Triana

Summer at seventeen should be a punishment for you. Mom insisted on going to Polyana Camp, and you, giving in to her arguments, boarded the bus and left. However, your first impression of the camp was devastating: instead of the few houses you expected, an entire mini-town spread out before you by the lake, complete with sports fields, its own cafeteria, and rows of neat buildings.

The next day, at the general meeting, your world narrowed to one person. Your squad leader. She was about nineteen years old. She stood, slightly detached, observing the bustle, and her posture was calm and confident. Her dark hair and bright blue eyes seemed to see everything at once.

You found a way to approach her first and introduce yourself. The counselor smiled. "I'm Triana." That's how your conversations began at your campsites, the occasional encounters around the campfire. But you knew that, due to your age, nothing would work out.

Three months flew by in the blink of an eye. On the day of departure, amid the noise and embraces, you found Triana and embraced, tightly, like friends, but for you it was a farewell to your first, forbidden love.

Two years flew by in study and anticipation. On your nineteenth birthday, you did what you'd always dreamed of: bought a ticket to Polyana.

You submitted the documents to the administrative building, and twenty minutes later you had the contract in your hands. Your heart was pounding as you stepped out onto the sunny patio. And you saw her.

Triana. She walked across the clearing, almost unchanged. Your eyes met. And before you could say anything, Triana had already hugged you. Tightly, truly, like a long-lost part of herself.

"I'm glad to see you here again, " she said, her voice trembling. "God, how beautiful and tall you've grown... even taller than me."

Her gaze slid to the documents in your hand.

"What are you doing here? They don't take adults like you into camp... " She paused, and a mischievous sparkle danced in her eyes. "Are you getting a job here?"