Vampire Academy

His enthusiasm seemed to be contagious, because after a few seconds she was grinning back at him.
When they started fighting, he had already noticed she wasn't a talker. He didn't mind it, because in a fight like this he preferred the silence. 

As soon as he noticed the scars on her back, she used his distraction to pin him to the ground. Normally he'd compliment his opponent, or say something witty, but he was still to distracted to think of any words.
"You will not speak of that, do you understand?" she said in a muffled tone. He watched her face, searching for something that would clear all of this up. He didn't find anything.
She gave him another blow, and he coughed, surprised. "Damn it, May!" He heard the teacher shout, and he rolled his head to the side to watch him. "Get up and go off. You've got other classes to attend to and I don't need more blood spilled around here," he said. Jarek finally found back his voice, and he threw her a weak grin. "Congratulations," he said. "Not many get called to the side after their second fight," he told her.
"Jarek and you will be partners from now on, since probably no one else would like to even try fight one of you," the teacher added, and Jarek's grin widened a bit, if he wanted it or not. It was nice to know he'd have a new challenge to figure out the coming few weeks.
Evanee rose, and she threw him another warning glare. Jarek stayed on the ground for a bit longer, catching his breath, and he watched her leave the gym. He wondered what was so bad about the story behind her scars that he wasn't allowed to talk about them.

The rest of the afternoon he had worked on his condition, since all the other dhampirs were already busy fighting some one, and he kept himself busy with running laps and climbing the ropes.
When the teacher called it a day, Charlie immediately walked towards him. After she had finally given up quarelling with Monique, she had practiced combat with one of the other Dhampirs. "No more practicing today, right?" She asked him, raising her eyebrows. "I mean, you already were tired, and after that fight with Evanee- Jesus, I had no idea she could fight like that. I have to admit it was a little bit cool," she said, and Jarek listened to her unstoppable stream of words while they walked towards the locker rooms. They split up, and Jarek spent a longer time than usual under the shower. 

Charlie made sure he didn't disappear back to the gym, and forced him to study in the library with her intstead. The day seemed to last forever, and Jarek was glad when they finally went to the dinner hall. He was walking behind Charlie, who was currently in a discussion with Jesse about the importance of shoelaces or something like that, when he noticed Evanee standing in a corner.
He had been wanting to sneak away from Charlie's radar to find her all day, and it seemed a little stupid that he would walk into her by chance now.
He slowed his pace a little, making sure Charlie disappeared into the dining hall, before he walked towards Evanee.
"Hi," he said, though it felt a little stupid to greet her normally like that. He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his trousers and looked at her in silence for a few moments before he said anything else. 
"Do you have time to skip dinner? I know a way to get food afterwards, and I- we need to talk," he said, hoping he sounded convincing enough for her to agree with him. 
"I thought, maybe, we could go to the gym. An answer to one of my questions for every blow?" He proposed. She hadn't looked like she wanted to talk about it this afternoon, but he did get the impression she had liked the fight, so he hoped this was a compromise she would agree to.

Evanee

He had expected her to decline, so he was surprised when she didn't. "I suppose I could. But I don't have the whole night... things to do," she said, and he rose his eyebrows a little at that, though he didn't ask anything about it. "Yeah, I was planning on sleeping tonight myself, so don't worry," he said with a small grin. 
"But what do I get in return? Every time I hit you?" She asked him, and his grin widened a little. "Every time?" He repeated. "Aren't you getting a little full of yourself now?" He teased her. They agreed to meet eachother in the gym, and Evanee turned around.

