Chapter 17: Thawing

	Following her victory at the Triple Axel Showdown, Yume spent the 
next few days in her dorm room, recovering from her cold. As it turned out, 
Mikhail and Dominique managed to catch colds as well, although Pilar 
insisted Dominique was only faking hers.

	“I’m telling you, if that girl is really sick, then I’ll eat my 
hat,” Pilar said, bringing Yume a bowl of her grandmother’s chicken soup. 
“She’s just embarrassed that you defeated her in the showdown.”

	“She shouldn’t be,” Yume said from her spot on the bed. “Dominique 
did really well. It’s a miracle that I was able to beat her, especially with 
this stupid cold.” She let out a sneeze. “Ugh, I’m sure Coach Wong is 
furious with me for getting them sick as well. We‘ve already wasted so much 
training time thanks to the fight and the showdown…”

	“Well, the important thing is that you and Mikhail are partners 
again…and maybe even more?”

	Yume sighed. “For the hundredth time, there’s nothing romantic going 
on between us.”

	“It sure didn’t look that way to me at the showdown.”

	“I told you, I felt a little dizzy coming off the ice and tripped, 
so Mikhail caught me. End of story.” Still, her cheeks warmed a little as 
Yume remembered what had happened after she won. 

	“But that story is so boring!” Pilar said, taking a seat on the edge 
of the mattress. “Besides, the way he was holding you… I’ve never seen the 
Ice Prince act like that before. So sweet and gentle…” She swooned. “It was 
like something out of a romantic movie!”

	“Pilar, give it a rest already.” After setting the uneaten bowl of 
soup on her nightstand, Yume rolled over on her side and pulled the blanket 
over herself. “We’re just pairs partners.”

	“You keep telling yourself that, chica,” Pilar said with a roll of 
her eyes. “Anyway, you don’t want your soup? You barely touched it.”

	She shook her head. “Not right now. I’m not very hungry. Maybe 
later. You should probably go, too. It would be bad if you caught my cold as 
well.”

	Pilar stood up and glanced down at her wristwatch. “Yeah, it is 
about time for me to head back to practice. I’ll put the soup in the fridge. 
You can warm it up whenever you do feel hungry, okay? And don‘t forget to 
take your medicine.”

	“Thanks,” Yume said. “Really, I appreciate you and the others taking 
care of me.”

	“Hey, that’s what friends are for, right? Get well soon, Yume. I‘ll 
see you later.”

	Once Pilar left, Yume snuggled under the covers, but didn’t fall 
asleep. Instead, she thought back to what Pilar had said. Was there 
something more to the hug Mikhail had given her after the showdown? It was 
rather out-of-character for him, Yume had to admit, and it had felt nice in 
his arms. 

	Really, really nice...

	“Stupid Pilar,” she muttered, blaming the older girl for putting the 
idea in her head.

	She was just reading too much into it. There was no way Mikhail was 
interested in her like that. He liked glamorous blondes like Tatiana. She 
couldn’t even hold a candle to his beautiful ex.

	Besides, Yume was just glad that he had accepted her as a real 
partner at last. After thinking it over for a while, she thought she finally 
understood the reason why Mikhail had decided to train Dominique. It was his 
way of building up her confidence, to push Yume to up her technical game. It 
was one thing to practice a jump every once in a while, but the showdown had 
forced her to master it, and now that she had defeated Dominique -- the best 
female jumper at Kaleido Stage -- she felt stronger and more confident than 
ever before.

	She only wished it hadn’t been at Dominique’s expense.

*****

	By Wednesday, Yume felt well enough to return to practice. After 
buying her breakfast at the cafeteria, she glanced over at the table where 
the male skaters usually ate only to discover that Mikhail wasn’t there. She 
frowned, wondering if he was still sick, but before she could walk over and 
ask one of the other guys where he was, Clarissa stood up and waved her 
over.

	“Yume!”

