle with all our belongings.

"A little help would be nice," I told him, glaring as he chuckled to himself. He waited until I had finally caught up with him before reaching over and grabbing a couple of bags. "Thanks," I said, my tone sarcastic, causing him to laugh even more.

"You're welcome, Little Dhampir," he replied, choosing to ignore my comment. That was one of the main reasons we got on so well; he ignored my snide remarks, and I ignored his futile attempts at hitting on me.

Adrian slung one of the bags on his shoulder and held onto the other one, allowing his free arm to wrap itself around my waist. I rolled my eyes, but didn't comment. I was used to this sort of behaviour. In fact, I expected this sort of behaviour from Adrian. He liked to cause a scene; he liked to get people talking, and what better way was there to do this than making out that he, a royal Moroi and great nephew of the Queen, was in some sort of seedy relationship with a lowly Dhampir girl who couldn't keep her anger issues under control.

I suppose I should have been insulted that Adrian used me like this, but if I were to be perfectly honest, a part of me enjoyed the attention. Plus, it was always fun to wind up the stuffy Moroi royals.

We walked side by side through the school grounds. The place was eerily empty, which was surprising seeing as it had just turned midnight, meaning that it was lunch. Horror seeped into me as I wondered whether these Moroi and Dhampir students ate inside, where they were supposed to. Horror seeped into me as I wondered whether these Moroi and Dhampir students actually did what they were told.

Back on the east coast, anything went. People did what they want, when they want. Instead of being a drag, school was more like a party, especially when Adrian still attended. Sure, since the party-boy had graduated, things had quietened down a bit, but there was still life in the place. There was still a vibe.

I shuddered, looking around at the neatly trimmed rose bushes that adorned the path. Everything here was so quant, everything here was so cute. Everything here made me want to be physically sick.

"Come on, the office is this way," Adrian said, attempting to drag me in the wrong direction. I quickly wriggled myself out of his grasp and placed my free hand on my hip as I looked at him in an incredulous manner.

"Adrian, contrary to popular belief, I can read. And there's a sign right there, that says the office is this way," I said, pointing left. I couldn't actually believe he was trying to pull one over me. The path he wanted to take meandered towards a quad, and I could only guess that that was where the cafeteria was situated. I could only guess that Adrian wanted to announce his arrival and start the rumour mill about the two of us running a mile a minute.

The way he was grinning at me unabashedly confirmed my suspicions. I rolled my eyes at him, unable to believe that he actually thought I would fall for that trick. Adrian loved being in the centre of attention, and although I was usually happy to join him in the spotlight, I wasn't in the mood. He would have to wait to parade around arrogantly. He would have to wait to bask in the limelight.

Dutifully, he mocked saluted me and followed me in the right direction. I stifled a sigh of relief. I half expected him to make a fuss and try to persuade me otherwise, but he obviously realised I was close to losing my cool.

All too soon, we arrived at the headmistress' office. I couldn't remember her name, not that it bothered me. I wasn't planning on sticking around too long and I especially wasn't planning on being buddies with the headmistress during my time at the school.

I knocked on the door to the office, and before anyone inside could reply, I turned the door handle ad strode confidently into the room. Again, Adrian followed my dutifully, but not without raising his eyebrows quizzically at my sudden urge to sign paperwork. So far I had shown barely any interest in transferring schools. In fact I had made it obviously clear that I thought it was an awful idea. But my thinking was that the sooner I completed my transfer, the sooner I could be out of the school and having fun with Adrian in the real world.

A collection of people rose as we entered. A couple of them were moroi and a couple of them were dhampirs, but I paid little attention to them. I just sat down opposite the headmistress, a moroi woman in her early fifties who resembled an owl more than she did an actual human being. "You must be Rosemarie," she stated, frowning at me over her glasses. I just nodded, not bothering to answer such a stupid question. "Let's start, shall we?"

A good half an hour later and we were still sat in the office. I was trying to stifle a yawn as Headmistress Kirova frowned whilst thumbing through my rather large and expansive folder which was bringing back a multitude of memories, especially seeing as Adrian was sat right beside me, grinning like the idiot he was. I had often found myself in a similar position back at my old school, and I doubted things were going to change much here at Saint Vladimir's. Sure, there was an actual purpose to us being here, but I found it extremely unlikely that Adrian would be able to keep us out of trouble. The temptation was too much for him to resist most of the time.

