I don't own Vampire Academy, Ms Richelle Mead does.
It felt as if only a few minutes had passed before my alarm clock went off at 05:55. Sydney and I woke up and brushed our teeth in silence. She wore shorts and a t-shirt while I wore track pants and a singlet.
We met Eddie, Micah, Jill and Angeline in the cluster of trees. The sun was dawning.
"Morning," I said to everyone, receiving a surprising amount of mumbles back.
"You and I first?" asked Eddie.
"Can I go first, please?" begged Jill. It was probably because she wanted to avoid the sun.
"Sure," said Eddie and I in unison.
So off they went. Eddie was showing Jill how to use all of her weight in a punch. She was a fast learner but every punch seemed to affect her more than Eddie. Once she was exhausted, she sat down next to Sydney and I, drinking a large galleon of water.
"Micah, want to spar?" Eddie asked as he punched the air.
"No thanks. I'm way too lazy to do it this morning. Maybe another time?" Micah replied.
"Sure, another time." Eddie began to make chicken noises and Micah laughed.
"You're lucky I'm too lazy to get up and strangle you," said Micah jokingly.
"Rose, you're up," Eddie called as he started stretching.
I stood up and began stretching also. "Don't hold back," I told him.
"Don't worry sis, I won't," he answered before throwing a punch towards my head. I dodged his hit perfectly and I aimed a kick at his stomach. He moved, therefore resulting in getting a kick to his shins. He got a few hits in on me and he laid a hard punch to my stomach. When he went to try and punch me in the stomach again, I grabbed his closed fist and his neck, and with all my strength, I threw him to the ground. He landed in a loud thud. Before he could stand up and regain his balance, I leaped onto him, pinning him down with all of my body weight. He struggled to try and get me off and finally, he tried to put his hands up in defeat.
"You win," he said, sounding out of breath.
"Whoa, I didn't know your brother AND sister were kung-fu masters," Micah said as he started to clap. Several other students began to clap. I didn't realise they had stopped to watch Eddie and I spar.
"It's not kung-fu," Eddie and I said in unison.
Micah laughed. "Wow, you two are related, obviously."
"You remind me of a rose," said a boy, about my age. He was tall, built and had light brown eyes, which almost seemed golden. His short black hair was spiked. "Beautiful, but deadly."
"That's probably the reason why I have the name, Rose," I replied, smiling.
"I'm Chad. Maybe I'll see you around; you and your deadly beauty," he said before he walked towards the cafeteria.
Eddie, Jill and Sydney laughed and whistled.
"Ooooh, sis, your first day and you ALREADY have an admirer. Nice," said Eddie before he began laughing hysterically.
The remaining bystanders congratulated Eddie and I on our entertaining spar and hurried off elsewhere.
"Well' it's kinda hard NOT admiring you, Rose. You're like a battle goddess." Micah said, looking sheepish.
"Why, thank you," I replied. I stole a look at Jill. She beamed at me.
"That was amazing. It looked like you two were dancing," she said, her eyes going blank as she replayed the spar in her head.
"A deadly dance," Micah corrected as he stood up and helped Jill get to her feet. "Let's get breakfast. I'm starving."
"Good idea, said Jill before they both left and walked in the same direction as Chad.
Sydney rolled her eyes. "Chad's in my chemistry class. He may look like a 'too hot for his own good guy' but once the chemicals are put in front of him, he turns into a mad scientist."
I nodded, showing I had understood. But I saw no interest in Chad. Nothing whatsoever. That was probably due to the fact that he was human. Or because I was interested in someone else.
"I'm starving," I said as pulled my hair up into a ponytail, giving Eddie a glance at my tattoos.
"That's why you're and amazing fighter," Eddie exclaimed.
"Huh? Why?" I answered, wanting to hear why I was an 'amazing fighter'.
"Your tattoos, duh," he replied, looking at me as if I couldn't state the obvious.
"You have tattoos too," I said as I linked arms with him and Sydney. "You're an amazing fighter Eddie. It's just that I'm better," I joked as he punched me playfully in the arm.
These tattoos weren't anything to be proud of. They were a mere reminder of my stupidity. I thought.
Angeline mumbled something about not being hungry and headed back to her room.
Once we were seated at the same table as Jill and Micah, Dominic walked in and joined us.
"Greg Slade is a little stuck up, don't you think?" Dominic asked Sydney.
"Yes. Very. How did you find out?" Sydney replied. "Besides him being your roommate, of course."
"He was saying something about how people in his PE class think Eddie is a good sportsman. And that he could beat you in a spar," he directed at Eddie.
"Doubt it," said Eddie and I in unison.
Micah laughed. "Are you sure you and Dominic are the twins, Rose? Because it seems to me that you and Eddie have more, uh, twin-lepathy going on."
