Chapter Six: A Confession and an Adventure
Stepping out into the cold, crisp winter air seemed calming and soothing. Anastasia stood in the snow and inhaled deeply. The cold bit her bones, but she loved the feeling. It brought back memories of her grandmother's stories of growing up in freezing Russia...during a time when war was plentiful and peace was not.
She had a lot in common with her grandmother. Their parents were murdered. Her grandmother practically raised herself, starting at the age of seventeen. "Why was it she had to live alone?" Her grandmother kept to herself the details of her early childhood. "She never spoke of her life before that." Anastasia was named after her grandmother, of course. Anastasia was often told that she had her grandmother's eyes. She also had her grandmother's temper, and fiery auburn hair to match. She and her grandmother also shared active imaginations. Anastasia's grandmother would create the fanciest tales.... Anastasia smiled as she remembered one in particular.
As Anastasia explored these thoughts, Cassie stepped out into the cold and studied her friend concernedly. Anastasia was staring at the sky. All of a sudden she began spinning and humming, ". . . things I almost remember...." Cassie sighed, realizing that her friend was in another world. She had heard this song before when Anastasia's parents had died: She sang it to herself constantly. "And a song someone sings..."
"Once upon a December..." Cassie chimed in, catching Anastasia's attention.
Anastasia's eyes lit up as she ceased her dancing. "Hey, you didn't tell me you could sing! You have a great singing voice, Cassie."
"Likewise...." There was an awkward silence. "You want to tell me what's going on?"
"No, not really. There are so many things...." She didn't know what to say. Anastasia stood still. Her eyes darkened slightly. "Like what?"
"Well," Cassie started as she removed a pink hair band she wore on her wrist. She pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail. "like what you were thinking about just now."
Anastasia's face tightened, and suddenly she appeared to fall apart. "That doesn't matter...." Cassie watched as Anastasia's eyes filled with tears. "I was thinking about my grandmother. But, I was just...using it as an escape from the truth...and confusion."
Cassie's eyes showed that she understood, and she was silent, allowing her best friend to continue.
Anastasia's shoulders sagged. "I just don't understand. He...Dimitri fought my fight for me, and yet, he was the only one who could have...." She stopped to take in a ragged breath. ". . . shown the picture...that I gave him."
Cassie crossed her arms. "That's what the fight was all about? What picture did you give him?"
Anastasia's posture prickled defensively, yet her voice was calm and sincere. "You never saw the photograph. It was a picture of me falling of the stage during the first grade Christmas pageant."
Anastasia was afraid Cassie would question why she had never shown her. Instead, she replied, "That's not the only thing on your mind, is it?"
"No, it isn't." But she couldn't bring herself to say so aloud. Instead, Anastasia walked up to her friend and hugged her. "Thanks for being the greatest friend a girl could wish for, Cassidy."
Cassie pulled away from the hug, studying her friend critically. "We're back to a full name basis?" she questioned, grinning playfully. "I guess I'll have to start calling you Anastasia again."
Anastasia smiled bashfully. "You know what I mean!"
"Yes, I do. And, Anastasia Emelia Greene, I know you have more on your mind. But, you can tell me when you're ready."
Truly no one understood her like Cassie did. They hugged again. "Thanks, Cassie. And one last thing...if you ever use my middle name again, you're gonna need to learn how to sleep with your eyes open." The two laughed.
The door to the college opened, and out stepped Dimitri. The faintest hint of a smile crossed his face as he watched the two girls joke around. Anastasia noticed him and smiled wanly. Dimitri took the acknowledgement as a sign that it was fine for him to approach. The laughing ceased, only to be followed by a few awkward moments of silence.
"You were really wonderful, Dimitri," Cassie finally said, grinning.
"Thank you," he replied almost inaudibly. His eyes showed appreciation, and yet they reflected uneasiness. Cassie, becoming quite accustomed to the signal glance, took her cue. She smiled at her friend, leaving without another word.
Once Cassie was out of earshot, Dimitri spoke briefly. "Anastasia, I really need to talk to you about something important." He hesitated. She found it hard to look him in the eyes, but she got it done. That seemed to relieve Dimitri, and so he continued. "We don't have a lot of time right now, so will you agree to talk to me after school--over coffee?"
