Eventually I hear Raslan and Katerina say goodbye, so I walk through the joining door and see Katerina sitting on the edge of her bed, with tears running down her face.
“Are you okay?” I ask her.
She wipes away the tears. “I’m fine. Just… talking to him brought back a lot of memories. Good ones and bad ones. I really miss my brother a lot. I knew talking with him would be hard.”
I’m not sure what to say to her. No matter what I say, the pain of losing him will still be there. I know the pain of losing somebody I love all too well. Instead of saying anything, I just sit down beside her. She leans her head over on my chest, and I put my arm around her. I’m not used to the whole touching thing. It feels foreign, but I like touching Katerina.
“We have a lot to catch up on,” I tell her.
“Did you find my mum yet?” she asks, sitting up to look at me. “Well, obviously you haven’t since she’s not here. She would be here. Is she okay? What about Damon? Is he safe? And Salvador?”
“We haven’t found you mom,” I say. “I’m sorry.”
“I was hoping Salvador would help…”
“He has. A lot,” I say. “They moved your mom. But we’re going to find her. Your dad and older brother, Dimitri, have been working hard. They’re not going to give up. And the United States is helping all they can.”
“The United States is helping my dad?” she asks.
“I do have a lot to catch you up on,” I say. “About five years ago, your dad turned himself in to the Russian authority. He said that he couldn’t keep living life like that. But Russia made a deal with him. They would forgive all his crimes if he helped take down the terrorist group that he started. So your dad agreed. The last five years he’s been working undercover.”
She smiles. “I knew it! I knew my dad wasn’t a bad guy! Neither is Dimitri, right?”
“Right. Your dad tried to stop Dimitri from joining and helping, but there wasn’t much he could do,” I say. “I mean, your brother is old enough to make his own decisions.”
“I understand. I want to help too,” she says.
“No way. I’m not letting you help. It’s my job to help.”
She laughs. “Like you could stop me.”
“You were just kidnapped. And you’re in high school,” I say. “Right now, I am just trying to keep you from getting taken again. Or worse.”
“Worse…” she says, then her eyes widen. “Meaning I would die.”
I nod.
“Right. On second thought, maybe I’ll stay here with you,” she says. “What about Damon? How is he? The medicine they gave us seemed to make him loopy.”
“He’s fine,” I answer. “He’s already seen a doctor. Right now, he is in a secure location.”
“Secure? Why?”
“Because Matthews and Rafael are still out there.”
“How?” she asks. “I thought…”
“They weren’t with you when you guys were moved,” I say. “Salvador is trying to help. He’s given us as much information as he knows. But he’s only a kid. He only knew what Rafael told him, which wasn’t much.”
“Oh,” she says. “So, is Salvador going to New Hope Academy now?”
“Yeah,” I answer. “That’s one weird kid. He could ask for anything and he asked to go to school in America. He said you made it sound fun. I didn’t even think you liked being in America.”
“It has grown on me,” she says, now looking at me. “There is this really cute American boy that I kind of have a crush on. And maybe he’s a little too old for me. And sure, he’s basically getting paid to babysit me. But someday, I will convince him that we’re completely perfect for each other.”
“I think that maybe the guy already knows,” I say. “You know, that you and him are perfect for each other.”
“Maybe I just don’t want to wait until my seventeenth birthday,” she says. “Maybe I want him to be my boyfriend now.”
“I think it’s the guys job to ask the girl,” I say, getting up from her bed. I do not want to ask Katerina to be my girlfriend the day after she was rescued from being kidnapped by a terrorist group. And definitely not when I can’t even take her out of a proper date.
I like Katerina. A lot.
Which is a problem.
I’ve never dated a girl for more than a few weeks. Mostly because girls are all clingy. My main focus is bringing down this terrorist group. They killed my mom and dad and two of my siblings. I can’t lose focus. And when I’m around Katerina, I lose my focus a lot.
