Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Savina
“THERE’S A FIGHT!”
“Fight!”
“Fight!”
I’m walking down the hall to lunch when I hear several kids shouting about a fight near the lockers. I turn the corner, and my stomach drops. I see Dimitri on top of Corbin, his fists dropping blow after blow onto his face.
Corbin looks almost unrecognizable as he weakly attempts to fight back and protect himself. Several teens try to pull Dimitri away, but it’s of no use. Dimitri is hellbent on beating the shit out of my boyfriend.
“S-s-s-stop it!” I yell, running to them. “Dimitri, d-don’t!”
He continues hitting Corbin, his fists making sickening sounds against flesh and bone.
And even though I know it’s dangerous to get between them, I know I have to do something.
So, I reach out, seizing one of Dimitri’s fists and yanking it towards me in an attempt to stop all of this.
But then everything flips as he suddenly hauls me forward and down to my knees with almost inhuman strength.
I quickly grasp Dimitri’s angry face, which is streaked in Corbin’s blood, forcing him to look at me.
His cloudy, blue eyes finally settle onto mine, and I can almost see the fog lift from them as he realizes I’m actually here with him.
“Don’t d-do this. P-p-please,” I whisper to him, my breaths panicked.
Dimitri’s muscular chest heaves and sweat dots his brow.
He slowly stands and wraps his hands around my arms, gripping them gently but firmly as he pulls me up with him.
His gaze blazes into mine. He opens his mouth to speak, but the principal suddenly grabs him from behind and hauls him away from me before pushing him up against a row of lockers.
“My office. Now!” Mr. Larson spits out angrily at Dimitri. And then he turns to me and says, “And you too, Miss Cipriano. I have a feeling this had something to do with you.”
Dimitri stalks off as the principal goes to check on Corbin. “There’s an ambulance on the way. Everyone, get to class!” he shouts. “A month’s suspension for anyone who lingers in the hallway!”
I’m torn between staying behind to see if Corbin is okay and listening to the principal’s order.
But I don’t even have a moment to decide before Mr. Larson turns with a raised finger pointing at me and asks, “Are you having trouble hearing today, Miss Cipriano?” Then he adds with a stern voice, “Move! Now!”
Feeling defeated, I reluctantly turn and make my way to his office.
Dimitri is already seated in the small waiting room, which is comprised of three metal chairs and a lamp.
His chest rises and falls rapidly as his bloody fists curl and uncurl in his lap.
And when I enter the room, he looks up, his dark hair falling in front of his blue eyes, which lock on to mine.
I take the seat farthest away from him, not wanting to be next to him right now…and maybe not ever. This was so much worse than seeing him in the underground fights. He looked like he wanted to kill Corbin, not just hurt him like previous opponents I’ve seen him pinned against.
The silence is almost deafening in the small room. The only sounds are Dimitri’s heavy, rapid breaths until they begin to slow as he eventually starts to calm down.
His knuckles are bleeding, and every now and then a drop of blood falls to the pristine, beige-colored carpet below his chair. I already know Mr. Larson is going to have a conniption when he sees that. He’s very particular about this school and especially about the office area.
“I owe you an apology, privighetoare mic?,” Dimitri mutters, breaking through my thoughts.
“Just one?” I scoff. “S-s-so, you’re s-sorry for almost killing my b-boyfriend?” I ask.
“No, I’m not sorry for that at all. I’m sorry for whatever outcome happens here.”
I grumble under my breath. Of course he’s not sorry for hurting Corbin.
He’s has had it out for him ever since we started dating.
I don’t know why it even matters to Dimitri.
It’s not like he’s been a total angel. I mean, I can’t even go one day in school without hearing rumors about him and numerous girls.
If he can’t keep it in his pants, why should I?
“Well, I don’t accept your apology,” I tell him honestly.
“That’s fair,” he says before slinking back in his chair like we’re just having a normal chat on a totally ordinary day.
I glare at him but am thankful when he doesn’t look in my direction. Sighing, I sit back in my chair and pull my legs up to my chest, curling my hands around my knees and resting my forehead on them, desperately trying to make myself as small as possible until I hopefully just disappear.
