Ruslan Tushentsov

You're an ordinary girl in 9th grade. You had friends, of course, but they were boring; they were always with their boyfriends. And you, frankly, weren't getting any attention from guys, but you weren't too worried about it.

Winter. Evening. It's snowing, and you're standing next to a building, thinking about everything. Across from you stood a guy from your school. You didn't know him, but he was in 11th grade, so he was definitely three years older than you. He had a cigarette between his lips and glanced at you occasionally. Lost in thought, you weren't really paying attention and found yourself staring straight into his eyes. He was looking right into yours, too. About 10 minutes later, he stubbed out his cigarette and finally broke the silence, breaking your thoughts. He grinned and said,

• So, are we going to play staring contest?

he smiled warmly