Decisions Ch. 07

Stasi stood up, collected her bag, and walked out with Lucy. I watched her leave, a silly grin on my face. Stasi waved at me over her shoulder, blew me a kiss, and...

The door closed with a loud thud.

Now's my chance!

I popped up and shouldered my backpack, making a beeline for Mrs. Olsen's desk. "Hello, my favorit-..." I began.

"No use buttering me up, Christopher." Mrs. Olsen replied, irritably. "I'm still going to give you the same timetable as I had planned."

"Yes, Mrs. Olsen.." I replied, dully. Why should I have expected anything different just because I got back from Winter Break? Now I knew why Stasi and Lucy didn't want me to procrastinate on getting my recommendation letters for my college application. Because of this exact same scenario. When I came to Mrs. Olsen, literally on my knees, begging for a letter, she told me how swamped she was and how she wasn't going to prioritize me.

Mrs. Olsen looked up from her computer. "Well? What are you still here for? School's over." She pointed out. "Don't you have to be getting along with Annie?"

I shrugged off my backpack, setting it back down on the table. "Hockey practice starts in half an hour. I might as well get a start on reading about our Supreme Court. Besides, I don't like to have her wait after me. There's too much traffic out of Belcourt with the checkpoints and all."

Mrs. Olsen cracked a smile. "Very well, then."

I cracked open my textbook, riffling through the pages. After having been accepted by Anton to work as an intern at the Coven, I became quite interested in my AP Government class... well, more interested than normal. Instead of simply going with the motions and sometimes screwing around with Ricky and Jazz, I found myself holding onto every word that Mrs. Olsen said. I answered every question, led every discussion. I was in direct competition with Lucy and Stasi.

My eyes roved across the page as I began to scribble down notes in my notebook. I needed to think of something creative to memorize every important Supreme Court landmark case. Maybe a song?

"Dear, whomever it may concern..." Mrs. Olsen read aloud.

Oh great, she's taunting me by reading another lucky sod's recommendation letter.

"It is with my pleasure that I recommend this outstanding young man to your school..." Ok, so that narrowed it down to half my class, considering we were just about fifty-fifty with the gender ratio.

"He is one of my most exceptional students that I have taught in my 30 year career of teaching. I have taught him in my 12th grade Advanced Placement Government class, and I was not surprised to learn that he was ranked near the top of an extraordinarily gifted class of Seniors. His skills and passion for learning will make him an excellent fit in your rigorous program." Mrs. Olsen continued.

I banged my head on my desk. "Oh, please stop teasing me." I moaned. "I'm sorry! I shouldn't have procrastinated on asking you for a letter."

Mrs. Olsen was, however, on a roll. "Christopher is a perceptive, sharp, quick individual with a high aptitude for social studies and math." Wait... Christopher? I picked myself up, looking at Mrs. Olsen with my mouth wide open. Mrs. Olsen looked back at me with a grin on her face, holding out her letter. "Annie and Lucy told me that you were going to procrastinate a long time ago, so they asked me to write it a while back since they knew you were going to ask me right as you left for Winter Break. I don't know how, they just knew. Annie, of course, made a deal with me. We both mutually decided that I'd hang onto this for a while and let you tear your hair out."

I yelped in delight, jumping to my feet and holding out my greedy hands for the letter. Mrs. Olsen kept it just out of reach. "This is not an excuse to slack off, Mr. Williams!" She said, sternly. "I took the time to write this letter for you, I can take it right back if you give me a single reason!"

"Yes, yes!" I said, excitedly. "I promise not to slack off!"

"Very well." Mrs. Olsen said, satisfied. "I'll fax this to the University of California, Los Angeles Admissions Office as soon as I can. Now, go on to your hockey practice."

I thanked her once again ("Don't thank me. Thank Annie!"), packed my stuff up, and left. I was practically on cloud nine, dancing my way down the stairs. I was officially done with college applications. Now, all there was was to play the waiting game. It was out of my hands. As I was walking out of the building, I typed out a text message to Stasi, sending it as soon as I got signal.

I love you, Anastasia Antonova Sokolov! X

Her reply came back only seconds later.

Love u too ;) have fun @ hockey X

I grinned at the text, my fingers a blur across the screen. I made sure to slow down my walking so I accidently didn't run into or trip over anything. I'd have a hard time explaining to Coach Butler that I had somehow managed to get a season ending injury because I broke my own ankle slipping on someone's loose skateboard.

Thank you! Want anything to eat on the way back? X

After a moment of hesitation, she sent a reply.

