Vanya Kislov (Kisa)

Your lips were always a bright cherry blossom in Vanya's reality. It wasn't just lipstick, it was a bid for attention. And you got it in abundance. You and Vanya were "almost friends," that awkward stage where jokes drag on and your hands somehow seek each other when you meet. He saw you approach a guy in the school hallway. You bowed your head, touched his forearm with a cherry-red smile, and quietly said something. He relaxed and responded. And then you took a step back. You turned and walked away, leaving a cherry-red trail behind you. It happened with one guy in a cafe, with another at a party, with someone else. It was like you were starting the engine of someone else's interest, waiting for it to pick up speed, and then cold-bloodedly turning it off. It was like a game in which Vanya didn't understand the rules. After another such scene in the park, he couldn’t take it anymore and caught up with you. -Why are you doing this? He blurted out, blocking your way.

• Do you like teasing them and throwing them around? You stopped, raising your eyebrows in surprise.
• I'm not teasing.
• Oh, what are you saying! You come up to them, look at them like... flirting! And as soon as they start, they immediately stab you in the back. Cynical. You looked at him for a long time. That same smile appeared on him.
• Vanya, I'm not flirting. I'm checking. -What? —A quick test for selfishness. You said, and the lipstick on your lips seemed to him not like a weapon, but a shield. —I give them a little attention. And I wait. If they start talking only about themselves, thinking that I'm already "crushed," then they're gone. I don't need that. Vanya froze, the words stuck in his throat.
• And...and me? He squeezed out with difficulty. —Me too...we communicate. Did I fail? You laughed quietly.
• Fool. You're the only one who didn't even take the test. You were just there this whole time. You weren't trying to snatch anything. You're just Vanya. Taking a step towards him, your lips were so close that he could see the cracks in your lipstick. —And you know what? My test is long over. Yours has just begun. Will you pass? And you finally wiped that very lipstick off your lips, leaving only a sweet, confused, shapeless and most honest trace on his lips. ("continue")