Fame (New Hope Academy Book 3)

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Author's Note

  ONE

  TWO

  THREE

  FOUR

  FIVE

  SIX

  SEVEN

  EIGHT

  NINE

  Author's Note

  More Books by Scarlett

  Find Scarlett Online

  Acknowledgments

  Fame

  New Hope Academy, Episode Three

  Scarlett Haven

  Copyright © 2016 Scarlett Haven

  http://scarletthaven.wordpress.com

  All rights reserved.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

  This book is dedicated to the ONE true God, JESUS.

  Thank you for creating the world.

  Thank you for coming in the flesh.

  Thank you for dying for me.

  And most of all, thank you for choosing me.

  This is episode 3 in the New Hope Academy Series.

  I highly recommend picking up the first two episodes, Fate and Luck, before reading this.

  ONE

  Good fake boyfriend.

  If somebody had told me a year ago that I would be going to school in America, dating the president’s son, and trying to take down a Russian terrorist group, I would have thought they were crazy. Sometimes, I think I am crazy. But not even my brain could come up with something like this.

  Being here, at this school, and making American friends, it’s somehow become my new normal. I’m even starting to talk more American, though my Russian accent is still very heavy. I find myself saying phrases that I’ve never heard from my British mum.

  Tristan assures me that when I fake an American accent, it’s not very good. But that’s okay. I’m not American. Not really. Just because I now have a dual citizenship with Russia and the US doesn’t mean I’m fully American. No matter how long I live here, I will always be Russian. Russia holds a big part of my heart, and it always will.

  Russia is where my brother, Eduard, is buried.

  Russia is where my family is. And even though my dad is a Russian terrorist, I still love him.

  Savannah, Kaiden, Madox, Tristan and I all sit on the cold bleachers, watching the football game. I am not quite sure I understand the game, but it’s fun to watch the guys running in tight pants. Just because I’m almost dating Damon doesn’t mean I can appreciate another guy’s beauty.

  Damon is on a plane right now, on his way back to America. Since New Hope Academy is safe again, he gets to come back. He’ll be here in time for the dance tomorrow night and I am very excited. I can’t wait to spend the night dancing with him.

  The phone in my pocket starts vibrating, so I pull it out and see that my mom is calling.

  Tristan ditched my phone somewhere in the tunnels underneath Pittsburgh. This phone looks exactly the same as my old one and we were able to restore all my pictures and contacts, so I guess I can’t complain. But this phone is a safe phone. Nobody, aside from Tristan, can track this one. If I ever have to run for my life again, I’ll be able to keep my phone.

  “Hey, mum,” I answer.

  “Katerina,” she says. I can hear her smile through the phone. It is so good to hear her voice. “Your dad told me that he came to visit you today. He was in America on a business trip and it happened to be close to your school.”

  My mum knows that my dad is a terrorist, but we can’t talk about it over the phone. All her calls are being monitored for the time being. I wouldn’t be surprised if they monitored my calls to. Used to, that is. They probably can’t anymore. Tristan is good at what he does.

  “Yeah, it was a good visit,” I tell her, getting up from the bleachers. I walk somewhere quiet and private. I don’t have to look to know that Tristan, my bodyguard, is following me. “I wish you could’ve came with him.”

  “Me too, baby,” she says. “So, your dad tells me that you have a boyfriend.”

  “Yeah,” I say, my face growing warm.

  The thing is, I don’t have a boyfriend—yet. Damon is almost my boyfriend. He would be if I just agreed to go out with him. But my dad thinks Tristan is my boyfriend. And he is the boy I will be taking home at Christmas. So I can’t tell her about Damon, even though I so wish I could.

  “Tell me about him,” she says.

  “His name is Tristan,” I say, turning around to look at Tristan.

  “Tristan,” she says. “Oh, Tristan. You told me about him.”

  She knows Tristan.

  Tristan. My bodyguard.

  “I’m bringing him home for Christmas so you can meet him,” I tell her.

  “Good,” she says, genuinely sounding relieved. “I know your brothers will want to meet him. Make sure he knows he’ll have a lot of questions to answer.”

  “You’ll like him. And trust me, Tristan is always prepared.”

  “Do you have any other friends?” she asks.

  I know what she’s asking.

  Not if I have friends, but if I have a boyfriend. A real one.

  “Yeah. Umm… this guy named Damon,” I tell her. “He is kind of perfect. And a really good friend.”

  “I’m glad you’re making friends. You’ll have to tell me more about Damon at Christmas,” she says.

  “I will,” I tell her. “I should probably get off here. I’m at the homecoming game. There is a dance tomorrow night.”

  “How exciting,” she says. “Have fun. And take lots of pictures for me.”

  “I will,” I say.

  “Goodbye, Katerina,” she says.

  “Bye,” I say, ending the call.

  I can’t help but miss her.

  Tristan pats my shoulder awkwardly. He so needs to work on his people skills. I could really use a hug. “It’ll all work out, Katerina. You will see.”