“Are you ready to head back to the states?” I ask her.
“I guess so,” she says, looking disappointed.
She was hoping I would make it official. I know she was. And I want to. Badly I do.
But what if she gets annoying like the other girls?
I don’t want to break her heart. I actually like her.
Which means I should definitely wait until her seventeenth birthday like I originally told her.
It’s for the best.
FOUR
Does anybody knock?
Katerina.
We get back to America late Thursday night. Tristan gives me one day to sleep before we get back to training. My body is sore, but I’m excited to get moving again. Alik meets us early Saturday morning to train with us, which is probably for the best.
Tristan isn’t exactly talking to me right now.
Well, he’s talking. About the weather. And school. And other unimportant things. But that’s it. Everything is really awkward and I kind of don’t know how to act. How are we supposed to keep pretending like we don’t have feelings for each other until my seventeenth birthday?
I think I liked it better before I knew Tristan had feelings for me. Or maybe he doesn’t have them anymore. Maybe that’s the problem. Maybe I hit his two week mark when it comes to dating. Maybe he has changed his mind.
“Why do boys have to be so complicated?” I ask Savannah, while we’re getting ready for breakfast.
She laughs. “You’re asking me?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve never had a boyfriend,” she says.
“Yeah, but you have Kaiden and Madox.”
“I can’t even begin to understand what is going on inside of their brains,” she says. “We play video games and hang out, but it’s not like having a girl friend. They don’t exactly talk about their feelings.”
“What do they talk about?”
“Video games. Movies. Superheroes. That’s about it,” she says. “Which is fine with me. I’m not exactly a talk about your feelings kind of girl anyway.”
“I kind of thought you and Kaiden were kind of… sort of… dating.”
“Me and Kaiden? That… no… it would… he… and I… no. Just not happening. Ever,” she says. “Besides, he’s my best friend. If I had feelings for him, it would completely ruin everything. And I can’t do that. Him and Madox are my only friends in this school. I mean, besides you, but you’re always getting kidnapped with the president’s son.”
“I’ve only been kidnapped with him once,” I say. “The other time, I was hiding with Tristan.”
“See, you’re good at the whole guy thing,” she says. “You’ve got Damon and Tristan.”
“Damon and I broke up. And Tristan is… well, obviously not interested in me anymore,” I say. “I mean, I knew it was too good to be true anyway. He’s… like, way out of my league.”
“Whatever, Katerina. You’ve got that whole mysterious thing going on. And then there is the Russian thing. Guys like accents,” she says. “He would be crazy not to like you. Even if he is older. Plus, you’re crazy gorgeous.”
Our dorm room opens up and Alik walks inside.
“Ever heard of knocking?” I ask him.
“Sorry,” he says, then knocks on the open door. “Just wanted to check on you.”
“And the five bodyguards standing outside my window and door aren’t enough?” I ask.
He shrugs.
“I think I like accents too,” Savannah says. “So, he’s really your brother, right?”
“Yeah, but don’t waste your time,” I say, looking from Alik to her. “He’s worse than Tristan. I think the longest Alik has been interested in a girl is a week. And even that is pushing it with him. Mum swears he’s going to be a bachelor forever.”
“Hey, I dated that one girl a week and a half,” Alik says, not even remembering her name.
“She was gone on vacation with her family for eight days and you couldn’t get ahold of her to break up with her. You even dated somebody else during that time,” I say. “That doesn’t count.”
“Maybe you should ask him whatever you were going to ask me,” Savannah says.
“What?” Alik asks.
“Nothing,” I say.
Because, I am so not talking to Alik about boys. If Eduard were around, maybe I would ask him. But not Alik.
“I think her and Tristan are having problems,” Savannah says.
“We are not,” I say, turning to look at Savannah. “And you’re such a traitor. What happened to girl code?”
“Girl code?” she asks. “I have two guy best friends. I wasn’t aware there was such a thing as girl code.”
