Inside My World

Chapter 5
It was Anya's 16th birthday. She couldn't believe it had almost been a whole year since she'd met Gleb. A whole year since she'd met her best friend. It hadn't been an easy year for her but having Gleb by her side certainly made it easier. Alexei for his part was excelling at school and finally finding a place of his own amongst his classmates and friends but also loved hanging out with her and Gleb when he got the chance, it had been Alexei who had cheered for the older boy in the first place to her Papa of all people and her father, although reluctant, had decided to give Gleb a chance to prove himself and he'd done a good job so far.

"Good morning sweetheart, Happy Birthday." Alexandra said as soon as Anya descended the stairs.

"Thank you, Mama."

"Happy Birthday Anya!" Came Alexei's excited voice as he came into the kitchen.

"So how does it feel to be sixteen?" Maria asked as she was helping her mother prepare her sister's birthday cake.

"Not much different than it did 8 hours ago, but if I do feel any different, I'll let you know." Anya mused.

"Oh, honey, being sixteen marks a very important moment in a young woman's life. It might not seem like it but in time things will begin to change, not right away of course, but gradually." Anya bit her lip. It was still a few weeks before she would have to go to school so she figured she'd try and discover just as much as she could about what being 16 meant and what her Mama was talking about.

She got ready for her party, all of her friends were coming and a few of Gleb's that she'd decided to invite, specially Dimitri who had turned out to be quite the ally for them both in the last year. He had even caught Maria's eye but neither of them had made a move on that since she was still a few months older than Dimitri. "What do you think Jimmy?" Anya had asked her dog who slept beside her bed in his cot, always by her side. She was wearing a lovely summer dress and had her hair down, curls waving around her shoulders. Anya was not exactly thrilled to be wearing a dress, but the leggings under it made it comfortable and she actually liked the way she looked.

She glanced at her phone as it chimed on her desk, Gleb was letting her know he was on his way with Dimitri. He'd been the first one to call her on her birthday hours before, her boyfriend who was sweet and yet cautious because he wanted to be respectful with her father's wishes almost abided every rule the ambassador gave the boy because he wanted to always be on Nicholas' good side.

Anya felt herself smile at the prospect of seeing her boyfriend, he had promised to take her out just the two of them later that night and she couldn't wait.

He had said he wanted to make this an unforgettable birthday for her and it made Anya even more excited because of all the mystery surrounding it.

"Anya, Gleb's here!" She heard her mother call for her about ten minutes later. She glanced at the mirror one last time, patting Jimmy's ear as she climbed down the stairs and into the foyer. Her boyfriend stood there with his usual messy black hair combed like he used to wear as school, brown khaki pants and a dark shirt which made him look almost too grown up.

"Hi." She said, at a loss of words.

"Hi, Happy Birthday, you look beautiful." He beamed.

"Aww look at the two of you being cute." Dimitri stood beside him, wearing a smile. "Happy Birthday Anya, thanks for inviting me."

"I'm so glad you are here Dyma, thanks for coming." She said with an equal bright smile. She and Gleb's best friend had become sort of accomplices to one another, which annoyed him greatly but he also secretly loved. Hence now she could call him by his nickname.

"All right then." Dimitri said with a pat to Gleb's shoulder as he whispered something to him in Russian.

"He's going to go look for Maria, isn't he?" Gleb guessed.

"Yeah, afraid so, he's been all she can talk about for weeks since that day we spent at the lake."

"Which might have been a mistake on our part to get those two together." Gleb sighed.

"Well Maria might be able to keep Dimitri on the right path for once." Anya giggled as she turned to face him, their faces inches together. He kissed her softly but quickly as there were prying eyes everywhere and they went to join the rest of the people out in the yard.

Her father had arrived home from an assignment the night before and he was too quick to greet Gleb. His stance towards Gleb hadn't changed in the last year, which meant he still had respect for him and trusted him not to hurt his youngest daughter.

Gleb was not about to give him a reason not to, but he was still an almost 18 year old boy.

"Glebka, you are here!" It was Alexei, the term of endearment had come from Gleb's father a few months before and it was like it was his and Alexei special thing.

"Hey Alexei." Gleb said with a kind smile. "Are you excited about the new term?"

"I guess, I'm still going to be ahead of my class but at least Evie will be there so I'm not too worried." Alexei admitted with a shy smile. "How about you?"

On that note, Anya and Gleb tried hard not to think about it much, they still had a full school year to overthink just what that would entail for their relationship. Soon enough Alexei was called away by his mother and Anya was left alone with Gleb alone. "So, I do have two gifts planned for you." He admitted. "And this is, uh, part one." Taking something from his pocket he asked her to open it. It was a bracelet, gold with blue stones, much like her golden hair and blue eyes which made him think of her.

"Gleb, it's beautiful. Thank you." She said, a quick peck to his lips. "There can't possibly be more."

"Yes, later." He whispered in her ear and Anya's heart skipped a beat.

The party moved along without a hitch, a few of Anya's friends from St. Peter's who were now her confidants since Maria had finished her school year this past June and was now working at St. Peter's as a teacher's aid would not be around much for them to talk about boys much. Lauren and Sarah, one American, one British, but equally eager to share their misadventures at St. Peter's and two of the few people Anya hoped she'd still be friends with once school was over.

"Will you be okay without me?" Anya asked as her friends were calling for her.

"I can take care of myself." He said with a grin. "Go with your friends, I might have to find Dyma and make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble." Gleb laughed as he squeezed her hand and watched as her friends dragged her away, possibly to talk about the gift he'd just given her.

"Where's Anya?"

"Snatched by her friends."

"I am beginning to wonder if those girls are a bad influence for a good Russian girl like her?" Dimitri asked as they both stood by a couple pillars.

"It's good that she's got friends, it will make things easier when I've left St. Peters." Gleb said taking a sip of his drink.

"Oh, yeah. Have you uh talked about that?"

"No, not yet. I think we're both dragging it out." His best friend admitted shamefully.

"And have you told her?"

"No, I haven't even made up my mind about it Dyma, my father has only suggested it."

"It seemed more like a request to me than anything else. I mean why does he want you back in Russia for?"

Gleb's neck tensed up. He had not told Anya what his father's plan for him after boarding school were, or that it required him to go back to his hometown. He hadn't wanted to ruin Anya's birthday and upcoming start of term.

He had only come as close to tell her that his father had insisted, he'd visit Russia more often. He had been there for 6 weeks with Ivan and David caring for his grandfather's farm and the old man himself like he'd done since he was 12. In truth, he was glad his father allowed him to return for Anya's birthday and the remaining of summer. But no, he hadn't brought up himself to tell Anya what he'd discussed.

Or what the other option might be, he'd only told Dimitri about it.