***Thank you to Romitri99, Dustyrose2009, emadoll616, Nuuk, Vinaa Belikova, VAvixin69, Guest, TheProlificWriterGirl, Bobbi-Leigh, Jess-KiwiGirl14, and omarosa27 for reviewing the last chapter! I greatly appreciate it. I start back at school tomorrow, so I am unsure of when the next update will be. This chapter ran a little bit longer than I had originally planned it to be, so enjoy! –skd***
"Roza!"
I ignored his calls and reached the side door to the hotel just as someone else was coming out. I caught the door handle before it could close and slipped inside, walking towards the stairs. I was halfway up the third-floor staircase by the time I heard Dimitri start climbing the stairs as well. It wasn't until I reached the door that I remembered that I didn't have the keycard to get into the room.
Down the hall, I saw the stairwell door start to open and swore, knowing that Dimitri was almost to me and that he was probably going to make me talk about what I had said in the car. As Dimitri appeared in the doorway, my shopping bags held in one hand, the door to the hotel room swung open and revealed Ivan. I didn't bother asking him what he was doing here and simply pushed past him, and into the bathroom, locking the door behind me.
By the time I had finished with my shower, the entirety of the mirror was fogged up, including the tiny, portable makeup mirror. As I started drying off, I realized that my mistake in rushing to get away from Dimitri was that he still had all of my clothes from the car. I could either put on the clothes that I had worn back from the mall or just wrap the towel around myself and stick my head outside the door to ask for clothes.
"Rose?" Ivan called through the door, knocking. "I have your clothes."
I cracked the door and stuck my hand out for the bag. I felt the plastic handles and jerked the bag safely back into the bathroom. I dug through it and realized that Ivan had put everything I would need in one bag instead of just handing me all the bags. I rolled my eyes at his choice of undergarments as I slid into them and pulled the fitted grey sleepshirt over my head before sliding into the silky black shorts.
When I came out of the bathroom, both men were standing by the desk, glaring at each other. The hangers clanged together as I reached for the dirty clothes bag, drawing their attention to me. Neither said anything, but I could feel both of them looking over my body.
"Take a picture; it'll last longer," I snapped. I turned away from the closet to glare at both of them, putting my hands on my hips. Dimitri cleared his throat and looked away, while Ivan pulled his phone out of his pocket. Dimitri knocked it out of his hand without a word.
"If you're going to act like animals, take it outside," I snapped, walking to my bed. "I need my sleep."
"Sorry, Rose," Dimitri spoke, hesitating, almost calling me Roza again. Shortly afterward, Ivan also chimed in with a gritted "sorry", and I suspected that he was forced to apologize.
As I lay curled up on the bed, covers pulled up to my chin and facing towards the window, I could hear the men having a conversation in heated whispers. Suddenly, both voices stopped, and a moment later, I heard the door slam shut. I flinched and whoever was left in the room sighed. I was tempted to peek over my shoulder and see who it was, but I resisted.
"Rose, I know you are awake," Dimitri said, his voice soft.
I ignored him, bundling further under the covers, and steadfastly still facing the window. I heard him getting ready for bed, and a few minutes later, the lights in the room went out. I closed my eyes, hoping that would trick my body into thinking that I was tired, but it was a futile attempt. It was past midnight by the time I finally fell asleep.
I woke up to an alarm blaring with the blankets down to my ankles, and my shirt riding up, exposing my tanned abdomen. Dimitri was sitting up in the second bed, hair damp from his shower, looking at something on his phone. I quickly grabbed a change of clothes and headed for the bathroom, still avoiding meeting his gaze. I opted for a pair of black leggings instead of jeans and an oversized sweater that covered my ass. It would get me past the dress code police, though I wasn't really planning on going to school.
Dimitri was standing at the end of the bed, waiting for me when I stepped out of the bathroom. I slid my feet into a pair of flats and grabbed my phone before walking to the door, not waiting to see if Dimitri was following.
"After you, Roza," Dimitri said as he stepped out into the hallway where I was waiting.
