CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN- WHAT'S MY BIGGEST PROMBLEM?
Hey there, here's the next chapter, yay! I hope you guys like this one, it's longer than my others have been for a bit so I hope it's okay. This chapter is kind of comical, so i hope you guys like it...
I was sitting in my room, alone, staring at the blank screen on my lap top, I'd only written three words: Things To Fix.
Thoughts were running around in my head, talk to Leo and Tristin, deal with Dereck, tell Lissa to fuck off, be nice to Etienne, deal with Adrian, deal with Alexander, find Mikhail, become more of a guardian…
My thoughts were like a traffic jam. "Okay, first, what's your biggest problem?" I murmured putting my hands to my head. DERECK HAYS immediately came to my head and I thought back to last night…
"That's for saving my life," I whispered against his lips.
"Rose…" he murmured and I slowly pulled out of his arms, he looked shaken up but extremely elated. He turned his blue eyes to meet mine, they were bright and excited. He reached for me again and I lightly danced out of he reach only to fall forward into his arms again. He was only too eager to hold me tightly to him again.
"Rose Hathaway…" he whispered moving closer once again, I needed to stop it right there, I shouldn't lead him on more than I already was.
I gently lifted my hand to his mouth. "What did you do to deserve a second kiss?" I questioned softly.
Dereck's eyes were almost hypnotic, dancing blue lights…alluring. "Rose…" was all he said, his breath brushes across my face, just as his hand mimicked the movement. His eye lids drooped as he kissed my hand that was still against his lips.
I need to stop this right now, right now. Then he leisurely moved to my neck and I winced, he felt it and looked down.
"Oh, Rose, I'm sorry, I completely forgot about your neck," he said quietly.
"What about my neck?" I said and righted myself, slipping casually out of Dereck's arms and putting a hand to my neck. There was gauze wrapped around it and I remembered the pain on Dimitri's fangs dragging across my skin. I took in a shaky breath and Dereck pulled me into his arms once again, never missing a chance to get in close.
He smoothed my hair and ducked down to lightly kiss the side of my neck where Dimitri's fangs had been. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you," he whispered and his lips trailed up to my ear.
"Dereck," I moaned in protest but he took that the wrong way, he thought I was enjoying it. "Dereck,"
"Rose,"
"Dereck, no," I gently pushed him away and looked into his eyes. "No, we can't, I can't, you can't, so no." I said sternly.
"Can't we break the rule, just once?" he pleaded, taking a step closer.
"No, Dereck! You're just making it worse, please, I can't take this tonight," I added almost inaudibly. The words hung in the air between us and I had to break the tension. "Let's get back, you need to sleep,"
"Alright," he murmured and we began walking towards the dhampir dorms. The entire walk there was silent and I went in with him. I couldn't have him get in trouble from the supervisor tonight, he couldn't afford to be in trouble again and I certainly couldn't deal with it.
"Hey, what are you doing?" the Moroi snapped, being jolted from his snooze when the door opened.
"I am escorting Mr. Hays back to his room, he's in no trouble," I said calmly to the Moroi.
He nodded. "Sorry, Guardian Hathaway," he muttered and resumed his position leaning back in the chair. We silently made our way up the stairs and to the threshold of Dereck's door.
"Thanks for helping me get out of the clinic," I said quietly.
"It was nothing," he paused before adding, "and, Rose? I didn't kiss her, it was just a set up, and you know that, right?"
I gave a small smile. "Yeah, I know,"
"Good," before I could move away or protest, he pulled me close and his lips crashed down on mine. It surprised me and I gasped for breath, he took that opportunity to play tonsil hockey. I retracted my tongue and ended the kiss gently, trying to pull away, but not quick enough. Dereck brushed his tongue over my lower lip and leaned his forehead against mine.
"Not tonight," I whispered and pulled away from him, setting off down the hall, feeling the warm feel of his hand slip off my waist…
I could still feel the lingering touch of his lips on my own. That wasn't good.
Things To Do and Try to Fix
1. Avoid Dereck
2. Talk to Leo and Tristin
3. Find Blake and Tory to apologize
4. Hang out with Blake and Tory
5. Avoid Lissa, Christian and maybe Eddie and Adrian too
6. Give Riley Zeklos hell when you see him
7. Figure out Dereck's friends
8. Up respect from other guardians
9. Thank Alexander
10. Kill Dimitri
I typed the last one slowly and then pressed print; I also put the picture of my uncle and baby-me in my back pocket (someone had put it under my door after I got back from Dereck's dorm – I knew it was Alexander, he'd undoubtedly heard about what had happened).
