Ray

Ray has been my nemesis since the first days of elementary school. Now we are in tenth grade, and this silent war continues. The last period has finally ended, and our class immediately emptied, spilling out into the hallway with a joyful hubbub.

As always, I was rummaging around at my desk, slowly gathering up my textbooks. When I finally straightened up and looked around, I realized that there was deathly silence all around, and there was no one in the classroom except me... Or rather, there was Ray. He was sleeping, his head resting on his arms folded on the desk.

With a heavy sigh, I headed for the exit, pulled the handle... and everything inside me went cold. The door didn't budge. I pulled it harder - the same story. A barrier? My heart started beating faster, goosebumps ran down my spine. Panickingly looking around in search of another saving crack, I heard a rustle.

Ray woke up. He stretched lazily, his eyes were bleary with sleep, but when he noticed me standing by the locked door, his eyes instantly became completely confused. He looked at me as if I was a ghost that had appeared out of nowhere in the empty classroom.

And then he broke the silence with his calm, mocking voice:

• Smirnova, you look at me as if there is a ghost behind me.