Two in one day! I'm really not sure where this is going, though. I have one more chapter written, and after that, I have no idea where to take this. If any of you have ideas or know where you want this to go, tell me, because I'm stuck. I'm really lost, and that's not good. Help me out a little and just tell me what you think should happen. I'm really open to ideas. But anyway, thanks to everyone who is reviewing, and keep it up!!
The fifth time she saw Pavel Chekov, she wanted to hate him.
It was Rachel's birthday, barely a month into the new school year, and to celebrate they were throwing a party in the boys' dorm across the quad. Rachel, of course, was ecstatic. Natalia, on the other hand, was wary.
"We're not allowed to have parties like that in the dorms." She hissed over lunch the day before the big night. She had started her campaign early, but had been ignored by almost everyone involved.
"So?" Rachel asked. "We do anyway. Why are you so against this party?"
"It's not that I'm against this party, I'm against all parties that break the rules." She explained, spearing a piece of pasta so viciously that it ripped in half. "This is just the first party that I am forced to attend."
"Then shut up and get over it." Rachel rolled her eyes. "It's not like they can suspend you for this. The most that can happen is a few hours of service. And trust me, you're record could use a spot or too, little Miss Goody-Two-Shoes."
"What does that even mean?" Natalia rolled her eyes, confused once again by Rachel's American slang.
"It means you need to loosen up, which is what this party is going to do." Rachel said, staying on her target. "And anyway, we already told you Pavel is coming."
"You say that like it should change my mind." She groaned, still stabbing at her food rather than eating it.
"That's another thing we need to cure you of." Rachel decided. "You need to admit that you like him."
"I do not like him." Natalia growled, scanning the mess hall to make sure he wasn't nearby. She sighed with relief when he stumbled in from the far end, looking like he ran most of the way. "Now drop the subject before he gets the wrong idea."
"Oh, yes, of course." She rolled her blue eyes, not bothering to lower her voice. "Because why should we ever give him the idea that you might possibly like him a whole lot more than you will admit to?"
"Shut up!" She hissed, feeling her cheeks turn red.
"Why should I?" Now Rachel dropped her voice. "Maybe if you weren't being so stubborn, you would be able to admit that you're blushing because I'm telling the truth."
Natalia found herself lost for words for the first time in her life. "Just…just shut up!" She hissed, just as Chekov sat down.
"What have I done now?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Not you." Natalia shook her head, going back to destroying her lunch. "I was talking to Rachel."
Chekov's eyes went from Natalia to Rachel and back again. "Is this one of those…cat fights I keep hearing about?" He asked, clearly confused.
"No." Rachel grumbled, glaring at the table top between her and the Russian. "Natalia is just being stubborn."
"But she is always like that." He said, still as oblivious as he had been.
"Yeah, annoying, isn't it?" Rachel said, standing up and taking her lunch tray with her.
Chekov watched the older girl leave before turning to his friend. "What did you do?"
"I told her this party is a stupid idea, like I've been telling her for a month now." Natalia grumbled, giving up on the pasta and now demolishing a brownie. "If she wants to get in trouble, she can, but that's no reason to drag me into it."
"Are you not going?" He looked worried, and Natalia looked up to see that he was.
"I don't want to." She said slowly. "But I'll probably have to. Why?"
"I don't want to go unless you are going to be there." He shrugged, as though it were common sense. "This seems like a situation where it would be best for us to stick together, given our odd circumstance." He was referring, of course, to their age. Natalia shrugged.
"I'll have to be there." She said finally. "She'll kill me if I'm not, and I don't want to hurt her feelings."
"She is your friend." Chekov nodded in agreement. He chanced a look at Natalia and decided that she was done with that topic. "So, how was your language test this morning?"
"Terrible." She said, though she couldn't help but smile. Sure, he hadn't master the art of being subtle yet, but Chekov still knew how to distract her, and she was grateful.
***
"So you're really coming?" Rachel asked. She was wearing far more make-up than normal, and somehow the skirt to her uniform had gotten much shorter. Natalia decided it was better not to ask.
"Yes." She nodded, watching Rachel get ready for this party. She seemed miffed that the uniform requirement still stood, but as the party was on campus, it was to be expected. She had clearly altered it, though, and even now, Natalia couldn't help compare it to those Halloween costumes that always came out, the naughty version of something that was actually quite innocent, such a nurse or a maid, or in this case, a Starfleet Cadet.
"Just try not to put a damper on things, okay?" Rachel said. "I mean, I know you can't help but be all mother-hen-like and whatever, but just…don't be a wet blanket."
"Sure thing." Natalia nodded, not quite understanding what she said but finding it best to agree. Finally, Rachel was ready, and the two walked across the quad together and into the boys' dorm.
