Chapter 5 February 6th, 1943

Mill Valley, California

The victory at Stalingrad proved to be a moment of joyous celebration for all in his small town. Many of the citizens in this small hamlet were immigrants from Russia, most of whom had fled in the aftermath of the devastating civil war following the Revolution. To hear that at last a devastating blow had been cast against the Germans in their former motherland was cause for much rejoice. The local militia, comprised mostly of ethnic Russians, staged a parade down the main boulevard through their town all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge the following day, receiving fanfare and congratulations from Russian and non-Russian alike.

Peter and Tanya had been privy to the festivities and it was a chance to be with each other and enjoy each other's company in the midst of celebration. Tanya was particularly enthused, of course knowing that her home had been saved from the rule of Germany, but both knew that it would be many years before the city was fit to be inhabited again.

The day after, things returned to normal and a silence possessed both of them, as each waited for the other to make a move. Peter searched endlessly for an answer to what he felt in his heart, and why he hesitated so much to say everything he had been meaning to tell her. He pondered for a way to come closer to the answer he was looking for. Much of this soul-searching went on while on his own either at his work or in school or wandering aimlessly through the small town.

Work had just ended and the pharmacy had closed for the day, but he didn't feel like heading home just yet. He didn't know what he wanted to say to her some days, and knowing that he still could not answer was all the more painful to him. He took a left turn out of the pharmacy where he worked and trotted in the direction of downtown towards a soda shop near the town square.

It was a small place where his friends and classmates often gathered after school and on select weekends, where stories were swapped and friends were made, where hearts were tied together and broken apart. He knew the staff and most of the workers since he often came there in times when he needed to "drown his sorrows" as he liked to put it. The staff catered to him and consoled him with a fresh hot meal, a cold soothing drink, and many a waiter with a kind and caring word. It was one of his special places where he could go to think in relative isolation and reflect in relative peace.

The bells on the door jingled as he opened the glass door and was greeted by the soft melody of a jukebox in the corner of the room, playing a lilting gentle tune. He looked to see a waiter wearing the customary uniform, wiping down the marble tabletop bar at the front. He slipped in and went to his right towards a circular booth in the corner, his usual spot. The soda shop was unusually quiet, sans the sparse chatter of people in booths and at tables he passed by. At times he could recognize the faces of some who sat there. Many were classmates and acquaintances from school, but no one with whom he shared a deep bond with. No one who he could call "true friend."

No one like Tanya.

He sighed at the name of his beloved and his despair as he seated himself in the booth, waiting to be attended to. Why did the name of the girl he had sacrificed everything for come to bear the feelings of joy and of sorrow? Why couldn't he just sort out his heart and realize what he felt towards her? What was holding him back?

"Ah, Daniels. It's been a while since your last visit. We were beginnin' to think you'd abandoned us!"

He looked up and saw the bright smiling face of one of the employees at the soda shop. A brown-haired, brown-eyed waiter in his early 20s, this man and Peter had a stable friendship that had lasted as long as Peter had been coming to this little place. He had been Peter's waiter almost every time he came to visit, and Peter always made note to pay his kindness with a generous tip.

"Fredericks. I was starting to think much of the same. I just had a lot on my mind lately."

"Then let's get a load off that mind. You want the usual?"

"Sure. And bring me a glass of water would you?"

"You got it, kid."

He popped open the buttons on his trench coat, revealing his long white dress shirt and red necktie, the latter required for his work. He wasted no time in unbuttoning his collar and loosening the tie, breathing a sigh of relief as he leaned his head back, staring up at the white tiled ceiling and eyeing a fan hovering above him, and he drifted off back to his musings for a short moment before being interrupted by the calling of his name once more.

"Peter!"

Peter raised his head to see his friend Thomas approaching him from the entrance of the soda shop. He was quietly joyous to see him, since he had not spoken to him or to his other friends like Donald and Larry for some time now.

"Tom. Good to see you."

Thomas and Peter shook hands as Thomas sat next to him in the booth, obviously happy at last to have found his friend somewhere other than the library or at home.

"I thought you had retreated to your cave, never to see the light of day again!" Thomas joked.

"I've just been doing a lot of soul searching, I guess you could say," Peter returned, his voice heavy and foreboding.

