Wish by Scarlett Haven

famous
now?”
    He laughs. “Yeah, pretty much so.”
    “ How are we ever going to go out
on a real date?” I ask.
    “ I guess we can hang out on
campus,” he says. “At least until all this blows over. Or you could
get the wig back out.”
    I laugh. “I hate that thing. It’s so itchy.
But I would do it if it meant I could leave campus with
you.”
    “ Well, we will have to wait to
catch Rafael and Matthews,” he says. “They would recognize you with
me.”
    “ Stupid terrorists.”
    They ruin everything.

EIGHT
    Special permission.
     
    Thursday, I am waken up early in the
morning.
    I look a the clock and see that it’s only one
in the morning.
    “ Kat, wake up,” I hear a
voice.
    A light is turned on and my eyes shut, wanting
to block out the brightness.
    “ Kat, you have to get
up.”
    My eyes widen as I recognize the voice.
“Raslan?”
    “ We have to go. Now!”
    I want to ask questions, but I don’t when I
hear the urgency in his voice. I just put my shoes on and follow
him out the door. Savannah is dead asleep when we walk
out.
    As we walk down the hall, I don’t talk. I
don’t want to wake up anybody else. I don’t know why Raslan is at
my school, or even in America.
    “ Why are you waking me up at two
in the morning?” I ask, once we’re outside. It’s cold. I’m just
wearing pajamas—sweatpants and a t-shirt. I rub my hands over my
arms, trying to warm them up.
    Raslan takes of his jacket and hands it to me.
“Gaidar, the guy you have known as Matthews, is in America. We
suspect he’s on his way to here. We have to get you to
safety.”
    “ Where is Tristan?” I
ask.
    “ That’s your boyfriend, right? The
smart guy I met in Russia.”
    “ Yeah.”
    “ You’re too young for a boyfriend,
Kat.”
    “ I’m almost seventeen,” I say.
“Barely a year younger you.”
    “ Almost seventeen,” he says,
frowning. “When did you get so old?”
    “ Well, you’re almost nineteen,” I
remind him.
    “ I’m getting old,” he
says.
    Raslan opens the passenger side door of his
car, and I get in. He gets in the driver’s side.
    “ How did you even get in the
school?” I ask. “As you know, the president’s son goes here. And
other kids with important parents. Plus, after everything that has
happened lately, they’ve beefed up security.”
    “ I got special permission,” he
says.
    “ So, where are we going?” I ask.
“Dad and Alik are supposed to head back to Russia today. Are we
going to meet them? I should probably call Tristan.”
    Wait a minute.
    What about my bodyguards?
    Where were they?
    They are always standing guard outside my
dorm, even in the middle of the night.
    “ Raslan, what’s going on?” I ask.
“Why are you even in America? Why did you come get me? If I was in
danger, Tristan would’ve come and got me. Or even Alik or Dad. But
not you.”
    Raslan doesn’t respond. He just down shifts
and accelerates.
    “ Raslan,” I repeat.
    I feel panicked, because I am not about to let
myself get kidnapped again and locked in a basement. This time, I
don’t have my phone with me. Why did I leave it?
    Because this is Raslan! I grew up with him! He
was one of my best friends. He’s always been there for me. He was
with me the night that Eduard died. He’s like a big brother to
me.
    “ Raslan, answer me right now,” I
say.
    “ I’m sorry,” he says, his voice
breaking. “My family is not well off in Russia. And the guys that
want you are willing to pay a lot of money to get you. I have to,
Kat. My family, we need the money.”
    “ My dad will give you the money.
More than anything they will give you,” I tell him.
    “ How?” Raslan asks. “Your family
is better off than mine, but these guys are offering a million US
dollars.”
    “ Dad is a billionaire,” I say. I
have to convince him before we reach the gates of the school. This
is my only chance.
    “ What? How?”
    “ He will give you whatever you
want.”
    “ Kat, I killed people. The guards
at