RPOV
I led Dimitri to the weight training room and stopped.
"What are you doing?" He said, raising an eyebrow.
"I told my dad about how you were teaching me how to run and he wanted to know if you could teach me self defense too. I know he was joking, but it would be cool to see his expression if I tell him you are, and I got excited at the thought of also being taught how to fight."
He chuckled, "Maybe if you do well on your running first, then when it gets cold we can begin self defense."
"Yes! Thanks, Comrade!"
"Don't call me comrade." he said. Even though his face was serious, there was a joking tone to his voice.
"Yes, Sir, Mr. Belikov!" I said, in a mock soldier's voice, and saluted him. His face darkened and I sensed his walls going back up. "Hey, I was only joking."
"Yeah…" he muttered. His face returned to the blank slate of defense but I felt like he was still upset about my comment.
We walked back to the lunchroom and parted ways after disposing of our leftovers. I gathered my things for Biology, thinking over what I knew about Dimitri. I didn't know why my earlier statement had bothered him so much. It seemed an innocent enough joke.
Biology wasn't interesting enough to keep me engaged but today I kept trying to understand the cryptic reasoning for Dimitri's behavior.
Precalculus wasn't much better but at least he wasn't there to distract me further. Did he not have a dad? Was he abandoned? Has he never met his father? Did he not like his family? All these questions burned in my head. I wanted to have them answered, but I didn't want to ruin our relationship. I would wait. At least until he opened up more.
I moved through the rest of my classes better now that I had a plan for how to handle this.
I worked on homework in Study Hall last hour, and got it all done just before the bell rang. I ran out of the room and to my locker to grab my backpack. After running I would get to go home for the weekend.
I was about to leave the school when I felt an arm on my shoulder.
"Sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have acted that way." Dimitri's deep accented voice spoke, accompanied by the sharp fragrance of after shave.
"It's okay." I breathed. I turned to look at him while trying to keep my composure. Damn, he smelled nice. "Are we still on for practice?"
He took a second to think. "If you want to have practice then we will." He stared at me for what felt like an eternity before removing his hand and stepping back.
I nodded and turned to walk to my dorm. The air smelled wrong after leaving him. His scent was intoxicating and made my head spin.
I closed the door behind me and sank to the floor.
"What's up with you?" Lissa asked.
"I have practice with Dimitri…"
"And…? I thought you wanted to practice with him. What's the problem?"
I groaned. "The problem is that I never noticed how nice he smells before. And we'll be running together today." I begrudgingly got up and walked to the pile of clothes I had on the floor. I grabbed the same ones I was wearing this morning and began to change.
"Sounds like someones in looove!" Lissa sang, teasing me.
"Am not! I just happen to be drawn to his presence." I said, finished changing.
"Sure, and I'm Ghandi." She said rolling her eyes.
"With your peaceful demeanor, you very well could be." I opened the door and waved goodbye.
I jogged to the track and, of course, Dimitri was already there. He was sitting on the bench again, reading his western. This time, however, he was wearing a fitted black tank top, and black sweatpants.
"You're gonna get heatstroke, Dimitri. It's warmer here than it is in Russia." I called out as I approached.
"Russia isn't a barren, snowy wasteland, Roza. Let's begin."
We started with light stretching before running so we didn't tear anything. We ran three laps, jogged one, and finished by walking another to cool down. We didn't focus on timing since our goal was distance right now.
We parted ways and, despite running already, I ran back to my dorm. I was excited to get home because this school wasn't the greatest as far as social environment goes. Everyone here has their cliques and if you aren't part of them, you never will be. They also had a pretty high standard of themselves as a result.
I saw the door cracked open and hurried to get inside so I could pack laundry and a weekend bag.
My dad was standing in the middle of the room, laughing with Lissa over something I missed.
"Hey, old man!" I greeted. "I just have to pack a bag and I'll be ready to leave this hell-hole."
"Huh. Lissa was just telling me how much she liked this school. Is it that bad?"
I grabbed some clothes to shove in my duffle bag. "People like Lissa. Me? Not so much. They also tend to act like they own the place."
"You are your father's daughter in that aspect."
"Yeah. and people dislike you more because you're a lawyer. And I'm restless like mom, so let's go." I left the room and made my way to the car. Dad's shiny black Challenger RT stood out amongst the expensive, colorful cars of the other parents.
I climbed into the front seat and buckled up just as dad and lissa got to the car. We talked about the kinds of homework we had and how classes were going.
"I haven't been sent to the headmistresses office." I supplied.
"Yet. You almost got into a fight on the first day."
"Rose…" Dad warned.
"In my defense… She started it. I just wanted to change and get to my next class." I raised my hands in mock innocence; when, in reality, I was hoping it would escalate further.
"Just… try to stay here for the full year. Then you can hopefully stay next year and graduate and do whatever you want with your education." He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. We came pulling into our driveway and I saw a black SUV in front of the garage.