"Soul searching?" Thomas laughed, adjusting his glasses. "I never thought you were the kind to go all philosophical. What truth are you running after, Plato?"

"Not that kind of soul searching, Einstein," Peter joked back. "More of a personal kind...the kind involving a certain lady in my house."

"Oh, so it's about Tanya, huh?"

"The same."

He sighed heavily as Fredericks brought him his tall glass of ice cold water from which he immediately took two large gulps.

"Have you ever been in love, Tom?"

"Can't say I have. You think you love her?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out."

Thomas wiped his glasses, trying to search through the depth of Peter's strong green eyes, piercing and seeing through all. Just by looking at him he could tell Peter had traveled a great distance and spent many a day questioning just what was in his heart. He was a man that could not be toyed or trifled with. This was the Peter he had been familiar for as long as they had been friends. Peter had grown aloof and distant from the world and always had a reason to brood and contemplate, even if the reason was undisclosed. In contrast, the object of his affections, Tanya, was a mysterious figure all her own, since only Peggy and Walter had met her out of his small ring of friends. He talked about her often to his small band of followers but he never dared take her out into the world for fear of the repercussions.

"Y'know," Thomas remarked, "you've talked about her a lot, but the others have never met her."

"Walt and Peg have."

"I'm talkin' about us. Me, Larry and Don. It'd be nice to put a face to all those glamorous words you shower on her, huh?"

Peter raised his head to look him in his bespectacled eyes and offer an answer but Fredericks came by again and offered him his food.

"There you are, Daniels, Mushroom and Swiss with fries. Hope you like it. The cook made it special."

"Tell him thank you," Peter laughed.

"Say Hall, you want somethin' to eat too?"

"No thank you," Thomas replied. "Just a water will be sufficient."

"Suit yourself, Hall. How's that burger, Daniels?"

"Very good, as always," Peter laughed as he swallowed a bite, giving Fredericks the thumbs-up.

"Glad to hear it Daniels, and good to have ya back."

He gave an affirmative nod and Fredericks left them to their discussion of the issue of Tanya meeting them all.

"Under what circumstances are you proposing to meet her?"

"How about she come to school on Monday? She can meet everyone then."

Peter thought for a moment, wondering how the others would treat her at school. There might be a stigma carried by her if she came to school with him, as others might see her as his "prize" taken from the battlefield.

"I don't want people to get the wrong idea of us, Tom."

"Hey, they won't as long as you explain it to us."

"Still, I don't like taking chances."

Thomas laughed and joking punched Peter in the shoulder, taking note of his hypocrisy.

"That's funny, comin' from the guy who traveled all the way to Stalingrad and back to save her."

"It's not the same, Tom..."

"I don't see any difference. If you can fight your way through an army of Germans to find her, you can watch her back in school just fine."

Peter took another gulp from his water, weighing the options in his head. There couldn't be any real harm in taking her to school with him; it'd be a good chance for her to integrate and maybe make a few friends. She could at least see what his life at school was like, provided the idea didn't bore her to tears. Of course for all he knew she was as hesitant to the idea of going to school as he was.

Every day he went to school since he came back he felt isolated from all and alone in the world, like no one could understand what demons he had to fight and what nightmares he had slept through. If Tanya was with him at school it might ease the pain and loneliness he felt day after day. He would make as much known to her when he eventually proposed the idea to her. With that he consented.

"I can see if she wants to."

"There," Thomas laughed, "now was that so hard?"

"If anything happens to her or if any of you poke fun you'll have me to deal with."

"Take it easy, pal. I'm not ready to get on your bad side yet."

They continued to talk for an hour, learning what had happened in the weeks that had passed, and Peter opening the door to the world one small crack. The two friends eventually bid each other goodbye and he went back home to be greeted by Tanya. He wasted no time in forwarding the idea.

"Where were you all this time? Did you have to stay at the pharmacy for extra work?" Tanya asked, obviously taking notice of his tardiness.

"I was just at the diner, talking to a friend," he replied matter-of-factly, as he removed his trench coat and hung it on the rack.

"What about?" she pressed, still not satisfied.

Peter paused as he kicked off his shoes and wondered what the best way to phrase the proposal to her would be. He breathed deeply and told her the truth, as she deserved no less.

"My friends want to meet you."

Tanya smiled, interested at the prospect.

"You mean your other friends besides Peggy and Walter?"