"We probably are," said Eddie and I in unison again, causing the whole table to erupt in a roar of laughter.
As we were eating our breakfast, I couldn't help but notice Micah watching us eat, Dom, Eddie and I.
I wrapped my last piece of bagel in a thick strip of bacon and shoved it into my mouth, almost swallowing it immediately.
"Yes?" I said before I chugged down my orange juice.
"It's just that all three of you eat similarly; the quantity and style."
I looked at the two boys' plates and cups, comparing it to my own. All of our plates and cups were empty; our dishes looking identical.
"And also your appetites. I'm guessing you're all full now?" Micah asked.
I thought about it for a while.
"Yeah, I am," I smiled, wiping my mouth.
"And so am I," Eddie said, standing up. "Meet you all in an hour for your orientation. Both of you, bring your timetables," he directed at Dom and I. "Jill and Micah, if you both don't mind, could you please show Angeline around?"
Both Jill and Micah nodded.
"Great," replied Eddie before he hurried out of the cafeteria.
"Rose, could I have a word with you?" Jill asked as she stood up and walked towards me.
"Sure," I answered as I stood up also.
She and I walked into the courtyard outside the cafeteria.
"How long did it take you to block out Lissa's emotions through the bond, exactly?" asked Jill. "I mean, I know it too you a while. But how long? Like a year? Two years?"
"Bond? What bond?" I said confusedly. This was the first time I had met the girl and was she referring to her half-sister, the Queen?
"The bond between Adrian and me?"
I continued to look confused.
"Adrian? Adrian Ivashkov? The spirit user? The drunk? The guy who brought me back to life after I was killed by a knife to my heart? The dude I'm spirit bound to?" She began to fiddle with her fingers.
Sudden realisation must have showed on my face because Jill looked at me curiously. 'Your mother and I need to tell you something'... 'You—you don't know me? Is this supposed to be some kind of joke?'... 'I think—I think you're twins'... 'Rosalie? Not Rosemarie?' All these words struck me at the same time. Maybe I was a twin after all.
"Jill, you know who I am right?"
"Yes, of course I do, Rose," she answered, looking at me as if I was insane.
"Really? Then tell me my full name."
"Rosemarie Hathaway, soon-to-be Rosemarie Belikov," she giggled.
"Honey, that's not my name. I'm Rosalie Hathaway. Not Rosemarie."
"So you and Dominic aren't pretending to have that epic accent to hide your identities?"
"Noooo. That's our normal accent. We're from NZ."
"And I just told you about the bond Adrian and I share..." she said sounding worried. "Please don't tell," she begged.
"Don't worry, I won't."
"Time to go," interrupted Sydney as she grabbed hold of my wrist, making me follow behind her.
"See you later, little sis," I called back to Jill, seeing her wave back.
"What's wrong?" I asked Sydney.
"You didn't hear you phone ringing constantly, did you?"
I shook my head.
"Well, that was your father. He and your mother are in the parking lot. They claim that they have news for you and that I escort you there and back."
Surely enough, in the parking lot, stood my father and mother. They stared at each other so me, being the way I am, broke the silence.
"I'm a twin, aren't I?" I said excitedly.
My mother and father stared at me, clearly shocked.
"You're not mad?" asked my mother as she gave me a hug.
"Mad? No. Wait, should I be? And the only thing I want to know is why? Why were we separated at birth and placed a million miles apart?" Exaggerating was my way of saying that I wasn't angry; just simply curious.
"Well," answered my father, "it's just that when your mother and I split up, we took one twin each. I, you, and your mother, Rosemarie. But recent events have caused us to bring you and your sister together; the risked lives of the Queen and her sister. Besides Strigoi, the Moroi seek to kill Jill and I, knowing I had raised the 'better' twin, decided to call you and have you help. Mr Vercetti of course, I allowed to come to keep you company. And also," my father whispered, just for me to hear, "your sister broke Mr Ivashkov's heart. She practically ripped it out of his chest. She probably learnt that from her mother. Anyway, I wanted to see if you could mend his broken heart. When you made the lunch arrangement with him, he beamed. Mr Belikov however, your sister's boyfriend, nearly attacked him. Until he found out.
They, and I mean Mr Ivashkov and Sonya found out by your aura; that you were a twin. To them, you seemed different compared to Rosemarie. They're both—"
"Sprit users," I interrupted.
"Yes, they are."
My mother looked between my father and I. "Like father, like daughter," she said before hugging me once again. "You will see your sister soon. I just don't know when."
I shrugged. "I don't know whether to dread that day or not."
"Neither do we," replied my mother and father together before they departed.
Sydney and I walked back to the dorm, chatting about her memories of Rosemarie. Come to think of it, Rosemarie and I had a lot in common; besides our similarity in appearance, we both loved to flirt and we had a love for action. I was already beginning to like this sister of mine.
