The Pearl : Appearances Can Be Deceiving Essay -- essays research pape

John Steinbeck's The Pearl tells the story of Kino, a poor pearl diver who lives in Mexico with his wife, Juana and his baby boy, Coyotito. One day Kino finds a huge pearl worth a great deal of money. Kino dreams of being rich and buying all that he wants after he sells the pearl. The one thing that Kino doesn't realize is that there are many people who will do anything to steal the pearl from him. No one ever suspects the pearl's power todeceive, corrupt, and destroy. Hence, The Pearl depicts the ultimate battle between good and evil. When Kino finds the pearl he is shocked. " It was as large as a seagull's egg. It was the greatest pearl in the world" (Steinbeck 19).Kino and Juana revel in the excitement thatsurrounds Kino's finding the pearl, but their happiness soon turns to distrust. The pearl buyers, whoKino has to sell the pearls to in order to make a profit, try to cheat him. They tell him that the pearl is so big that it has no value. Kino has to hide the pearl, but while he sleeps a thief tries to steal it. The doctor who would not treat Coyotito's scorpion bite when they had no money now comes to them offering the best medical care he can provide.As the story of Kino's situation unfolds, Kino is forced to kill three men, and worst of all, Kino accidentally shoots Coyotito in the head while he is trying to shoot his pursuers. Finally, at Juana's urging, Kino throws the pearl back into the sea. He has made nothing from his fin... The Pearl : Appearances Can Be Deceiving Essay -- essays research pape John Steinbeck's The Pearl tells the story of Kino, a poor pearl diver who lives in Mexico with his wife, Juana and his baby boy, Coyotito. One day Kino finds a huge pearl worth a great deal of money. Kino dreams of being rich and buying all that he wants after he sells the pearl. The one thing that Kino doesn't realize is that there are many people who will do anything to steal the pearl from him. No one ever suspects the pearl's power todeceive, corrupt, and destroy. Hence, The Pearl depicts the ultimate battle between good and evil. When Kino finds the pearl he is shocked. " It was as large as a seagull's egg. It was the greatest pearl in the world" (Steinbeck 19).Kino and Juana revel in the excitement thatsurrounds Kino's finding the pearl, but their happiness soon turns to distrust. The pearl buyers, whoKino has to sell the pearls to in order to make a profit, try to cheat him. They tell him that the pearl is so big that it has no value. Kino has to hide the pearl, but while he sleeps a thief tries to steal it. The doctor who would not treat Coyotito's scorpion bite when they had no money now comes to them offering the best medical care he can provide.As the story of Kino's situation unfolds, Kino is forced to kill three men, and worst of all, Kino accidentally shoots Coyotito in the head while he is trying to shoot his pursuers. Finally, at Juana's urging, Kino throws the pearl back into the sea. He has made nothing from his fin...

Fine Arts Classes Are Necessary Essay examples -- Persuasive Essay

Fine arts classes benefit students and schools alike. Fine arts are needed courses, not just as electives but as core classes that promote learning and creativity in the lives of students. There are three different styles of learning: auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. Fine art provides an avenue for all of these learning styles to be utilized during one class period; therefore, all students are able to understand and benefit from the curriculum. In a normal academic setting all types of learning may not be used, so a percentage of the classroom will not understand the lessons as well as it could have if it had arts incorporated into the class. It may seem impossible to include arts into an academic setting, but it is possible, effective, and fun. According to Barry Oreck, it has been proven that students learning molecular bonding through a dance had a more proficient understanding of the concept. He states, â€Å"We have found that if you learn something through a theater game, you can still answer a test question† (new horizons Dickerson 3). This statement proves that arts are extremely important and beneficial. With fine arts, students have a safe environment to express themselves, a motivation to stay in school, and higher test scores. The fact that fine arts are needed is evident, but will schools respond or live in denial? The arts provide a safe environment for students to express themselves without the worry of ridicule. These kids should have the opportunity to participate in multiple fine arts activities as a way to communicate their feelings in a healthy atmosphere (Weber). Green Lake Elementary School believes its students â€Å"acquire a positive learning attitude for a lifetime, celebrate the uniqueness of... ...rts into schools is not as hard as it seems. Including arts in the class room is a simple as playing music. It is proven that just listening to music or even a simple rhythm will engage both sides of the brain and help it to learn more efficiently (Weber 1). Even though this country is in an economic recession, fine arts are a necessity to the schools. The arts may cost a little extra money, but in the end the benefits of keeping fine arts in the school system will bring about rewards never imagined. The students will have a safe place to express themselves, a motivation to stay in school, and a higher test score. Fine arts are evidently needed; so now, what will people do to make sure that the arts have a permanent place in the schools? Will people realize the difference the arts make and change their ways, or will the voice of fine arts dwindle and die?

