Well, thanks for the awesome reviews! I so do hope that you like this chapter. It was written in between classes and cheating off someone's test. (Haha) Anyways, people have been complaining why I broke up Matt/Maya. Here is the answer: When I write about romance between Maya and Matt, I feel like I am writing about Christian and Rose . . . and that scares me. But who knows, Maya might stay with Matt, so be hopeful. I think the last part is very cute. Well, hope you enjoy the chapter :)

I don't own Vampire Academy . . .

"Kayla," I said, using my reasoning voice. I was trying to convince Kayla not to ask out anybody for me. "I don't need anyone right now. It's a whole lot better being single."

Kayla shrugged. "Fine then. Want to know something? Your sister is more fun than you are."

"Zara is not here anymore." I pointed out.

"I know that. Where did your parents send her off anyway?"

"To the Modeling Academy. It's better than Hell, that's all I can tell you."

"For what? Hmm . . . do you think I would do good in the Modeling Academy?"

Everybody knew she would. Kayla was always on top of new fashion trends as opposed to me who wore whatever was clean off the ground.

"Yes, Kayla, we all know you would do well in."

"Great . . . now help me convince my mother to send me there." She paused. "Why did you break up with Matt, anyway? I know he cheated on you but could have just cheated on him, too and call it even."

I gave her a speculative look. "You know, sometimes I wonder if there is a brain in that small head."

"Half the time I wonder the same thing . . ." She muttered, making me crack up. "No. Seriously. Who did Matt cheat on you with?"

"Stephanie Zelkos. I saw him kissing her quite intimately yesterday. I didn't say anything, no; I am not one of those girls that would make a scene. Of course not; I am one of those girls that will speculate, quite evilly for her chance to get payback."

Kayla look mesmerized. "Oh, Maya . . . you're evil and awesome"

"Evilness . . . it runs in the family."

She chuckled. "Your dad or my mom aren't evil so where could you have gotten the evilness from?"

"Oh, I wasn't talking about the Tarus/Ivashkov side of me. I was talking about the Hathaway/Mazur side. My mom's part of the family is evil . . . thankfully, she passed down that gene to me."

"Sorry to interrupt. But check out that fine piece of ass over there." Kayla said, cramming her head to get a good look of a tall guy that was passing by at the moment. He had light blue eyes, dark brown hair like that guy in the picture my mother had been fretting over. He noticed Kayla looking at him and he gave her a quick smile. And then he noticed me. A real smile for me, the kind of smile that last about a couple more seconds than usual. My heart beat faster. He was a guardian, that was obvious by the way he walked all formal and business-like. The guardian was probably years older than we were.

And then some miracle happened.

The sexy guardian came up to talk to us! We probably looked like little girls obsessing over their idol.

"Hello, ladies, I am Guardian Lewis. How are you today?"

"Yo, I'm Kayla. I'm definitely doing better. What a good scenery this is." She all but growled like a cat.

Of course she would go on ahead with flirting. My mother had taught me better. "Don't give the guy total power over you 'cause then he's gonna think you're easy" were here exact words. "And I'm Maya Ivashkov, pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine, Ms. Ivashkov."

"Oh, call me Maya; Ms. Ivashkov makes me feel old for some reason."

"I think the same. Call me Tony the name Guardian Lewis makes me feel all rusty."

I laughed at his choice of words. By now, Kayla had given up. She knew I had this guy under my command. I was never going to hook up with him ever because he was at least fifty years older than I was. Well, not fifty years—more like five. Still rusty for my newness, though.

I wanted to keep on talking with him but the stupid curfew bell rang!

"Kayla, Maya, I'll see you around. My night shift starts now." He nodded to both of us and left.

"Oh, God. He was sexy." Kayla commented as he turned the corner. "Hmm . . . why were you all formal and stuff?"

"Hasn't your mother ever told you to respect your elders?"

"He's like five years older than us. Why would you respect him when you can be—"

I stopped her words short. I didn't want to hear her sexual thoughts of him and her. No, not at all.

"Dude, seriously. I love you. But don't mess with guys that are older than you are. My advice to you."

"I know, I know. He looks like someone that I could break the rules for."

"You're gross." I said, giving her a departing hug. "I would never hook up with an guy that has a century on me."

"Not a century, dumbass. A decade." She chuckled.

"Oh, God. So you do have a brain in there, somewhere."

"It's miniscule, but it works for something." She gave me one of her bear-hugs.

"God, let me breathe . . ." I told her as her hold tightened on me.

She giggled. "I love you, my favorite cousin."

"Mhm . . . me too. Now, let me go."

She finally let me go and let me breathe. She started walking away and so did I.

"Oh, Maya?"

I turned my head around but continued walking. "Yeah?" I hope I didn't run into something. That would be majorly embarrassing.

"My advice to you: Never say never." And with that, she scuttled away, tossing a hand over some random guy's shoulder.

Back in my room, I pulled out my cell phone and noticed I had a missed call from Zara. We had been here for a week now and Mom and Dad had decided Zara would never make it here so they sent her to the Modeling Academy in New York. It had been several days since I talked to her and I missed her a lot.

