“I’m so hungry,” I tell Tristan.
“You just ate,” he says.
“Did you see how small those portions were?” I ask.
“Want to go get some food?” he asks.
“Yes. Definitely.”
It’s after curfew, but we leave campus. I guess having a bodyguard has it’s privileges after all. The only thing open is a fast food restaurant, but at this point I’m so hungry that I don’t care.
We order our food, which is done in minutes, and then sit down at a table.
“This is disgusting,” I say, after biting in my burger. “And it’s sweet. Why is my burger sweet?”
“It’s America. We put sugar in everything,” he says, like it’s an explanation.
“Again, this right here is why you guys are so fat.”
“I agree,” he says.
I take another bite, mostly because I’m really hungry.
“So, how did you like your first date?” he asks.
“I don’t know,” I answer. “I like Damon, don’t get me wrong, but the date was weird. I just wanted to ditch the restaurant and go somewhere else. I honestly would’ve been happy just looking at the stars. Or that Russian restaurant we went to. That was awesome. The atmosphere was just too much.”
“You should tell Damon.”
“Maybe. I don’t want to hurt his feelings,” I say.
“I would’ve taken you to the Russian place. Or somewhere else laid back,” he says. “You’re not a fancy restaurant kind of girl.”
“You should drop a hint to Damon,” I say. “For next time. If there is a next time. He didn’t even kiss me.”
“I’m sure he wanted to. You gave off this vibe that you didn’t want to be kissed,” Tristan says. “It’s probably why he didn’t.”
“I didn’t mean to give off that vibe. I’m just not good at this dating thing. And really, I didn’t want to be kissed by him in front of you. Or all those other guys. You know? It’s just weird.”
“I guess. If I wanted to kiss somebody, I wouldn’t care who was watching,” he says.
“What are you supposed to do with your tongue when you kiss somebody?” I ask.
He coughs, choking on his burger. “Katerina, I am not answering questions about kissing. It’s just… something you have to do for yourself.”
“You could teach me.”
“I’m not going to teach you how to kiss,” he says. “You have a boyfriend. Let him teach you.”
“What if I’m not good and he doesn’t want to kiss me anymore?” I ask. “What if he breaks up with me?”
“If your boyfriend dumps you because you suck at kissing, I’ll break his nose,” he says. “And he won’t break up with you. He likes you a lot, I can tell.”
“I like him too.”
Tristan doesn’t respond. He just shoves the rest of his burger in his mouth.
I really hope Damon doesn’t take me back to that French restaurant.
FOUR
Fame
When I walk into the dining hall for breakfast on Saturday morning, everybody is staring at me and whispering to each other.
Ugh. I thought we were past this.
I grab my food and walk over to the table I always sit at, Tristan follows me. When we sit down, Savannah, Kaiden and Madox look at us.
“What is going on?” I ask them.
“You… um…” Savannah says, then pulls out her phone. She types something in and then hands it to me.
I look at the screen.
It’s a news article. On the top there is a picture of me and Damon at the French restaurant and beside it, there is a picture of me, in the same clothes, sitting by Tristan in a fast food restaurant. I don’t have to read the article to know what it says.
“That’s perfect,” I say, giving the phone to her. I stand up, leaving my food on the table, and leave the dining hall. Tristan follows because that is his job. But I’m sure it won’t help the rumors. Nobody in this school knows that Tristan is my bodyguard. They probably think I’m cheating on Damon with him.
Tristan follows me outside before he stops me.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
“No. I’m not,” I say. “Because now, it looks like I’m dating not one, but two guys. And that I went out with them both on the same night. Do you realize how humiliating that is? And what if my family sees this?”
“About that… next time you want to go on a date with Damon, you have to wear the wig,” he says. “I should’ve known people would try to take pictures of you guys. I just wasn’t thinking. But it’ll all blow over.”
“What am I supposed to do until it blows over?” I ask. “I am pretty sure that everybody in the school hates me right now. The girls probably want to stab me for supposedly cheating on Damon.”
“You’re the one that decided to date him. He’s the president’s son. He’s famous. Fame just comes along with dating him,” he says.
He’s right.
Is Damon worth it?
I don’t want to be famous. Not in America, not in Russia, not anywhere.
“What am I supposed to do?” I ask Tristan, hoping he will have an answer for me.
“That’s up to you, Katerina. I can’t tell you who to date,” he says.
“What would you do if you were me?” I ask, hoping that he will give me something.
“I’m not good at this whole relationship advice thing. Just follow your heart,” he says. “I know you like Damon, but do you like him enough to deal with all of this?”
Do I?
I like Damon a lot.
But our whole relationship is going to look like a sham because no matter what happens, Tristan will always be there. And Damon will know the truth. I will know the truth. But our friends, the school, they won’t know. They’ll think I’m dating two guys.
I shouldn’t care what anybody thinks. But I’m a junior. I’ve got the rest of junior year and all of senior year to spend with them, which is a lot of time for them to think I’m a cheater.