Jarek had thought ahead, and guessed they would be tired afterwards, or forget the time (it wouldn't be a first for Jarek), so he had already sneaked into the kitchen and gathered some food. When he walked into the gym, a small bag slung over his shoulder, Evanee was already there. "You took your sweet time," she told him, and he smiled. "Well, someone had to get us food, right?" He asked her. "And, of course, I had to do my hair," he added jokingly, since his hair was still a mess - he had the habit to ran his hands through his hairs when he was studying.
"So, already thought of something I can get in return when I hit you?" She asked him. He dropped the bag on the ground and stretched the muscles in his back. "At first, I thought I could learn you the dance to Single Ladies, but you don't look like the type for that," he grinned. 
"I can give you some tips," he proposed after that, a little more serious. "I mean, don't get it the wrong way, you're good at fighting. But you could get even better with some help." He looked at the knife in her hand, and walked towards the small closet against the wall to get his own. "I'm sorry, I don't think I have any useful information apart from that, but you can ask me any other questions you like," he added, picking the lock with a small pin he got from his pocket, and grabbing a similar knife to that of Evanee. "If you can hit me, that is," he said, grinning again.
He stood in front of her, and she looked at him. "This time we get two answers when someone draws blood. Agreed?" She suggested. Jarek nodded. "Agreed."
"Also, I think it's fair if I start this time," he added, after which he immediately launched at her, his knife ready.

Evanee

She responded to his first attack by stepping back and laughing. He had to admit it was a little frustrating. "I had expected more from my new sparring partner," she said, and he gave her a wry smile. "I didn't have a warm up," he excused himself, although he was aware that it wasn't just that. It also had to do something with her skill, but he wasn't planning on admitting that out loud just yet. He wasn't that nice. 
It hadn't been a complete lie, though, and it took him some time to settle into a rythm, lashing out and dogding and spinning around her. Sometimes she managed to surprise him, and he had to adjust a little, but it didn't go unnoticed to him that sometimes he did the same to her. 
The room was silent except for their rough breathing and footsteps, until finally his fist made contact with her chin. "That was a lucky shot, I was distracted," she said immediately, and she rubbed her chin. Jarek dropped his hands and smiled. "Right," he said, not trying the least to hide the fact that he wasn't exactly convinced by that. "Of course it had nothing to do with the fact that I have trained for the past six years and you've only practiced for two months," he added dryly. 
She cast a glance at the high window, and he saw her swallow. His eyes went to the window as well, but he didn't see anything strange, so he kept quiet about it.
"Ask your question, Jarek. But then I think that I have to go, we'll have to rematch this tomorrow," she said, crossing her arms. His eyebrows went up a bit. "You want to make a habit out of this?" He asked, surprised. When he realised it might have sounded as if he didn't, he added another few words. "I mean, not that I'd mind. It would be nice to have something else than a dummy to practice with outside of classes."
Since she had said this would be the end of the fight, he sat down on the ground, dropping his knife. "I'm guessing you won't tell me where you're going if I'd ask you," he said, squinting his eyes a little when he looked at her. Not that he'd ask her even if she would answer him. If he had only one question this evening, there was something occupying a lot more space in his mind right now. 
He looked at the ground in front of his feet and rubbed the back of his neck. "The strigoi woman, you said she was gone," he said in a tone that sounded a little distant. "How do you know that? Did you- kill her?" He asked.

Evanee

When he asked her if she was planning on making a habit out of this, she rolled her eyes, which made him smile a bit. "Perhaps... probably," she said.
When he sat down and pointed out that she wouldn't tell him where she had to go, she shook her head. "Not in a million years," she answered, and Jarek couldn't help it, but suddenly his interest piqued. He made sure to hide it though.
When he asked her the question that had been bugging him practically all day long, she seemed to postpone the answer a bit by braiding her hair first. "It is that I promised you answers," he could hear her mutter. She walked towards the door, and Jarek waited patiently. He didn't think she'd leave him without giving an answer first. "Yes, I killed her," she said when she jad almost reached the door. "And if it pleases you, she did not go easily," she added, and Jarek frowned, though she couldn't see it. Why would that please him? Why would any of it please him?
She left the gym and suddenly the room felt too silent. Jarek rose to his feet and breathed out through pursed lips, thinking about the scars on Evanee's back. He had seen those kind of scars before, but it didn't make sense.

Why would she bare the same marks as his parents?

