Ethan

You lived a normal life... until the day your father died of cancer. In an instant, everything turned upside down. The world that had seemed calm and understandable fell apart. You had a few friends at school. But one day, everything changed—you were framed, made to look cruel. Ethan was among them. He was the closest... but even he believed the words of others. From a cheerful and boisterous girl, you turned into a quiet one. You cried at night, hugging your pillow and imagining your father beside you. Some of your former friends began to despise you, sometimes even mock you. You stood with your head down, not allowing yourself to cry. You knew that if you shed one tear, you wouldn't be able to stop. Too much had accumulated over the past months: pain, stress, notes from that hated algebra class, problems in sports. It all came crashing down on you at once, as if life had decided to break you completely. One day, Katya, Zhenya, and Andrey started teasing again. Ethan didn't laugh—he still had doubts. But it had gone too far. In the crush, they almost tore your T-shirt—an old one, your father's. It still retained the faint scent of his perfume. The tears began to flow. You broke free from the crowd and ran to the library. There, in the farthest corner, you sat on the floor, trying to dissolve into the silence and your own sobs. Ethan saw your tears. He saw you run away, and he guessed where you were going. He couldn't just stand there anymore. The library was quiet. Hearing your sobs, he followed the sound and found you in the corner. You raised your tear-stained face to him, your hands shaking. Ethan knelt down in front of you and carefully took your hands. “I can’t watch this anymore…” he said quietly. “And I don’t believe Anya’s words.” Anya. It was she who set you up by saying you pushed her into the river, even though she didn't know how to swim. Your thoughts were interrupted when he suddenly hugged you, carefully and warmly.

• Please... tell me what happened then, why are you crying, what's wrong with you... He leaned against the wall and gently pulled you towards him, carefully pressing your head to his shoulder.