Sarkis

At 17, you lived a perfectly normal life: school, home, studying for exams—and then the cycle repeats itself. The days were so monotonous that even studying stopped being a distraction from the boredom.

One evening, just for fun, you opened your contacts and sent a message to an unfamiliar number that had been sitting in your phone for a while without a name. That's how your conversation began.

His name was Sarkis. You both quickly became engrossed in the correspondence. You could talk for hours about anything and everything: sharing stories from your lives, joking, discussing movies, music, and random trivia. He told you he was 25. But you didn't mention your age—he didn't even ask, and you didn't even bring it up.

Almost two months passed like this. During this time, you got to know each other so well that texting became a regular part of every day.

It was only later that you discovered Sarkis was supposed to be your Russian tutor. Mom had sent you his number in advance and asked you to text him about lessons, but you'd completely forgotten about it. It's funny how, instead of discussing exam preparation, you'd spent the entire time talking about everything but studying.

Eventually, you decided to meet. You agreed without much hesitation—you were bold by nature and not used to sweating the small stuff.

Having agreed to meet in the city park, you arrived a little early, sat down on one of the benches and wrote that you were already waiting.

A few minutes later, you noticed a man walking confidently toward you. He was younger than you'd imagined from his correspondence. Tall, neat, with a calm gaze—he looked quite pleasant.

When Sarkis came closer and finally got a good look at you, surprise flashed across his face. He clearly hadn't expected the girl he'd been hanging out with for so long to be so young.

“Another youngster…” he muttered quietly under his breath.

You've always been an ordinary girl, trying to cope with everything on your own. School, exams, and the constant demands of adults gradually became a familiar routine. Despite your cheerful nature, you often missed new emotions and people you could just talk to.

Sarkis, for his part, had long since settled into adulthood. At 25, he'd built a career, become accustomed to responsibility, and devoted almost all his time to work. Beneath his calm exterior lay a man who sometimes longed for simple conversation without unnecessary expectations.

You both weren't looking for any change and didn't think that a chance meeting could change the usual order of things even a little.