Disclaimer: Richelle Mead owns Vampire Academy

We were friends now. Nothing more, nothing less. Okay, well maybe sometimes less. But that was only when Rose acted all wise-like and looked at me as if I was a child. I mean, come on. Me? Acting childish? Really?

For once in my life, things had taken a turn for the best that night, three months ago. I'd chosen to eat with Rose. That one decision had really improved our relationship. On the contrary, Tasha… Well, let's just say she hadn't been too thrilled. She was better now, though. We were friends. However, she had a tendency to annoy me. Everyone did, for that matter. Especially since everybody thought I had a 'crush' on my mentor. Most people thought it was cute. Even Kirova and Alberta. I was lucky they took it so lightly. They didn't think much about it, only teased me of it. They knew it wasn't anything serious. I sure thought it was. It might not be obvious, but I had a strong feeling Rose had more than just friendly feelings for me. I mean, it's not like we ever actually touched that topic- more like avoided it, or it was never even brought up- but I knew.And trust me, when you're in this situation, you just know. And I know all guys probably think like this, but I'm not just making things up. Rose and I just had something…. special.

I'd made the right decision that night. Earned some unpleasant stares, yes. People had made assumptions about my 'crush' starting then too. But it was worth it just to be friends with Rose. To not have her upset with me.

I remember that night very clearly.

-Flashback-

Odd.

Rose seemed really upset considering I was only conversing with a teenager. For a split second I thought that maybe she did want to be with me. I was probably wrong, as usual, though.

I turned my head back to Tasha, who was staring at me with smiling eyes, expecting a certain reply out of me. I myself expected the same reply that she did. So I sincerely surprised myself when I said, "I'm sorry, Tasha, but I can't tonight."

It took a few seconds for her face to fall. I don't think she heard me at first because she was anticipating a certain answer, but then when my words did stick to her, it took her a few moments for the rejection to sink in.

"Oh," she replied, stunned. "I don't understand. Kyle said that-?" She stopped, waiting for me to fill in the blank.

"Yeah, umm, well he must have made some sort of mistake. You see, I really need to discuss some training things with Rose tonight. That's what I was telling him about. You know him, always tuning things that he thinks aren't important out, and then giving false information to others. Typical behaviour for him."

Her eyes travelled between Rose and me. She was squinting, really taking the scene before her in. I could almost see her making the connection. But all she said was: "I see."

"I hope you understand. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Of course. I'll catch you later." She gave me one last look before turning on her heels and left.

Rose, who had been quiet during the entire encounter, I noticed, was beaming from ear to ear when I turned to her. That caught me by surprise. I didn't think she wanted to be with me that badly.

Women. You never know what they're thinking. And plus they just expect you to know without them even telling you.

"So," I started.

Her cheeks flushed. "Let's go eat now," she answered in a rush, obviously trying not to lose her nerve.

We walked to the commons, not saying a word to each other during the entire walk. When we got to the building, I opened the door for her and gestured her inside first. Very gentleman-like on my part, I must admit.

There was no one in line for food, so we were sitting at a table in the far back corner of the room in under just a few minutes. I was literally starving and licked my plate clean like a slob would.

"Whoa, somebody's hungry," Rose remarked, out of the blue. We hadn't really been talking, more like keeping to ourselves as we gulped down the food on our plates.

"Starving," I answered back with an anxious chuckle.

That's when something truly hilarious happened. Well, maybe hilarious isn't the right word, but there's no other word that comes to mind that would be better. It's just something special that you only understand when it happens to you.

All of a sudden, we both took a moment to glance at each other at the exact same time, and then we both just let out this set of giggles and laughs. It went on for like five minutes straight. We'd laugh, then we'd stop, and then we'd start right back up again.

Everybody- the remainder of the people in the commons- was staring at us. The spotlight was all on us for the night. I guess that's how people came to the idea that I'd developed a 'crush' on Rose. Of course, I was the one who had to take on all the blame. I was the one who was mocked for having some teenager-ish 'crush' on my twenty-four-year-old mentor.

It wasn't that bad though. I'd rather people looked at me funny than for Rose to receive the looks I did. It would look far worse on her. For me, it wasn't like it was the end of the world. People didn't care much. Just loved to annoy me to death about it.

Anyways, once our laughing fit stopped and people finally decided we were boring to watch, we ended up talking- like having a real conversation. We only talked of random stuff. Even personal things about her life and mine before we'd met were brought up. However, we never brought up 'us.'

I preferred it that way. Sort of.

What stands out the most is the end of the night. We had just walked out of the commons building and were about to part ways.

"Bye," I said lamely.

"Bye, Dimitri," she replied quietly.

Right when I turned around to leave, she called out, "Dimitri?"

I turned right back around. "Yeah?"

"We're friends, right?" She sounded so vulnerable in this moment, like as if she needed my friendship. It was kind of funny for her to be asking the question to someone seven years younger. I didn't quite understand how we connected on such a high level considering our age gap. I'd never been one to enjoy the company of adults. But she was an exception, like I probably was to her.

