Battling Brexit by Andrew Anzur Clement

Author:Andrew Anzur Clement [Clement, Andrew Anzur]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-03-14T22:00:00+00:00

Eleven:

Friendly Competition

Elena

Erika sticks her head in my room. “Wow. Did you know your room is a mess? You know that if mine got that way Mom would make me clean it up.”

I look up from where I’m lying on my stomach on the bed surrounded by textbooks, course outlines and treaties. Rada walks up from where she was sitting, taking up all the space under the writing desk.

“This isn’t a mess, Erika, I’m studying.”

“Shouldn’t you be helping to get the truck ready for that student protest day? Why aren’t you at school? You’ve been spending so much time there lately that I get to walk your dog half the time in the afternoon. I like having a dog. Why aren’t you there now?”

I look at my cousin’s willowy frame petting a dog that’s so big she could probably walk the both of us if she wanted to. “I have a lot to catch up on at school. You don’t mind looking after her when I’m not around, do you?”

She hunches her shoulders. “Not much, my dad would never let me have a dog otherwise. Especially not one this big.”

She stops petting Rada, looks up and asks out of the blue, “You know that Croat scarf guy who’s come over a couple of times, is he your boyfriend?”

I jerk my head back. “Who? You mean Drago? No. He’s already with someone else.”

“So you do like him,” she enthuses like I’ve just given her the juiciest piece of gossip in existence.

I roll my eyes. “Well, no. I mean, why would I? I’ve got my studies and my mission to focus on and he’s always treated me like I barely exist, except for when he’s got nowhere else to turn.”

“But when he does, you still help him,” Erika points out.

I fall silent for a few seconds. Erika keeps looking at me; I know she’s got my number.

“Okay,” I finally say, “even if I did like him, I’ve been raised in a compound for most of my life; it’s not like I’d have any clue what to do about it, except sit here and study and try to ignore the fact that he’s already with this rich girl who’s saving our student guild from running out of money.”

Erika smiles and starts laughing. Lara walks into the room with my laundry. “Seriously? You’re asking my ten-year-old daughter for relationship advice? Asking Rada would probably be more constructive.”

“Hey,” Erika yelps.

I shrug. “Well, she does seem to be knowledgeable on plenty of other subjects.”

Erika nods decisively. Then she says. “Wait a minute, me or your dog?”

“Both, honey,” Lara tells her daughter, and lets her go back to playing with Rada. “The situation seems simple enough to me,” Lara goes on without my asking. “Does he know?”

“What? No. He thinks I think he’s a jag-off. And I kind of do, but it’s kind of like he’s the anti-me or something.” I catch myself. “Please tell me none of this will get back to Hristijan.”

“Relax, my lips are sealed. It sounds to me like step one is: Tell him that you have feelings for him.

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