“So, you and Corbin,” Dimitri starts, and I groan inwardly. “You two fucked last night after your date?” he asks.
“Is that why you h-h-hit him?” I question.
“Maybe,” he drawls out like he has a million other reasons besides that. “So…did you?”
I hesitate. I consider my options carefully.
I don’t know why Dimitri would be concerned about whether we did or didn’t do it considering he’s dated and probably screwed every girl that goes to our school.
The only thing I can think of is he’s wanting me to be undamaged goods when the time comes for our wedding.
It’s always about the stupid contract, and I’m tired of it.
I slowly raise my head. His blue eyes look worried, mournful even, and it makes what I say next feel even worse. “Yes, we d-did,” I lie.
I can see a myriad of emotions on Dimitri’s face.
He looks surprised, angry and then hurt.
Just as I’m about to open my mouth and confess the actual truth and take back the lie, the principal enters the room, throwing open the door and startling me.
His eyes immediately zero in on the red stain in the carpet under Dimitri’s bleeding knuckles, and his frown deepens.
“Your parents are here,” he tells me. And then he turns to Dimitri, pointing at him as he says, “And the police are here for you.”
I stare at Dimitri, but he doesn’t even show any signs of being worried. In fact, he looks…smug. He slowly stands and walks out of the room, giving me one last long, hardened look before disappearing through the doorway.
“Let’s go, Miss Cipriano,” Mr. Larson says, gesturing for me to leave as well.
I stand and follow him outside. My eyes search the parking lot where I catch a glimpse of a handcuffed Dimitri being pushed into the back of a police car. On the other side of the lot near the school’s side entrance is an ambulance with two EMTs loading Corbin on a stretcher into the back of it.
Worrying my bottom lip between my teeth, I really want to go see if Corbin is okay. But before I can take one step in that direction, I hear someone clearing their throat. One of the drivers my dad has on call most days opens the back door of a familiar sedan, patiently waiting for me.
Sighing, I walk forward and climb inside. I’m shocked to see that both my father and stepmother are seated inside on the opposite bench seat.
I am so screwed.
Cosette likes to pretend I don’t exist unless I get in trouble. Whenever that happens, then she’s front and center, ready to dole out any kind of fucked-up punishment she deems fit. I wonder what it will be this time.
I glance her way and see that’s wearing a fancy dress with her shoulder-length, bleach blonde hair pulled back in a fancy updo.
Her face looks overly pinched and stretched today, so I’m sure she probably just finished one of her weekly Botox appointments before rushing over here to make sure she could be a part of this whole mess.
Her overlined brown eyes rake over me in contempt, so I steal my gaze away and look back towards the school.
I want to run, but the driver quickly closes the door, sealing my fate.
Grimacing, I press my back into the leather seat and await the inevitable lecture that’s going to happen.
I decide to hold my ground, though, because technically I didn’t do anything.
It’s not like I punched someone. I was just an innocent bystander in all of this.
My father narrows his eyes on me as the car pulls away from the school. “I talked to the principal. He explained what happened.”
“I d-d-didn’t do anything w-wrong,” I begin to protest, but he raises a hand to silence me.
“When were you going to tell us about dating Corbin McCall?” my father asks. “You know there’s a no dating clause in the contract.”
Oh, so that’s what this is all about. It isn’t about what happened at the school at all. This is about keeping my virtue for the sake of the family’s archaic contract and my promised union with Dimitri. It always comes back to that damn contract.
“Is this where you’ve been sneaking off to when you told us you were with friends?” my stepmother chimes in. And then she adds snidely to my father, “I knew her making new friends was too good to be true.”
I inwardly cringe at her snide remark. Leave it to my stepmother to kick me when I’m already down. “C-Corbin and I d-d-didn’t…do anything,” I say uncomfortably.
My stepmother rolls her eyes. “I was your age once, Savina. I don’t believe you.”
It takes everything in me not to tell her off, so I bite my tongue, hard, until I taste blood. I know it will only make it worse if I say what I really think, and I can’t imagine what kind of punishment she’s already concocted in her alcohol-laced brain.
“We’ll discuss this when we’re home,” my father says, saving me the trouble of having to bite through my tongue.
