Elite

XII

Lennon's POV:

Sunday nights were spent doing what I loved – face masks, mani's and pedi's, reading up on the latest gossip in People's magazine. I usually bake some type of muffin for Monday morning but I wasn't feeling it for some reason. This weekend was filled with so much stress all I wanted to do was relax at this point. I was in the middle of changing the station on Pandora when I heard someone call my name from outside. I anxiously walked over to my balcony, the doors were open already to get some fresh air, and was a little stunned to see Viktor standing in my backyard with a huge smile plastered across his face.

"What are you doing here?" I asked in a loud whisper, defeating the purpose of trying to whisper in the first place.

"I was just thinking about you and I wanted to see you." he stated still wearing that adorable smile.

Excuse me? This is the man my parents want me to marry. I am trying my hardest to loathe him but it's not working too well. Could he be totally gorgeous and charming somewhere else?

"That's nice. I was just about to go to bed, actually." I lied. It was only 10:30. I'm pretty sure Viktor heard music coming from my room too. A sure sign i was not really going to sleep yet.

What did Viktor want to do at 10:30 on a Sunday night? This whole situation was mind-boggling. I wanted nothing more than to tell Sienna and Celene what was going on, but I couldn't. They knew I was from Europe, but they didn't know the extent of it. They didn't know how serious and old-fashioned my family is. To be honest... I was a little embarrassed about my family. My dad was barely home and my mom was a super strict Romanian woman.
Just as I was about to head back into my room, I thought to myself, what if Viktor is in the same position as me? He's 25 and his parents are forcing him to marry a girl as soon as she turns 18 years old. I'm sure he's not ecstatic about that idea, either. I mean, who would be excited about an arranged marriage that you have absolutely no control over.

"Do you wanna come up and talk?" I questioned. I wasn't sure whether or not that was a good idea, but what was there to lose?

He nodded, so I made my way downstairs and unlocked the door leading to my back patio.

"My mom is asleep, so be quiet. And take your shoes off outside." I laughed lightly to myself because I sounded like my mother. I grabbed us a few snacks from the kitchen and we headed up to my room.

"So, what do you think of this whole arranged marriage thing?" He asked before taking a sip of his Coke.

"I think it's bullshit." I said as he laughed.

"No, I'm being serious," I continued, "I should be able to marry whoever I want. It's 2016. We aren't in medieval times here." I could feel myself get angrier the more I talked about it.

As much as I tried to put it off and ignore it, I needed to face it sooner or later. I just wish there was a way out of it completely.

"Yeah, I agree. I just want to live my life the way I want to live it, you know? I don't want to have to listen to anyone. It's my life. I'm twenty-five for crying out loud." I nodded in agreement with him. He was 100% right.

Maybe we could become friends after all? It was an odd thing to think given the situation that we were in to be MARRIED.

-------------------------------------------

"Lennon, get up! You're going to be late for school!" My mom yelled as she knocked on my door.

My eyes popped open and to my surprise, I was nestled against Viktor's chest. I was completely and utterly confused. We must have stayed up all night talking and fell asleep without realizing it. That's all that happened. Nothing more. Although, he didn't have a shirt on. But that's totally normal because guys sleep without shirts on, right? I shook his arm hoping to wake him up.

"Viktor, wake up!" I whispered.
His eyes struggled to open and his eyebrows furrowed, meaning he was just as confused as I was.

"What time is it?" He mumbled, looking around the room.

"Time for you to go. I have to be at school in thirty minutes!" I said as I rushed to clean up my room.

"How am I supposed to leave when your mother is downstairs?!"

"You're right. Here." I went into my closet and pulled out this makeshift ladder that latches onto my balcony. It leads straight down my house. Sienna and Celene use it when they're sneaking in. I also use it to sneak out on occasion.

"A fire escape ladder? Really, Lennon?" He laughed thinking I was joking but I'm sure he could tell by the look I gave him that wasn't joking in the least.

There was no way I was going to risk my mom seeing Viktor leaving my room at the ass crack of dawn. She was way too old fashioned even if she would be happy that we were spending time together.

"Hurry! I need to get a shower."

"Okay, okay, I'm going. But uh," Viktor paused and looked me in the eyes, "thanks for last night. It was fun actually. Talking to someone who gets what I'm going through.. That's hard to find." He said before climbing down the ladder.

I smiled to myself because he seemed so genuine and down to earth. My mind started to race with a million scenarios. What if we became best friends? What if we fell in love and actually got married!? I let out a big sigh and sat down on my bed, thinking about my life. The future is inevitable and I just hope it turns out good. This was going to be a long day.