	Smiling, Yume headed to the table where her friends were sitting and 
took the seat between the redhead and Elizaveta. Out of the group, Pilar was 
the only one missing. “Hey, guys,” she said.

	“It’s good to see you up and about, Yume,” Clarissa said, sitting 
back down. “How are you feeling?”

	“Almost as good as new. I can‘t wait to get back on the ice again.” 
She again glanced over at the boys’ table. “Any word on Mikhail’s condition? 
I thought he might be feeling better by now.”

	“I haven’t heard anything. Dominique’s not around either. I guess 
they’re still both under the weather.”

	Yume let out a disappointed sigh. Now that she was much more 
consistent with her triple axels, she was hoping she and Mikhail could start 
working on them as side-by-side jumps right away. It seemed, however, that 
would have to wait.

	“Clarissa Marie Bachman, I can’t believe you didn’t tell us!” a 
familiar voice said, interrupting Yume’s thoughts.

	The final member of their group had finally joined them, setting 
down her tray and taking a seat at the head of the table.

	“What are you talking about, Pilar?” Clarissa asked.

	Pilar rolled her dark eyes. “Your birthday, silly. It’s this 
weekend!”

	“How did you find that out? And how do you know my middle name, for 
that matter?”

	“I have my ways, but never mind that,” Pilar said, waving her hand 
dismissively. “More importantly, why didn’t you tell us?”

	Clarissa shrugged her shoulders, stirring her oatmeal. “It’s not 
that big of a deal.”

	“Not that big of a deal? It isn’t every day you turn twenty-one. 
It’s a milestone!”

	“Is the twenty-first birthday special in America?” Yume asked, 
failing to see what the big deal was either. In Japan, twenty-one was just 
another birthday. It was the twentieth birthday everybody looked forward to, 
when a person became of legal adult age in the eyes of the law.

	“It’s only the most important birthday ever!” Pilar exclaimed. 
“Turning twenty-one means Clarissa is finally able to legally drink.”

	“Oh. In Japan, the legal drinking age is only twenty.”

	“It is? Man, y’all are lucky!” Turning her attention back to the 
birthday girl, Pilar continued, “Anyway, we have to celebrate. Let’s all go 
clubbing!”

	“Pilar, you do realize only you and I would be legal?” Clarissa 
pointed out. “Yume, Liza, Zoe and Becca are still underage.”

	“Oh, don’t worry about that. I know some places that’ll let them 
in,” she said, blowing off Clarissa’s concerns as if they were nothing. “So, 
what do you all think? Are you in?”

	Becca sighed. “I’d like to go, but I know my dad wouldn’t approve.”

	“Are you sure? Even if you promise not to drink?”

	“He’s a cop, so he’s pretty strict about these kinds of things, and 
since I still live at home instead of here at the dorms…” She shook her 
head. “Sorry, I just don’t think I can make it. But you shouldn’t let me 
stop you. You should all go out and have fun. It’s Clarissa’s 21st birthday, 
after all. She should enjoy it.”

	“I’ll ask my folks, but I wouldn’t count on them saying ‘yes,’ 
either,” Zoe piped in. “Sorry.”

	“Well, what about you, Yume?” Pilar asked. “You don’t have any 
parents around to stop you.”

	“Uh, I don’t know…”

	“Come on, it’ll be fun! Besides, remember the day of our audition? I 
promised you that if you made it, I would take you to a club, and I never go 
back on my promises.”

	Yume thought Pilar had forgotten all about that promise, but 
evidently she hadn’t.

	“Well, I guess if Clarissa really wants to go…” Yume began, not 
wanting to seem like a party-pooper, especially since Zoe and Becca wouldn’t 
be able to go.

	“Great!” Without waiting to hear Clarissa’s opinion on the matter, 
Pilar turned to Elizaveta. “Liza, are you in?” 

	The Polish girl bit down on her bottom lip. Yume could tell 
Elizaveta was about as enthused about the idea as she was, but it was 
difficult to say “no” to someone like Pilar Santos.

