Decisions Ch. 07

"Well, actually I was going to grab some food, but sure, you could say I'm mildly irked."

Stasi pouted. "You're leaving me here with these duraki?"

"Hey." Elena complained. "That wasn't very nice."

"What'd she say?" Ricky asked.

"Nothing, Ricky." Stasi smiled sweetly. "Well, actually... for you, it was a compliment. Trust me."

Viktor and Elena laughed, their grasp of the Russian language serving them well. I put my left hand under Stasi's chin and faced her towards me. I kissed her on the forehead to pacify her, making Jazz, Elena, and Lucy go 'awwwwh'. "I won't be long."

"Promise?" Stasi's cheeks took on a rosy hue.

"Promise." I patted her on the head, walking up the stairs and out of her basement. I navigated through the halls of the Sokolov house, ending up in the kitchen.

"Hello, Christopher!" Anton boomed, slapping me on the shoulder as I walked in. He was decked out for festiveness, a beard of white held on by elastic and a Santa hat topping his slicked back black hair. "How's everyone doing down in the podval?"

"Everyone's good." I spooned some tri-tip onto my plate. I was a complete fiend for meat, especially my dad's tri tip. "Did you hear the news today?"

"About South Africa?" Anton's brow furrowed.

"Yes. I just heard about it when I got home." I replied.

"As have I. Well, I heard about it as soon as you left. My sputnik jezni told me." He sighed. "It is a heinous crime indeed. No group has claimed responsibility, yet. I simply believe that the perpetrators did it in the face of the injustice of the Apartheid. They only hurt their own position even more. After all, it was fear of things such as this that fueled the DTOSA."

"Two wrongs don't make a right." I agreed. "I hope they find them soon."

"As do I. We condemn that kind of radical movement."

I nodded and was just about to go back downstairs to go eat my food, but, something stopped me. A thought crossed the back of my mind. I turned back around. "How's work at the Coven, Anton?"

A look of surprise crossed across his face. "It is good, Chris. Why do you ask?"

"Do you remember when you asked me if I wanted a career in politics or not?" He gave me a look of confusion. "At the party I had in my house a few weeks ago."

He nodded his head in recognition. "Ah, yes! Now I remember. Why? Have you a new profound interest in public service?"

"Well, I did say that I was fine with my career choice, but I'm always finding myself free on weekends... I was looking to maybe get a job or internship." I admitted. I winced internally when I realized that this was going to cut into my much depleted alone time I shared with Stasi.

Anton grinned, revealing his elongated fangs. "Why, I'd certainly take you for a few visits, Christopher! Everyone in there is dying to meet you and Anna. She should come too! The power couple in the flesh. We were actually hoping for you to come in and see us one day."

My cheeks flushed. "I don't think we're that important.."

"Nonsense! You two are our... talisman, our mascots!"

Mascots? Wait, hold up!

"Mascots..." I asked, confused.

"Ye-... well, no. You two are... perhaps I don't know the proper term, but you both are still important. With all the controversy that's been going on, it will be good to be able to see that there are still humans who still believe in the right thing. Not like the C-10 squad that the South African Government will unleash on the slums of Cape Town. Those two won't last long." My eyes widened, and before I could ask about C-10, he continued. "When were you planning on starting, Chris?"

"Well, the weekend that we get back to school, but..."

"Excellent!" Anton exclaimed, clapping me on the shoulder and leading me to the door to the basement. "I must tell your parents. A future politician, maybe even president!"

I decided to just go with it, thanking him and walking back into the basement, plate of food in my hand. I wasn't sure what I just done, but I felt an inkling of satisfaction running through my chest like wildfire. Christopher Williams, Politician.

I liked it!

But of course, I liked Special Agent Christopher Williams better. Which one had a better ring to it? Agent Williams... Officer Williams... Sergeant Williams... Captain Williams... Doctor Williams... Congressman Williams... President Williams?

"What took you so long, Williams?" Ricky asked. I blinked, coming back into the present. Everyone had finished with the game, spreading out across the room and talking to one another.

"Uh... food." I replied. "Food is what took me so long."

Conversation resumed, but one person had noticed the awkward tone of my voice. The only person that knew me better than anyone in the room. Stasi raised a delicate eyebrow at me, giving me a pointed look. The good old 'do we need to talk?' look. It was strange. Our bond was so strong, that we could simply have whole conversations by looking at each other. Blinking, looks, mouthing words. I nodded minutely, walking over to her.

I sat down next to her and she picked up a corked bottle of apple cider. Using her fangs, she bit into the cork, pulling it off.

"That's a neat trick." I noted.