I ran down to the 'Technology Room' for the guardians, I'd had Mikhail hook up my computer to the printer; I waited beside the printer in the empty room, humming to myself. The paper came up and I quickly grabbed it, ripping it in two so I only had the writing and I tossed the blank half in the recycling. I folded the paper in half and slipped it into my jean's pocket and nonchalantly walked back up to my room. I put on a black pull-over hoodie on top of my tank top, grabbed my iPod and trooped out of my room and into the guardian cafeteria.
I grabbed a bagel and sat down at an empty table turning on the song Dear Angel by April Sixth. They were an old band that not a lot of people knew about but I'd found the song and I loved it. I turned it up loud and continued my breakfast.
Dear angel of mine, (Yeah)
Where do I start to express how I feel?
Well, my love's gone blind.
Now all that I feel is what I hear.
Your words rip and tear,
through my heart so weak and pure.
Now I find myself wanting to die
I bleed for the second time tonight
holding the love that's in my mind.
If only my love could be with you.
If only this pain, this pain died too
So I break you away, away, away from me.
As I sit here alone (ohh)
thinking about everything that you said.
You know since I'm alone.
Well, maybe after all, I was better off dead.
Cause without you, my life's gone down...
What do I do, when I find myself wanting to die?
I bleed for the second time tonight
holding the love that's in my mind.
If only my love could be with you.
If only this pain, this pain died too
I bleed for the second time tonight
holding the love that's in my mind.
If only my love could be with you.
If only this pain, this pain died too
I break you away...
I bleed for the second time tonight
holding the love that's in my mind.
If only my love could be with you.
If only this pain, this pain died too
I bleed for the second time tonight
holding the love that's in my mind.
If only my love could be with you.
If only this pain, this pain died too
I'll break you away!
(All that's in my mind)
So break you away
(All that's in my mind)
so break you away, away, away from me
So break you away, away, away from me
and I don't know
Sincerely Yours.
"Earth to Hathaway," someone said loudly and pulled out my headphone just as the song came to an end. I pressed pause and looked up in surprise to see Mikhail Tanner. I smiled at him.
"Were you saying something?" I said sweetly and Mikhail rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, I said hey and you ignored me so then I kept trying to get your attention until I moved your hair and found the headphone," he said exasperated, he looked so annoyed and I just kept smiling. "What's with you?" he asked suspiciously.
"What are you talking about?" I asked after I swallowed another bite of my bagel.
"You seem…sort of happy," he said cautiously as if he were chosing his words.
"'Sort of'?" I repeated and he nodded slowly, watching me over his piled plate of French toast, normal toast and eggs. My eyes widened and I grasped the subject change. "Do you always eat so much?" my voice was incredulous.
"It's not that much," he objected. My hand snaked out and I captured a piece of toast from his plate. "Hey! Give that back!" he exclaimed loudly and I laughed; I took a big bite and Mikhail groaned. "I'm going to starve!"
I laughed even harder and choked on the toast in my mouth. "Like you don't have enough food there!" I pointed at his piled plate.
He pouted out his lower lip and said, "I wanted that piece of toast,"
"This piece?"
"That piece," he confirmed pouting like a child. I laughed and held the piece out in front of his mouth.
"Take a bite," I said, holding back more laughter as Mikhail eyed the food hungrily. He met my eyes for a second and grinned wickedly before he opened his mouth wide and went to rip viciously at the toast, but I pulled it away at the last moment so his teeth came together with a very loud clack.
"Owww!" he howled and I burst out laughing, dropping the toast on his plate and falling off my chair. I knew all of the guardians were staring at us, but I really couldn't care less. Mikhail was the funniest person in the whole world right then.
He was glaring at me venomously and I only laughed harder. He quickly snatched up the piece of toast that I'd dropped and took a big bite, looking extremely pleased with himself. I laughed so hard that there were tears running down my face, still laughing, I picked myself up and grabbed Mikhail's hand dragging him away from his breakfast and out of the guardian building.
"I wasn't done yet," he grumbled under his breath as he rubbed his jaw; in a louder voice he said, "That hurt, Rose,"
I wiped my eyes and sniffed. "That was too funny, my God, Mikhail, you're fucking hilarious," I giggled remembering his face. Glancing around, I saw that it was time that classes were starting a few novices waved and called to me; I smiled back.
Mikhail threw his arm around my shoulders as we roamed campus; I playing fully brushed him off and grinned. I took a few steps in front of him, walking ahead.
"Oh, what's this?" I heard him say before I felt him grab something out of my back pocket. It was the picture of me and my uncle.
"Oh, who's this, Rose?" he teased holding the picture out of my reach as I lunged for it. He kept turning around and holding it out my reach as I kept trying to grab it.
"Mikhail!" I yelled and he started to run away so I chased after him screaming, "Mikhail Tanner!"