	“I suppose if Yume is going, I’ll go, too,” Elizaveta finally said.

	Pilar pumped her fist in the air in victory. “Super!” she said, 
jumping back up with her tray of untouched breakfast. “I’ll go tell the 
guys.”

	“What?” Clarissa’s head jerked up. “You want to invite the guys, 
too? I thought this was going to be a girls’ night out.”

	“The more, the merrier, I always say. Besides, don’t you want to 
spend your birthday with a special certain someone?” She winked. “Catch you 
guys later!”

	With that, Pilar left and headed toward the table near the back of 
the cafeteria where their male partners were eating. As soon as she was 
gone, Clarissa sighed and lightly banged her forehead on the table.

	“What have I unleashed?”

*****

	Later during their lunch break, instead of meeting with Clarissa and 
the others in the cafeteria as she usually did, Yume decided to visit the 
sick Dominique and Mikhail. Armed with plastic containers filled with 
Pilar’s leftover soup, she first dropped by Dominique’s dorm room, not very 
surprised when the French skater refused to answer the door.

	“Dominique, it’s Yume,” she said, knocking again in case Dominique 
hadn‘t heard her the first time. “I know you probably don’t want to talk to 
me, but I just wanted to check and see if you were okay. I heard you caught 
my cold. Dominique?” Still no answer. Sighing, Yume set one of the 
containers down in front of the door. “I brought you some chicken soup. I’ll 
leave it out here for you if you get hungry and decide you want some. All 
you have to do is warm it up. It’s really delicious. I hope you get well 
soon.”

	She started to leave, but turned back around when she remembered the 
skaters’ plans for that weekend. Pilar probably wouldn’t like it, but 
considering that all the other skaters had been invited, it didn’t seem fair 
to Yume to leave Dominique out.

	“By the way, a bunch of us skaters are getting together on Saturday 
night to go clubbing. It’s Clarissa’s twenty-first birthday, so we’re going 
out to celebrate. If you’re feeling better by then, you should come with us. 
It might be fun,” Yume said, wondering if she really would come. “Well, 
anyway, I’ll let you get some rest. See you around.”

	She then headed to the men’s dormitory to see Mikhail. After what 
happened with Dominique, she didn’t expect him to answer either, so she was 
surprised when she heard him call out, “Coming!” A few moments later, the 
door opened.

	Mikhail had seen better days. Dressed in a pair of plaid pajama 
pants and an undershirt, his hair was messy and unwashed. Dark circles lined 
the bottom of his eyes, and his nose was as red as Rudolph’s. 

	“You look awful!” Yume blurted out, slapping a hand over her mouth 
when she realized how rude that sounded.

	“Gee, thanks,” he said, sniffling.  

	“Um, I didn’t mean it like that. I just --” She held up the soup 
container as a peace offering. “Soup?”

	“What kind is it?”

	“Chicken. It’s supposed to be good for colds.”

	After a short pause, Mikhail opened the door wider, inviting her 
inside. Entering the room, Yume saw that it was in even worse shape than 
Mikhail. Used tissues and empty delivery cartons littered the floor, while a 
pile of dirty dishes was stacked in the kitchenette sink.

	“Sorry about the mess,” he said, reading her mind. “I haven’t felt 
like cle--” He let out a huge sneeze.

	Yume, forgetting about the messy room, walked over and pressed her 
hand against his forehead. His skin felt like it was on fire, which seemed 
rather ironic for a man known as the Ice Prince. “You should go back to 
bed,” Yume said. “I’ll warm this up and bring it to you when it’s done.”

	“You don’t have to do that.”

	“I want to,” she insisted, shooing him away. “Now, go.”

	“… Thanks,” he said before heading back to his bedroom.

