Once Upon A Lie

Twenty-four:

Twenty-four:

On the day she was supposed to go on her date with Mal, Genya showed up early in the morning with an armful of clothes. "You need a new outfit," she said simply.

Alina stared at her. "Did you raid Bergdorfs?"

Genya laughed. "No. These are all mine. I made them."

Alina's eyes widened. "You made them?"

Genya nodded. "Yes. Come on. I think I've got the perfect thing for you."

Genya shoved her way into Alina's room and they spent the day going through clothes, until both Genya and Alina could find something they both agreed on. It was a plaid mini skirt with a white ruffled blouse, complete with a pair of black high-heeled boots.

Genya squealed when she saw the complete look. "Oh, you look amazing!"

Alina blushed. "You really think so?"

She nodded. "You're gonna knock him dead."

"Thanks, Gen."

She caught sight of her window, and saw Aleksander staring at her from his across the way.

Genya furrowed her brows together. "Everything okay?"

Alina shook her head. "It's nothing. Just. Him."

The redhead glanced over her shoulder at the window. "Oh, yeah. Are you comfortable with him being able to see you through there?"

Alina shrugged. "I've gotten used to it. But we haven't spoken since everything happened. He doesn't have my number anymore."

Genya frowned. "Linnie, that's probably for the best."

She sighed. "I know. It's just hard. We used to be best friends; you know. And then..."

"Then what?" Genya asked.

"Has Nik told you about his brother?"

Genya shook her head. "No."

"Well, right before I started at Ravka Academy, Nikolai's brother, Vasily ended up dying. He went to some weird underground fight thing and wound up with a concussion and he died in the hospital. He's never really been right since. I think it kind of shook him."

A strange look crossed Genya's face. "Well, I get that losing someone is hard but that doesn't make it right. Someone hurting you like that...it's never right, Alina."

Alina smiled softly. "Yeah, I know." She glanced at the window again. Aleksander waved, but she went over and closed her curtains. "It doesn't matter. That whole mess is over. I'm going on a date with Mal today."

Genya grinned. "That's absolutely right."

"Has he told you anything about what he's got planned?"

"Oh, he's told me everything that he's got planned."

"Are you going to tell me anything about it?"

"Absolutely not," Genya replied with a laugh.