Vampire Academy 1. A new beginning

**Hi, I'm kind of new at this so please review and help me out. I've been reading fanfictions for a _really really _****long time and this idea just kind of struck me and i'm trying to see if it works.  
Disclaimer: Vampire academy belongs to richelle mead.**

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Chapter 1:

Dear Diary,

I never really put much thought into what would happen down in the future or anything along those lines. My life has always been a day to day kind of thing. According to what other people tell me, I was found along the road outside a club on the 5th of September 18 years ago, a little infant, abandoned. Humans took me in, not knowing what I really was. They took care of me, even if only for a little while at least I can rest assured that somewhere in my life I was actually loved. I was rushed to a hospital just 2 months after I was found, everyone was just waiting for me to die from some kind of unknown disease, but it was actually just a lack of blood. By some miracle, the moroi world found me and guardians took me to the academy where I was raised and taught magic. My element is water, not one of the most useful elements I'll say, but it makes shower time a whole lot more fun.

My parents are Isabella and Dean Zeklos, somehow along the years of moroi history the zeklos family numbers started to decline and I found myself one of the last few left of the line. That meant extra protection and all sorts of other boring security measures that had to be taken whenever I wanted to do just about anything. But it has its perks too, I had a massive allowance and I was treated like royalty around the academy. My best friends since forever are Rachel Ozera, a fire wielding moroi, Arielle, a kick-ass dhampir, Jack, soon to be best guardian in the world and Heathcliff Ivashkov, yah like the Wuthering heights dude we all call him heath, he specializes in spirit, yah, the same cool element that queen vasilisa specializes in.

I'm 17 this year and I already have a guardian thanks to my freak-of-nature, over-protective parents, yeah I pretty much never forgave them for abandoning me that night. He's stationed at the school and teaches the novices here. His name is Paul belikov, you might have heard of him. He's the nephew of Dimitri belikov the first ever guy in the history of FOREVER to be turned back from a strigoi into a dhampir. He's five years older than me and I pretty much have this huge crush on him since like FOREVER! I know…my life's weird, well I got to go, Jack's calling me. We're going to go grab some breakfast than watch a movie, I love Sundays, that's today. That's practically the only day we get free. Okay. I have to go now. Jack's screaming like shit.

Love,

Tammy

-000000-

"Um…the chocolate muffin please" I love chocolate! The cafeteria was abuzz with people, talking, chatting, laughing, mingling, and all trying to decide what to do with this free day off. Best of all, there was this scent of freedom that hung in the air, I really love Sundays.

Rachel twirled her finger around a lock of her hair absentmindedly while we waited for our muffins. "I'm trying to get my dad to let us go shopping you know?"

"Really? That would be great than we can go shopping for dresses for the Christmas dance!"I squealed.

"I know! We should all get manicures and pedicures while we're at it don't you think! Quality giiiirrrrlll time!" Jack squealed, putting on this awful fake high pitched voice. I elbowed him in the ribs,

"But I bet you would love to come along won't you"

"Totally…"Jack muttered under his breath, his voice dripping with sarcasm. I elbowed him again.

We left the cafeteria building and headed for the movie room across campus. The Early september air was crisp and cool, dew drops collected along the tips of leaves and on the petals of flowers, they reflected off the moonlight making the walkway look like a secret path down a grotto in a magical fairy land. Students rushed here and there, trying to get out of the cold and into the warm buildings.

Arielle skipped ahead, then spun round suddenly to face the rest of the gang, "Hey, did you guys hear, the field experience starts next Tuesday. You know, the one where all the novices get a moroi to guard. No classes for 6 weeks! I'll be in heaven without seeing old Stan's face."

"Someone seems pretty excited about that"

"I am! I just hope I don't get some completely horrible moroi"

Heath laughed, "I know, all the girls are wishing they'll get me right!"

"YOU WISH!"

I was in a good mood today, like almost every Sunday. Most of the students went to church service on Sunday but we were feeling rebellious and decided to skip. A light breeze blew through the air, I shivered, pulling my coat tighter around me. My thoughts drifted back to Paul again, like they always do. I've never seen his uncle before, Dimitri belikov, but I heard he was as gorgeous as Paul. Paul had brown hair, cut short, with locks falling all over the place, framing his face, but somehow he managed to make it look completely amazing all the time. His eyes are a dark brown, almost black, sometimes when I'm talking to him I can just get lost in his eyes, it's like they hold so much and have such a great depth that one can just fall into them and get lost. Paul's everything a girl can ever wish for, he's sweet, loving, caring but sometimes I wish he would lighten up a little. He told me once that it was his childhood dream to be a great guardian, just like his uncle, and he achieved it, I mean, the belikovs a practically legends, but I really wish he wouldn't be so anti-social all the time. He does loosen up sometimes when he's with me and he'll smile and laugh…_oh_…_don't_ get me started on his laugh, it's warm and it wraps around you making you feel happy no matter wh-

"Tammy, can I speak with you for a while"

Speak of the devil, Paul was standing in front of the movie room, his stance was casual and something told me that he knew we were coming here. His face was expressionless, some guardian trick, something told me Jack and Arielle were probably never going to master that I mean they laugh at even the smallest things. Oh well,

" Yeah, sure. You guys go ahead."

He motioned for me to follow him with a jerk of his head. Turning the corner, I leant against the wall with my arms crossed,

"This had better be good if I'm missing the opening credits of the movie"

He smiled, one of those rare easy smiles that even with me he seldom wore, he knew that I hated the opening credits I thought they were a waste of time, I mean there are already credits at the end why- okay, side tracking. He looked slightly uneasy, as if the information he was about to tell me would be something I wouldn't like.

"I just received a message from court. Your parents are hosting a dinner over there and you are invited."

Okay…definitely information I don't want.

"By invited do you mean I have to go _even_ if I get struck by lightning and am lying in bed dying of scarlet fever."

He sighed "Tammy, people don't die of scarlet fever nowadays and you are a moroi the chances of that happening are even slimmer."

I hate this. All these stupid royal functions, my parents ABANDONED me! But yet they seem to think its okay to come back and just take over my life. Geez, can't you just give a girl a break! At every stinking function I have to go around and mingle with stuck up people whom I don't know and don't like. I'm pretty good at smiling and acting like I'm okay when I'm actually quite a far cry from being okay at all.

I sighed "When is it?"

"Next Tuesday, Lord Zeklos is sending in a plane from court for you."

"Oh...okay" but horror consumed me when I realised why the date had sounded so familiar "But, next Tuesday is the day when we'll find out who's guarding us for the field experience! I _can't_ miss that! I really want to know who's going to be guarding me. I mean, even though it's just a field experience, I'll be stuck with that person for the next _6 weeks_!"

Paul sighed again "I know but there's nothing you or I can do about it. We'll just be gone for a few days, 3 days if I'm not wrong"

"Wait...you're going with me?" I felt light-headed all of a sudden

"Yeah. I am your guardian after all"

Whoa...okay, so maybe those few days wouldn't be so bad after all.

The sun was just setting over the mountains, it was 6 freaking 30. I should have been in bed, my exhaustion just helped to dampen my mood even further.

-000000-

I gave my friends one more hug goodbye then headed up the steps into the plane. Like all court planes, the inside was neat and clean. It was a small, private plane with room to fit 20 comfortably. The seats were made of leather and it looked more like a lounge than a plane. Hey, at least this trip has one nice part to it and that's the plane ride. I chose the seat with the most leg room and sank into it, looking up, I realised that the plane didn't have any form of in-flight entertainment, this day just gets better and better doesn't it.

