Chapter 1
All Natalia wanted was a simple school life. Spend time in classes, join a club, study, and ultimately make her older brother fall in deep, unconditional love with her. Simple, average schoolgirl thoughts.
Though her first problem began with the school.
World Academy, they called it. A school located on an island somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. They claimed that the strange location was because no country would own it, making it completely independent, all choices made by their benefactors and donators. To Natalia, this all translated to complete shit.
Independent? The choices were made rich, eccentric men whose other "benefactions" were their local brothel and yacht shop. Not to mention, having students from all over the world and giving them one set of curriculum had to the idea of a madman. Education systems and years varied from country to country, sometimes even state to state. Thinking about it was the mental equivalent to hearing metal scrape against stone.
Yet here she was, in her dorm with her plaid jumper and black tights replacing her usual dress and petticoats, tightening a necktie around the collar of a white blouse. She took a final glance in the mirror, absolutely disgusted by herself. It's for Ivan, she reminded herself. When he talked about enrolling, she immediately followed him. She had to protect him. If any girl came too close to Ivan...well...Let's just say that there was a very good reason she kept a knife strapped to her thigh.
"Nat," a familiar voice came through the door. "Are you ready? Your classes are starting soon."
It was Katyusha. Natalia's lips thinned into a line. She didn't need Katyusha to interfere with her plans.
"Go away," she stated bluntly.
"Natalia, it's your first day, I don't want you to get l-"
Natalia opened the door, her cheeks burning red. "I'm fine."
Katyusha left quietly. "I'll see you at lunch then."
"See you then." Just when she was about to let out a sigh of relief, a golden-haired boy stood in front of her, adjusting his glasses. Something about him radiated a sunny aura.
"You must be Kat's little sis," he said. "C'mon, you gotta nicer to her, she's a really cool girl! Someone as nice as her deserves, like, chocolate and flowers just about every single day. Trust me, I've got an older brother, he's-" the boy sucked air through his teeth- "well, I don't exactly have any words to say."
"One, don't care. Two, why are you in the girls' dorm?"
"I kinda help the cleaning ladies if I wake up early enough."
Natalia shifted her weight to one leg and crossed her arms. "Three, can you go away?"
His eyes dodged down the hallway then back to Natalia. "And leave a damsel in distress like you? You're new here, aren't you?" His blue eyes brightened. Natalia's fingers itched to reach for her knife.
"Yes?"
"Then I'll give you a tour! Jones' Supreme Tour of WA! It's a classic, I swear." Natalia opened her mouth to speak, but before her mouth could even form the word "no", she found her being pulled by the hand. They dashed out of the dorm into the courtyard where all eyes fell upon them followed by a series of whispers and giggles. Natalia's cheeks reddened.
He stopped suddenly and without warning. Natalia tripped and fell over and crashed into the concrete as students laughed all around her—or would have, had the boy not steadied her by the shoulders. He smelled of a strange mix of tall pines and cinnamon. She pushed him away immediately.
"Hey, get your cleavage out of my face. I don't even know your name, for one."
He giggled, sounding strangely childish. He lifted an eyebrow. "A bit vulgar for a girl, don't you think?"
"I"ve been told. Name?"
He held out his hand. "Alfred. Alfred F. Jones. And you?"
She stared at his hand but refused to even touch it. "Natalia Arlovskaya."
"Natalia! Your name's Natalia!"
She took a step backwards. "Is there something funny about my name?"
"No, it's nothing like that! It's just Natalia's just a really good name for nicknames."
"..."
"Like there's Tali, Lia, Tals, Lee, and...Nat." He smiled. "I think Nat fits you well. Mind if I call you that?"
"Yes."
He ruffled her hair. "Nat it is then!"
She readjusted her hair, straightening out her bow. "W-wait, I didn't mean 'yes', it's okay to call me Nat. I mean 'yes' like 'no'."
He tilted his head and scrunched his eyebrows. "No idea what you just said." Another smile. "Nat it is!"
Natalia crossed her arms and scoffed. "And if I call you Alfie? Perhaps Al."
"Sure, if ya like!"
"I was joking."
"Huh, really? Couldn't really tell. Then what would you call me?"
"By the name your mother gave you. Alfred."
Alfred. The second problem was named Alfred.
