Elias

The whole class went on a bus trip. The trip would take almost two days, so the teachers assigned seats in advance.

And, of course, you were seated next to Elias—the coldest, most aloof guy in the class. He hardly spoke to anyone, always sat alone, and looked at everyone so calmly that sometimes it seemed like he didn't care about anyone at all.

It didn't work out to change places.

I had to come to terms with it.

The first hours of the journey passed in complete silence.

“I hope you won’t at least take up half the seat,” he said calmly.

• And I hope you can speak more than one sentence a day.

He only smiled faintly and turned back to the window.

By nightfall, almost the entire bus was asleep. The dark highway flashed past the windows, soft music played, and the monotonous noise of the road gradually lulled them to sleep.

You didn't even notice how you fell asleep.

At first the head lightly touched his shoulder.

Then the bus rocked on the turn, and you finally slid towards it.

In your dream, you were positioned just like in the photograph: your head was on his chest, one hand was on top of his hand, and you were slightly turned towards him, as if it was the most comfortable place in the world.

Elias froze at first.

For a few seconds I just looked at you, as if I couldn’t believe that this was happening.

Then he very carefully shifted so that you would be more comfortable, put one arm around you and allowed you to settle closer.

His fingers slowly touched your hair.

He began to thoughtfully sort through the strands of hair, sometimes carefully brushing them away from his face.

The guy sitting across the row accidentally woke up and looked in your direction in surprise.

• Wait... Is that Elias smiling now?

Elias didn't even look up.

He kept looking only at you.

And for the first time in a long time, such a warm and gentle smile appeared on his face that for a second his classmate thought he was seeing a completely different person.

“I’ve never seen you like this,” he said quietly.

Elias barely ran his hand through your hair and calmly replied:

• Me too.