"Rose," I reminded him, before heading down the hallway, needing to put space between me and him.
I started down the stairs, debating my chances of getting away from Dimitri, but before I could put any plan into action, I heard the door to the stairwell open from the third floor. I ducked out on the second floor, looking out the window that was in front of me. As usual, there were only a couple of cars in the lot. And one extremely familiar Impala.
"Fuck," I swore, turning around, and going back into the stairwell, nearly colliding with Dimitri.
He looked down at me disapprovingly. "What are you doing, Rose?"
"Uh, waiting for you," I fibbed.
"You're a horrible liar," he told me.
"We can't go out that way, the asshole agents are out there," I said, instead of responding to his comment. It was easier for him to think that I was a terrible liar than for him to know how good of one I really was.
"You know this how?" he asked dryly.
I pointed to the stairwell door. "Second-floor window faces the parking lot."
Mr. Belikov stepped out the door, to peek out the window I assume, and stepped back in a moment later, sighing. "I'll drive around to the other side, meet me there."
He continued down the stairs, while I went walked back onto the second floor and down the hall to the other staircase. I used the glass door on the first floor, and when I saw Dimitri's SUV come around the side of the building, I ran outside and up to the car just as it came to a stop. As soon as the door was closed, he was driving off, and not too long after that, the hotel was disappearing as we entered the city. The seatbelt alarm started dinging, and he gave me a look.
"Rose," he warned me, and I snapped it into place.
"I should ask why you were out on the second floor instead of continuing down the stairs, but honestly, it's not worth whatever lies you would tell."
I didn't answer him, instead deciding to look out the window as we got deeper into the city and closer to the school.
He pulled into faculty parking and spoke before I could say anything. "If I would've dropped you off away from here, you wouldn't have come."
I rolled my eyes but didn't deny his statement. "I'm not going back to that hotel. No way in hell."
"I'll figure something else out." His back was to me when he answered as I followed him into the school. "Go to all of your classes, Rose. I mean it."
"Yes, sir."
I mock saluted him, even though he couldn't see me, before heading towards my English classroom. Haley was already in class and saving me a seat. Just before I sat down, Langston called me up to her desk.
"Miss Hathaway," she said softly. "I heard about the unfortunate events that occurred the other night. That being said, I will allow you to turn in the homework I assigned last class on Monday, rather than today."
"Thank you," I said kindly, making a mental note to ask Haley what the homework was.
I took my seat and quickly scribbling down the note, before passing it to her. She held up a chart that we were supposed to fill out showing comparisons and contrasts between the first chapters of George Orwell's Animal Farm and 1984. I was suddenly grateful that Lissa had purchased copies of both when she had to read them last year and made me read them with her. As Ms. Langston went around the room collecting the sheets to grade, she passed back a blank copy of the same chart for me.
While she checked everyone's papers, a simple grammar warm-up was posted on the board for us to complete. As soon as I completed the exercise, I started filling out the homework sheet.
"Rose Hathaway is actually doing her homework? Who are you, and what have you done with Rose?" Haley teased.
"Haha," I said dryly, my smile creeping through.
Her laugh was infectious. Langston was giving both of us the stink-eye as she started passing back the papers, and we both covered our mouths with our hands to stop the laughs. The class was enjoyable for once, probably because I had actually read the material, and the time flew by.
"So anything interesting happen last night?" Haley asked with a smirk.
"Ha, no. Unless you want to count the tension between Mr. Belikov and Ivan," I answered, holding the door open as we started for our next classes.
"Ivan?"
"A guy that I slept with last weekend who just happens to be Mr. Belikov's friend. He's really concerned with my, uh, safety," I told her, rolling my eyes.
She laughed. "I'm sure."
"This is my stop," I said, jerking my thumb towards one of the hallways that branched off the main hallway.
"Do you have first or second lunch?"
"Second on A days, first on B days."
"I have first today. I'll meet you here?"
I nodded, and Haley hugged me before leaving for her next class.