"Yes. They're all very interested to see you."

"So," Tanya chuckled, pushing back her long brown hair with her delicate hand, "you talk about me that much, do you?"

Peter blushed, knowing himself how often he talked about her and how much he sung praises and painted glittering pictures of her to his significant others.

"Are you angry?"

"Not at all, Petroshka," Tanya reassured him, laughing lightheartedly. "I'd love to meet them all."

Peter's spirits perked up and saw this as the right opportunity to pose the question.

"Then how about you come to school with me on Monday? I'll introduce you to everyone."

Tanya's expression dampened, not so much by disappointment as she was overcome by nervousness. Living in Peter's home was one thing but to spend a day at his school? To be a spectacle for everyone to see like an exhibit in a museum? To potentially be laughed at and ridiculed like a freak at a circus show? Needless to say she was not as forthcoming to that idea.

"To your school? And...be with the other students?"

"Yeah," he said unassumingly, seeing nothing wrong with that prospect.

"But what if they don't like me?" she said worriedly.

Peter laughed at the girl's question, leaving Tanya more confused than ever.

"What's wrong?"

"You're worried not because you'll be in a building full of strangers, but because you think they won't approve of you."

"Peter, you can't blame me for fearing that," she said, scowling slightly.

"I can vouch they are good people, Tanyusha. And if even one of them tries to hurt you, I'll punch them out."

Tanya giggled at the thought of him coming to fisticuffs with someone.

"Oh, I'll do it," Peter assured her, raising his hand and curling his fingers inward. "With this fist."

"Do you mean that, Peter?"

"I mean it as much as I promised to bring you here. If anyone tries to hurt you, even if it is my own friend, I won't hesitate."

Tanya of course felt some reassurance that Peter had her back if anyone tried to threaten her while at his school, but was still concerned about something else, something much closer to her heart and more pressing in her mind than it seemed in Peter's.

"...w-what if they...see us the wrong way?" she asked hesitantly.

"Let them think what they want. You and I know the truth."

Truth...just what truth did he mean? The truth of their relationship? The truth of their feelings? Such truths were ones Peter grappled with every day and Tanya sorted out but had not openly admitted. What truth was there to the two of them, both victims of a war that dragged everyone further into hell, both long lost friends now finally reunited after four long years of separation? Such truth was known, but only in relation to themselves and not the other. Tanya knew her truth. Peter had yet to find his.

"I suppose. Is school here different?"

"Just a little really. We still teach writing and math, and we have to learn our American history, but there's not a lot different about school here from Russia."

"Do the students wear uniforms?"

"There isn't an official school uniform but there's a general dress code. Why?"

"I was just thinking..." she said sliding her foot back and forth on the carpet, "maybe I could wear my old uniform."

Peter smiled, seeing this as her accepting the offer.

"So you'll come then?"

"I will," she said, nodding. "I know it will be fun if you're with me."

The deal was settled, and they went into the living area to exchange small talk and pass the time until Monday came.

»»»»»

February 8th, 1943

Two figures walked side by side towards the high school campus, dominated by the large clock tower staring down like the tower of God on all the youths walking to and fro, vicariously dancing a silent unknown waltz.

One was a boy who had become a celebrity in his school despite his wishing to keep his profile low, with ash blonde hair and dark piercing green eyes that saw through all things and all people. He wore his usual day clothes of the winter: grey single-breasted trench coat buttoned and tied keeping concealed his white dress shirt, buttoned up to the collar where he wore a black tie around his neck. Below the hems of his coat he wore his everyday brown knickerbockers reaching just below his knees, where his tall black socks began to his brown oxford shoes. He struck the figure of an aloof, distant and yet dignified man.

Next to him, clutching at his hand as if holding on to it for dear life in the midst of a powerful maelstrom, was a girl with long flowing and wavy dark brown hair and innocent snow grey eyes, witnesses of many horrors from her old country committed by German and Russian alike. This was her first time going to the boy's school but she was not afraid because the boy was with her, and he guaranteed her protection if anyone dared to say a word of ill will or raise a hand against her. She was not afraid simply because she loved him and trusted him.