  “You still suck at comforting people,” I tell him, as we walk back towards the bleachers.

  “Sorry,” he says.

  I stop and turn to him before heading back up to sit by my friends. “By the way, before we go to Russia, you’re going to have to learn how to be a proper boyfriend.”

  His mouth falls open and no words come out.

  “What, did you think sitting with six inches between us at all times and never touching would be appropriate? My dad and brothers would see right through that. It’s not like we have to snog or anything. But handholding is a must,” I say.

  “Well, I’m obviously not kissing you,” he says.

  “Of course not. By then, I will have a boyfriend,” I say, thinking about Damon. “I don’t want to kiss you either.”

  I start walking up the bleachers and he follows closely behind me.

  “I don’t exactly know how to be a boyfriend,” he admits to me.

  Nobody is paying attention to us as we sit down. They are all watching the game, sitting on the edge of their seats. Something exciting must be about to happen, but I have no clue what. On the field, I see a guy running with a ball and a bunch of other guys chasing him. Seems boring.

  “Just watch Damon,” I say to him. “He’s got the whole romance thing down.”

  Damon is the perfect first boyfriend. He’s pretty much going to spoil me when it comes to future relationships.

  “Right,” he says.

  “It’s going to work out, Tristan.” I really, really hope it does. “Besides, you don’t need to worry about it right now. There is still over two months until Christmas.”

  “Two months,�
� he says. “Okay. I can figure out how to be a good fake boyfriend before then.”

  I hope so. If not, we’re going to be in trouble.

  TWO

  Where are you?

  Damon’s jet landed, but he won’t be getting back to campus until twenty minutes after the dance has already started. So, I am just going to meet him there.

  “You look gorgeous,” Savannah tells me, after helping me zip up my dress.

  “So do you,” I tell her. I convinced her to skip video games this afternoon and let me fix her hair. She’s actually really pretty. I should convince her to stop wearing skinny jeans and wear her hair down more often.

  There is a knock on our dorm room, and I know without looking that it’s Tristan. He doesn’t think I need a bodyguard to sleep in my dorm anymore, but he’s not okay with me walking around campus without him. Maybe after a few more months of training I can, hopefully.

  Savannah opens the door.

  “I thought Damon was taking you,” she says to me, looking confused.

  “He is. He’s just going to be late, so Tristan is walking me there and hanging out until then,” I say.

  “Why?” she asks, then looks at Tristan. “Don’t you have a date?”

  I answer for him. “Damon wants him to take me. The school is safe now, but he’d feel better if I didn’t walk alone.”

  It’s the truth.

  “Okay,” she says, accepting my answer.

  I walk with Tristan towards the dance, Savannah is waiting for Madox. I guess he’s going to walk her to the dance, and I’m trying to figure out what is going on between them. They seem to be hanging out a lot lately—without Kaiden. I wonder what’s up with that.

  “Nice save,” Tristan whispers to me as we walk out of my dorm.

  I’m getting good at coming up with answers for our odd behavior.

  “By the way, you look beautiful,” he says. “I missed the blonde hair.”

  “I did too,” I say, thinking about how itchy the brown wig was.

  “Damon is about five minutes away from the school,” he tells me. “He has to get his tux on then he will meet you there.”

  “Awesome.”

  I can’t wait to see Damon again. I missed him a lot. This whole week has been really crazy and I hope that it’ll settle down some now that Kazimir is dead.

  Tristan and I walk into the dance together, and I can tell people are confused. Damon asked me to the dance in a very public way. Of course, they know Damon isn’t here because of the explosion outside the school, but they probably expected me to come alone, not with another guy.

  “People are going to talk,” I tell Tristan, dreading the gossip that will be spread about me.

  “Then let’s give them something to talk about,” he says, holding out a hand towards me. “Let’s dance.”

  Wow.

  Tristan wants to dance with me. I never thought I’d see the day.

  I let him lead me onto the dance floor.

  “You’re quite a good dancer,” I tell him, truly meaning it. I always thought I was good, but he makes me look bad.

  “I have been trained in a lot of things. Dancing is one of them. You never know what situation may require you to dance,” he says. “I actually danced with an assassin before. It was my job to distract her long enough to be arrested.”

  I smile. “I can imagine that you would be very good at distracting women.”

  “I was trained for that as well,” he says.

  “I mean all on your own. With nothing but your stunning good looks.”

  He laughs.

  “Do you think I would make a good spy?” I ask.

  “Who said I was a spy?”

  “Me,” I answer. “Tell me, would I be good at your job?”

  “Well, you’d be a great distraction,” he says. “Not many women do the job that I do. At least not for long. Most of the time, they quit so they can get married and have babies. It’s a waste of training, if you ask me.”

  “Why would they quit just because they had a baby?” I ask.