Balanced Scorecard

As mentioned in the introduction above, different business types bring a significant different treatment of strategic business control and evaluation. Consider for example, a firm that produce sheets of paper. The production processes are well defined and relatively stable, functional skills are specialized to gain operating efficiencies. There are relatively no strict challenge from the same competitor, because the market share are divided equally, as long as they keep the productions quality and maintain the cheapest cost of production.Regardless of whether the environment is stable or dynamic, an organization needs to exercise control over its operations so that its objectives are achieved as preliminary business planning. Firm that operate in a stable environment with standardized products and processes and low competitive pressures will employ the less complex functional business strategic. While the more complex firm with the dynamic competitor pressure should be consider to em ploy the more complex strategic control system (Shaw, 2004).Concerning the development of strategic control over a corporation, this paper will discuss about the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) for a company named ‘Puppy Luv Doggy Day Care’. Furthermore, it also develops at least three strategic objectives for each of the four Balanced Scorecard areas (Financial, Customer, Process, and Learning & Growth). 2. Balanced Score Card of Puppy Luv Doggy Day Care 2. 1. Balanced Score Card The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is one of the most influential business ideas in the 20th century.It was noted that over one-half of the fortune 1,000 uses the BSC system (Niven, 2006). Some people consider it as a form of project management, a form of measurement or controlled improvement system. Despite the awesome popularity of the concept, we witnessed the practice of the BSC concept surprisingly concentrates on the private sectors. Robert Kaplan and David Norton first introduced the Balanced Scorec ard in the early 1990’s as a strategic management system that forces managers to focus on the important performance metrics that lead to success.There are four perspectives of BSC as following: 1. Financial perspective This is the standard perspective that everyone uses even before the BSC. Even a non-profit organization uses this perspective in order to balance their books. It measures financial performances through financial ratios and other financial indicators. In the case of Puppy Luv Doggy Day Care, the financial perspective includes strategic objectives in following areas: ? Market share ? Revenues and costs ? Profitability? Competitive position 2. Customer Perspective It is a measure of corporate value viewed from the value it delivers to customers. For instance, time taken to process a phone call, result of customers’ surveys, number of complaints, competitive rankings, etc. In the case of Puppy Luv Doggy Day Care, the Customer Value Perspective includes strat egic objectives in following areas: ? Customer retention or turnover ? Customer satisfaction ? Customer value 3. Business Process PerspectiveIt measures corporate value from the enhancement of its business processes, like time spent prospecting, quality cost, product rework required, etc. In the case of Puppy Luv Doggy Day Care, Process or Internal Operations Perspective includes strategic objectives in following areas: ? Measure of process performance ? Productivity or productivity improvement ? Operations metrics 4. Learning and Growth Perspective This perspective measures corporate value from its learning abilities or the progress of its learning processes.Example of activities measures are staff training, employee suggestion and improvement of certain processes as an outcome of the learning process (‘Balanced Scorecard’, 2006). In the case of Puppy Luv Doggy Day Care, the Learning and Growth (Employee) Perspective includes strategic objectives in following areas: ? Employee satisfaction ? Employee turnover or retention ? Level of organization capability ? Nature of organization culture or climate ? Technological innovation These perspectives are then adaptable to various businesses by choosing different drivers for each perspective.The BSC can also detect and measure correlation between activities, in order to help decide which activities positively impacted others. For instance an online customer service can help reducing telephone calls and time to handle complaints, thus increasing effectiveness of business processes. According to Kaplan and Norton, there are various utilities of the Balance Scorecard. Some of them are: to clarify and update strategy, communicate strategy, align unit goals with corporate strategy, link strategic objectives to long term target, etc (‘Balanced Scorecard’, 2006). Balanced Scorecard The balance scorecard is a management tool that is used by the management of companies to enable them in planning on how to align the business activities to the vision and strategy of the organization so as to improve the internal and external processes of the company. Communication is used to monitor the organization performance against the strategic