	Yume set the plastic container down on the kitchen table, then 
rolled up the sleeves of her shirt. Before reheating the soup, she decided 
that a little cleaning was in order, starting with the unwashed dishes. It 
was the least she could do after passing her cold onto him. When she 
finished putting the living room and kitchenette back in some semblance of 
order, she prepared Mikhail a bowl of soup and knocked on the door to his 
bedroom.

	“Mikhail?”

	As he had left the door slightly ajar, Yume took a peek inside, 
finding him asleep. She didn’t want to wake him when he seemed to be resting 
peacefully, so she decided to leave the soup by his bedside, She placed the 
bowl on the nightstand, in front of a framed photograph -- the only 
displayed picture in the entire dorm room.

	Curious, Yume picked the frame up. It was a picture of a rarely-seen 
beaming Mikhail, standing in the middle of two other women. One was middle-
aged and probably had been quite the beauty when she was younger, although 
her looks had faded somewhat with age. The other was a pretty teenager with 
the lithe, slender body of a dancer. Yume thought the girl resembled Mikhail 
a little, although her hair -- pulled back into a bun -- was brown instead 
of blonde.  

	“His family?” Yume murmured.

	Mikhail’s eyes fluttered open at the sound of her voice. Startled, 
Yume quickly put the frame back down on the table.

	“Yume?” He rubbed at his right eye. “You’re still here?”

	“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. I warmed that soup up for you.”

	She picked the bowl back up as Mikhail moved to a sitting position 
and handed it too him. After taking a taste, he said, “It’s good. You’re a 
great cook.”

	“Oh, no, not me!” Yume waved her hands in front of her. “I didn’t 
make it; Pilar did. It’s her grandmother’s special recipe. I had some left 
over from the last batch she made, so I just reheated it.”

	“Oh. Then thank her for me.”

	“I will,” she promised, glancing over at his digital alarm clock. It 
was later than she thought it was. She hoped to have enough time left to 
grab a quick bite to eat at the cafeteria with her friends, but it looked 
like she would have to skip lunch. “Um, the lunch break is almost over,” 
Yume said. “I should probably get back to practice. I’ve been working on my 
triple axel some more, so maybe when you feel better, we can start training 
them side-by-side?”

	“That sounds good.”

	“Good. Well, I’ll be going now. I hope you recover soon.”

	Yume started to leave, but Mikhail suddenly reached for her wrist, 
stopping her.

	“Yume.”

	She turned back around. “What is it? Do you need something else? A 
drink? Medicine?”

	He shook his head and released his hold on her arm. His gaze focused 
on the bowl of soup sitting in his lap. “I just…wanted to apologize for the 
way I treated you before,” Mikhail said. “You know, about that matter with 
Tania. I should have told you right from the start what really happened that 
night.” 

	“No, I’m sorry I didn’t believe you when you said there was nothing 
going on between you two. I should have trusted you.”

	“Why? I haven’t given you any reason to trust me.” His free hand 
gripped at the blanket. “I’m afraid I haven’t been a very good partner…”

	Yume didn’t exactly disagree with him, but she was still surprised 
to hear him admit it so readily. Was he delirious from his fever? “It’s 
okay,” she said. “I haven’t been the best partner either, so let’s start 
over.”

	He finally looked back up at her. “Start over?”

	“Yeah!” Smiling, Yume extended out her hand. “Hello, I’m your new 
partner, Yume Naegino. And you are?”

	Mikhail hesitated for a moment, seeming confused, but then took his 
hand in his, a soft smile on his lips. “Mikhail Pavlovitch Vladimirov, but 
you can call me Misha if you want. All my friends do,” he said. “It’s a 
pleasure to meet you, Yume.”

	“Yes, it’s nice to meet you, too,” Her cheeks started to grow hot as 
Mikhail continued to hold her hand for much longer than necessary. “Um, I 
need to go,” she reminded him. “Practice.”

	“Oh, right.” He finally let go. “I didn’t mean to keep you. Sorry.”

	“It’s fine. Get well soon…Misha.”