Free food? what a tempting offer! i was craving pizza but my mom is making your favorite. how does beef stroganoff and my zaichik sound? :) X

I sent one last text, shutting off my phone.

amazing! See you @ your house. Love you!

I walked into the Labyrinth, making my way into my locker room. With slightly over 20 minutes to go until the start of practice, the locker room had only a smattering of people in it. "Hey, Vik." I greeted, walking to my locker, which he had situated next to mines.

Viktor nodded at me, turning back to his phone. "What?" He asked.

"What do you mean, 'what'?" I looked at him. "I said 'hey'."

"What?" Viktor turned to me. "Oh." He pulled out one of his earbuds. "I'm facetiming Abby." He glanced back at the screen. "Oh, that was Chris, Abs." Viktor said. I resisted the urge to laugh. Abs? That was his pet name for Abby, which was already short for Abigail? Is that the best he could do?!

"Hi, Chris!" Abby's miniature voice said from his phone, once Viktor yanked out the earphone from the jack.

"Hey, 'Abs'." I snickered, making Viktor's cheeks turn red. "What are you up to?" I asked, leaning into Viktor's personal space and looking at his phone screen. Viktor leaned away to me but kept the phone in place. Abby waved back at me through the phone screen.

"Swimming!" She replied.

"In the middle of Winter?" I peeled off my hoodie, tossing it into my locker.

"I have an indoor pool." She explained.

Oh, that's right! Viktor told me about how Abby's family had an 'indoor' pool. Well, it was hardly a pool. It was about 30 feet deep, filled with warmed saltwater. I was naturally jealous. Being from California, I loved the water, especially the beach. The Sokolov Family? Not so much. Vampires and the bright outdoors hardly mixed. The outdoors didn't mix with most monsters. They'd rather stay in their indoor sanctuaries.

"I'm so jealous." I replied enviously, making Abby laugh. I pulled out my pads from my locker and slid them on, tightening the buckles. I turned to Viktor, tapping my watch and then my pads. 'Want to practice shooting?' I mouthed. Viktor's eyes flitted up to me. He nodded. I unhooked the watch from my wrist, placing it in my locker. I then began to put on my skates.

"Hey Chris, while you're here, can you answer a question that Vik and I have been debating on?" Abby asked, making Vik groan.

"Not this again." He grumbled.

"What's the question?"

"She wants to know what the plural form of 'moose' is."

Wait, what?

"It's just moose, isn't it?" I asked.

"HAH!" Abby cried, triumphantly.

"So why is the plural form of goose, 'geese'?" Vik pointed out. "Shouldn't the plural form of moose be... meese?"

Wait, what?!

"Honestly dude, I have no idea. I think Coach Butler is Canadian. Ask him. Otherwise, you're on your own with that one." I chuckled.

Viktor continued to talk to Abby, but when the locker room steadily began to get more crowded, he said his goodbyes. "Gotta' go, Abs."

"Ok, Vik!" She replied, cheerfully.

"Wait!" Viktor said, before Abby could sign off her phone. "Abby, I.. uh... I..."

"You...?" Abby pressed on.

Uh oh. This can't be good.

"I... adore you!" Viktor blurted, a stupid smile on his face. This time, I burst out laughing. Really hard in fact. I had to hold onto my locker door to keep from sliding onto the floor. I attracted a few looks from my teammates, who couldn't help but smile. Stasi always said my laughter was contagious.

"I adore you, too Vik. Peace!" Abby said, shyly. She made a kissing noise and signed off, probably to go back to seeing how long she could hold her breath underwater without the usage of her gills.

Viktor shut off the phone, tossing it into his locker. "Ok, it's not that funny." He complained, slapping his forehead with his palm and picking up his hockey stick with his free hand.

"Yes, it is." I replied, setting my helmet to balance precariously on my head. "It is very funny in fact. 'I adore you'. What in the world was that, man?"

Viktor wafted a hand, dismissively. "You can't just say the L-word after a few months of dating, you know."

"I said it before I went on my first date." I pointed out.

"That doesn't count." He retorted. "You two were practically in love since you both were ten." He had a point there. "Look, man. I know I go to you a lot for relationship advice, but this time, I got this. Ricky taught me how to be smooth, trust me. He sent me a bunch of YouTube videos to watch."

YouTube?!

"Ricky? He's as smooth as velcro!" I exclaimed.