goals that have been set by the management of the organization.The balance scorecard was first developed by Dr Robert Kaplan and David Norton who discovered that the tool would be used to measure the performance of the employees of the company so that they would improve on their performance it was used by the management of companies so as to clarify the vision and the strategies and then to translate them into action. According to some economist they noted that an organization was viewed into four perspectives as per the balanced scorecard. The Learning and growth perspectiveThis perspective that deals with how the employees can be trai ned in order for them to gain the knowledge and skills that can enable them carry out their activities effectively. It also deals with the corporate cultural attitudes that relate to both the individual and corporate self-improvement so that the attitude for each the individuals and the corporations would change so that they would perform their activities according to the needs of the organization and not for their own interests.There had been increased technological changes that have resulted to the management of the organization to train their employees so that they can adapt to those technological, economic and social-economic changes. The business process perspective The perspective deals with the internal business processes.The metric allows the managers of an organization to learn how well their businesses are run and whether the products and services of the company can conform to the customer tastes and preferences There are two kinds of processes that are used when determini ng the goals of a company these are mission oriented processes and the support processes. The mission-oriented processes are used in measurement of the employee’s performances so as to ward them according to their skills and responsibilities.The processes are usually used in the government offices. The customer perspective The recent research showed that customers contributed to the success of the company and therefore it is important to satisfy their needs because incase they do not get satisfied with the services of their suppliers or traders they can look for alternative suppliers who could meet their needs and this can pose to be a big challenge to the marketing department as the volume of sales of the company can be affected negatively.The management should learn how to satisfy their customers needs by identifying the different types of customers and their different tastes and preferences so that the right kind of products and services are produced for them so as to main tain the customers and also to increase the earnings of the company by providing the right of goods and services that are acceptable to the customers. The financial perspective It is important for the management of organization to provide timely and accurate records of data so that they can give the true financial position of a company.The implementation of corporate databases it can enhance proper centralization and automation of information that can enhance proper recording of the transactions into the financial statements so that proper analysis of the company can be made. The Tri-cities community Bank was a company that was located in the Midwest United States; it had ten branches that were grouped into divisions that is the southern Division (SD) and Northern Division (ND). The divisions consisted of five branches that were headed by a Branch President and a Branch Chief Loan Officer.The other staffs that managed the operations of the company were the customer service represent atives, loan representatives, mortgage loan originators, head tellers and the administrative assistants. Mrs. Chris Billing was the Southern Division (SD) president from a Marketing Director because she could improve the performance of the company since she had acquired the necessary skills from college about how to improve the performance of the company.In the year 2000 she implemented the balanced scorecard into the organization although there were protests from the Northern Division (ND) presidents who saw the implementation of the strategy as impossibility since they had not had about the strategy before and was not ready for change. Branch A According to the Customer Service Representative of Tri Cites Community Bank Mrs.Mary Richards, she stated that the implementation of the balanced scorecards would create greater loan volume for the loan balances, deposits and the certificates of deposit and this would lead to lower profit margin, but it would be beneficial to the companyâ €™s growth. According to Mike Moore she stated the measures of the balanced scorecard were realistic, but the implementation of the measures was difficult because it was the first time for the employees to use them thus getting to learn the measures would mean creation of more time to train all the staff about the implementation of the performance measures.According to Paul Franks he stated that since the employees carried out their activities while using the measures then they would earn more cash bonuses, which improve the company’s performance and also the living standards of the employees of the company if