Tell Me I'm Not Dreaming [A Vampire Academy fanfiction]

Chapter IV

"So how did your date with Adrian go?" I asked Ashley curiously. Maybe if Ashley got a little closer to him then I could ask him if he could revive my brother. Was he capable of that much power? I wasn't sure, but it was worth a shot. "You came back earlier then I expected," I said cheerily, hoping it went well for the sake of my best friend, and my brother.

"That's because he's a total jerk!" Ashley exclaimed. So that was why she had been so quiet this "morning". I was gonna have to kick his ass.

"What did he do?" I asked, sighing. This almost always happened when Ashley went out with somebody who caught her eye. Pretty much every guy out there were dickwads and nincompoops. They all sucked. I had had one boyfriend, and boy, that had been a huge mistake (more on that later).

"He spent the entire date talking about Rose Hathaway while smoking those damn annoying cigars while drinking!" she yelled. Cass, who was beside me, gave her a look.  "Why in the world do every single men obsess with Rose Hathaway?!" she practically screeched this time around.

Me and Cass both knew that Ashley was jealous of Rose Hathaway, but she just hated admitting it. Ashley had hated Rose Hathaway ever since Wesley, and I felt sorry for her since....well, forever. All she wanted was to prove that she was just the same. Just as tough and just as pretty.

"I'm sorry Ashley," I said gently, and gave her a hug. I heard her whimper as she began to cry. And all I could do was tell her that it was going to be okay. "Adrian Ivashkov is nothing to cry over, Ash," I said serenely. "He's nothing at all," I whispered.

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"Friday's finally finished!" Ashley cried, throwing her hands up in the air and spinning around happily. "Tomorrow's Saturday, wanna go out?" she asked. Surprisingly, Ashley had cheered up unbelievably since the beginning of today. I guess she was over Adrian. As soon as I saw Mr. Ivashkov he was going to be in a world of pain. Well, more like universe.

"Sure....wanna try the new cafe?" I asked. I smiled at her, hoping that she was feeling better for real. Maybe she could work things out with Wesley and finally be happy. I hated seeing her like this.

"That'd be great."

"Let's head back to the dorm then, and maybe we should let Cass tag along too."

"What if she has plans?"

"Then she has plans....so what?"

"Well, I kind of wanted to talk to you about something....something personal."

"Well Ash, why don't you spill it out right now?" I asked, peering at her face curiously. Was it about Adrian? Wesley? Her family?

"I prefer not to," she told me, turning her face away. "I'm really sleepy, so, lemme snooze and I'll tell you tomorrow. And, you have to promise you won't tell anybody else...especially not a Moroi," she whispered. I raised my eyebrows, but she simply just dragged me into the dorm and went into the bathroom to take a shower.

I didn't ask anymore questions near bedtime. I hated bedtime though. Nightmares plagued me, and Ashley tended to snore. A lot. It was becoming a real problem. Me and Cass would giggle about it, and then maybe talk some before she went to sleep as well. Then...I was all alone.

I yawned and stared at the wall again, then, I finally got tired, and fell asleep.

"Emma....Emma....Emma!" I heard someone say. I blinked and opened my eyes. I was still in my bed. No scary fire consuming me or anything. I looked around, and Cass had her eyes wide open, and Ashley was looking outside the window intensely, worry in her eyes when she turned around to look at me.

"What's going on?" I asked groggily. I peered at the clock curiously. It wasn't even dawn yet. Way too early.

"Strigoi," Ashley replied tersely. Cass looked scared. She wasn't built for defense like we were. This was the 2nd time that we had encountered Strigoi on the campus. And last time, Rose Hathaway was here. I guess me and Ashley were just gonna have to take her place.

"Ashley, let's go," I said, determined. Cass just stared at me like I was crazy.

"Why?" Ashley asked. I gave Cass one of my "I'm-up-to-something" looks. Cass smiled, she knew what I was trying to do.

"You wanna prove that you're better than Rose Hathaway? You wanna show stupid Wesley how awesome and what a fucking hot chick you are?" I asked Ashley, looking into her eyes. "Go," was the last thing I said to her before she got the heck outta that dorm and ran.