Once the school day had ended, I headed back to my room to change out of the school uniform. I dressed in a simple pair of black dress pants and a powder blue blouse. I pulled my hair out of the ponytail I'd put it in this morning and let it hang loose. My blonde hair had grown a few centimetre's in the last few months and the layers were beginning to grow out. There was a knock at my door and I walked over and opened it. There standing on the threshold was Jill.
"Hey Jill." I said.
"Hey." She stuttered. She was looking a little nervous as I stepped aside to let her in.
"What's wrong?" I asked as I shut the door. Jill sat down on my bed and promptly began fiddling with her fingers.
"I thought I would cook dinner for everyone tonight. You know, instead of always buying takeout and also as a nice gesture? But then I realised I don't know how to cook!" That sort of didn't surprise me, as I didn't think they had time to learn how to cook at St. Vladimir's Academy. From a young age, my mom had taught me how to cook as well as fix cars.
"I can teach you how to cook, if you would like?" I suggested. Jill's face lit up.
"Really? Oh, thank you Sydney! Thank you!" She squealed. I let out a small laugh.
"No problem. Besides, I think everyone should know how to cook," I said. Jill was bouncing on the bed. I was happy to see her in a happy mood. "Now, you need to calm down so I can help you decide what to cook for everyone." Jill immediately calmed down and began to pay attention. We went through recipes before settling on homemade lasagne.
"I can't wait to have your help in making this." Jill exclaimed as she finished writing down the instructions.
"I'm happy to help," I said, and I meant it. I grabbed my keys and handbag. "Now, let's go down to the supermarket and grab the ingredients we need." I opened the door and Jill skipped out. I closed the door behind me and we began making our way to the lobby. Eddie and Angeline were there, waiting when we got there.
"Hey Eddie. Hey Angeline. Ready to go?" I asked as I opened the door and stepped out into the heat.
"Sure." Angeline said. We walked to my car, Latte and I unlocked the doors and we all climbed in. Jill beside me in the passenger seat, Eddie and Angeline in the back seats.
"Good, because Jill and I have a couple of things to do first before we head over to Clarence's." I looked over and Jill and I could see she could barely contain her excitement.
"What do you need to do?" Eddie asked suspiciously.
"I'm cooking us all dinner, with Sydney's help!" Jill burst out, then instantly clamped her hands over her mouth. "Oops. I was going to keep it a surprise."
"Jill thought it would be a nice gesture if she made dinner for everyone." I explained as I pulled out onto the street.
"But I don't know how to cook," Jill pointed out. "So I asked Sydney if she would be able to show me to how to cook."
"Which, I gladly said I would." I said as I turned a corner. I pulled into the parking lot of the supermarket and chose a place close to the entrance and parked Latte.
"I think it's a lovely idea!" Angeline said as we got out of the car. Jill smiled at the Dhampir.
"I agree. It would be a nice change from having takeout a lot," Eddie said. "Angeline, you can take near-guard, I'll take far-guard." Eddie had already entered into Guardian mode. And within seconds, so had Angeline as she nodded at Eddie and assumed her position close to Jill and myself. This was standard Guardian protocol. One guardian would stay close to their charge, while the other would stay behind and scout the area just to make sure it was safe and to keep a close eye on their charge. In this case, they were protecting not just Jill, but me as well. Not that we were worried about being attacked by Strigoi as it was still daylight, but now we also had the vampire hunters to worry about. We went through the supermarket, grabbing the ingredients we needed, payed at the checkout and got back into my car. Finally, we pulled into Clarence's driveway. The front door opened and Adrian walked out. He stopped when he saw the grocery bags in our hands.
"What's with all the shopping bags?" He asked a small smirk on his lips.
"Jill's cooking dinner." I said as I walked past him. He nodded his head thoughtfully.
"Interesting," He said watching me walk towards the front door. "Can you cook?" He called out to Jill.
"That's why I'm helping her." I answered. I could feel those green eyes of his bore into the back of my head as I walked inside and straight into the kitchen. Jill was close behind and we dumped the bags on the floor and began removing the contents, setting them on the bench. I began showing Jill how to prepare the soon-to-be lasagne with Eddie, Jill and Adrian looking on in enraptured fascination.
Soon enough, the kitchen was filled with the delicious scent of cooking lasagne. Clarence walked in just as Jill had finished making a salad to go with the lasagne. Adrian reached over and picked out a piece of cucumber, Jill slapped his hand away and I snorted in amusement.
"What, may I ask, is that delectable smell?" He asked raising his nose into the air and inhaled deeply through his nose.
"Dinner," Jill announced proudly. "I made it with Sydney's help." I couldn't help but smile. Jill had followed my instructions quite carefully. The old man patted Jill's cheek affectionately.
"Judging by the way it smells dear, it is going to taste marvellous." That earned Clarence an outright grin from Jill. There was a knock at the front door. Wiping my hands on a towel, I went to go open the door. Sonya and Mikhail were standing the doorstep.
"Sydney!" Sonya enveloped me in a hug. "This is Mikhail." She said.
"It's a pleasure to meet you." Mikhail said extending his hand forward. I reached out and grasped it.
"Likewise." I said. Behind them I could see Dimitri's tall form and beside him I could see Rose Hathaway, their hands twined together. And standing just in front of them was...
