Flirting with Danger Bk 1

“Kota, come sit with us!” Johanna called, waving at me and I smiled. As I was coming towards them I spotted Varushka on the other side of an empty chair. I sat down between her and Johanna.
“Hey Varushka, how’s it going?” I asked.
“Great! I’ve just been talking to the girls. You know, I’m surprised this is only your first big competition. I’d have never been able to tell by the way you were all dancing.” she said sweetly and smiled.
“Thank you.” I smiled back. “Uh, where’s Sergei? Did he not come?” I asked, looking around.
“Oh no, he’s just in the bathroom.” she said, waving her hand dismissively. As she took a drink, I looked over at Sue, who was looking down at her hands sadly. She looked up at me then and I smiled a reassuring and soft smile. She smiled back and nodded, sitting up straighter.
“So, when are we going shopping?” asked Diane, looking over at me.
“Oh that reminds me. Varushka?” I said, looking over at her. She raised her eyebrows in question.
“Now, me and the guys have made a deal. Since I won the competition last night I split my money, each of us getting five hundred dollars. And I’ve got an extra five hundred.” I said, implying that she could have it.
“Oh Kota, you don’t need to do that.” she said, shaking her head and waving her hand.
“I’m perfectly fine with it Varushka, really.” I said.
“No, that’s not what I meant. I’m rich.” she said and everyone looked at her.
“Really?” I asked, shocked because she wasn’t at all what I pictured a rich person being like. She was sweet, nice, and not rude and stuck up.
“Yeah, I mean not all rich people are like what everyone thinks.” she said. “My father owns an oil company, and he’s the greatest dad in the world. He doesn’t spoil us at all.”
“Are you serious?” asked Johanna.
“Yeah. I mean sure we have a mansion, but all of my older siblings and I have jobs. We’re like a normal family, except with money.” she said, smiling sweetly.
“Well then,” I said, standing up. “Let’s go shopping.” All the girls cheered and the guys followed after us as we left the hotel and had the limo take us to all the best shopping sites.
***
“Now that we’re done with the competition, should we return our dresses?” Johanna asked as we got out at our first stop, the same place where we’d gotten our swimsuits.
“I’m not,” said Diane. “I’m using mine for prom.”
“I didn’t even think of that!” said Johanna, fingering through some skirts.
“I can wear my Tango dress again anytime and I can use my Waltz dress for prom or something.” I said, standing across from them looking at tops.
“What about our suits?” asked Dale, to our left in the men’s part.
“What? You’re not going to prom?” asked Johanna, looking at him.
“Well, I’m returning mine. I don’t even go to school.” said Jason, walking over to Dale with a belt in his hands. Dale took it and put it around his waist, sighing when it came two inches away from the ends touching. He rolled his eyes and put the belt back in exasperation.
“Me too.” agreed Jack, coming out wearing a leather jacket.
I looked over at Louis, who was in front of me behind another clothes rack, his face showing as he searched through the clothes. “I’ll go ahead and keep mine, though I doubt it’ll fit me when the time comes.” he said, smirking at me. I smiled and nodded.
“Hey, what do you think about this?” asked Johanna, holding up a red paisley skirt that came up to the middle of her thigh.
“I like that.” I said, coming over and looking for a blue or green one in my size. I whooped when I found a green one and went to try it on.
As I was slipping it on I heard footsteps stop a little ways away from my door and two voices start talking. I recognized them as Dale and Louis and stopped what I was doing to listen.
“What’s wrong?” asked Louis.
“What did I walk in on this morning?” asked Dale.
“Nothing. I was holding her because she was crying.” said Louis.
“Is that all?” asked Dale, like he suspected something else, like possible kissing.
“Yeah that’s all. Well, except for a flower and a card.” Louis admitted.
“Louis,” said Dale and I heard him sigh, like he was thinking of how to say this. “Look, I know you like Kota. I’ve known forever, but she just went through a big ordeal.”
“I know.” said Louis, taking a few steps towards my door and I put a hand over my mouth and nose to quiet my breathing. “Connelly leaving has been really hard on her.”
“But what I’m saying is that a girl who goes through this sort of thing reacts one of two ways. She either reacts like Sue, sad, depressed, cut off from everyone else for a while, or like Kota.” Dale said and I stopped breathing for a minute.
“What do you mean?” asked Louis.
“Kota’s found a rebound.” said Dale. “You.”
I looked down, realizing that I had done just that. Connelly had left me and I’d gone straight to Louis. I’d even tried to kiss him just hours before. I closed my eyes, disappointed that even though I’d tried not to be, I’d still done what a lot of other girls had. Then I suddenly had an accusing thought. Was I using Louis? Was I using him to get rid of all my problems with Connelly? I knew about rebounds, and that most of them didn’t work out, because of the fact that they were rebounds. But was that the case with me and Louis?
“Dale,” said Louis, taking a deep breath. “I need to be with her. I can’t help it, I have to.”
“Louis,” said Dale.
“Now listen. I know this may sound desperate, and I don’t know maybe I am, but since the first time I saw her I knew. I was supposed to be with this girl. And I need to be with her in any way I can.” Louis said this quickly, like he couldn’t control himself.
“Louis, how do you know? How do you know it’s Kota and not some other girl you haven’t met yet? You don’t deserve to be a rebound. You deserve someone who wants you for you, not as an escape from their problems.” said Dale and I heard the pat of him putting a hand on Louis’s shoulder.
“Dale, I couldn’t explain it if I tried. And to tell you the truth, I don’t feel like a rebound. I mean I’ve been around guys that had been a rebound and they said they could feel it, they could feel themselves being used. But I don’t feel that. She’s been attracted to me since the beginning and just this morning she told me I was right about Connelly and that she should have been with me in the first place. She said she should’ve never gone to Connelly.” Louis’s voice was serious, trying to prove to Dale that I wasn’t using him.
“Louis, I’m not going to go against you, but I’m just telling you to be careful.” Dale said and then I saw through a crack on the side of the door that Dale put an arm around Louis’s shoulders and led him back to the others.
I sat down on the seat in the dressing room and looked at myself in the mirror. Could I really possibly be using Louis as an escape from my problems with Connelly? A very small part of me suspected myself of it, but the rest told me I wasn’t doing that. Louis was right, I had been attracted to him from the beginning, and I had been serious when I’d said I should’ve been with him instead of Connelly. I didn’t know what I was thinking, getting into a relationship with a vampire. There were bound to be problems, and maybe if I’d just thought about that earlier I would’ve gone with Louis.