Protective

Running into Walls

Lana

"I do not need a babysitter," I crossed my arms against my chest firmly.

I was sitting across from my father in his office in a black leather seat, that some poor defenseless animal was killed to make, next to my brother, Dmitri.

I had been looking at my brother for a shred of support on this matter but I was not so blonde that I couldn't see he was avoiding my gaze. Traitor.

"Do you want to go to school with other adolescents or not?" father asked sourly, "Because you were in fact the one that begged me Svetlana Anastasia."

Ouch. He had said my name with my middle name as if it was hyphenated when it was not. I was losing this argument.

This conversation was going nothing like when I had asked to switch my credit card out for an unlimited one. He didn't even hesitate once I batted my lashes at him.

I was far too heated to bat my eyelashes in this instance, however.

"How is it going to look for me to walk around campus with a scary bulky man looming over my shoulder?" I reasoned, "I can defend myself I don't need a bodyguard!"

He frowned, "You are a child, you cannot defend against a grown man if one of my enemies ever became aware where your school was."

"But—"

"Do you want to go back to having tutors?" he cut me off.

I sighed and shook my head.

He took a deep breath, "You aren't going to school with a grown man, Lana. He's your age and I trained him to be able to take this on and as long as this arrangement works I see no reason why you can't attend an actual school like your brother did."

I glanced over at Dmitri who wasn't even looking at me, he was hardly looking at anything. He had been acting strange lately. He was just playing around with that stupid ball that he took off father's desk.

Now that ball signified many things. One, he was deep in thought and two, he was as useless as a credit card with a limit on it.

I did not want a bodyguard. I hated the idea, I despised the idea. I wanted to go to school, normal school like Dmitri did. With stuffy uniforms, snobby kids, nerds, bullies, a fucked up class system maybe? I don't know.

All I knew about high school was what I saw on TV, but Dmitri did it, so why couldn't I?

Why couldn't I just be normal between the hours of 9am-3pm? Was I really asking for so much? For a little escape from all of this. For a little bit of a haven?

I didn't want any Petrov drama in my new school life. I just wanted my drama. Lana's drama.

Maybe I was being self centered, delusional, childish, ungrateful, bratty, and stubborn, or maybe all of the above, but I wanted that. I wanted to be all of that if it meant being normal for a couple hours out the week.

How would anyone feel knowing that they would have a walking talking breathing reminder that home was always going to be there after the end of each day? I could never escape with him around, not truly,

After graduation middle school, my father made the arrangements to homeschool me. I had the best tutors and teachers money could buy for two years. I learned three languages on top of Russian and English and it was the only thing that kept me from losing my mind. I even learned a few instruments.

For my last year, I wanted to go to an actual high school,

"Who is he?" I demanded, "Where did you come across a boy my age?"