*****

	The next Saturday, Yume sighed as she looked inside her armoire, 
trying to decide what she should wear to the club with little success. She 
was normally a jeans-and-T-shirt type of girl, so she didn’t own many 
clothes that would be suitable for clubbing.

	“Why did I even agree to go, anyway?” she wondered aloud, pushing 
aside another rejected outfit. However, remembering that it was Clarissa’s 
birthday, Yume went through her options one more time, hoping to find at 
least something decent to wear.

	“Hmm, what’s that?”

	Something sparkly had caught her eye. At first, Yume thought it was 
one of her old skating costumes that she had packed by mistake, but it was 
actually a metallic gold halter top and a pair of black pants. Gasping, she 
reached for the hanger and pulled it out. “Wow, I completely forgot about 
this!”

	She had bought it in Paris about a year or so ago after winning her 
first international competition, Trophée Eric Bompard. To celebrate, Coach 
Hasegawa had suggested she buy something completely outrageous and expensive 
with some of her award money as a way to commemorate the event, so Yume had 
bought the outfit, along with a pair of gold Christian Louboutin high-heel 
sandals that cost more than she had ever spent on any kind of footwear -- 
and that was including her custom-made skates, which were hardly cheap. She 
never got the chance to wear it, though. Yume had been saving it to wear at 
the Olympics, but since that was never going to happen…

	I might as well wear it once, she thought, scanning the room to make 
sure that Fool had not escaped from the box she had trapped him in while she 
took her bath before taking off her robe. No point in letting it sit in the 
closet, gathering dust, especially considering how much it cost.

	Yume got dressed, then headed down to the lobby of the girls’ 
dormitory where they were all supposed to be meeting. The only one there so 
far, however, was Mikhail, whose normally expressionless ice blue eyes 
widened slightly when she arrived. 

	It was the first time she had seen him since she visited him on his 
sickbed on Wednesday. His cold had kept him away from practices for the rest 
of the week, but it seemed as if he was finally feeling better. Yume was 
glad to see him, since she had forgotten to invite him. One of the male 
skaters must have informed him of the outing.

	“Yume.” He stood up from the couch. “Hello. You look…nice.”

	“Um, thanks.” Yume started to say that he looked pretty good 
himself, especially considering his disheveled appearance the last time she 
saw him, but settled for blushing. “So, we are the first ones here.”

	“Yes, we are. Whose birthday are we supposed to be celebrating 
tonight, anyway?”

	“Clarissa’s. You know, Jason’s partner?”

	“Oh, the redhead,” he said, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his 
pants. For some reason, Yume thought Mikhail seemed nervous. “I didn’t bring 
a gift,” he confessed. “This was so last minute.”

	“Don’t worry. None of us knew it was her birthday until a few days 
ago, so I doubt anybody will bring a present. This celebration is kind of a 
gift from everybody, I guess.”

	“Oh. That’s good.”

	“I’m surprised you decided to come,” Yume admitted. “You don’t know 
Clarissa very well, and I never pictured you as much of a club-hopper.”

	Mikhail shrugged. “According to Sergei, all the skaters were 
invited. I thought it would be rude not to show.”

	“Oh.”

	The next one to arrive was Dominique, whose presence shocked Yume 
even more. The haughty French skater stood off to the side, leaning against 
the wall with her arms crossed over her chest. She barely acknowledged Yume 
and Mikhail, only giving a curt nod when Yume waved to her.

	Yume excused herself and walked over to where Dominique was 
standing. “It’s good to see that you’re feeling better,” she said. “I’m glad 
you decided to come. After everything that happened, I wasn‘t --”

	“Don’t get the wrong idea,” Dominique interrupted. “I didn’t come 
because you invited me. The only reason I’m here is because Sebastien asked 
me to be his date for the evening.”

	“Oh. Well, I’m still happy that you came, no matter the reason,” 
Yume insisted. Spotting Pilar, Sergei, and the birthday girl enter the 
lobby, she started to go over to greet them when Dominique stopped her.