"Miss Hathaway," Kirova said formidably, snapping me out of my trip down memory lane. I had been in trouble so many times that I knew that the fact she was referring to me by my surname was a bad sign. A very bad sign. "You have a reputation. You have a record. You seem to think that you can do whatever you want, when you want. Well, you may have been able to get away with that sort of behaviour at your old school, but I assure you, it won't be tolerated here. You will turn up to classes on time. You will not answer back to your instructors. You will not run of to Las Vegas for a weekend of partying. Do you understand?"

Beside me, Adrian was trying – and failing miserably – to hide his amusement. I shot him a look of annoyance, hoping that would help hush his laughter, but it only increased it. I turned my attention back to the headmistress and nodded sadly.

It wasn't fair. I didn't even want to be here. But because I was an awesome friend to Adrian, I was willing to follow him halfway across the country. I was willing to attend this hellhole for him. And all he could do was laugh at my expense.

"That will be all, then. I hope I won't have to see you in my office again, Miss Hathaway. Now, here's your timetable. You can drop your belongings at your room and then run along to your classes," Kirova stated, ushering us out of her office with a distracted wave of her hand. Silently we left, followed closely by both of the guardians who had silently watched the whole debacle.

They led us out of the building and down a long and winding path. Adrian tried to lock his arm through mine, but I pulled away with a huff. "This isn't funny, Adrian," I hissed at him. I was seriously regretting agreeing to come with him here. Not only was I pretty sure it was going to end in disaster, it was going to be tediously boring. We were in freaking Montana. Nothing interesting happened in Montana. Ever.

"It's kinda funny," he replied, giving me a wink. Whilst he was looking at me, he failed to notice that the guardians had stopped, and so he ran into the back of one of them. I sniggered, causing him to mock glare at me as he tried to regain his balance.

"No, that was kinda funny," I informed him in between my barks of laughter. Both of the guardians watched us, not amused by our childlike behaviour, but that only made the situation even funnier and Adrian ended up joining me in my fit of giggles.

"The dhampir dorms are this way," one of the dhampirs said, her tone bored, obviously wanting to get back to her real job rather than escorting two kids around campus. Not that Adrian was actually a kid, but he acted worse than me most of the time. It was scary to think that I was actually the mature, sensible one out of the two of us.

"Lead the way," I told her, indicating her to start walking again. She just glared down at me – obviously she wasn't keen on me – and turned her attention to Adrian.

"Lord Ivashkov, the guesthouse is that way. I'm sure my colleague will be happy to escort you there," she stated, her tone of voice a lot more pleasant than the one she had directed at me, not that it surprised me. She could get away with being a bitch to me. She could hardly be a bitch to the great-nephew of the queen though.

Adrian just nodded, but didn't move. "Thanks, but I think I'll come with you guys," he told her, his eyes sparkling as he silently dared her to disagree with him. I smirked and took a step back, intent on watching the entertainment. Barely anyone dared to disagree with Adrian; only the brave, the stupid and the stupidly brave tried to tell him what to do.

"I'm afraid that isn't an option, Lord Ivashkov. You are not a student here and therefore aren't supposed to be on the campus during school hours," she told him, surprisingly us all, including herself. She tried to stand confident but it was obvious that she was nothing more than a meek mouse. You could basically see her begging Adrian not to get her into trouble for speaking back at him.

I didn't know what made me do it – although it was probably to do with the fact I was still annoyed at Adrian – but I decided to make it easier for her. "I'll see you later, Adrian," I told him pointedly. He looked taken aback, but he knew me too well to know when to pick his battles with me and this wasn't the time. He nodded sadly, giving me his sad puppy dog eyes which I promptly ignored. He pulled me into a hug and I complied.

"Yes, you will, Little Dhampir," Adrian replied elusively, bowing exaggeratedly towards the guardian and me before wandering off in the opposite direction. He fumbled through his pocket, probably trying to find a cigarette to smoke. Only, he hadn't realised that I had confiscated them – well, more like nicked them – earlier, and I sniggered, watching him look in vain.

As my best friend disappeared from sight, I turned to face the guardian again. "Shall we get this show on the road?" I asked in a typical Rose Hathaway bravado. Without even waiting for a reply, I walked off, hoping that the sooner I got on with my education, the sooner I could leave this place behind.

AN: So I had some free time on my hands (ie. I was procrastinating) and thought I'd write the next chapter for this story. I probably shouldn't start writing a new story, not when I have so much work to be doing, as well as the fact that I still have several unfinished stories, but I just couldn't help myself =]

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN VA!