  “This job is dangerous,” he answers. “It can put your family and loved ones at risk. I guess when you have kids, you have to think of them first. That is why I don’t plan on marrying. The job that I have is important. I don’t want to ever give it up. I have a feeling that if I had a baby, I would give everything up for them.”

  “Do other men you work with get married and have babies?”

  “Most of them do,” he answers. “I mean, isn’t that what normal people do?”

  “Yeah, but your job is far from normal,” I say. “I can’t imagine you work with ordinary people. The things you do are incredible.”

  “I think you’d be good at my job. But I also don’t think you should do it.”

  “Why?”

  “Well, my job is to protect you. If you work with me, it wouldn’t be my job anymore. You’d have the training to protect yourself, but it’s different,” he says. “I’ve spent time with you and find myself getting attached. Which is against my rules.”

  “You made a rule not to get attached to anybody?” I ask.

  “Yes,” he answers. “People that I love tend to disappear.”

  “You love me?” I ask.

  “You remind me of my little sister,” he says, as if it’s an answer to my question. “I don’t want you to disappear, Katerina.”

  “Did your sister disappear?”

  He doesn’t answer, but he doesn’t have to. The pained look on his face says it all.

  I quickly change the subject, wanting to see him happy again.

  “I can’t believe you love me,” I say, grinning at him. “I thought I got on your nerves.”

  “Oh, trust me, you do.”

  “What is the longest time you’ve spent in one place?” I ask.

  “Well, I hardly ever stay longer than one week. This case is different. I am probably going to be here for a year, maybe more,” he answers.

  “But you’re pretending to be a senior,” I say. “How can you stay here longer?”

  “We will see when the time comes. I’m hoping that this case won’t be open in a year. But if it is, there is a college nearby. I will work something out,” he says.

  “Going to high school as your job seems like a cruel punishment.”

  “Yeah,” he says. “I don’t like the school aspect of my job, but I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe and take down this organization. They know we’re onto them. I think it’s only a matter of time before they start to crumble. Just like what happened with Kazimir.”

  “What about my dad?” I ask. “What will happen to him?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “My life won’t ever be the same. I mean, it was different after Eduard died. But I still had my dad. He was gone a lot, but I loved him. How am I supposed to go on? Life in Russia won’t be the same.”

  “So move here.”

  “Maybe,” I say.

  “I got you a conceal and carry permit,” he tells me, changing the subject. Maybe he doesn’t like seeing me sad either. “And I got you a gun. We’re going to a shooting range on Monday after school.”

  “Okay.”

  “You’ll get the gun after I know you can shoot well. I don’t want you accidentally shooting somebody,” he says. “It’s a Glock. It doesn’t have a safety. If you pull the trigger all the way back, it will shoot.”

  “I understand. I have guns at home. My dad gave me a pistol I keep in my nightstand. All I have to do is pull the trigger if I ever need to.”

  “Before we go to your house for Christmas, I need you to draw me a layout and tell me where all you have guns hidden around the house,” he says. “I don’t think anything will happen while we’re there, but we need to be prepared. I want to plan an escape route.”

  “Okay,” I say.

  “Damon is here,” Tristan tells me, stepping back.

  I look behind me and see Damon and six bodyguards walk in. I don’t recogn
ize one of them, reminding me that West died. It’s sad.

  Damon smiles when he sees me and makes his way over. I meet him half way.

  “I missed you so much,” he says, wrapping his arms around me.

  It’s pretty much the best hug I’ve ever gotten.

  “I missed you too. I’m so glad you’re here.”

  He pulls back and looks at me. “You’re beautiful. This is a nice dress.”

  I’m wearing a pretty simple black dress. It’s fitted on top and flares out around my waste. The bottom is made out of tulle, so it puffs out a little bit, and the bottom reaches my knees. I’m also wearing a pair of four inch black heels, and I’m still shorter than both Damon and Tristan.

  “You look beautiful too,” I tell him, because he does. Damon in a tux is pretty much the hottest thing ever.

  The music changes and I hear Russian lyrics coming out of the speakers around the room. It’s one of my favorite Russian ballads called, Gde ty, or Where Are You in English.

  “May I have this dance?” he asks.

  I grab his hand. “Of course.”

  He leads me out on the dance floor and holds me close.

  “How did you get them to play this?” I ask.

  “I asked Dean Bello a few weeks ago and she agreed. She thought it would be good for American teenagers to hear something other than Justin Bieber,” he says.

  “How did you know this is my favorite song?”

  “Don’t be mad, but I look on your favorites playlist on your phone,” he answers. “I took a picture of the list and bought all the songs. This was my favorite that I found.”

  “You’re pretty perfect,” I tell him.

  “I think we’re just perfect for each other,” he says. “Is it bad that I keep thinking about how much I wish I could kiss you?”

  “I want to kiss you, but definitely not on the dance floor in front of all these kids.”

  “Later, then,” he says.

  He pulls me closer as we dance, and I can’t help but think that I like being here.

  I’m also really looking forward to kissing him.