Welcome to my first fanfic! I really love the Embassy Row series by Ally Carter and thought I would write it in Alexei's POV. I've always wondered what Alexei was thinking and wanted to get inside his head. I've been working on this for a little more than a year and can't wait to share it with all of you! I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Embassy Row series and all the characters (except for Tanner). They belong to Ally Carter. I am merely using her characters and plotline to create this fanfiction. This fanfiction is purely for entertainment purposes and would not exist without Ally Carter's wonderful works.

Chapter One: School's Out for Summer

Fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes until I would hand in my last exam and finally be done with school for the year. All around me, there were students frantically erasing and rewriting, trying their hardest to squeeze out every little half mark.

I looked back down at my exam paper, to check it over one last time before I handed it in. What happens to a system at equilibrium when its temperature is increased? It moves towards the endothermic direction. Why does H2O have a higher boiling point than H2S? H2O can hydrogen bond whereas H2S cannot. What happens to a solution as its pH is increased from four to six? It becomes one hundred times more basic. Confident with my answers for the multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank sections, I moved onto the long answer section. I checked over a couple calculation questions I had been unsure of, quickly redoing them on the provided scratch paper.

Just then, my chemistry teacher, Mr. Rutherford, called time. I stood up to hand in my exam, feeling quite confident that I had done well. After all, chemistry was one of my best subjects. Mr. Rutherford smiled at me and pulled me aside.

"Alexei, I've really admired your hard work all year. You've been a pleasure to teach and I have no doubt that you've done well on that exam," he said.

"Thank you, sir. I've enjoyed your class," I replied, earning another smile from him.

"Have you considered taking AP Chemistry next year?" AP classes were basically the equivalent of taking a first-year university-level class in high school. I had considered taking a few AP classes, hoping it would help me get ahead. Besides, my father had been pushing for me to take AP classes.

"I've thought about it."

"I think you would enjoy the challenge. If you do decide to take AP Chemistry, I'd be more than happy to let you into the class."

"I'll definitely think about it. Thank you for the offer."

"Of course. I wouldn't consider letting you into the class if I thought you weren't capable of handling it. Anyways, have a good summer, Alexei," Mr. Rutherford said.

"You too, sir," I replied. I shook his hand then gave him a friendly smile. I walked out of the exam room and found my friend, Tanner Park, standing outside the door. I had met him in Grade Seven, when his father became the political adviser of the South Korean embassy here in Adria. I became friends with Tanner almost immediately and we were still really good friends today, almost as close as Jamie and I used to be.

"Teacher's pet much?" Tanner asked, shaking his head. We started walking down the hallway, towards our lockers.

"Hey, it's not my fault I'm good at chemistry," I said, with a smirk.

"Show-off," Tanner muttered. "Let me guess, you found that exam easy?"

"Yup," I replied, my smirk turning into a full-out grin.

"You nerd. That exam was so hard," Tanner said, with a groan. "I fail to understand how you're so good at chemistry."

"Natural talent," I said, with a shrug. Tanner simply rolled his eyes at that. We had finally reached our lockers. I didn't have much left in mine, just my gym bag and an extra pair of shoes. Tanner, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky.

"Dude, what on Earth happened inside your locker?" I asked as I peered into Tanner's locker, where it literally looked like something had exploded. There were clothes strewn about as well as tons of stray papers and food wrappers. I could have sworn there was also something moldy growing at the bottom of his locker, judging by the smell that was slowly filling the hallway.

"I would have said alien invasion but they don't exist," Tanner said, chucking a handful of papers into a garbage bag.

"You need a hand there?" I offered. Not that I wanted to get up close and personal with all the junk in his locker but he could easily have been stuck there all day, trying to clean it out.

"Much appreciated, man," Tanner said. I started pulling clothes out of his locker, folding them up, and placing them in a pile on the floor.

"Hey, Alexei." I looked up from the shirt I was folding to see Lila and her friends standing by Tanner's locker.

"Hi, Lila," I said, to be polite.

"How was your chemistry exam?"

"It was pretty straightforward."

"Ugh, lucky you. I had mine yesterday and I thought it was so hard," Lila said, with a sigh.

"You're not the only one," Tanner muttered, his attention still focused on the massive pile of papers at the bottom of his locker.

"Anyways, I'm having this party tomorrow night by the cliffs and I was wondering if you wanted to come?" Lila asked. I knew she had an ulterior motive for talking to me. I had befriended her when her family had first moved here. I found her crying in a hallway at school and talked to her, to make sure she was alright. We became friends and she was actually pretty nice at first. However, that part of her slowly faded away, replaced by someone who was more concerned with looks and popularity. At times, she could still be nice, allowing us to have good conversations, just like we used to. Unfortunately, as time went on, it also became painstakingly obvious that she had a crush on me. I never fully returned her feelings but that didn't stop her from pursuing me, even after our brief fling last summer had ended.