"Dad? Who's here?" Lissa asked. I gazed at him and saw his tightened jaw and deep scowl. The only other time he's looked like that was when my mom would come pick me up when Liss and I were kids.
"No." I got out of the car and ran inside the house. None other than Janine Hathaway, stood inside the kitchen by the table.
Lissa and dad came in behind me and my mom nodded to them. "Ibraham. Vasilisa. Rose." Her eyes held mine the longest. "Abe, I've come to discuss our business further."
"I told you to meet me on Monday." Dad had a calm face, but I could see his locked jaw. He did not like being defied.
"I couldn't wait that long. Especially since we could solve this now and it could take effect this weekend." She crossed her arms and stared him down.
"Girls, go upstairs and unpack. Janine, let's talk in my study." He gestured with his arm for my mom to go first.
Lissa and I went up to our rooms and began to unpack. We had separate rooms with only a door connecting them.
"What do you think mom's here for?" I poked my head into Lissa's room.
"I don't know. But I hope it's not a custody battle. It dragged on for months last time. You were so scared that Janine would win. I got off easy."
"Yeah. I'm sorry that your's was so short." I said.
"It's okay. If my mom cared she would've tried harder."
Muffled shouts traveled up the stairs. We couldn't make anything out except that dad was pissed. Something crashed and Lissa and I looked at each other before rushing to the top of the stairs.
"This was decided a long time ago!" dad yelled.
"Time's past. Abe. I'm her mother! I deserve to be a part of her life!" Mom yelled back.
Shocked, I fell backward. Lissa helped me up and put a comforting arm around my shoulders. For a moment, I wanted to let her hold me while I cried. But crying wouldn't get me anywhere. I pulled away and ran downstairs.
The office door was open and they stopped to look at me when I appeared in the doorway.
"If you really cared mom, you should've done better then." I snarled.
I turned and ran out of the house. I ran the short distance into town. I slowed to a brisk walk and checked behind me. No cars had followed me, so dad was still at home.
Only a block farther was the local gym. They offered bluetooth headphones, and I grabbed a pair to use. As if I hadn't ran enough already, I walked over to the treadmill. The only other people there were a group of teenage guys about my age on the weights. They were mostly goofing off, but you could tell that they frequented this place.
I hopped on the treadmill, and since I was still in my workout clothes from earlier, I didn't have to worry about running in jeans. The guys behind me had quieted, and I thought that maybe they were just getting back to work. It wasn't until one of them came over and stopped the machine that I was on, that I realised they had surrounded me.
"You know, I like a girl who's in good shape." He smiled at me.
I gave him my sweetest smile. "And I like a guy that doesn't bullshit." I lost my smile and punched him in the nose. It knocked him to the ground and blood came rushing out of his nose. "Your friend just made an enemy today, and so did you. Unless you want to sport matching noses, stay away from me." With that, I got back to running.
I jogged for almost an hour, ignoring every call, text, and attempt to reach me. It was dark out when I finally left. I decided to grab some food at the gas station before walking home. The roads weren't very busy which made for a safer journey. It took another half an hour to reach my driveway, and when I did I saw a police car in the driveway.
Slowly, I opened the front door and followed the sound of people into the living room. My mom saw me and jumped out of her spot on the sofa and gave me a hug.
I detangled myself from her arms and looked around the room. Dad and Lissa were sitting on the sofa; him with a bored look, and her with a look of worry. A police officer was standing by the coffee table with a notepad and pencil. All eyes had turned to me.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"Your mother freaked out. That's what happened." Dad answered
"Did you tell her that I go into town sometimes without saying anything?"
"Yes. But she reported you missing anyway."
"Great, well, I'm home now. You can go officer. Sorry that my mom called you here for nothing." I said, crossing my arms. He grabbed his things and left, the gravel crunching under his tires as he drove off.
"You can go too, mom"
"What? Why?" she looked shocked.
"Because I don't want you here. You didn't listen to dad when he was explaining what I was doing. And as a result, you dragged a poor police officer out into the middle of nowhere for nothing." I snapped.
"I was only looking out for you."
"Then stop. You never cared before. Why start caring now?"
"Because being apart from you all these years… I missed you. I made a mistake when you were little. All I was trying to do was make sure you had everything you needed. I realize now that I should've spent more time at home than at work," She stopped to catch her breath. "I'm sorry, Rose. I wanted to give you a good life where you never had to worry about anything, but all I accomplished was losing you."
"Yeah, you did lose me. But I don't want you to get me back either." I finished. She looked down at her hands folded in front of her.
She took a shaky breath. "Okay. I suppose it's my time to leave. Abe, I'll see you on Monday." She walked around and gathered her things. And left.
A/N:
Hello! I'm just getting into the swing of balancing school and work right now. Once the dust settles I'll do my best at writing more to bring you more chapters. I have a set length for the story and such so it's just a matter of getting there. Bare with me as I navigate my last year of HS. Enjoy the new chapter guys!