The third problem revealed itself during lunch hour. Finally torn apart from Alfred, Natalia found herself relieved to do all her schoolwork. Or would have, had Ivan not be sitting right in front of her. Back home, she was an ace student, president of the debate team and a constant contender for student of the year. Here, she found herself lost in Ivan's silvery locks, and when she intentionally dropped an eraser to get him to pick it up, his beautiful violet eyes. The teacher's words muddied themselves to nothing, and the words on her assignment seemed to curl and change until only Ivan's name appeared, repeating over and over.
"You have to be a little bit more careful than that, sis," he said, smiling warmly as he picked up her eraser. Natalia blushed and nodded so quickly that her hair whipped around and nearly hit the girl behind her.
"Of course," she muttered to him.
A ring sounded through the classroom. Lunch.
Natalia stuffed her papers and pencils into her bag as quickly as possible. "Um, Ivan, how about we-"
She looked up. Ivan was already gone. Natalia chewed on the inside of her cheek as she shoved her final textbook into her bag. Exactly how fast could a single man walk? If she didn't know any better, she would've thought that Ivan was avoiding her.
No, she told herself. It wasn't like that. Ivan secretly loved her, right? He wasn't avoiding her; he was probably too flustered to even face her.
"Huh? You don't look like a third year." A female voice thick with a Hungarian accent said over her shoulder. Natalia turned around, finding the unfortunate girl who sat behind her during class. She ran a hand through her ponytailed brown hair and fiddled with the flower in her hair. "Don't tell me you're that first year?"
Natalia shot daggers at her. "What do you mean by 'that first year'?"
"Rumor has it that there's a first year taking all third year classes. Is that you?"
She only did it to have the chance to be with Ivan. "Yes..." she said with caution.
"Little genius, aren't you?" The girl smiled. "I'm Elizaveta. Me and a couple friends are going to the cafeteria for some lunch, do you wanna come with-"
"No thank you," Natalia said bluntly. It's a prank, something in the back of her mind told her. They're probably going to ditch you in the middle of the road or lock you in a bathroom. Images from her childhood flashed through her mind. Ivan's the only person I need. Ivan's the only person I need.
"Are you sure?" Elizaveta placed a hand on her shoulder. "You're looking a little pa-"
"I-I'm fine!" Her voice erupted through the empty classroom. She shrugged off Elizaveta's hand. "I don't want to."
Elizaveta took a step back, her expression a bit hurt. She tossed her bag over her shoulder. "I'm not going to force you to do anything, but the opportunity stands if you change your mind." Natalia pushed past her and exited the classroom.
Ivan. Ivan. Ivan. Ivan. Where is he? Natalia tossed her head back and forth in search of her brother. She searched the cafeteria and courtyard all over for him. Where is he? H-he's not hiding, is he? Her fingers clutched tight to the hem of her skirt. If he's with some other girl, I swear I'll-
Natalia's eyes widened with glee as she spotted him, sitting atop a tree stump with four other boys. He was obviously the most handsome of all of them. One looked much too old to be in a high school while another looked he had hamsters taped above his eyes. Another looked like he picked out his uniform blind, his sleeves much too long, and the last one-
"Hey, Nat!" He called out to her, so loud that the entire courtyard could practically hear him. "Come sit with us!" Natalia shook her head in refusal at first before her gaze locked with Ivan's. Then she sighed, and took Alfred's offer, walking towards the group of boys. I'm stuck with a bunch of penises, she thought grimly.
Alfred ruffled her hair. "Dude, I didn't see you all day! First years and second years have classes in the same wing, you know. Wave hello to me sometime."
"I'm taking all third year classes."
Natalia swore she saw Alfred's expression falter a bit. That can't be,she reminded herself. He's only known me for a day. No person could possibly be so kind, right?
Her gaze fell from Alfred then moved to Ivan. She smiled. "It's nice how we have so many classes together, right Ivan?"
"O-of course. It's always fun to spend more time with my...dear, little sister." The two of them made eye contact.
Natalia smiled. Her heart pulsed, and butterflies soared through her stomach as the two of them talked. Every single word she said felt like a dream, and every response he had was heaven. Before the two of them noticed, lunch had ended. Glee filled every single bit of Natalia's pores.
"Ivan, we have History together, don't we?"
"Y-yes, I believe so."
She latched herself onto his arm, and smiled warmly. Ivan looked at her nervously.