they used the measures since proved good returns to the company once they utilized them appropriately. Branch B Mrs.Pamela Wise the loan representative of branch B said that the measures would be used to measure the progress of the company while in the process of trying to achieve its goals and objectives as this would lead to meeting the needs of the community and also to increase the profitability of the company. The measures would be used in determining the right kinds of promotions and pay rises for the employees, they would also be used to assign the employees according to their skills and knowledge so as to ensure the duties and responsibilities of the company were carried out effectively.Branch C Mr. Bill Sovensen stated that the balanced scorecard measures would promote teamwork among the tellers, loan officer and the customer service representatives such that they would enable them to discuss the goals of the organization and also be in a position to understand the activities of the bank so as to promote effective implementation of the company’s goals and objectives. The scorecard measures would enable the management of the company to achieve goals such as selling, cross-selling, and the goal of making customers to feel comfortable with the services of the bank.The Administrative Assistant Mr. Luo Martin said the balanced score card measures would lead to the successful implementation of the goals and objectives of a company. The success of the company would led to the management to organization of recreational places that would be used to appreciate the efforts of the employees so as to motivate them to work harder in their duties and responsibilities and also to avoid employee turnover as it could affect the reputation and performance of the company. Branch B According to Mr.Gray Smith he stated that the balanced scorecards were important but it was important for the management of the company to choose measures that were relevant to the management’s growth. Mr. Al Taylor stated that the measures would lead to achievement of the company’s goals. Branch E The balanced scorecard would be used to compare the performance of the company with other companies so that the company could keep track of the company’s performance so that the right measures could be put in place in order to enable the company to compete effectively with its competitorIt was noted that in order for the organization to improve in its performance it had to the implement the four perspectives of the balanced scorecard into its organization these were financial measures, customer measure, internal business measures and the retention measures and the learning and the growth perspective. The management of the company Northern Division should have implemented the balanced scorecard into the company in order for it to achieve its goals and objectives.The benefits of the perspectives were that if one perspective was good then other would also improve, for example if the internal perspective improved then the internal processes would also improve. If the customers were satisfied with the services that they needed then they would continue to purchase the company’s products and also use their services and this would boost the performance of the company .The sales volume of the company would improve if the company’s financial status improved then the management of the company would be in a position to achieve its strategies successfully, if the company’s strategy would be good then this would be translated to increased returns for the company and the application of the financial measures would be done in an effective and efficient manner.It was reported that if the employees were trained about sales effectiveness, customer service, product profitability and local bank knowledge, they would be in a better position to serve their customers since the knowledge and skills acquired would enable them to gain relevant experience of how to improve the performance of the company. The management of the bank also noted that the training programs given to the employees such as the in house tests on various training topics, higher-quality referrals and cross-self proposals they would equip the employees with right techniques to handle the company’s activities.The imple mentation of the programs would lead to higher customer satisfaction and it would also lead to the management of the company to learn more techniques of retaining their customers so as to achieve high sales volume of the company’s products and services. References Burgelman R A. and. Grove. A. S. (1996) â€Å"Strategic Dissonance . California. California Management Review, Vol. 38, No. 2. pp. 8-28. Kaplan, R. S. and Norton. D. P. (1996) Using the Balanced Scorecard as a StrategicManagement System. Harvard Business Review 74, no. 1 75+. (May be accessed at http://www. hbsp. harvard. edu/frames/groups/hbr/janfeb96/96107. html). Liedtka J. M. and Rosenblum J. W. (1996) Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Making Change. California. California Management Review, Vol. 39, No. 1. , pp. 141-157. Marsh, P. and et all. (1988). Managing Strategic Investment Decisions in Large Diversified Companies London. London Business School.

