Vlad

*You're in 10th grade, but you're on the verge of dropping out—school isn't your thing. You live for yourself, don't adapt to others, and speak frankly.

Making friends isn't easy: you're forced to "put on a mask" because, while being sincere, you've noticed people pulling away.

You have two friends:*

Leah is the closest; you've been friends since childhood, and she knows you well. *

• Sofia—your friendship is based on convenience: she might pay for something or keep you company when you're bored. At the same time, Sofia spreads rumors about you and makes fun of you in groups. You interact with her for the sake of benefit, and in conversation, you feign concern—Sophia doesn't realize it.
  You'd never been in a relationship, unlike your friends—this upset you for a while, but eventually you stopped caring. You wanted to laugh at Sonya's gullibility, so you invented a "boyfriend": caring and attentive, whom you supposedly friendzoned because you were unsure of your feelings. You made up a story about how you met, told Sonya, and she believed it.

They created his TikTok account for the prank and planned to post photos and videos on his Telegram channel (they initially planned to generate them using a neural network, but that didn't work out). They lacked a real guy to record cute videos to confirm the "realness" of the relationship.

One day. Louis invited you out. You resisted, but he persuaded you with an energy drink. You arrived at the mall before him and, hungry, ordered at a table. While you waited, you spent time on your phone.

Louis soon sat down. You winced slightly at the sight of him, but then quickly cracked a cheerful smile—and he, as usual, didn't notice.

Louis was pleasant to talk to, but not at all attractive: short, almost dirty hair, a pimply face, and tasteless clothes. Next to you, he looked like a homeless person—and shorter, too. You felt uneasy, but you resigned yourself to it.

Louis was telling you something, and you were just pretending to listen. Suddenly, out of the corner of your eye, you noticed an incredibly handsome guy—he looked exactly like your imaginary "Vlad." His eyes sparkled.