Khrysopos ✔

THIRTY EIGHT

- Lara's POV -

She made it.

She grinned at Juliet and walked towards her. She took a seat next to some pretty brunette. She had very gentle eyes, Lara noticed briefly.

"Hey, Jules."

Juliet was still gaping. "What are you doing here?"

"Cole invited me. I know him through his elder sister." 

Suddenly, Juliet appeared very tired. "Alright." She rubbed her forehead. "I hope your flight was pleasant?"

"It was." Lara glanced at Malex, suddenly very aware of a particular something he knew. "Hey there, Malex."

"It's Alex," he said flatly.

"Right."

Juliet's eyes narrowed. "People, this is Lara. Lara, these are my acquaintances."

"I'm Nikolai," the gorgeous blonde boy grinned at Lara.

Nikolai...

She glanced at Juliet, who looked stiff. This was him then. Lara replied, "I'm Lara."

"I'm Maya," the brunette said.

Lara's eyes nearly bulged out. "Hi." She nearly didn't even recognise Maya. She hoped Maya wouldn't remember Lara being her senior in St. Friedrich.

"So," Kaito said loudly. "You all seem to know each other pretty well. How come?"

Maya said, "me and Juliet were friends."

Lara said, "me and Juliet were very close friends."

Nikolai purred, "me and Juliet were extremely close companions."

Alex snorted, which caused Juliet to nudge him under the table and shoot him a glare.

Lara narrowed her eyes at them.

Nathan mumbled, "isn't this quite the gathering."

"Tell me about it," Juliet grumbled.

Kaito exclaimed, "so!" Everybody started. Kaito grinned. "Where is everyone from?"

Maya said, "I'm German."

Juliet replied, "Half English. Half Slovak. But I was raised in Slovakia, Sweden and Germany. Spent a year in russia."

"You did," Nikolai agreed slyly. Alex made a face.

Lara said quietly, "I'm German as well."

Nikolai said softly, seductively, "Russian."

Lara frowned. She could see why Juliet had been with someone like Nikolai. He had blond hair, clear skin, full lips, icy blue eyes, was tall and buff. All he'd need was the Winter Palace as a background and a uniform and he'd look every part the devilishly handsome Russian Prince. Every word he spoke was like buttered honey.

Kaito said, "I'm Japanese. Alex, my boy, is half Chinese half English."

"I can speak for myself, Kaito," Alex said, annoyed.

Nikolai raised his eyebrows. "Chinese? Impressive."

"Thank you. I worked very hard to earn my heritage," Alex said, cold sarcasm lacing his tone.

Nathan and Kaito stared at him, looking a little surprised.

"What?" Alex snapped.

"Alex is being sarcastic," Kaito whispered to Nathan.

He whispered, "I never thought I'd see the day."

Juliet rolled her eyes at them. Alex was most certainly capable of sarcasm. He sassed her all the time, which on occasion resulted in him receiving a nice smack on the arm.

"Are you okay?" Nathan asked Alex quietly, fake concern and genuine amusement evident.

Alex grumbled under his breath.

"So, Alex," Nikolai said loudly, "what do you want to become?"

"I'm not sure yet."

"I'm going to be an architect someday," Nikolai bragged, barely even listening to Alex's response.

Juliet smirked as she took a sip of her water. "Assuming you'll concentrate and do well in the examinations." Nikolai was careless when it came to studies. Nobody could get him to study seriously. Not even Juliet. At one point, Juliet had given up encouraging him. Lara remembered how infuriated Juliet used to get on the phone when Nikolai came up as a topic.

Nikolai winked, "if I don't get it, I'm sure this pretty face could find very good work somewhere."

"A brothel, maybe," Juliet remarked.

Alex hid a smile as he put food into his mouth and chewed quietly.

Lara started to dislike Alex. She didn't know why. Maybe because he kept glancing at Juliet quite a few times. Maybe because Juliet glanced back at him quite a few times too. Maybe because they seemed to be too close.

She didn't like it.

Soon enough, during dessert, two girls joined them. Their names were Marie and Nyssa. Nyssa was Adam's twin and Marie was that cheery strawberry blonde.

Nikolai glanced at Marie, interest flaring in his eyes. He was quiet for a little while when he said, "and who is this lovely lady?"

Marie drank her water and focused on her food.

Nyssa rolled her eyes and said, "I'm Nyssa."

"And the lovelier lady is...?"

Nyssa blinked.

Marie didn't notice that he was talking to her. Nikolai's mouth quirked up.

"It's Marie," Juliet finally answered, flatly, on Marie's behalf.

"Marie, is it?"

Marie started. She looked up at a sly looking Nikolai.

"Hi," he said softly.

"Hi," she mumbled back. She blushed.

And then dinner was over. They all returned to their rooms, and that was it for the night.

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