Shadow Kiss Chapter 4

FOUR IT BEGAN. At first, things weren't too different from any other day. Dhampirs and Moroi attended separate classes in the first half of the school day, then joined up after lunch. Christian had most of the same afternoon classes I'd had last semester, so it was almost like following my own schedule again. The difference was that I was no longer a student in these classes. I didn't sit at a desk or have to do any of the work. I was also a lot more uncomfortable since I had to stand at the back of the room the entire time, along with other novices who were guarding Moroi. Outside the school, this was what it was usually like. Moroi came first. Guardians were shadows. There was a strong temptation to talk to our fellow novices, particularly during times when the Moroi were working on their own and talking amongst themselves. None of us cracked, though. The pressure and adrenaline of the first day had us all on good behavior. After biology, Eddie and I started using a bodyguard technique called pair guarding. I was near guard and walked with Lissa and Christian for immediate defense. Eddie, being far guard, walked farther away and scanned the larger area for any potential threats. We followed this pattern for the rest of the day, up until the last class came around. Lissa gave Christian a quick kiss on the cheek, and I realized they were parting. â€Å"You guys don't have the same schedule this time?† I asked with dismay, stepping over to the side of the hall to stay out of student traffic. Eddie had already deduced that we were parting and had stopped far guard duties to come talk to us. I hadn't known how Lissa and Christian's schedules lined up for this new semester. Lissa took in my disappointed look and gave me a sympathetic smile. â€Å"Sorry. We're going to study together after school, but right now, I've got to go to creative writing.† â€Å"And I,† declared Christian loftily, â€Å"have to go to culinary science.† â€Å"Culinary science?† I cried. â€Å"You elected culinary science? That's like the most brainless class ever.† â€Å"It is not,† he countered. â€Å"And even if it was †¦ well, hey, it's my last semester, right?† I groaned. â€Å"Come on, Rose,† laughed Lissa. â€Å"It's just one class period. It won't be that – â€Å" She was cut off when a commotion broke out farther down the hall. We and everyone near us stopped and stared. One of my guardian instructors, Emil, had practically appeared out of nowhere and – playing Strigoi – reached for a Moroi girl. He swung her away, pressing her to his chest and exposing her neck as though he would bite her. I couldn't see who she was, just a tangle of brown hair, but her assigned protector was Shane Reyes. The attack had caught him by surprise – it was the first one of the day – but he fumbled only a little as he kicked Emil in the side and wrested the girl away. The two guys squared off, and everyone watched eagerly. A few even whistled and shouted, cheering Shane on. One of the catcallers was Ryan Aylesworth. He was so fixated on watching the fight – which Shane, wielding his practice stake, had just about won – that he didn't notice two other adult guardians sneaking up on him and Camille. Eddie and I realized it at the same time and stiffened, instinct readying both of us to spring forward. â€Å"Stay with them,† Eddie told me. He headed toward Ryan and Camille, who had just discovered they were being set upon. Ryan didn't react as well as Shane had, particularly since he faced two attackers. One of the guardians distracted Ryan while the other – Dimitri, I now saw – grabbed Camille. She screamed, not faking her fear. She apparently didn't find being in Dimitri's arms as thrilling as I did. Eddie headed toward them, approaching from behind, and landed a blow on the side of Dimitri's head. It hardly fazed Dimitri, but I was still amazed. I'd barely ever been able to land a hit on him in all our trainings. Eddie's attack forced Dimitri to release Camille and face this new threat. He spun around, graceful as a dancer, and advanced on Eddie. Meanwhile, Shane had â€Å"staked† his Strigoi and jumped in to help Eddie, moving around to Dimitri's other side. I watched, fists clenched in excitement, intrigued with the fighting in general and with watching Dimitri in particular. It amazed me that someone so deadly could be so beautiful. I wished I was part of the fray but knew I had to watch the area around me in case any â€Å"Strigoi† attacked here. But they didn't. Shane and Eddie successfully â€Å"finished off† Dimitri. Part of me was a little sad at this. I wanted Dimitri to be good at