Closing my eyes I allowed myself to relax, the attempt was a pretty pathetic one. Movement nearby broke me out of my state of self-pity. Paul was seated beside me, his entire 6'2 frame folded up gracefully. Man, he's really tall, I heard his uncle was 6'7! Wow, maybe it's the genes...

"Hey, don't sulk. For all you know, you might actually enjoy your time there"

I scoffed "Yeah. I'll enjoy it as much as watching aliens invade the earth, I actually thought the plane ride would be enjoyable but what would you know? There's no freaking entertainment!"

He laughed, the warm sound of his laughter wrapped around me, soothing me, calming me. "I'm sure you'll survive".

He pulled out a western novel; I've never understood why he reads those things. Western movies are bad enough; I really don't want to imagine how bad the books are.

"Why do you read those? Aren't the movies bad enough?"

"Well, I picked the habit up from my uncle and grandma, they have this huge collection of books back at home and it caught my attention I suppose. They aren't as bad as you think you know."

"Right, they must be much worse. My impression's already pretty low, it can't get lower can it?"

He laughed, sending Goosebumps up my arm. "I'll take the cowboy's over your 1800 stuff any day!"

I wacked him with my hand, "Hey! Pride and Prejudice has substance okay!" I sank back into my seat and stared out the window. It was completely black outside; it looked like sheets and sheets of black spreading out into forever. I know the sun weakens us moroi but sometimes I can't help but marvel at its beauty and light. It may be a million miles away but yet its light shines ever so brilliantly.

"What are you thinking about?"

"The sun. You know how it weakens us, but sometimes I wish that it didn't, I can't imagine how nice it would be to just lie under its rays and feel its warmth. I don't like the fact that it weakens me; I don't want to be weak."

"You aren't, you're one of the strongest people I know."

I scoffed "Yeah right! Strong? Next to Jack and Arielle? Next to you? Strong? Have you gone slightly delusional?"

"No I haven't. You are very strong, aren't you the top in your offensive magic class?"

"I am. But using magic, even if it's only for like 2 hours, makes me weak and tired. I hate being weak. I wish I could fight like you guys. Now that's seriously cool!"

Paul laughed "Really? Fighting is really tough you know. You think you can handle that kind of physical demands?"

"I'll try, I mean you'll never know would you? And hey, I'm pretty okay in PE"

"PE is completely different. If...you want, I could teach you the basics you know, for self-defence" What? Was Paul offering to teach me self-defence? No way...I must be deluding myself.

"Hey, April fool's day was 5 months ago."

"I'm serious."

"Really? Thank you sooo much!" I lean over and give him a hug, he stiffens but then relaxes, placing his hand on my back. I feel like I could have just died and floated when he starts rubbing circles in my back, the mere contact with him set's my skin on fire, not a hot uncomfortable fire but a soothing warmth. The warmth somehow rekindles the exhaustion that was buried deep within me in the midst of all this excitement.

I stifle a yawn and we pull apart

"Looks like somebody's tired"

"No I'm not. I'm just sleepy"

He lets out a small, soft laugh "Same thing. Exhaustion is causing you to not make much sense. Sleep, there's still plenty of time before we land."

Who am I kidding? I _am_ exhausted. Leaning back, I close my eyes as the warm arms of sleep wrap around me pulling me into the comforting depths of rest.

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- **Please review and tell me what you think. **

**Love,  
KM**


	2. welcome to the living hell

**Disclaimer: Vampire Academy belongs to Richelle Mead**

Chapter 2:

I was awoken by the sharp jerk of the plane as it started its descent into court. My head was resting against Paul's shoulder and his jacket draped over me. I smiled to myself before sitting up and handing Paul his jacket back.

"Thanks. Hey, don't go back on your offer okay."

"Of course not" He smiled at me just as the seat belt sign was switched on. I stared out the window. The scene outside was no longer dark; instead it was a whole flood of lights. Pathways were lit up and looked like mini air strips with the lampposts that adorned each side of the path. Under other circumstances, I would have said that the court looked pretty, much like a secret garden in the middle of the night, but the mere thought of the dinner party overwrote any joy I felt from looking at the scene before me.

I sighed, putting on my best devilish voice "Welcome to the living hell"

He chuckled "No, living hell is guarding you." I wacked him on his arm again before standing up and grabbing my bag. With a sigh, I walked out the plane doors.

-000000-

"Tammy! Welcome."

Putting on a smile, I walked with my head held high into the arms of my awaiting parents.

"Mama! Papa!" I kissed them both on the cheek. Gosh, I should be winning Oscars for this performance!

"Welcome, we're so glad to have you back." Lord Zeklos nodded in paul's direction, oh gosh, he was so stuck up, will it kill him to come up with a better greeting for paul. I rolled my eyes at his pathetic attempt at greeting my guardian, going unnoticed by _Lord _and _Lady _Zeklos but not by paul who shot a warning glance at me. I just walked away and prayed really hard that the court pool was open 24/7.

-000000-

My room was on the 3rd floor, reserved for the Zeklos family and their guardians, it was the same suite that I get every time I come to court, big enough to fit 5 people comfortably. Gosh, I was going to be lonely... The entire room was pretty fancy, modern styled kind of room with sleek pieces of furniture and leather sofas. I hauled my luggage onto the table and pulled out my swim suit, no way was I going to hang around my parents making small talk; I was going to the pool. A knock at the door brought me back to earth, opening it, I found the lady who sat at the front desk of this floor.

"Miss Zeklos. Here's a note for you from your parents." With a sharp nod of her head, she was off.

Okay...

_Just a reminder that dinner today starts at 7, be in the ballroom by 6.55. Dress appropriately. _

Right...thanks so much guys, you are staying just 3 doors down from me and can't even stop by to tell me this personally, I'm totally feeling the love. Grabbing my swimsuit, I left my room and headed towards the indoor swimming pool, my favourite place in the entire court compound.

The swimming pool was empty, just the way I liked it. I slid in slowly; the water was warm and comfortable. Taking a deep breath, I let myself sink to the bottom of the pool. I loved swimming, I loved the water, maybe it was because water was my element but I'm pretty sure it's also because when you were in the pool, completely submerged; all sound from the surface is cut off. It's like you are leaving all your problems, all your worries from the world on the surface and underneath, in the water, all is calm, everything moves slowly, just like the way things move underwater, things aren't so rushed the way they seem to be in life.

My lungs started to ache from the lack of oxygen so placing my feet on the bottom of the pool; I pushed myself upwards to the surface. Sweet air filled my lungs as I surfaced from the pool. I opened my eyes and turned around and instead of staring at the pool benches; I was looking into a pair of deep brown eyes. My heart leaped out of my chest and I did the first most instinctive thing that one does when shocked.

I screamed.

Okay...not only did I scream but using my magic, I pulled some water out of the pool and flung it at the thing that frightened me, just like we were taught how to do in class.

"HEY! What did you do that for?"

That voice, a voice that I would recognize anywhere. Paul. Slowly, my brain started to take in my surroundings. Paul was standing in front of me at the edge of the pool, his shirt soaked from where my water balls had hit him, his face a mixture of expressions, amusement, shock, curiosity.

"Oops...you scared me! Don't do that again! What are you doing down here?" My words came out in one breath as I tried to recover from the many different emotions flooding me, shock, Delight, Embarrassment.

