By the time I had dropped my belongings off at my dorm, I had already managed to miss my morning classes , as well as the first half of the next one. On any other day, it wouldn't have bothered me. In fact, I usually relished at the thought of missing classes. But today was like no ordinary day. I practically hated school. The only thing I hated more than school was transferring schools.

I dawdled and dragged my feet into the gravel as the guardian walked me to the gym. I had even thought about doing a runner or suddenly pretending to come down with some allusive, mysterious illness, but that was the coward's way out. And I was most definitely not a coward.

I quickly checked that my hair was neatly tied back and held my head straight and high as I walked into the gym, confidence oozing from every step. But that confidence quickly evaporated because as soon as I walked in, everybody stopped what they were doing and stared intently at me, causing me to stumble and stall as I tried to avoid their eyes. Having several pairs of eyes carefully watch me wasn't exactly a pleasant experience, and I cursed Adrian for putting me through this. It was his entire fault. It was his stupid idea. And he was going to pay for it. I was going to make sure he would pay for it.

Then I realised, they weren't staring at me. Well, they were, but more specifically, they were staring at my neck and the small tattoo that I kept on forgetting about. Cursing under my breath at the stupid decision I had made to wear my hair up, I dragged my bobble out, covering my molnija mark with my hair.

I didn't get why everyone seemed to be fascinated by it. I didn't see what the big deal was. I had only done what I had been trained to do, so it wasn't as if I had somehow done something magnificent. I had done my job, end off.

Feeling slightly pissed off, I turned to face one of my apparent classmates. He was red-headed, tall, like most dhampirs, and was basically gawping at me. "Would you prefer it if I just gave you a photo? That way, you can perv at me in your own time instead of wasting mine," I barked at him, before flouncing off to the other side of the gym and sitting down on a bench.

My insult seemed to awaken everyone from their slumber, and quickly the class restarted. That said, I didn't take part. The instructor tried to get me to participate, but I quickly instructed him that I was just going to watch. I had missed most of it already, plus I wasn't exactly wearing appropriate clothing. Sure, I looked great in my skinny jeans, but they weren't exactly practical. I couldn't exactly work out in them.

As soon as the bell went, I was straight out of the door and on my way to the next class. Nobody tried to talk to me or attempt to befriend me, something which I was glad about, because I wasn't exactly in the mood for small talk. But that didn't mean they weren't talking about me. Apparently the people of St Vladimir's didn't know how to whisper, because I could clearly hear everything a small cluster of girls in my class was saying about me from across the room. They quickly shut the hell up, though, when I gave them a not so friendly glare.

I would like to say that my next few classes blurred quickly into one, but they didn't. Instead, they were a drag. I spent most of the time carefully watching the clock instead of paying attention to my instructors. I couldn't wait for dinner. I had missed lunch and was starving, which made my suffering a hell of a lot worse.

By the time my first day at St Vladimir's had ended, I was ready to quit. My classmates were annoying, the instructors were pricks, especially one called Stan who forced me to introduce myself, and they had an extra class in their schedule, meaning I had to wait an extra hour till dinner.

But eventually, dinner came, and I couldn't help but sigh in relief, causing the people sat around me to shoot me some curious glances which I shrugged off easily. I practically skipped to the cafeteria and loaded my plate with food. Adrian was already there, sitting with a group of royals. He waved to me, indicating for me to go over and join them, but I ignored him.

I wasn't exactly in the mood to socialise with some stuck up moroi. Although I loved Adrian, he was the only royal I could stand. So instead of joining my friend, I found an empty table and sat down. Only, it didn't stay empty for long, because two guys quickly joined me. "That seat's taken and so is that one. In fact every empty seat you see is taken," I informed them, not bothering to look up from my food as I spoke to them.

"Look, I just wanted to say I'm sorry," one of the guys said, my interest suddenly surging.

I looked up, noticing that it was the red-headed kid I had yelled at earlier and his friend. They had been in most of my classes, but I couldn't remember either's name. "Go on," I told them, indicating with my fork for the ginger one to carry on with his apology.

"I'm sorry for staring at you," he mumbled, not quite meeting my eyes. His face was nearly as red as his hair, and I couldn't help but smirk at how obvious it was that he was nervous to be around me.

I shrugged and shovelled some food into my mouth. Swallowing, I told him, "I guess I'm sorry too. You know, for yelling at you."

Before anyone else could speak though, we were rudely interrupted. A hand wrapped itself around my waist, and Adrian began to nuzzle his way beside me. I huffed slightly, tensing up my body. Of course, I was used to this sort of behaviour, but that didn't mean I was always fond of it. Whenever he saw me talking to another guy, Adrian would always appear, like a freaking ninja jumping out of the shadows and latching himself onto me. I think he thought he was protecting me in some warped way, but most of the time he just annoyed the hell out of me. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends, Rose?" he asked, his voice lightly laced with innocence, suggesting that he was trying to wind me up on purpose.

I stalled. I would have introduced them to him, if I knew their names. But I didn't. I blinked, and wondered what the chances were of me randomly guessing their names right.

And then I remembered that I was Rose freaking Hathaway and that I could get away with near enough anything. "This is Random Guy One and that is Random Guy Two," I stated chirpily, not really caring if I sounded rude or anything like that. I was tired, I was hungry and all I really wanted to do was go to sleep and possibly never wake up.