"Your Majesty." Came Adrian's voice from behind me. Ah, so that's who it was. The mystery person was the Moroi Queen and Jill's half sister; Vasilisa Dragomir. I moved backwards to let everyone inside and bumped into Adrian, he put his hands on my shoulders to steady me, a shot of warmth raced through me at his touch and I immediately I pulled out of his grasp and backed away. There was that look of pain in his eyes again.
"Come on in, everyone." I said as I averted my gaze from Adrian's. The five of them piled into the house and I showed them through to the dining room. The current occupants all looked up at the new arrivals, shock evident on their faces.
"Lissa?" There was a confused look on Jill's face as she spoke.
"Hi Jill. I hope we're not intruding?" Lissa smiled at her sister and took a seat between her and Rose, who had already seated herself.
"Not at all," I said. "Jill has just finished making dinner. It should be ready soon. It's a good thing we made a lot of lasagne, hey Jill?" I said busying myself with pulling down plates and cutlery and setting them up around the table.
"Mmmm, lasagne." Rose moaned, sticking her tongue out of the corner of her mouth and pretended to drool. Vasilisa and Dimitri looked amused as they shook their heads. The timer on the oven went off and Jill got up from her seat. She pulled the lasagne out of the oven, setting it on the bench. She opened a drawer and pulled out a knife and began cutting the lasagne into equal sizes onto the plates. Everyone helped themselves to the salad. The dining room was soon filled with the sounds of cutlery clanging on plates and animated conversation. Vasilisa and Rose had decided that they would come and visit to see how settled everyone was. Vasilisa had also said that she wanted to continue getting to know Jill, to which Jill had looked happy about. I'd started getting a headache and had to excuse myself. I stepped out onto the balcony and leaned my arms on the railing. The cool night air felt good on my face and I tipped my face skyward, revelling in the coolness.
"Are you okay?" Adrian's voice came from behind me. Startled, I spun around.
"I'm fine. I'm just getting a headache. I didn't get much sleep last night." I said turning around and resumed leaning against the balcony railing. Adrian came and stood beside me.
"Is everything alright?" There was concern in his voice. He was the only one that knew about Ms. Terwilliger, so I knew I could trust him.
"Ms. Terwilliger pulled me out of bed at three in the morning to perform a scrying spell." I explained.
"Why couldn't she have done it herself?" He asked. I let out a sigh.
"Because it had to have been done by a... virgin." I said as I yawned.
"Okay... so she disrupted your sleep all because she needed a virgin to do the spell for her?" I nodded my head, stifling another yawn. I placed my hands on the edge and pushed myself up.
"She shouldn't do that to you." Adrian said, there was a hardness to his voice when he said it. "She knows how you feel about it all."
"I know." I sighed.
"So what happened? Did you find who she wanted you to look for?"
"Yeah I found who she was looking for. She told me that whether I like it or not and for my own protection, I have to improve my skills." I said pulling a face. Humans shouldn't be allowed access to magic, it was wrong and uncouth. Before Adrian could answer, there was a smash from inside. Adrian and I ran inside. Jill was standing in the kitchen, an apologetic look on her face.
"I'm sorry! My hands were slippery and I dropped a couple of plates." Everyone visibly relaxed. I grabbed a broom and helped Jill clean up the broken pieces. I carefully wrapped the broken plates in newspaper, placed them in a garbage bag and dumped them in the bin.
Soon after, everyone moved out into the living room, all except Jill, Vasilisa, Adrian and I. Jill was doing dishes and I moved to help her, but Vasilisa shook her head and took the towel off me.
"I'll help her with the dishes," she whispered. "It'll give me a little extra time to get to know her." I nodded and moved towards the coffee pot. I held it up and shook it in Adrian's direction. He nodded his head, a smirk playing on his lips. I re-filled the pot and busied myself with finding mugs. Adrian sat at the kitchen counter watching me. Jill and Vasilisa started talking and I tuned them out, letting them have this private moment. A minute later, the coffee was ready and I poured some into the two mugs, handing one to Adrian, who added milk and sugar. I spooned sugar into my coffee and gratefully took a sip. Out in the hall, the grandfather clock chimed eight times. Jill, Eddie, Angeline and I needed to get back to Amberwood before curfew.
"Jill?" She turned around, hands in the soapy water.
"Curfew." I said tapping my watch.
"Oh. Already?" Jill sounded disappointed. I nodded my head.
"Okay. Just let me dry my hands and get my bag." I nodded and walked into the living room where everyone was talking about what had been happening here and back at court.
"I'm sorry to interrupt guys, but unfortunately, Eddie, Angeline, Jill and I need to be back at school in time for curfew." They were so caught up in talking, that they hadn't noticed me walking in until I'd spoken. Eddie and Angeline's faces fell at the prospect of having to go back to Amberwood. But nevertheless, they packed up their stuff, said their goodbyes and in a few minutes we were on our way back to Amberwood.
Angeline, Jill and I parted ways with Eddie, once we were back at Amberwood, and made our way to our dorm rooms. I said goodnight to the girls and went up one more flight of stairs and to my room where my bed was waiting for me. After I'd pulled my pyjamas on, I slipped under the covers and, hoping for no late night disruptions, fell into a deep sleep.