	“Wait, Yume.”  

	Yume turned back around. “Yes?”

	“Well, I just wanted to say thanks for the soup you left me,” 
Dominique said, almost mumbling the words. “It was quite delicious.”

	“You’re welcome,” Yume replied.

	She then went over to join the newly arrived group. Pilar, for one, 
was not happy at all to see Dominique. “Why is she here?” she asked. “Did 
somebody else invite her, ‘cause I certainly didn’t.”

	Yume meekly raised her hand. “Uh, that would be me,” she admitted.

	“You? Why would you do a silly thing like that?”

	“Because all the other skaters were invited. I thought it only fair 
to ask her. Besides, Sebastien asked her come, too. It seems they’re dating 
now.”

	“I highly doubt that,” Sergei said with a chuckle. “Sebastien plays 
for my team, not hers.”

	“He could be bi,” Clarissa pointed out.

	“He’s not. Believe me, I know.”

	“In any case, she’s already here, so what’s the harm in letting her 
come with us?” Yume asked. “It might be a good chance to get to know her 
better. You don‘t mind, do you, Clarissa?”

	The redhead shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t really care if she 
comes or not, but Zoe might.”

	“Zoe’s not coming,” Elizaveta announced, joining them with Dmitri 
and Mikhail, who had decided to come over at last. “I just stopped by her 
room to check. Her parents wouldn’t give her permission.”

	“Oh, that’s too bad,” Clarissa said, although she didn’t sound too 
disappointed. She had warmed up to Zoe ever since she assured Clarissa that 
she had no interest in her partner, but Yume knew she had to be looking 
forward to spending the next few hours with Jason without him drooling over 
the pretty contortionist. Looking down at her watch, Clarissa frowned. “I 
wonder where Jason is. It’s already six fifty-five, and our taxis are 
supposed to pick us up at seven.” 

	They waited a few more minutes for the last members of the group to 
arrive. Jason finally showed up a couple of minutes after seven, along with 
Sebastien. “Sorry, we’re late,” he apologized, giving Clarissa a chaste kiss 
on the cheek. “Happy birthday, ‘Rissa.”

	The birthday girl blushed very prettily. “Thanks.”

	“Taxis are here!” Pilar said. As the primary planner of the evening, 
she took charge as they headed outside where the taxis were waiting. “Okay, 
there are ten people and three taxis, so I’ve split us in one group of four 
and two groups of three. Clarissa, Yume, Liza, and I will take the first 
car, Sergei, Dmitri, and Mikhail can have the second, and Jason, Sebastien, 
and Dominique will follow in the last. Any objections? Questions?”

	“Yeah, isn’t Zoe coming?” Jason asked. “Shouldn’t we wait for her?”

	“She and Becca couldn’t get permission from their parents, so it’s 
just us.

	“Oh.” The disappointment was evident on his face.

	“Okay, if that’s all, then let’s roll!”

	Breaking into the assigned groups, they all piled into their 
respective taxis. Since the backseat only held three people comfortably, 
Elizaveta offered to ride shotgun in the front with the cabbie, while the 
other three took the back, Clarissa in the middle. 

	“Did you guys see the look on Jason’s face when he heard Zoe wasn’t 
coming?” Clarissa asked, sighing as the taxi pulled away from the dormitory. 
“I might as well give up. He’s never going to notice me the way I want to be 
noticed.” 

	“You can’t give up that easily, chica,” Pilar insisted. “Tonight’s 
going to be your night; I just know it. I feel it in my bones. It’s your 
birthday, after all, and I must say that you are looking muy caliente in 
that dress. If he can’t see that, then the boy’s an idiot.”

	“You do look very cute tonight, Clarissa,” Yume chorused.