I dialed her number while I took out a Twix out of my pocket. I got the stupid, annoying message you get when there is no signal. Shit . . . that meant I had to go outside where there was more signal. If I was going to sneak out, I better do it now and not later because then the guardians on patrol would be more strict. I looked around my hallway to see if anyone was around. I had inherited my mom's awesome ninja skills so I would be ready if anyone decided to sneak up on me and bust me. And, really, who cared if I got busted? The sooner I was out of this place, the better.

I was thankful I was dhampir because the dhampir dorms had less guardians surrounding it as opposed to Moroi who had like a million guardians surrounding the dorm. I checked my surroundings, assessing, looking to see if anyone was out here. I was wearing dark colors, so I couldn't blend in with the night (day for humans) as easily. The sun was just about to rise, but it was still dark out.

I ran to the forest, to the spot where my mother had showed me to when she and I were touring the academy. "I used to come here all the time when I wanted to be alone, to think. It's the best place that relates more to nature than any other place here on the academy." She had said. Somehow, my mother and I were very addicted to the calmness that nature offered. Nature brought out a soothing feeling, a feeling off belonging when you felt so detached from everything else in life, that nothing else on this planet could bring out in us.

I looked around again before I stepped into the forest. It was dark still, but morning was just a couple of minutes away. I knew I would be safe. No Strigoi would be lurking when the sun was about to come out unless they wanted to be fried. They sure would make a delicious meal for my starving stomach.

I chuckled at the boldness of my mind as I continued walking, following the path my mother had made when she was here, which had to have been like fifty years ago. She told me that on trees she had marked her initials, making a path so that she would always find her way back home, and later, when she met Dad, she added his initials to the carvings on the tree. I found my way easily. The last tree made me smile like a fool. It had my mom's initials with my dad's and heart around them. How cute.

I heard the soft music the running water made. I turned around and saw a small, small creek, with moss covering some rocks. Dark as it was, it was kind of hard to see whether the creek was deep or not. It would most likely be shallow, considering the size of the creek. As I looked around, I remembered the picture that hung in Dad's office. This was the place where Mom and him had taken a picture. He was sitting on a rock, Mom on his lap, and the water running over their feet. They were both happy and in love and young.

"Love at first sight . . . that's how it was with your Dad and me" I remembered her words clearly.

My phone beeped and I was surprised to see there was signal. Usually in the middle of nowhere, there shouldn't really be reception. I dialed Zara's number again and sure enough she answered after the first few rings.

"Maya!" Zara squealed when she heard my voice.

"What up, my bitch? How's the Modeling Academy."

"It's hard. We have a photo shoot in fifteen minutes so I have to hang up soon. All the girls are bitches." She sounded a little sad.

"Let's face it; all girls are bitches. Except me." That made her laugh. "That's why you hang out with guys—guys are less problematic."

"For once, I agree with you. I only have one faithful girlfriend and the rest of all my friends are all guys. Her name is Emily."

"Is she cool or what?"

"She's pretty cool, I guess."

"Oh, dude! I almost forgot."

"What?"

"Kyle has a girlfriend!"

"No way! When did that happen?"

"Just a few days after you left. You always miss the good stuff."

"Yes, I do! Dammit! Maya, love you, sis'. I have to. Stupid modeling instructor can freaking suck my toe."

I chuckled. "Take care, my dear. I miss you and love you too."

"Same here. Luv' ya'."

I sighed when she hung up. Without Zara, I was kind of homesick.

"So you found this place, too."

Startled, I turned around and saw Tony standing there. Shit, I was caught. Now he would probably drag me to Kirova's office and then I would get detention or something like that.

"Umm . . . am I in trouble?"

"The rules say to take in people who don't follow the rules. I don't follow the rules. So, no, you're not in trouble."

I smiled up at him. "Thanks."

"What are you doing here so late?"

"I needed to think. And make a phone call."

"Did you follow the A & R path?"

"The what?" I was confused now.

"The markings on the tree. Hmm . . . I thought I was the only one who knew about it, guess not."

"Oh, A & R path." I had to laugh. My mother and father had something named after them and it was a path, of all things.

"There are stories of that couple." Tony commented.

"Like what? What stories?"

"He was a Royal Moroi and she was a dhampir. And they didn't really care about what people said because they had each other . . . that they loved each other and needed each other more than life itself."

"The stories are true."

Tony gave me a sideways look. "How would you know?"

"Well, I am product of their love." I said, pointing myself. "Adrian Ivashkov and Rose Hathaway are my parents. They created the A & R path, I guess you could say." Without realizing I was speaking, I said, "My mother told me this is where love happen and strong love grows."

Tony turned to look at me completely. "That's pretty hardcore love." He snorted. "Do you believe in that?"

"I don't know . . . I never have fallen in love before . . ." I told him truthfully with a shrug of my shoulders.

Tony gave me a gaze that expressed millions of words; I just couldn't figure out the meaning of them. "Me neither . . ."

There was a silence from him and me where only you could hear the water running. We stared at each other and it was like time literally stopped.

Finally, he spoke. "But we don't know the future . . . maybe love can be right around the corner . . . "

"Maybe."

"We'll just have to see what happens . . ."

Tony gave me that look of a million words again.

Love at first sight . . . my mother had once said.

I knew what he meant now . . .

Oh…Maya always caught up in romances. Hmm . . . what did you think of this chapter. Liked it? Hated it? Need your opinion! Thanks a million! And review for the next chapter!

-Mel

P.S. I want to thank you all for helping my story reach 500 reviews! You guys rock!