"Thanks. It's a real crowd pleaser. Apple cider?"

"Yes, please."

She poured me a glass, handing it to me. She recorked the bottle and then she twisted herself, laying her head down on my lap so she could stretch out. My jaw dropped when I saw her today. Her raven hair, rather than simply falling straight down her back, was wavy, like the deepest recess of the ocean. Her face was lightly done in some makeup, but it was what she was wearing that truly took the spotlight. Her red Christmas cocktail dress, commissioned by Kirby, was modest, yet it did very much to accentuate her lithe frame... and my erection.

It boggled my mind how I let her sit under my nose all this time. My best friend, my girlfriend, now the love of my life. A truly breathtaking sight.

A sight that I snuffed out by placing my plate of food on her forehead, using it as a makeshift table. She giggled. "You're going to give me some, right?" She asked, being the massive food lover that she was.

"Of course. Say 'ahhhh'."

"Aaaaah." She said, opening her mouth wide, her fangs glinting in the light. I jabbed a piece of turkey and set the fork in her mouth. She bit down, shucking the meat clean off the fork. "Wow, that tastes good. Turkey?"

"Yep. My dad made it."

"Good cooking." She chewed on it, before swallowing. She made even that look beautiful and graceful! With a plate on her forehead! "What'd you want to talk about, Chris?"

"I'm going to take a few visits with your dad at the Coven." I said.

"A few visits at the Coven? With papa? Really?" She asked.

"Yeah. Why, is something wrong?"

"No. Nothing's wrong." She took hold of the plate and set it down on the floor next to her head. She looked at me with her wide crystal blue eyes. "I just remember that you once said you'd never be a politician because you didn't have the patience for it."

"Uh... well..." I stammered.

She laughed. "It's ok, lyubov. People change their minds all the time when it comes to this stuff."

"It's just an internship. Maybe public service is my calling."

"Yes, after that rousing speech you gave at the Peace Rally, I'm not sure if there are many people that would disagree." She clasped my hand. "I'm proud of you, lyubov. For everything you've done and ever did."

"I'm proud of you too, Stasi. You've been next to me since we were kids running around the park. You're the smartest person I know, you don't let anyone intimidate you, and you're the one that everyone knows they can rely on. I love you."

"I love you too."

I paused. "I'd probably kiss you right now... but I'm not that flexible." I admitted, making Stasi laugh. She sat up and pushed off my lap, scooting backwards so she was flush against me. She then turned her face, facing me. She placed her hand on my back, pulling me towards her and gave me a kiss.

We caressed each other and talked about stuff that had no real substance. In one ear and out the other. Maybe we talked about hockey, or that ski trip we had planned between our two families but which never came into fruition. Well skiing for me, snowboarding for Stasi. We both were in avid winter sports families, couldn't you tell?

"When are we going to open presents?" Elena complained.

"What time is it?" Stasi asked, clasping my wrist and looking at the chunky watch. She tutted when she saw the face. Even though I got it in October, it was already quite battered. "You need to take better care of this, zaichik."

"Sorry." I replied.

"It's ok. It's almost ten so... I guess we could." Stasi said, unsure. Uh oh. Here it comes. The paralysis by analysis. She could cripple herself by thinking too much, sometimes. It could be something as important as a few questions on a high stakes test, or something as trivial as asking our parents if it was time to open Christmas presents!

Stasi glanced at me. "Should we hold..."

"Nah. Let's go." I replied as I stood up, holding out a hand for Stasi. She heaved a grateful sigh and took it, letting me pull her up. Her little P.B.A. wasn't going to happen today. Elena and Viktor cheered, booking it upstairs to get good seats in the loft. I yawned and walked over to Ricky's napping form, softly kicking him in the side. "Ricky. Up. Nosotros... open-o... gift-o?"

"Your Spanish es muy mal." Ricky mumbled, lifting his head off Jazz's tail. "What time is it?"

"Ten." I answered, glancing at my watch.

"Ten? Ugh... I think I'm going to suffer a hangover."

"Off of apple cider?" Jazz asked.

"I had some wine." Ricky admitted.

"As expected. Come on, up, big guy. You're crushing my tail."

"Yep. Hold on, hold on." Ricky nodded, rubbing his eyes. We all stood there, awkwardly looking at him. "Don't let me hold you guys up, by all means, go ahead of me.

"Alright." Lucy said, brushing off her dress. I didn't know how she managed to pull off wearing a dress, given she was an arachne with a huge, bulbous carapace, but she pulled it off. She looked marvelous in it. "Coming, you two?"