"It's fine," she reassured him. "We're brother and sister, remember?"
"O-of course." He sighed. He hooked his arm with hers and the two of them walked through the courtyard and into the hallway. Eyes darted towards them. They're probably thinking about how cute we are together! She looked to Ivan, who had turned beet red with embarrassment.
"Ivan, are you o-"
He clenched his teeth. His grip on her arm grew painfully tight. "Natalia, may I see you alone?" He said through his teeth
Natalia's eyes widened. A confession? She couldn't even manage to speak. Instead, she nodded as furiously as humanly possible. She followed him into an empty hallway, her vision rose-tinted and dreamy. What dates would they go on? Who would be the first one to say "I love you"? And most importantly, how would their wedding look like?
"I want you to stop following me around."
If it was possible for the human heart to shatter, Natalia experienced it. "W-what?" She looked into Ivan's eyes, his violet eyes full of fury. He was angry. She never saw him angry.
"You've been embarrassing all day! Quit it!" He clasped both hands on her shoulders and shook her silly, knocking all her previous thoughts out of her head. "Is this some kind of prank you had in mind?"
"To h-hurt you? I would never do anything like that?"
"During lunch, you spoke over every single person. When I asked any of them a question, you were the one who responded. During class, you kept on dropping your eraser to interrupt my work! You even had the nerve to grab my arm for the sake of making people stare at us!" Natalia had seen Ivan's temper rise now and again, but it was always to protect her. It was the first time it had been directed at her.
Her eyes darted to the ground. She didn't want to see his face marred with that expression. "That wasn't the idea." Her heart beat fast in her chest. It's time. Her hands gripped into fists and she looked at Ivan in the eye. "I-I love you, Ivan! Ever since we were in that orphanage together, I've loved you. I-I mean, look, fate brought together, hasn't it? Here we are. Most kids in that orphanage end up countries apart. I just want to be closer to you, Ivan."
Ivan's expression softened. "I see. So that's why you've been acting so weirdly." He sighed. "Natalia, you're forgetting something."
The remainders of her heart twisted in pain. "What?"
"We're brother and sister."
"But we're both adopted."
"Still counts."
She took a step forward. He took a step back. She bit her lip.
"But if we weren't, would you love me?"
He paused for a moment, then nodded his head. "Yes, I would. When we were kids, I loved you. Probably more than you loved me. But ever since we became siblings, I told myself that it wasn't possible. I gave you up. You should give me up too."
"But-"
She saw Ivan's expression harden, and closed her mouth. "I understand," she muttered and walked in the other direction.
"The class in the other direction."
"I know." She didn't dare turn around. Her eyes were watering. "I just don't want to see you right now." She didn't know where she went after that. Her eyes were too blurred with tears, and pain pounded in her chest. But she knew she was there for a long time. She saw the blue sky fade to orange, and the sun lower into the hills.
You'd think she'd run out of tears to cry. But even after several hours, she was still sobbing tears.
"Hey, are you okay?" Natalia looked up. She blinked away tears to see the familiar face of a particular golden-haired boy before more tears came to replace her vision. If this was any other day, she would've spewed out an expletive-laced insult. But today...
"Why can't I stop crying?" She muttered, swiping at the tears with her already soaked sleeve cuffs.
He kneeled down beside her and rubbed tiny circles into her back with the palm of his hand. "I guess the human body's just weird that way." He paused. "Hey Nat, your sister's been looking for you all afternoon."
"I don't want to show my face to her. Not after...fuck, I can't even say his name anymore."
"It's okay, Ivan told me what happened."
"What, that I'm an incestuous freak with an obsession with him? That he never wants to see me again?"
"That he's worried about you," he said firmly. "He's still your brother, you know."
"Yeah, but now there's this huge wall between us. How am I supposed to even talk to him? I've never cared about any other person than him. I've pissed off every person other than him. I don't have any friends, and I'm intimidating as hell. What am I supposed to do?"
Alfred smiled. "Well, you're at a new school. I don't know if you believe in perfect opportunities, but I think one has presented itself to you." He pointed at his chest. "And I'm perfectly welcome to be your guardian angel until then. Deal?" He held out his hand.
A momentary shot of impulse coursed through her veins. All walls that she built to protect herself crumbled to the ground as her hand grasped around his. "Deal."