“I don’t know,” I finally answer Tristan.
“Do what you have to do,” he says.
I wish I could talk to Eduard. He would know what to do right now. He always had all the answers.
Break.
I knock on Damon’s door lightly. I’m scared to talk to him, because I still don’t know what I’m going to do. I’ve never been very good at expressing my feelings and this whole thing is making me crazy.
He opens the door and smiles when he sees me on the other side.
I step in, Tristan waits in the hallway.
“Hey,” he says.
“We need to talk,” I tell him.
“Yeah,” he says, rubbing the back of his head. “Sit down, Katerina.”
I walk over to his desk and take a seat on his chair. He sits on the bed beside the desk and watches me. I’m waiting to see if he will say anything, but I get the feeling that he’s waiting for me to say something.
I so wish I was better at this.
“About last night,” I say, breaking the silence. “The date was nice. I’m just not…”
“You’re not a fancy restaurant kind of girl?” he asks.
“Exactly. I mean, sometimes, I guess. But not a first date. I wanted to do something else. Like go play pool or watch the stars,” I answer. “After the date I was starving, so that’s why I went with Tristan to get burgers.”
“I was just trying to impress you,” he says. “I obviously went about it the wrong way.”
I nod, looking down at my hoodie. I play with the strings on it.
“Next time I’ll know.”
I look up at him, trying to figure out what to say to him. I’m not sure if I want a next time.
“Are you breaking up with me?” he asks. He looks sad and I feel really bad.
“I don’t know. Maybe.” I look down at my hands, because I can’t stand to look at his face right now. “I wasn’t prepared for this. You know? People think I’m a ho
rrible person. They think I cheated on you.”
“It doesn’t matter what they think,” he says. “All that matters is that you and I know the truth. Can’t that be enough?”
“I can’t have people taking pictures of us. What if my family sees them? Don’t you think it’ll seem a bit odd to them that I’m bringing home a different guy at Christmas to introduce as my boyfriend?”
“Yeah. I know,” he says. “I understand, Katerina. I just hate it, because I like you a lot. I’ve never felt this way about anybody before. And I know I’m young, but I can picture a future with you, like, a long term future.”
“Let’s just go back to the way things were before. We can be friends and continue building towards more, but maybe put the whole dating thing off for a while,” I say.
“I’m okay with that,” he says. “But I have to keep you in my life, whatever way that I can.”
And just like that, it’s over.
We only dated a week, but still—he was my first boyfriend.
I get up from the chair and walk to the door. I turn to him one last time.
“I’ll see you around,” I say, then walk outside. I run back to my own dorm and cry.
I didn’t want to hurt Damon. I know that I did, and I hate myself for it. I just wanted more from us. More than just a week long relationship. More than just friends.
“Are you okay?” Tristan asks me, coming to stand in front of me.
“I’m just sad. I hurt him,” I say. “I think he’s in love with me.”
Tristan doesn’t say anything, which makes me think that he probably agrees with me.
“I don’t love him,” I say. “I like him, and breaking up with him only hurts because I didn’t want to hurt him. What does that mean?”
“Maybe you weren’t ready to be committed to him yet,” he says.
I nod, thinking that maybe he’s right.
But I don’t stop crying, because I hate the fact that I hurt him.
Tristan shifts his feet, and I look up to see that he looks really uncomfortable right now. He hates when I cry.
I wipe the tears from under my eyes. “I know I shouldn’t cry. I’m being a girl right now.”
“You are a girl,” he says, and puts his hands on my shoulders. Him touching me in this way is kind of a big deal for him. I let him comfort me, because that’s what I need.
I walk closer to him and put my arms around him, because I need a hug. He stiffens at my touch. Hesitantly, he puts his arms around me, and I feel him relax a little bit.
I hear the door open and Savannah walks inside. I step back from Tristan and she looks between the two of us.
“I didn’t see anything,” she says, and then walks back out the door.
Ugh, even my own roommate thinks I cheated on my boyfriend.
“This sucks,” I tell Tristan.
“Maybe you shouldn’t date anybody for a while,” he says.
I roll my eyes. “Who would I date? Damon is the only guy in this school I’m remotely interested in and I just broke up with him. Plus, everybody thinks I’m dating you. Not that it would matter. I don’t want a relationship now. Not with anybody.”
“Maybe you should become friends with some of the girls,” he says. “I know you’re kind of friends with Savannah, but the two of you have nothing in common. Maybe you should try to befriend girls with similar interests.”
“I’ve never had a girl as a friend before,” I tell him, feeling weird to be admitting it out loud. “Eduard and I were very close in age, so we always hung out with the same people. Always guys. I have never felt like I fit in with girls.”
“Huh,” he says. “I’d say to make some guy friends, but I highly doubt any of the guys in this school want to be just friends with you.”
I roll my eyes. “Yeah, right.”
“I’m serious. It must be the accent. I have to admit, even I think your accent is hot,” he says.
“Should I start using a British accent?” I ask, using my best British accent.
