Decisions Ch. 07

"I'm afraid, boys..." Giovanni interrupted, gesturing to an empty both that was reserved just for Belcourt High School students. "That you were stopped by those officers not because of the color of your skin or your ethnicity, but because of what you were wearing and what it signified. Waters? The usual?"

"Yes, please." I said, gratefully.

"I'll take a coke." Ricky mumbled, still angry over what just transpired.

Giovanni nodded and headed back behind the bar. I turned to Ricky. "Hey, Rick. Don't worry about what just happened, ok? Water under the bridge. We'll never see them again in our lives."

"Nah, man. It's not that. That happens all the time to people like us. It's just that... did you see the cop that searched us?"

"Yeah."

"He was Mexican."

"So?"

"I thought that... you know..." He shrugged. "That he'd watch out for a fellow amigo, you know?"

I burst out laughing. "You're not worried about the injustice, you're just worried about a Mexican not watching out for a fellow Mexican, I got it."

Ricky cracked a smile, the smile that made you instantly at ease... and wary that he was going to do something to you. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess so. You're supposed to watch out for your own kind, you know? I hope those guys get bad karma."

"Yeah, so do I." I agreed. "But, I'm not sure about the whole kind watches their own kind thing. I'm human, after all. Those cops were human too!"

"Nah, hombre. You're not a human anymore. Ever since you transferred, we've all decided on one thing. You're an honorary monster. You have your own species. They're called... Christopherians." He cracked a wide grin.

That was creative, coming from Ricky.

"Hey, that has a nice ring to it." I laughed. "Christopherians. I like it."

"And this is why," Giovanni brought over our two drinks. "That you two are my favorite to serve out of your little group of friends. No matter what appears to be going on outside of this restaurant and in your lives, you two have the uncanny ability to joke around and smile. Will it be the usual for you two?"

"Yes, thank you." I said, pushing my untouched menu to the edge of the table. Giovanni nodded, collecting mine as well as Ricky's. Ever since Stasi and I came here on our first date, we fell in love with the family-orientated atmosphere and delicious food, almost as in love as we were with each other (but not quite).

"Where are the three girls?" Giovanni asked, tucking the menus under his arm.

"Who? Oh. They're at Lucy's house. The arachne. We're here Christmas shopping for one of them." I explained.

"Ah, ok." He left without another word to go deliver the orders to the kitchen. Ricky and I both made small talk, talking about anything and everything. Sports, school, girls (well, in my case, girl).

"I still can't believe you got her a medical dictionary." I chuckled.

"Yeah, well... you better believe it." He pulled it out of his bag, setting it on the corner of the table. The book resembled more a concrete slab than book! "This set me back twenty bucks." He grumbled.

"Yeah we-... oh, hold on." My phone vibrated in my pocket, Avicii's Levels playing from the built in speaker system. I fished it out, looking at the screen. Stasi's pale face grinned back at me, her fangs protruding from her gorgeous smile. Those long, but never scary fangs. The picture was her at the Coven Ball, wearing a silver dress and looking as beautiful as ever. She looked delightful as well, radiant and vibrant. Her bright blue eyes were practically swimming in contentment and love.

I sighed in happiness. I was so lucky to have her in my life. I flicked the answer button, putting the phone to my ear. "Hello?"

"Hello, Chris." Stasi answered, sweetly. "It's your favorite vampire just checking in with the man she loves. How's shopping?"

"It's... good." I said, awkwardly. I didn't want to tell her about the police issue. "Ricky bought Jazz's gift."

"It's good? That's all? Everything's good?" She asked, her voice still carrying that sickly sweet tone.

"Yeah, why?" I asked, wary. I had a sinking feeling that I knew what she was going to bring up.

"Oh, you know... I just don't think getting stopped and searched by the police counts as good." She replied. "When were you planning on telling me?" Dig, set, and spike. How had she known?! My eyes widened, my mouth dropped open. I quickly tried to think of something clever to say, but all that came out was:

"Uh..."

Stasi sighed. "Emily told me. Chris, I'm not mad at you. Although I wish you wouldn't keep things from me. Please tell me though, are you two alright? Not hurt? Jazz and Lucy are worried too. Well, Jazz is worried about Ricky. Lucy and I are just worried abou-... OW! I'm kidding, Jazz!"

"Yeah." I heaved a sigh of relief, making her giggle through the line. God, I loved hearing the sound of her. I could never do without her for long. It was like we lived in a fairy tale. "Yeah, we're fine. They just had us lay on the cold, hard ground for a few minutes as they patted us down. We're probably never ever going to wear Belcourt High School stuff to the Pacific Mall ever again, though." I chuckled.

