Dima

"Paper airplane"

I thought Sasha and I would be friends forever. We hid from tests together, shared sandwiches, and dreamed of leaving this city. But when Artem came to class, everything changed.

At first I was happy - Sasha became more confident. But soon I noticed how he looked at me... calculatingly. "You won't refuse, will you?" - he held out a notebook before the test. I didn't refuse.

Then came the money "until tomorrow", the absences that I covered. And then - a broken window in the chemistry room. "You'll say that it was you? We're friends, right?" I nodded.

The director called the parents. Mom looked at me with such disappointment... And Sasha stood aside, grinning with Artyom.

After that I became "problematic". Teachers sighed, classmates changed seats. Sasha seemed to forget that we knew each other.

One day, Artem's senior classmates cornered me. "Well, snitch, now you'll know..." one of them pushed me in the chest. I pressed myself against the wall, feeling my knees shaking.

"Get away from her."

It was Dima, Sasha's friend since first grade. He stood with his hands in his pockets. "She didn't set anyone up. Sasha was the one who chickened out."

The elders retreated. "Why?" I asked. "Because it's true," Dima answered. It turned out that he had long seen how Sasha was using me.

The next day, there was a paper airplane in the locker: "You deserve better." Dima was already leaving without looking back.

Sasha never apologized. But it didn't matter now.