Inside My World

First Meeting

It was a rainy late August morning, the morning before Anya and Alexei were meant to leave for boarding school. She was 15 and her little brother was 9. It had not been an easy decision for her parents to have Alexei so far away but they both felt it was time he started interacting with other children his own age. St. Peter's was different from Anya's former school because it had been founded by people who had known Nicholas's Grandfather back in their homeland in Russia.

All of the Romanov children had been born there, but their father's work at the embassy had forced them to move for good to England when Alexei was just a newborn. They spoke several languages at home, including Russian and French.

That last Sunday together was bittersweet; they would be starting classes on Monday, with only Maria there to support either of them.

Olga and Tatiana, who were older, were in University, though they visited regularly. Anya, as she was affectionately called by her family, woke up late, her dog Jimmy slept in a small cot besides her bed, he had already been out and about a couple times that morning but Anastasia refused to shed her covers away. Having to wake up and start her day, meant Monday would be closer enough and she didn't want to have to face it.

She was finally called down by her older and closest sister Maria who was 17 and only had a year left at Boarding school although she was thinking of taking a gap year after she was done and stay at St. Peter's to work. Anya knew the truth though; she knew she was worried about leaving her and Alexei to their own devices.

"Good morning sweetheart, nice to see you are up." Her mother said with a knowing look as Anya dragged her feet into the kitchen. Alexei who also happened to have slept a little late was already sitting there having breakfast.

"I was just dragging out the inevitable." Anya said with a sigh.

"You'll like St. Peters. Your father did in his time." Alexandra told her. "And your Uncles Michael and George did too, it's not that bad."

"But it wasn't mixed when Papa was there. It was only for boys."

"Would you have rather preferred we've sent you back to somewhere like your old one?"

"No, because then I wouldn't be able to look after Alexei." Anya admitted. "I know they liked it but, it's just strange to have to go to a new one, although I know what it's like."

"Right well, we decided it was best to have all of you together this year. It will make the transition easier."

Up until that year, Alexei had been home schooled and Anya and her sisters had gone to an all girls boarding school nearer to where they lived, but now they had moved yet again and St. Peter's had seemed like the most suitable solution.

The day moved faster than Anya would have liked, she occupied herself with making sure she hadn't forgotten to pack everything, just like she had done before any new school year approached, after all, she had done this since she was 8 years old.

Gleb opened his eyes at the sound of something crashing, he was sure his little sister was up to something. He was the middle child of a family of 6 children. Eva had been born when he was 6 and was by far the one he was closest to. He liked his youngest siblings best for some reason and had taken to caring for them whenever he was home, as their mother had gone back to work after the Leo had been born although his little brothers were not old enough to attend school just yet. His older brothers, Ivan and David were more concerned about their own lives, especially David who couldn't wait to leave school and join the Military once he graduated like his older brother before him. Military was all that was in their minds given the fact that they were 18 and 21 respectively.