Jarek rubbed the palms of his hands against his eyes and sighed. He was way too confused to work all of this out by himself. 
He put the knife back into the small closet, making sure it was probably closed after - he didn't want the teacher to find out he spent so much time here - and walked out of the gym. As he walked towards the exit doors, he noticed the sound of two muffled voices talking outside.
He stopped.
Was that Evanee?
He hadn't wanted to eavesdrop on her, he honestly hadn't, but now he could hear her it was so easy to just stop walking and press his ear against the wall.
The words were too muffled to understand what they were saying, but the tone was enough to make him hold his breath and listen a little more closely.
"...being watched" "..the car..is dangerous.. better.."
Jarek frowned a little. Well, he couldn't make sense of that, now could he?
Suddenly the voices stopped and it was so silent Jarek crawled a little closer to the exit doors, and now he could see Evanee standing in the distance, alone.
Whoever it was she had been talking to, he was gone now. 
He could only see part of what was going on, and suddenly the air was filled with something close to a scream and Evanee jumped backwards. She looked at something, and even though Jarek couldn't see what it was, he felt the hairs in his neck stand on end.
Her face was enough to let him know. 
She disappeared out of sight then, and he could hear a cracking sound. Jarek stayed frozen in place.
He knew what everyone thought. He was training so hard, harder than anyone else, because he wanted revenge, or because he wanted to prevent from something like it happening again, or because he wanted to protect the ones he loved and were still alive. Of course, part of that was true, he did want to protect and he did want revenge, but that was not the main reason that drove him.
The truth was, he had been terrified when it happened and he had still been terrified ever since and he tried everything he could to make that fear disappear.
And now he could hear the monster, he knew damn well what it was Evanee was fighting with, but he didn't do anything.
It was only when he could hear the sound of a body hitting the ground, and a new kind of silence after ward, that he found back the control over his muscles.
He stepped towards the doors, just in time to see Evanee collapse herself, next to the strigoi body on the ground.
Jarek stepped outside, slowly walking towards the two bodies. Their was a gaping hole in the strigoi's chest, but he could see Evanee was still breathing. He let out a breath he hadn't noticed he held before.
Well, at least now he had his answer about where her scars had come from. He figured the other voice he had heard her talking with would return, but he couldn't just leave her here could he?
Jarek stared at the strigoi. He was definitely dead, even though there hadn't been a silver stake, and somehow he found it slightly funny to know that even strigoi needed a heart. It was probably mostly anxiety that made him laugh out loud.

When his laughing had died out again, he looked around. There was no one to be seen, and it was cold, and Evanee was still lying on the ground, and he was tired and hungry, so he made a decision that probably wasn't the smartest he'd ever make. He picked Evanee up from the ground and walked back towards the dorm rooms, leaving the body of the strigoi lying there alone. Whoever had made Evanee fight him would take care of that, he decided. 

Since he knew that, despite the fact that the teachers kept insisting everyone went to bed on time, the hallway would never be really empty, he couldn't just take the regular route to Evanee's room. 
He walked to the back of the building instead, and found the hidden ladder that was kept there for- well, they were teenagers, did he really have to explain what it was used for?
He slung Evanee over his shoulder and climbed up the ladder and crawled across the rooftop. It was easier without the dead weight of an unconscious body, but he managed it anyway. It took some time before he found the right window, but after that it was quite easy to work it open and carry Evanee inside. He put her on her bed, wondering if her mysterious helper would've done the same or if she would know immediately it had been him when she woke up. 
He was too tired to really worry about that, so he left her there and crawled back over the rooftop to his own room, where he collapsed onto his bed and without thinking anything else he fell asleep.

