Chapter 4 – Reverting to type

When Linka woke the morning after the party, she smiled. The sun was warm on her face, her bed was incredibly comfortable and before the memories of the previous day surfaced, she felt no inclination to move.

When the recollections did obtrude, her eyes snapped open and she gave a gasp as the brief hope she had entertained of finding herself back on Hope Island was shattered.

A moan from the sofa spurred her into action. Wheeler!

Scrambling out of his bed as quickly and as quietly as she could, Linka retrieved the shoes she'd kicked off the night before, took one last long look at her former team-mate, and headed for the exit. Re-locking the door, Linka slipped the key underneath it, back into the room for Wheeler to find, as if she'd never been there.

Sarah was still asleep when Linka entered their room, but the noise disturbed her. "Well, well, well." She smirked. "And where have you been? Or should I say, who have you been with?"

"Nice to know you were worried about me!" Linka snapped, in no mood to be teased.

The British girl rolled her eyes. "You knew where I was, come on Linka, dish!"

Fighting back tears, Linka checked that their shared bathroom was unoccupied, and entered it without answering, closing the door and locking both sides. The ex-Planeteer stripped off and got into the shower, letting the warm water flow over her and wishing it could wash away her feelings as easily as it washed away her tears.

Wheeler has everything he wanted, I wish I could forget too! After a few moments she shook her head. Nyet, I would not give up my memories, no matter how much it hurts to remember what I have lost. I am glad I do not have to face the others though, they had no say in this so I guess I owe them an apology.

Having taken a deep breath to steel herself for talking to Sarah, Linka returned to her room, only to find Brooke waiting for her instead.

The American law student rose quickly from the end of Linka's bed and moved to hug her friend. "Oh my God Linka! Sarah told me, are you going to be okay?"

"How did Sarah know?" Linka asked, confused, and not sure if she should be alarmed.

Brooke pulled her friend down to sit next to her on the bed. "You come home in the morning, crying and run for the shower? How is she not going to know?"

Linka's eyes widened as she realised what, or at least part of what her friends were thinking but before she could explain the American continued. "She actually found it funny! I can't believe she was so insensitive especially when it was her that dragged you there in the first place. I could have slapped her, she's such a hoebag! I mean she doesn't even know what happened… er... actually neither do I…? But if you don't want to talk about it I understand…"

The look on her friends face was apprehensive at best so Linka made haste to reassure her. "Nyet, Brooke… it was not… we did not…" She took a deep breath. "It is not anything like what you are thinking, I promise. I stayed with a friend after Sarah went off with Leroy but… nothing happened."

Surprised but clearly relieved, her friend asked. "Then why were you crying?"

"I…" Linka thought about making something up but did not want to lie, so she ended up telling a half truth. "I had a kind of a dream and it has been bothering me. My friend was in it and… it did not end well."

"Oh." Brooke was not sure what to say. "And you're sure you're alright?"

Linka smiled and nodded. "But thank you, I should have listened to you yesterday."

"You're welcome." Brooke grinned "I still think I should have slapped Sarah though, I can't believe she just left you like that, you could have gotten into all sorts of trouble!"

The blond nodded and stood up. "I did. Let me get dressed and I will tell you about it over breakfast."

The weekend had seemed to stretch on forever and though the lovely blond had told herself that she didn't want to meet Wheeler again, she still found herself looking for him everywhere she went.

Linka had gotten away with not mentioning who she'd spent the night with, but Sarah still didn't believe that nothing had happened and took every opportunity to tease her about it, so when Monday morning came, her classes were a welcome escape.

Except that the Russian girl was finding it very hard to concentrate and could not seem to stop thinking about her night out and the gentlemanly young man who had taken care of her.

"Why do I feel like I'm taking notes for two?" Brooke admonished her when they were finally free to have lunch.

Linka threw her a guilty look. "I am sorry, I do not know what is the matter with me."

It was a nice day so they elected to sit outside. Not two minutes after they found an empty bench and made themselves comfortable, Wheeler came to join them.

Sitting astride the bench seat so that he was facing Linka, he tucked his arms comfortably around her waist and gave her a sideways hug. "Hey Beautiful! I've been looking for you everywhere."

The temptation to simply turn and cuddle into his embrace was very strong but seeing Brookes eyes widen, Linka blushed and pulled away, though she did not move completely out of reach. "Please do not do that Wheeler… er… do you know Brooke?"

"Nope, pleased to meet you Brooke." He said in a careless but friendly manner.

"Likewise." The young woman replied, intrigued by her friend's new admirer.

He grinned at her briefly and then turned his attention back to Linka saying softly. "You didn't have to go like that, I didn't even have a way to contact you! And I had to work so it's not like I could go searching for you."

