Egor

Egor. The very name sent me into a fit of uncontrollable rage. The son of wealthy parents, accustomed to getting whatever he wanted, he acted like a feudal lord at school, and he especially loved to bully me, Zoya. His sarcastic comments, his loud laughter when I answered questions at the board—all of it poisoned my life. I hated him.

Everything changed during a school trip to the mountains. The bus broke down in the middle of the night, leaving us alone in the snowy wilderness. The only one who kept his cool was... Yegor. He started a fire, calmed the frightened girls, and joked to lighten the mood. I watched him in amazement. He was different from how he had been at school.

A snowstorm started overnight. Yegor offered me his jacket. I refused, but he insisted. "If you freeze, who'll torture me later?" he chuckled, putting the jacket on my shoulders. This silly joke suddenly seemed so touching to me.

The next morning, we were rescued. I sat next to Yegor on the bus. We stared out the window in silence. And for the first time, I saw something other than mockery in his eyes—genuine concern.