It was shortly after Katya's wedding when the news came. I had been avoiding Andrey. I don't know why but I had been.
Something was wrong. I knew it. I gazed out the window with the bright sun beating down. It had been sunny for two weeks straight now. Something that excited the young girls. I worked on the stretches silently pondering what in the world was wrong. Maybe I was just paranoid. I knew deep down though I wasn't.
"Are you okay Annika?" Alisa said coming up to me her little face looking worried. I just kissed her head and smiled.
"Da molodaya. Just tired."
"Alright....." She said shaking her head and going over to her friend Alla.
Alisa was right I was awful strange. I just shrugged my shoulders and kept stretching. Perhaps I was just tired. Tonight I vowed to go to bed early. Class ended uneventfully. It seemed like just a dull boring day. Suddenly I heard a shriek so high pitched that some opera singers would be jealous.
"Annika!!! Annika!!!!" It was a worried looking Katya. Her blond hair flew wildly behind her and her blue eyes were full of tears. Everyone in the hallway just stared at her.
"Katya what's wrong? Just calm down it's alright. What happened?" I tried to calm her down but failed. Katya was never this way. She was never the one to break out in tears and pace the room. She was always proper always in check. Me on the other hand not quite so.
"Read this." She said quietly as she thrust a letter in my hand. It was open but I gasped as I saw that it was a letter from the palace. Trembling I opened it afraid that one of us was arrested.
'Dear Manov family,
We regret that your family members Fyodor and Galia Manov have been killed. We thank them for the services they have provided for Russia and our regrets go to your family.'
There was no signuature. Just a letter. At first the shock didn't register but finally it did. Odd though I couldn't cry right now. I just sat there staring at the letter.
I just got up and started walking to my room leaving the letter in Katya's hands.
"Annika?" She asked looking at me. I just kept moving like stone. It was like I couldn't hear anything. I just got in bed and stared at the wall.
Memories taunted me. First Fyodor the oldest teasing Katya and I when we were younger. Fyodor always the quite yet amusing one. Then Galia I have to say he was my favorite brother. He would always throw me high in the air or get me flowers when he visited. The way both boys would somehow sneak Mama's cookie jar into their room without any of us knowing until the jar was empty.
I didn't even hear my door open because at the moment I couldn't help it. I sobbed like a baby.
"Annika?" It was Andrey at the door but I ignored him. I just kept crying and crying my pillow soaked by now. He just came over to the bed and touched my shoulder.
"It's going to be alright. Your brother's wouldn't want you to be sitting in bed sobbing all night. You know that. Come on we will get you some soup. It will help."
I just shook my head. I didn't want to get up....ever. I wanted to just lie there and die.
"Nyet. No. Just leave me be."
"Alright but if you are still here this time tomorrow...well we will see then." I heard him talking to Katya outside the door but I fell into a deep sleep. One of those when you have cried so hard you are tired.
I woke up late. That much I knew. There was no sun outside and Alisa had never even come into the room last night. First Mama,yesterday Fyodor and Galia. All I had left was Papa,Katya,and Alisa.
I just rolled over and sighed. At least people were leaving me alone. I didn't even want to dance today. I couldn't find the will power to even get out of bed let alone dance. I hadn't even bothered to wear a night dress last night. In fact I was still wearing my toe shoes. I slipped them off and slumped back into bed.
"Annika? Annika time to wake up. You haven't eaten anything since yesterday afternoon." Katya's sweet voice floated into the room but I didn't want to listen. So what if I didn't eat! I didn't care I just wanted to lie here forever.
"She won't get up. I know she's awake the stubborn child!" Katya was talking to someone outside.
"Well she will be up soon enough."
Ugh! It was Andrey! Couldn't he just leave me ALONE?!
"Annika you are going to get up now or else I will make you get up." I knew he was next to the bed. I could feel his presence.
"Ha! Make me." The words came out without me even thinking about them.
"Alright." Before I knew it he was picking me up.
"No! Put me down you oaf! Put me down NOW!!! NOW!"
"Not until you stop hiding!" He was carrying me out of my room and into Madame Markova's office. He put me down gently on a chair and looked at me with those calm grey eyes of his.
"What do you want?" I asked rather pathetically.
"We want to help you but you won't let us."
"You can't help me. No one can."
"We can if you let us!" Now Katya was looking at me sadly and Madame Markova just sat at her desk. Whay couldn't I just stay in bed forever?
"Can we have a moment alone?" Andrey asked turning to everyone. It wasn't proper but they granted us that just this once.
Once everyone was gone he spoke again.
"Annika I love you too much to see you waste away in your tiny bed. Now your going to do exactly what I say. Your going to go eat. Then your going to dance. It will help I promise. Then you are going to come see me and tell me how you feel. Your brothers wouldn't want you to hurt yourself for them. I know that."
I knew he was right. If Galia was alive he would have hit me over the head by now. I took in a deep sigh and looked at him and said something that I had been avoiding.
"I love you too." I hugged him trying to cling on to what was left of my world
"I hate this stupid revolution! It killed Alisa's father and now my brothers!" I sobbed onto his shoulder while he smoothed my hair down talking calmly.
"Shh I know. I know calm down it's alright."
This is when I knew that I was truly in love with Andrey. Here he stood holding a girl who was on the brink of going crazy telling her it was alright. It was okay that my eyes were red and full of tears and that my hair was all over the place. It was okay he had to drag me out of bed or else I would have let myself die. He didn't care. He still loved me.
He had no clue this was just the start of what was going to happen.