"Of course." I smiled. "We're friends."

She nodded her head with a small smile. After, she waved her hand and turned away. I watched as she walked off into the distance before leaving too.

I would never forget this night.

-End of Flashback-

"Belikov."

And that is how Rose and I had become friends. Sure we didn't hang out like normal buddies did all the time, but we were almost really comfortable talking with each other. So I-

"Belikov!" someone screamed.

Startled, I looked up, only to meet Stan's reprimanding glare. "What?" I inquired.

"Have you been paying attention to anything I've been saying?" It wasn't really a question; he was just barking up my tree- the wrong tree, for that matter.

"Ummm…?" I stuttered out. "Yeah, sure." To better prove my point, I added, "We were talking about…" I scrutinized the board to see if there was any indication whatsoever of what we'd been talking about. Or, what the rest of the class had been talking about, at least.

"Ugh. Belikov, how on earth do you expect to pass my class if you don't pay attention to anything? You might as well not even be here. In fact, you aren't. It's nice that while you're off in la la land, we are here working, but-"

There was a knock on the door.

One of the staff members was waiting patiently at the door. "Excuse me; Guardian Petrov and Headmistress Kirova would like to see Dimitri Belikov, please."

That wasn't so reassuring. Both of them wanted to see me. I went over the list in my head of things I could have possibly done wrong. Nothing too horrible crossed my mind; I was doing a lot better in school. Unless Stan had a secret gadget in his pocket that reported to Kirova's office whenever I did something wrong… I had seen him put a hand in his pocket… Still, that didn't seem like enough to have Kirova and Alberta ganging up on me. I hadn't even talked back to him yet. I was just getting started when we'd been interrupted.

I looked at Stan. He seemed upset to be interrupted mid-lecture.

I rose from my seat. The lady and I had just been about to leave when she said, "Oh, and he will not be back for the rest of class." Now, that worried me. I definitely liked missing my least favourite class and all, and what made it better was that it was last period so I wouldn't have to go to class after, but I must have been in serious trouble. And I had absolutely no idea why. I usually did.

"Fine," Stan replied. "Take him." I choked on a laugh.

Our walk to Kirova's office was silent. Once we were there, the woman knocked on the door. We heard a "Come in," probably from Kirova.

"Go ahead." The lady nudged me closer to the door reassuringly.

I turned the knob, opened the door, and went inside. Naturally, the woman did not follow.

Inside, I saw Kirova and Alberta sitting at the opposite side of the room. A desk separated their seats from the one I was indicated to sit down on.

Once seated as ordered, I felt the need to speak. "Whatever I did, I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything. Really, I didn't."

My speech was cut off by their laughter. I glared at them for taking the situation so lightly.

"Oh, Dimitri," started Alberta, "it shouldn't be, but I must admit that it's quite funny that you've only ever been in here because of trouble you've caused. This time that is not the case, however."

My jaw dropped. "It's not?"

"No, no, of course not." She thought better of it because she added, "Well maybe I shouldn't say that, because it wouldn't be a rare occasion for you to be in here due to trouble you've caused."

I sighed. I just wanted to know the reason I was here, not make small talk. "Why am I here, then?"

"We have an offer for you," Kirova said. "A very good one."

My face lit up questioningly.

Alberta decided to take over. "We've noticed your remarkable improvement since you've been brought back here. After only three months, you're back on top. That should have been impossible, but it wasn't for you. It amazes everyone here."

"What's your point?" I asked.

"There's something very bad going on in the Moroi world. We think you have what it takes to help with the situation. You're the type of guy who likes taking on challenges and going out into the real world, right?"

Did they seriously not already know the answer? I'd been here almost all my life and they needed me to answer that. "Duh." I knew it was rude, but I couldn't save myself from the remark.

They both seemed amused. Instantaneously though, they turned all serious on me. It was Kirova's turn to dish out information now. "Well, the queen has come up with this new age decree law. Starting next year, students will graduate and become guardians at sixteen."

"What?" I nearly shouted.

Alberta nodded. "It's true. Sad, but true."

"So what can we do to stop this? There has to be something. Sixteen years old is way too young for someone to go out into the real world and fight Strigoi." I was tensing up by the minute.

"I'm really happy you see things our way. We thought you would. The queen is thinking primarily of the Moroi for this. Guardian numbers have gone down immensely."

I retorted, "I can't believe she's so selfish that she'd-"

"But there's more," Kirova cut in.

"What more could there be?" I questioned angrily. I was beyond furious now.

"We're only telling you this because we think you're capable and are also Kyle's best friend," said Alberta.

"What does this have to do with Kyle?"

"You see, Kyle Dragomir has a… um, he has a half-sister. The illegitimate daughter of Eric Dragomir."

My whole body turned to ice at her words. I almost fell out of my seat.

"That's impossible. We would have surely known while he was alive. Eric Dragomir never mentioned a daughter of his!" I mused frantically.

"Well, I'm sure you can see why he wouldn't." And I could see why.

