Chapter 26

Hannah

Ava waited about ten seconds before she started her interrogation. “Okay, what the hell is going on with you and Nikolai? He’s hot and everything, but that was some serious caveman bullshit he was pulling on you. Who does he think he is, Edward Cullen?” she said, only half joking.
“Nice reference from ten years ago,” I said sarcastically, following her at a slow pace. This place was packed, so walking to the bathroom might take up the whole ten minutes.
Ava chuckled, and she weaved us through the crowd. “You know what I mean. What is going on with you guys? I’m not the most socially connected person in the world, but I think I would have noticed one of hottest, and scariest, guys in school going out with someone I’ve actually had a conversation with. When did you guys start dating?”
This was the hard part of having friends, I was discovering. Did I tell her about what’s going on with Jeff, and that this thing with me and Nikolai was all an act? Even though it felt like less of an act, on my part at least, every minute. Or did I keep the secret, as we both agreed we would?
As I worked through this internal debate, I had come to the unavoidable conclusion that I’m terrible at keeping secrets. I wanted to tell Ava, just like I had wanted to tell Katya. I liked her and wanted to have an actual friendship with her. I couldn’t start our friendship lying to her. Having finally decided to tell her the truth, I realized it would have to wait until we got in the bathroom to avoid being overheard. I mean, what would be the point of this whole thing if I blew it one hour in?
“Okay, Ava, I’ll tell you everything, but we need a little more privacy.”
With that, Ava sped up to find us a bathroom, but the line was crazy, and I could tell she was dying to hear my story.
Ava grabbed a kid who was weaving past us by the arm. “Is there another bathroom in this place?”
The guy looked wasted and the question put a comically thoughtful look on his face. “Oh, yeah, I think there’s one in the basement and one upstairs.”
Ava turned to me. “Okay, the upstairs one is probably as crowded, but maybe the basement has fewer people?”
“Let’s go.” I agreed, having no desire to wait in line a million years, and knowing that Nikolai would assume the worst if I took too long.
Ava once again grabbed my hand and we headed into the finished basement. Mark’s family must use this as a rec room because it was full of comfortable looking couches, a big screen TV and some type of gaming console. I was surprised no one was down here; it looked a lot more comfortable than being crammed together on the first floor. The lure of the keg is probably what kept everybody upstairs.
To our mutual relief, we saw one person in line ahead of us, I think her name was Sarah. Sarah promised to be quick, as girls always promise each other in the spirit of bathroom line solidarity. Thankfully, she was actually true to her word.
“Okay, what’s going?” Ava quickly blurted out as I was still locking the door. I laughed at her eagerness, then spilled the whole story about my deal with Nikolai and what it’s been like dealing with Jeff all this time. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t told a soul about this in four years, and now this is the third time I had repeated the story this week. Ava’s face was compassionate and enraged by turns.
“Holy shit, Hannah. That’s so fucked up. I understand why you felt like you couldn’t do anything about it, but I hate that you had to deal with this alone for so long. That definitely explains Nikolai being so hesitant to let you out of his sight. Jeff sounds fucking crazy.” Ava said this as she unzipped her jeans to use the toilet and I turned to the mirror to see how my makeup was faring.
“Tell me about it,” I said as I put on more lip balm, my lips still feeling a little swollen from Nikolai’s earlier attentions. I didn’t really have to use the bathroom, so Ava washed her hands and checked herself out in the mirror next.
Ava was applying coral lipstick that looked amazing with her coloring and made her eyes look brilliant. “You know, Hannah, I know you are saying that this thing with Nikolai is an act, but I have to be honest. He didn’t look like he was acting when he was kissing you.” She paused to give me a pointed look. “And neither did you.”
My face flushed with embarrassment at being so exposed. Was it obvious to Nikolai? Was I acting like a love-sick nerd?
My concerns must have telegraphed themselves to Ava. She turned to me and put her hand on my arm in reassurance. “I’m not teasing you, Hannah. Who wouldn’t be into Nikolai Ivanov hanging all over them and kissing them? So, do you like him?” Ava asked this as if she were interested in the answer, but the look on her face indicated she already knew my feelings.
I sighed, as was my tendency and gave in. “Of course.”
Ava laughed. “Well, at least you have good taste. He’s sexy,” she said as she winked at me and opened the door.
We stepped out into the rec room and were drawn up short by a very angry, very hostile Jeff Connors standing in front of us. I had seen him a million times, but I was always jolted whenever he appeared in front of me. If you didn’t know him, I suppose a person would find him conventionally good looking, with short, light brown hair and blue eyes, but I had considered him repulsive for so long now, I practically envisioned devil horns and a forked tongue every time I saw him.
“What the fuck, Hannah? What the fuck are you doing here? Are you with Ivanov?” Jeff had a frown deeply creasing his forehead, his fists clenched at his sides as if he was resisting the urge to swing at me. I was really regretting my decision to stop Nikolai from kicking his ass.
Jeff menacingly stepped toward me, and I quickly turned to Ava, her panicked expression no doubt mirroring my own. “Get Nikolai.”