	Clarissa wore a plum-colored dress that played up her fair skin and 
titian hair, which she had piled on the top of her head, a few loose 
ringlets framing her face. “Really?” she asked, nervously playing with one 
of the silver bangle bracelets she wore on her wrist. “You guys really think 
Jason will finally notice me tonight?”

	“Just be yourself, and everything will be fine,” Pilar assured her 
before turning her attention to Yume. “What about you?”

	“What about me?”

	A positively devilish smile played on Pilar’s crimson lips. “I saw 
you and Mikhail talking in the lobby right before we arrived. You two looked 
rather friendly.”

	Yume looked down at her hands, hoping none of the girls could notice 
that her cheeks were burning in the darkness. “So?” she said. “Misha’s my 
partner, and he was the only one there when I arrived.”

	“Misha?” She arched an eyebrow. “When did you start calling him 
that?”

	“Um, a few days ago, I guess. He told me I could.”

	“Really?”

	“It’s no big deal,” Yume said, wishing she hadn’t used his private 
nickname in front of Pilar. It was just like her to blow things out of 
proportion.

	“Well, whatever you say, I still think there‘s something going on 
between you two…”

	“You’re imagining things, Pilar.”

	“Whatever.” With a roll of her eyes, Pilar turned to look outside 
her window. “Oh, there it is! Cabbie, pull over here.”

	Following Pilar’s order, the taxi pulled up in front of a small 
brick building, the word “Paradise” flashing in neon blue above the 
entrance. A long line of clubbers had already formed, winding around the 
building, but instead of leading them to the back of the line, Pilar walked 
right up to the large bouncer standing at the door as if she was an A-list 
movie star.

	“You Miguel Reyes?”

	“Who’s asking?” the bouncer asked, peering at her from over the rims 
of his dark sunglasses.

	“Pilar Santos,” she replied. “I’m Mercedes’ sister, and these are my 
friends.”

	“So, you’re Mercy’s little sis?” Miguel gave Pilar a somewhat 
lecherous once-over and nodded. “Yeah, I can see the family resemblance.”  

	“Mercy tells me you owe her a favor. Think you can let us in?”

	“Anybody under eighteen?”

	“No.”

	Miguel looked Pilar straight in the eye, as if trying determine if 
she was lying or not, then lifted up the red velvet rope blocking the 
entrance. “Welcome to Paradise,” he said, letting them through.

	“Gracias, Miguel. I’ll put in a good word with Mercy,” she promised, 
flashing him a flirtatious smile as their group headed inside.

	“Pilar, that was amazing!” Clarissa exclaimed, although Pilar waved 
off the compliment.

	“Oh, that? That was nothing.”

	“Who was he?” Elizaveta wanted to know.

	“A guy with a hopeless crush on my sister. Speaking of whom…” Pilar 
started waving to a pretty Hispanic woman working behind the bar. “Mercy!”

	The woman waved back, beckoning them over.

	The boys and Dominique decided to snag some empty tables, so Yume, 
Pilar, Elizaveta, and Clarissa headed to the bar.

	“Pilar, you made it!” the woman said as Pilar and Clarissa took the 
last two empty stools. “Miguel didn’t give you any trouble, did he?”

	“Not at all. He has it for you bad, you know.”

	Mercedes sighed. “I know. I feel kind of bad taking advantage of him 
like that, but he did owe me for taking care of that evil cat of his last 
weekend. My arms are covered in scratches,” she complained, showing some of 
them off. “So, these are your friends? Who’s the birthday girl?”

	Pilar tilted her head toward Clarissa, who was sitting right beside 
her. “Clarissa Bachman, officially legal as of 10:54 this morning.”

	“Really, Pilar, how do you find out about this stuff?” Clarissa 
asked.

	“I have my ways,” she said cryptically before introducing everybody 
else. “And these two are Yume Naegino and Elizaveta No-Last-Name.	We 
call her Liza, though. Girls, this is my sister, Mercedes.”

	“Nice to meet you,” Elizaveta said.

