Hi Guys, so this is the new chapter of our story. We hope you like it, as it has a bit of a climatic ending. Please PM, Review and enjoy! Next chapter should be up within a couple more days. Probably around the 10th or 11th of January. :))) Happy Reading
CHAPTER TWO TRUTH OR DARE
I have been in my bed for a week. I honestly just can't believe that Jake would cheat on me. We had been dating for two months. Two months until he decided that I wasn't good enough for him. Five months he has been going around behind my back and seeing other girls. Seven months in a relationship that meant everything to me and absolutely nothing to him.
But what I'm not going to do is sit in my bed and feel sorry for myself. I already wasted a week on that, and I need a girls night. I text Megan and Lila, inviting them over to the palace. This will be nice, I will be able to spend time with them and not think about Jake too much.
Both of my friends quickly respond, and arrive within the half hour. When they get to the palace, we quickly stock up of junk food and go up to my room to play truth or dare.
'Come on Megan… Tell us!' Lila whines.
'Alright, do you really want to know?' Megan asks sheepishly.
'Yes!' Lila screams. I don't know why she is so keen to know about her brother's sex life - but Iknow better than to question her.
'Well… Noah and i have made it to 4th base...Twice. But we're only friends now.' Megan says, cringing as she adds the last two parts.
'Ewww!' Lila squeals, shoving her face into the pillow in her lap.
'What!? You asked.' Megan says defensively. 'Alright, Grace's turn. Truth or dare Grace?' She asks me with a grin, even though she already knows the answer.
'Dare.' I say bravely. Last time I picked dare, I had to tell Jamie that I was pregnant because of Noah. He rang dad and they both lectured me for ages. Until I finally had to pluck up the courage - a week later - and tell them it was a joke. They were both sooo mad! I'd like to see if Lila and Megan can top that one. God knows they can.
'Oooh. I've got one!' Says Lila. She was the one who dared me last time, so this should be interesting. 'Grace. Tonight, I mean right now, you have to sneak into the Russian Embassy, go up to Alexei's room, and see what happens.' She finishes with a wink. I am still getting over Jake, so I guess I could just go and talk to him. I know that Lila and Megan don't mean for me to just talk though.
'Nah-uh. No way and I doing that. I'm still getting over Jake, it was only a week ago that I found out what a dirty disgusting cheat he is. Besides, I don't wanna,' I make a dirty hand gesture, 'With Alexei tonight!' I say, acting slightly more disgusted than I really am.
'Tonight?' Megan says, wiggling her eyebrows. I roll my eyes.
'You know what I mean. Besides, there's no way he'd even let me in. Not after the last time I saw him.' I add the last bit under my breath. Alexei and I are very good friends. At times, best friends. We tell each other almost everything. But I'm only 16, and he's 19.
'Anyways, I don't even know if he likes me like that.' I say. I know when we were younger, I had a major crush on him, but something tells me he has never quite felt the same way.
'Puh-lease!' Lila scoffs. 'I've seen the way he looks at you. We have all seen the way he looks at you. He's totally and completely in love with you. Grace, come on, I knew you were naive but seriously?' She's right I guess, in a way. Anyway, there is no point in arguing with her when she gets like this. So I sigh, and throw my hands in the air.
'Fine, I'll sneak in. But… no funny business. I only intend on talking to him.
'MMMM… yeah right.' Megan says with a suggestive smile. She pushes my shoulder playfully and giggles.
'Good luck! And don't take too long!' Lila says, walking over and opening the window near the big tree outside my room. She pulls the curtains aside and winks.
I honestly can't believe I'm doing this. I walk through the tunnels underneath the city in my yoga pants and thin white t-shirt, and when I get to the entry near the American and Russian embassies, I climb out and leap up onto the wall. I move slowly and quietly until I reach the back of the Russian embassy. I run and jump, grabbing hold of Alexei's balcony railing, slamming against the brick wall below it. So much for being quiet.
My ribs are killing me, but I hoist myself up and swing my legs over the railing. I stand on his small balcony and look through the glass doors. He is sleeping. It's like 10pm. Bless his soul. I think about going back to the palace, but I have to go through with this, otherwise I know I will never hear the end of it. I slide his door across silently. Luckily he has always kept his doors and windows unlocked.
Once I'm inside his room, I have no idea what to do. I walk over and stand next to his bed. I nudge his shoulder a little bit.
'Psst. Alexei. Wake up.' I whisper, and he sits up slowly. He rubs his eyes and looks at me.
'Grace! What the hell are you-' he screams. I grab a sock from the laundry basket next to his bed and shove it in his mouth.
'Shhh, Alexei, they'll hear you!' I whisper. He gags, and I immediately remove the sock from down his throat.
'No they won't but they're sure as hell gonna hear you!' He says, laughing, as he grabs me by the waist and pulls me onto his bed. He starts tickling me mercilessly, and I'm nearly crying. After a while - probably around five minutes of wrestling on his bed, we finally settle down and cuddle.
'Alexei, I don't know what to do.' I say, and I find myself crying for a different reason. He strokes my hair and wipes away my tears. He holds me close and I feel the warmth radiating off his abs. NO GRACE! Cut it out girl! I mean, I love Alexei as a friend, he would do anything for me. But… I just broke up with Jake. And I couldn't bring myself to start having romantic feelings for anyone else yet. And this is Alexei we're talking about. Anyway, I'll never be good enough for him.