Evanee

He only woke when someone knocked hard on his door, and it took another few minutes for him to open his eyes. "Shut up," he growled to whoever kept knocking at the other side of the door. Of course, the knocking didn't stop at that. Jarek pulled the pillow over his head and turned on his side, pressing his face against the cold steel frame of his bed. Jesus Christ, he thought as the knocking still held on. Whoever it was, they were persistent. What time was it anyway?
"Jarek, I swear, if you don't open this door I'm coming in and I don't fucking care if your naked or not."
Of course it was Charlie. Who else could it have been?
Jarek grunted something what was supposed to be a reply, and he curled himself up on the matress. He just realised what exactly Charlie had said, when the door already opened. 
Jarek's eyes flew open, but thank god, for some reason he was still fully clothed. 
"You missed breakfast and you're missing chemistry right now as well," Charlie said, barging into his room and pulling open his closet. "I see you've fully ignored my request not to train out of classes yesterday," she said dryly, not even sounding surprised anymore.
Jarek blinked and sat up, slowly. "What- how- I missed breakfast?" He asked, confused. "And the first half hour of chemistry classes," Charlie added as she flung his uniform at his head. "I'm not even going to ask. Just make sure you put on those clothes and show some mercy to your classmates by taking a shower. You smell like hell," she said. Jarek rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and grimaced. "I feel sick," he muttered. "Yeah, well, maybe that has something to do with the fact you didn't show up at dinner last night and missed breakfast this morning," Charlie pointed out.
She did make a point. "Are you going to stand up by yourself or do I have to grab you?" she asked, watching him. "No, I can manage, thanks," he muttered, rising to his feet to prove his words. 
"Wait- don't you have to go to your classes yourself?" He said, only just realising this now. "Chemistry is boring without you anyway," Charlie muttered as a reply, grabbing his arm and dragging him towards the bathroom. 

He had felt so sleepy and confused that it wasn't until he had come out of the shower when he remembered what had happened the night before. Charlie must have noticed something had changed, because her teasing and joking had stopped and they walked towards the chemistry lab in silence. When they entered, the teacher gave them a stern look that obviously said you're too late now, go regret your decisions in detention this afternoon. 
"Sorry," he muttered towards Charlie, who waved his words away and sat down at her desk.

The day seemed to go way too slowly, and when they reached lunchtime Jarek practically attacked his plate. When he walked towards the gym for his classes, he didn't see Evanee, but somehow he wasn't surprised. The teacher told him to do some single exercises instead, and made sure he was kept busy.
It finally began to show that he had missed two nights of good sleep and that he had skipped so many dinners, because after practised he could barely make himself walk towards the locker room anymore. "Finally turning back into a normal human being again, Jarek?" Someone joked, and he made a noncommittal noise in response. He just wanted to sleep. Or eat some more, that would be nice as well.
When Charlie asked him if he was going to join their friends in the library, he made up some excuse about needing to go to his room. He watched her walk towards the library before he made his way to the kitchen, where he convinced one of the working staff to give him something to eat, using his most innocent smile.
It worked, and a few minutes later he was walking towards the garden with an egg sandwich.
He sat down in the grass and after a few minutes he let himself fall backwards, squinting his eyes as he looked at the sky. Maybe he would just sleep here.

Evanee

Even though he had planned on letting himself doze off in the sun, he ended up staring at the sky for at least half an hour straight. He was in one of those rare moods where he felt tired but didn't want to go to sleep. He had the sandwich lying on his chest, and thought about getting it out of the plastic bag. He might as well eat something if he wasn't going to fall asleep.
Jarek didn't lift his hands though, so he kept thinking about how he had to do at least something while- well, while he didn't do anything to be honest.
Just as he had finally found the will to lift his hand and grab the sandwich, he heard footsteps. "I don't want to talk," he muttered without looking, assuming it would be Charlie. Who else would find him here? 
"Jarek."
He finally rolled his head to the side to find Evanee sitting next to him in the grass. He swallowed. He didn't want to think about what had happened last night, or about what hadn't happened, but he now found that was quite a challenge when Evanee was sitting next to him. 
He turned his head back to the sky and brushed the sandwich from his chest, not hungry anymore.
He stayed silent, not sure what else to do. Did she know? Had she known it was him as soon as she woke up?
"So, did or did you not follow me out the gym last night?" She asked him. Well, that answered that then.
He wasn't sure if he would be able to lie about it, wasn't even sure if he wanted to, so instead he said: "I'm sleeping."
He kept his eyes fixed on the sky and tried to ignore the obvious presence of Evanee so close to him. 
He only managed to stay like that for ten whole seconds before he sat up straight and turned to her. "How could you do that?" He asked her, surprised by how angry he sounded. "No one goes up on their own against a strigoi, not knowingly."
Jarek frowned at her. "Not anyone who's sane anyway," he added, spitting the words out. "It's not- you can't do that," he told her, pointing a finger at her chest.
He looked away quickly after that, and grabbed his sandwich. He hadn't meant to say those words, at least not out loud. He must be more tired than he was aware of. 
He tore a piece of his sandwich with his teeth, obviously still angry, and munched on it as if it was his sworn enemy, stoically not looking at Evanee.

