บท 6: 6
Talking about Dimitri disgusts me but I want to know who he is. And above all, what it represents for my friends.
- It? Encourage me Stevan.
- And he knows you.
The bomb is launched and I watch for the slightest sign that could betray my friends. Fortunately, I only have to bend down to catch them. The game has stopped, the pages of the book have stopped turning and all their attention is focused on my little person.
- His name is Dimitri Baranov, does that speak to you?
At that name, the heads of both players and Vadim turn to Stevan. Yes, they all know him. Concerned faces replace those, jovial, of earlier.
- Ah, said Stevan, for any comment.
Markel gets up and comes over to us.
- What is he doing here?
The question is not for me, but I can't resist answering for Stev.
- He comes to work, like me, at the University.
- That would surprise me, exclaims Vadim before laughing.
I turn to him as his brother throws him a card, which hits his shoulder.
- Hey!
- Stop talking a bit, little brother, it's better.
The two men give each other a look that only they understand as Markel, deaf to their bickering, crouches in front of Stevan. They then begin to exchange in Russian, excluding me completely from the conversation. I stare at them, my eyebrows furrowed and my good mood is gone. They know full well that I hate being pushed aside, especially when they speak their native language. And even with all the will in the world, I never managed to speak Russian.1
I pick up a few words in the conversation, which I can more or less translate, but they speak too quickly for me to find my way around. Also, I am patiently waiting for them to be silent so that I can know the end of this story. Something that happens quite quickly.
- So he's a friend of yours? He's coming to visit you?
Faced with my questions, Stevan gives me a brief, annoyed look, which I return to him a hundredfold. No question of my friends stepping on my toes, especially after this rotten day.
- No, he finally sighed, we weren't even aware of his visit. Our parents didn't let us know.
- But they know him…
- He's a distant cousin of Markel's family.
I catch my friend's calm gaze and raise an eyebrow. I know the cousins don't look alike but it's hard to get further apart than Markel and Dimitri. One is wheat-blonde and has two emerald green eyes while the other has black hair and onyx eyes. The first is all-leg and very thin, and the second is tall and square. And I'm not even talking about their character! From what I could see of the new one, I can already assure you that the two cousins have very distinct characters. The day and the night…
- We didn't live and grow up together, Markel tells me, visibly following the course of my thoughts.
- It reassures me! I said with humor, for a moment I wondered if you too were going to become a first-class asshole.
My big mouth will ruin me. Before I realize the scope of my words, two chocolate eyes have lost themselves in mine and are already looking for an answer to the question that their owner will ask in three, two, one…
- What happened?
Bingo! I was sure… Sometimes I hate being right. I chew my lower lip for a moment, not knowing where to start, which annoys my friend. He growls a few unintelligible words before urging me to get it over with. Given his gaze, I decided to speak, smoothing the corners. I don't want to find myself being escorted by my guards back to college until Dimitri realizes he has no business here. Their protective instinct will smother me one day, I'm sure.
- Dimitri doesn't seem to like me from the masses…
- That's to say?
Markel mutters something very much like "That's not his job" but given Stevan's tone, I prefer to focus on the latter.
- That is to say that I think he has a holy horror of me, but that's not a problem. I don't like it either.
My sentence makes my friends laugh but I still feel them tense.
- Don't worry, I say smiling and taking Stevan's hand in mine, I'm not helpless.
- We don't doubt it, Markel reassures me, smiling at me.
- We'd rather you just didn't have any trouble, Vadim goes on coming to kiss me on the cheek. But we know you have long teeth, even if you don't bite…
Playful, I jump up and show my two fists, hopping like a boxer.
- You'll see if I have any in my stomach!
Vadim raises an eyebrow, without looking the least bit frightened, then, without warning, he jumps on me. I fall backward, taking my cry of surprise with me. Vadim breaks my fall and I throw weed in his face. While he spits, disgusted, I throw myself on him and we roll, under the laughter of the others, which alternately boos my friend and me.
Then suddenly, as Vadim stands above me, he stops and raises his head in front of him. It takes me a few minutes to follow the movement and I take a look behind me to see what has made my playmate petrified. Still on the ground, his head upside down, I discover Dimitri a few meters from the group. It is only then that I truly become aware of the silence that has descended on the clearing.
- Can we know what you are doing here? Markel hisses.
I turn, surprised, to my friend and meet his annoyed gaze. No, downright furious. Something quite exceptional, which pushes me to get up very quickly. Markel is angry, that never happens. And when I say never, I mean. I don't know their story, but Markel doesn't hold Dimitri in his heart.
- I'm walking, replies this one quietly, and I wanted to see you… Well, especially Stevan. I have important news for him.
- Can't wait tonight?
- Unfortunately no.
He takes a few steps forward and then gives me a look where disgust mixes with anger.
- You never get rid of her?
The attention he pays to me immediately makes the boys react. Like a single man, my friends stand up and, with tense muscles, look at him with an evil eyes.
- Dimitri, Stevan intervenes, you have two minutes to leave us alone.
The arrested stared at me for a few more seconds before turning to my best friend.
