When We Were Young

Eighteen:

 Eighteen:

The rest of the week went by quickly. Alina found that her mornings were constantly spent with Aleksander, who decided that he was going to spend breakfast with her every day. He tried convincing her to let him buy her coffee too, but Alina insisted on paying for her stuff. They weren't actually dating, she reasoned, they were hanging out, and that was all that was happening. By the time that Thursday morning came around, Alina realized she hadn't talked to Vasily once about the date they were supposed to go on that Friday...supposed to being the key word.

When Alina saw Vasily in class, he said, "Hey, so what time should I pick you up on Friday?"

Alina flinched at the question. "Friday?"

Vasily frowned. "Oh, come on. Don't tell me that Morozova scared you off from dating me. I mean, it must say something if Mal didn't totally freak out when you told him about it."

Alina slid into her seat and took her textbook and notebook out. "Well, um. I kind of already have plans on Friday."

"Well, I'm free anytime. We could do lunch even if you wanted. I've got a thing I'm supposed to go to for my family's company, and I know a work thing isn't the most romantic thing. But the media events are always boring as hell, and it might be nice to have someone there, so I'm not roasted alive by my family. What do you think?"

"Lunch, huh?" Alina said.

"Yeah. Nothing super intimidating. You can still get to your thing, and we can still have our date."

"I suppose I could do..." she trailed off, and she remembered the rules of the bet.

Vasily looked at her strangely. "Everything okay?"

"You know what? I just remembered that I have some tutoring jobs that day, so I can't. I'm sorry."

"Right, well. Some other time maybe?"

"Maybe," she said faintly.

It was a complete and total lie and she almost felt bad about it, except she couldn't think of anything else to tell him. She certainly wasn't going to tell him that she was in the middle of a bet with Aleksander Morozova about her virginity. And they weren't a couple. They were.... besties, as Aleksander liked to say. The rest of the class seemed longer than usual, and Alina was very aware of Vasily watching her carefully the entire time.

When she got out of her class, she found Mal was out there waiting for her. "Hey!" she said. "What are you doing here?"

"Are you hanging out with Morozova?" Mal asked tersely.

"Mal, I thought we talked about this. You don't get to dictate my life."

"Look, forget all of the other bullshit aside, Alina. I'm not even talking about sleeping with him or dating him. Are you friends with Morozova?" he demanded.

She gripped the strap of her backpack tightly. "Why do you care?"

"Because Alina. You're supposed to be my best friend and you are hanging out with the guy that has made my life miserable since the moment that I stepped foot onto this campus for no reason."

Alina crossed her arms over her chest. "You know, you have always told me that. But I know that your history with Aleksander is more complicated than you have made it out to be with me. Because I heard that the reason that Aleksander hates you is that you were part of his breakup with Zoya. That you slept with her because you wanted to hurt him, specifically. Doesn't seem like the Mal I know but I'm beginning to realize there's a lot of things I don't know about you."

Mal was quiet for far too long after she spoke. Each second that he was silent left a bad taste in her mouth. Aleksander had told her the truth about them, Mal still hadn't, and they had known each other far longer.

"Mal," Alina whispered, "come on. Tell me that you wouldn't do something that cruel to someone. No matter who they were. Please."

Alina shook her head. "I can't believe you had me hating him when you were the one that started this stupid feud between the two of you. He's been trying to flirt with me for three years, Mal and I just thought...."

Mal snorted. "Just because I was the one that started the feud doesn't mean that he's a martyr Alina. He's done his fair share of terrible things. Don't let yourself be fooled by his bullshit. He's not good enough for you, and he's never going to be good enough for you. You're right, and I shouldn't be trying to control who you date. But don't date him."

"You know what? I am sick of your crap. I always thought that you were looking out for me, but I don't think you were looking out for me. I think you were hiding who you really were from me. I always thought you were a good guy, but I've been finding out all sorts of things about you. Tell me Mal, how did you get enough money for college?"

Mal frowned. "Scholarship."

"Really?" she said. "Your scholarship pays for the new car and the laptop and all of the furniture you got for your room? Because I know it wasn't your parents. Look...if you're not going to be honest with me, I don't think we should be friends until you can be."

Mal stepped forward and grabbed her shoulder. "Come on, Lina. Don't be this way. We're each other's family, you know that."

Alina shook her head. "That's the thing, Mal. I'm not. I never was, and you have made it abundantly clear that you don't care for me. You just pretend to care about me. And if you really cared for me----you would want me to be loved. You wouldn't be trying to save me or whatever it is that you're trying to do."

"Lina----"

"Don't," she said, and she stormed off.