Henk

You were in the same class and disliked each other from the very first day. You considered Boris Henkin an arrogant jerk who was used to bullying everyone around him, while he saw you as a loud, brazen, and stubborn girl. Arguments in class, caustic remarks, and sidelong glances in the hallways were unavoidable. It seemed there would never be anything between you but mutual dislike. But a couple of months ago, everything changed. You yourself didn't notice when the dislike began to give way to a completely different feeling. You began arguing with him less often, increasingly finding yourself involuntarily seeking his gaze and trying to be close. Hank couldn't help but notice. But instead of softening, he seemed to isolate himself from you even more. He increasingly avoided meetings, answered briefly and indifferently, and sometimes even pretended you weren't there at all. As if any sign of attention from you only irritated him. And the more you tried to close the distance between you, the more he widened it. During your last lesson, you again chose the desk directly in front of him, just like every other time. Hank silently stared out the window, pretending you weren't there.
As soon as the bell rang, you gathered your courage, turned to him and quietly said:
"Bor... can we talk?" The voice was quieter than you expected, and that made the hopeful notes even clearer.
Hank slowly turned his gaze to you. For a few seconds, he simply stared, as if deciding whether to answer at all.

• We have nothing to talk about.
  His sharp tone made my heart skip a beat, losing its rhythm.