I woke up the next morning to my alarm clock blaring in my ear. I was sincerely surprised I actually heard it this time. I slapped it, almost knocking it off my nightstand, and sat up. I rubbed my face, trying to fully bring myself to consciousness. I rolled out of bed, and grabbed my work out clothes, slipping them on. I did a little bit of make-up and ran a brush through my hair, throwing it up into a pony tail, and heading to the gym. I was shocked to find I was still the last one there. Holy shit, did these kids wake up at four to be here right at five?

"Pay up." One of the novices said. He groaned and handed the kid a ten.

"Ya'll were taking bets on whether I'd make it on time?" I asked. They all nodded.

"She's still the last one here, that counts for something." The boy, I think his name was Keith snapped at him.

"She's actually on time today, and that's what counts." Guardian Belikov told them. "Everyone ready to start training?" A chorus of 'yeahs' came from the group of over-achievers on the bench. "Guardian's, you guys ready?" They muttered a bunch of 'yeahs' but didn't seem really excited about it. I didn't blame them. Some of these novices needed a good punch to the mouth. Some of them already got it. My eyes fell on Glenn, whose nose still looked disgusting. I smirked to myself. "Let's do it then." All of them jumped up, obviously excited. I shook my head as I walked over to Guardian Castille.

"No one had to come drag me out of bed. You should be proud."

"I am. You should make this on time thing a habit." He told me. I laughed.

"I wouldn't count on it." I told him. He chuckled.

"Alright, we're going to start with your defense stance… something simple."

"Awe, you're not going to throw me into hardcore basic training?" I asked, sarcastically. He raised an eyebrow. I wished I could do that.

"Is that what you wanted?" He asked.

"It's what I was expecting." He rolled his eyes.

"No, we'll work our way to that." He promised. I nodded. I hated being babied, and I felt like that's what he was doing because I was a girl. Little did he know, I could kick his ass. Our first go round, he'd gotten lucky. "Now, take your defensive stance." I rolled my eyes and did as he asked. He walked around me and stopped.

"Everything up to par sheriff?" I asked, sarcastically. He shook his head at me, obviouslt sensing the innuendo of my joke.

"Are you right handed or left handed?" He asked. I raised an eyebrow.

"Right handed, why?"

"Because you shift most of your body weight to the right when you're in stance, and that's dangerous, because it leaves you left side more vulnerable." He told me. I gave him a look.

"I'm sorry… but what?"

"Okay, I'll give you scenario. You're ambushed by strigoi, and you take stance, ready to attack, and one takes you out from your left side. Your weight and all your strength is on the right side of your body, therefore, you're not going to be able to stage an attack in time. He will already have his arms around you, or you'll already be dead." He explained.

"Strigoi don't normally travel in packs, Guardian Castille." I told him. I knew that much.

"With strigoi, you have to be ready for anything, therefore, you have to balance your weight in your stance so you have time to protect yourself if you need too." He explained.

"You're kidding right? You're going to throw me off if you make me change my stance." I told him.

"I could also be saving your life here."

"No, you're going to screw my entire battle mode off." I snapped at him. He gave me a strange look.

"You have a battle mode?" He asked. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm not changing my stance, Guardian Castille."

"Try it?" He asked me.

"NO!" I snapped back at him. He obviously wasn't getting it. If I had to beat it into his skull that I wasn't changing it, then I would.

"Alright, look… let me show you something, and I'll prove to you why you need to change it." He said. He called on of the other guardians over, and told him where to stand. "I want you to pretend you're going to attack her. I want you to move in like you're going in for the attack." The guardian nodded. Guardian Castille moved off to my left. I watched him out of the corner of my eye, but he finally got into my blind spot where he was no longer visible. I listened hard, hoping I'd be able to hear his movements closer to me, but with all the talking in the room, it was a lost cause. I eventually heard his footfalls on the mat. This obviously wasn't very realistic due to the fact that I knew the guardian in front of me wasn't actually going to come after me. When I heard his last footfall before he grabbed me, I threw all of the weight from my right into him when I shoved him away from me, and took my defensive stance once again before him.

"I'm training to be a guardian. I will be ready for anything, and my stance isn't going to have anything to do with it."

"Will you at least try?" He asked.

"No, because you're wrong." I told him, bluntly. He ran a hand through his hair, obviously a sign that he was aggravated.

"Rose… I don't know how I'm going to teach you anything if you're going to tell me I'm wrong. I've been a guardian for four years now, I think I know what I'm doing."

"I'm sure there's a lot you could teach me, but in this… you're wrong." I promised him. He shook his head. I could tell he was biting his tongue. Finally, Guardian Belikov called it a day, thank God. I threw Guardian Castille one last look before walking out. I wasn't going to have this fight with him anymore. I walked to my room, and slammed my door behind me. I didn't know how I was going to put up with people here. I'd go insane before I got out of here, that was for sure. I buried my head in my pillows and screamed as loud as I could. God, I missed Lissa.

DIMITRI'S POV

"Having trouble with her already?" I asked, when I walked over to Eddie. He was running his hands through his hair, the ultimate sign that he was agitated with something or someone. I'd heard them arguing, but was too involved with my own stuff to bother worrying about theirs.

"Dimitri, I can't do it. She doesn't listen. She's undisciplined, and she's hard-headed."

"She'll warm up to you eventually." I told him. He shook his head at me.

"Yeah, a week before she leaves back for the academy. Dimitri, trade me novices."

"Not gonna happen." I told him.

"Dimitri, please. If you leave her with me, her entire stay here is going to be wasted. I'm not hard enough on them, at least not like you are, and she needs discipline that you can give her. She's talented… I'll give her that much. Don't waste it. Just trade me." I stared at him, not sure how I was supposed to tell him no. I knew he was right. Eddie was sort of a push over, only because he was genuinely a good guy. He wasn't ever one to argue, or fight unless it was a strigoi. I looked down, and back up at him.

"Fine… You can have Steven. Although, you'll probably have your hands full with him too, just not in the same way."

"I'll take shitty fighter, over undisciplined any day."

"You owe me for this, I hope you know that." I told him. He just nodded.

"I'll buy you lunch or something."

"I have a feeling you're going to owe me more than that." I said, as I walked out of the gym. I went into the kitchen for a bottle of water, and headed to my room. I sat down at my desk, shaking my head. What kind of mess did I just get myself into? I traded a well behaved boy for a undisciplined girl, with a bad attitude, and no real work ethic. If Eddie's right and discipline is really all she needs, this shouldn't be that hard, but if he's wrong, then he's going to owe me a lot more than just lunch. I erased Eddie's name from beside Rose's and wrote my own, and erased mine from beside Steven and wrote Eddie's. Tomorrow was going to be one hell of a day, that was for sure. I propped my feet up on my desk, and picked up my novel I's been working on finishing when I heard the back door slam shut. I got up, and walked to the window to see who'd gone out and what they were doing. I watched as Rose dropped her bottle of water on the ground and placed her hand on the fence. I watched as she mouthed the words, on your mark, get set, and go before starting around the track. I debated on going out, and asking her why she just randomly decided to come out and run, but then again, it wasn't a bad thing that she was doing. I watched her for a few seconds, as she gracefully sped around the track one time, then two times, then three times, and four. When she stopped, her chest was heaving in and out, obviously out of breath. She may have a bad attitude, and very little discipline, but the girl will bust her ass for what she wants. I could see that in her. There was a fire in her I'd never seen in another novice. It would make her great, just like her mother. She started back towards the door, so I went back to my room so she wouldn't know I'd been watching. I laid down with my novel until I eventually fell asleep.