"Did it not occur to you." Linka said as coldly as she could. "That the reason I left like that was because I did not want you to contact me, let alone search for me."

Wheeler looked surprised. "No. Actually it didn't."

"Because you are so used to having any girl you want, no doubt." Linka continued.

The American frowned. "No… have I done something to offend you? Cos as I remember it, we were on better terms than this…"

Refusing to look at him, Linka shook her head. "I was upset. I am not normally anywhere near as defective."

"I don't think you mean 'defective' Babe…" He began.

"Whatever." She snapped in return and he held his hands up in surrender.

"Whoa, talk about getting up on the wrong side of the bed!" he retorted jovially, seemingly unbothered by her mood.

Irritated, Linka pointed out, "I could be like this all the time, you do not really know me."

"No but I'd like to. How about we go for dinner tonight and you can catch me up on everything I need to know." He picked up the textbook she'd left on the table and added. "Law student huh? Guess that makes you Legally Blond."

Linka glared at him and took the book back. "I do not understand, but I can tell it is one of your juvenile attempts at humour. And Nyet, I will not go out with you."

"Why not?" he asked disarmingly.

Risking a glance up into his eyes and seeing only sincerity, "I... I do not wish to start a relationship of any sort, with anyone... I am here to study."

"Not even friendships?" he asked, his eyes flicking to her companion almost daring her to lie.

"Brooke and I share classes and we will be interning together after Christmas... it makes sense for us to be friends." Linka sent a pleading look to the other girl, hoping she would take the hint and back her up.

Brooke nodded. "We've been talking about flat sharing next year too, neither of us get on well with our current roommates... Linka's very practical."

"Please understand Wheeler." Linka added softly, spoiling the effect of her earlier coldness. "I will be going back to Russia when I graduate anyway."

The red-head hesitated a moment, hurt and confusion in his eyes… but then the mask he had been perfecting nearly all his life slipped into place and he shrugged. "Guess I struck out huh?" Standing, "No problem, I'll leave you two lovely ladies to your lunch. Nice to meet you Brooke."

He was gone before she could reply, but she watched him return to his friends and shortly after begin to flirt with one of the girls, someone she could identify as a cheerleader. It was rather physical flirting.

Linka had been staring at her lunch in silence ever since he left.

"You spent the night with the most notorious flirt on campus and nothing happened?" Brooke prompted her friend.

Linka nodded.

"How come? I mean I'm not stupid enough to get caught by him but he is a hunk." The American girl studied Linka carefully. "Even you must have been tempted?"

Again Linka nodded.

"So why didn't you?" When there was no response Brooke sighed. "Linka I've seen you freeze out better looking guys with more intelligence than Wheeler… you sounded uninterested but your body language was telling a completely different story. I'm not surprised he was confused, not only did you not object to him touching you - like you usually do - you looked like you wanted to throw your arms around him or something."

Linka swallowed. "My head and my heart are not in complete agreement about this… just believe me when I say he is better off without me."

"Women are his hobby Linka, he doesn't need you to protect him." Brooke said firmly.

"He is not like that, not really." Linka objected, then followed her friends gaze as Brooke pointedly looked in the direction of the basketball team.

Wheeler had his arms around the pretty cheerleader and was apparently whispering in her ear.

Jealousy flared inside Linka but she managed to contain it. "That is different, besides I turned him down."

Brooke nodded, "I know. What I can't work out is why."

"Are you saying that you think I should have gone out with him?" The ex-Planeteer was frowning.

Brooke shook her head. "No… of course not, you'd only end up getting hurt."

"Then this is for the best, whatever my reasons, da?" Linka insisted.

"Well yes…" She hesitated and then asked "Linka you didn't mean what you said right? About going back home after you graduate? I thought that part of the reason for taking up the scholarship was so that you could get a better paid job over here instead of back in Russia?"

The pause before the lovely blond responded was just a little too long. "Nyet, I was just saying that. He will be leaving next year anyway and even if I did run into him again, it is plenty of time for me to 'change my mind' in."

"Did I hear right?" Sarah's sharp voice interrupted them. "Did you just turn down Wheeler?"

Brooke sighed. "She really doesn't miss much, does she?"

"You'll never guess what I heard!" Sarah announced as she entered their dorm room a few days later.

Not looking up from her books, the Russian replied. "I wont try then."

"What? Oh. Don't be silly." She sat down on Linka's bed. "Reena has been trying to get her claws into Wheeler all year."

"She is the cheerleader da?" Linka said absently, pretending she wasn't really interested.

"Da." Sarah repeated smartly. "One of them... actually, according to rumour she's the only one of them he hasn't..."