I took my seat in my forensic science class and pulled out a notebook to take notes. I had already decided that this was going to be my favorite class of the year. She was the first of my teachers today to not say anything to me about what had happened Tuesday night, which I greatly appreciated.
Or so I thought.
"Miss Hathaway, I'm sorry for what happened," she said, pulling me aside as the bell rang.
"The only person who should be sorry is the one who did it," I told her, exiting into the packed hallway. I leaned against the wall and waited for Haley, peering around people to look for her. I spotted her a few minutes later and waved.
"Hi, sorry that took so long. I had to run to the bathroom," Haley said, appearing beside me, breathless.
"It's okay," I told her. "Let's go somewhere to eat instead of the cafeteria."
We ended up going to the Panda Express not too far from the school, and as we ate our rice and chicken, we talked about mostly meaningless things.
"So, tell me what's going on between you and Mr. Belikov," Haley said, arching an eyebrow.
"Nothing is going on between us," I told her.
"Oh really?" Both eyebrows went up this time.
"Yes, really. Despite my jokes."
"And the sexual tension?"
"Haley!" I said, laughing. "Sleeping with random guys is one thing, but with my teacher? I'm not sure that's a line I would actually cross."
"Mhmm." Haley pursed her lips. "You're eighteen, so you're not a minor. And you didn't deny the sexual tension."
"I'm not—"
"What's the date, Rose?"
"September 7," I answered her. "What—"
"Did you really forget your own birthday?" Haley teased, placing a small box on the table.
"You didn't have to get me anything," I told her.
"I wanted to."
"How did you know it was my birthday?" I asked as I reached for the box.
"Student aide, remember?" she said, laughing. "I may have peaked at your file."
I smiled and opened the box to reveal a tiny glass tube with a cork in the top. Inside the tube was a gold necklace, with a sapphire gemstone –my birthstone– being the center focus.
"Haley! I love it, thank you."
I uncorked the tube and pulled the necklace out, admiring it. I put the necklace on, loving the way it rested just underneath my collarbone.
She grinned. "I thought you might." After a moment, she added, with a wink, "Maybe Mr. Belikov will be your present too."
I crumbled up a napkin and threw it at her. She dodged it and laughed, before getting up and throwing away her trash. We made it back to the school as the bell dismissing first lunch rang.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Haley told me, giving me a brief hug before racing off to her class.
My class was on the complete opposite side of the school and was one of the last people in my culinary class as a result of it. Not that it really mattered, since we didn't do any actual cooking in the class, even though it was culinary 4 and everybody in the class had all of the required certificates to be allowed to cook in the kitchen.
Instead, we got to take notes for ninety minutes, and my hand started to cramp barely thirty minutes and twenty pages in. As I shook my hand out and tried to get rid of the cramp, I felt Mr. Mitchell glaring at me from behind the desk.
"Miss Hathaway, please come here," he snapped, just as I started writing again.
"Yes, sir?" I had to resist the urge to snap at him or roll my eyes.
"I heard about what happened, and while it's unfortunate, do not expect any different treatment from me," he spit out, not even looking at me.
"Wouldn't expect anything else, sir," I replied.
He dismissed me with a slight wave of his hand, and as I turned away, I heard him mutter something about "deserving it", and I was instantly chilled. Sitting back down, I tried to continue writing my notes, but I kept rereading the same sentence over and over again in between sneaking glances at Mr. Mitchell. Sometime later, when he told us to put the books away, I realized that I hadn't gotten much further, maybe a page or two.
I was the first one out of the classroom, desperate to get out. I made a mental note to talk to one of the guidance counselors about switching to a new class.
The warning bell was ringing by the time I made it across the school and to the theatre classroom. As I walked in, Mrs. Martin stared me down. I took my seat next to Lissa as the final bell rang. A few minutes later, a piece of paper slid in front of me.
Happy birthday, Rose! I'm sorry you have been dealing with this now. How are you holding up?
The best I can be.
Where are you staying at?
I don't want to put you in danger, Liss.
You're always welcome at Christian's, you know that right?