"But, that sounds like a bad idea, not wearing your school colors. You're the school president! Are you sure you're fine?"

"Yeah."

"Positive?"

"Yeah."

"Extremely positive?" She teased.

"Yeah! Extremely positive. As positive as I am of my love for you."

"Wow, you guys must have some bad health!"

"Stasi!" I warned.

"I'm kidding, Chris. Jeez. It's nice to know you're ok. Police have been increasing their patrols on Pacific Mall. It's like they don't want us to shop there anymore. In truth, I was going to call you anyways, even if Emily hadn't told me. I missed hearing the sound of your voice." Stasi admitted. "Even more than that, I missed you."

"You missed me?" I asked, flattered.

"Of course I missed you. Not a day goes by where I don't wish you were with me. Didn't you miss me too?" Of course I missed her... but that wasn't what I wanted to say right now.

"Yes, I missed you. I'm miserable without you." I blurted, which made her giggle... and made Ricky whoop and bounce excitedly in his straining wooden chair. "Every time you're not next to me I miss you. You're my other half."

She sighed. "I know, Chris. I feel it whenever you're not here, too. But, we'll see each other later tonight. While we're on the line..." She reduced her voice to a deathly whisper. "What'd Ricky get Jazz?"

"What did Ricky get Jazz?" I repeated, confused. What an awkward way of changing the subject.

Ricky's eyes widened and he flapped his arms in front of him in what looked like a imitation of a chicken. 'Don't tell her!' He mouthed. I nodded before speaking.

"He got her a 'Nice Try' wrapped in 'Please take me off speaker phone'." I joked. I heard laughter in the background, indicating that I was indeed on speaker phone. The phone clicked and I heard Stasi's voice once more.

"Sorry, zaichik. Jazz put me up to it, but I knew you weren't going to fall for it. I'm not even going to ask you what you got me because I know you won't tell me. Anyways, will I see you later today?" She asked, hopeful.

"You betcha. I'll probably stay the night too." I ignored the look from Ricky. The look that spoke a thousand words, a few of them including 'Damn, dude!' I focused all my attention on my vampire girlfriend. "I love you, Anastasia Antonova Sokolov."

"I love you too, Christopher Robert Williams."

"Always have?" I began.

"Always will." She finished. "Did you find my sticky note?"

"What sticky note?"

"Nevermind! BYE!" She blew me a kiss through the phone and hung up.

I set the phone face down on the table. Ricky made 'whip' noises, flicking his arm as if he were Indiana Jones. "Oh, silencio, por favor." I snorted.

"Nah, I'm not going to be silent. Ya'll are so romantic. When you've been rooting for your two best friends to get together ever since middle school, and they finally get together, you earn the right to tease them! I'm happy for you two.."

"Thanks, Ricky. While the teasing part may be true and since we're on the topic of best friends, we need to hit one more shop before we go home." I said. "Since you stole my idea of what to get Stasi, I'm going to get her something that isn't a book."

"Like what?" Ricky asked.

"I don't really..." I mumbled, but really, a store that we passed on the way here struck out at me. The corners of my mouth turned up in a grin as I knew exactly what to get Stasi.

Chapter 2:

The National Sleep Association recommends that the average young male my age get at least 8-10 hours of sleep per night. I only got five. Why did I only get five? Well, that's probably because I spent the entire night talking to Stasi, holding her and having deep conversations about everything and anything, not falling asleep until it snuck up on us like ninjas. But, that still doesn't explain why I only got five hours of sleep. It's Winter Break, surely I could sleep in!

Except I couldn't. I had to wake up early to play something, specifically a game.

What was the game?

Here it is. It's called 'Try and Get out of Bed Without Waking Stasi Up.' With Stasi being such a heavy sleeper, vampires being nocturnal and unable to be fully cognizant during the day without medication and all, it sounds easy, right? Wrong. Whenever Stasi sleeps with me, it's like her senses are heightened. Every little fidget I make has the potential to wake her up and cause her deep slumber to come crashing down in a fit of crankiness.

As soon as my alarm on her nightstand went off at 7:30, my eyes flashed open and I flicked it off, holding my breath. Stasi groaned, murmured something, and snuggled her cold, willowy body closer into mine, which did wonders for my morning wood. With bated breath, I gently extracted my arm from under her and around her, slipping away from her. I heaved a sigh of relief as I slid out from under her warm covers.

