Code and Conduct

Secrets don't make friends

The night Nikolai kissed me, we decided it was better to keep whatever we had at the moment a secret. Just until we knew exactly what it was. Emmeline continued to tell me that Nikolai obviously was crushing on me (irony, I know.) and Demitri was getting more and more fed up with Nik.

"What the hell Nik?! It's like you don't even care about the gang or anything else except Alethia anymore!" Demitri exploded one day at a meeting that Nikolai had let me run. Demitri was on his feet standing over Nik. I could tell by the expression on his face that Nikolai wasn't going to stand for this type of behavior from an inferior member. Nikolai stood up, towering over the 5'6 Demitri, as he was 6'5. "You listen here, Demitri. If you ever talk bad about the second in command or you ever question me again, I promise you'll be dead and nobody will be able to find you. So shut your damn mouth and sit down. Now." The tone in Nikolai's voice was terrifying even though it wasn't directed at me. I could see Nikolai's hand rested on his waistband of his pants. He was always armed. I looked to Emmeline, seeing the shocked look on her face and Demitri looked almost petrified. Everyone was silent. "Meeting adjourned." Nikolai said sternly.

  About an hour after the meeting, I received a phone call. It was Jaxson. "Hello?" I answered. "WHAT THE FUCK, ALETHIA?!" Jaxson screamed through the phone. I put it on speaker phone for Nikolai to hear. "What the hell?" I asked, fury rising in me. "YOU BEAT THE HELL OUT OF MY LITTLE SISTER!" he continued yelling. Nikolai snatched the phone from my hand. "Hello, Jaxson. Yes, Alethia beat the crap out of your mouthy little sister. You wanna know why? Because she was badmouthing her. You know the rules. You may have moved to the Bronx, but I promise you, you're still very much under my thumb. So I suggest you shut your mouth before you end up worse off than your little sister." There was silence from the other end of the phone. "Got it." Jaxson finally said in a monotone voice. Nikolai hung up and stared at my shocked face. "I didn't put two and two together." I said. Nikolai didn't say anything, but walked off, leaving me there. He looked infuriated. I frowned as I watched his tall figure climbing into his Porsche. He drove off without a second look at me. I sighed and walked to my car and headed home.

I lie on my bed, thinking only of Nikolai's handsome face. I wanted to cry, but crying was a weakness so I didn't dare. I thought he was mad at me. He seemed pissed enough to strangle someone to death. I didn't know if he actually wanted a relationship with me at all and I was more confused than ever. Soon enough, I fell asleep in my school clothes, trying not to cry.

The next morning, I awoke with Nikolai on my mind. I shoved the thought of him to the back as I styled my annoying curly brown hair. I got dressed and put on my best "I'm totally fine" face and went to school. Nikolai wasn't there. Emmeline tried calling him, and he didn't answer. It was like he had disappeared.

During the meeting that day, everyone was questioning me as to where Nikolai was. "I have no clue.." I said simply. "Oh we all know you're his little girlfriend, where is he?" questioned Demitri. I saw Emmeline stomp on his foot and he winced. "Demitri, you're walking on pins and needles as it is. I suggest you can it before I beat the piss out of you, got it?" I said, finally putting Demitri in his place. "Got it." he said quietly. "Now, none of us know where Nikolai is. But I don't suggest we go looking for him." I said. I saw Em's mouth almost drop to the hardwood floor. She put her hand up. "Em, first your my best friend, not my student. Second, we don't raise hands in Elitist meetings, we're just polite." I said, shooting a glare at Demitri. "Okay, why do you suggest we do not go looking for him?" she inquired. "Well, Nikolai can handle himself and he obviously does not want to be found." I grit out between clenched teeth. It practically hurt me to say his name, I felt so betrayed. "That's all for today.." I said almost in a whisper, running out to my car to prevent them from seeing the tears that were streaming down my face. I should've locked my car. Next thing I knew, both Demitri and Emmeline were in my back seat. "Hey, I may be a jerk sometimes, but I still care about you, Al. Tell us what's wrong." Demitri said in the sweetest voice I've ever heard him use. "Yeah, c'mon Alethia. We care about you." said Emmeline in a comforting tone. "I don't know where Nik is and I feel so betrayed. I thought he wanted more with me. This hurts like a bitch." I said through snot and tears. "We may be badasses but it's okay to cry sometimes. As long as it's only in front of us." Demitri joked. I mustered a laugh. "He cares about you, Alethia. He really does, I can see it in his eyes. We've been friends since we were little." Emmeline tried to comfort me. I wiped away the tears and snot with a tissue, trying to calm myself down. "We need a P.I." I said, finally.

Author's note: If you like the story, vote and add to your library (: comment, too! Ty.