“Hi,” I tell her. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Come on. Let me introduce you to some more people,” Savannah says, pulling me away from the three I just met. I wave goodbye to them and follow her.
As we walk through the crowds, quite a few people yell at her and wave. It seems like everybody in this school knows her. But she doesn’t stop to introduce me to any one of them.
Savannah walks up to the boy I met earlier this morning. Kaiden, I think.
“Kaiden, hey,” Savannah says.
“Hey,” he says, then looks at me. “Hey, Katerina.”
“You already met?” she asks, looking disappointed. “I wanted to introduce you.”
“Yeah. We sort of ran into each other,” he says, grinning.
“What he means to say is that I fell on him,” I day.
“Yeah, she fell for me,” Kaiden says.
Savannah laughs. “That was cheesy.”
“I don’t get it,” I say, trying to think about what was so funny about what Kaiden said.
“Good,” he says. “Because now that it’s out of my mouth, I’m rather embarrassed that I said it.”
“I introduced her to Asher,” Savannah says. “Trust me, he made a much bigger fool out of himself.”
“Asher is bonkers,” I say. “No offense, Savannah.”
“He’s not so bad once you get to know him,” Savannah says. “He just thinks you’re hot.
“Hot?” I ask, wondering what she means. Then I remember an American show I watched once. The word “hot” is sometimes used to describe somebody you’re attracted to. “Do you mean he likes my physical appearance?”
Kaiden grins. “I think I’m going to like having you around, Katerina.”
“Me too,” Savannah says. “By the way, Katerina, Kaiden is my best friend.”
“You have to fight Madox for that title,” he says.
Savannah smiles. “Fine. Whoever wins at least two of three rounds of Halo gets the title.”
“You know he sucks at first person shooter games,” he says.
“Exactly,” she says, smiling. “I win.”
They may as well be speaking Chinese. I don’t understand anything they’re saying.
“Do you play video games?” Kaiden asks me.
“No. I never got into them,” I answer. “I have three… I mean two older brothers. They are more outdoorsy. Not much for playing games.”
“I bet your brothers are gorgeous,” Savannah says.
I shrug. “Well, Dimitri is engaged. And Alik, well, he likes to date around. Exploring his options, I suppose. He dated a supermodel once. He broke up with her for some stupid reason. He’s just too picky. Mum tells him he’ll never find a girl like that. I think she just wants lots of grandchildren.”
“How old are your brothers?” Savannah asks.
“Dimitri is twenty two and Alik is nineteen,” I answer.
“And they’re already thinking about marriage?” she asks.
“Well, yeah. Of course. Dimitri’s fiancé, Elana, is eighteen,” I say.
“Isn’t that… young for marriage?” Kaiden asks. “Shouldn’t they finish college first?”
“Why wait until graduation?” I ask. “All the good ones will be taken by then.”
“I think it might be different in Russian than here,” he says.
“When do Americans get married?” I ask.
“Depends on the person,” Savannah answers. “Usually after college. I’ll probably get married when I’m, like, thirty.”
“Don’t you want to have kids? The chances of having a baby goes down a lot after thirty,” I say. “My mum had me when she was twenty nine and couldn’t have anymore. The doctor told her that she ran out of eggs.”
“But that’s rare to run out of eggs that young. And if I can’t have kids, I will just adopt,” she says.
To each their own.
I still think Americans are weird.
It sounded romantic.
After Savannah drags me around campus introducing me to more people than I will ever remember, we go to a coffee shop. I don’t like coffee, but I go because it beats hanging out alone in the dorm. When we get there, I am pleasantly surprised that they serve tea as well. Unfortunately, it’s not very good tea.
After we get our drinks, Savannah and I go sit in an empty booth. She asks me about my school schedule and then she tells me which teachers are good, hard, or fun. As we are talking, a boy comes up to our table.
“Excuse me, ladies,” the guy says.
I look up at him, noticing his hazel eyes and dark hair. If he wasn’t American, I might actually find him attractive.
“Who are you?” Savannah asks.
Wow. Somebody she doesn’t know. I was beginning to think she knew everybody on campus.
“I’m Tristan Thomas,” he answers.
“I’m Savannah Arrington,” she says.
He looks at me.
“I’m Katerina Vasin,” I tell him.
“Nice accent. What part of Russia are you from?” he asks.
“Central. Near Ufa,” I answer.
“That’s a nice area,” he says.
“You’ve been to Russia?” I ask.
“Yeah,” he answers. “A few times. My… ugh… my father did some work there.”
“So, did you need something?” Savannah asks him.
“Yeah. Where is the student lounge?” he asks. “I’m supposed to meet my campus guide there, but I seem to be turned around.”
“Just go that way,” Savannah says, pointing. “You’ll see the sign.”
“Thanks,” he says, then looks at me. “Uvidimsya, Katerina Vasin.”
“Uvdimsya,” I say back, thinking his Russian is very good for him only being there a few times. But then again, maybe he just learned a few words.
“What did he say?” Savannah asks, as he walks away. “It sounded romantic.”
“He just said bye,” I say.
“Oh,” she says, drumming her fingers on the table. “He’s cute.”
