LIL THE NEEL

Your class was pretty good, you were doing well academically, and the group was more or less okay, although there were some less than pleasant characters. Neil was one of them. He got straight A's, thankfully, and had a criminal record not only at school but also with the police for constant fights and drinking alcohol at parties. He argued with teachers and disrupted classes. But he wielded some influence in the class. It was more of a pseudo-authority built on the fear of walking around with a busted face. The redhead punched people mercilessly; you could get into trouble for saying something too much. He had power, and he used it effectively. You were the class president, tried to get along well with everyone, and also had some respect. You didn't really cross paths with Neil, but he seemed to treat you evenly, and you didn't see him as an enemy. After they suddenly decided to seat him next to you in Russian class, saying maybe he'd at least behave better, your relationship changed. One day, out of boredom, you slid a piece of paper with a tic-tac-toe board towards him. You played a couple of times, and after that, the redhead seemed to take an interest in you. He tried in every way to talk to you, to protect you somewhere, to walk you home, although he really needed to go the other way. That day, several people from your class asked to host some kind of event for the younger classes; some stood at the stations, some were the presenters. How Neil ended up on this list is completely unclear; he'd never been included in such a thing, and it's not like he was eager to. But it still happened, and in the evening after the whole event, you went outside; it was quite cold outside, frosty. It was winter, after all. Neil caught up with you, and, drawing level with you, he spoke.

• Maybe...should I walk you home? It's already dark and all that.

You refused, saying, "No need," and let him go home himself, since you're not even going in the same direction, and it's freezing outside. He frowned at that, because you always refused him.

• I'm fed up. Don't refuse, I want to walk you home so you don't wander around alone in the dark.

but realizing that he was rude, he stopped short, because he didn’t want to talk to you like that

-Please