"I'm not interested but thanks for the offer," I replied.

"Actually, what Alexei meant to say was that, yes, he is very interested in coming to your party. Both of us are going to be there for sure," Tanner said, giving me a knowing look. I had to resist the urge to punch him for that. Lila glared at Tanner but that quickly changed into a smile as she focused her attention back on me.

"That sounds great, Alexei. I'll see you tomorrow then?" Lila asked, eyes full of hope.

"Sure," I replied curtly. I had no intentions of going to her party but agreeing to go was the fastest way to end the conversation. I was so going to get back at Tanner for this later.

"Great! Bye, Alexei," Lila said, with a flirty wave. I simply nodded at her in response, not saying a word. She and her friends walked away, the sound of their heels clicking on the hallway floor. Once they were out of earshot, I turned back to the colossal mess in Tanner's locker.

"Really, man?" I asked, giving him a disapproving look.

"What? You need to loosen up, buddy. Get that stick out of your ass and lighten up a bit. It's summer and we're going to have some fun, no matter what you say. Besides, it's about time you got some," Tanner said.

"Why do you have to relate everything to sex?" I muttered.

"Because you'd be way happier if you got a little action now and then."

"Like I've said before, I'm not interested in Lila or any other girls."

"Which is seriously making me question your sexual orientation."

"Rest assured, I'm still straight."

"Good because if you suddenly came out, that would seriously ruin my chances of getting a hot date." Tanner came out as gay last year. At first, I was a bit concerned that he would start seeing me as more than a friend but he assured me that I wasn't his type. Now, I was completely fine with it and was more than happy to act as his wingman, if needed.

After another fifteen minutes, Tanner's locker was more or less cleaned out. There were still some mysterious brown bits at the bottom of his locker that neither of us wanted to touch but other than that, his locker was clean.

"Well, that's a wrap on another school year," Tanner said, as he gathered up his bags.

"It's hard to believe we're finally done," I replied. We walked out of the school and started walking towards the embassies.

"I can taste that freedom already," Tanner said, taking a whiff of the warm, summer air.

"And then two weeks later, you'll be complaining that you're already bored," I deadpanned. Tanner gave me a dirty look but I just shrugged in response. It seemed to happen every summer so I wasn't expecting it to be that much different this year.

As we turned onto Embassy Row, I took a deep breath, relishing in the balmy temperature and the cool, refreshing ocean breeze. Now that I had finally finished my exams, I could focus on summer. I couldn't wait to spend my days hanging around Valancia with my friends, taking in all the summer sights and attractions.

"Xbox Live at nine tonight?" Tanner asked me, before stepping through the gates that enclosed the South Korean embassy.

"You know it," I replied, with a smile.

"You're so going down tonight."

"We'll just have to see about that," I replied, my smile turning into a smirk.

"Talk to you tonight, man," Tanner said, pulling me in for a guy hug. He waved at me as he walked through the gates and into the South Korean embassy. I waved back and walked the rest of the short way to the Russian embassy, my home for the past fourteen years. I was born in Moscow but my family moved to Adria when I was three, after my father became the military advisor then the chief of staff to the Russian ambassador. We visited Moscow pretty often, at least once a year, but I still felt more at home in Adria.

As I passed by the American embassy, I saw Martin standing guard. I had gotten to know him quite well, from all the summers I had spent hanging out with Jamie in the American embassy.

"How was school?" Martin called out. He was always quick to give me a wave and a friendly smile.

"Good, thanks," I replied.

"You must be glad it's summer."

"Absolutely."

"Got any summer plans?"

"Not really, just chilling with my friends."

"That sounds like a perfectly good summer to me. Have a good one, Alexei," Martin called out, before turning back to guard duty. I waved then headed into the Russian embassy. I nodded at the guards as I passed through the gates. They weren't as friendly as the American guards but then again, we Russians were known for being cold and stoic. Tanner had told me that I looked pissed off a lot of the time and needed to work on getting rid of my resting bitch face. His words, not mine.

I walked in through the main entrance of the embassy and walked up the grand, sweeping staircase to my bedroom on the third floor. Once inside, I closed the door and immediately changed out of my school uniform. I put on a worn button-down, rolling the sleeves up, and a pair of dark skinny jeans, glad to get into something more comfortable. I packed up my school stuff, putting all my notes, tests, and essays from the past school year into a box for storage. After that, I settled down at my desk with my laptop and watched some YouTube to pass the time.

