When We Were Young

Five:

Five

The whole next day, and that night for that matter, Aleksander couldn't get what Alina had said out of his head. He knew for a fact that Alina started her day at the coffee shop on their campus. She went there to study before classes, and she always sat in the back and studied. He knew because he was usually up as early as she was, getting ready to go workout at the gym. He frequently saw her there and he blamed that on his obsession.

He saw her there every day, and even in the fall, she wore skirts and dresses. Usually with tights and boots that drove him crazy because he so desperately wanted to see her legs. She was tiny, about five foot nothing, and he liked the idea of being able to wrap his arms around her tiny little body. She had perfect, round breasts too that he wanted to pale in his hand and suck. She was beautiful, with her jet-black hair, and brown eyes.

He wondered if her parents had been from the Shu Han, and if she had lost them on the journey through The Fold, the great canyon that divided Ravka and kept them from other countries too. Plenty of people had died that way. He had never had the guts to ask her about her past. Mostly because she was usually shooting death daggers at him.

Alina was beautiful, a serious student, and a dedicated friend as far as he knew. He wanted her to like him. And, most of all, he desperately, desperately wanted to be with her. He had been with many girls before and had a few serious girlfriends even. But there was something different about Alina Starkov that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

As he made his way into the café, he saw she was in her usual spot, and he slid into the empty seat across from her. "Hello, Lina."

Alina looked up from the big textbook that she was reading, Elements of Cartography, and glowered at him. "What are you doing here, Morozova? Also, my name is Alina. Not Lina."

He smirked. "Oretsev calls you Lina."

"Oretsev has special privileges."

"That's funny because I thought he didn't want to take you up on any special privileges. Do you know he had no problem taking up with Zoya Nazyalensky though? He came back from his away game with her. You know. Business major, and a cheerleader?"

Alina rolled her eyes. "You're trying to goad me."

"I'm not trying to goad you. I'm being deadly serious. I heard them. He grunts like a boar. Are you sure that is who you want to be your first time with?"

Alina scowled. "Do you honestly think I'm saving myself for him? That's not it at all. Mal has made it clear to everyone in this school that I am off limits, and I can't find anyone that wants to sleep with me."

Aleksander frowned. "What do I look like?"

"Like my best friends worst enemy. I don't know what your deal is with Mal, but you two have a weird feud thing, and I'm not going to be part of it. The minute we had sex, you would go rub it in his face and he would never speak to me again. I'm not going to lose my best friend because you are an asshole."

Aleksander smirked. "You really think that I would just go and brag to everyone about us sleeping together? Do you think I have no class?"

Alina snorted. "Please. I know about The Wall."

He coughed. "What wall?"

"Are you kidding me?" she rolled her eyes. "I'm talking about The Wall of Coeds. The ones with pictures of all the girls that you've slept with."

"You make it sound less accepting than it actually is. You know that it's not just girls. We're diverse. There are guys too. Ivan and Fedyor are in competition actually---"

"That's not the point, Morozova," Alina said, "the point is, its gross, and you go through people like you think fucking is a sport. I'm not going to be part of that. I don't need my first time to be rose petals on the bed or whatever but I certainly don't want it to be an STD factory."

"I'm clean. I get tested once a month."

"Well, the nurses at the free clinic must treat you really well then."

"The nurses at the clinic are lovely ladies who can all vouch for how much of a Prince I am. Come on, Starkov. My family is loaded. I'm good looking as hell. What can I do to make you sleep with me?"

Alina sighed, and took a sip of her coffee. "How romantic. That's what every girl wants to hear. A guy talking about him making him sleep with her."

Aleksander winced. "I redact my previous statement. What can I do to get the permission to sleep with you?"

Alina tilted her head to the side. "What if I told you that I just genuinely wasn't attracted to you, and it wasn't going to happen?"

He laughed. "Is that really why you don't want to sleep with me?" He leaned forward so that his face was dangerously close to hers. Alina flinched, and he knew that she could feel his hot breath on her. "You've never once thought about what I'd look like naked? Or what it would feel like to have my cock in your tight, little pussy?"

Alina flinched. But it wasn't a bad flinch, judging by the way that she blushed. She took another drink of her coffee.

"You're very quiet suddenly," said Aleksander.

"I'm waiting," said Alina.

"For what?" Aleksander said.

"Morozova," he heard a voice say, and it was too late before he realized that it was Mal, and he hauled off and punched him.