"Si." I replied. I clasped Stasi's hand, walking up the steps to the living room, where everyone was getting situated around the Christmas tree. While the locations of our parties may change, our traditions have not. It was customary that we give each other our gifts around the tree where everyone could see each other. We did it since we were little, we still do it as adults.

Pretty soon, the entire living room became a cyclone of wrapping paper and hyperactive teenagers giving each other hugs of appreciation and thankfulness.

"Woah, thanks Chris!" Viktor said, holding up the hockey face shield I got him.

"Don't thank me." I replied. Viktor looked at me confused. "Thank Abby. She was the one that picked it out!" I finished, making his pale cheeks blush. The two were a very unorthodox couple. Well, Stasi and I were already unorthodox, but Viktor and Abby were really unorthodox. I mean, a vampire and a mermaid? Has anyone ever heard of that? But, they made each other happy and brought out the best in each other, so each to their own!

"Ricky!" Jazz shrieked, holding up the thick tome, the medical dictionary that Ricky bought her. "How?!"

"You wanted to become a doctor, right?" Ricky said, suddenly studying the Golden State Warriors jersey that Stasi and I got him a lot more closely than he normally would. "I thought that you'd... you know, like having something doctor...y... doctor-y?"

Jazz was silent, her emerald slit eyes suddenly watering. She didn't speak. After all, actions spoke louder than words. She coiled her powerful tail around Ricky, pulling her towards him and giving him a big kiss on the cheek. When she finally let him go, the both of them were as red as tomatoes. "So... that's what a blushing Mexican looks like!" She giggled.

It had been one of my best Christmases to date. I was with my friends and families.

I crawled over to Stasi's corner, sitting next to her. "What'd you haul?".

"Me? Well... I got... a..." She gestured to her small pile of gifts. "Some money, makeup, clothes, books from Lucy, a... voucher for some lingerie. Thank Jazza and Elena. That's as much a gift for you as it is for me, by the way." Her face flushed red. "And... a couple of other trivial things. What'd you get, zaichik?"

"I got... like you, some money, a few video games, a pretty neat book about the history of the New England Patriots, and..." I wrapped my arm around her. "The best gift of all, I got you! My little vampire, whom I cherish and love."

Stasi grinned, her fangs poking out of her mouth. "Thanks, Chris." She said, giving me a kiss. When we broke it, she was still smiling. "Well?"

"Well, what?"

"Aren't you going to ask?"

"Ask what?"

Stasi sighed. "Aren't you going to ask why I didn't get you anything, dork?"

"Aren't you going to ask why I didn't get you anything?" I countered.

"You actually got me something?" She asked, confounded.

"You actually got me something?" I repeated, equally as confused. I hadn't noticed a gift from her (or lack thereof). I was just so caught up in the cheer that I must've not have realized. Or, maybe I'm just at that age where I don't need a lot, or all that I needed was right in front of me.

"Stop doing that." Stasi commanded.

"Stop doing what?"

"That! That repeating thing."

"I'm asking legitimate questions here."

"Yes, well I know that." Stasi blustered, in her cute accent. "Just don't do it."

"Ok, fine. I won't!" I conceded, raising my hands.

"Thank you, lyubov." Stasi continued. "Well, aren't you going to ask why I didn't get you anything?"

"Aren't you going to ask why I didn't get you anything?" I repeated.

"Chris! You're such a dork." Stasi wailed, attracting a few looks from her parents. "Sorry, mama. Sorry, papa. Chris otkazalsja sotrudnichat'." She said, sheepishly, softly punching me on the arm.

Ow.

"We know." Yulia replied, a happy expression written all over her face. "Boyfriends can be woefully uncooperative."

"Hey!" I complained. "I'm not being that uncooperative!"

"Just ask the question." She stuck out her bottom lip adorably. "Please?"

"Fine. Why didn't you get me a present?" Stasi grinned, her beautiful eyes expressing love and happiness.

"Because!" Stasi said, dramatically. "I wanted to give it to you when you least expected it." She reached onto her little pile of gifts, grabbing one that I hadn't realized was still wrapped. Couple of other trivial things? More like one significant thing! It was about the size of a shoebox. Stasi held it out to me. "Merry Christmas, lyubov." She said, warmly.

"Thanks, Stasi." I gave her a kiss. "What is it?"

"Just open it!"

Grinning, I unwrapped it, tearing away the wrapping paper. What was once covered by hockey pucks and sticks, soon revealed itself to be orange cardboard, indeed a shoebox. Gasping, I opened the box, revealing a pair of black Nike Metcon 2 Training Shoes.