Once 7:00 p.m. rolled around, I headed down to the fancy dining room for dinner. The ambassador always liked to have dinner in there, with his most esteemed staff. Given that my father was the ambassador's chief of staff, he ranked quite high in terms of importance and was always invited for dinner with the ambassador. Naturally, that meant I was invited too. I didn't really enjoy having dinner in the fancy dining room because it meant that I had to look semi-decent and be on my best behaviour. It always felt like a formal function, even though it was just dinner. If I was busy with school, I tended not to eat down there and just grabbed leftovers from the kitchen to eat in my room.

"Alexei, I'm glad you were able to join us tonight," the ambassador said, as I walked into the dining room. He was seated at his usual place at the head of the table, with my father sitting next to him.

"Yes, sir, thank you for extending the invitation," I said, trying my best to sound as polite and diplomatic as possible. I settled into the seat next to my father, hoping that dinner would go by quickly so I could head back up to my room as soon as possible.

The appetizers, borscht with rye bread, were brought out. The entrées quickly followed. I couldn't help but notice that it was my favourite, beef stroganoff with sour cream and string potatoes.

"I'd like to toast Alexei for finishing his exams and ending yet another school year on a high note," the ambassador said, holding his glass of water out. I held out my glass of water and clinked everyone's glasses, feeling slightly self-conscious at being the centre of attention. It made me wonder if the kitchen had planned on making my favourite dish tonight so that the ambassador could toast me on finishing a successful school year.

Luckily, everyone started eating shortly after, taking the attention off me. I just ate in silence, trying to blend into the background as much as possible. There was conversation all around me, mostly in Russian but I could pick up a bit of Adrian and English here and there. I heard my father and the ambassador speaking about the annual tree-planting ceremony with the American ambassador tomorrow. Things had been a bit tense between the American and Russian embassies lately so everyone was hoping the tree-planting ceremony would go well, to smooth things over a bit more.

"By the way, have you heard the rumour going around that the American ambassador's granddaughter is coming to Adria?" the ambassador asked my father. That definitely got my attention and I tried my hardest to follow the conversation, without being caught for eavesdropping.

"You mean that crazy girl who used to get in all sorts of trouble by jumping from everything and sustaining various injuries?" my father asked, sounding surprised.

"Yes, her."

"It's been a while since she's been in Adria. The last time she was here was what, three years ago?"

"Yes, before her mother's tragic death. She hasn't been back since."

"Do you know when she is arriving?"

"I'm not sure but I believe she is to be arriving some time this week."

"I hope she'll have grown up and won't cause any more trouble."

"I agree. The last thing we need around here is a wild and crazy teenage girl causing all sorts of international incidents." Their conversation then shifted back to the tree-planting ceremony but I could not stop thinking about what they had just said. Grace Blakely was to be back in Adria? I hadn't seen her or Jamie since shortly after their mother had died. I had kept in touch with Jamie, but not Grace, and to be honest, I kind of wanted to see Grace again. I wondered if she would still be the same reckless, trouble-making girl I had always known or if she would have grown up and changed.

As soon as I finished my dinner, I asked to be excused. My father waved me off, barely uttering a word to me. That didn't surprise me though. My father never liked me much, always focusing on his work instead.

When I got back to my room, I immediately grabbed my phone to text Jamie, to see if Grace really was coming to Adria.

"hey jamie, ive heard that grace is coming 2 adria?" I texted. Jamie replied almost instantly, which was surprising. Usually, he'd been training or in classes at this time.

"yeah her flights tonight and shes arriving tomorrow afternoon" Jamie replied. My heart almost skipped a beat, although I wasn't quite sure why.

"cool. U know how long shes staying 4?"

"indefinitely I think, at least 4 the summer. Btw can u keep an eye on her 4 me while shes there?"

"sure man, whatever u need" Based on what Jamie was saying, there was a good chance I'd get to see Grace soon.

"thx I need someone 2 keep her from killing herself or anyone else especially u"

"why me?"

"idk probably cuz u never let her hang out with us when we were younger" Oh, he was pinning the blame on me for that one? To be honest, I felt like Jamie never wanted Grace around when we used to hang out during the summer. I never minded having Grace around but Jamie just wanted it to be us boys all the time. He probably didn't want to babysit his younger sister.

"but srsly u need 2 make sure grace stays out of trouble. U know how much shit she always got into in adria" Jamie texted.

"ill make sure of that"

"kk thx. Im trusting u with this. dont let me down bro"

"i wont, u can count on me" I replied. I checked the time and noted that it was almost nine. I headed into the bathroom for a quick shower, before my Xbox marathon with Tanner. I supposed it was official now; Grace was coming to Adria. I wasn't sure if she'd want to see me but I knew that I definitely wanted to see her. Regardless of whether she actually wanted to hang out with me or not, I could tell that this was going to be one interesting summer.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Who do you think will make an appearance in the next chapter?