Chapter 37

Hannah

There were several times throughout the day I felt compelled to pinch myself because it felt like I slipped into an alternate dimension. I was sitting in English 4a, taking notes on chapter seven of *The Catcher in the Rye*, a novel I could identify with only too well. I had often felt like Holden Caulfield. An outsider, lonely and untrusting. While poor Holden ends up in a mental institution, my life had taken a decidedly more positive turn. It was like someone hit the reset button on my high school existence. In this new iteration, I was sought out, greeted, valued. It gave me a whole new appreciation for Nikolai’s disappearing act over the weekend. If he felt a tenth of the disorientation I felt, I understood his actions completely.
The bell rang, and I got up and walked to the door, but not without at least three people who I’d never spoken to in my life giving me cheery greetings as I left. I responded politely but rolled my eyes as I walked out the door.
“What was that look for?” Nikolai asked as he waited outside my class for me. This was another thing. After our talk this morning, Nikolai had asked for—*demanded*—my schedule so he could pick me and drop me off at my classes. I told him it was totally unnecessary, but he mumbled something about the assholes in this school and there could be another guy like Jeff. I grinned at his possessiveness, feeling a twinge of delight that he felt so protective of me. However, I needed to check him every once in a while, to make sure he didn’t get out of hand with that stuff.
Nikolai draped his arm around my shoulders as he guided me to my next class. “I’m kind of being a jerk, but all these random people, people who I’ve had classes with for the last three years and have never said a word to me, have been saying hi to me all day, asking me how I’m doing, that kind of thing. This is the third class it’s happened in.”
He smirked. “People are sheep, Hannah. Sometimes they need to be told who to like, what to wear, where to hang out, what music to listen to. You’ve gotten some social validation, so they’re all quick to hop on the train and act like they thought you were cool all along.” He neglected to mention that the social validation was from him. He was the reason all these random people were talking to me.
We arrived at my class and he leaned me against some nearby lockers. “You might as well enjoy people being nice to you, right?”
“You’re right. I mean, how shitty is it that I’m complaining about people being too nice?”
Nikolai laughed and nudged the scarf I was wearing to rub the pad of his thumb lightly against the mark he’d left on my neck. He’d done that once before, and it never failed to send a jolt between my legs. “You’re human and these people ignored you for years, so you’re entitled to have a reaction.”
Oh, I was having a reaction alright, but it wasn’t to the other students.
Nikolai stopped grinning, quickly picking up on my shifting thoughts. He leaned in and started kissing me softly at first, then with increasing intensity. My arms slid around his waist to grip the back of his t-shirt. A series of loud whistles had me ripping my mouth way from his as I was pulled back into awareness. Jesus, I was so distracted by his kisses, I completely lost track of where we were. My shocked expression must have given away the nature of my thoughts because he chuckled and pulled me into his side as he turned to talk to Jack, who had just walked up.
“So, Nik, you got something to tell me?” Jack grinned and punched him on the shoulder. “I’ve been hearing some interesting rumors. In fact, they are the most shocking rumors I’ve ever heard about you, and that’s saying something.”
Nikolai rolled his eyes and laughed lightly. “Everyone in this school needs to get a life.”
“Well, that’s true, but when Nikolai Ivanov puts a ring on it, everybody’s interested.” Jack lifted his ring finger on his left hand and twirled it around.
“Fuck you, Becker,” Nikolai said without much heat. I shot him a quick glance to see how he was reacting to Jack’s teasing about him being in a relationship. He didn’t seem to be having doubts or look uncomfortable, but who knew with Nikolai. He wasn’t exactly an open book.
“Jack, I think I heard some rumors about you, actually,” I said, tapping my finger on my chin as though I was trying to remember. I felt the slightest twinge of guilt for implying that Ava had told me what happened between them, but in all honesty, he probably already figured she’d confided in me.
Jack’s smile dropped away, and he pinned me with an insistent stare. “What did you hear, Hannah?”
I gulped, not prepared to give away all of Ava’s confidences. Instead, I just shrugged, smiled, kissed Nikolai on the cheek, and ducked into my next class.