“You look like you’re ready to jump out of the window to get away from me,privighetoare mica,” Dimitri comments, the corner of his mouth lifting up into a smirk.
There’s that phrase again. I couldn’t pronounce it even if I tried.He called me that after I stopped the underground fight. I’m sure it’s something to the equivalent of a swear word in English, like bitch or something. “M-M-Maybe I am,” I admit.
Mr. Pendleton clears his throat from the front of his class, his eyes zeroed in on Dimitri and me. “Less talking and more note taking, please,” he says. “You two can get to know each other after class.”
The entire class erupts intoooohs, as if we were just flirting with each other or something. Completely and utterly embarrassed, I focus on my notes, intent on ignoring Dimitri if he tries to strike up another conversation. But, thankfully, he doesn’t. The rest of the class goes by so slowly, and I swear it feels like I’ve been sitting at this desk for four hours before the bell finally rings.
I’m the first out of my seat and the first out the door. I rush to my locker, trading out my books for my next class and practically running to it as if I’m being chased by the damn boogeyman. It almost feels like I am at this point. Dimitri has a black cloud of doom that follows him wherever he goes, and I don’t want to get swallowed up into it.
When I get to my next period, I wait with bated breath to see if Dimitri will walk through the door. He doesn’t. I finish out my morning Dimitri free, and I couldn’t be happier.
By the time lunch rolls around, the entire school is buzzing about the fact that Dimitri “The Destroyer” Sokolov is the new student. I can’t even walk a few feet without hearing someone in the hall talking about him, and it’s infuriating. They’re treating him like he’s some kind of god or something, and it’s painful to hear.
Darby finds me in line at the cafeteria and asks, “Hey, can you buy me a drink? My evil stepbrother refused to put any money in my school account and wouldn’t give me cash this morning. I guess his newest form of torture is trying to make me starve to death.” She tries to play it all off with humor, but I can see the lingering hurt in her eyes.
A deep frown forms on my lips. The more she talks about herstepbrother and how he’s been treating her lately, the more I find myself hating him just as much as Darby. “Of course,” I tell her. “In fact, w-w-whatever you w-want, it’s on me.” I’m not going to let my best friend go hungry because her stepbrother is an asshole. Ever since their parents died, he acts like money is more important than everything, including Darby.
“You’re the best,” she tells me with a sad smile.
“I know, b-b-but it’s still n-nice to hear,” I quip.
She laughs and then grabs a chicken salad wrap and a water. “I’ll pay you back, I promise.”
I wave my hand, dismissing her. “No b-b-biggie. My dad p-puts p-p-plenty of money in my account.”
“God, I can’t wait until I turn twenty-one,” she says while we wait in line. “Then the money my parents left me in their will goes into my actual bank account, and I won’t have my stepbrother breathing down my neck over every single penny he gives to me. I’ll finally be financially free of him.”
I’m sure Darby wants to rush time at this point, finish high school, graduate and race towards turning twenty-one. But for me…all I want to do is slow down time. Because the faster it goes by, the quicker I’ll be turning twenty-three, and the sooner my life is inevitably over.
“Whoa, is he going here now?” Darby hisses conspiratorially in my ear while pointing behind us.
I turn and see Dimitri instantly in the back of the line. He stands out like a sore thumb, not even trying to conform to the rules of the school or look like the other students. The sleeves of his long-sleeved shirt are rolled up over his muscular forearms, and I can see the veins underneath his tanned skin and tattoos bulging every time he reaches for something. I steel my spine as I face forward, refusing to let my gaze linger on him. I don’t want him catching me staring at him.
“Uh, yeah, he w-w-was in my English Lit c-class earlier.”
“And you’re justnowtelling me this?” Darby says while mimicking that her headis exploding.
“I, uh, f-f-forgot,” I lie. In fact, he’s all I’ve been thinking about all morning. I’ve barely been able to concentrate on anything else, let alone my classes.
“Okay, forget the sleepover. I need all the deets today about this guy and your connection to him.”
“His f-f-family works f-for my dad. That’s all,” I lie again.God, why is it so easy for me to lie to my best friend?I swear Dimitri is the only thing I’ll ever lie to her about.
“Ah, so that’s how you know so much about him,” she says with a nod. “Makes sense.”
I want to tell her about the arranged marriage, but I can’t. Right now is not the best time. Besides, she’s dealing with enough right now with her parents’ recent deaths and her stepbrother’s antics. I don’t want to worry her. I’ve been doing enough of that for the both of us anyway. I swear I’m going to develop a heart murmur from the stress alone.
“I think Dimitri has a crush on you,” she whispers. “He won’t stop staring at you.”
“Really?” I hiss back. I glance towards the back of the line, and sure enough, Dimitri is staring at me. But it’s more of a glare than anything. His eyes narrow when my gaze locks onto his. And I watch as his eyes move down to my lips before returning to my eyes. “He l-l-looks like he’s trying to f-figure out whether to s-s-snap my neck or k-kiss me.” Why is it always those two conflicting expressions on his face? It drives me crazy.
“Yeah. Isn’t it hot?” Darby asks, fanning herself.
Rolling my eyes, I step forward and pay for our food. “You g-g-gotta stop reading d-dark romance, Darby,” I chide her. Darby has been a bookworm as long as I’ve known her, and her new favorite genre is dark romance. She’s been trying to get me on board, but I’m still hesitant. I like my cute and fuzzy romcoms. I don’t need to be reading about mafia families and controlling dons. Unfortunately, it’s too much like my real life.
“Never. I will die on that hill,” she says dramatically. “Besides,reading is my only escape from my fucked-up life right now,” she admits with a heavy sigh.
Well, I can agree with her on that. Even though we like completely different genres, I totally get the escaping part when it comes to books. I don’t think I could survive without reading and drawing at this point in my life. Those are the only two hobbies I have that get me through each day. Without them, I would probably go insane. Although, if I get committed to an insane asylum, then I wouldn’t have to marry Dimitri…