"I came to check on you, you didn't seem very happy earlier."

I scoffed "Since when was I ever happy about coming here. This room is the only room I actually like in the whole court."

"Just wanted to make sure you don't drown yourself. Don't forget the dinner at 7 so-"

"Yeah yeah. So don't come up to late right?"

"Right." He turned and started to leave when I called out to him,

"Hey! Where are you going? Can't you stay for awhile; I'm still slightly upset you know. I might still try to drown myself." I really just wanted some company, his company to be specific. I was going to be alone for the majority of my time here at court so why not enjoy the company of others while I can right. Specifically paul's company, any other type of company won't be so warmly received on my side.

He laughed. "Right. Alright then." He turned around and sat down at the edge of one of the pool chairs while I leant against the side of the pool. We talked and laughed and complained about so many things, most of the complaining was done by me though. I teased him about Russia as I never really liked Russia due to my elementary school PE teacher who was Russian and a complete torturer. He used to make us run like 50 laps and do push ups all the time, so since then I formed an impression of all Russians being mean and heartless, until I met Paul that is, but I still enjoy making smart comments about Russia.

I didn't even realise how late it was getting until the clock struck 6.

"Oh no! It's 6, shit. I still need to get ready and everything. Damn it!" I jumped out of the pool, and leapt for my shirt and towel.

"What's the rush? You still have a whole hour to go. You don't need that long to shower do you?"

I rolled my eyes "No. But I still need to get ready right? Make myself 'presentable' that takes time too you know."

"Ladies. I will never understand why you need to spend such a long time in front of the mirror, my cousins practically hog the bathroom all the time."

I put my hands on my hips and put on the sternest voice I could muster "Hey, in defence of all females on this planet, I say that it's not only females who hog the mirror, you males do too!"

"Not as long as you girls do! Come on, you said you have to get ready don't you. I'll walk you back to your room."

Shower time was one of my favourite times in the whole day. I usually take really long to shower but because of today's circumstances I had to cut the entire experience short. After my shower, I was already running late. But, hey, who cares...

-000000-

My dress was blue, a darkish kind of blue, but not as dark as navy blue...a royal blue. It was simple, sleeveless, with a single piece of ribbon tied at the waist. The dress wasn't clingy; instead it flowed free from the waist down, kind of like those Grecian dresses. I didn't have much to show off anyway, my chest was decently sized but my hips didn't have the curves that most damphir girls have. Nonetheless, I was lucky, as a moroi, to have my shape and for that I was grateful.

I let my hair down, allowing the locks to fall into place, framing my face. I loved my hair, it was soft and smooth and it wasn't too long, about 3 inches bellow my shoulder, still manageable, my hair was black, sometimes brown when under light but most of the time, black.

After applying on some mascara, eyeliner and a quick layer of lip-gloss, I was pretty much 'appropriately dressed'. A quick glance at the clock told me that it was 6.55. Oh well, I suppose I had best get this over and done with. And with that thought in mind, I grabbed my phone and swept out of my room.

The ballroom was like something out of the movies. Elaborate cream-coloured sheets were artistically draped across the ceiling with huge crystal chandeliers hanging from the centre of every sheet pattern. The entire room was filled with well dressed people, mingling, chatting, and laughing. In the corner of the room, a few moroi women played soft cello music. I scanned the crowd, looking for somebody, anybody whom I knew, no such luck there.

"Miss Zeklos! Your parents have been looking for you everywhere." Yeah right. Charlotte was standing behind me, her already short frame further emphasised by her heavy dress that looked like it was going to drag her through the ballroom floor into the pits of hell, and boy do I wish that would happen. Charlotte was my parents secretary, she was everything anyone wanted in a secretary, deadly loyal, highly irritating and she always seems to be able to somehow track my every step when I'm at court and send a full 3000 word report to my parents on the type of food I had for lunch.

Before I could even say anything, she whisked me off to my allocated table. Great, I knew NO one here...I sank into the chair and studied the elaborate beeswax candle arrangement in front of me. On the bright side, dinner was good, the food that is. Delicate little portions of Greek salad with goat's cheese, flown in specially from some little village in the middle of nowhere, fish stacked beautifully on top of a bed of spinach and light mango cake for dessert. I ate and made small talk to the lady sitting beside me, I wasn't really paying attention to most of it so I couldn't even remember her name. After dinner, most people got up and started to mingle with the other guests, in the centre of the room I could see my parents playing the ever welcoming host and hostess.

In the corner of the room I spotted a bar, man, I've never wanted to get drunk so badly in my life before. I was so so bored, tonight has definitely topped my list of the most boring nights ever. I was just contemplating slipping out of the ballroom when a soft tap on my shoulder brought me back to my present sad situation.

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**Only 1 review? Well, one review is better than no review. Please please please review. Help me out here.**


	3. kendrick ivashkov

I could feel my cheeks slowly turning red, even though I knew full well that no one could read my thoughts it was still embarrassing to even think about someone else finding out about my pathetic plan to escape the ballroom.

Turning around, I saw the most gorgeous guy I have yet to see, other than Paul of course. This guy had short brown hair that fell messily around his face, yet he managed to pull it off, making it look absolutely hot. He had bright green eyes which led me to believe that he was an Ivashkov, only Ivashkov's had that shade of stunning green. Decked head to toe in a tux, he looked amazing; no one at the academy looked like that.

"Hi. You look bored, just thought you would like some company."

"Not bad for a complete stranger, you managed to guess two of my thoughts perfectly."

He sat down next to me and placed one arm around the back of his chair almost lazily, he looked downright comfortable, like he owned this place.

"I'm Kendrick Ivashkov and I'm guessing you must be Tammy Zeklos."

I stared at him dumbfounded, how on earth did he know me. I think my expression must have given me away as he smiled "You are the only other person here who's my age and seeing as you come to court every time the Zeklos family hosts a dinner, it won't take much of a genius to figure out your identity."

Right...stalker...

"I'm not stalking you, geez, just wanted to know if you would like to hang out." I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks, I didn't realise I had said that aloud.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to say it aloud and yes, I would love to hang out. The lack of stimulation in this room is making me go insane!"

He laughed and stood up, grabbing my hand.

"Where are we going?" I asked as he continued to lead me out of the ballroom and into the night.

"You'll see." Was the only mysterious answer I got along with a full smile. I sighed and allowed him to continue half-dragging me towards his secret destination,

The night was slowly fading into day and a quick glance at the clock tower told me that it was already 7 am. The once pitch-black velvet sky was now streaked with different hues of pink and yellow making everything look like the cotton candy cloud land on katy perry's teenage dream album cover. We had soon reached the forest covering the edge of court, Kendrick ducked under a tree branch and gestured for me to follow him. I pushed the tree branch aside but being the clutz that I was, I manage to bump my head on the side of edge of the branch

"Awww, Fuck!" Shit, that was definitely going to show up tomorrow.

Kendrick looked back and rolled his eyes, pushing the tree branch aside for me, I followed him under and entered some sort of opening in the forest.

The little opening was probably only big enough to fit 4 people comfortably, it was completely secluded, separated from the outside world, the only way in, under the branch the way we had entered. Thin tree branches wound together forming a kind of canopy towards the top of the opening, bits of light seeped through the holes in the canopy, not enough light to weaken us but enough for our enhance moroi sight to see. I would have said the entire structure was not unlike a garden pagoda, minus the seats, made entirely by nature.

