phone with texts.”
We got back to the table to see that the guys had abandoned us for food. I glanced around the cafeteria for them and saw they were both standing in line waiting. My eyes met Maverik’s, and I realized he had probably been watching Abby and me all along. Kingston was too busy flirting with a pretty brunette that was giggling at whatever he was saying to notice Maverik staring in my direction.
“They’re going to come back and sit with us, right?” Abby asked in a whisper.
I shrugged. “Who cares? I just need them to bring me home at some point today.”
Abby fanned herself. “You are so lucky to be sharing a house with them. I would die.”
“I might actually die if Maverik gets his way,” I muttered.
“Don’t be dramatic,” Abby scolded me.
I raised an eyebrow at her. “Pot, have you met kettle?”
She giggled and went back to talking about all of the stuff we were going to do this summer. I turned my attention fully to my frozen yogurt as my brand-new bestie chatted away at me. For the first time since I had arrived in Bedford, I was starting to feel a tiny bit hopeful and not just resigned to my fate. I could already tell that Abby was going to make being here more than just bearable. I might even start to get used to this place. If they followed through with a decent ballet program.
Chapter 21
Katya
Richard went to work every day at about six in the morning, which was about nine in east coast time. I still hadn’t shifted my schedule to west coast time, so I would occasionally see him when I stopped in the kitchen for a snack before heading to my ballet studio. I was still stubbornly holding onto the hope that I would be going back to NY soon, so I didn’t want to make my body adjust for no reason. Plus, Nina and the two boys didn’t seem like the type to get up early, so I could enjoy the peace and quiet without worrying about being ambushed. Not that I really needed to worry about Nina – I hadn’t seen her in days. I assumed she was busy spending Richard’s money while planning the wedding of the century.
The next morning, I hung around the kitchen around six, knowing that I would run into Richard. I waited until Mr. Ferguson had handed Richard his coffee before I accosted him. Mr. Ferguson gave me a polite nod as he passed by me, and I smiled back. He’d been nothing but pleasant since I’d gotten here. He wasn’t as warm as Mrs. Ferguson, but she just radiated motherly vibes like no one I’d ever seen before.
“Good morning,” I said cautiously as I approached Richard from behind.
“Katya,” Richard turned to greet me with a smile. “Up early again?”
“I like to get started on the day as soon as it gets here,” I admitted.
He nodded. “Me too. I want to get ahead of everyone who’s still in bed.”
“Speaking of getting ahead,” I said nervously. “The headmaster mentioned that I was going to need a tutor?”
Richard waved his hand as if it were nothing. “My assistant set up some interviews. No one person is fully qualified for what you need, so we will probably have two or three to set up a schedule for you.”
My eyebrows rose. Three tutors? To get me ready for my junior year of high school? How stupid did they think I was?
Richard gave me a reassuring smile. “It’s not easy to find someone fluent in Russian, but who is also qualified to teach chemistry and physics. Since your grandmother raised you, I’m assuming you had a similar upbringing to Nina? You can speak Russian fairly well, but have never had any formal education in reading or writing Cyrillic?”
I nodded in confirmation. I never thought about how similar or different my childhood had been from Nina’s. She was so different from me or from Babulya that it was difficult to believe we were all related.
Richard interrupted my musing. “We probably won’t get you started until next week.” He looked at me thoughtfully. “I have a team working on your dance suggestions for Awake. Why don’t you come into work with me Friday and give some feedback on how they’re doing?”
My jaw dropped in shock. The founder of one of the biggest and most powerful companies in the entire world was asking for my opinion?
“Um, yeah,” I stuttered. “That would be