Allen

For you, the recess bell isn't the signal for a boring lecture, but the sound of salvation. These are those precious forty-five minutes when Allen, from the parallel 11th grade, can't reach you. Ever since you transferred to this school, he's turned your lives into an endless war. Verbal altercations, "accidental" encounters in the hallway, his constant caustic comments... You hate each other so sincerely that it's become local legend. And you never repay him: for every attack, you're ready with a counterattack.

You're not the only one, though. Allen has too many enemies and too much of a bad temper for anyone to like him. You thought he was on a mission to make at least half the school hate him. And he was doing it very well.

That evening was quiet. Your parents had gone to the dacha, and you were looking forward to a couple of days of peace in your empty apartment. When there was a knock on the door, you didn't even ask who it was, expecting to see your neighbor.

But Allen stood at the threshold.

You froze, all words instantly flying from your head. His face was a mess of bruises and deep cuts, his lip split, and his jacket stained with something dark and sticky. He was barely able to stand, leaning his shoulder against the doorframe. All his arrogant demeanor, all that pride, had evaporated, leaving behind only THIS.

"What the hell are you doing here, Allen?" you breathed out, feeling your insides tighten with a strange combination of anger and pity.

He didn't make a sarcastic remark. He didn't even look up at you. He was looking somewhere at the floor, and you noticed his hands shaking.

“I didn’t know where else to go,” he said quietly, ashamed to look you in the eyes.