everything. However, Ryan had tried to help and failed. Dimitri had technically â€Å"killed† him, so I felt a twisted comfort in thinking that Dimitri had still been a badass Strigoi. He and Emil praised Shane for being fast on his feet and Eddie for realizing we had to treat this as a group endeavor rather than one-on-one trials. I got a nod for watching Eddie's back, and Ryan was chastised for not paying attention to his Moroi. Eddie and I grinned at each other, happy over getting high marks on this first test. I wouldn't have minded a slightly bigger role, but this wasn't a bad start to the field experience. We high-fived, and I saw Dimitri shake his head at us as he left. With the drama over, our foursome split up. Lissa gave me one last smile over her shoulder and spoke to me through the bond, Have fun in culinary science! I rolled my eyes, but she and Eddie had already rounded a corner. â€Å"Culinary science† sounded pretty impressive, but really, it was just a fancy term for what was essentially a cooking class. Despite my teasing Christian about it being brainless, I had some respect for it. I could barely boil water, after all. Still, it was a lot different from an elective like creative writing or debate, and I had no doubts Christian was taking it as a blow-off class and not because he wanted to be a chef someday. At least I might get some satisfaction out of watching him mix a cake or something. Maybe he'd even wear an apron. There were three other novices in the class who were guarding Moroi. Since the culinary science room was large and open, with lots of windows, the four of us worked together to come up with a plan to pool our efforts and secure the whole room. When I'd watched novices do their field experiences in past years, I'd only ever paid attention to the fights. I'd never noticed the teamwork and strategizing that must have been going on. Theoretically, the four of us were here to only protect our assigned Moroi, but we'd slipped into a role where we were protecting the whole class. My post was by a fire door that led outside of the school. Coincidentally, it was right by the station Christian was working at. The class normally cooked in pairs, but there was an odd number of students. Rather than work in a group of three, Christian had volunteered to be by himself. No one had seemed to mind. Many still regarded him and his family with the same prejudice that Jesse did. To my disappointment, Christian wasn't making a cake. â€Å"What is that?† I asked, watching him take out a bowl of some kind of raw, ground-up meat from the refrigerator. â€Å"Meat,† he said, dumping it onto a cutting board. â€Å"I know that, you idiot. What kind?† â€Å"Ground beef.† He pulled another container out and then another. â€Å"And this is veal. And this is pork.† â€Å"Do you have, like, a T.rex that you're going to feed?† â€Å"Only if you want some. This is for meatloaf.† I stared. â€Å"With three kinds of meat?† â€Å"Why eat something called meatloaf if you aren't actually going to get some meat out of it?† I shook my head. â€Å"I can't believe this is only the first day with you.† He glanced down, focusing on kneading his tri-meat creation together. â€Å"You sure are making a big deal out of this. Do you really hate me that much? I heard you were screaming at the top of your lungs back in the gym.† â€Å"No, I wasn't. And †¦ I don't hate you at all,† I admitted. â€Å"You're just taking it out on me because you didn't get paired with Lissa.† I didn't answer. He wasn't that far off. â€Å"You know,† he continued, â€Å"it might actually be a good idea for you to practice with someone different.† â€Å"I know. That's what Dimitri says too.† Christian put the meat into a bowl and started adding some other ingredients. â€Å"Then why question it? Belikov knows what he's doing. I'd trust anything he says. It sucks that they're going to lose him after we graduate, but I'd rather see him with Lissa.† â€Å"Me too.† He paused and looked up, meeting my eyes. We both smiled, amused at how shocked we were to have agreed with each other. A moment later, he returned to his work. â€Å"You're good too,† he said, not too grudgingly. â€Å"The way you handled yourself†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He didn't finish the thought, but I knew what he was talking about. Spokane. Christian hadn't been around when I killed the Strigoi, but he'd been instrumental in helping with the escape. He and I had teamed up, using his fire magic as a means of letting me subdue our captors. We'd worked well together, all of our animosity put aside. â€Å"I guess you and I have better things to do than fight all the time,† I mused. Like worry about Victor Dashkov's trial, I realized. For a moment, I considered telling Christian what I'd learned. He'd been around the night it had all gone down with Victor last fall, but I decided not to mention the news just yet. Lissa needed to hear it first. â€Å"Yup,† Christian said, unaware of my thoughts. â€Å"Brace yourself, but we aren't that different. I mean, I'm smarter and a lot funnier, but at the end of the day, we both want to keep her safe.