	“Yes, nice to meet you, Mercedes,” Yume echoed.

	“Feel free to call me Mercy. Everybody else does,” Mercy said with a 
grin before turning her attention back to Clarissa. “So, birthday girl, what 
will you have? First drink is on the house.”   

	“Oh… I guess I’ve always wanted to try a martini.”

	“I’ll make it an appletini. It’s the drink of the moment; you’ll 
love it. Pilar, the usual cosmopolitan for you?”

	“You know me. I’ll never say no to a free cosmo,” Pilar quipped.

	Her sister cocked an eyebrow. “Who said your first drink was free? I 
don‘t believe it is your birthday, little sis.”

	Pilar childishly stuck out her tongue and pulled out a credit card, 
which she slapped down on the counter. “Fine, put it on my tab. In fact, put 
all of our drinks on my tab. Tonight is my treat.”

	“Wow, you must be good friends. Pilar’s usually not so generous,” 
Mercy teased, earning her another look at Pilar’s tongue, which she ignored. 
“What about you two?” she asked instead, referring to Yume and Elizaveta. 
“What‘s your poison?”

	“I’ll just have a club soda.”

	“I’ll have the same as Yume.”

	“And we’ll have a round of tequila shots for the rest of our group,” 
Pilar ordered, waving toward the rest of their party. The others had managed 
to commandeer one of the corner booths, along with an extra table, which 
they had pushed together so that everybody had a seat.

	“Coming right up!”

	After getting their drinks, the girls headed over to join the rest 
of the group. “Tequila shots for everybody!” Pilar announced, setting the 
tray down in the center.

	“Ah, there’s a girl after my own heart,” Sergei said, patting his 
chest. “Too bad she has all the wrong equipment.”

	Pilar rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Scoot over, lover boy.”

	Sergei did as he was told, sliding over so that Pilar could take the 
last seat in the booth. Elizaveta took the empty chair next to Dmitri, while 
Clarissa shyly sat down next Jason. That left Yume with the last available 
chair, directly across from Mikhail, who was sitting in the booth between 
Sergei and Dominique.

	“So, how’s the appletini?” Pilar asked Clarissa once they had all 
gotten situated. 

	“Mmm, delicious,” she said, taking another sip of her drink. Even 
though she had just ordered it a few minutes ago, her glass was almost half
-way empty. “Appletini, where have you been all my life?”

	“Hey, slow down there, chica. You don’t want to get bombed so early 
in the night, do you?” Taking the appletini out of her hand, Pilar replaced 
it with one of the tequila shots. “Here, try this. In fact, everybody take 
one. Don’t be shy, now. You, too, Yume and Liza.”

	“But we’re not legal,” Yume protested when Pilar slid one of the 
tiny shot glasses in front of her.

	“One shot isn’t going to kill you. Besides, I want to propose a 
toast.”

	“A toast with tequila?” the very French Dominique asked 
disdainfully. “Isn’t it traditional to toast with champagne?”

	“To-may-to, to-mah-to. Everybody got a shot?”

	Everybody held up their glasses, even a reluctant Yume.

	“Then I would like to propose a toast to the birthday girl herself, 
Clarissa Bachman,” Pilar said, standing up and raising her shot glass. 
“Clarissa, congratulations on surviving twenty-one years of this thing we 
call life. You’re the best, chica! Salud!”

	Everybody clicked their shot glasses together.   

	“Cheers!” 

	“Budem zdorovy!” 

	“À votre santé!”

	“Budmo!”

	“Na zdrowie!”

	“À votre santé.” 

	“Budem zdorovy!”

	“Kampai!”



DISCLAIMER: Kaleido Star doesn't belong to me.

AUTHOR’S NOTES: At the end, everybody is basically saying, “Cheers/To your 
health!” in their mother tongues. The order, starting with Pilar’s “Salud!” 
is: Spanish, English, Russian, French, Ukrainian, Polish, French, Russian, 
and Japanese.