Evanee

She had stayed mostly silent during his short rant, which made him feel all the more angry. As he tried to let out his anger by tearing his sandwich apart, she finally seemed to react to his words.
"If it has escaped your notice," she started. "I am not really sane. Never have been I think, sorry to disappoint you." 
His anger temporarily made place for surprise at that. He swallowed the lump of bread and looked at her again.
"It's not like I ever wanted this for myself, Jarek," she spit out to him, finally growing angry in return now. He could feel the frustration bubbling back up and he dropped his sandwich on the ground, already forgotten. 
"And I am sorry but I can do this and I am doing this. I have to..," she said, but then suddenly stopped. Jarek pursed his lips, because that wasn't what he had meant. He thought.
He wasn't sure.
"Besides," she said, looking back at him, and now the anger was visible in her eyes. "-it is not like you can say what I can or cannot do. Damnit, you prick, you shouldn't even have been there!" she bursted out. He could see her hand lash out, but was too surprised to act in time. It wasn't as if she had slapped him that hard, but he could still feel the imprint of her hand burned into his cheek. 
He breahted out through his nose, eyes flashing with anger. "If I shouldn't've been there, maybe it would've been smarter of you not to leave me a few metres away from you," he said in a low voice.
Evanee rose to her feet, and after brushing the breadcrumbs from his lap, he did the same. "I have to do this and dammit I killed the woman who haunted your nightmares, it's not like it's a bloody crime!" She yelled at him.
"It's not about the bloody woman!" he bursted out, clenching his fists. "It has nothing to do with what is and what isn't in my bloody nightmares. It's about how irresponsible and reckless you are being!" He yelled back.
"I am good at it! Finally I can do something without anyone looking at me like I am some freak, because nobody is ever around when I do it!"
"So you just decide to fight fucking strigoi on your own?" He asked her, incredulously. "I thought you smarter than that, but I guess I was wrong," he scoffed. After taking a few deep breaths, he added: "There are a lot of things you can do when no one's around, and you choose to needlessly risk your life out of all things?" He asked her.

Evanee

"Okay, first of all, I had no choice and I thought you weren't coming out for some times," she said, and Jarek rolled his eyes, not trying to hold his anger in anymore. "Oh, right, how inconvenient of me to not have followed up your expectations, right?" He said mockingly. "Second of all," she went on, "I had my orders of our bitch from hell and third of all, I have no reason not to be risking my fucking life because I have nobody else but myself!" she yelled.
Jarek pursed his lips and looked at her in silence for a few seconds. "That's not true," he said, suddenly very quiet. "You know that's not true. What about Monique? Are you really so stupid to believe she doesn't care for you at all?" 
She had turned away, and he was staring at her back intently, as if he could burn a hole through her by looking if he just looked angry enough.
She turned around, and surprised him a second time by suddenly hitting him. This time it did hurt, and he turned away from her, pressing his hand to the place on his jaw where she had hit him. "Jesus Christ," he hissed. "What's wrong with you?" 
He moved his jaw from left to right, trying to make the ache go away. "You've got no right whatsoever to speak to me like that," she hissed back. "You're an arrogant fool you know that?" She added. She tried to hit him again, but this time he was prepared for it, and he grabbed her by the wrist, stopping her attack midway. "Oh, I'm the arrogant fool?" He said, barking out a harsh laughter. Almost without thinking about it, his other hand clenched itself to a fist and he punched her back, hard. Immediately after, his anger disappeared and he let go of her wrist, taking a small step back. What was he doing? He had trained for years to make sure he would never hit out of anger. Strong emotions would only interfere with his fighting. Anger never helped.
"You're being a self-centered idiot. You're all acting like nothing else is happening out there. My father started some sort of plan and I do feel responsible for his actions still. That doesn't make me reckless, that only makes me a damned fool myself. You'll never understand, nobody does," she said, still sounding angry. 

