Chapter 1
Hélène Kuragina was a girl of rich descent. She had no solid group of friends, but instead flocked from clique to clique every week. Her outfits ranged from formal dresses to hoodies and leggings. Her grades consistently fluctuated between A's and D's. Everything about her was inconsistent, and Marya Dmitryevna did not like that one bit. Everything about Marya was put together. Each move she made was preplanned. For every decision she made, she weighed each option carefully and selected the better of the two. For these reasons, she could not stand Hélène. Her careless decision making, her flirtatious nature, her dark brown curly hair that bounced when she got excited, and that damn beautiful smile. As hard as Marya may have tried to remember her many flaws, they all faded away when she looked into her eyes and let her smile wash over her like a ray of sun. Her smile was all she could think about as Hélène approached her lunch table on a beautiful September morning.
“Mon cher, may I have this seat?”
Marya was snapped back to life by those words as she realized she had been staring. Her distaste for the girl flooded back into her body as she took in her words. She wanted to say no, but she was trying to ignore the fact that her desire to say yes was equally as strongly. She opted out of an easy answer, and simply said,
“Your french is atrocious.”
Helene took this as an invitation to sit down. Marya noticed a strong smell following Hélène, and she couldn’t tell if the fruity aroma was from the vape she had just hit, which was not an uncommon occurrence for her, or from a sweet perfume.
“What brings you to my lunch table today?” Marya asked, subconsciously hoping to hear that it was Marya herself.
Hélène giggled intoxicatingly, causing Marya to blush. Hélène noticed, and quickly responded,
“What if not you, my dear?” Winking at Marya. This time, Marya was the one giggling at Hélène's quick wit.
Hélène took notice of the dimples that formed when she smiled. Her eyes drifted to Marya’s gorgeous red hair tied up in a bun, and then to her piercing sapphire blue eyes which seemed like they could kill a woman.
“My darling you are a stunner” Hélène mumbled under her breath, after taking in her features a bit longer.
As Marya began to blush again, the bell rang. Hélène popped up off of the bench, and gave Marya a quick kiss on the cheek.
“Au revoir mon cher, until tomorrow.” Hélène called out, skipping off to her next class.
Marya stood in shock for a second, before turning around to head to class. In the hall, she met up with Natasha Rostova, a good friend of hers.
“Have fun during lunch?” Natasha asked, teasing Marya.
“What are you talking about?” Marya responded, annoyed Hélène's antics, and slightly put over edge by the girl’s joke at her expense.
Natasha had already pulled out her compact mirror and handed it to Marya, pointing at the spot on her cheek that Helene had kissed.
“Oh dear God I hope no one saw me with this.” Marya said worriedly.
She began to frantically rub at the bright red lipstick stain on her cheek. Natasha started to laugh, and could barely stop to utter the question,
“So who’s the lucky woman?”
“That annoying Kuragin girl, Hélène. She sat with me at lunch today.” Marya spat out, rolling her eyes at the thought of it.
“Is the feeling mutual?” Natasha asked between her childlike, giddy laughs.
“She implied that she was going to sit with me tomorrow, but I swear, if she even tries…” Marya trailed off as Hélène walked past her, giving her a small smile and wave. Natasha noticed Marya’s jaw drop, and Natasha couldn’t help but tease the poor girl again, asking,
“So what are you gonna do if she tries again?”
Marya sighed and rolled her eyes at her friend, trying to ignore her desire to have Hélène sit at her lunch table again tomorrow.