Dimitri's Point of View in Vampire Academy (VA fans) (Book 1)

Part 11

Chapter 11:

As I walked around the academy the next day, I discovered that a lot of the students were on a new and exciting subject. I had no intentions in listening to teenage conversations but the same name kept coming up: Lissa. A couple days had passed and about the fifth time I had heard her name I decided to wait in the outskirts of the school as a couple of royal Moroi passed by me, stopping by a near fountain.

They had already been talking about something so I only caught the end of their conversation. "...love her she's really pulled through since Rose and she came back to the academy."

Hearing this I had to strongly disagree. If anything Lissa had gotten worse since her arrival. Curious I continued to listen. "Poor Rose though, what Jesse and Ralf did to her. It must be hard on her; I couldn't imagine being lied to like that. It's just horrible."

I took a step back. Something was wrong, as far as I knew from the other night everyone had been making fun of Rose for letting the boys drink her blood while having sex. And now it was if the whole school had turned tables and felt sorry for her. No, there was definitely something up, and I was determined to know what it was. Shrinking back I crept along the tall shadows of the trees, trying to get a better view of the young girls faces.

Glancing at them while they talked I noticed something that I hadn't seen in a long time. Their eyes were glazed over, and they spoke Lissa's name as if she were a Goddess who they worshiped. Then it clicked these actions only occurred when under the influence of compulsion. And I was certain who was behind this; no Moroi could compel another like that without something to back it up. I cursed Lissa for doing this. She knew the consequences yet she still went out and did it.

They had stopped talking by this time and were heading back to class. It was lunch time and I had told Rose that we weren't going to start lessons until the beginning of the week. It was Monday now and we were scheduled to start tomorrow.

Thinking about seeing Rose so soon made my heart tighten. I cursed that feeling; I couldn't seem to push it away. No matter how hard I tried to, it would always come back stronger. I had questioned myself over and over again as to why I had felt this way. It wasn't right for a teacher to have such feelings for one of his students. Yet no matter how many times I've told myself that, it never worked, and got stronger.

At the beginning of the next day Rose met me, I struggled not to look at her directly, or touch her in any way that would increase the feelings I tried so hard to keep locked away. We began the session with running, like I had promised to do so. We ran in silence, mainly because I was lost in thought, but also because I was trying to keep myself in control when around Rose. Afraid if I spoke all of my feelings would pour out to her, which I was trying greatly to prevent.

When we had finished I led her through an offensive exercise. It was a procedure where the student would find any makeshift weapon they could and attack their teacher. This particular drill had come in handy to most students who had graduated, including me.

Rose had managed to land a few blows on me, which I wasn't surprised at. I knew she'd get the hang of combat sooner or later. Though rather sooner. The impacts always made her stagger back, but I never budged. Seeing this made Rose attack me with more force, although the results remained the same. I was trained to handle a massive amount of hits. And my dhampir built body helped shield the worst of the blows.

Rose kept on going, blow after blow, nonstop. I knew it was more from outrage than commitment. I was her age once, and I had been in the same position where I would lose control of who I was and go on a blind rage. In many ways Rose and I were exactly alike when it came to fighting.