Without missing a beat, Adrian perked up, "You're mothers' must have hated you as kids if they gave you them terrible names," he drawled, picking up one of my fries and munching on it. I elbowed him in response, causing Adrian to wince in pain. The two dhampirs looked on in horror, obviously not used to novices beating up their royal best friends.

The other guy, the one without the red hair, finally decided to speak. "I'm Eddie, and that's Mason," he said, smiling pleasantly. I tried to resist the urge to groan out loud and to roll my eyes; these people were way too happy for my liking. But if I was going to survive here, then I needed to make some new friends, especially seeing as Adrian was getting on my nerves. Sure, the guy got on my nerves most of the time, but I was tired and grouchy and he seemed to be uber annoying today.

I forced a smile. "Hi. I'm Rose and this asshole is Adrian," I told them, although I was pretty sure that they knew who both of us were. After all, I had classes with them, and Adrian was a royal. My comment must have made them uncomfortable though, because they tried to shoot each other a subtle look as they comprehended my words, but Rose Hathaway missed nothing. Realising that I had to explain, I smiled again, this time more genuine. "It's okay. I'm allowed to call him that. He's my best friend...unfortunately," I told them, adding the last bit as an afterthought.

"Hey!" Adrian cried out, suddenly realising that I had been insulting him. Adrian had the habit of dozing of mid conversation, usually when he was bored or hung over, which was most of the time. "You love me really."

"I must, seeing as I followed you across the country," I remarked, pushing my plate away as I finished up eating.

Adrian smiled. "Have I said 'thank you' for that yet?"

"Nope," I replied, popping the 'p' sound harshly.

"Thanks," he said, the joking tone that he had been using vanishing as he suddenly became sincere.

I nodded, resting my head on his shoulder. "I know." Suddenly realising that we weren't alone at the table, I turned to face Eddie and Mason. "I really need to go and unpack. I'll see you guys tomorrow," I told them, grabbing hold of Adrian's hand and pulling him up with me. Without waiting for a reply from the two dhampirs, I dragged Adrian out of the cafeteria. Instead of going back to my room like I had claimed, I wandered aimlessly around campus, Adrian loyally following me silently.

We walked for five minutes, until the chatter of the cafeteria died out. I stopped and leaned against a wall; Adrian mirrored my actions. "Why am I not surprised that you're already breaking the hearts of some poor guys, Little Dhampir?" Adrian commented, finally speaking.

I frowned, turning to face him. "What?" I asked, ineloquently.

"Random Guys One and Two are completely infatuated with you, Rose. Well, Random Guy Two is in awe of you. Random Guy One actually fancies you," he replied, smiling brightly.

Rolling my eyes at him, I disagreed. "No. They're not," I argued. Why would they? I mean, sure, I was hot. But I hadn't exactly been pleasant to them.

"Yeah they are. I know these things, remember?" Adrian said assertively, tapping himself on his head and nodding knowingly. I sighed, suddenly feeling really uncomfortable. I hated having these sorts of conversations with Adrian. It was a delicate subject and I had no idea how to deal with him when he was like this. I could deal with a drunk Adrian. I could deal with a touchy-feely Adrian. I could deal with an annoying Adrian. I just couldn't deal with a deep, philosophical Adrian.

He thought that he was different. He thought that he was special. And sometimes he knew things that he shouldn't know. And because of this, he had recently concluded that he was a psychic. But seeing as he had come to this conclusion after a night spent guzzling bottle of vodka after bottle of vodka, I was a little apprehensive. I was no psychologist, but I was pretty sure Adrian was compensating for the fact that he hadn't yet specialised in an element.

"Adrian," I said, my voice wary.

"Rose," he mimicked, rolling his eyes at me, before his features suddenly shifted, becoming more serious. "You said you were going to support me," he said, his voice small and barely audible.

Sighing, I started to walk again. A couple of seconds later, I heard the soft footsteps of Adrian following me. "I am supporting you. I'm here, aren't I?" I reminded him, my voice harsh as I pivoted on the spot so that I could look at him. His green eyes were wide, and I suddenly pitied him. I knew things were tough for him. I knew he struggled to cope with things, and I was the only one he could really rely on. I was the only one he had talked to. "I'm sorry," I said, my cold exterior melting as I walked towards him, pulling him into a hug.

"I know," he whispered into my ear.

I took a step back, and placed my hands firmly onto his shoulders so that I could look him in the eyes. "We're going to get to the bottom of this, Adrian. I promise that we'll find out what's going on with you and I promise that everything will be okay. It's going to be okay. You're going to be okay. I know that you're going to be okay," I said, my voice full of determination as I tried to convince him, as well as myself, that things would eventually work out. But deep down, I wasn't too sure. Adrian had a hell of a lot of problems and I didn't know if we would be able to find all of the answers at St Vlads. I just didn't know.

AN: So after months of not having touched this story, I decided to finally write the next chapter. I know that I probably should focus on one story at a time, but what can I say? I'm easily distracted. So, I've devised a plan...which I'm hoping will work. I'm going to update one story (Pillars of Sand, Anchors in the Sky and Sticks and Stones) a week. That way I shouldn't get bored or distracted or whatever. That said, this rota will start in a month, mainly because I have four more weeks at uni then it's my summer holidays, meaning I can actually sit down and write!

Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing and for generally being awesome!

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN VA!