The Cold North

Page 5

I was out in no time at all.

"Sophia..." Swimming up from the depths of sleep I blinked my eyes open, only to have them roll back in my head. I squeezed them tightly shut before trying again. Uncle Dimitri turned around and patted his back. I took the hint and latched myself onto him. I looked around at my surroundings as he walked down the halls and stairs.

He gently eased me down on to a seat in the dining room and kissed my cheek before walking into the kitchen. I pulled up my hair and leaned heavily against the table.

"No fair, you got a ride." Miranda said from next to me. I didn't respond. I was so tired. Well, for a while.

The guys walked in, all without shirts. There were quite a few guys actually. Well, boys is more like it. Some had to be younger than sixteen. All but the grade schoolers had abs. Chloe, Miranda and I sat mesmerized, trying not to stare. That became impossible for me when Viktor walked in behind a group of girls. My face instantly flushed as I scanned and memorized every visible muscle on his toned body, and trust me, there were a lot.

I was glad I had lost his coat in bed sometime during the night. Otherwise this would be really awkward.

"We have new ones boys, they need their eyes." Aunt Ellie warned them as she walked around the long table with a pitcher of water.

"They'll get used to it." Aleksey said and winked at Miranda as he stretched.

My eyes passed over Viktor again and he caught me. I made quick to become very fascinated with the hair band around my wrist. Why had I been wearing two?

"So where in America are you guys from?" A little girl with short black hair asked as she poked at her sausage with a silver fork.

"Ohio; kind of in the country." Chloe answered for Miranda and I. Miranda was too busy eyeing Aleksey as he did the same to her. It was kind of sick really. My excuse was that my mouth was full.

"That's cool. I'm from California, my parents moved there because I did something bad, but we moved back last year." Her words were so nonchalant, but half the room froze for a moment as she said them.

I stayed in my own, sleepy world for almost the rest of breakfast. I wasn't very good at small talk and being around this many people, especially when you throw someone like Viktor into the mix, made me really nervous. School had always been kind of chaotic for me. Those last four years has just flown by. I still remember the first day of my freshman year like it was yesterday.