"Come and get me!" he yelled over his shoulder tauntingly. I really started to push myself and when he glanced back to see me catching up, he started to sprint too. He was running through the quad and ran straight through Lissa, Christian, Eddie, Adrian and Etienne who were walking towards the guardian dorms. I glanced around, there was a tree just to my right that the crew was right beside, and I smiled inwardly as I sprinted right for Lissa and everyone else. They all turned around and saw me, their eyes widening with surprise, at the last possible second, I lunged up to my right, catching a branch on the tree. I swung on it so my feet were poised easily on it and in the same moment, I threw myself off the branch and landed right in front of Mikhail.
There were gasps from everyone who could see me and I heard someone laughing as they yelled, "Alright, Rose! Woo-hoo!"
Mikhail stopped right in his tracks, leaning back on his heels. I saw him shoot a disbelieving glance at the tree I'd flown out of.
I grinned wickedly. "Fight it out?" I knew he knew what I meant and he grinned back looking like a little boy.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," he said and I glanced around seeing Dereck and his crew approaching, it was obvious that the person who'd cheered when I jumped from the tree was Dereck, because he was still clapping. I took the picture from Mikhail, ignoring his protests and I walked over to Leo, ignoring Dereck completely.
"Hey, Leo, we've got to talk later but right now, I'm scheduled to a fight, so I need you to hold this and give it to whoever wins, alright?" I said quickly.
"Yeah, sure," he said enthusiastically and took the picture from me. I smiled and turned back to Mikhail.
"Someone call it," he said loudly, his eyes on me, and everyone there started counting down.
"5…4…3…2 –"
I didn't want to wait so I lunged at him and he wasn't prepared so I knocked him down onto his back, straddling him easily.
"You cheated," he growled.
"No one said I fight fair," I grinned and we grappled on the ground for a few seconds, and I felt Mikhail getting ready to knee me in the back as he had before. I quickly leaned forward so his knee met empty air and he took the opportunity to roll over so he was on top of me.
"I'm winning," he said to me.
I quickly brought my legs up so my feet were under his arm pits. "No, you're not," I said and pushed harshly, making him stand somewhat before he stumbled backwards.
"Hath-a-way! Hath-a-way! Hath-a-way!" the spectators shouted in unison. I saw the crowd growing, it looked as if every student was gathering to watch us battle it out. I saw Blake and Tory standing on the edge of the circle that they'd made for us, they waved eagerly to me, I nodded and raised my hand in acknowledgement.
"They already know who's going to win," I teased Mikhail, bringing my attention back to him. His eyes narrowed as he lunged for my legs. I jumped up and Mikhail went right under me; I turned as I landed on the ground ready to see Mikhail getting ready to charge again.
This time, he went directly at me. I side-stepped him at the last moment, taking hold of his arm and pulling him close to my side, he shifted so we were both leaning against each other, our feet about two feet apart, our faces cheek-to-cheek, our arms linked and hands fisted.
"You do not fight fair," he whispered heavily in my ear.
"I thought you already knew that," I responded and shoved violently so we broke apart. Mikhail took a deep breath bringing up his hands; I did the same shaking out my hair as well so it flew around me in the light breeze. The spectators howled and screamed, I heard an extra bit from the boys in the area. I smirked inwardly, I hadn't lost everything; my womanly charm was still there.
We danced on our toes circling each other, I slipped closer threateningly and Mikhail's eyebrow quirked up. I smiled devilishly and his answering smile was just as rebelling. After all, we were breaking the rules.
"Bring it, Hathaway," he said, moving towards me still circling.
"I wouldn't want to hurt you," I smiled again. He was being so stupid, he was backing himself into the school wall, his guard was sloppy, but he was still bouncing on his toes, anticipating something.
"You're getting tired," I remarked as I moved forward a step.
"Not at all," he moved back further, his back now brushing the wall with each bounce of his body. I stepped in, going for a quick jab in the stomach where his guard was down. Mikhail surprised me by playing as dirty as I was.
He quickly grabbed my wrist, jerking me quickly so we reversed positions. He didn't waste anytime; he put me into the same hold that I had him in the last time we fought in the gym. He held me slightly higher than I had held him, my feet were about a foot off the ground, his weight pinning me there.
"You tricked me!" I snarled and it was his turn to grin tauntingly. My gaze quickly flicked behind him, the crowd was holding there breath, waiting for our next move.
I also saw something that I wasn't expecting, all the guardians, including Alexander, watching our brawl from directly behind Mikhail; they were at the far side of the quad. Their faces were the stone masks of all the guardians but in each of their eyes, I saw interest and anticipation.
I smiled to myself and looked down at Mikhail, he was smiling too. He thought there was no way out for me; I quickly saw one and took the chance. I wiggled my legs away from his and quickly wrapped them around his waist, my heels digging into his lower back. I kicked off one of my shoes and tucked my toes inside his belt, jerking him backwards by it. I grinned by the shock on his face as he stumbled backwards and hit the ground, right on his ass.