“Nope,” Tristan says. “It’s still hot.”
“Maybe I should work on my American accent,” I say, trying hard to sound American.
He shakes his head. “That’s horrible. But no, don’t try to sound American. Or British. Your Russian accent fits you just fine.”
“Maybe since Kazimir is dead I can start having more freedom,” I say, hoping that Tristan will agree. “I mean, maybe I could hang out around the school without you babysitting me. That would be nice.”
“Since everything happened with Kazimir holding you at knife point, I don’t want to take any chances,” he says. “I have to keep you safe.”
“Because I’m your job.”
“That, and because I care about you.”
His words bypass my brain and go straight to my heart.
Tristan cares about me.
Maybe having him hang around won’t be so bad.
FIVE
Something to talk about.
By Monday, pretty much everybody knows about Damon and me breaking up. They think we broke up because of Tristan, and I get why they think that. Tristan never leaves my side. He never has, but now people are noticing.
When I go to my locker that morning, I find that it’s covered in sticky notes. All of them having some very colorful words explaining how awful I am for cheating on Damon. I ignore them and open up my locker. When I go a ton of papers fall out onto the floor. I don’t read them, because I know they all pretty much say the same thing.
Skank.
Whore.
Slut.
I’m not the only girl that’s been called those things, but they still hurt. I haven’t even kissed a guy and this is what people are saying.
I grab my English Lit book.
“Are you okay?” Tristan asks me.
I slam my locker a little harder than necessary and walk towards my next class. In the hallway, I hear people whispering as they look at me. But I don’t put my head down. I keep it up high, because I haven’t done anything wrong. I won’t let what they are saying define me.
About half way to class, I stop and turn to Tristan who is standing behind me.
“Are you still wanting to learn how to be a good fake boyfriend?” I ask him.
“Umm… yeah. Why?” He looks worried.
“Then let’s give them something to talk about,” I say. It’s the same thing he told me at the homecoming dance when everybody was staring at us.
Before he can say anything, and before I lose my nerve, I kiss him. And really, I have no idea what I’m doing. But then he starts kissing me back, and boy, does he ever know what he’s doing.
I have to stand on my tippy toes to reach his lips, and he bends down to reach mine. I like that he’s taller. It makes me feel girly.
Tristan’s hands grip my hips and he pulls me closer.
Does he think it’s weird that I’m kissing him?
Does he think I’m a bad kisser?
But all my thoughts are lost as he deepens the kiss. Because here in his arms, with my lips pressed against his, it feels good. It feels right. Which confuses me, because I should not be having these feelings for my bodyguard.
He is the one to pull away, and when he does, he is breathing heavy. Just as heavy as I am. Which makes me think that maybe he feels the same way as I do.
“Katerina…” he says, his voice trailing off.
This is it.
He’s going to rip my heart out.
He’s going to tell me that us kissing was a mistake… that I should never kiss him again. Maybe he will even assign me a new bodyguard.
“Let’s get to class,” he says, walking towards my English Lit class.
Well, I wasn’t expecting that reaction.
I start to walk after him, but a woman steps out in front of me.
“Katerina Vasin,” she says.
Tristan stops and turns around.
“What?” I ask her.
“I’m Dean Bello,�
� she says.
Dean Bello.
My aunt.
I look at her eyes, and see that they’re a mirror image of my own. Her hair is blonde too. She looks so much like my own mother.
“Hi,” I say.
“I need to see you in my office,” she says. “Follow me.”
So I do.
And Tristan follows me.
“Not you, Tristan,” she says. “You go to class.”
“Not happening,” Tristan says. “I’ll wait outside while you talk, but I will walk her to class.”
“Fine. I should probably talk to you as well,” she says, not missing a step.
We walk around the corner and into her office.
She takes a seat behind her desk and Tristan and I stand there. She motions to the two seats on the other side of her desk and we sit down.
“Katerina, I’ve been watching your grades, and I must say that I’m quite impressed. You are doing exceptionally well in your English Lit class, which I didn’t expect since this is your first American English class,” she says. I can now hear a British accent in her voice. It’s slight, but there. “You’re actually second in your junior class right now. You have a shot of making valedictorian if you put a little more effort into your studies.”
“Wow,” I say. I wasn’t expecting that. I hardly ever study. “I haven’t had a lot of study time.”
“You would be first if it wasn’t for math. You should get help from Tristan, because he is quite good at math,” she says.
“Okay,” I say.
“I called you in here because of the scene you two made in the hallway,” she says. “This is a school campus. Snogging is not acceptable and will not be tolerated again. Katerina, I will be contacting your mum and telling her about the incident. Tristan, well, I expect better out of you.”
“I’m sorry,” I tell her. “It was my fault. I’m sure you saw the stupid article online. And I am sick of people staring and whispering.”
“Maybe you should stop worrying about us kissing in the hallway and worry more about the fact that she’s being bullied,” Tristan says, standing up for me. “People are leaving cruel notes on her locker.”
Fame (New Hope Academy Book 3) Page 3