She wore her old school uniform back in the days when there was still a sunrise to look forward to every morning, before so many lives were torn apart. It was a simple uniform and utilitarian in nature: a black dress draping over her knees just above her calves with a white lace-trimmed apron tied at the back in a neat bow. She wore a bow in the back of her head as well, striking an image of modesty. Her legs were encased in white thigh-high stockings and black boots for the small puddles of rainwater both of them trod through as they approached his campus.

She grasped and squeezed at his hand, fearful as she took her first step onto the campus grounds and immediately felt the gaze of myriad eyes looking to her, walking next to him, the hero of this small town. She suddenly felt so small compared to him.

"What's the matter, Tanyusha?" Peter quietly asked her as they walked up the tall steps to the main class building where the clock tower stood looking over all.

"Everyone is staring at us," Tanya whispered to him, feeling lost and confused.

"Don't pay them any mind," he said with a reassuring smile. "Just stay close to me."

"I promise I will," she responded, now clinging tightly to his arm. "I am afraid if I do lose you that I won't find you again. This school is bigger than what I first imagined."

Peter gently patted her hand as he opened into the main building and they both went in together. They passed through the bustling hallways filled with a cacophony of chatter and laughing from classmates, friends and lovers. It was as busy as any city street to Tanya, so full of life and activity, but to Peter it seemed quaint and familiar as they rounded a corner.

"Sometimes I get lost myself. I'll show you some of my favorite spots later on. Just stick with me the whole way."

"How can you get lost when you have been here for so long?" she asked as her curious grey eyes scanned over the bustling hallways.

"It comes natural when you daydream as much as I do," Peter remarked as they briskly walked up the stairway to the second floor, disregarding the eyes he knew were cast upon him and her.

Let them think what they want, he thought. If they see her as his "trophy," then it was no skin off his nose. He knew the truth better than anyone in this hallway what existed between them, and that was what counted in his heart.

In an attempt to calm her nerves, she looked at his soft eyes and she whispered playfully,

"What do you daydream about?"

Peter's cheeks flushed at the question as he led Tanya off the stairway and down the busy hallways to a classroom door on the other side. He wondered what she would say if he told her the truth, and more essentially, if she would ever let him live it down if she knew.

"N-nothing really that important..."

"Really Petroshka?" she asked giggling. "Somehow, for some reason, I do not believe that..."

"One day...I'll tell you," he said trying to hide his flush as he brushed past a classmate going through his locker and reached to doorknob.

"You had better, my dear Petroshka. We did promise that there would be no secrets between us."

Peter whispered in her ear, his breath tickling her as he opened the door slowly,

"The truth is, I'd hate to have everyone else find out what I think about all day..."

Blushing wildly, she quickly turned her face away from his trying to hide her embarrassment. The way his breath had tickled her ear and along her neck slightly pinged something she had never felt before. And right now was not the time to be like that and she knew it.

"I'm so sorry!" Peter said apologetically, feeling ashamed he had make her feel more uncomfortable here when he was supposed to make her feel at home. "Please forget I said anything!"

"No, no, it's okay," she said smiling shyly. "I really don't mind it at all."

Peter rubbed the back of his head in awkward nervousness, wishing he had taken back everything he said. What was he thinking, making her more uneasy in his school of all places? He was here to help her ease in to her new life, not make her feel more alone!

"If you say so. Now, let's go in."

He opened the door and took her by the hand, leading her into the small classroom. There was a chalkboard at the front of the room flanked on the left by a wall of windows. In front of the chalkboard was an oak table and chair which Tanya presumed was where the teacher sat. Facing the chalkboard were rows of desks, where the students sat talking and laughing amongst each other. They all seemed so happy, like this was a permanent part of their daily lives. Some wore their entire lives on their smiling faces. Others hid behind a mask.

"Are any of these students your friends, Peter?"

"Some are," he said plainly as he set his books down on his desk and took his seat in the front row on the end near the door.

He turned to her and with eyes that seemed to compel and engage, patted the chair next to him and said in Russian,

"Sadis' ryadom sa mnoi1."

Nodding, she did as he asked without a word, and nervously sat down in the desk next to his. She was not sure if she would either be greeted nicely or if anyone would avoid her since already she had received plenty of stares upon entering the school.

"Don't worry," he reassured her in Russian, so no one would be in on their conversation. "If you feel lost or if something is confusing you, just ask me."

Just then, a classmate behind him leaned over his desk and spoke towards Peter.

"So you bagged a broad, eh, Daniels?"

