Dimitri's POV in Vampire Academy (Fanfic)

Chapter 8

If there was any indication to Rose’s anger, it was not only that she stomped the entire way to her practice, but she also fought like an avenging goddess during her hand-to-hand with Shane Reyes. I had told her I was leaving, but had decided in the last moment to linger, watching covertly as she fought.

She fought harder and better than I had ever seen her fight before, and I was frankly impressed by the sheer power packed into her body. What was more interesting was how well aware she was of herself. She knew she was smaller than most other novices, and, acknowledging that in terms of strength she may be disadvantaged, she instead focused on staying light on her feet. She was lithe and quick like a leopard, dodging before retaliating with a nasty, but expertly precise, punch.

Towards the end of their combat, a few of the other novices had stopped to watch, cheering on one or the other opponent. The last punch though knocked Reyes out of the lines, and the defeated, among several other students, applauded her performance. I had to clasp my hands behind my back to keep from joining in.

She was improving; and fast. If she had now caught up to her novices, she would soon surpass them, and I was going to make sure of it. I felt a little twinge of guilt at favouring one student so grandiosely above the others, but promptly dismissed it. I was her mentor, after all.

I frowned a little when I observed the Ashford boy approach her after the class. I had time to see him touch her arm before I turned to walk away.

I knew it was a little obscene of me, but I discovered that for some reason, it bothered me that Rose was so receptive to all the attention people paid her – the attention boys gave her, in particular. She was almost always surrounded by people, and it was obvious that she thrived in the attention. Although I respect people’s rights to do whatever they wanted with their bodies, Rose had to know there were larger things at stake. Her reputation was linked inescapably to Vasilisa’s, and the Moroi world was all about appearances and reputation. She couldn’t go around flaunting herself to Moroi; it didn’t do any good.

Even as a teacher, it was impossible to ignore most of the rumours and stories that went around the school. The Moroi students and dhampir novices talked freely, seeing us guardians as nothing but paintings lining the walls.

I had heard plenty of rumours and stories about Rose Hathaway. The majority of them were negative, though undoubtedly exaggerated. I was sure that Rose had done a lot of things to deserve being spoken of in such a manner, but then I did doubt that she had done half the things people claimed she had done. Among the rumours I did believe, however, were the ones about her picking fights. She was single-handedly responsible for at least four broken noses, a lost tooth, a broken arm and thousands of cuts and bruises among the students at the school. She was a capitalised Trouble Maker, and no mistake.

Then, of course, there were the other rumours – the ones I’d rather not even contemplate. Her first day back at the academy had proven that she was exceedingly flirtatious, with plenty of experience in the art. To summarise, the rumours indicated that she was rather free with her body. She was like a female version of an Italian pimp. It troubled me, because I knew that she didn’t consider the bigger picture. She was young, and a human or Moroi in her age would have been able to enjoy the freedom of behaving that way, but Rose wanted to be a royal Moroi’s guardian. Vasilisa was her best friend; Rose didn’t truly know the luxury in a guardian being assigned someone so important. The last Dragomir princess could not afford having a guardian considered cheap.

Just as I thought that, I got a call.

‘Belikov,’ a guardian informed me, ‘your assigned novice, the Hathaway girl?’ Oh no, I thought. What’s she done now? ‘A janitor has reported seeing her sneak into the lounge on the fourth floor with a Moroi student – male.’