† He hesitated. â€Å"You know†¦I'm not going to take her away from you. I can't. No one can, not as long as you guys have that bond.† I was surprised he'd brought this up. I honestly suspected that there were two reasons he and I argued a lot. One was that we both had personalities that liked to argue. The other reason – the big one – was that we were each envious of the other's relationship with Lissa. But, as he'd said, we really had the same motives. We cared about her. â€Å"And don't think the bond will keep you guys apart,† I said. I knew the link bothered him. How could you ever get romantically close to someone when they had that kind of connection with another person, even if that other person was just a friend? â€Å"She cares about you. †¦Ã¢â‚¬  I couldn't bring myself to say â€Å"loves.† â€Å"She has a whole separate place for you in her heart.† Christian put his dish in the oven. â€Å"You did not just say that. I have a feeling we're on the verge of hugging and coming up with cute nicknames for each other.† He was trying to look disgusted at my sentiment, but I could tell he liked being told that Lissa cared about him. â€Å"I already have a nickname for you, but I'll get in trouble if I say it in class.† â€Å"Ah,† he said happily. â€Å"That's the Rose I know.† He went off to talk to another friend while his meatloaf cooked, which was probably just as well. My door was a vulnerable position, and I shouldn't have been chatting away, even if the rest of the class was. Across the room, I saw Jesse and Ralf working together. Like Christian, they'd chosen a blow-off class too. No attacks occurred, but a guardian named Dustin did come in to make notes on us novices as we held our positions. He was standing near me right when Jesse chose to stroll by. At first, I thought it was a coincidence – until Jesse spoke. â€Å"I take back what I said earlier, Rose. I figured it out. You aren't upset because of Lissa or Christian. You're upset because the rules say you have to be with a student, and Adrian Ivashkov's too old. The way I hear it, you guys have already had a lot of practice watching each other's bodies.† That joke could have been so much funnier, but I'd learned not to expect too much from Jesse. I knew for a fact that he didn't care about Adrian and me. I also suspected he didn't even believe we had anything going on. But Jesse was still bitter about me threatening him earlier, and here was his chance to get back at me. Dustin, standing within earshot, had no interest in Jesse's idiotic teasing. Dustin would probably have an interest, however, if I slammed Jesse's face into the wall. That didn't mean I had to be silent, though. Guardians talked to Moroi all the time; they just tended to be respectful and still keep an eye on their surroundings. So I gave Jesse a small smile and simply said, â€Å"Your wit is always such a delight, Mr. Zeklos. I can barely contain myself around it.† I then turned away and surveyed the rest of the room. When Jesse realized I wasn't going to do anything else, he laughed and walked away, apparently thinking he'd won some great victory. Dustin left shortly thereafter. â€Å"Asshole,† muttered Christian, returning to his station. Class had about five minutes left. My eyes followed Jesse across the room. â€Å"You know something, Christian? I'm pretty happy to be guarding you.† â€Å"If you're comparing me to Zeklos, I don't really take that as much of a compliment. But here, try this. Then you'll really be glad you're with me.† His masterpiece was finished, and he gave me a piece. I hadn't realized it, but just before the meatloaf had gone in, he'd wrapped it in bacon. â€Å"Good God,† I said. â€Å"This is the most stereotypical vampire food ever.† â€Å"Only if it was raw. What do you think?† â€Å"It's good,† I said reluctantly. Who knew that bacon would make all the difference? â€Å"Really good. I think you have a promising future as a housewife while Lissa works and makes millions of dollars.† â€Å"Funny, that's exactly my dream.