I grab her almost empty coffee cup. “I think you’ve had too much coffee.”
She grabs it back. “This is my first cup today.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“It’s true,” she says. “But I may have had some energy drinks.”
“How many is some?” I ask, thinking I may need one soon. The time on my phone says it’s noon, and if I’m not mistaken, that means it’s about one in the morning back home. I feel like I’m about to crash.
“Like one…” she coughs, “plus two.”
I reach to grab her coffee cup back. “I’m throwing it away.”
She hands it over easily.
Now I know why.
Because it’s empty.
I glare at her and she just smiles.
I throw away her empty cup and my half-empty one. I decide then that it’s definitely time for a nap.
An odd guy.
I end up sleeping for four hours. Then Savannah wakes me up. Four hours wasn’t enough though. So, I drink one of her energy drinks—which is nasty, but it does wake me up. For three hours anyway. By seven, I am dragging along.
Savannah seems to just be getting started.
We go to the dining hall to grab dinner. While the food looks okay and there is a lot of variety, I can already tell I’m going to miss my mum’s cooking. It’s all junk food here. And American food has so many preservatives. Also, I’ve noticed almost everything I’ve ate tastes like corn. The sweets are so sweet that I can’t stand more than a bite. I suppose I’ll get used to it.
I end up getting rice and steamed veggies, hoping it’s a safe choice.
Savannah loads her tray up with a burger, fries and sweets.
I follow her to a table on the edge of the cafeteria. I forgot her cousin’s name, but I notice him sitting in the middle of the cafeteria, surrounded by friends. I’m surprised that she doesn’t sit by him.
Instead, we take a seat by
her friend Kaiden and some other guy. I met him earlier, but I can’t remember his name.
“Katerina, hey,” the boy says.
“Hey… you,” I say back.
“Madox,” the boy reminds me. “Madox Lockhart.”
“Right. Madox,” I say, hoping I can remember. Madox is a weird name, even for Americans.
“Do you remember my name?” Kaiden asks.
“Kaiden, yes,” I say.
“Katerina, how do you feel about zombie video games?” Madox asks me, right before taking a huge bite of his burger.
“Umm…”
“Privet,” a voice says behinds me. I turn around to see Tristan Thomas standing there.
“Privet,” I say, greeting him back. I need to figure out how good his Russian is. “Ya skychayu po russkoy kukni.”
“Something about Russian food,” Tristan says.
“I said that I miss Russian food.”
He takes a seat across from me, by Kaiden. “I’m not that advanced.”
“Who’s your friend?” Kaiden asks.
“Tristan,” I answer. “He’s new too. I think. Tristan, this is Kaiden and…”
Crap.
I forgot his name again.
“The name’s Madox,” he says. “I feel like I should be offended right now.”
Savannah laughs. “Madox, you’re just forgettable.”
“I’m just not used to some American names,” I say. “It’s my first trip here, and I’ve only been here about twelve hours.”
“How is your English so good?” Tristan asks.
“She has a British mom,” Kaiden answers for me. “Or I guess I should say mum.”
“Growing up, we tried to mostly speak English at home, unless we had company,” I explain to him. “I’m very comfortable speaking English and Russian.”
“Interesting,” Tristan says, typing something into his phone.
“Texting your girlfriend?” Savannah asks him.
“Nope,” he answers, putting his phone into his pocket. “Family stuff. Just my big brother.”
“No need to say more. I have two older brothers,” I say.
“Two?” he asks, as if he sounds surprised.
“Yep. Alik and Dimitri,” I answer.
He pulls out his phone and types something else into it.
“So… Katherine,” Madox says.
“Katerina,” Kaiden and Savannah correct him at the same time.
“I know. I was just trying to get her back for forgetting my name. Twice,” he says. “Anyway, are you going to the after curfew party on the soccer field?”
“I’d rather not get expelled on my first night here. My mum and dad might be angry,” I say, even though I’d like to go home, I’d rather not go home that way. “Besides, I don’t drink.”
Alcohol is a pretty big part of Russian culture, but my mum’s dad was an alcoholic. She’s told me a few stories, so I find alcohol to be vile and repulsive. I promised myself a long time ago I’d never touch the stuff. My dad and brother’s respect my mum by not drinking as well.
“You won’t get in trouble,” Savannah says. “The school knows we sneak out. They monitor it, which means there is never any alcohol.”
“I didn’t know they monitored it,” Madox says, sounding surprised.
“You haven’t noticed the cameras?” Kaiden asks.
“Nope,” he says.
Savannah shakes her head at Madox.
“I guess I will come. As long as there won’t be any trouble,” I say.
“Awesome!” Savannah half-says, half-sings.
Tristan, who is looking down at his phone, stands suddenly, mumbles a goodbye, and runs out of the dining hall.
What an odd guy.
One down.
After dinner, Savannah agrees to let me sleep from nine to eleven, and then wakes me in time to go to the party.
Really, I’d rather sleep. Sleep has been my friend longer than her. But I promised Alik I’d try to make it work here, so that’s what I’m doing. Maybe if I make friends and have fun, the time will pass quickly.