“I don’t know. I’ve seen it in movies.”
“Is that where I’m not supposed to date your ex-boyfriend or something? Cause you don’t have to worry about that. Even if I were interested in Damon or Tristan, they so wouldn’t be interested in me,” she says. “I’m a nerd, remember? Besides, I’m kind of in love with…” her voice cuts short. “Ssssomebody else.”
“I knew it! It’s Kaiden, isn’t it?”
“I’m not saying,” she says.
“What do you mean she’s having problems with Tristan?” Alik asks. He puts a hand on my shoulder. “Kat, did he break up with you? I mean, I thought the two of you were acting weird during training this morning. You weren’t doing that weird flirty thing you guys do.”
“We don’t flirt,” I say.
“Do too,” Savannah and Alik say at the same time.
Okay, maybe we flirt a little.
“Am I going to have to beat him up?” Alik asks. “I mean, I was starting to kind of like the guy. But it doesn’t matter how much I like him, I will hurt him if he hurts you. Nobody messes with my baby sister.”
“No, you don’t need to beat him up. I can take care of myself,” I say. “Tristan is older. And clearly he’s not interested in me. So we can just drop it. I’m over it.”
“Over what?” Tristan asks, walking into my dorm.
“Does anybody knock around here?” I ask.
“Privacy went out the window when you got kidnapped,” he says.
“Fine. Just don’t follow me to the bathroom,” I say, stomping off towards the small bathroom in my dorm.
I really, really wish they would catch Rafael and Matthews already. I’m kind of over this whole being babysat thing.
Ex-terrorist.
“Salvador seems to be fitting in really nicely,” I say to Alik as we walk into the dining hall that morning for breakfast. It’s so nice to be back at New Hope Academy that I almost don’t care that everybody is staring.
“Yeah, the freshman girls love his Russian accent,” Alik says, motioning to the table he’s sitting at.
I notice Jade watching him from a distance.
“Hey, have you met Jade yet?” I ask Alik.
“Yeah. I introduced myself to her before you got kidnapped.”
“We should introduce her to Salvador,” I say.
I was supposed to introduce her to Damon, but then we got kidnapped. I don’t know when he will be back at school. So I need to make it up to her.
I walk over to the table where Salvador is sitting. He’s surrounded by freshman girls. All of them giggling, which makes me want to laugh.
“Hey, Salvador,” I say. “Nice to see you outside of a basement.”
“Katerina, thank you for getting me into this lovely school,” he says, then switches to Russian. “The girls here like my accent.”
“Of course they do.” I laugh. “Want to meet my cousin Jade? She’s a freshman too.”
One of the girls beside him rolls her eyes. “Jade Bello is your cousin?”
“Yeah,” I say, forcing a smile. I don’t like the way she said it with disgust in her voice. “She’s awesome.”
“No she’s not. She doesn’t talk to anybody,” another girl says.
“Like we care,” the first girl says. “Her mom is the dean. We wouldn’t be friends with her anyway.”
I am about to tell the girl off. Nobody talks about my cousin that way. But then Salvador stands up.
“I’d like to meet her,” Salvador says.
“Stay here,” one of the girls says, pouting.
Wow.
This is really weird.
“Sorry, ladies. I’ll talk to you at lunch, or something,” Salvador says.
He follows me over to where Jade is sitting. She’s got the whole table to herself, which is incredibly sad. She’s got on a pair of headphones and an open book in front of her. When she sees us walk up, the pulls the headphones from her ears.
“Hey, Katerina. Alik,” she says.
“Have you met Salvador?” I ask her.
“No.” She face turns pink. “Um, hi, Salvador.”
“This is my cousin, Jade Bello,” I tell him.
“Your cousin kind of looks like you,” Salvador says, taking a seat in front of her. “So, what are you listening to?”
“It’s just… umm…” she holds out a headphone for him. “You just have to listen.”