She managed a believable smile as she replied, "Certainly."
O~o~O~o~O
Anastasia was leaving the university as Cassie caught sight of her. "Ana!"
Anastasia spun on her heel. "Yes?" she asked in a chipper voice, though Cassie could tell that she was nervous about something.
"Where are you going in such a hurry?"
"I'm going to the local Starbucks...."
"Ooh, that sounds great! Mind if I come along?"
Anastasia wanted to tell her no, but Cassie became so exited that she added a skip to her walk. "I suppose you can," Anastasia finally said a bit reluctantly.
Cassie's skip was suddenly tamed. "What do you mean you suppose I can go?" Anastasia blushed, and Cassie had her answer. "You really couldn't be more obvious you know. Tell Dimitri 'hi' for me," she said lightly as she nudged her friend in the arm.
"Yeah, I know, I'll...." Her cheeks turned scarlet at the sudden realization. She quickly tried to recover. "Who?" But from Cassie's expression Anastasia knew there was no point in acting oblivious to the situation. "How do you know?" she squeaked.
Her reaction thrilled Cassie, causing her to giggle. "Because, Ana, I know you," she said with a wink.
O~o~O~o~O
Anastasia pushed open the door to Starbucks. She entered casually, glancing at the few tables filled with students and laptops. She immediately spotted Dimitri. He was bent over some papers he had spread over the table. As she neared, she realized that he had not yet noticed her. "Hi," she said a bit more shyly than she would have liked. Despite her frustration with herself, she refrained from biting her lip.
His gaze flew up to her. "Hi, Ana." She noticed he struggled to emphasize the proper pronunciation of her nickname. She also saw him scramble to push all his papers into a neat little pile as he spoke. She took a seat at the opposite side of the table and watched him push his hair out of his eyes. She stared at him, waiting for him to speak. He stared back at her and finally cleared his throat. "Don't you want to order your coffee?"
That wasn't what she was expecting. But then, she didn't really know what she was expecting. "Um, of course."
"I'll order it for you. What do you want?"
"Pumpkin spice soy latte, decaf," she answered without hesitation. He raised his eyebrows. Her expression was unwavering. "What?"
He finally smiled genuinely. "Nothing, that's just a mouthful."
She arched an eyebrow and gave a crooked smile. "Would you like me to repeat it?"
By that time he was standing. "Nope. It's a decaf pumpkin spice soy latte, right?"
"Wow, I'm impressed," she said grinning.
He grinned back and then departed her presence to order the pumpkin latte. She watched him approach the counter and order. The young cashier repeated his order back to him, and he nodded. Then he turned and flashed Anastasia a triumphant smile, proceeded by a thumbs up. She returned the gesture. He returned his gaze to the cashier and opened his wallet. And that's when Anastasia realized that she was being too nice to him. He still had yet to explain the whole picture fiasco to her. What she did not know was that her simple gesture made his heart skip a beat.
As he paid the cashier and waited for the latte to be handed to him, Anastasia found her eyes traveling to the pile of papers sitting before her. So she had the picture fiasco and biology to worry about. Great.
Just then he returned to the table. Anastasia, so absorbed in her thoughts, didn't notice him. He held out the latte patiently, waiting for her to sense his presence and take the hot drink. But she continued to stare at the papers. More curious than irritated, he placed the drink directly in front of her eyes. "Here," he said gruffly.
"Oh, thank you..." she replied sincerely as she received the beverage.
He plopped into his seat. "Well it took you long enough."
Anastasia was genuinely shocked at Dimitri's demeanor. She calmly placed her cup before her on the table and focused her attention completely on him. "Dimitri, if I did something to offend you, I'm sorry."
His stony expression quickly crumbled and he broke into laughter. Seeing Anastasia was confounded, he cleared his throat. "You seemed....how should I say this....in your own world, and I wanted to see..."
"If I was paying attention to this world," she laughed.
"Yeah," he sighed. They understood each other. For once.
O~o~O
"Ugghh!" Anastasia moaned as she playfully "headed" the Starbucks table. Dimitri laughed as the girl picked up her head. "I just don't get it," she admitted, folding her arms in her slouched position.