“Come on,” Savannah says, yelling at me from the other side of the window. She’s obviously had a lot of practice at sneaking out and doesn’t have any problems climbing out of a window.
“I’ve never done this before,” I say, finally jumping from the window. I nearly fall down. Savannah’s body blocks me from falling. She ends up loosing her footing and falls forward onto the ground.
Oops.
“That wasn’t so bad,” I say, holding out a hand to help her up.
“Didn’t you ever sneak out in Russia?” she asks, once I pull her up.
“There is a ten p.m. curfew for minors, so no. I really didn’t want to risk going to jail,” I say.
“Some American cities have curfews, but they don’t really enforce them,” she says. “But they’re usually midnight or later. Ten is so early.”
I shrug. “It’s never bothered me before.”
“Huh,” she says. “I guess Russia is a lot different than America.”
“Very,” I say. “But that’s not a bad thing.”
“Which do you prefer?”
“Russia,” I answer easily. “That is where my family is—where my life is.”
Savannah and I walk from our dorms towards the soccer field. It’s a pretty long walk, and we pass a lot of other sports fields along the way. As we get closer to the soccer field, I see that it is lit up. There is no way they could hide this from school security. I guess Savannah was right—the school is okay with us breaking curfew. I have to wonder if my parents would’ve sent me here if they knew. But then again, I never thought my parents would send me to an American school. If anything, I should be in England, where my mum is from.
I’ve been to London a lot. I go there every other summer to see my grandparents. We were supposed to go this summer… before everything happened. None of us felt like going. Instead, my grandparents came to visit us in Russia. We all had a great time and was sad when they went home.
“Katerina,” Savannah says, pulling me from my thoughts.
“What?” I ask.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Oh,” she says. “I’ve just been talking and you’ve stayed quiet. I hope I haven’t bored you by talking about COD.”
“COD?” I ask.
“Call of Duty,” she says, as if I should’ve known what it stood for. “Kaiden, Madox and I are playing all day tomorrow if you want to come. Just until the dance. We can teach you how to play.”
“Dance? What dance?” I ask.
“The Welcome Back to School dance,” she answers. “Anyway, do you want to play COD with us?”
“Not really,” I answer truthfully.
“Oh, okay,” she says, sounding disappointed. “What do you like to do?”
I think about her question and don’t know how to respond. I used to like reading before… but now, I don’t know.
“I don’t like sitting for long,” I answer. “I like to be busy and not have time to think.”
“Maybe you should join a sports team. They have a lot to offer here—dance, cheer, soccer, horseback riding, basketball, field hockey, track, lacrosse, tennis, golf, softball. I’m sure there is more that I can’t think of,” she says.
“Is there a ski team?” I ask, then wonder if it even snows here.
“No. But we are taking a ski trip in February,” she says. “We go every year and it’s always a blast.”
“Fun. So it snows here?” I ask.
“Oh, yeah. Usually it snows a lot,” she answers. “But we go to Colorado for the ski trip.”
I nod, having no idea where Colorado is.
“Savannah! Katerina!” Somebody from behind us yells.
We stop and turn around. Her cousin, who I can’t remember his name, comes running up to us.
“Hey, Asher,” Savannah says.
Asher. Right.
“Did you finish
introducing Katerina to everybody in the school?” he asks.
“About,” Savannah says, as we walk towards the fields. “At least the juniors and seniors.”
“So she can hang out with me then?” he asks her.
“Well, ask her. Not me,” she says.
“Katerina, come with me,” Asher says. “I want to show you something cool.”
“Umm…” I look at Savannah.
“Go,” she says. “You can meet up with me later.”
“Okay. I guess I will go then,” I say to Asher.
Savannah walks to the soccer field and I follow Asher towards the woods. I stop at the edge, looking at how dark it is in the thick trees.
“You coming?” Asher asks, turning to look at me.
“Yeah, it’s just really dark,” I say.
He pulls his phone out of his pocket, pushes a few buttons, and lights up part of the forest. It’s not super bright, but it’s better than the total darkness.
I walk beside Asher, silently hoping that he isn’t taking me out here to murder me. I’ve never been alone with a guy before and it’s kind of unnerving. My brothers have taught me self-defense, but Asher is a lot bigger than me. If nothing else, I can probably out run him, though I’m not sure how far I’ll get out here in the dark.
Then again, I think Savannah would know if her cousin was a murderer. I’m sure I’m fine.
“Do you miss Russia?” Asher asks.
“I miss my family,” I answer. Russia is my home. That’s what I miss—being home. I miss Mum, Dad, Alik and Dimitri.
“Most people here like to get away from their family,” he says, and I wonder if he’s including himself in that.
“It’s the other way for me. My family wanted to get away from me,” I say, even though it’s not true. It does feel that way lately, though. The sad part is, I can’t blame them for wanting to get away from me. Sometimes, I want to get away from me too.
“I doubt that,” Asher says. “You don’t seem like the kind of girl anybody tries to get away from.”
I don’t respond, because he hasn’t known me long enough to say something like that.
“Is America a lot different than Russia?” he asks.
Fate (New Hope Academy Book 1) Page 2
