Anna tried not to let what Gunner's comment did to her heart show on her face. Instead she punched his arm and took the pressure off him unknowingly by taking it as the joke he'd hoped she would. "Yeah yeah, I'd have to wonder if you slipped a laxative in the chocolate though because the day you give me chocolate covered strawberries without an ulterior motive, like handing Sebastian off on me when he's stone drunk... like you did when I mentioned my favorite flower was a tiger lily... yeah I'm still holding that against you, is the day I lay down and admit defeat in our sparring matches." Which they both knew she wouldn't do. Gunner could beat her at hand to hand a thousand times and she'd STILL be determined she'd beat him sooner or later.

Anna nodded at Serena, "Like Gunner said, I wouldn't worry about it too much since you got away." Still, Anna was beginning to suspect she knew what was wrong with Serena. She rubbed the wrist she always wore a sweat band on... or foundation... or a ton of hairbands. It had never drawn anyone's attention but she could imagine how much harder a scar on one's neck might be to hide. She chewed on her lip a little, tugging at the edge of the sweat band a bit before she forced her mind back to her food. HER scar was something she had been able to keep a secret even from Sebastian from all this time simply because she didn't let her mind go back there... to before she'd come to Academy. You'd do a lot of things for money... especially when you were watching your little sisters starve. Anna had come a long way, she didn't even really think about it anymore... It had only been a few times, when they were really desperate... and it had never went past just biting and never anywhere other than her wrist... but that was bad enough in the eyes of the Academy. Only Anya had ever known... and only because she'd walked in on Anna relaxing while taking a bath. She'd sworn never to tell.

She bit into another strawberry, again jerking her mind away because Seb was now looking at her funny, and smiled at Niya and Jordan when they finally took a seat at the table. "Hey you two, still hanging out I see?" It was odd to see Jordan in someone's company for more than a day. He was constantly bouncing from group to group.

Jordan shrugged, "What can I say, she's an interesting girl." He wasn't one to lie about why he liked someone. As Niya asked her question he shrugged, "I'd assume they'll probably go easier on us in class today since we had that big attack this morning. I'm looking forward to convincing Belikov to let me spar with you."

~*~

Sebastian had noticed the odd look in Anna's eyes when Serena had brought up her near 'bite' and wondered if she were remembering being back home at the commune and seeing girls being used like that. He knew what Anna thought about it... that it wasn't their fault for either doing what they had to or in being taken advantage of young... She saw it as being male Moroi's fault for using their weaknesses against them... or using them as breeding mares for more Dhampirs. He felt the darkness stir inside him at the thought of anyone treating anyone that way, especially his friends. It took a moment to realize it was Anna's aura brushing against his own that was making him so moody. He pulled his mind back to himself before he crossed a line and breached privacy, turning back to Serena.

"You do need to eat SOMETHING though, how else are you going to effectively teach me to poke things with metal sticks? The bell is going to ring soon... At least eat a fruitbowl or something... pleeeeaase?" He playfully batted his lashes and poked out his bottom lip, attempting to make her laugh.

Jordan shook his head and looked at Niya, "Are your friends always like this?"

~*~

Aleks frowned but immediately released her, not wanting to push her into hysterics and she seemed to be dangerously close to it already. The distant look in her eyes mixed with the irrational fear told him she wasn't in the here and now. Gently, he touched the tops of her arms... not restraining, just soothing. "Trish... it's me... it's Aleks. You're alright, just take a breath. I can help you..."