“You can call me Alexia. I like it when you say it,” he said to her in a much more serious tone than he intended. It was as if he was no longer in control of his faculties when he was around her. And truth be told, he did like hearing his proper name when she said it. “I should really be going…” Vronsky finally made his way toward the front door.

“Aight, later dude! Maybe we’ll check you at Jaylen’s party on Saturday?” Steven opened the door and Vronsky slowly backed up until he was standing in the hallway waving good-bye. He couldn’t take his eyes off Anna until the door closed in front of him and she was gone.

XIV

Vronsky felt restless when he walked out into the snowy night after leaving Steven and Anna’s building. He waved off the doorman’s offer to find him a cab and buttoned up his coat, wound his long scarf around his neck a few times, and started walking. The streets were practically empty because of the storm, but he barely noticed. His mind was singularly focused on one thing, and one thing only.

Anna K.

Never in Vronsky’s life had he been so taken with a member of the opposite sex. And though he was only sixteen years old, he already had plenty of experience with girls.

Alexia’s father had passed away three years ago, but even when he was alive they never had much of a relationship. Alexia’s mother had primary custody of him and his older brother, Kiril, after they divorced. Entire years would go by without seeing his father, who moved to Thailand when Alexia was only seven. (Rumor had it his father had no choice but to leave the States because of legal trouble, but Alexia never cared enough to find out the real story.) It was Kiril who continually demanded they be allowed to see their father and eventually their mother gave in. She agreed to let the boys go to Thailand for three weeks over the summer with a well-paid nanny, who reported back to their controlling mother.