"Cool...how did you find this place?" I asked incredulous, I mean even if you had nothing much to do you would still have to do some serious digging to find this place.

"I made it."

What...okay, wow, I mean that must have taken him ages, how on earth do you bend branches to make them overlap each other to form such an intricate design? Even the best woodman would probably hav-

"Oh...you're an earth user." He nodded.

"Living in court isn't all that fun you know, sometimes you just need a place away from civilisation, somewhere you can go and think or read or just relax, that's why I made this place."

"How old are you?" A million questions were spinning inside my head. He didn't look that much older than me, maybe one or two years at most. And, most moroi only come to court if they're in politics and somehow Kendrick didn't strike me as the kind of guy who would tangle himself in the huge cobweb of politics. Why on earth was he at court?

"I'm 20, 21 this year." He looked at me and sighed. "No, I'm not into politics. My dad, has a spot on the council representing the Ivashkov's but most of the time I hang out with my uncle, Adrian Ivashkov, he's cool."

Adrian Ivashkov, everyone knows him. Rose Hathaway, the famous member of the royal guard, wrongly accused murderess, first person to ever successfully break someone out of Tarasov, wife of Paul's uncle dimitri belikov, was the one who broke his heart, apparently they were still dating and she was caught cheating with dimitri. I don't blame her, I mean dimitri and her were apparently soul mates and everything, but I still think she should have broken up with Adrian first. Adrian sank into serious depression, drinking, smoking, clubbing all the works for many months. But rose eventually came and talked to him, he must have loved her a lot because they kissed and made up (I don't think they kissed though) so now he's living at court with all of them, talk about a perfect happy ending.

Kendrick was really cool, we talked for I don't know how long. He wasn't like the other stuck up royal moroi, he was pretty laid back and everything, from what I figured out, he like to party hard just like his uncle.

"Hey, there's a party tomorrow down at the bar why don't you come down and have some fun for awhile." That sounded like fun, I was just about to agree when my phone emitted a sudden shrill ring. I jumped and grabbed it.

_One text message  
Paul  
Read now_

_**Where are you?**_

I sighed.

"I'm really sorry Kendrick but Paul's looking for me, I should probably get back, it's getting late." Sure enough, the light streaking through the canopy of the pagoda was now stronger and at a much higher intensity.

"Hey, no problem. I'll walk you back." He stood and we took our leave, before we left, I turned and looked one last time at the pagoda, it was beautiful and I doubt I would ever get to see it again as I probably would never be able to find it on my own.

Kendrick noticed this, smiling he said "We can always come back."

I laughed and allowed him to lead me out of the pagoda. We weren't far from my room when Paul turned the corner ahead, he saw me and seemed to relax a little, as though he was relieved that I was safe but then he seemed to notice Kendrick and his whole body stiffened, any form of his earlier relief was lost.

"I'd better go, he looks pissed." I whispered to Kendrick

"Hey, no problem. I'll see you tomorrow kay." He bent down and planted a small kiss on my cheek. I felt my cheeks burn up, man, I just met him today he shouldn't have done that. I wacked him on the arm playfully and just like that, Paul was at my side instantly, I did a double take, man, he moved fast.

"Did he hurt you?"

I stared at him incredulous. "Nooo..." Kendrick was still standing just a few feet behind me. I smiled at him and unlocked my room door. I stood aside to allow Paul to enter, then closed the door behind me, I shed my stilettos, they were seriously killing my feet.

"Where were you?"

Even though I knew full well that at court NO guardians follow their charge around 24/7, I still felt kind of guilty for not telling Paul where I was as judging from his expression, he seemed more than a little worried about me.

"I was hanging out with Kendrick. Don't worry, he didn't do anything to me, we just went for a walk."

"You disappeared into the woods and I couldn't find you after that."

"You followed me?" I felt like some sort of prisoner "wow, so I don't have any form of privacy anymore?" I blurt the words out before I realised what I had said.

"I'm your _guardian_; it's my job to keep you safe. I didn't follow you physically but I was looking out for you until you disappeared into the woods and I couldn't see you anymore." He stared at me like I was asking the obvious, emphasising the 'guardian' part.

"Right." I was really tired all of a sudden and nothing sounded better than a hot shower and sleep. To top it all off, I wasn't exactly in the best mood either.

"That was Kendrick Ivashkov." He said Kendrick's name like it was dirt or something. Geez, I know he had quite a reputation here at court but I didn't think he was a bad guy or at least not like anything Paul seemed to make him sound like.

I rolled my eyes "I know. I was hanging out with him, I know who he is."

"You do know that he...he...doesn't...exactly have...a...a very clean track record." Paul seemed to struggle to form the words as if he was trying to tell me that in the nicest possible way.

"I know that. But he's a nice guy and what I do is completely my own business it's not like we went off and made babies of something."

"With his reputation, I wouldn't be surprised." He muttered under his breath.

If this was anybody else I would have said Paul was jealous. But there was absolutely NO way Paul was jealous of Kendrick and I was pretty sure that my feelings for Paul were completely and totally a one sided affair. To top it all off, I was a royal moroi with parents who expected me to continue on the Zeklos family line, there was no way I would be socially allowed to have a intimate relationship with Paul, no matter how badly I wanted one. That thought seemed to dampen my mood even further.

I sighed "Look, I'm tired and I don't want to get into an argument with you, I'm just not in the mood for one right now. Can we just...stop here?"

From the look on Paul's face, I could tell that the one thing he wanted most to do was to confront me on my 'relationship' with Kendrick, but he gave in and nodded in my direction. I was just about to walk into the bathroom when he seemed to notice the bruise on my head for the first time.

"What happened to your head?" In a flash he was by my side, looking down at the bruise on my head as if it was an extremely fatal bullet wound.

"Nothing happened. I bumped my head." I murmured.

"Did Kendrick hurt you? What did he do?" From the look on his face, I could tell that he was genuinely worried that I might have been hurt, I've probably never seen him like that before, most of the time he was calm, cool and collected.

"Calm down, nothing happened; I bumped my head against a tree branch. It's just a small bruise, you need to breathe." Overprotective much...

He still didn't look entirely convinced, I was tired and dirty and peeved that he wouldn't just give Kendrick a break, and he really wasn't a bad guy. A placed my hands on his chest and pushed him away, I must have been quite tired because normally, I would have done anything but push Paul away.

"It's nothing okay; it'll go away in no time. It's not like I'm going to die or something. I'm going to take a shower."

With that I swept past him and into the bathroom, closing the door a little too forcefully behind me. I was too caught up in the moment to think about anything that I said or did. I never fight with Paul, at least not very often; I didn't really enjoy arguments unless they were completely necessary. I knew I would regret it tomorrow but frankly, the only thing I could think of at that moment was my shower and sleep.


	4. The day after

**I'm so sorry for the rather long wait. I didn't really have much of a burst of inspiration for this chapter but I have the rest of the story planned out though. **

**Disclaimer: Vampire Academy belongs to Richelle Mead.**

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_Knock_**

_Knock knock_

_Knock knock knock_

A muffled voice

"Hey, I'm sorry about last night, really. I don't mean to…I just wanted…Are you okay? You missed breakfast."

What? I cracked my eyes open and glanced out the window. It was pitch dark outside; one quick look at the clock told me everything. Crap. I overslept, and as the person standing outside my door had so conveniently informed me, I had missed breakfast.

