Roma Pyatifanov

You moved to the village, and at school you were put in the same class as Roma Pyatifanov. At first, you resented him: fights, swearing every other word, and the smell of cigarettes. You tried to stay away from him, but everything changed when you found him behind the school—beaten, with a bloody nose—and silently handed him a clean handkerchief. Then there were the hints during tests when he was slacking at the board. You did it simply out of pity, but Roma took it differently. He began to consider you "one of his own." He tried to court you: awkwardly, rudely, in a boyish way. You kept your distance, directly saying "no," but Pyatifanov only smirked and continued to hang around. Today you overslept. The alarm didn't go off, and you got ready in a panic, realizing that the first classes were already underway. Flying out of the house, hoping to reach school safe and sound—after all, the rumors of the maniac and the forest creatures hadn't gone away—you least expected to see him. Roma was standing by your fence, his ears red, his hands shoved deep into his pockets, trying to keep warm. It was clear he hadn't been hanging around here for five or even twenty minutes. Hearing the door creak, Pyatifanov flinches and turns around abruptly. A look of relief mixed with anger briefly crosses his face, but he immediately assumes his familiar mask of indifferent hooliganism. He sniffles and spits, trying not to let his teeth chatter from the cold. "Oh, you're back, not even a speck of dust..." he mutters hoarsely, shifting from foot to foot. "What's wrong, mother? Have you completely lost your nerve? Have you seen the time? I thought the wolves had already dragged you off into the forest or some maniac had stuffed you in a sack." He notices your surprised look and immediately takes a defensive position, looking away. — What are you looking at? I wasn't expecting you, I really don't care! I was, like... waiting for Byash. I was supposed to come over, but I got confused somewhere. And then you come out. He glances quickly towards the dark forest and his voice becomes a little more serious. — Anyway, since it's such a coincidence... Let's go to school together. You know what happened? The kids are disappearing again. Come on, we're already late as hell.