"Where are you going, Chris?" Stasi mumbled sleepily from behind me, making me jump. "Come back to bed."

"Bathroom." I lied, willing my heart to stop beating so fast. "I'm going to the bathroom. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Mmmk..." Stasi replied lazily, going into a fetal position under the thick blanket to conserve as much body heat as possible with me not there. She always said I was like her furnace. I bent down and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Stasi sighed contentedly and soon, her breathing became deep and a small snore emancipated from her.

I stared at her form in shock. I couldn't believe it. She fell back asleep!

The mattress creaked as I stood up, stretching. I bent down low, picking up my UCLA hoodie and sliding it over my bare chest. I quietly left her room and closed the door softly behind me. I walked past Viktor's door, hearing nothing inside, and then walked past Elena's, which was slightly ajar. Elena snored so loud, it sounded like a chainsaw was being started up inside!

I laughed, plodding down the stairs to the kitchen, my eyes adjusted to the darkness of the early Christmas morning. Despite the dark house looking bare, spartan, and even decrepit to some, to me, it was inviting, warm, and cheerful. You might ask why my parents let me stay the night at Stasi's house on Christmas Eve. Well, I actually didn't. I spent Christmas Eve at my house with my parents and simply came over to Stasi's house at one in the morning, where they were also celebrating Christmas Eve.

I walked into the kitchen, nearly having another heart attack when I found Yulia and Anton sitting at the kitchen counter.

"You're up early." Yulia observed, softly. "I'd assume that you'd still be in bed with Anna. It's Christmas morning, is it not?"

I resisted the urge to turn pink when Yulia said the words, "in bed". Even though we'd never get up to anything debaucherous with the entire family in the house, she still always had that little smile where the tips of her fangs protruded from the corners of her mouth. That little smile that said 'I know what you two did.'

"Yes, well..." I yawned, cracking a tired smile. "She always does so much for me so I wanted to return the favor. I wanted her to wake up in the best way possible, so I decided that I'd make her breakfast in bed. This whole morning's going to be about her."

"Zavtrak v posteli'?!" Yulia grinned widely.

"Yes." I answered.

"Oh, you! You spoil her, Christopher! But, I'm sure she'll love it. You know how cranky she can sometimes get in the morning!"

I simply smiled and shrugged. "She deserves it... I mean, the breakfast part, not the cranky part." Cranky Stasi was a hybrid of a somewhat cute and bad Stasi.

"You are correct, Christopher. I'm not sure anyone wants a cranky Anastasia." Anton gave me a warm nod before returning to his warmed SBP. It was served in a coffee mug that said 'World's Best Mom'.

"Anyways, what are you two doing up?" I asked, walking to the refrigerator.

"You've known us for... thirteen, fourteen years Chris." Anton rumbled, his eyes flitting back up to me. "Even though we are vampires, when have you ever seen us sleep in past seven in the morning?"

"You're right." I conceded. "It's kind of bizarre how that happens. You guys are so unlike Stasi. She'd sleep all day if I'd let her."

"If you'd let her. That's why she has you in her life: to balance out all her faults. She is lucky. We're all lucky to have you in our lives." Yulia noted, which made me turn pink. "But she is, quite possibly, the luckiest. I am glad that you two admitted your feelings for each other."

"I'm sure the part I play in her life isn't as big as you guys." I blabbed.

"You certainly take the prime seat, Christopher. You two are practically inseparable. It physically hurts her when you aren't with her. She is quite miserable whenever you're not here. Just as you are, if what your parents tell me is true." Anton said, folding up his newspaper and taking one last sip of the SBP. He grimaced as it touched his tongue. "Blegh...protivny." He set it back down, the mug making a dull thunk as it hit the table. "What were you planning on cooking for her, Christopher? Nothing too big, I hope? We were planning to have lunch and dinner with the both of our families to celebrate Christmas."

"Well..." I scratched the back of my head. "It's not going to be anything big. It's certainly not going to be an extravagant feast. I dropped off the ingredients yesterday night for some homemade chocolate chip pancakes, so I'll probably make that. It's used to be her favorite."

"Da!" Yulia agreed. "Anna certainly enjoys her sweets. She will appreciate it immensely. I wonder where she got her sweet tooth from." She glared at Anton, who despite his intimidating stature, began to fidget. It was quite comical, seeing short and motherly Yulia simply stare at tall and scary Anton and making him balk.

"Well..." Anton began, in a nervous Russian accent. He cleared his throat, the politician taking over. "That's an unfair assumption. I don't think that I ga-..."

