Being forced to move so many states away from all that he once knew, Nessa was nervous to tackle his new life. Fortunately, it didn't take long for Nessa to meet a plethora of unique individuals who welcomed him into their lives:
The optimist, the k...
Working up the courage to mention the trip to Scotland that Emi so desperately wanted them all to attend, Nessa waited anxiously to hear what his parents would say in response. The two women looked at each other, and time seemed to stand still.
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Since his family didn't celebrate holidays, that left only one thing that they did. Birthdays. Ilya's had yet to come, since he still had two months until then. But someone in his family did happen to have an early December birthday. Someone who he wasn't exactly thrilled to have to see as well as pretend to be nice to.
Evegenia was the sort of birthday girl who had to have all eyes on her at all times. She would dress in something ridiculous, hair and makeup done as though she was attending the red carpet. While Ilya was usually in love with the idea of dressing above and beyond, it annoyed him simply because she annoyed him.
To top it all off, Paul was there. Paul. God, he hated him.
Maybe Ilya was being petty when he got ready that morning, but he decided that he would piss off his parents as well. So he wore his highly ripped jeans with fishnets and a cropped sweater. Even though he didn't want to have to stick around for Eva's birthday, he was willing to accept it for the horrified looks on his parents faces when they saw him. It never got old.
Eva always celebrated two birthdays. One was with her family, while the other was at her own house with her friends. Ilya was glad, because it would have been even worse to have to go to Paul's mansion and stand awkwardly with a bunch of rich people. It happened once before, and he never wanted to have to deal with it again.
Instead, they were all gathered at the kitchen table. Mr. Polyakov at one end, Paul at the other. Venice sat beside Ilya, and across the table was Eva with Mrs. Polyakov. It was an incredibly rare experience to see them all gathered together, even Venice joining them. Mostly because Ilya begged him to not go to Nessa's so that he wouldn't have to suffer alone. Venice agreed because he clearly felt bad, and he couldn't pull the excuse of being sick anymore since he seemed to recover fully in just a few days.
Eva was gushing over the dinner. That was something they could agree on. It was rare for Mrs. Polyakov to make dinner for everyone, so he did appreciate the nice home cooked meal. It was a traditional Russian birthday meal, which Ilya did deduct points for the lack of creativity. But Eva always preferred to follow tradition.
Boring.
So Ilya picked at his fish and salad, eating bits and pieces here and there. Venice was doing the same, but for a different reason. He was making sure that he had plenty for room for the cake that followed, because that was all he really cared about. Ilya wondered how Venice was still so skinny when all he seemed to eat was sweets.
"What about you, Братик?" Eva suddenly said, addressing Ilya directly. He lifted his gaze to her, sitting comfortably in his chair with his legs crossed. He was trying to look feminine, because he noticed the occasional glances of disapproval sent his way from his parents. It was satisfying. "How have you been?"