"Your old running shoes that you had since sophomore year were getting really worn out." Stasi explained, with a hint of uncertainty. "So, I just felt like you'd want them replaced. Do you like it, lyubov?"

"I love it!" I exclaimed, dropping the box and giving her lithe frame a tight hug. Stasi heaved a sigh of relief, placed her head in the crook of my neck, and wrapped her arms around mine, crushing her breasts against my chest. A click to our left announced the presence of a camera, probably Anton. I broke the hug, giving her another kiss. "Thanks, Stasi... but this is... this is really awkward." I said, sheepishly.

"What? How?" Stasi asked, alarmed.

"Well... aren't you going to ask why I didn't get you anything?"

"Aren't you going to as-.." I gave her a look and she stopped, a grin on her face. "Ok, I'll bite."

"When have you not?" I blurted, a grin on my face. Stasi wiped that off with another soft punch on my arm. "Ow!"

"As I was saying!" She repeated, with a flourish. "Why didn't you get me anything?"

I wasn't willing to test her to the point where she actually punched me so I decided to drop the game. Her real punches hurt! "Because...!" I fell on my back, reaching with my long arms back to the Christmas tree, grabbing the gift that I deliberately hid behind rather than under. I grunted with the exertion, looking quite pathetic. It was moments like these where I wished I was somehow a secret jedi or had telepathic powers, able to will objects to move without touching them. Thankfully, Elena ended my suffering, using her foot to softly kick the box over to me.

"Couldn't get up and grab it, huh?" She snickered, already wearing the soccer cleats that I gave her. She was breaking them in, juggling a ragged soccer ball in an impressive show of dexterity.

"Nurp. Thanks, Elena!" I chirped. I held up the box to Stasi, who took it apprehensively. Without further ado, she tore into it, revealing yet another shoebox. She slowly lifted off the cover, gasping when she saw the fluffy slippers inside.

"You know how you're always scared to get out of bed because you don't want your feet to be cold, and how you always tiptoe everywhere when it's wood or tile floor? Well, I got you a little something to fix that!"I blabbed. "Trust me, they're super comfortable. I tried them on at the store and it felt like I was walking on mmph!"

She sealed my lips in a kiss, the taste of strawberries exploding in my mouth, officially making this the best Christmas ever.

Chapter 3:

"You can't party all the time, especially in January!"

A green ball of paper spiraled through the air, hitting me on the side of my head, breaking my concentration. I looked up from my textbook, slightly irked and turning my head, only to see Stasi buried in her own textbook. I scanned my eyes around my table and settled on Jazz. The fact that she was only on the table of contents gave it away. She looked up at me, her eyes boring into mine through the fringe of her auburn hair.

"What?" I mouthed.

She mouthed something back to me.

"What?!" I whispered.

She mouthed the words again, gesturing to my desk. Lucy looked up, watching us intently.

"What?!" I whispered again.

"Look at th-!" Jazz hissed, rather loudly, her voice breaking the deadpan silence in the room.

"Miss Coutu," Mrs. Olsen warned. "Please do not disturb the class during study sessions."

"Sorry." She said apologetically. She glowered at me, furiously pointing to the crumpled up green ball of paper. I looked at it, picked it up, and uncrumpled it. 'Hi' was written in pen, all across the front. I shot Jazz a look and she merely shrugged, suddenly smiling and going back to her work.

The end of 2016 brought on a new year, 2017. Thank goodness for that. After all our college applications were in, all we had to do now was cruise through our second semester and take it easy. There was little we could do for our grades, so now was the time to relax and contract senioritis, the advanced form of junioritis... which was the advanced form of sophomoritis... which was the advanced form of freshmanitis.

In other words, now was the time to get lazy and not do my homework until the period before it was due. Or, get everything from Stasi and Lucy, that was an option too. Nothing we could do would affect our admissions to the colleges we wanted to go to... except one thing, but that was a given under our circumstances.

The bell finally rang after 10 minutes, four quick chimes, signaling the end of the day. I heaved a sigh of relief, tossing my pen back into my backpack. I turned to Stasi, a nervous smile plastered on my face. "Talk to you later tonight?" I asked.

"You bet. Good luck, lyubov. I'm praying for you." She replied. She tapped her cheek with her finger, a designated spot clear of any sunscreen, and I leaned forward to give it a kiss, before Stasi turned her head at the last second, instead kissing me with her lips. "That's for the good luck." She said shyly. I knew she would've blushed had it not been so close to feeding time. The signs were all there. Her fangs were more pronounced. She was paler, more tired, more haggard, and easily irritable. I made a mental note to bring it up later tonight.