"Is there a point to this?" Linka cut her off quickly, blushing slightly and wishing she could run away and hide.

Sarah's eyes gleamed with amusement at Linka's reaction. "He got overly serious sometime last year and started concentrating on his studies, the girls have been falling over themselves for his attention ever since. When you rejected him though, he started acting up." She took a breath. "He was flirting outrageously with Reena but when she turned up at his house that night he didn't want to know and he still doesn't! She's fuming, and you're so not her favourite person!"

"Me?" Linka asked surprised.

"Who else? If he wasn't stuck on you, why not just take what she was offering? She's not a complete spang after all." Sarah said reasonably. "Even after his sudden dedication to all things academic, he kept things up with a couple of the girls... Reena's humiliated."

Linka blushed. "It is not my fault. He is free to be with who he chooses."

"I know, but Reena still resents it, who wouldn't? I still can't believe you turned him down, he's got a body to die for!" Sarah pouted.

Rolling her eyes, Linka said. "It would not hurt you to turn someone down once in a while."

"I do..." Her friend smirked. "But not if they're hot!"

Linka returned to her studies, a strange feeling in her stomach. On the one hand she didn't want Wheeler to be hurt by her again, on the other… how could she not be happy that he didn't like someone else?

Wheeler ignored David as he dropped down beside him under the shade of a tree, on the campus lawn. After a moment the tall, athletic young man leaned over to look at what his friend was drawing. "Isn't that Brookes friend? The Russian one?"

"Yeah. Linka." Wheeler said, looking up in surprise. "You know her?"

The dark haired boy shrugged, a faint blush colouring his cheeks. "I know Brooke… er… we play football together… a group of us do that is." He cleared his throat.

Chuckling Wheeler nodded. "Oh yeah?"

"It's not… we're not… I mean." He cleared his throat again.

"Relax Davy, I get what you mean." He looked down at the sketch he'd been working on, frowning slightly.

David smiled. "You've got it bad, mate."

"What do you mean?" Wheeler asked in surprise.

"She's a looker but the way you've drawn her is… something else." His friend grinned.

Wheeler's frown deepened. "I tried to make it accurate…"

"I know." David nodded. "That's what I mean, your pictures are always accurate, that means that's how you see her… as in more than perfect."

"She is! It's not just how she looks though…" The red-head tried to explain. "There's just something about her… she radiates this energy and she's… sensitive, kind." He sighed. "I don't know what's the matter with me!"

David's grin grew wider. "I already told you, you're 'In Lurv'."

Wheeler shook his head and looked away. "Don't be ridiculous, I've barely spoken to her… she just… there's something about her…" He sighed again and put his pad down so that he could rub his face. "I'm going crazy."

"So ask her out." David shrugged.

"I did." Wheeler set his jaw. "She said no."

David stared at him a moment and then burst out laughing. "You actually had a girl turn you down? That's terrific! I like her already."

"Gee thanks man." Wheeler replied sulkily. "Go ask Brooke out why don't you?"

The Englishman ignored him. "That's what it is then, you don't like being rejected."

"I know it's hard to believe, but I have been rejected before." The New Yorker said sarcastically. Then he picked up his sketchbook again and stared at his picture. "It just never bothered me before. They didn't matter, there was always someone else."

David looked at his friend closely. "And now…?"

"I tried." Wheeler replied. "I tried not to care, not to think about her… it's just not working."

"Is that why you cut our Art History lecture this afternoon?" He teased.

Wheeler nodded. "That, and it sends me to sleep."

They both laughed, but then Wheeler returned to his silent contemplation of the image before him. "It was weird though… she acts like we're old friends but she told me outright that she didn't want to know me at all." He looked up at David. "What would you do?"

"Me? I can't even get the courage up to ask out a girl I've liked for two years!" The attractive guy sighed. "I'd avoid her."

Wheeler smiled. "No you wouldn't… you couldn't… I can't." He grimaced. "I do need to avoid Reena though, I kinda got a bit too friendly with her."

"Kinda?" David raised an eyebrow.

The handsome American shook his head. "I was showing off… trying to get Linka's attention. I know it was stupid and immature but she just has that effect on me and it was right after she told me where to go too."

David laughed. "Did it work?"

"I don't suppose so, I don't think she noticed and it's not the sort of thing that would impress her if she did." Wheeler shrugged. "But now Reena seems to think I'm hiding feelings for her, she even came to the house… I… er… don't suppose I could crash at your place for a couple of days?"

"'Course you can mate." The other replied. "Don't forget we've got The Exhibition coming up though, you don't want to lose time on your work."

Wheeler rubbed his face again. "I'm mostly done, besides I've got physics studies to do for a test next week, I could use the extra peace and quiet."