"What is...a broad?" Tanya then asked curiously, as she had yet to learn some words.

Peter whispered to her, again in Russian so that he wouldn't understand their private commuting of words.

"It's another way to refer to a girl, but it's not the best way, if you know what I mean."

"Is that so?" she responded, glaring back at his classmate.

Peter was in no mood to be trifled with and seethed at the very utterance of that word to which he referred to his beloved Tanya. Without turning to him, he curtly retorted, now in English.

"And what of it, Evans?"

"Just didn't think you were the kind to be a hit with the ladies," the boy, Evans, responded laughing. "Then again, I guess fightin' krauts really does wonders for your love life, huh?"

"I would not call it that," she quickly retorted still glaring at him. "He was only doing what was right. And for that I am happy."

"Touchy little lady," Evans laughed. "I guess Russians are as feisty in peace as they are in war. So who is she, Daniels? A bird you pulled off the street and whisked away?"

Peter now whipped his head around and leered at Evans, his green eyes piercing with the sharpness of a thousand knives cutting through the finest of cloth.

"Zatknis', idiot2," he hissed before turning back and motioning for Tanya to do the same.

Huffing angrily, she turned around, ignoring his further antics as well. She was not about to let some strange boy get to her. She, like Peter, was stronger than that. The boy only laughed off their rebuff and made another cutting remark.

"Eh, suit yourself. I'm sure we'll all find out eventually. She does seem like a good catch, though. Maybe I should go to Russia and get in on the act. I heard those female snipers them Russkies use are somethin' fierce..."

"Would you like to find out?" Tanya asked quizzically.

Though seeming meek and timid on the outside, her brothers had taught her a few ways of protecting herself of which Peter had only seen a glimpse of when it seemed they were cornered by secret police in Vladivostok.

"Just ignore him, Tanya," Peter cautioned. "He's just doing it to get a rise out of you."

"Trust me Peter," she said winking at him. "He is not as smart as he looks. In fact, he is dumber than a mule."

Peter, still hesitant, quietly whispered once more in Russian so Evans had no clue on what they spoke of.

"Have at him, then," Peter said, chuckling, interested to see what would come of this.

Tanya winked at him playfully and then said, "Well, Evans, is it?...do you really think of us Russian girls as being that 'fierce' as you would say?"

"Eh," Evans said nonchalantly. "I just know what gets talked 'bout 'em. I heard they're so fierce even the krauts fear to be caught by 'em. So tell me, little lady, is it as they say?"

"Would you like to find out?" she asked, smirking.

"Well yeah," Evans said enthusiastically. "You're a Russkie, right? So I figure you'd know."

"But yet again, I do not believe you are worthy of finding that out."

"You're breakin' my heart, toots," Evans said, feigning a wounded spirit and grasping his heart. "That's cold. You must have made all the little boys cry back in Mother Russia."

Evans reached a hand out and placed it gently on her shoulder, but Tanya felt him squeeze slightly as he uttered his next words.

"As feisty as you are, you must've given Daniels more trouble than all the krauts in Stalingrad!"

"I'll show you how much," she said instantly standing up.

Grabbing his hand she kicked him behind his knees, forcing him to the floor. Forcing his arm back around him, Tanya pulled it up nearly pulling his shoulder out of its socket while wrapping her other arm around his neck.

"I also know of three ways to break one's arm and several ways of dislocating them quite painfully. My brothers have taught me well, so it would do you good to behave as well. Do you understand, Mr. Evans?"

"As they...arrggh...say in Russia," Evans groaned, "da...ow..."

"Good," she said releasing him. "Let that be a lesson to you. Never underestimate someone you have just met."

"Especially not a Russkie...arrghh..."

Evans slid back into his desk and remained silent as the grave from then on. Peter whispered to her a word of praise.

"Otlichna, moya milaya Tanya3."

"Vasya has taught me well," she said giggling. "I am not as weak as one might perceive."

At that moment, the door opened again and this time Jane swiftly walked in with her deep royal blue dress flowing behind her.

"Good morning, Jane," Peter said nonchalantly as she passed.

"Good morning," Tanya said as well.

"Hullo, Peter," Jane greeted, but then found something not right with the picture.