- A messenger from Mr. Ivanov cannot be fired, he declares, displaying a half-smile.
Mr. Ivanov, or in other words, Stevan's father. A messenger ?! What next ?! Couldn't he have just texted her? This is what I point out to our small group, which earns me yet another hateful look from the demon. One more or one less, I'm not there anymore. Only, in the silence of my friends, did I become aware of something.
- If I ever bother, you can say it loud and clear.
- In this case…
- Dimitri, warns Markel, shut up.
The demon mumbles something under his breath but obeys his cousin as Stevan turns to me with a tired face. I shouldn't have woken him.
- I need to talk to this one, Lena. I'm sorry but…
- But I disturb, I understood.
I say that nonchalantly like I don't care. The reverse could not be more exact. In truth, I don't like their secrets and the fact that they ask me to leave particularly upsets me. However, I don't show it, even going so far as to kiss Stevan on the cheek.
- Anyway, I have to go.
- Very good idea, replies the fallen angel.
- Dmitri! Yells my friend, making me jump, my patience has limits! Lena, he resumes, more gently, thank you for your… proposal.
- See you tomorrow, then, I say, my tone almost too cold.
I grab my bag, wave to the boys, and walk past Dimitri, royally ignoring him. But I feel his dark gaze slide down my body and follow me until I disappear into the undergrowth.
I don't know what to think of this day. Between the conflict with Alexis, the rather turbulent arrival of the newcomer, and the rapprochement between him and my friends, my return to school turned out to be special, to say the least. However, even if I don't know what tomorrow will bring, there is one thing that I say loud and clear: I deeply hate the asshole who serves as Markel's cousin.
The next day, I arrive in quite a good mood at the University. A quiet night, a little message from Vadim apologizing on behalf of everyone, and a smile pokes the tip of his nose on my face. I even have an appointment with them this afternoon, to eat in the only restaurant in the village. The class. Especially when you know that it is also self.
But this cynicism cannot taint my little joy. Gwen and I spend the early morning together in the back of a classroom discussing the latest series. My happiness could be complete if I didn't find myself each time in the same classes as Dimitri.
Thinking of him, my eyes slide over his broad back, which I hasten to glare at. Ah! If I could have a rifle… The new one would have been dead and buried long ago. Especially since last night's coup. I don't know any more about him than I did yesterday morning, except that he's Markel's cousin and he's not liked by the boys. A good point for them. Would miss that they all get along like a thief at a fair…
Still, I don't intend to stop there. Dimitri is unsympathetic enough for me to dig deeper into his story with my friends to find out the end of it all. It is a need to know the exact relationship he has with the boys. Without that, I won't be able to know if I can criticize him openly in front of them. And this is of great importance because very often, I tend to pour out on my enemies in the making. A very personal way of self-mutilation. When I have someone in my nose, I just can't forget it. Before I go through a phase of cracking, where I insult him with all the names before I can see the end of the tunnel. Inner Peace.
I will soon convert to Buddhism.
Only, in the meantime, I can do nothing but lament my fate and imagine a thousand tortures that I will offer in a parallel reality to Dimitri. I don't usually hold grudges but this guy is stalking me. Faced with his contemptuous air, it is not difficult to hate him, even if for the moment, apart from me, everyone seems won over by the beast.
According to the rumors, Laurine would have grabbed hold of it and introduced her to the whole gratin of the College, namely Alexis and his band of profound morons. I don't know who I pity the most, but he keeps Laurine and Alexis busy enough for my hatred against him to diminish a little. A tiny bit.
Gwen told me about another rumor that was going around, interesting enough for me to remember. Last night, Laurine would have had a little party at her house, obviously inviting the new guy. Presumably, a small altercation would have exploded between Dimitri and the head of the Faculty, after a comment from the latter. Which, on the other hand, everyone ignores.
For me, it mostly means that the conversation we shared with Dimitri and the boys didn't last very long last night. Which suits me.
What suits me less is this interminable late morning. The boring routine returns and after three hours of class, I can't bear to be slumped at my table anymore. Gwen and I don't have this course in common and I languish in my corner, without listening to a word of what our current teacher says, a cross between a crow and a jackal, and wielding endorphins brilliantly.
My last hour of the morning, and the worst. Sprawled against the wall, I stare at the clock with murderous thoughts. Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock… The minutes taunt me, and I suspect them of receding as soon as I blink my eyes. These traitors! I'm sure they've come up with a Machiavellian plan to bore me to death. With a groan, I turn my head away from the damn machine and look around the room, noticing the terrifying power of our teacher.
Several of my comrades are struggling to keep their eyes open and some have given up the fight and are sleeping soundly. Among the students sleeping, I notice that Dimitri has joined the game. Well done, the new one! He quickly understood how the system works.
I hesitate to join the others in the land of Morpheus but a piece of paper suddenly lands on my table, making me jump to the ceiling. I look up and discover Laurine, watching me carefully, while filing her nails. I open the piece of paper with a sigh, without changing my position, and discover his leaning magnificent handwriting. Another annoying thing about her: in addition to her top physique, she succeeds in everything she does and is therefore constantly the best student in our class. Annoying as can be, this girl…
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