Danger, Liss. Whoever is after me isn't afraid of hurting others.
Lissa sighed and started to write back before quickly crumpling the paper up as Mrs. Martin walking around the room, checking everyone's dress code.
"Miss Hathaway." Mrs. Martin pursed her lips as she looked over my outfit. "I do believe that that is not within the dress code regulations."
"Last I knew, leggings were fine as long as something was covering my butt, and last I checked, this sweater did exactly that," I said. Underneath my breath, I added, "And the rest of my clothes were destroyed so it's not like I have many options."
Mrs. Martin pursed her lips further but didn't say anything. She continued walking around the classroom before going back up to the board and starting the lesson for today. A knock sounded on the door, and Mrs. Martin just continued talking, not even bothering to walk over to see who it was. A knock came again, louder this time, and a junior near the door stood up to get it, causing Mrs. Martin to start shouting at him. Lissa and I exchanged a look, and I felt like banging my head on the desk as I pressed my forehead against the cold wood.
"Miss Hathaway!"
My head jolted up. Dimitri was standing in the doorway. I stood up and walked out into the hallway with him. I crossed my arms across my chest and looked up at him.
"I have a meeting after class today that I can't skip, therefore, you can either go with Ivan or wait for me."
"How about neither?"
"Excuse me?"
"I plan on going out tonight, so I don't need a ride anywhere."
Dimitri arched an eyebrow, and I tried to ignore how hot he looked. "Going out on a school night?"
"Given the week I've had, I think that I deserve it," I told him. "And it's my birthday, so all the more reason to celebrate. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to class."
I left him standing in the hallway and returned to my seat next to Lissa. She shot me a look, and I simply shook my head. I tried to pay attention to what Mrs. Martin was saying, already knowing that I was on her bad side. When the bell rang, I got up and waited for Lissa before walking out. We met up with Sydney, Christian, and Adrian at our lockers.
"Happy birthday, Rosie," Christian said, wrapping an arm around Lissa. "Any plans?"
"I'm going out, and anyone who wants to join is invited," I said, ignoring his use of that horrid nickname.
"Rose, maybe that's not the best idea," Lissa said. "Given what happened and all."
"So, I'm just supposed to sit holed up in some hotel and do absolutely nothing?" I snapped.
"If it means that you're going to be safe, then yes," Lissa snapped back. "Please don't go out tonight. We can get together tomorrow night and throw you a party at Christian's, okay?"
I grumbled my "okay" and slammed my locker shut. I left my friends standing at the locker and walked down to Dimitri's room. His classroom door was still open, and I walked inside. The office door was cracked, but before I could knock, I could hear him speaking.
"I said that I would handle it!"
Or shouting, rather. A few seconds later, I heard the noise of the phone being slammed back into the cradle. The lights to the office flicked off, and the door swung open. Dimitri's eyes widened when he saw me standing there.
"Rose, how long have you been standing here?"
"Only for a few seconds," I stammered.
"What are you doing here? I thought you were going out?" he asked coolly, locking his office door.
"Plans changed."
"You need to choose then, Rose," Dimitri said, gesturing for me to step into the hallway.
"I'll wait for you," I said, frowning. "I could use the time to catch up on some homework. What time is your meeting over?"
"Four-thirty."
"I'll meet you at your car then."
We walked in different directions, and I walked out the back door of the school, heading towards the football field. All the members of the fall sports were running along the tree line, something I really didn't miss. It was easy to see which team was which as they all ran in little groups, sticking with one another at a steady pace. Climbing to the top of the bleachers, I was able to get a better look, and I could spot Lissa's long swinging blonde hair as she led the cheerleaders. The warmup running didn't take long, and soon the cheerleaders took their place on the track with the mats underneath them as they started running through their routines. There was a dull ache in my chest as I watched Sydney and Lissa shout out the cheers. Their practice ran for a little over an hour and was finished before I had to go meet Dimitri, so I opened my textbooks.
"Rose, why are you doing this to yourself?"
I flinched and glanced over. "Go away, Jesse."
