“I give up,” she said glumly. “You’re right. I prioritized the workshop over school. I’m sorry.”
Vassi ruffled her hair. “You’re forgiven.”
“Really?” She brightened, thinking that this was the first time for Vassi not to make her suffer one of his lectures – which could last for hours – or even worse, his silent treatment, wherein he would torture her by acting like she didn’t exist.
Vassi smiled at her. “Of course, leech. You’re forgiven.” He paused. “But it doesn’t mean there aren’t any consequences.” As he motioned for one of the staff to refill his coffee, he murmured, “Firstly, you are forbidden from watching any anime until your next quiz.”
“What?” she gasped. “But this Friday is the finale—-”
“Until your next quiz,” Vassi said firmly.
Seri glared at him. “Monster.”
“And because you’ve displayed such maturity by resorting to name calling,” Vassi continued smoothly, “you are also hereon banned from listening to J-Pop.” When she opened her mouth to answer back, he warned pleasantly, “If you say one more word, no reading shoujo manga either.”
She shut up, but she couldn’t stop herself from glaring at Vassi. Monster! He really was a monster, the only boy in the family to always get on her case every time she prioritized voice acting over schooling.
Which was so ironic, Seri thought resentfully. It wasn’t like he prioritized his studies over being a Hollywood star.
An uncomfortable silence had followed, broken only by Misha asking Sergei about his upcoming trip to Russia. Fyodor and Vassi entered the conversation, and the atmosphere returned to normal, leaving only Seri to sulk alone.
Monster, she thought again, and her blood boiled.
She tried to finish her cereal as quickly as she could, wanting to take revenge. She was going to leave for school before he did. She wouldn’t talk to him, wouldn’t—-
And then she felt it, Vassi tugging on a lock of her hair.
Her heart skipped a beat.
And another.
And another.
And that was it, she thought glumly. She was no longer mad. She was just back to being…hopelessly, secretly, crazily in love with someone forbidden.
If only Vassi could ban her from feeling this way, too.
It would probably be the only punishment she’d welcome with open arms if it worked.
“I know what you’re thinking.” His voice was low, as if he didn’t want the other boys in the family to hear her.
“Hmph.”
His lips twitched. “You should know by now, leech. I think you look cuter when you’re angry.”
She stuck out her tongue.
His lips curved in a smile. “Extremely cute.”
And there went her heart again, Seri thought mournfully.
“You know I’m only doing this for your own good, da?”
She nodded. “Da.” And she did. Really. Just like she also knew that tonight, which she had to keep a secret from the boys, was also for her own good.
****
“They’re going to kill me when they find out about this,” Davey mumbled. It was seven in the evening, and they were on their way to Seri’s first ever goukon.
She said bravely, “No, they won’t.” But actually, she wasn’t that sure. The boys could be pretty unreasonable when it came to her and the opposite sex, which was why she had lied to them about tonight’s mixer and instead told them she was pulling an all-nighter at Davey’s house.
Beside her, Davey sniffed, “You know they’ve got the biggest sister complex in the world.”
“Umm…”
“And please don’t tell me you’ve forgotten what they did to the last guy who tried to approach you in school?”
“Nope. I don’t remember.” It was a lie of course. She did remember, and the memory of how that went was still enough to make her cringe.
She had been in eighth grade, patiently waiting for her ride home. Somehow, Fyodor and her brothers had their dates mixed up that day. All of them had thought it was one or the other’s turn to fetch her from school, and when Seri realized what had happened, she had told them she could easily walk home, which of course everyone balked at.
It was already five in the afternoon when Malcolm Tudor, who had been a couple years older than her, spotted Seri by the waiting area. He had gone straight to her and started flirting with Seri, and although she had felt shy and tongue-tied, she had also liked having his attention since Malcolm was one of the popular boys in school.
She had been laughing at one of his jokes when the boys arrived almost at the same time, and they had just been a few feet away from her when Malcolm impulsively tried stealing a kiss—-
Well, that was that.
Malcolm had ended up stealing kisses from three different pairs of fists instead, and since then, no one in school had tried approaching her.
Davey stopped in front of a posh-looking karaoke hall. “We’re here.”
Knowing her friend had good reason to speak like he was at his own funeral, she quickly squeezed his arm in apology. “I’m sorry, Davey. But I just feel like this is what I need to do—-”