Elizabeth Lennox

The Russian's Runaway Bride Introduction

Enjoy these short introduction stories about the main characters in The Russian’s Runaway Bride! The book is out today, November 20th!

The Russian's Runaway Bride small

Livia’s story….

“Okay, that’s finished,” Donala said and slapped the textbook closed. “What else?”

Ten year old Livia looked at her day-planner, wishing there might be additional homework. But they’d finished all of it. “Um…why don’t we study for our spelling test?” she offered.

Donala laughed. “No way. That spelling test isn’t until next week and we worked on the vocabulary yesterday.” She pushed her books away and kicked her feet up on the coffee table because her mother wasn’t around to admonish her. “What do you think of Jerry Martin?”

Livia cringed. “Jerry Martin is kind of a dork.”

Donala laughed. “He likes you.”

“No he doesn’t,” Liva replied without any interest at all, not wanting any boy to like her. “Besides, we’re too young to date.”

Livia watched with fascination as Donala looked around, making sure that none of her other brothers or sisters were around. “I kissed someone!” she whispered in an excited gush.

Livia’s eyes widened. She had already determined that there was absolutely no way she was going to get married, or even date, but she was still fascinated. “What was it like?”

“Mom!” a younger voice called out from behind the sofa where they’d been working. “Donala kissed a boy! I think she needs to be grounded for the next two weeks to keep her safe.”

Livia watched with growing delight as one of Donala’s older brothers walked through the room. Donala, the youngest of twelve, was tougher than she looked and, in moments, she had jumped on her brother’s back, trying to cover his mouth with her hand.

With a sigh of happiness, Livia scooted quickly out of the way and laughed when another brother walked in and started tickling her friend.

Donala’s house was always messy, noisy, and filled with laughter but no secrets. It was a large house, but with fourteen people living under one roof, it was impossible to truly be alone.

Livia watched all of it with a longing expression on her features, her green eyes loving all the activity and the noise, the love and laughter. It was the complete opposite of her house. Nothing made noise. There were no pets to bark and jump up onto anyone, Livia never brought friends to the house, and her mother silently made dinner, ensuring that it was warm by the time Livia’s father walked through the door at whatever time he decided to finally come home.

And boys? Oh no! Dating? Not happening. Livia knew better. She understood the consequences and she was more than willing to just live her life alone.

Besides, what was the point of boys anyway? They were smelly, gross and disgusting. A few moments later, Donala ran back into the living room where they’d been doing their homework. “Come on,” she gasped, out of breath after her battle.

More than willing to play along, Livia jumped up and followed her friend. “Where are we going?”

Donala laughed. “Anywhere my mom can’t find us!” she said with a girlish giggle.

Livia smiled and followed along, eager to find a place where a member of her family couldn’t find them. Did such a place exist?

Several hours later, Livia walked home in the dark. She was too young to know about the dangers of walking along the street after dark and too unconcerned anyway. Her mind was flitting through the afternoon and evening. Jerry, huh? He liked her?

He was a nice enough guy, but she wasn’t really interested in him. It occurred to her that she wasn’t really interested in any of the boys in her class. She’d pretty much like to avoid the male species completely, she thought. But when she got to be an adult, she was going to have a girl cat, a girl dog and maybe even a girl bird. No males!

 

Stefan’s story…

The explosion was a surprise!

Thankfully, at the last moment, Stefan had donned safety gear so the glasses had saved his eyes. The fizzling was his first indication that his hair hadn’t survived quite as well. Looking upwards, he realized that the tips of his hair were sizzling. With a pat of the fire blanket, he easily put the ends of his hair out.

But his main focus was figuring out what had gone wrong. Or, he thought with a smile, what had gone right.

There was a commotion behind him and he turned around to find four guys piling through the doorway. Malik, Grayson, Harrison and Damon were staring at him, all with their mouths hanging open.

“What?” he asked.

It wasn’t until the little blond haired girl pushed through the long legs of the boys that someone spoke. “What happened to your face?” Scarlett demanded.

Stefan had no idea what she was talking about, but he walked over to the sink and looked in the mirror. Sure enough, not only had he singed his hair, but it was now standing almost straight up and his face was blackened from the soot caused by the explosion. “Huh,” he commented and pulled a paper towel out of the dispenser.

The group walked into the chemistry lab, all of them eager to hear the news. “Were you able to figure out a way?”

Stefan looked back over at the bubbling liquid on the chemistry table. “I don’t think I figured out how to make the stink bomb more effective, but I might have discovered something else.”

The five of them stood back, not sure they were willing to pull a prank involving his concoction if they were going to look like Stefan after the fact.

Stefan acknowledged their wariness with a chuckle. “Don’t worry. I’ll figure that explosion out. But this was before the explosion. Look at this,” he said and pushed a plastic bottle towards them.

All four leaned forward, almost like a bad comedy, to look into the bottle. And just as unanimously, they pulled back with horrified expressions on their faces. “What is that?” Damon demanded, quickly putting the top back on the plastic bottle.

Stefan laughed, his mind already working on the next phase. “I also read an article about methylene blue,” he explained.

Malik crossed his arms over his lean chest, already perfecting the arrogant stance. “Isn’t that what people use to treat pet fish?” he asked.

Stefan smiled. “Remember David and Jeremy?”

Everyone nodded. David and Jeremy had cheated on their math test last week. Everyone knew it, but the professors couldn’t prove it. So the two boys, who normally earned low grades, had received perfect scores on the normally impossible exam. Stefan was furious because he’d scored a ninety-nine percent on the test. The boys’ cheating efforts had thrown off the one percentage point curve.

“I put some into each of the sodas in Darren’s dorm room.”

“The sodas that David and Jeremy always steal when Darren is out of his room?” Malik clarified? Darren was one of the smaller kids in the elite boarding school. He was a good guy, just small and so the other boys picked on him a lot.

“The one and only. Just one stolen drink and their pee will turn bright blue.”

Harrison laughed, slapping Stefan on the shoulder. “So you’re going to prove that the two thugs are stealing Darren’s sodas while getting back at them for cheating on the test. Brilliant!” he chuckled.

Stefan nodded. “I thought it was appropriate.”

Scarlett’s nose crinkled up. “Blue pee? Did you tell Darren so he doesn’t drink the sodas?”

Stefan looked down at the blond girl as if she were nuts. “Of course I did.”

The four of them all sighed with relief. Then Scarlett’s eyes widened. “Will their…” she couldn’t say the word. She turned and looked up at Grayson, then at the others. In a whisper, she asked, “Will their things…” she paused for effect, “turn blue too?”

Grayson scowled, thinking she shouldn’t have even thought of something like that. But the question stopped him. Five sets of eyes widened, then turned to Stefan for the answer.

Stefan was stumped. “I don’t think so.” He considered the idea for a moment. “The effect of the blue pee is only temporary and, in low doses, has no effect on the human body. But as for it turning their,” he stopped and looked down at Scarlett’s huge, curious eyes, changing his words so they were appropriate for smaller girl ears to hear, “parts…blue?” He shrugged. “They’re bullies. I don’t care.”

And he bent back over, wanting to figure out why the chemicals exploded and why the explosion was “contained”. “We still need to get back at Monty for the way he spoke to Headmaster Charles last week. Anyone have any ideas?”

He didn’t look up but if he had, he would have seen four boys looking a bit pale. And each of them seemed to be covering his groin area with his hands. Scarlett spoke the words that all of them were thinking. “You’re a scary man, Stefan.”

His faintly evil grin did nothing to diminish their impression.

Scroll to Top