"You gave her your sweet tooth." Yulia said sharply, not unlike a certain vampire that I loved.

"I gave her my sweet tooth." Anton admitted. Even the politician knew what battles he could not possibly win.

"A sweet tooth isn't exactly a bad thing." I noted, opening up the refrigerator and pulling out the ingredients for the pancakes. I had bought extra in case I messed up, which was a certainty. Although I could hold my own in the kitchen, I wasn't quite up to par with my mom and Yulia. They were the masters and I, a lowly apprentice.

"Yes, it indeed isn't, but an excessive sweet tooth leads to cavities in the fangs." Yulia said, setting the frying pan on the stove. Oh. So that's where the Sokolov's family dislike of dental visits came from. Fang cavities. No wonder Stasi paid so much attention to her dental hygiene. "Will you need some help, Christopher?"

"Yes, please. I'm not exactly as good at cooking as you and my mom." I replied, sheepishly.

"Eto da. Nichego, etogo i ozhidat'." Yulia grinned, widely.

"I said not exactly as good as you, that doesn't mean I can't cook." I said, defensively.

"Your Russian is getting better." Anton complimented me, proudly. "Very good understanding!"

"Spasibo." I cracked a smile.

Yulia simply laughed, standing on her tiptoes and ruffling my hair. It was quite easy to do that now. Rather than keep the close cropped hair, I've recently been growing out the top and keeping the sides of my hair short. Stasi and Elena said they liked it, so I was rolling with it. "I was only jesting, Christopher. But yes, indeed. Your grasp of our language is very good. Let's see if you have the same grasp when it comes to cooking! What do you say these days... watch and learn?"

And watch and learn I did. Well, I did some watching, some learning, and some helping. Yulia and I worked in a tandem. In a large mixing bowl, she combined the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt, mixing until the mixture turned into a brown-grayish powder. I simply turned on the stove and preheated the frying pan. We were a team...ish. Were teams supposed to be this one-sided?

When all was said and done, the morning sun was just beginning to combat the fog of the San Francisco Bay. Yulia and I had both cooked what was supposed to be my dish and finished it, making it look effortless. She scooped four pancakes, a dollop of maple syrup, and some fresh fruit onto a plate.

"Now, go and surprise Anna." She said, handing me the plate and shooing me out of the kitchen. "Before Viktor and Elena wake up and steal her seconds."

"Spasibo, Yulia!" I said over my shoulder. "I can't thank you enough for helping me."

"Pozhaluysta." She replied, warmly. "Such a good boy, you are. I wonder if you'll serve this exact meal at the wedding!"

Even though I tried to pretend I didn't hear that, I couldn't prevent my cheeks from burning. It was a good thing that the Sokolovs liked their house dark, or else I'd give Yulia more ammunition to tease me with. I walked upstairs, the plate in front of me, the smell of melting chocolate and pancakes making my mouth water. I arrived at her door and holding onto the plate with one hand, I rapped my knuckles quietly on the door. I didn't bother to hear for a reply, simply turning the doorknob and poking my head in. "Good morning."

"Dobroye utro." Stasi replied. She was up, but barely. When she heard the door open, she sat up in bed, rubbing a bleary, soft, blue eye. "You said you were just going to the bathroom." She complained. "That was 30 minutes ago, Chris."

"I know." I said, guiltily. Even if it was a white lie and one made for the greater good, I still felt like complete garbage. "I was getting you a surprise."

"What kind of surprise could possibly top waking up without my zaichik next to me?" She brushed her beautiful frazzled raven hair out of her face. "Eta dolzhna byt' veskaja prichina." She grumbled.

"It is good, trust me." I used my foot and pushed the door the rest of the way open, revealing my nervous self holding onto the plate of pancakes that suddenly seemed to weigh like a ton of bricks. "Tada!"

Stasi straightened up on the bed, squinting, almost as if she couldn't quite register what I was carrying. She actually couldn't. Her eyesight was abysmal without her contacts or glasses. "Hang on..." She mumbled irritably, reaching over towards her night stand for her glasses. When she put them on and saw the stack of pancakes on the plate, her face broke into an astonished smile. "What's that? Pancakes?" She asked. "For who? You?"

"No... um... they're for... they're for... you." I answered her, walking into the room. I suddenly realized how in over my head I was. The last time we had pancakes together was at my house... three years ago. Even though she said it was her favorite breakfast meal then, those things change. Hell, my favorite food changed every week!