Wish (10 page)

“
When do I get to talk to Damon?”
I ask Tristan, as we walk back towards my dorm. It has stopped
snowing, but there is about five inches. It’s melting already,
which makes me sad. It almost sounds like it’s raining because it’s
dripping off the roof so much.

“
I couldn’t set up a time,”
Tristan answers.

I look at him. “What do you mean? Why
not?”

He sighs. “I don’t want to hurt your
feelings.”

“
How could you do that? What
happened? What’s wrong?” I ask.

“
Damon said he doesn’t want to
talk to you,” Tristan says. “I’m sorry, Katerina. I tried. He’s
just really hurt. He feels rejected by you. I mean, the kid was in
love with you and you broke his heart. He needs time away from
you.”

“
Oh,” I say, frowning.

I thought we were past that. We should be
after spending so much time together in Russia. I want us to be
friends. I miss his friendship.

Ugh, why does love ruin everything? Why don’t
I love Damon back? Why do I have feelings for Tristan instead? Or,
better yet, why does Damon have feelings for me? I don’t understand
it.

“
Are you okay?” Tristan asks,
opening the door to my room.

“
Yeah,” I answer, as we walk
inside. I take a seat on my bed, and he sits at my desk. “I’m fine.
I mean, I’m hurt. After spending three days locked in a basement, I
thought we had moved past this, you know? I just wanted to talk to
him and make sure he was okay.”

“
He’s fine. I talked to him. I
tried to convince him to talk to you, but he wouldn’t
budge.”

“
Why did he even have feelings for
me?” I ask.

“
You can’t help who you fall for,”
Tristan says. “Believe me. I tried hard not to fall for you. I
can’t blame the kid.”

“
I thought I liked him too,” I
say. “I really did. And I do like him as a friend. I just don’t
understand how I didn’t see it sooner. Looking back, I realize that
I’ve had a crush on you since I first met you. And I knew I was
attracted to you, but I didn’t know that I liked you like I
do.”

“
I know,” he says. “You’re young.
Damon was the first guy that had really pursued you. You are mature
in a lot of ways, so I forget that you’re only
sixteen—.”

“
Almost seventeen,” I say, cutting
him off.

“
Almost seventeen,” he corrects.
“And it’s okay to be the age you are. It’s okay not to have
experience with dating. Getting your heart broken sucks, but it’s
part of life.”

“
Are you going to break my heart?”
I ask.

“
I don’t know,” he answers.
“Maybe. To be honest, I think you’re a forever kind of
girl.”

“
A forever kind of
girl?”

“
You’re young. Too young for me to
even think about anything more than what we are right now. But I
want it all with you. I want to introduce you to my family. And
I’ve never introduced a girl to my family before,” he says. “I want
to someday marry you.”

“
I’ll be old enough in just over a
year,” I say.

“
Don’t you want to go to college
first?” he asks. “I mean, I wouldn’t blame you. And I wouldn’t
blame you if you did break up with me. I’m your first real
boyfriend, if you don’t count Damon.”

“
I don’t. That lasted a week.
Hardly long enough to be called a relationship,” I say. “But I have
never gotten the whole wait until you’re out of college mentality
that Americans have. I mean, I’m expected to pick out a career when
I go to college. Why am I then considered too young to pick out a
potential life partner?”

“
I don’t know,” he answers. “But
that’s a good point.”

“I know that you’re American. And
I never expected to like America, or anybody that lives here,” I
say. “But I do. The Americans I’ve met at school are nice. Well,
most of them. But no matter how long I live here, I will always
be
from
Russia.
I’m Russian. I was raised there. I like the food better there. I
like the culture better. I don’t understand the way American’s
think. Just remember that. I mean, my brother’s fiancé is only
eighteen. And if she lives, I imagine that her and Dimitri will be
married as soon as possible. That’s just normal to me.”

“It is hard for me to understand
that, because I was raised here,” Tristan says. “In America,
I’m
considered young to
be married.”

“
Dimitri is twenty two,” I tell
him. “My mum thought he would never get a girlfriend. She’s ready
for grandchildren already.”

“
Your dad does seem okay with us
dating,” Tristan says.

“
I told you. Your age isn’t a big
deal to me or my family. I don’t understand why it’s a big deal
here. In a few years, it won’t matter anyway.”

“
Do you want to know when I fell
in love with you?” he asks.

I nod.

“
It was when I realized how much
you cared for your family. That day that we went to Kaiden’s beach
house in South Carolina, and you heard that gun shot. You ran after
it, hoping you’d see your dad,” Tristan says. “You didn’t care if
he was a terrorist. You loved him unconditionally. And even after
being presented with the facts, you still believed that he was a
good person. You we’re right. It was then I knew that I loved you.
Though, I didn’t admit it to myself for a while.”

“
I think I fell in love with you a
little bit that day too,” I say.

“
When I found Kazimir holding that
knife to your neck, that is when I finally realized it,” he says.
“And I nearly told you when we went to my parent’s house. That
morning, when you told me I was hot.”

I laugh, thinking of that day. “I never think
before I speak. And once I told you, I realized how awkward it was
to just blurt something like that out. I knew I wasn’t allowed to
like you in that way.”

“
That trip is when I realized that
you felt the same way I did, but you didn’t know it yet,” he
says.

“
What did you think when I started
dating Damon right after that?” I ask. If I had to watch Tristan
date another girl, it would kill me.

“
I was jealous,” he answers.
“Like, really jealous. But I didn’t have a right to be. I had never
told you how I felt. And I knew you liked Damon.”