"Hang on, I'm coming."

I rushed to the bathroom and quickly brushed my teeth and washed my face. I did a double take when I took a quick peek in the mirror. I looked awful, my eyes were slightly puffy and my face had an obvious look of sleep deprivation. Last night's events came flooding back into me, meeting Kendrick, my quarrel with Paul. Talk about a nice way to start the morning, I thought to myself. Running a hand haphazardly through my hair, I yanked the door open.

"Whaaaattttt!" I whined.

A highly amused Paul stood there leaning casually against the side of my room door.

"I seemed to have woken someone up." He said with a small chuckle, he knew how I hated being rudely pulled out of sleep, exactly what he had just done.

I responded with a grunt and shuffled back into my room, I heard him follow me in. Upon reaching my destination, I collapsed onto the bed and buried my head in the pillows. Instead of falling back into a peaceful slumber of sorts I found absolutely no rest at all, due to the guilt building up inside of me. I never enjoyed arguments, mostly due to how horrible I felt after them. Sarcastic comments were different, they weren't arguments.

Lifting my head up slightly from the pillow, "I'm sorry for yesterday. I was…really tired and snappy. Sorry, I know you were just worried for me."

When I got no reaction, I lifted my head all the way up so I could see Paul's face clearly. He was staring down at me with a highly amused expression written clearly on his face. He moved over to me and sat down next to me on the bed, draping an arm around me, he snaked his hand up my back and ruffled my hair. I let out a shaky laugh. Paul would always be Paul, he hated arguments almost as much as me.

"It's okay." He said as he ruffled my hair playfully. "Come on, you must be starving."

With the most amazing precision and timing, my stomach let out a growl and I laughed outright.

"Yeah I am, let me get changed first." I got up and walked over to my bag, pulling out some jeans and a t-shirt, I threw them onto the bed then rummaged around for my hairbrush.

"It's over here."

Huh? I spun around, Paul was standing there holding my hairbrush. Oh yah, I put it beside my bed last night after I took my shower. He seems to know me better than myself.

"Thanks." I said with a smile.

"I've got a present for you, well if that's considered a present and only if you feel like it."

My first reaction was to jump up and plant myself next to Paul on my bed, I loved presents!

"What?"

"Well, yesterday I bumped into one of my Uncle's friends, Mia Rinaldi, she's a moroi like you but she learns combat so I talked to her and she agreed to give you a few pointers, that's if you are still interested in learning."

Mia Rinaldi. OH. MY. GOSH. She is like the most awesome person ever! She used to be enemies with Rose Hathaway but they became friends after Mia helped rose kill her first ever strigoi, first two actually. She was one of the first few moroi to start the suggest the practice of offensive magic to the court along with Christian Ozera, the queen's husband, so it's pretty obvious they won the argument. That's why offensive magic is taught at all schools around the world now, Vampire schools that is. On top of being great at magic, Mia also does combat. Yup, she's a moroi and…she does combat. Not unheard of but there are still few moroi who actually take up combat, it's not only physically and mentally demanding but as moroi, we don't have the physical strength that the dhampirs are born with making combat all the more difficult. She was one tough cookie, training with her, that would be both and amazing honour and possibly one of the scariest things I'll ever do.

I couldn't stop the stupid grin from spreading across my face at the thought of learning from _Mia Rinaldi! _

"Why do you have that look on your face?"

I spun to face him and put on what I hoped was an innocent look on my face.

"I'm just really looking forward to getting my ass kicked by the most awesome person in the world."

He scoffed "I'll buy tickets to see that!"

"Hey!" That was evil...hang on "You won't be there?"

"Nope." He said popping the 'p' at the end. "My uncle gave me a call, he's at court and wants to meet up with me."

"Ooohhhhh...Okay. Cool." Okay, I admit, I was feeling kind of upset. He was my guardian wasn't he supposed to be with me 24/7. But last night I _had_ just said that he didn't need to be with me all the time, I was being selfish, he was my guardian but he still had a life of his own. Great, now I'm _talking_ to myself. Geez, I sound like an ass...best go get something to eat before my evil thoughts take over and start to control me like some freaky science fiction movie.

Standing up, I felt a sudden rush in my head._ WOAH_

Before I could fall back on the bed, Paul was standing behind me, gripping my forearms hard, not too hard to hurt, but hard enough to steady me. I closed my eyes and tried to steady myself, when was the last time I had blood? Yesterday afternoon? As if reading my thoughts, he said

"I think we better get you to the feeders before going to get some food."

"I second that."

Straightening up, I looked down and realised I was still in my overlong t-shirt, shorts and jacket.

"Just let me get changed first." Grabbing my jeans I headed for the bathroom when I heard the sound of something flying through air, it was flying to me, fast. I turned around just in time for my PE shorts to hit me in the centre of my face. Pulling them off, I spun around to face Paul. He had a smile tugging at the corner of his lips and an unmistakable twinkle in his eye, I would have smiled too was it not for the fact that he had just chucked my shorts at my _face_!

"What was that for!" I asked, accompanied nicely with a roll of my eyes.

"You are going to be training later right?" I nodded giving him the 'are-you-stupid' look "Well, I just don't think jeans would be the most comfortable thing to wear for training."

"Right, but you didn't have to _throw them at my face_!" I tossed my jeans back at him, hoping to catch him off guard but he caught them with perfect grace,_ what_ was I thinking? Catch_ Paul _off guard, I'll have a better chance of finding aliens living next door than catching him off guard.

Once changed, I pulled my hair back into a pony tail and checked my phone.

_One text message  
Rachel  
Read now_

_**Guess what? Guess what? Guess what? You are so freaking lucky! You got Jack as your guardian for the field experience! But I'm even MORE lucky! I got...*drum roll please* ...ALEX! YAY YAY! Six whole weeks**_

I laughed out loud. Rachel had this huge crush on Alex, he was hot, definitely on my list of 10 ten most good looking guys, but then again, Paul was the top ranked one on my list so Alex wasn't really the one who caught my eye all the time. That didn't mean he wasn't nice to look at.

"Awesome! I got Jack as my guardian for the field experience! The six weeks would be somewhat bearable now."

Paul sighed and shook his head. "The field experience is training for the novices but you guys treat it like some kind of holiday."

I scoffed and putting my hands on my hips, turned around to face him "It's only a holiday if you get someone good as your partner. Imagine if you end up with some bitch or jerk, then the six weeks would be pure hell."

Just then, another wave of fatigue swept over me. Damn. I think I needed to get to the feeders soon.

"Come on. I'm hungry." I whined and attempted to pull Paul off my bed, a feat completely impossible seeing as he was almost twice my weight and was packed full of muscle.

"Don't forget your phone, and your jacket." He said as he stood up.

I grabbed my phone and Paul took my jacket, the nice leather one that I liked.

"Come on. Hurry up," I said as I skipped out the door. "There's going to be a line at the feeders soon."

"I'm coming; someone has to lock your room door right." He pulled the keys to my room out of his pocket. Geez, this guy new me better than myself, I hadn't even realised I forgot my room keys.