He frowned at her. "And why is that, do you think?" He asked her. "Maybe people would at least try to understand if you told them," he said with a clenched jaw. He shook out his wrist and took a deep breath through his nose. "I don't care if you feel responsible for your father - which is stupid, by the way - or if you like fighting, you can't just do it alone. Not even the trained guardians try to take on strigoi on their own," he told her, a little more calmly now.

Evanee

"Nobody needs to understand," she had hissed at him, before leaving him on his own in the gardens. He had gone there to be alone in the first place, but at that moment he had suddenly missed the people around him.

It was two days later now, and he and Charlie were lying on the roof, a bottle of wine lying between them. It was already half empty. It was kind of a tradition of them, to skip classes on the day before the annual prom. Somehow Charlie managed to find a bottle of some alcoholic beverage every year, which Jarek was grateful for.
"God, I hate boys," Charlie muttered next to him. She had an arm flung over her eyes, as if to make her sound even more dramatic. "Well," Jarek said. "That's not a very nice thing to say."
Charlie used her other arm to give him a shove against the shoulder. "Shut up, you know I'm not talking about you. Actually, I'm just talking about Isaac," she told him. Jarek turned his head. "Why?" He asked her, confused, because not a moment ago he had believed she was actually going to prom with him. 
"He said he didn't want to wear a suit," Charlie scoffed. "Oh," Jarek said, getting it now. Sort of. 
"Well, you should at least be glad you've got a date," he muttered. He could hear Charlie rolling on her side to look at him. "You've turned down at least three girls yesterday, don't give me the pout now," she said, mostly teasing. Though she did have a point.
Jarek sat up right to take a swig from the bottle of wine. "Yeah, well, did you really think I could go to the stupid dance with Isabel?" He asked her, and Charlie laughed. "Not really," she admitted.
They were quiet for some time after that, and Jarek passed the bottle to Charlie.
After she took a large swig, she looked at him again. "You should ask Evanee," she said, with which she surprised Jarek so much he actually gulped. "What?" He asked her, frowning. "Why would I- No, I don't- we're not- she doesn't-," he stammered.
"Stop talking, Jarek, you don't make sense. Here, take another sip," she said, thrusting the bottle into his hands. Because Jarek didn't know anything better to do, he followed her advice and took a large swig. "I mean, it's a little obvious you guys like each other. With the fighting and all. And don't think I didn't notice how you looked for her during every fighting class the past two days," she told him. Jarek frowned, and took another sip to keep himself from responding to that.
"We fought," he said slowly, after fighting back the urge to deny every word she said. She would know he was lying anyway. "I mean, not like the practicing kind of fights, we had a real fight," he added.
"I figured as much," Charlie said, taking the bottle of wine out of his hands so she could take a sip herself. "But still, the worst thing that could happen is her turning you down, and I can find you another bottle of wine if that happens," she promised him with a crooked grin. Jarek rolled his eyes. "You're a true friend," he said dryly.

When they reached dinner, Jarek was walking towards the gardens instead. The wine was still in his blood and he even though he wasn't drunk, he did feel more brave than he usually did.
So for some reason, he found himself looking for Evanee. He could already hear Charlie singing I told you so in his ear.
He had seen how she left Monique just before entering the dinner hall, and he was grateful for that. He wouldn't have dared walking up to her if they had been in such a crowded space.
He hoped he would find her in the gardens, just like he had done last time (although, technically, it had been Evanee that had found him then).
After walking through the gardens for a few minutes, he spotted her curled up on one of the benches not far away. He stopped walking for a moment, taking a deep breath. After that, he didn't give himself another chance to change his thoughts, and instead walked up to her.
"Hi," he said, a little more brusquely than he had planned. Nerves, probably. "You should go to-," he started, when he suddenly stopped. "Are you crying?" He asked her, surprised. This hadn't been part of his plan. 
Shit.
What was he supposed to do now? He kneeled down, a little clumsily, and hesitantly put an arm on her shoulder. "Evanee?" He asked. "Are you- are you alright?"