The first sense to start screaming danger was Natalia's sense of smell. Other than underlying smell of sweat that seemed to accompany males everywhere, there was the distinctly sharp note of alcohol, along with the sickly sweet smell of vomit. Natalia felt rather than heard the bass of the music thumping from upstairs. Her eyes began to water at the amount of smoke in the room, and she wondered if she was actually at the party or had accidentally entered a simulation of the destruction of a starship.
"This is supposed to be entertaining?" She yelled to Rachel, who was wide-eyed and already eyeing another cadet who was walking towards them. Natalia rolled her eyes, recognizing him instantly.
"There's the birthday girl!" He managed to yell over the music. "I'm Jim Kirk, your party planner and host for the evening." He flashed her a daring smile, and Natalia rolled her eyes as Rachel melted into a puddle at his feet.
She giggled. "Thanks so much for this."
"Well, we have a party when any of the girls turn 21." He said. "For obvious reasons." He winked, and Natalia was trying her best not to hit him right there.
"I'll leave you two alone." She yelled, before turning to Rachel and yelling in her ear. "You be careful. This is Kirk, after all." She then turned to Jim, who she knew well enough to not care about insulting. "You break her heart, I'll find someone to break your face."
"Duly noted." He said with a smirk.
"Have fun!" Rachel yelled back, and Natalia wasn't sure if she even heard the warning. Shaking her head, she headed deeper into the party, wondering if she would come out alive.
She was wandering for at least ten minutes before she heard a familiar accent.
"There you are." She said, turning around and seeing Chekov coming towards her. "I thought you had been eaten or something."
"No, I've just been looking for you." He said. He was finally next to her, and he looked around before leaning in, his lips just an inch away from her ear. "Is this supposed to be fun?"
She laughed, ignoring the strange tingling feeling that had suddenly erupted in her spine. "I suppose so." She said. "Maybe we're not supposed to understand until we're older."
"Perhaps." He shrugged, scanning around the room again. "I think there are some non-alcoholic drinks over there. I will go get us some."
"Thanks!" She yelled, but by then he had already slithered away through the crowd. She leaned against the wall, deciding that the best thing to do while Chekov was gone would be to people watch.
She saw Rachel in the farthest corner with Jim Kirk. Her friend seemed to be having fun, but she wondered how much that had to do with free will and how much was because of the red plastic cup in her hand.
She has inspected every person in the room twice before she started to worry about Chekov. She looked off in the direction he had gone and saw nothing but a particularly large cadet in her way. Sighing, she moved back against the wall, finding the window ledge. She boosted herself up on it, and could now see over everyone's head. When she finally saw Chekov, her jaw dropped.
He was where he said he would be, but he wasn't alone. Something in Natalia's abdomen caught on fire as she inspected the girl standing next to him. She was tall and thin, her hair a bright white-blonde. She seemed to have shortened her uniform as well, to show off her long, toned legs. Her big blue eyes were rimmed by long, dark lashes, and even from here Natalia could see the sparkle in her eyes and interpret it. What ever this girl was seeing, she liked, and right now her eyes were trained on Chekov.
He look uncomfortable, to say the least. His hands were in his pockets, his shoulders hunched slightly. His eyes were trained on the girl in front of him, though they would occasionally scan the crowd of people. If Natalia had been thinking straight, she would have noticed that he was looking for an escape. She wasn't thinking straight, though. All she saw was this girl, the direct opposite of herself, and the way she looked at Natalia's friend. Feeling the fire extinguish with a sudden crushing wave of despair, Natalia slide off the window sill and hit the ground running.
She tore through the party, not caring who she bumped into or what she sent flying. It wasn't until she was outside that she began to feel better, though the fire had returned in full force. Anger and jealousy flowed through her like venom, and she didn't stop running until she had reached her own dorm room, throwing herself on her bed with a thump and screaming as loud as she could into the pillow.
Again, she was left with difficult emotions, but this time she didn't have Chekov to help he sort them out. She screamed one more time, then stopped to think about what could have changed. Chekov was usually there to comfort her, not the reason she needed comfort. It was a strange switch, one she didn't like.
She sighed, turning onto her back and staring at the ceiling. She wanted to hate Chekov for this sudden mutiny against her, but she couldn't. Even now, she heard him outside the door, punching in the access code to her room. He had finally learned it, though he hadn't used it until she had that bout with the flu and he had kept her sane with soup and crackers.
"Nata?" He asked, sliding into the room. "Are you okay? I saw you leave, and you didn't look good."
She took a deep breath, and sat up. He was leaning against the door frame, his eyes sparkling in the little light that came through the window. She smiled, deciding that maybe Rachel was right, and pushed her hair away from her face.
"I'm fine." She said, moving over and patting the space next to her, welcoming him to sit down. "It was just kind of crowded."
He sat down, smiling now. "Yes, it was." He agreed. "I don't blame you for wanting to escape."
She watched him for a second, and nodded when he suggested they play a game of chess, knowing full well he would slaughter her. She was fine with that. She may not be able to hate Chekov, but she could hate the blonde all she wanted.