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**In my defence, it was rushed. But I promise a better chapter down the road. Please review to tell me what you think of it.**

**Love,  
KM.**


	5. Fun, Funnier, Funniest

**Thank you to all who added me to story alert and favourites! It really means alot to me. This chapter is for you guys. I'm quite depressed as i failed my first two language tests of the year and i haven't told my parents. They are going to kill me. I'm really busy and everything so chapters might be coming out a little bit slow. Sorry, this chapter is for all who reviewed and added me to favourites! I did this for you guys!**

**Disclaimer: VA belongs to Richelle Mead**

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I had only one word on my mind at the moment. Ouch. I really had to hand it to the novices, I have NO idea how they can manage to put up with this kind of training every day. I was aching all over and we had only been at it for two hours. Mia may have been at least half a head shorter than me but she was one tough chick. We had only been doing simple kicks and punches but I was already drained in terms of energy.

"Okay." Mia said, standing up and helping me up after she knocked me down for like the thousandth time that afternoon. "I think we'll call it day. You look pooped. You did great today though, I've never seen a first timer with that much stamina."

"Thanks." I reached up and took her hand. "You're right. I am pooped and sore and I don't think I'll be able to walk tomorrow." I stood up and stretched out but stopped halfway. Man, I felt as if I had just gone for ten rounds of boxing with a heavy weight champion when in real fact I did nothing at all. PE was completely harmless compared to this.

Mia was really nice, in a way, she was like a teacher when she pointed out my faults and helped me correct them but she wasn't as uptight as most teachers. I liked her.

"Come on, I'll go with you to the feeders. I need a drink and judging from the look on your face I'll say you need one too."

I laughed. I must look like shit.

"Yeah. I do. Can I go change first?" I was sweaty and I probably smelt like something dead.

"Sure. I need to change too."

We grabbed our stuff from the corner of the gym and headed into the locker rooms. I quickly changed into some jeans and a t-shirt. Stuffing my dirty clothes back in my bag, I walked over to the sinks and washed my face, they water felt really good. Before leaving the locker room, I practically emptied half a can of my deodorant all over me, better to be safe than stinky right?

"Feeling better?"

"Much thanks. Hey, can I ask you a question?" I slung my bag over my shoulder and followed Mia out of the gym.

"Shoot."

"Were you in St. Vlads with Rose Hathaway?"

"Yeah. We were really good friends, but then again we were kind of enemies. I guess you could say we were fren-emies. If that makes sense…"

"Cool. And yes it makes plenty of sense. So you know Dimitri Belikov."

"Yeah. Where are these questions going to?"

Wow. She was straight forward.

"I'm mostly just curious, and I'm trying to figure out how come Paul seems to know everybody. So I'm assuming that since you knew his uncle and the two of them are pretty tight that's how you know Paul."

"You have assumed right." She said with a giggle.

Okay, tough chick giggles…

I laughed. "Good, it's just weird sometimes how he knows so many people when he's fro m Russia and not from the US. There's no way he could have met all these people when he was all the way on the other side of the world."

She turned the corner up ahead and the feeder rooms were in sight. I stood on my tip toes and craned my neck to see if there was a line there. I hated waiting; I guess you could say I wasn't exactly the most patient person on earth. Yay, No line! I let out a sigh of relief and Mia turned to look at me with her eyebrow raised. Eyebrows are amazing; people can use them to communicate with other people without speaking, like an unspoken question.

"There's no queue here." I said as we walked up to the counter to sign in.

"Not a patient person are we? Well, patience is good too you know."

"Right…yeah I guess it is…good to be all Zen-y and life moral-y." I said while putting my hands together and trying to seem wise and knowledgeable.

Mia laughed and led me to a couple of empty seats by the window.

"You're weird, has anybody ever told you that?"

I scoffed, I get plenty of that from the gang all the time. But hell, you only live once so if being weird makes me happy than I'm going to keep being weird.

"All the time, All the time." Just then I remembered a rumour that I heard floating around some time back. It died down after awhile but seeing as one of the people involved was seated right next to me, It sparked my curiosity again.

"Hey, is it true that you and Guardian Eddie Castile are together?" She raised her eyebrow at my use of 'together'. Fine, I'm not exactly the most expressive person when it comes to relationships, for advice on that you should go to Arielle. She was the master at these kinds of things.

"You know, like dating?"

She coloured a little at my comment "Yeah. Gossip sure spreads fast, I didn't expect that to reach the academy, I mean it doesn't even involve you guys."

"I know. But you know most of us are suckers for a good story. It livens up the unbelievably boring school days."

Just then we were called up to the feeders and I walked into the room on the far right corner. At court there were rooms for the feeders, at the academy there were only tiny little cubicles. The human feeder looked close to passing out, a sick smile was plastered to her face and she was barely seated on the chair. She beckoned me closer with her hand and I took a step forward wanting to get the feeding over and done with. I didn't really want to be stuck in the same room as some psycho, overly drugged human.

I collapsed onto the bed an hour later after having a really long, hot shower. Combat was extremely draining. I pulled my headphones on and turned on my iPod. Right now, I needed to relax and lie down and hopefully not move for the next 24 hours.

A sudden knock at my door quickly destroyed whatever thoughts of relaxation I had. Geez, the person on the other side was going to die.

A swung the door open with as much force as I could muster.

"WHAAAAAAAAT!"

"Okay." Kendrick stood at the other side and his face was classic, the I-just-wanted-to-hang-out-and-didn't-expect-some-crazy-psycho-to-answer-the-door face.

"Sorry. Come on in, I just had combat training with Mia Rinaldi and I feel like shit."

"Oh...I didn't know you were in Mia's combat class."

"I'm not, but because I'm so special she agreed to have a private lesson with me." I put on my 'special-little-innocent-angel' face.

"Special? Really." He walked over and sat on my bed. I unplugged my iPod and placed it on the bedside table before flying back down on the bed.

"So what brings you to the princess's tower atop the castle guarded by a fierce and ferocious dragon?"

"I wanted to know if you wanted to hang out. Fierce and ferocious mean the same thing you know. You don't even have a dragon guarding you. Hang on, that gave me an idea. Do you have paper and a marker?"

"Yeah...why?" I asked as I walked over to the desk to get a piece of paper and a purple marker.

"Because I'm going to draw you a dragon so that now you can say that you have a fierce and ferocious dragon to guard your 'tower'"

That was it. I broke down in laughter, finding it quite hard to stop. When Kendrick held up the piece of paper with the 'dragon' drawing on it I doubled up in more hysterical fits of laughter. The 'dragon' looked more like a pathetic lizard that was close to dying.

"What's...What's that?" I managed to choke out in between fits of laughter. I pointed at what looked like purple clouds coming out from the lizards head.

"That's smoke from blowing fire at all who dare to knock on your door when you are sleepy.'

I burst out in laughter again. The dragon-lizard thing looked like it was having some massive migraine causing its head to smoke. According to Kendrick however, it was smoke from breathing fire. Right.

"Right. It looks more like a lizard who's head is going to explode because of a huge migraine. But oh well, thank you so muck Sir Kendrick for providing me with a fierce and ferocious guard dragon." I grabbed some scotch tape from the drawer and pasted the drawing on the outside of my door.

"Come on. You woke me up from my peaceful slumber." I wasn't actually sleeping though "So let's get out of here. I'm awake and don't really feel like hanging out here."

"Your wish is my command your majesty." He swept me a grand bow complete with the overly dramatic flourishes. I grabbed my jacket and pushed him out the door. As I turned to lock it, I doubled over in laughter again. The dragon-lizard thing was staring back at me in all its messed-up-purple-marker glory.

"It's a master piece and should be framed up next to Pablo Picasso's work, no make that Van Gogh, No! Da Vinci!"