Salvador takes the headphone and puts it up to his ear. He grins. “Vivaldi. Nice. Which piece is your favorite?”
“Summer,” she answers.
“We’re just going to go,” I say, grabbing Alik’s arm and pulling him behind me.
Jade and Salvador don’t look at us as we walk away.
“Did you just set our cousin up with a Russian terrorist?” Alik asks.
“Ex-terrorist,” I say. “And he wasn’t really a terrorist. His dad is. He never had a choice.”
“Whatever,” he says. “Let’s just eat.”
I look at my table, where Tristan is waiting on us. “I don’t want breakfast.”
“Why not?” he asks.
“Because, I don’t want to see Tristan right now,” I answer.
“He’s your bodyguard and trainer. You can’t avoid him forever,” Alik says. “And my offer to beat him up still stands.”
“It’s okay,” I say. “It’s not his fault that he’s not interested in me.”
“Why do you think he’s not interested?” Alik asks, as he walks with me out of the cafeteria. My brother is sacrificing breakfast for me. He never gives up food for anybody. I love him for it.
“Because, when we were in Russia, he basically told me so,” I say.
“How so?” Alik asks.
“Well, I was straight with him and told him, this is how I feel,” I answer. “And I may have asked him to be my boyfriend. Then he said it was the guy’s job to ask the girl. But he didn’t ask. We just stood there awkwardly for a few seconds and he changed the subject. That’s it.”
“That doesn’t mean he’s not interested,” he says.
“Maybe. But then he didn’t talk to me on the way back,” I say. “And he barely talks to me now that we’re back on campus. It’s like he changed his mind about me. I mean, if you’re interested in a girl, you don’t ignore her.”
“I don’t get it,” Alik says. “I thought he was really into you.”
I shrug my shoulders.
I’m not going to pretend to understand guys.
And guys say girls are complicated.
The most honest.
Everywhere I go, bodyguards follow me. And I was sort of used to it, with Tristan following me and Damon’s bodyguards, but this is different. They’re closer than ever and really, really obnoxiou
s. Is this what Damon always went through? I feel bad for him.
The worst part of it all? Tristan is still here. And he’s not talking to me. And I hate every second of silence. But I don’t want to say anything, because everybody is watching me. Maybe a little because I’m scared of rejection. As if rejection isn’t bad enough, being rejected with an audience sounds ten times worse.
In the student lounge, my bodyguards aren’t the only ones watching me. So are the other students. I know they’re curious about what happened to me, but I’m beginning to feel a bit like an animal in a zoo.
They’re also curious because Damon isn’t back. His dad wasn’t comfortable sending him back to school here, not that I can blame him.
“I have got to get out of here,” I say to one of my bodyguards standing close by.
He says something into his phone. I hear an “all clear,” come back through.
“It’s safe to head outside,” he tells me.
Oh my gosh. Do I really have to have permission do leave a room?
“Thanks,” I say to him, knowing that it’s not his fault. He’s just doing his job. Which unfortunately is to babysit me. Bodyguard. Babysit. Whatever. He’s being forced to follow around a sixteen year old girl. That’s got to be boring for a thirty-something year old man.
I walk outside and a burst of cold air hits me in the face. It’s not that cold, not as cold as it was in Russia, but it’s almost November. I like the cold though. It reminds me of home. Even though I spent a few days in Russia, it’s not the same. I wasn’t at home. And I didn’t see my mum. She’s still kidnapped. I just hope my dad finds her soon.
Tristan walks out the door and looks at me. I’m just standing in the sunlight, trying to clear my mind. There is too much bad stuff going on right now.
“Are you okay?” he asks, walking up beside me.
“I’m fine.”
Tristan turns to my bodyguards. “Why don’t you guys do a perimeter sweep. I’ll stay with Katerina.”
The two turn and walk in separate directions.
“Want to sit down?” Tristan asks me, motioning towards a bench.
Wish Page 4
