The Competition

Yelena

My alarm clock rings at five, waking me up. "Oh please, for God's sake, turn it off," Viktor yawns, snuggling into my chest. I rub the sleep from my eyes and try to turn it off, but Viktor's grip on me is too strong.
"Yelena..."
"I know, let go of me so I can turn it off," I turn it off and jump out of bed before he can reach for me again.
"What time is it?"
"Five in the morning," I reply and he lifts his head in shock. "Fuck no. Come back here." "Not an early bird, I see," I chuckle as I hear a knock at the door. "Morning, Ms. Katsaros," Mr. Shuji offers me a friendly smile. I close the door a little, blocking the view of the bed where Viktor lies.
"Can I take the day off? I don't really feel well."
"Of course, darling, I will bring you breakfast in 15 minutes," he says with a sunny little smile. "And Ms. Katsaros, he can stay for breakfast too," he adds and my face heats up with embarrassment. Closing the door, I walk over to the bedside table and pick up my phone to see if I have any messages from Natalia. Nothing. But I have a message from Carson. 

Car

He's with you, isn't he?

How is Natalia?

She's still sleeping. Where is Viktor now?

Do you often wake up at five?

Jokes aside, Yelena. Is he with you?

Yes, he is.

What is he doing there?

I do not know, ask him.
He came out of nowhere at one in the morning and is sleeping.

Did you have a fight or something?

No, he told me he was going out.

Oh. Okay, well,
I am not coming to school today.

Actually, we do not have school today.

Why is that?

Apparently someone set a fire.

Why do I feel like we know this person?

Probably because me and your boyfriend beat him and his minions, but im not sure.

Boyfriend?

Viktor.

No.

Yes.

No.

Yes.

Carson, no.

Honey, I have seen the way you two look at each other when no one is looking. Except when you were mad at him. You cannot hide shit from me.

Me hide anything? Never.
What about you and Natalia?

What about us?

I don't know you seem pretty close lately,
is there something going on between the two of you?

He reads the message but doesn't reply.

Car

Are you still there?

Yeah, but there's nothing going on between us. We are just friends.

Friends my ass.

Car

I have a serious question.

Go ahead.

When are you going to tell him the truth?

What truth?

Don't play dumb, Yelena.

My heart is beating so hard against my chest that it feels like it's going to burst out of my chest. Natalia couldn't.

Car

Natalia told me what your father did.

I read the message over and over, but I do not answer. I turn off my phone. She did it. She told Carson.
I'm nothing like my father. He did it. It was not me.
I pace my room when I see Viktor leaning against the headboard, watching me.
"Is there something?"
"Who were you texting, Malyshka?"
"Uh, no one."
"Clearly saw you typing. Your expression went from happy to horrified," he replies, his eyebrows knitted. My phone buzzes, another message from Carson appears and I open our chat.

Car

Do you think it was a good idea to tell her the truth at such a late hour? Were you out of your mind? Now look what happened. How could you do that? What are you going to do next? Lie to him like your father probably did?

You think what you did was better, Carson?

What the hell did I do?

You know exactly what you did.

You don't know shit, Katsaros. Natalia doesn't want to see you and neither do I.

My eyes widen as if something had stung me. She doesn't want to see me.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asks from across the room and I nod without looking at him.