"You're nuts! Come on, where do you want to go?" I asked, pulling on my jacket. I wore nothing but a white singlet and a pair of dark jeans. I hoped we weren't going anywhere outdoors. My jacket might have been a leather jacket but I was only wearing a singlet inside, not exactly the best winter outfit.

"Any where you want to go?"

I checked my watch, it was almost 7 o'clock.

"Why don't we go get some dinner? I'm starving! Then we can go play wherever."

"Deal! I'm pretty hungry too. There's a jam session down at one of the function rooms."

"What's a jam session?"

"Well, there's music and drinks. You just go there to chill."

"Cool. I didn't know court had these kinds of things. Every time I come here, I usually kill time hanging in my room and taking advantage of the free Wi-Fi there."

"Well, the time for being anti-social is over for you have the amazing Kendrick Ivashkov here now."

I wacked him on the arm. "Hey! I'm not anti-social okay! I just don't really like coming to court so I tend to sulk most of the time I'm here."

The food court was pretty much empty as most people hadn't come down for dinner yet. We walked up to the line and grabbed some trays. Man, I was starving. I grabbed a couple of slices of pepperoni pizza, a salad and a soda. We paid up and made our way over to a empty booth in the corner. People started trickling in as the 7 o'clock bell rang.

I took a bite of my pizza "So what do you do most of the time? If I find it hard to kill time while here, I can't imagine what it must be like to live here."

"Well, I'm usually going to parties or just hanging around. Sometimes I have to go to council meetings and sessions because my parents think it's good for me. I don't know why though. Otherwise I'm hanging out with uncle Adrian. He's cool."

"Parties? Court has parties?"

"Yeah, there are some of us here who have lives you know."

"Right." I managed to mumble out between mouthfuls of pizza.

"Uh huh, I throw some of them sometimes. Those are the best parties to ever be held here."

"Someone's gloating..."I said in a sing-song voice

"It's not gloating if it's true." I raised my eyebrows at him and he smirked "What can I say? Throwing good parties, it's in the genes. And I have the best combination of them."

I rolled my eyes at him and laughed, out of the thousand and one times I had been forced to come to court against my will, this was probably the best time I had.

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**Hope you guys like it! Please review, it inspires me. Do tell me what's wrong and stuff, now...click that little icon at the bottom. You know you want to...**


	6. Almost there, we're almost there

**Heys, i'm really sorry for not updating. But, my mom found out about this and she killed me. I got back my report card for semester one and i failed 2 subjects! Ah! My O levels is this year too. So this is going to be the last update for awhile. I really need to start studying and i'm sorry to all those who have been really nice and kept reviewing and adding me to story alert and favourite stories. If you guys have nothing to do now, i suggest you go down to my page, and read Promise Mark and Life and Death by Kaiai. She's really really good, it's under my favourite stories! Go and read all those under my favourites. They usually have to be stories that i really enjoyed and really liked in order to get onto that page. So yah. Go read that, i hope that keeps you busy till i can update again! Thank you once again and here, is chapter 6.**

**Disclaimer: Vampire academy belongs to Richelle Mead.**

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Whoa! I can't remember the last time I had this much fun. It'll have been so much better if my friends were with me. Avril Lavinge was blasting out of the speakers at full volume, the function room was crammed with people, but it was a comfortable sort of crammed. There was a drinks table at the corner and the dance floor was filled with people jumping up and down, going absolutely crazy! Kendrick and I were seated on one of the many sofas placed all along the sides of the room for people to hang out. We were playing 'I never' using M&Ms with a bunch of his friends, completely random strangers to me that is.

"I've never...I've never kissed a girl."

All the guys ate a candy and so did I. Everyone turned to look at me and one of the guys, Land...Leo...ah, Leroy, that was his name, burst out laughing.

"I didn't know you swung for the other team too babe!"

"I know you wish you were a girl now don't you?" In the most flirtatious tone I could muster without bursting out into laughter at the looks the whole group was giving me.

That got a laugh out of everyone and Leroy smiled

"It sure does, I wonder what time the clinic opens, I need to get some boobs implanted on my chest!" keeping a straight face the entire time.

That did it, I burst out laughing and was going to chuck my drink at him when I was roughly pulled up from my seat. Everyone stopped laughing and they were all staring at something or rather someone behind me, the one who had so rudely yanked me out of my seat. I spun around to face…

"Mom?"

Her lips were pulled into a straight, thin line and I've never seen her look so pissed before. I laughed humourlessly inside, I never saw her so I doubt I'd really know what her 'pissed' face looked like.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, more like demanded.

"I'm having fun, not like there's anything else to do around here." I could feel my cheeks start to heat up. Gosh, this was embarrassing! My _mother_ was reprimanding me like I was five in front of a group of people I hardly knew. I felt like slapping her and telling her to get her fucking ass out of my personal life.

"I'm sorry but do excuse us, Tammy has to get back to her room, its past curfew."

"Curfew? Lady Zeklos this isn't the academy." Curfew? Curfew was she serious? This was freaking court I wasn't at the academy! In case she forgot, I was so rudely pulled out of my school life to come over here! I heard Kendrick's voice amongst the babble of other voices. I saw Leroy smirk out of the corner of my eye, he was an ass and this was probably making his day, watching me getting scolded for breaking some unknown curfew. Oh gosh! I would have given _anything _for the floor to open up and swallow me down.

"Mom…there isn't curfew here in case you haven't noticed." I tried my best to put as much of my snarky attitude into that sentence but I don't think I was very successful not with the overwhelming feeling of embarrassment threatening to completely take over me.

"It doesn't matter, it's late and you have to get back to your room. Come on." With that she tugged harder on my arm nearly making me fall over onto the sofa. What the shit? She couldn't be serious could she? I didn't even have time to comprehend what was happening next when I was dragged unceremoniously out of the room and into the deserted hallways.

I broke free of my mother's iron grip and spun sharply to glare at her.

"What the hell was that about!"

"You should know better than that to be seen socialising with people whom you know don't exactly have very good reputations! Who are you? You are a Zeklos! Have some family pride would you!" What the shit. Family pride? Seriously. I was _abandoned _what the hell makes her think she has the right to suddenly decide to control my life when I am suddenly useful to her?

"…turning out to be nothing better than one of those lowly damphirs, throwing themselves at everybody who has a suitable income." What the fuck.

"Why the hell are you insulting damphirs? My best friends are damphirs. Your guardians who help keep you safe, who help ensure that your life isn't snuffed out are…_lowly_? How sick can you get!" My voice was rising quickly and I think I sounded slightly hysterical but she deserved it. I could feel my anger; my hatred and absolute dislike for this woman all bubbling up inside of me.

"Don't talk to me like that." Her voice was dangerously low, nothing but a hiss.

"_You_ have NO freaking right to suddenly storm up to me and decide to drag me out of my life. You pull me out of school every month for some stupid dinner that I have to attend. Ever considered the fact that maybe _I don't want_ to attend these functions? You don't give a damn about me either! Only calling on me when I am of use to you! Either to try and hook me up with some rich ass or to try and help you promote some shit law that _I don't give a fucking damn about_!"

"What…wha-what did you just say! Where did you learn to use this kind of language? What has happened to you? You've changed, you are supposed to be a princess in case you have forgotten not some slut down the road-" Her voice was low and threatening. My own fucking mother was mocking me. Wait. Did she just call me a slut?