“
Not enough.”

“
No, definitely not enough,” he
says. “Which helped me feel better about the whole
thing.”

“
I’m glad you finally admitted
it.”

“
Me too,” he says. “I was wanting
to take you on a date this weekend, but I’m not so sure that it’s a
good idea to leave campus.”

“
Because Rafael and
Matthews?”

“
Them and the reporters,” Tristan
answers. “They want an interview with you really bad. The president
is being pretty secretive about everything that happened. And
nobody really knows anything about you. They’re curious. And Russia
isn’t releasing anything.”

“
Ugh,” I groan. “Am I famous
now?”

He laughs. “Yeah, pretty much so.”

“
How are we ever going to go out
on a real date?” I ask.

“
I guess we can hang out on
campus,” he says. “At least until all this blows over. Or you could
get the wig back out.”

I laugh. “I hate that thing. It’s so itchy.
But I would do it if it meant I could leave campus with
you.”

“
Well, we will have to wait to
catch Rafael and Matthews,” he says. “They would recognize you with
me.”

“
Stupid terrorists.”

They ruin everything.

EIGHT

Special permission.

Thursday, I am waken up early in the
morning.

I look a the clock and see that it’s only one
in the morning.

“
Kat, wake up,” I hear a
voice.

A light is turned on and my eyes shut, wanting
to block out the brightness.

“
Kat, you have to get
up.”

My eyes widen as I recognize the voice.
“Raslan?”

“
We have to go. Now!”

I want to ask questions, but I don’t when I
hear the urgency in his voice. I just put my shoes on and follow
him out the door. Savannah is dead asleep when we walk
out.

As we walk down the hall, I don’t talk. I
don’t want to wake up anybody else. I don’t know why Raslan is at
my school, or even in America.

“
Why are you waking me up at two
in the morning?” I ask, once we’re outside. It’s cold. I’m just
wearing pajamas—sweatpants and a t-shirt. I rub my hands over my
arms, trying to warm them up.

Raslan takes of his jacket and hands it to me.
“Gaidar, the guy you have known as Matthews, is in America. We
suspect he’s on his way to here. We have to get you to
safety.”

“
Where is Tristan?” I
ask.

“
That’s your boyfriend, right? The
smart guy I met in Russia.”

“
Yeah.”

“
You’re too young for a boyfriend,
Kat.”

“
I’m almost seventeen,” I say.
“Barely a year younger you.”

“
Almost seventeen,” he says,
frowning. “When did you get so old?”

“
Well, you’re almost nineteen,” I
remind him.

“
I’m getting old,” he
says.

Raslan opens the passenger side door of his
car, and I get in. He gets in the driver’s side.

“
How did you even get in the
school?” I ask. “As you know, the president’s son goes here. And
other kids with important parents. Plus, after everything that has
happened lately, they’ve beefed up security.”

“
I got special permission,” he
says.

“
So, where are we going?” I ask.
“Dad and Alik are supposed to head back to Russia today. Are we
going to meet them? I should probably call Tristan.”

Wait a minute.

What about my bodyguards?

Where were they?

They are always standing guard outside my
dorm, even in the middle of the night.

“
Raslan, what’s going on?” I ask.
“Why are you even in America? Why did you come get me? If I was in
danger, Tristan would’ve come and got me. Or even Alik or Dad. But
not you.”

Raslan doesn’t respond. He just down shifts
and accelerates.

“
Raslan,” I repeat.

I feel panicked, because I am not about to let
myself get kidnapped again and locked in a basement. This time, I
don’t have my phone with me. Why did I leave it?

Because this is Raslan! I grew up with him! He
was one of my best friends. He’s always been there for me. He was
with me the night that Eduard died. He’s like a big brother to
me.

“
Raslan, answer me right now,” I
say.

“
I’m sorry,” he says, his voice
breaking. “My family is not well off in Russia. And the guys that
want you are willing to pay a lot of money to get you. I have to,
Kat. My family, we need the money.”

“
My dad will give you the money.
More than anything they will give you,” I tell him.

“
How?” Raslan asks. “Your family
is better off than mine, but these guys are offering a million US
dollars.”

“
Dad is a billionaire,” I say. I
have to convince him before we reach the gates of the school. This
is my only chance.

“
What? How?”

“
He will give you whatever you
want.”

“
Kat, I killed people. The guards
at the gate. Some of your bodyguards,” he says. “I can’t stop now.
I have to follow through.”

“
No, you don’t. Dad can help you,”
I say. “He works for the government in Russia. He will help your
family out.”

Raslan slows the car down, as we get close to
the gates of the school. I know that it’s now or never.

“
Kat, I can’t…”

I pull the handle on the car and
jump.

My body hits the ground hard and I roll for
what seems like forever before I come to a stop. I hear breaks
squalling behind me. I stand up and feel dizzy, but I know I only
have a few seconds. I take off running as fast and as hard as I
can. I take the path through the woods. It’s two miles from here
back to the school. And I know this path. There is no way that
Raslan can catch up with me. I just have to get back to Tristan’s
dorm room.

I can’t believe I was stupid enough to leave
my phone behind! I should have known better!

“
Kat!” I hear Raslan yelling
behind me.

I push myself harder, knowing that
my life depends on this. I am
not
getting kidnapped again. There is no way that I
would make it out alive this time.

A guy that I don’t recognize steps out onto
the path in front of me. I dodge around him towards the right, and
run smack into somebody else.

Matthews.