"You're probably right." Viktor laughed. "But trust me, we're getting there." He stood up and we walked to the exit, taking the player's entrance to the ice. We started skating around the rink and simply firing shots from different angles into the net. Eric joined us, then the Kelly brothers, soon we had a nice quick pre-practice warmup going. A few moments before practice was set to begin, I skated to the bench, taking a seat next to Eric.

"Ready for Friday's game?" I asked him.

"Yeah." He replied. I looked at him from behind my visor. He didn't say anything else. That was Eric for you. He was the silent type. He always said that he just likes to chill in the back, watch everyone make fools of themselves. He was the kind of hard working guy that deserved to be on the first line... not relegated to the bench.

"Your time's coming, Eric." I assured him.

"Thanks, Chris." He replied.

He didn't say anything else for the rest of practice.

******

"Thanks for the ride, Chris." Viktor said, opening the car door and shivering. "Jesus, it's warmer out here than in your car."

"Sorry, buddy." I replied, opening my door as well. "My heater is broken and the mechanic won't fix it. He called me a monster lover." I picked up my backpack, slinging it over my shoulder and slamming the car door shut. I shoved my hands into my hoodie pocket to keep my fingers warm. I followed Viktor into his house, sighing in relief when we were hit with a blast of heated air.

"Oh, thank the lord." Viktor gasped, taking his hood off. "Mama, I'm home!"

Yulia poked her head into the hallway, smiling widely. "Almost in time for dinner, too! How was hockey?"

"It was good, mama."

"That's great." Yulia said, happily.

"Preevyet, Yulia!" I said, waving.

"Hello, Christopher. Anna is just upstairs."

"Spasibo!" I replied, heading for the stairs.

"Zdravstvuyte, Christopher." Yulia replied warmly. Every time I spoke Russian with her, she had that prideful look in her eyes, almost as if I was her own son. Which.. I guess, in a way, I was. I considered her my second mother.

I walked upstairs, instantly heading for Stasi's room and bopping my head to the techno music thumping from behind Elena's closed door. At last, I arrived at her door. My heart was actually starting to ache. I felt that dull pain ever since I found out about what Stasi did for me with Mrs. Olsen. I guess I was just too far away from this girl. I rapped my knuckles on the door, a quick three knocks.

No answer.

I knocked again, louder this time.

Still no answer.

I opened the door a crack, peeking into the room. Now, I knew why Stasi wasn't answering. She was on her bed, her laptop in front of her. White earbuds trailed from her computer into her ears, playing music. She was wearing her comfort clothes, yoga pants, hoodie, and fluffy slippers on her feet. It looked almost as if she hadn't gotten out of bed all day. Her hair was in pigtails and her eyebrows were furrowed in concentration. She was beautiful, even more so in moments like these.

I decided to take that time to open the door the rest of the way. Stasi looked up at me when I walked in, blinking behind her thick glasses. Somehow, her glasses managed to magnify the dark purple bruise-like shadows under her eyes. Despite all that, her face immediately lit up. She pulled out the earbuds, grinning widely. "Hey, lyubov." She said, softly, patting the spot on the bed next to her.

"Hey, you." I replied, equally as soft. I closed the door behind me. Elena's music was reduced from a thumping to a quiet vibration. I crossed onto her bed, setting my backpack on the floor. "You're the best." I murmured.

"Really? I am?" She teased.

"Yep, you are." I sat down next to her, laying down on her bed and kissing her on the cheek.

"What possibly could've caused this sudden display of affection?" Stasi gasped. "Is the cat... out of the box? Is that how you say it? Out of the box?"

"It's out of the bag, but yes, the cat is definitely out of the bag and on the floor."

Stasi laughed. "Sorry, that was mean."

"No, no. I deserved it for procrastinating." I kissed her again, wrapping my arms around her soft body. "What are you working on?"

"Biology project. A group project that you're in, mind you! When are you going to start pulling your own weight?" Stasi asked, giggling as I continued to kiss her on the lips, face, cheek, nose, everywhere I could.

"Maybe when the project due date isn't for two weeks, or maybe once a special someone starts pulling their own weight in Government. I've had to carry your gorgeous body through three projects!" I laughed, my mouth trailing down to her graceful and long neck.

"I did my own work!" Stasi gasped, as I began to attack her neck. It was her ticklish spot... as well as mine. Actually, my whole body was my ticklish spot. I was a really ticklish person. Her? Not so much, except for that one little area.

"Yeah right. You couldn't type up one paragraph without calling me and asking me to do so-and-so for you because you were so 'busy'." I chuckled.

