DPOV
Christian and I met at breakfast and made plans to meet up after supper. I told him that I would go and buy the extra ingredients today.
Before lunch I went to the store and when I found the walnuts only two bags were left. They had plenty of pistachios and caramel though. I went to the check out and the lady looked up at me.
"Another student?" She asked. She was smiling at me and bit her lip. "I go to the high school here in town. What school do you go to?"
"St. Vladimir's Academy." I answered. Her face flushed slightly.
"You're not from around here are you?" She said. She hadn't rang up my stuff yet. She seemed more interested in talking to me.
"I'm from Russia. I'm a foreign exchange student."
"I'll say," her smile grew, "Wanna hang out sometime?"
"Um… I'd… rather focus on my studies, right now. Could you please ring up my things so I can get back to school?"
Her smile faltered. "Yeah. The total will be $15.89."
"Thanks. Have a nice day." I paid and left.
For supper, Christian and I sat together to work out any potential kinks in the recipe. He had worked it out with our teacher to let us use the Home Ec room.
We made three cakes and every time the walnuts sank to the bottom.
"I don't know what's up with the walnuts sinking to the bottom." Christian said. He plopped on a stool and rubbed at his eyes.
"Let's look it up. There has to be something explaining why it happens."
"Good idea." Christian pulled out his phone and did a Google search. "Okay, it says that if we fold them in after coating them in a thin layer of flour right before baking then it helps keep them suspended in the batter. Then you can do the frosting while I make the cake. And while it's baking we can make the caramel. Then when we pull the cake out, dip the walnuts in it while the cake cools."
"Sounds like a plan." I said.
We parted ways after cleaning and I went out to the track to do my daily run. It was cut short, though, when my phone started ringing. When I looked at the display, it had my mom's picture on the screen.
"Hey, mom." I answered.
"How's school going? I thought that you would've called sooner." She replied.
"I was planning on calling you after I got back to my room. I was just going for a run."
"Oh, sorry for interrupting."
"No, no mama. You're just fine. School's going well. They don't really give you the chance to adapt to the school though. I was assigned two projects already this week. One's done. But the second is due Monday in class."
"What project is that?"
"Home Ec. We're making a cake with a partner. Him and I finalized that today so we can have it done for class."
"Oo! Do you have a friend? That's so exciting!" She exclaimed.
"No, mama. I wouldn't call us that. We're more like присоединенный*, but not quite. We just had a project together in Home Ec." I explained.
"Oh. Well, that's okay. You'll make friends soon enough." Her voice was laden with disappointment. I hated making her feel that way. She always enjoyed us kids bringing friends home from school.
"I'm sorry. I know you want me to fit in well here. And I am! The classes here are great! I'm learning a lot of things that I wouldn't have in Russia. I can't wait for you all to move here too."
"Neither can I. I miss you so much. I wish we had more time as a family before you had to leave." My mom sounded so sad.
"Yeah." I didn't say anything more. I was trying to avoid them. How could I look them in the eye after killing our dad?
"Has anyone caught your eye yet? Vanya comes by after school, and work, to help out. She asks about how you're doing. I think she fancies you." Mom giggled a little, enough to make me smile a little bit.
"I don't know yet. There is a girl, but I don't know how I feel about her. She's stubborn and headstrong but gentle, strong but нежный**, brave but aware. She's infuriating at times and humorous at other times. I'm so conflicted, mama."
"Sounds like you like her to me. Not just anyone would notice those characteristics so soon after meeting someone. What's her name?"
"Rose, Rose Hathaway." What my mom was saying caused a heavy weight to settle on my chest.
"She sounds lovely. Don't let her pass by. She may just be the one for you." She sighed happily. "I've got to go. Karolina is calling me into the kitchen. She needs help with supper. I love you Dimka."
"I love you too mama." We hung up and I made my way inside. A storm of worry swirled in my head. Don't let her pass, mom had said. But how could I be with her when I was a killer? She'd hate me.
I changed into my sleeping clothes when I got back to my room. I pulled a book off my shelf, and stretched out on the bed.
An hour or two passed and a knock sounded at my door. I put my bookmark in my book and set it aside.
I crossed the six feet from the bed to the door and opened it. A volunteer mail delivery student stood outside wearing a dorm matron vest. He had a bored look on his face, and was staring down at a clipboard in his hands. A package was tucked under his arm.
"Dimitri Belikof? I have a package for you." he thrust the package at me. "And now I can mark you down as in the building on time for curfew." he muttered.
"Okay?" I arched an eyebrow. This kid hadn't looked up from his clipboard since he got here. "And it's pronounced Belikov with a 'v'."
"Yeah, whatever, man." he looked up at me then and his eyes widened slightly, and he left without saying anything more. I closed my door and went back to my bed to sit down.
Eyeing the package closely I opened it up. Inside were the paper squigglies that keep the contents safe from damage during shipping. Buried under it however was a small wooden keepsake chest with a lock on it. Farther down was a letter with the key taped inside. The letter was a collage of handwriting from my mom and each of my sisters. Even my nephew. I took the key and unlocked the box. Inside, I found some of their trinkets and pictures of them.
I taped the pictures up on the wall by my bed and placed the trinkets strategically on my bookshelf. I returned to my bed and continued reading until 9:30. My eyes began to feel heavy and I put my book aside and went to sleep.