"You'll get it eventually," Dimitri said kindly.
"Eventually?" she repeated, her voice rising. "Face it, Dimitri, I suck at Biology." Anastasia was expecting Dimitri to shoot back a retort, but that's not what happened.
"I'm sorry about the bullying that happened today."
"About that, how did those guys know about my picture?"
"Well, see, that night after I spoke to you, I returned to my dormitory and placed my backpack on the floor by the closet. I had put the picture in my backpack. I think that Zach—he's the guy who was giving you a hard time first—must have come across my backpack and..."
"Wait, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," Anastasia said, waving her hands in front of her. "You're telling me that Zach is your dorm mate? That dweeb?" Normally, Anastasia wasn't prone to cruelty or harsh words, but right now she was balancing on nothing but will power.
"Yeah...and he must have told Chris in hopes of, well, I guess trying to get on their 'good side.' "
"Well I could certainly could see that," Anastasia grumbled, still frustrated, but at least understanding.
"I do hope you're not mad at me," he softly pleaded.
"No, I'm not mad at you...at anybody." She placed a hand up to her forehead. "I just wish I wouldn't have been made a fool of."
"You know what?" Dimitri asked, placing his palms flat on the table, "Let's forget about Biology for a while."
She stared at Dimitri incredulously. "What do you mean?"
O~o~O
"I am NOT getting on that thing!"
Dimitri removed a shiny black helmet from the leather side bag. "Come on, Anya, it's only a motorcycle."
Her face was blanched. "You're serious? 'Come on, Dimitri, drink this bottle of Shout-it-Out, it's only bleach.' "
"Ah," he said, handing her the helmet, "I'd never do that."
"My point exactly." Her eyes were staring at the helmet, and she was holding it gingerly, as if the helmet itself had the power to kill her.
"The helmet's not going to do anything to you," he stated, placing his own on his head. "You'll be fine, especially with me driving."
"It's not driving...it's...it's...motorcycling." He seemed not to hear her as he climbed onto his motorcycle. He was ignoring her, obviously. She started to place the helmet over her auburn ponytail, but her hands just wouldn't place the helmet completely over her head. She glanced up to the heavens in distress. Suddenly, an idea occurred to her. The sky had been cloudy and overcast all day; rather forbidden looking. "Uh, D..Dimitri," she stuttered, bringing the helmet back down in front of her. "Are you quite sure it's safe? I mean, there's a storm coming in. What if it started raining?"
"Rain doesn't stop me."
Her shoulders slumped. He wasn't going to take any of her excuses.
"You can walk back to the dormitory, or you can ride there. Which is your choice?"
Considering his words, she glanced back down at the helmet. She had never ridden on a motorcycle before. It would be ridiculously scary. On the other hand, it would provide her with a terrific story to share with Cassie.
"Well, are you getting on or not?"
Her shaking hands rose to her head, and soon enough see was staring out of a tinted visor. Dimitri smiled at her decision. She climbed on behind him. And then she sat there, not really knowing what to do. "You're going to need to hold on to me if you don't want to fall off."
Her eyes widened. Of all the things she was giving in to, that was definitely not one of them. "I'm fine. I'll be able to keep my balance without holding onto you."
"Okay, if you say so."
She smiled in satisfaction. At least she'd still be able to maintain some of her dignity. The loud roar of the engine cut off her thoughts and she screamed, grabbing onto his sweater. Then he pulled out of the Starbucks parking lot.
They continued going straight at a slow pace for a while. Anastasia finally opened her eyes, relaxing. It wasn't so bad. But then he sped up. Her nails dug deeper into him the more he accelerated. He clenched. "You know, you don't have to hold onto me this hard..."
"F-f-f-fine b-b-but...." she began a stuttering spree, which was interrupted as they rounded a corner. She screamed once again, clutching at him. Instinctively his muscles tensed and he straightened. He turned his head slightly and out of his peripheral vision could see the frightened girl squish her eyes shut and press her face (visor, actually) into his back. And then he smiled to himself.