I was still kissing her. I had no idea why I didn't stop. I guess I was just so thankful or it could've been that I hadn't seen her since school ended and I was just getting out some repressed hormones.

"Chris..." Stasi moaned. "Chris, I.. I.. can't."

"Can't what?" I taunted. "Can't handle me being right for once?"

"Can't... just... please... stop." She panted. The sudden change in her tone made me freeze. I backed away, looking at her. Her pupils were dilated, her breathing coming out in labored gasps. She stared at me, her chest heaving.

"Stasi..?" I asked, cautiously. Stasi snarled, a deep grisly snarl that came from in her chest. She licked her lips... no, her teeth. Her fangs. Her terribly beautiful fangs. My eyes widened. Something was wrong. "Stasi...!" I repeated, forcefully. Stasi snarled once more, an animal-like snarl, and then she pounced.

Or rather, she pretended to pounce and I flinched, rolling backward off the bed and landing in a disheveled heap on the floor. My instincts honed by the martial arts courses that Stasi and I took kicked in, and I jumped to my feet... only to find Stasi absolutely beside herself, cackling like a madwoman.

"I can't believe you fell for that!" She managed to get out between fits of laughter.

"Fell for what?" I shot back, defensively. I should've known! She needed to feed, but she didn't need to feed that badly. "I just... slipped! Why'd you even do that?"

"It's what you get for tickling me!" She snickered, sliding over on the bed so I could clamber back on. "Don't even say that you didn't fall for it because you totally fell for it!"

"I did, at first." I conceded, not willing to lie. I actually did fall for it. "But I know you'd never deliberately hurt me."

"Thanks, lyubov." Stasi replied, a sheepish smile on her face. She wiped a tear away from her eye, calming down from her bouts of laughter that were wracking through her. "But you don't need to lie. I have self control problems when it comes to blood, we both know that."

"No, you don't, Stasi." I declared. "I have first hand account that your self control is perfect. By the way, how'd you do that eye thing? The thing where your eyes got bigger?"

"Oh..." Stasi suddenly looked embarrassed and covered her midriff with her arms, her defensive mechanism. "You never noticed? That just... that just happens by itself... when it's... that time of the month. My pupils dilate and my iris becomes like... super thin."

"Time of the month? Feeding?" I asked. I already knew the answer. I just wanted to hear it come from her.

"Feeding." She nodded, glumly.

"When?"

"When what?"

"When do you want to feed? I suppose we could do it now if you want... or tomorrow... or the day after that. I'm free after school any day this week, Coach Butler said that if we win Friday's game, he'll give us the weekend off so..."

"Chris..." Stasi pleaded, but I cut her off.

"Stasi, we literally have this argument every time this comes up. It gets redundant. I'm going to tell you what's going to happen. You're going to be adorable and get all stubborn, then I'm going to convince you, then you're going to feed. I'm going to feel 'off' for a day or two, then everything will be back to normal. You're not going to hurt me and you're certainly not going to kill me! I love you and I just want to give you what I need."

Stasi paused, looking at me, her blue eyes watery. A terse silence, punctuated by the sounds of Elena's music until finally...

"I love you." She blurted out, loudly. "You're my best friend and I love you. You always have my back, you know me inside and out and I love you." My heart fluttered at her words. "I love your compassion. I love your kindness. I love you. I can't say those words enough. I love you, I lov-..."

"Stop saying those freakin' words." Viktor yelled from his room. "He knows, we know, everybody knows!"

Stasi and I both burst into laughter, the tense and passionate ambiance broken.

"At least I didn't say I adored her, Vik!" I shouted towards the general direction of his room. That oughta shut him up.

Stasi, still giggling, touched foreheads with me.

"Tomorrow." She confirmed, happily. "We'll do it tomorrow after your game. My parents will probably be home late, Viktor will go out to eat with Abby, and Elena either has practice or will go to and third wheel. I don't want to do it now because I know how tired you get and I don't want you passing out in a bowl of my mom's beef stroganoff. I'd rather have you passing out on top of me."

"Deal." I replied, equally as happy. I held her tight to me in a hug. "Are you sure you don't want to go to my house?"

"Nop-... wait, actually... Sure. With my rotten luck, we'll probably have Elena walking in on us again."

Elena was the bane of Stasi and I's affectionate side of our relationship. She was like the grim reaper. She always had the tendency to catch us when we were at our most compromising. It was kind of infuriating, yet somehow endearing.

"Deal. My house, tomorrow." I said, kissing her on the forehead.