I sprang forward, landing on top of him, pushing his back onto the ground. We were chest to chest and both breathing heavily. I grinned again. "I win…" I paused before adding, "Again."
His body went limp under mine and he smiled up at me, my hair was tickling his face and he blew out a breath to push it away from his eyes. "That's two to zero; I'll make it up someday,"
I pulled myself off of him and offered my hand, he took it and the audience, all of them, clapped as I helped him up and we hugged easily.
"What did you do to me?" he asked laughing.
"I stuck my foot in your belt," I said as I went over to the wall to retrieve my shoe. I slipped it on as the people started to converge on us, but they soon backed away as Alexander walked towards us. I gulped, had I gotten Mikhail in trouble?
"Well, everyone, you might as well begin to make your way to your classes, I can't punish you for this, it's not like anyone can stop Guardian Hathaway," he smiled at me while everyone else chuckled. I smiled back, relieved that Mikhail wouldn't have to take shit for me.
"Rose, nice…technique, I really liked that last bit," Alexander said, trying to be formal but it was obvious he was biting back a smile.
"Thanks, I might be able to teach you it sometime," I joked and we laughed. I started to walk over to Leo, but on my way, I passed Scott Meradov, the jackass who thought he was so much better than me.
Our eyes met and we gave each other a wide birth, our eyes connected until they no longer could be. The crowd had caught that and they soon burst out into gossiping whispers.
"Did you see that?"
"Yeah, Hathaway and Meradov, next round!"
"Bets, everyone, bets!"
"Twenty on Hathaway!"
"Twenty on Hathaway!"
"Naw, did you see the look he gave her? Twenty on Meradov,"
I caught some of the conversations but I ignored them and walked over to Leo. I hugged him and took my picture back, slipping it into my pocket.
"Thanks, Leo," I smiled and then addressed the rest of the group. "How are you guys? Did you enjoy that?"
Currently the group consisted off Jane, Laura, Madison, Dereck – who I avoided looking at – Kevin, that cute boy with the peircing, Julian, Tristin – who was standing very close to Leo – Tommy that other boy who told me to walk away from Dereck and then there was another boy who I didn't know.
He seemed to get my confused look and said, "Hey, Guardian Hathaway, I'm Carter Voda," he offered me his hand and I shook it smiling brightly.
"Oh, Rosie, how's your nose? I hope Dereck didn't hurt it too bad," Jane said, stepping toward me with a venomous glance at Dereck.
"'Rosie'?" I repeated incredulously staring at the Moroi.
"Can't I call you that? It's such a sweet nickname," she smiled angelically.
"But I'm not that sweet a person," I objected shaking my head.
"Oh, yeah, you are," Dereck said, smiling knowingly from my other side. I ignored him and turned back to Jane.
"Can you please not –" I started but she cut me off.
"No, you're a great person and that's my nickname for you, so get used to it," she said firmly and I messed up her hair.
"Fine," I was in too good of a mood to push that issue just yet.
"How are you, Tristin?" I asked softly.
"I'm better, thank you so much, Guardian Hathaway," she gave me a hesitant smile and I returned it eagerly.
"You guys, need to get to class, so I'll see you later, okay?" I smiled and they all grumbled that they'd rather spend a day with me than in class. "Who wouldn't?" I joked and they all laughed. I smiled, high-fived the boys and hugged the girls they left. What surprised me was that Julian hugged me and winked over his shoulder as he started to walk away with everyone else.
Is he gay? I wondered but was snapped out of my thoughts when someone said, "Still causing trouble, Rose?" from behind me and I turned around to see Christian grinning at me in amusement.
Before I could answer, Etienne high-fived me laughing, "Awesome, Rose, I loved that last move!" he cheered and I laughed.
"Thanks," I smiled and glancing at the others I saw that Adrian was staring at my novice friends backs. I could only imagine what he was seeing. A dark aura for Leo, seeing as he was shadow kissed – a gold one for Tristin and I could also guess that he'd seen Jane, so he obviously knew that she was part of the Ivashkov clan. I wondered what he saw for Dereck but I immediately dismissed the thought.
Our eyes met and I knew I would have a lot of explaining to do.
Hey, in my reviews a lot of people like the 'Taylor HOTner' which i thought was really funny. How did you like this chapter? Especailly a bit of romance with Dereck and Rose. Oooh. ;p
A lot of you liked 'New Divide' by Linkin Park and that's awesome. I saw them live earlier this year and they are amazing. If you have a chance to go to their concert, don't turn it down! ;p
Please tell me what you think, review and press this lovely button down here. ;p
Alice