'Gracie?' He asks me into my ear.
'Yeah?' I say back to him, wiping my nose on my sleeve.
'What's wrong? You've been very distant these past couple of weeks. What's been happening lately.' He asks, sitting up and pushing me out of his lap so I am lying down next to him.
'Well,' I say, propping myself up on a mountain of pillows and turning to face him. 'I found out that Jake has been cheating on me with that bitch Frankie Harvey. And I've been borderline depressed since then, and I still haven't told Jamie yet because he'll probably start an unnecessary fight about it. So now… I am just in a shitload of mess and don't know how to get out of it.' I say, starting to cry again. Alexei just pulls me under his shoulder and rests his head on top of mine.
'I loved him Alexei. I was prepared to give everything up for him. And… I thought he loved me too. But he didn't, and, now, I'm left looking like the stupid one.' I say, sobbing between words.
'Gracie, you are not stupid. You just fell for the wrong guy. One day, you'll find someone great who loves you so much and would do anything for you. You just need to look for him, and you might find him.' Wow Alexei, that was very subtle. But just about the sweetest thing ever. 'Grace, you know you can always talk to me, no matter what time of the night or day, just call me or come to see me. I'll always be here for you.' He says, and I just turn to him and give him the biggest hug ever. He is obviously taken aback, but after a few seconds, he awkwardly moves his hands to my back and holds me tightly. I cry into his shoulder for who knows how long. He strokes my back and holds me tight, and I can't help but feel like maybe I do like Alexei like that. Like maybe I always have.
'BEEP BEEP'
I jump apart from Alexei, upon hearing my phone beep. It's a text message from… Megan and Lila. Oops. I might've been here for a while. I check the time on my phone and it's nearly 12am. Yep. It's been 2 hours since I left the palace. To be fair, it take about half an hour to get to the Russian embassy through the tunnels. Uh-oh. They're going to be suspicious.
'Who's texting you?' He asks me, eyeing me weirdly.
'Ummm. Megan and Lila, I kind of left them at the palace in my room.' I say guiltily.
'Oops.' He says with a laugh.
'Yeah. Haha. Well I should probably go.' I say, standing up and walking towards the balcony.
'Yep. Oh wait!' He yells as I reach out to open the doors.
'What?' I stage whisper dramatically and laugh.
'I wouldn't be laughing, the alarm on my door is activated at 11pm. Unless you want to walk out the front door, you're stuck here.' He says, patting the bed next to him. I laugh, I want to stay, I really do. But I kind of have to go back to the palace. Or do I? Yeah, no. I sort of do.
'I'm sorry Alexei, I'd love to stay, believe me, but I don't want to get caught in here in the morning when your father comes in here to see if you've seen his shoes. I don't want to take the risk. He already hates me.' I say with a nervous laugh. Alexei's father hates everyone, he tells me, but he seems to find Jamie, Noah, Megan and just about everyone else's company somewhat enjoyable.
'Fine, I'll sneak you out the front door. Let's go.' He says, getting up quickly and moving over to his bedroom door. This is not a good look, I decide. So we're going to have to be very quiet and very careful. He holds his hand and I take it. It's big, and warm and comforting. Alexei will always support me, and I know that now.
We walk around the corner and down the stairs, passing his parent's bedroom successfully. We get past all of the bedrooms, and we don't make a single sound. When we get to the first floor, we walk around the formal living room, and there is a light on in the kitchen. Alexei pulls me back against the wall, while he ducks his head around the corner to check the kitchen area.
'Looks clear.' He whispers, barely audibly. We hold hands again, and tip-toe towards the front door.
'Hold it!' I hear from behind us.
'Shit!' Alexei mutters. I stop in my tracks and pivot slowly around to face the person behind us. It's Ambassador Volkov, Alexei's father. OK, so I'm starting to have a mini panic attack.
Deep breaths, Grace, deep breaths. Oh screw that! I'm dead!
'Hello, Grace. What brings you here at 12 O'clock in the morning?' He asks, raising his eyebrows. I look up at Alexei and he looks down at me. We probably look sooooo guilty right now. 'Oh. I see. You were doing special things.' I know what he's implying, and I do not like it.
'What!? No. Definitely… ew!' I exclaim, baffled that he would say such a thing.
'Dad…' Alexei says, giving a warning glance in his father's direction.
'Something you'd like to come clean about Alexei?' Ambassador Vincent replies.
'Dad, can you just leaver Grace alone? She has been through a really tough time recently, and she just needed to talk. Is it a crime to support my friend during a tough time in her life?' Alexei yells. I appreciate that he is being so sweet, but he's really not helping the situation. Technically, we did nothing wrong… but, Alexei's father is not convinced.
'Oh, so you came here for rebound sex? Well isn't that classy? Your parent's would be very happy. Please, tell me you used protection, we wouldn't want any teenage pregnancies happening.' He finishes, gulping down his huge glass of water. Alexei stands with his mouth hanging open, and starts towards his father. I quickly grab him around the waist and he turns back to face me.
'Grace, I will be taking you home now,' He says through clenched teeth. He turns back to his father and says in a deathly tone, full of venom, 'And we… will finish this later.' And with that, his hand slips into mine and we walk back to the palace in complete silence.
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