The rest of the ride back to the house is quiet and filled with tension. I curl into a ball and tuck myself in the corner of the seat, worrying myself to death about what’s going to happen and wondering if Corbin is okay.
The engine and the whirring sound of the tires on the road almost lull me into a trance by the time we come to a stop in the driveway. The three of us climb out of the car, and I’m wondering when this big talk is supposed to happen.
“Go to your room. I’ll call for you later,” my father tells me, and I do just that, thankful to be able to escape to my sanctuary for at least a little while.
When I finally pull my cell phone out of my pocket, I have no less than thirty missed calls and texts from Darby.
I send her a quick text telling her about what happened and that I’m worried about what my father is going to do.
She shares the same trepidation as me and lets me know she’ll be waiting for any news.
Over the next three hours, she keeps me updated on Corbin based on what she’s heard from other students.
Corbin is in critical but stable condition, and the doctors think he’s going to be okay.
She doesn’t share any news about Dimitri, but I can’t say that I mind.
I’m so mad at him for what he did that I really don’t care if he’s suffering right now or not. Clearly, he deserves to suffer.
It's hours later before I’m summoned to my father’s office downstairs.
The moment I step foot into the room; I can feel the shift in the air.
My father is sitting behind his desk, and my stepmother stands behind him with a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
She gives him a gentle squeeze before her eyes meet mine.
They are about to tell me some news, something perhaps lifechanging.
And I already know I’m not going to like it.
My father speaks first. “Your stepmother and I have been discussing this for a while now. We think it’s best that you go to that all-girls’ school in Montana.”
They have been threatening me with the idea of this school ever since my stepmother came into the picture. It was always a way to keep me in line and to treat her nicer, but I never thought they were serious about it…until now.
“You’re s-s-sending me away?” I ask in a rush.
This is what my stepmother always wanted.
She was just waiting for me to screw up like this so she wouldn’t have to deal with me being in her presence.
“But what about s-s-school? What about my f-f-friends?” Angry tears sting my eyes.
Darby will never forgive me. She tells me all the time that I’m the only one keeping her sane in that school.
I’m her refuge from her weird stepbrother. Who will protect her if I leave?
“You can make new friends, dear. Better friends,” my stepmother pipes up. I glare at her, and she scoffs. “See? This is the attitude she gives me after I try to help her. Do you see this, Donato?”
“Papà, p-p-please don’t d-do this!” I beg.
“It’s already been decided. You leave tomorrow. Pack your things, Savina.”
Silent tears track down my cheeks as I turn and run out the door. I bump into a man standing nearby, and it takes me a moment to realize it’s Dimitri’s father.
He towers above me with a grim look on his face. “We heard everything. And we are very sorry, Savina, for all of it,” he says, clearly speaking for Dimitri, who is standing next to him, no longer in handcuffs.
My father must have gotten him the good, old “get out of jail free” card that he always pulls when someone is in trouble. That’s a shame, because I would have loved to have known that Dimitri was arrested and charged for what he did to Corbin. Lord knows he deserved it.
When I turn to Dimitri, I see a smirk present on his face, and it sends me over the edge.
Walking over to him, I poke him in the chest and meet his eyes as I say lowly, “I hate you.” I watch as the smirk on his lips quickly fades, and I take great pleasure in knowing that my words affected him. I hope they cut him deep.
Before I say something else I may or may not regret, I take off running, not stopping until I’m safe in my room. Slamming the door, I throw myself onto my bed and collapse into a mountain of blankets and pillows, sobbing as my father’s words echo inside my mind.
I’m being sent away, and there’s nothing I can do about it.
This is all Dimitri’s fault. If he wouldn’t have started the fight, I wouldn’t have gotten involved, and they never would have found out about Corbin and me. Now, I’m being forced to leave my home and move across the country, away from everyone and everything I know and love.
My hands ball into fists as an anger I’ve never felt before slowly simmers under the surface of my skin. I hate Dimitri Sokolov. I’ll never forgive him for this. And I make my own vow in that moment that I’ll find a way out of our marriage contract. Even if it’s the last thing I ever do.