"Aw, come one, Rose," he cooed. "Practice is over, and if I recall correctly, there is a celebration tonight. Let's have a little fun."
"You had your chance with me, remember? Well, at least you did until you tried to have Camille and me at the same time."
"You know that she wasn't anything to me," he argued weakly.
"I wasn't anything to you," I snapped. "Now leave me alone."
"You know I loved you."
"No, you didn't," I retorted. "You were the captain of the football team, and I was the captain of the cheer squad. It was merely a convenience."
Instead of waiting for a reply, I got up and clambered back down the bleachers. It was close to four-thirty, and I started making my way to the faculty parking lot. I leaned against the SUV, closing my eyes as the sun warmed my face. Dimitri appeared around a quarter till, and I heard the car unlock before I saw him coming my way.
"Can we stop by my apartment and get my car?" I questioned as he slid into the car.
"Somebody might be watching the house, Rose," Dimitri answered, shaking his head. "I'm sorry."
"Why are you doing this?" I asked as he backed out of his parking space.
"Doing what?" He just barely glanced over at me as he pulled out onto the main road.
"Helping me."
"Because I need some good karma." Glancing over at him, I saw the brief half-smile and realized that he was joking. "I couldn't just leave you there, at the apartment, Rose. You needed help, and I just happened to be able to provide that help."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome, Roza."
I didn't respond, instead opting to look out the window, trying to figure out where we were going.
"Did you get any homework done?" he asked after a few minutes of silence.
"No, I got distracted watching the cheerleaders," I admitted. I didn't mention Jesse.
Dimitri didn't respond, instead, he turned on the radio to an 80s station. I didn't complain, thankful that he hadn't asked about my history with the cheerleading squad.
As Dimitri made a turn down a road about fifteen minutes from the school, he started to slow down, before making a right turn into a rather large apartment complex.
"Where are we?"
"My apartment." He pulled into a parking space and turned the car off after putting it in park. Dimitri reached behind his seat to grab his laptop bag before climbing out of the car. "Ivan already dropped off all your things from the hotel, and I gave the security guys pictures of the agents, and one of their crappy car."
"That car, while driven by crappy people, is not crappy."
He rolled his eyes and led me up the stairs to his apartment. Walking through the door, the first thing that I noticed was the medium-sized kitchen to the right, with the living room directly ahead. To the left was a small dining room, and then a door against the back wall that enclosed the room, which I assumed led to the bedroom.
Dimitri set his bag on the kitchen counter. He led me through the living room and to the door on the back wall. "This is the bedroom. It's where you will stay for now."
"I can't kick you out of your bedroom. I won't do it."
"Roza, my mother raised me to be a gentleman. It is not a problem."
I ignored the fluttering in my stomach and followed him into the bedroom. My bags from the hotel were against one wall, and I set my backpack down next to it. I grabbed one of the shopping bags and dug through it to find something suitable as loungewear, and then walked into the bathroom to change.
By the time I was finished changing and using the bathroom, Dimitri had already changed into a pair of sweats and a regular t-shirt and was sitting on the couch, watching Cops, with pizza on a paper plate.
"Would you like a slice? The box is in the fridge. It's from last night."
"No, thank you. I'm not hungry."
I sat down at the opposite end of the couch and pulled my legs up underneath myself. We watched the TV in silence as he finished eating and got up to get rid of his plate. The clock read that it was close to six, and I yawned, unwillingly. Haley's words from earlier ran through my mind again. Dimitri sat back down, and we watched a few more episodes of Cops before he yawned and shut the TV off.
"Good night, Roza," Dimitri said. "And happy birthday."
Taking a deep breath, I reminded myself who I was, and turned to him brazenly. "Don't I get a birthday present?"
His eyebrow arched. "I don't know what kind of present you would want."
I moved down the short length of the couch quickly and threw one leg over his lap so that I was straddling him. In this position, I was slightly taller, so I tangled my fingers in his hair and tilted his head upwards.
"I want you," I whispered, pressing my lips against his.