Normally, Peter always sat alone at the front of the room near the door so he would be the first one out. But she found a beautiful young girl of 14 sitting next to him, looking of a maiden to be found from a book of fairy tales. She had long wavy dark brown hair with a white bow in the back and strong grey eyes that seemed to go on forever and give a sense of melancholy, as if the life this girl led was not the most fortunate.

"Sitting next to someone, Peter? I guess you're not a complete hermit," she said giggling.

"Oh Jane," Peter said, forgetting to introduce his companion, "This is Tanya, my friend from Stalingrad. She's visiting with me today."

Jane felt conflicted. At last, she was face to face with the girl Peter talked so highly of so often, the girl that was the idolized figure he felt conflicting towards. The girl that brought him so much joy and yet caused him so much pain. She now could see how this girl could command his attention with such effectiveness, for one look to her instantly betrayed her beauty, grace, and charm.

"It is a pleasure to meet you," Tanya said smiling up at the young woman in front of her.

Jane's mouth slowly formed into a smile.

"So you're the one Peter always talks about."

"Yes it would seem so," she responding letting out an innocent giggle.

The giggle somehow made Jane seethe. This girl who she had only just met already gave off the aura of a threat as she eyed her with deep blue eyes as one would an annoying insect that had to be squashed quickly. What threat she posed to her she could not tell now, and she doubted if Tanya could.

"Well it's good to put a face to the name that is every other word out of him," she laughed. "I hope we can be friends."

"I do as well," Tanya said letting her innocent side come out as she relaxed. "It would be nice to make some new friends around here."

"You're in the perfect place for it, Tanya."

At that, the door opened and a tall bespectacled man of about 45 walked in wearing a suit and tie covered by a trench coat. Tanya reasoned it was the teacher.

"All right, class, please take your seats. We have a lot to cover today."

Looking forward she focused her attention to the front, aware of the feeling of Peter watching her from time to time. She appreciated the gesture though since she did know he was trying to look over her. That in itself warmed her heart even more.

The teacher turned to the class, and instantly found a new face among the crowd of familiar students. He turned to the girl sitting next to Peter, his top student, and said,

"And I see we have a new face today. Welcome. Would you like to introduce yourself?"

Tanya instantly felt all the eyes in the classroom turn on her, and grew nervous. She felt alone again and frightened by the tremendous amount of attention the class and the teacher paid to her. She froze and stammered, unable of what to say in English and turned to her friend for help.

"Petroshka...pomogi...4"

Peter instantly caught on and stood up, turning to the class.

"Sh-she's my friend...from Stalingrad. She wanted to see my school, so she's visiting with me today."

In contrast to what both were expecting, the eyes and faces of the class brightened with curiosity of their new exotic addition to the class. The teacher was obviously the most intrigued out of everyone in the room.

"So you're Russian, are you? Maybe you'd like to introduce yourself in Russian? Give us a taste of the Motherland, if you will," the teacher said, with laughter from the class.

Peter beamed and explained the situation to Tanya in Russian, and Tanya, with renewed confidence stood up, escorted Peter to the front of the classroom, and stood before the entire class with a bright smiling face. Slowly, she formed her sentences, remembering her day of introduction back in school in Russia.

"Z...zdrastvuitye," she said hesitantly. "M-menya zavut Tatiana Petrovna Koslova. No, viy mozhete nazyvat' menya Tanya."

"Hello," Peter translated, "My name is Tatiana Petrovna Koslova. But you all can call me Tanya."

"How old are you?" the teacher asked.

Peter translated the question back into Russian for her.

"Menye pitnadsat lyet."

"I'm fifteen years old."

"How long have you known Peter?" the teacher asked again.

Peter gulped at the question, but not wishing to hold up the class, promptly repeated it in Russian to her. Tanya blushed at such a personal question, but she smiled and confidently gave her answer.

"Ya znala tebya, kogda tebye bylo dvenadsat lyet, i mnye dyesit."

"I knew him when he was 12, and when I was 10," he repeated in English.

That earned a swoon from the boys in the class and several giggles from the girls, which made the two of them blush and look away from each other, not wishing for anything to be associated with that bit of information.

"Mne ochen' priyatno paznakomit'sa s vami," Tanya concluded in Russian, "i ya nadyeyus', chto my mozhem byt' druz'yami."

"I'm very happy to meet you all," Peter finished, "And I hope we can be friends."