Evanee

She only looked up when he spoke to her, and the tears were visible in her eyes and on her cheeks. Jarek felt his chest tighten a little. He had never really known how to act around people when they were crying. 
When he asked her if she was crying - okay, he had to admit the answer to that question was a little obvious - she replied with an answer that would've sounded a little harsh if it hadn't been for the unsteadiness of her voice. "No, I am sweating from my eyes." 
Jarek flashed a hesitant, quick smile. "Sorry," he muttered, not sure what to say to that.
When he asked her if she was alright, it took her a few moments to reply. She brushed the tears from her face and Jarek felt his own fingers twitch. "I am totally fine," she said, sniffing, and obviously lying. "There's nothing worth mentioning," she added. Jarek frowned at her, not sure if he had to ask further or leave it be.
When she had wiped the tears from her eyes, she looked at him again, even squinting a little. Jarek suddenly remembered why he had come to her in the first place. Oh. Oh God. Why had he even thought about asking her anyway? He was already trying to figure out how to make her forget his first few words, when she spoke. "Why are you here, Jarek?" she asked him softly. She averted her eyes, looking at the ground, and Jarek was grateful for that. Well, so far his plan to just forget about the whole stupid dance.
He ran a hand through his hair and breathed out. He remembered the empty bottle of wine, probably still lying on the roof because Charlie never bothered cleaning up anything, and wondered why suddenly the alcohol made him feel insanely insecure instead of stupid and brave. 
He was still crouched down next to her, and to stretch some time he rose to his feet and sat down next to her on the bench. "Oh, you know," he muttered, even though she obviously did not know, otherwise she wouldn't have asked him in the first place. He breathed out deeply a second time and stared at the tree on the other side of the gardens. "I was just- wondering," he started, then cleared his throat and started over. "I was wondering if you'd like to go to the dance," he said in one breath. "With me," he added.

Evanee

He didn't look at her as he struggled for the words, hoped that would make it a little easier. "It's nice to know that you need alcohol to talk to me," he could hear her mutter. He wasn't sure if she'd even intended for him to hear the words, but he frowned at her immediately. "I don't need alcohol to - I was with Charlie before," he said, as if that explained it all. To him, it did. He had done this so often with her - sneaking to the roof, a bottle hidden under one of their sweaters, trying to mute their nervous giggles - it felt weird to think about how not everyone knew about it. Surely by now everyone had heard them. 
He looked back to the tree in the distance again as he forced himself to blurt the words out. 
When they had left his mouth, settled into the air between them, his nerves seemed to calm immediately. It wasn't in his hand anymore now, so no reason to fret about it. He turned back towards her and watched her take in a deep, shocked breath. Okay, well, not exactly what he had been hoping for. She seemed at a loss for words for a few moments, opening her mouth and then closing it again. Jarek would've laughed if it had been someone else.
"You don't know what you're doing..," she said, looking back at the ground. Jarek rose his eyebrows at her. "I think I do. I just asked you to the dance with me," he pointed out dryly.
"I think," she started, slowly, and Jarek frowned and looked back to the tree. She was going to say no. No worries, he tried to tell himself, he could always blame the wine for this. She wouldn't know he was far from drunk, that he had only just about drank enough to take the edges off a bit.
"You know... Okay. I will come with you. Just don't expect too much," she said. It took Jarek a few seconds to realise what she had said. "Wait, what?" he asked, too surprised by her agreement to keep the words in. He looked up as she rose from the bench. "See you tomorrow evening then?" She asked him. Jarek had just about enough time to mutter an "uhm, yeah," before she left. 
He hadn't even expected or really decided he would ask Evanee to the dance, he had just done it. He certainly hadn't expected her to say yes. 
Okay.

Yeah. Okay. He was going to the dance with Evanee. Jarek surpressed the sudden urge to start giggling. He wasn't even sure if his suit still fit.