"I've changed? It's my life, something you obviously don't give a damn about." With that, I turned around and sprinted for my room. No way was I going to hang around and have to see her face. She was nothing but a pathetic excuse for a mother. I yanked my door open and slammed it shut behind me. Leaning against it, I sank down to the ground and pulled my knees up in front of me. Ahhh. I could feel all of my pent up anger rising up inside of me.

Screw this. I need a shower.

I adjusted my headphones and turned the volume up till I couldn't hear anything going on around me. Thank God we were leaving back for the academy today but on the one day when I show up early for something, the plane has to decide to be delayed. I curled up in one of the uncomfortable chairs in the tiny room next to the tiny airport, air strip, whatever you want to call it, the place where the airplanes depart from. Standing up, I pulled the corners of my jacket tighter around me and stepped out of the room. The wind was blowing hard and my hair was flying all over the place. I really didn't want to talk to anybody, I just wasn't in the mood for making small talk and after our little confrontation yesterday, I really didn't want to see my mother. Or father. That was why I was standing off in a corner with my headphones plugged in, playing every rock song I had in my iPod at full volume and being antisocial. I was completely in my own world and that's why that tiny tap on my shoulder scared the living daylights out of me.

I think I jumped 6 feet in the air. I spun around to face…Kendrick.

"Geez, can't you make some noise when you are walking! Imagine if I was some old lady, you could have given her a heart attack."

He rolled his eyes at me and tapped my headphones.

"I did call you, twice actually, but you obviously couldn't hear me."

"DUH! If I could hear you I wouldn't have gotten such a fright just now." Last night's happenings suddenly came rushing back to me and I realised that Kendrick had actually been there to witness the utter humiliation I received at the hand of my own mother. His thoughts seemed to be directed on the same subject as mine which would explain his sudden reply.

"I'm sorry."

I think my face expressed my shock pretty well.

"Whatever for?"

"For last night. I mean, it was pretty bad and everything, I just feel like it's my fault for getting you in trouble."

I laughed, Kendrick might have seen like the kind of guy who couldn't really give a damn about you and whatever you were going through, but he actually was a real sweet guy on the inside.

"It's okay, it's not your fault." I lowered my voice a little, didn't want anyone overhearing this and spoiling my bad day even further "and plus, between you and me, she's nothing but a sanctimonious old bitch who I couldn't be bothered to give a damn about."

"Oooohhh…somebody just cursed real bad." He said in a sing-song kind of irritating voice.

"Shut up. Hey, thanks, for everything. I usually hate coming to court but you made this time really fun, thanks, you helped me survive and…I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm going to miss you." I said with a sigh. Sure enough, he had some smart ass comment to throw back at me.

"OF COURSE you would miss me! Who wouldn't?"

"A lot of people probably wouldn't" He wacked me on the arm at that one.

"Hey, you should feel honoured because I am now offering to give you my number." With that, he held his hand out at me. I laughed and placed my phone in his outstretched palm.

"I do feel so honoured indeed, I think I'm going to drop dead from the excitement of Kendrick Ivashkov giving me his number." I gushed while clasping my hands together and swinging them to the side attempting to look like some bimbo with no brains.

A muffled voice somewhere off to my left informed me that the plane was now ready for takeoff. I had to leave now.

"Thanks so much for everything." I said, leaning forward to give him a hug.

He returned it along with my phone.

"Pleasures all mine. Hey, if you ever get lonely or need someone to talk to, give me a ring."

"Thanks. See you soon hopefully." I gave him one last hug and turned around to board the plane. Just as I was about to walk into the plane I heard his last goodbye.

"Hey! Don't forget to pin the great and ferocious dragon on your bedroom door!"

I laughed and turned around to give him one last wave goodbye before stepping into the plane.

I sank back into my seat and gripped the arm rests. The plane was jerking up and down like some really drunk dude trying to walk in a straight line.

"You okay?"

A warm hand covered mine and gave it a light squeeze. Is it possible to have the stomach flip-flops in a good kind of way, be totally afraid of losing your life and be suddenly calmed down by that warm hand of Paul belikov on your own all at one go? Well, that's pretty much sums up how I was feeling.

"Fine." I managed to choke out. I clenched my teeth together and squeezed my eyes shut as the plane dropped another few hundred feet, or so it seemed.

"Really? Okay, don't worry, we're landing soon." He gave my hand another squeeze and to my absolute delight, he didn't let go. I leaned my head back and tried to calm myself down, it's okay, it's just a plane. You are NOT going to die, calm down, breathe in, breathe out, it doesn't matter that Paul's hand is on yours right now and it feels really good and I never ever want him to let go and…okay. Stop it.

A sudden jerk from the plane caught me off guard and I squealed. Yes, like a pig.

I heard a chuckle and turned to glare at the extremely hot guy seated next to me.

"I swear you are bipolar. One minute you're all calm and nice and caring then the next and you're totally laughing at me!"

"I'm sorry." He said, his face serious again. "I didn't mean to laugh at you."

Now it was my turn to laugh, and I did, a soft laugh escaped my lips and I turned to face him.

"It's okay, and you are bipolar, see, you're all serious now!"

A sudden flash of light out of the corner of my eye caught my attention and I reached over to push the window shades up. Bad idea. I was suddenly engulfed in sunlight, it was way too bright to be comfortable and way too warm to be soothing. I squeezed my eyes shut once more and fumbled around for the window shade. Paul beat me to it and I felt him lean over me to pull the shade back up.

"You are really weird you know that don't you."

"Yeah. I know, trust me to do something so stupid eh. I was just wondering if we are near the academy yet."

"Almost there, we're almost there."

"I'll go get my iPod, it's not in my bag." I sighed and rummaged further into the bottomless pits of my extremely messy school bag.

It was 3 days since my return from court and when I got back, the first beautiful sight that greeted me was none other than the nice pile of papers sitting on my desk in my dorm room. Homework. Lovely.

Jack was guarding me and so far, there had been no major attacks on us. The last bell had just rang and it was a Friday! I was actually planning on catching up on some of my school work but my dearest friends had other ideas and we were all to be spending the day in Rachel's dorm room doing stupidly weird things that you can only do with your best friends. The only flaw in that plan was that I couldn't seem to find my iPod that was always with me in my bag, it just wasn't there now.

I stuffed my hands in my pockets and skipped down the stairs as quickly as I could without falling over. It was great to be back at the academy, well, as great as school could get. But then again, I'll take school over a pair of overly protective, completely psycho parents.

Thinking about court got me thinking about Paul again. I hadn't seen him since the plan landed and he walked me back to my room that night. He must have been busy planning the field experience and other important guardian stuff. I mentally sighed. My little bonding sessions at court with Paul were fun, well if you could call those bonding sessions, excluding our little tiff over Kendrick. Yes, I had done as Kendrick told me too, pasting the dragon-lizard poster on my dorm room door. And that was exactly what I found Paul studying when I rounded the corner to my room.

"Um…Hey?"

"What on earth is that supposed to be?" The curiosity and utmost quizzical look on his face nearly had me doubled over in laughter there and then. See, I wasn't the only one who thought that Kendrick's art skills were non-existent.

* * *

**How was that? Please do review, they make my day and i'm going to study hard now so if i do well for my mid-years, i'll update another chapter!:D sorry if there are lots of errors, i'm desperately typing behind my mom's back**

**Love,**

**KM**


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Vampire Academy, Friendship, Romance