The entire class erupted in applause and some in the back jokingly whistled, which elicited a chuckle from the two of them as they took their seats again and class began.

All the while, Tanya was deeply engaged in what this class entailed even if she did not understand a word of it. Peter told her not to worry as he would explain it all later. Tanya felt safer than ever before and not just because Peter was with her to look over her, but because she felt accepted by his peers now...like she was more a part of his home.

In contrast, further to the back of the class, Jane continued to eye Peter and Tanya, sitting there together laughing and talking like they were an old couple who had so many stories of intimacy and tenderness to share. Everything else faded from her purview and from her focus leaving only the burning feeling in her heart that grew hotter and hotter the longer she eyed that girl. That girl, who could make Peter smile and laugh. That girl, who gave him comfort and refuge from the uncaring world. That girl, who, according to the testimony of Peter himself, he was still sorting out his feelings for.

She saw her with increasing contempt, as someone invading on her territory.

Class went by without any major incident, and Peter said to her as much as they exited out and headed to the next class one floor down.

"Not much happens most days at school. It gets boring some days actually."

"You poor little thing," Tanya laughed as she clung to his arm and followed him down the stairs to his next class. "How do you survive every day?"

Peter blushed at the answer, but gave it with confidence and the conviction of a preacher.

"I look forward to going back to you at the end of each day."

Tanya flushed and said nothing, but felt her heart flutter as he opened the door to his next class two doors down to the left.

It went on like this for much of the day until lunchtime came around. Peter, not wishing to have his Tanya be subject to the scrutiny of his friends, instead toured the campus with her, pointing out to her all manner of things and points of interest. Specifically, the places he went and knew better than anyone else in this estate of learning.

He took her to the high hill where the entire campus was visible and he often stood brooding and looking down on the souls who knew not what wars he fought in his heart, his head and his soul. He brought her to the tree where he reminisced of their days together those cold days in September, before he resolved to take flight and travel to Russia to see her one last time. He led her down the steps to the courtyard at the front of the campus where students from all walks of life gathered and chatted about different manners of business and personal affairs. He guided her through the football fields where he would often walk in silence and muse about the world while his friends would eat and laugh on the bleachers or near the clock tower, far away and out of reach as he fought silent battles.

Much she saw, and far she went, but always with a note of melancholy from him.

"I feel alone many days when I'm here," he said with a heavy sigh.

"Why do you say that, Peter?" Tanya asked, saddened to see her friend and closest thing to a love in this world depressed and downcast. "You have your friends here to support you, don't you?"

"Yes, I do...but..."

"But what, Petroshka?"

Peter stopped and dug his shoe into the racing track where the school track team was preparing a 100 meter dash. Tanya felt his grip on her hand tighten and almost crush her hand. He grimaced, hinting to her how isolated and utterly alone he was in this town despite his celebrity status and his small devoted circle of friends who all genuinely cared for him.

"But none of them are like you, Tanyusha."

Tanya was struck silent. Peter, the boy closest to her heart and her one true friend in this world, was pouring out his heart to her and letting her see into his soul through one small crack in the fortress he had built around himself. The crack was only known to her and meant to be seen only by her. Could it be that he was finally coming out to her? Was it that he was letting out all he felt in his heart, at long last?

"If my friends were all like you, Tanya, I would never feel so alone and never feel the pain I experience every day."

"Perhaps I should come with you to school more often," Tanya replied, armed with this new revelation.

"As long as you're in my life, I know everything will turn out all right in the end."

Tanya was about to press further with his allegations, but they were interrupted by the calling of a friend of Peter's, Thomas Hall. The caring wise one who could still crack a smile in the face of all this madness.

"What you two doing here all by your lonesome, huh?" Thomas jokingly called to them. "If I remember right, Peter wanted you to meet all of us!"

Peter gave an exasperated sigh and smiled tiredly, as if he knew this was all coming. Just when it seemed he was on the verge of a breakthrough and finally able to be honest not just with her but with himself, people would always pull him back in. He didn't mind it, however, because he knew the time was his own to put everything right, to make amends, and to finally come out clean.

"Shall we go?" he asked her, though he knew her answer already.

With an innocent smile that seemed to shine with the light of God Himself, she answered,

"Gladly."

1 Sit next to me.

2 Shut up, idiot.

3 Excellent, my dear Tanya.

4 Petroshka...help...