Wish (9 page)

“
It’s the state right by South
Carolina,” he answers.

I remember South Carolina. We went to Kaiden’s
beach house there on Labor Day weekend.

“
So they live close to the ocean?”
I ask, thinking it would be nice to live close to the
ocean.

“
Not exactly,” he answers.
“Atlanta is in the middle of Georgia. You have to drive a ways to
get to the ocean.”

“
Oh,” I say. “That’s too bad. I
like the ocean.”

“
Yeah. It get’s really hot there
in the south during the summer,” Tristan says.

“
It gets hot in
Russia.”

“
But it’s a different kind of
heat,” he says. “You just have to experience it. And it hardly ever
snows there. Like, if they’re lucky, once a year. But not even that
often.”

“
Huh,” I say. “That would be sad.
I like the snow.”

“
Me too,” he says.

“
I hope it snows here soon.
Besides that one snow earlier in October, it hasn’t snowed any. And
that snow didn’t count because it didn’t stick,” I say.

“
It probably will snow soon,” he
says. “Madox was telling me that last year, it snowed so much that
they had to delay people coming back from Christmas break for a
week. There was a crazy blizzard or something and nobody could get
to the school.”

“
That’s awesome,” I say. “Do you
think we will get to go home for Christmas? I mean, to Russia. Are
you still going?”

“
I’m not sure if we will get to go
to Russia. I suppose that depends on Rafael and
Matthews.”

“
I still can’t believe Matthews is
Gaidar,” I say. “I always trusted him, you know? The guy slept on
my dorm room floor quite a few times. He had so many opportunities
to kidnap me. Why did he wait?”

“
I don’t know,” Tristan answers.
“I trusted him too. I had no reason not to. For him to pass the
security and background checks that they gave him before he became
Damon’s bodyguard, well, it’s scary.”

“
How is Damon?” I ask.

“
He’s good,” he answers. “He’s
ready to come back to school. I talked to him yesterday, and he
said he’s really bored. He misses you.”

“
I miss him too,” I say. “He was a
good friend. And we spent a couple days locked in a basement
together. I feel like we bonded or something.”

“
I guess getting kidnapped will do
that.”

“
When will he get to come back?” I
ask.

“
When Rafael and Matthews are
caught,” he answers. “We are working on that. We have both
countries looking for him. They can’t stay hidden forever. Not with
technology today. Nobody can. They’re bound to walk past a security
camera at some point. And when they do, we’ve got them.”

Technology is pretty scary.

Especially considering it isn’t just the good
guys using that technology. I’m pretty sure the bad guys can use it
too. Meaning that Rafael and Matthews can watch my every move. That
thought alone will probably keep me up late tonight.

Just tell him.

Later that night, I hang out with
Savannah. I’m surprised she’s not hanging out with Kaiden and Madox
tonight. She said something about them having game party
with
just guys
in
their dorm tonight. She seems really upset about being excluded. I
can’t believe they would exclude her.

“
It has to be because I’m a better
gamer than them. They just don’t want to lose to a girl in front of
all the other guys,” Savannah says.

I laugh, because she’s probably
right. I don’t know a lot about video games, but after living with
three older brothers, I like to think I know about boys. And
boys
hate
losing.
Especially if it’s to a girl. Of course, my brothers are so much
bigger than me. I hardly ever won.

“
So how are things between you and
Kaiden?” I ask her.

“
They’re fine,” she says. She
stops pacing and sits on her twin bed, facing me. “I don’t
understand boys. When Kaiden and I hang out alone, things are good.
I think that maybe he might like me, you know? But then when we get
around Madox, he is completely different.”

“
Maybe he doesn’t want to make
Madox uncomfortable,” I say. “Or maybe he likes things the way they
are. You guys are friends. If you dated and then broke up, it would
ruin things.”

“
Yeah, but he won’t even give us a
chance,” she says. “I really like him.”

“
Then tell him.”

“Yeah, right,” she says. “I can’t
just
tell
him.”

“
Yes, you can,” I say. “It’s
simple. Damon practically told me the first night we met that he
was in love with me. And you know how I am. I’m outspoken. If I
like a guy, I’m going to tell him.”

“
Did you tell Tristan that you
like him first?” she asks.

“
Well, kind of. I kissed
him.”

“
Oh, right,” she says. “I wish I
were that brave.”

“
I don’t recommend just walking up
to him and kissing him,” I say. “But I do recommend you telling him
how you feel.”

“
What if he doesn’t feel the
same?” she asks.

“
Wouldn’t it be better to know so
you can move on instead of sitting in here, pinning over him?” I
ask.

“
I guess. It would hurt if he
didn’t feel the same,” she says.

“
What if he does? You’ll never
know unless you tell him. Besides, getting hurt is part of the
process, right? I’m sure Kaiden won’t be your only heartbreak in
life. We’re still in high school,” I say. “Who finds their true
love in high school?”

“
My parents did,” Savannah
says.

“
Yeah, but that’s, like, the
exception,” I say.

“
I bet you and Tristan will be
together forever.”

“
I would like to hope so. I don’t
think anybody wants to think the person they’re dating will
eventually break their heart.”

“
You broke Damon’s heart,”
Savannah says.

“I know. I hate that I did,” I
say. “I thought that I liked him. I mean, I
did
like him. But not enough. I
liked Tristan more and didn’t even realize it. While I was supposed
to be falling in love with Damon, I was falling in love with
Tristan.”