O~o~O
Finally they approached the main street leading to the dormitories. Anastasia's eyes glistened at the sudden relief of seeing the large building get larger as they drew closer. They were nearing the round-about, but he wasn't slowing. Suddenly they passed the college's parking entrance. "Hey," she shouted, "you missed it!"
"I know."
Where was he taking her? She was too stunned to ask. As she was still trying to process this, a water droplet landed on her visor. And then another. And another. Great, it was raining. She was wondering how the day could get any worse when they approached the base of a small hill. Dimitri stopped at the light and waited patiently for it to turn green. During this time Anastasia found enough courage to glance up and see where they were. Immediately she recognized the narrow, winding road as San Francisco's famous Lombard Street.
At that moment the light changed and Dimitri accelerated forward. He took the corners slowly, and Anastasia found herself admiring the many small buildings and shops lining the street. It was approaching dusk, and the street lights were beginning to light up. The whole scene reminded her of an old movie, something one would see in a fairy tale world. But this was real.
Finally they reached the top, and it was raining pretty hard by then. He pulled over and made a U-turn so that they were facing Lombard Street once again. The sight was beautiful. The bay was off to the left, with the lighthouse dead ahead in the distance. She could see most of the city shining brightly below, and the small shops were illuminated in orange light escaping their windows. The soaked street itself reflected the lights. She sighed in awe. Now she somewhat understood why he brought her up here. It was peaceful, serene, the perfect thing to take her mind off her troubles. "Thank you," she whispered.
Cassie paced back-and-forth from the bedroom to the entryway and back again. "Ana, where are you?" she asked as she studied her watch. 7:10. With what had recently happened to Anastasia's parents, Cassie didn't want to take any chances. She was considering calling her friend when the sound of jingling keys disturbed her worrying. She ran to the door just as her dearest friend was entering.
Anastasia was soaked clear through from head to foot. She smiled at her friend and offered no explanation. She started to walk back to the bedroom when Cassie couldn't contain herself any longer. "Ana, what happened to you? Do you know that you almost gave me a heart attack?"
Cassie would never let this go. Anastasia sighed and pivoted toward her friend. "You're never going to believe this in a million years..."
O~o~O
Cassie erupted in laughter. "Oh my word!" she finally coughed out. "Oh my woooooooord! Anastasia Emelia Greene, I cannot believe you!" By this time she was gasping for breath. "That...."
The storyteller blushed slightly. "Cassie, it wasn't that funny. Half the time I literally felt as if I was about to die!"
Cassie's face was beet red. ". . . was the cheesiest date ever!" And with that Cassie thrust herself into another laughing spasm.
Anastasia's eyes widened. "No it was not! It was not a date!"
Finally calming down, Cassie replied, "Uh-huh. Sure. Tell me that after you wipe that goofy, embarrassed look off your face. Then I might believe you. Maybe."
Cassie started to walk away from her stunned friend, but then wheeled around with a curious expression crossing her face. "There's one thing I can't figure out. How'd he know about the view if you guys didn't know it was going to rain?"
Anastasia sighed and brushed some wet strands of hair out of her eyes. "I don't know...." Her voice was even and calm. "But Cassie, I assure you it wasn't a date."
Cassie smiled fondly at her friend. "Ana, I'll tell you one thing: Don't ever change."
So, what do you think of really long chapters? I hope you enjoyed!
I apologize for the new way of separating scenes. The FanFiction uploader is not uploading my asterisks, and when I edit within FanFiction, the changes do not hold. The complete line barriers mean that an entire change in scene has taken place. The O~o~O~o~O barriers mean that a long period of time has elapsed during a scene, and O~o~O barriers mean that only a little time has passed during a scene.
Unfortunately, with the end of the school year quickly approaching, Yuna and I have a lot of major tests coming up. We also have a lot of homework assignments. We will continue with this story as soon as the school year ends, which happens in approximately eight weeks (yay!!). Sorry about the delay. :'(
In the meantime, we have a question for you. What would you think if we gave Cassie a few brief chapters of her own? For the ending of the story, I find this essential. Cassie is going to need to develop. We would deeply appreciate your input. Please, please, please take a moment to share your thoughts with us. We cannot emphasize enough how much your input means to both us and the story. Thank you so much!
~Stefie