Evanee

Jarek stared at his reflection in the mirror, a deep frown in between his eyebrows. "Are you sure about this?" He asked, without being able to keep the edge of doubt out of his voice. He felt more nervous than he'd like to admit. It didn't even make sense; Evanee had already agreed to go with him, so technically speaking there wasn't even anything to be nervous about.
He tore his eyes away from his own image when Charlie laid a hand on his upper left arm. "Really, Jarek, stop acting like a love sick teenage girl, you look good," she assured him. Jarek pursed his lips at the comparison, but he couldn't really blame her. He was acting a bit like a love sick teenage girl. He looked back at the mirror. "It feels weird, having my hair out of my face," he muttered. As soon as Charlie had found out he had asked Evanee to the dance, she had taken the responsibility of preparing Jarek on her shoulders (after numerously having said I told you so, of course). He was glad his suit still fit perfectly, because he didn't think he would've survived shopping with her as well.
Who even know you could spent so much time doing your hair? 
Charlie had decided he should look a little chique, since this was the dance and he would already be wearing a suit, so she had used what seemed like loads of wax and gel to comb his hair back. Jarek felt dubious at first, to accostumed to his fringe always hanging slightly on his forehead, but he had to admit it didn't look as ridiculous as he thought it would.
He quickly looked at Charlie, who was wearing a long black dress with a split on the side. Of course, she didn't look the least bit nervous. Just as he was about to tell her how much he hated her, someone knocked on the door. "Oh!" Charlie broke out into a grin. "Must be Isaac. I'm leaving you alone with your insecurities from now it seems," she told him, and gave him a quick one-arm hug, grabbing her purse with the other one. "Have fun, Jarek," she said. "Yeah, you too," he replied, just as she opened the door. He didn't know Isaac that well, and he threw him a small smile as Isaac gave him a weird look. It must be a little strange to pick up your date and find out there was another guy in her bedroom. "Erm, hi," he muttered, before slipping past him through the doorway. He wanted to get out of the room before the kissing would happen, thank you very much.

He took a deep breath to calm himself as he stopped in front of the door that led to Evanee's room. He had to take two more before he managed to pull up his hand and knock on the door. "Evanee?" He asked, suddenly thinking what if this is the wrong room? It was stupid, because he knew this one was hers; he had been here before, after all.

Evanee

She didn't say anything at first, just looked at him as he stumbled a bit over the compliment he gave her. She only really reacted after he had pressed a kiss on her cheek, and the surprised look on her face immediately told him it was worth it. He gave her a small, crooked grin as she took his arm. "Yes, sure. Why not... we're going to hell anyway," she said with a grin, and then quickly added another few words in case he might misinterpret. "It's a joke. I mean I would like to... never mind," she said. His grin only grew wider. "Surely I'm not that bad as company for the evening?" He said, mostly teasing. He waited for her to close the door before they took off towards the grand hall. 
Evanee was silent most of the way, and he followed suit, not really minding the silence. Figuring it would be the last bit of quiet he would have this evening, he even enjoyed it. Jarek ignored the surprised or angry stares they sometimes got. As if anyone else should have a say in the matter who he asked to the dance except for himself. 
"You know how to dance, right?" Evanee said, breaking the silence between them. Jarek broke out into a wide grin. "Of course I do. Do you know how to dance?" He asked her, eyebrows raised. Not that he would mind even if she would say she didn't like dancing. He would be content with just talking this evening as well.
Jarek frowned a little at that. Where had that thought come from? He didn't dwell too long on it, though, because Evanee's next words took him so much by surprise he had already forgotten it in a few seconds.
"You know if you don't want to stay here long you can just go. You can't possibly want to stay with me the whole night," she said, without looking at him. Jarek frowned at her. "Evanee," he started, not sure what to say at first. When he made up the words in his mind, he took her by the shoulders and brought her to a stop. 
"In case you've forgotten, which seems to be the case right now, I asked you. Do you really think I'm that stupid to ask someone to the dance I don't want to spend the whole evening with?" He asked her. "Because if so, you are gravely mistaken. You won't get rid of me that easily, I can promise you that," he said, before walking on again.
When they reached the grand hall, she let go of his arm. "I need something to drink, do you want some too?" She asked him, but before he could answer she already disappeared. He let out a sigh before looking around. He wasn't even sure if she expected him to stay here, or if he could just roam around until she had got herself a drink and found him again.