“
You can’t help what your heart
wants,” she says. “Maybe it would be better if I know how he feels.
Because if he doesn’t like me, I can find somebody who does, you
know? I don’t want to go to prom with Kaiden and Madox. We always
go to the dances together. And I always liked it, but I think I’m
ready to not go as a group. I want a boyfriend.”

“
Yeah, I can understand that,” I
say.

“
Is Tristan your boyfriend
now?”

“
Yeah,” I answer. “I mean, he’s
still my bodyguard. Him protecting me has to come first, so he
says.”

“
I guess you are his job,” she
says.

“
He says after this is over, he’s
going to quit his job,” I tell her. “Like, he doesn’t want to have
a dangerous job anymore because he doesn’t want me to be in
danger.”

“
Aw, that’s sweet,” Savannah says.
“He’s twenty one, so he’s probably thinking about the long term
future. Like marriage and all that.”

“
I think about that stuff too,” I
say. “Sometimes I think I’d like to live in America. But then I
think about Dimitri and Alik and my parents. Dimitri is engaged to
a Russian girl. I mean, if she lives. But she doesn’t speak
English. There is no way they’d want to live in America. Alik
might, but what about Dad and Mum? They’d probably want to stay in
Russia or move to England. How could I handle living so far from my
family? And what about with Dimitri and Elana have kids? I want to
be close to my nieces and nephews.”

“
Yeah,” she says. “I don’t have to
worry about that. I’m an only child. I already told my parents that
when I’m older, I’m not living in Chicago. They told me that they
would move wherever I go. My dad was raised in the south in a small
town. I think they’re both ready to get out of the city. My dad is
a cop. And Chicago is kind of dangerous.”

“
Chicago is that city that’s
really windy, right?” I ask.

She laughs. “Yeah.”

“
I really should learn more about
American geography.”

“
Probably,” she says, then sighs.
“And I should probably figure out what to do about
Kaiden.”

“
I already told you. You think too
much. Just tell him how you feel,” I say.

“
Easier said.”

SEVEN

Zillion bodyguards.

When I wake up on Wednesday morning, there is
snow on the ground. Only about half an inch, but it’s still coming
down hard. I look at the weather forecast on my phone and see that
we’re supposed to get six inches today. But tomorrow it’s supposed
to be in the 40’s, so it’ll melt.

Still, snow!

“
Savannah, wake up!”

She mumbles something and turns
over.

“
It snowed!”

She opens one eye. “Really, Katerina? It’s
four in the morning.”

“
It’s fifteen till five,” I say.
“Seriously, though. There is snow.”

“
I have school today,” she says.
“And in case you didn’t know, they don’t cancel school for snow
here. It’s boarding school. They don’t care if we have ten feet of
snow and have to dig a tunnel. They expect us to always be at
class.”

“
Why would they cancel school for
snow?” I ask.

“
Well, cause the roads get
dangerous,” she answers.

“
They don’t care if the roads are
dangerous in Russia. They never cancel school for bad
weather.”

“
Russia is weird,” she says, then
puts a pillow over her face. “Now shut up so I can go back to
sleep.”

A few seconds later, I hear her
snoring.

She is so not a morning person.

I get up and get dressed for my morning run. I
wonder if we’re still going to run outside. Tristan and Alik both
arrive at my dorm room at exactly five o’clock. Instead of going
out to the trail, we go to the gym and get on the
treadmills.

“
I don’t like running on the
treadmill,” I say, about a quarter of a mile in.

“
You were the one excited about
snow,” Alik says.

“
Yeah, yeah,” I
grumble.

“
This is my last morning with you
guys,” he says. “I’m going with Dad to Russia for a little bit. I
want to see Dimitri. Elana lived through the night, but things are
looking really bad. I need to be there for him.”

“
I wish I could go,” I
say.

“
It’s not safe,” Tristan says.
“I’m not even sure it’s safe to be at school. That’s why Damon
isn’t here.”

“
But I have a zillion bodyguards,”
I say, knowing that there are at least five bodyguards close by
right now. Though, I still don’t trust bodyguards. Look how Rafael
and Matthews turned out. Damon and I were kidnapped by the very
people that were supposed to keep him safe.

I trusted Matthews—Gaidar, whoever he is. He
always seemed like such a good guy. I still can’t believe he turned
out to be so bad.

“
Do we know we can trust these
bodyguards?” Alik asks.

“
Yes,” Tristan answers. “The
people I hired went to the same school as me and have worked at the
same agency as me. They’re all older than me, but if my boss trusts
them, then I trust them.”

“
I trust your judgment,” Alik
tells him.

I do too. Like, I trust Tristan completely.
I’m glad that Alik trusts him too.

“
I hope Damon comes back to school
soon,” I say. “After we were rescued, I didn’t even get to tell him
bye before he was taken away to a safe spot. I spent almost three
days locked in a basement with him.”

“
I can get him on the phone,”
Tristan says. “Your dad is going to come on campus for lunch today.
Maybe after, we can call him.”

“
Okay,” I say.

“
I’ll set up a time.”

Good.

I miss Damon. I know that I hurt him by
everything that went down with Tristan, but I didn’t mean to. I
think us getting kidnapped together really helped our friendship.
Hopefully they will catch Matthews and Rafael soon so he can get
back to school.

You with me.

It’s hard for me to see my dad
leave campus that day. Especially since he takes Alik with him. I
miss my family so much. I wish I was going with them. I want to see
Dimitri and mum. But Tristan is right. It’s
not
safe.

Not that it’s safe for the rest of my
family.

I tried to tell Alik and Dad that, but they
still wouldn’t let me come with them. Sometimes, being the only
girl and being the baby in the family sucks.