My heart hammered in my chest. "For argument's sake, let's say he did have a daughter- which would be a big shocker if he did. What would that mean? What does his so-called daughter have to do with the age decree law?"

Alberta hesitated. "You see, the Council is undecided. Six families disagreed to the new age decree law, and five have agreed."

"But what about the queen?" I interjected. "She's the one who started this, and shouldn't her vote carry the most weight in this royal tiebreaker? Besides, you said before that students will be graduating at sixteen next year."

Kirova, this time, said, "Yes. But that's exactly it. As of now, they will. However, everyone is frantic over this and are not sure if this is the right decision. Partially because-"

"Well of course it's not the right decision!"

"- Partially because the Council was divided in this choice. The only reason this new law was accepted was because of the queen's final vote." She looked at me pointedly.

I tried to keep my calm. "Go on."

"So, since everyone is so undecided and confused, a lot of people have come to the decision that until they can find one more royal Moroi vote to say otherwise, dhampir will graduate at the age of sixteen. Of course, the queen doesn't feel the need to worry because they need the Dragomir vote."

I exclaimed, "So you're saying that they just need one more person to contradict what the queen wants? What about Kyle? You know he will never agree with the queen!"

Alberta replied, "That's where you come along. Have you ever heard of the quorum?"

"The… what?" I stuttered out.

"The quorum," Alberta repeated. "It's this law where royal families must have at least two members to get a vote. And Kyle's not eighteen yet, so technically he can't vote."

"Oh, no." I put a hand over my mouth. "It's true. He can't. Now what?"

"Well that's why we're kind of happy about this new news."

"What news?" I inquired.

"Kyle's sister," Kirova said impatiently.

The blood drained from my face and suddenly I felt very slow. "Right." I emphasized the word. However, I still didn't understand. "So this means what exactly?" I asked, dumfounded.

"Kyle's sister has recently turned eighteen. And since they're two in the family, she can vote. The problem is, though, she's not really into politics and the Moroi world."

My face must have read question marks because she continued, "She's kind of a part of a different society, I guess you could call it. We've tried contacting her, but she said she didn't want to get involved in Moroi catastrophes."

"How can she be so thoughtless?" I shrieked. "She doesn't care that sixteen-year-olds are practically signing their lives away?"

Kirova threw up her hands. "I know, I know. She said she felt bad but didn't want to be a part of this mess. Then, we reminded her of her brother, and that seemed to make her even more upset. She was angry that her father could play with her mother's emotions like that while still with another woman and said that she didn't want to have any relationship with her brother if this was the case."

"That's horrible," I stated.

"It is. We think you might be able to do something though. If you track her down and find her- we don't know exactly where she's located, but we have an idea- maybe you could convince her to come. I know you; when you care so much about something, you won't stop until you get it. You could explain what's going on to her."

"Why not just force her to come?" I demanded suspiciously.

"We'd rather her not come by force. We don't want to do that to her. Besides, just because we can get her to the Royal Court doesn't mean we can get her to vote. The queen will have no tolerance for that if she finds out. Anything that involves a disruption to her plans will be cast away," Alberta explained kindly. She went on to say, "If she doesn't come after a while though, we'll have to force her then. I don't know how we'll get her to vote, but maybe once she meets her brother, sees the Royal Court and hears for herself what's going on, she'll understand the cruelty of what the queen wants."

"It could work," I responded. "I don't understand something though. Why don't you get Kyle to go?"

"Please." Alberta rolled her eyes. "If she sees him, she'll never come. She'd probably just end up hating us more, and then we'd have to force her. At that point, she'd probably vote for the new age decree law just to infuriate us."

I laughed humorlessly when a thought came to me. "Is Rose coming too?" I smiled.

Alberta and Kirova both rolled their eyes at this. Kirova exclaimed, "Yes, Dimitri. Don't worry; if you go, she's going too. We were thinking of just having you two go to make Sydney- I mean Kyle's sister- more comfortable. We don't want her to feel like we're ganging up on her. If we have to retrieve more guardians, we will." I could not believe she'd slipped; so her name was Sydney. They didn't seem to believe the slip either.

"What more can you tell me?"

"Ah, ah, ah, Dimitri. No way. Not until you make up your mind. We've already told you far too much. Go talk to Rose first, and if you want to help, then we'll tell you more."

"But," I insisted, "how is it possible that you have all this information?"

"Never mind that for now. Just know that we have our sources. Now go," they both urged at the same time.

With a groan, I got up from my seat, gave them one last look, and left.

Wow! An actual update!

I'm really sorry this has taken so long. I just haven't had much inspiration for this and even thought about quitting this story. I'm still not sure whether I should or should not quit. I feel kind of discouraged. I know this story may not seem to flow properly as my chapters go by at a really slow pace, which is why I needed to make three months go by in the story. Nothing was really happening. I hope this new spin on the story isn't too boring either. Also, this may be out of character, and if it is, I truly am sorry. All this to say, I'm not sure what you think of this nor if it's worth continuing. So please leave a review with your honest opinions.

Thanks.