Sunday came and went. I noticed Rose when her dad dropped her off. Lissa wasn't there with her and she rushed inside the building before I had the chance to say "hi". Students ran around Monday morning trying to get their things unpacked in their rooms before classes began. I walked to the track and was surprised to see Rose already there.
"You're here early." I commented as I set my coat down. It may have only been September in Montana, but a chill still pierced the air.
"I got here yesterday but I couldn't sleep." She was leaning up against a tree, not looking at me. She looked tired and angry.
"Maybe we should put off training till tomorrow?"
"Why? I'm here, so why not get it done?" She sounded very defensive.
"Rose, don't take this the wrong way… but you look like shit. You should go try to sleep before school."
"Yeah I guess you're right." she began to walk away but stopped at the gate. "Would you mind if I rant a bit instead?"
"Go for it. I have nowhere else to be." I sat on the bench, leaving room in case she wanted to sit down.
She turned to face me, but still couldn't meet my eyes. "My mom wants joint custody. But the thing is, she's never been there for me my whole life! As soon as she was off of maternity leave she went right back to traveling the world as the bodyguard for some rich asshole!
"My mom left me with my dad for weeks at a time, never calling to see if I was okay, or if I missed her. It was for that same reason that my dad fought for custody and won. My mom got a good lawyer, sure, but the court recognized how little time I spent with her already and my dad won. She didn't even try to get visitation rights! Or even try to arrange anything for that matter!"
Her breathing had become ragged and she found a stone and threw it across the field. "Now, she thinks that she can just waltz back into my life and all will be forgiven! I didn't even find out before Friday when she showed up at my house when we got there! She and my dad had been talking about this behind my back for weeks! If they think that they can make up decisions for me based on 'what they think is right', then that's bullshit! I'm 16! I can make decisions for myself!"
I looked in her eyes and saw a thin sheen of tears. They weren't tears of sadness (I could tell she had shed those long ago), but tears of a long-standing, bitter resentment towards a mother who wronged her. "You've been through a lot in a short amount of time. Maybe you should skip school today and Lissa and I can get your work for class." I stood and put my hands on her shoulders. A tingle ran up my arm and I couldn't be sure if it was just from her, or if she was just warm from being angry.
"Yeah." She nodded, then smiled. "As long as the notes are in English this time."
I chuckled. "I'll try." We walked out together and parted ways.
What was I doing? I'm getting too close to her. It's one thing to teach her how to run faster, or even how to throw a punch, or be friendly in class. It's completely different if I start to get to know her. If I get to know her, then she'll eventually want to know more about me, and my family. Then everything will be ruined. She'll see me as the monster I truly am.
I put those thoughts aside as I reached my room. I had to change into my uniform and grab my textbooks. I tied my hair back in a low ponytail and, as per usual, a few shorter strands in the front fell out.
Sighing, I changed and threw my backpack over my shoulder. I liked getting to the gym early. Since we had to change into the school assigned gym clothes, I didn't want to do it in front of the other guys. I had permanent memories etched on me that would raise questions about myself.
I got changed and waited on the bleachers for everyone to walk in. The workout today was easy, and I kept looking to see if Rose would come walking through the door. Even though I knew she wouldn't.
By the time lunch rolled around I rushed out of language arts, stuffed my books into my backpack and rushed to the bathroom. No one was in there and so I began pacing. Finally, I leaned up against a wall.
What's wrong with me? I ran my hands through my hair. Why did I care so much about whether or not she was here? I told her to skip, I shouldn't miss her this much.
Sighing, I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and went for a walk. Maybe some fresh air would do me some good. Thinking about Rose hadn't given me much of an appetite. At least I was able to focus on our project for Home Ec. Mr. Peters seemed to like the cake at least, so hopefully we'll get an "A" on it.
The second half of the day was much like the first. The fresh air didn't help. I made sure my notes were in English and pencil in case I messed up.
After Language Arts I gathered up all my notes in the three classes I shared with Rose. Since my last hour Study Hall was in the library, I could use the copier there. I wanted to keep my notes in my notebook, so that would make the copies a little mose tedious to make.
Four pages later, I paperclipped the copies together and labeled each class on there. Finally, I grabbed an extra piece of paper and wrote out the homework we had.
Slavic Art: p.15 - 21 (watercolor basics)
Biology: Chapter 1 Section 4 - Cataloging Flora + Fauna
I worked for the rest of the time on my own homework. I managed to get halfway through before the five minute bell rang. I looked up and practically bore a hole into the clock waiting for it to strike 3:10.
When it did I got out of class first in a poor attempt at beating the rush hour of students waiting to leave. The hallways filled quickly and I noticed that people were moving out of my way as I walked to my locker.
"Dude. You look scary as hell right now." Christian said, appearing beside me.
"I do?"
"Yeah. A six foot tall piece of muscle, speed walking through the halls, tends to look that way." He said with a smirk.
We arrived at my locker and I stopped. "Oh. I was just trying to get to my locker. I'm kind of in a rush to get out of here."
"Mission accomplished." With that final phrase, Christian left.
A/N
Hey guys! I'm so sorry about the long gap! Life got kinda overwhelming as I finished high school. Lol.