Once showered and changed, Sydney and I headed downstairs into the lobby, finding Eddie and Dominic waiting for us.
"Timetables, please," said Eddie in a matter-of-factly voice.
Dominic and I handed our timetables over. Eddie gave Sydney Dominic's timetable. We watched as they both studied our timetables carefully.
"Rose, you're in all of my classes," said Eddie happily.
"And you, mine," Sydney said, obviously directing it at Dominic.
"So technically, you just need to stick with me on your first day," suggested Eddie as he handed me my timetable back.
Eddie and Sydney showed us around the whole school. They even taught us how to use the shuttles. It was interesting. Especially when I was receiving greetings from nearly everyone who saw me. Gossip about the spar spread around the school like wildfire. Some people were even asking for lessons; lessons I'd never teach.
I looked at my watch. It was 12:15pm. I was picking Adrian up in 15 minutes. I didn't want to be late.
"I'll catch you all after lunch," I called to Sydney, Dom and Eddie before jogging to Noir who was waiting for me.
The drive to the apartment was almost 15 minutes and I honked the horn just in time. Adrian emerged immediately. He was wearing khaki pants and a button down silk shirt. He looked good.
"Battle goddess huh?" he smiled as he jumped into the passenger seat. Jill must have told him.
"Maybe," I replied as I tried to hide a smile.
I drove for about 10 minutes, trying to find a restaurant which suited my craving and finally, I gave up. A burger shack was the best I could find and Adrian certainly wasn't helping me. He continued to complain about his lack of cigarettes.
Once seated, we both ordered food immediately. I ordered a chicken burger with salad while Adrian ordered himself a hamburger with curly fries.
When our food arrived, Adrian stared at me.
"Twins huh? How did you feel when you found out?"
"Normal, I guess. A little surprised, but normal. And speaking of twins, dad told me about what she did to you. I'm sorry, that was wrong of her. She had no right."
Adrian smiled sadly at me. "I had loved her and she cheated on me with Dimitri. The heart wants what the heart wants. I was depressed and I became a heavy alcoholic in the hopes of numbing the pain but it never seemed to work. Until I met you. I had a feeling fate was trying to give me someone to love. It feels as if I know everything about you." He grabbed my free hand on the table and held it.
Was that the reason I felt attracted to him? Because of fate?
"I know what you mean," I replied, my eyes never leaving him.
Once we demolished our food, Adrian paid the bill and I promised to buy lunch another time. He didn't seem to mind.
"Jill's feeding is tomorrow. Will I be blessed with your battle goddess-ness?" he asked as we pulled up in the parking lot of the apartment.
"Maybe. Maybe not."
"I might pay visit you in your dreams, if you're lucky," he said as he winked.
"If it's anyone visiting dreams, it's me visiting yours."
Our eyes connected for what seemed like a long period of time and just before he exited the car, I pulled him by his shirt towards me, brushing my lips against his. It felt like electricity. I could feel it spreading throughout my body and into my fingertips. I pulled back and stared at him; waiting for his response.
His hands crept to the back of my neck, making me shiver. Our lips were a short distance apart. He closed the distance between us and kissed me; this time softly and slowly. I pulled back again, even though I didn't want to. I just wanted to stare in those emerald eyes of his.
They seemed to glow a lighter emerald green and he looked happy and strong; as if he could take on a whole army of Strigoi by himself. He smiled, his sharp fangs exposed.
"Tomorrow seems too long to wait for you," he said as he began to stroke my cheek. He looked down at his shirt, from where I had just grabbed him. "And hey, you wrinkled my shirt."
I laughed. He seemed so protective over his clothing. "Iron it?" I suggested. "And try to survive without me. And without cigarettes."
"I'll try," he said as he tried to pull me in to kiss him again.
"No. Not till tomorrow," I said as I placed my hands on his chest, pushing him away. "I will kiss you tomorrow; that is if you have managed to survive without the presence of nicotine and me."
"Bribing me huh? I like the way you think. But come on, just one cigarette or a peck on my cheek?"
"Sorry Adrian, but that's not how bribing works," I giggled as I kissed the palm of his hand. He seemed to flinch at the feel of my lips.
He jumped out of the car and closed the door.
"I'll be tossing and turning in my sleep. Waiting for tomorrow. Waiting for your lips. Waiting for you," he said, making sure I heard.
"Well, come join me in my dreams. We can meet there if you cannot wait," I joked, knowing he couldn't possibly visit my dreams of his own will.
"Maybe I will," he replied before winking at me.
I waved goodbye to him and headed back to Amberwood. The feel of his lips; of the electricity; still surged through my body.
The rest of my day at Amberwood was a blur.
"Good night," I said to Sydney as I settled into my bed.
"Good night," she replied before turning out the lights.
I fell asleep immediately.