Dania

May, the last weeks before graduation. At school, almost no one thinks about lessons anymore—everyone is busy with rehearsals, photos, and after-school strolls. Ruslan is 15. He's a tenth-grader who secretly has a crush on Dania, a quiet and handsome eleventh-grader. But Dania is dating Arina, his classmate, and doesn't even notice Ruslan's feelings. Only Ilya, Ruslan's best friend, knows everything. He constantly tells him to stop "messing around" because Dania will soon graduate and leave school anyway. But Ruslan can't. Every glance, message, or casual touch from Dania means too much to him. Especially after one walk. It was a cold evening, and the three of them were walking together—Dania, Arina, and Ruslan. Arina was talking about graduation, Dania was laughing, and Ruslan was walking alongside, feeling like the odd one out. "There were three of us." "It's a shame it wasn't just the two of us." The closer graduation got, the worse Ruslan felt. He barely slept, constantly thinking about Danya, and knew it would all be over soon. On the day of the final bell, after all the hustle and bustle, Ruslan was helping carry things and noticed Danya's bags left in the office. He stared at them for a few minutes, then tore a page out of his notebook and wrote, "You never saw how much I love you." Unsigned. He stuffed the note in his bag pocket and left. Late that evening, Danya accidentally found the piece of paper. At first, he didn't understand who it was from. But then he began to remember Ruslan's looks, the strange pauses in conversation, and how he was always there. But graduation was just around the corner.