† We left the class in lighter moods. Things had grown more friendly between us, and I decided that I could handle the next six weeks protecting him. He and Lissa were going to meet in the library to study – or pretend to study – but he had to stop by his dorm first. So I followed him across the quad, back into the winter air that had grown chillier since sunset seven hours ago. The snow on the paths, which had turned slushy in the sun, had now frozen up and made walking treacherous. Along the way, we were joined by Brandon Lazar, a Moroi who lived in Christian's hall. Brandon could barely contain himself, recapping a fight he'd witnessed in his math class. We listened to his rendition, all of us laughing at the thought of Alberta sneaking in through the window. â€Å"Hey, she might be old, but she could take on almost any of us,† I told them. I gave Brandon a puzzled look. He had bruises and red splotches on his face. He also had a few weird welts near his ear. â€Å"What happened to you? Have you been fighting guardians too?† His smile promptly disappeared, and he looked away from me. â€Å"Nah, just fell.† â€Å"Come on,† I said. Moroi might not train to fight like dhampirs did, but they got in brawls with each other just as often as anyone else. I tried to think of any Moroi he might have a conflict with. For the most part, Brandon was pretty likeable. â€Å"That's the lamest, most unoriginal excuse in the world.† â€Å"It's true,† he said, still avoiding my eyes. â€Å"If someone's screwing with you, I can give you a few pointers.† He turned back to me, locking eyes. â€Å"Just let it go.† He wasn't hostile or anything, but there was a firm note in his voice. It was almost like he believed saying the words alone would make me obey him. I chuckled. â€Å"What are you trying to do? Compel me – â€Å" Suddenly, I saw movement on my left. A slight shadow blending in with the dark shapes of a cluster of snowy pine trees – but moving just enough to catch my attention. Stan's face emerged from the darkness as he sprang toward us. Finally, my first test. Adrenaline shot through me just as strongly as if a real Strigoi were approaching. I reacted instantly, reaching out to grab both Brandon and Christian. That was always the first move, to throw my own life before theirs. I jerked the two guys to a halt and turned toward my attacker, reaching for my stake in order to defend the Moroi – And that's when he appeared. Mason. He stood several feet in front of me, off to Stan's right, looking just as he had last night. Translucent. Shimmering. Sad. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. I froze, unable to move or finish going for my stake. I forgot about what I'd been doing and completely lost track of the people and commotion around me. The world slowed down, everything fading around me. There was only Mason – that ghostly, shimmering Mason who glowed in the dark and seemed like he so badly wanted to tell me something. The same feeling of helplessness I'd experienced in Spokane returned to me. I hadn't been able to help him then. I couldn't help him now. My stomach turned cold and hollow. I could do nothing except stand there, wondering what he was trying to say. He lifted one translucent hand and pointed off toward the other side of campus, but I didn't know what it meant. There was so much over there, and it wasn't clear what he was pointing at. I shook my head, not understanding but desperately wishing I could. The sorrow on his face seemed to grow. Suddenly, something slammed into my shoulder, and I stumbled forward. The world suddenly started up again, snapping me out of the dreamy state I'd just been in. I only barely managed to throw out my hands in time to stop myself from hitting the ground. I looked up and saw Stan standing over me. â€Å"Hathaway!† he barked. â€Å"What are you doing?† I blinked, still trying to shake off the weirdness of seeing Mason again. I felt sluggish and dazed. I looked into Stan's angry face and then glanced over at where Mason had been. He was gone. I turned my attention back to Stan and realized what had happened. In my distraction, I'd completely spaced while he'd staged his attack. He now had one arm around Christian's neck and one around Brandon's. He wasn't hurting them, but his point was made. â€Å"If I had been a Strigoi,† he growled, â€Å"these two would be dead.†

Bilateral Trade between China and Germany Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

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E-Learning in Dental Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

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Assessment of Global Business Environment Essay

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