Chapter 5

We have always looked strange together, like two opposites: blonde and brunette. Maybe that's why we were drawn to each other on the very first day of school. Just as we are drawn together now when Marinka hugs me, kissing my frosty cheek.

"Snowy, can you imagine," she rattles excitedly, "Denis just called me again! He said he can't wait to see us! Isn't that insane?"

I have known Marinka forever, and I know that if her perception of the world were overlaid onto reality, then in that reality any expectations would eclipse common sense.

"Did he actually say that? That he can't wait?"

"Well, almost! What difference does it make, Alis? The important thing is that he called me, do you understand? And that means the party will probably be full of girls, but he wants me! Oh, Snowy, he is so cool." Marinka flutters her eyelashes in delight and immediately sighs. "If only I don't act like an idiot around him. Because I can."

"Stop it, Tsvetkova. You are in no danger of that!" I object, laughing. "Your imagination and your looks are both way too vivid!"

"Exactly!" agrees my friend, who in sixth grade managed to convince our classmates that she had been a samurai in a past life and then spent a whole year describing epic battles to them. "Want to know what I'm thinking about?"

"Tell me. Though I think I can guess."

"I'm thinking about what I'll do if this Denis suddenly wants more. Oh!" She widens her eyes in fright. "What if I want it myself? I have dreamed about his tattoo twice already!"

I burst out laughing and take Marinka by the arm. I love her for her emotional nature, and she loves me for my rationality, as she has admitted more than once. We made a pretty good tandem at school.

"Tsvetkova, calm down. The first hour of conversation will decide everything. Try to hold off on kissing during that hour. If it turns out this Denis kisses well, consider yourself lost. When you are in love, you lose your head completely. But I believe in you! I will be your strict mommy and glance at you with an instructive squint. Like this!"

Marinka giggles too, and laughing like that, we walk down the sidewalk toward the metro.

Garlands and streetlights are glowing all around us. The whole avenue and the store windows are lit with New Year's illuminations and decorated with banners. The New Year holidays are a wonderful time, when you simply want to be happy and be yourself. So why not be myself now?

"And what if it's the opposite? What if nothing is as fairy-tale perfect as that?" Marinka suggests. "If I close the door to the attic I'm currently galloping through like a horse, I understand perfectly well that this Denis is a typical rich kid. Handsome, sexy, and probably indiscriminate. Today he noticed me, and tomorrow it will be some other little fool. I'm sure he keeps a whole list of his conquests! And the end of it is nowhere in sight. So I can't get carried away with him. No, no, and no!"

"But?" I smile, and Marinka sighs:

"But he chose me, and yes, it flatters me terribly!"

"Tsvetkova, it's a good thing sensible thoughts haven't blown out of that pretty little head of yours. Don't get upset ahead of time. You don't know this Denis at all. What if he turns out to be a normal guy? And besides, maybe you simply want to teach someone a lesson?"

I raise an eyebrow at my friend, and she immediately snorts, lifting her nose:

"Pff! As if! What dried up is forgotten. Flowers don't grow on the ashes of relationships. Especially not forget-me-not roses like me!"

Her black ponytail falls proudly over her shoulder, and we burst out laughing again, paying no attention at all to the passersby. It turns out I had missed our conversations and evenings like this so much. I didn't even notice that with Rybkin, I had stopped laughing easily. But I have no answer to the question "why?" Or I don't want to admit it to myself.

The beautiful modern high-rise we are heading to is in the next district, and we walk there on foot. We are almost an hour late, but in a good mood.

There are many cars by the main entrance, and young people are standing around, some alone, some in small groups. The party has already started, and colored strobe beams pierce the top floor of the high-rise, promising that the party will last until late at night.

The elderly concierge at the entrance doesn't ask us many questions about where we are going. He immediately nods toward the elevator and returns to reading his book. But that doesn't matter. What matters is that his very presence says there are serious people nearby. Tsvetkova exhales in relief and resolutely takes my hand.

We ride up in the company of girls we don't know, but we easily get acquainted with them in the brand-new elevator car after learning we are headed to the same place.

One of the girls admits she knows Denis. He is a friend of her ex-boyfriend and an acquaintance of a whole crowd of acquaintances. A cute boy, but he has his own agenda. So it's better not to count on anything serious. The second girl remarks that her plan is to have a very good time and a secret date no one will ruin. So she doesn't care whose boyfriend she steals tonight.

"I don't understand. What was that bitch hinting at just now?" Marinka frowns when we get out on the top floor and the girls go ahead. "That she is going to steal Denis from me or something?"

"Well, definitely that someone needs to keep her tongue to herself. And even better, first get to know this Denis a little better. Come on, don't wilt ahead of time, Tsvetik." I wrap my hand around my friend's wrist when I notice her drooping. "You can say that about any guy. Big deal! Anyway, in the starry galaxy of Alpha Centauri, you are the only star: one of a kind and irreplaceable!"

"Exactly!" Marinka immediately straightens her shoulders. "Envious little desman! Oh, Alisochka," she turns and smacks a kiss on my cheek, "I'm so glad you came with me! I'm even ready to make room in my galaxy for you. To hell with all guys. Let's just have fun, since we're here!"

Upstairs is a wide hall where groups are standing around, voices and laughter coming from everywhere. We immediately understand where to go, because the door to one of the two apartments is thrown wide open, and music comes from inside.

Someone is already dancing on the threshold, and another couple, making out, tumbles out of the apartment right onto Marinka and me.

Stepping back, I turn my head and suddenly notice Ruslan in the hall. I don't know why my gaze is drawn to him. He is standing with a group of friends: a tall, lean guy with an athletic build, smiling crookedly at someone's joke with one hand shoved into the pocket of his jeans.

An unfamiliar girl is hanging on his neck. He has his arm around her waist, but he immediately drops it when he notices me.

The smile slides off his face, and he sharply glances toward the open door. He doesn't say hello. Fine, then. To hell with Marjanov!

I turn away too, remembering that I came here because of Marinka. And if my brother Romka turns out to be in the apartment, my presence is unlikely to upset him. Quite the opposite!