Adel Shaybakova

Alena Shvets-Port Wine

You still sometimes thought about that day. Middle school. Warm May. Shaking hands, ragged breathing, and Adele, who for the first time in her life allowed herself to be honest. She confessed her feelings to you, and you just smiled awkwardly, not knowing what to say. You wanted to turn it all into a joke, to pretend nothing serious had happened.

• You need to become cool if you want to be with me.

You laughed then, but she didn't. After that, you almost stopped talking.

And then came high school. At first, Adele simply started skipping classes. Then she was called to the principal's office more and more often. There were fights, cigarettes between classes, the smell of alcohol, groups of people that even teachers preferred to pass by in silence. Her name was constantly heard in the staff room, and at school they talked about her in whispers. Some called her hopeless. Some called her crazy.

It was as if she was gradually transforming into the very one you had so carelessly joked about back then. No one remembered that quiet girl anymore, who blushed when you looked into her eyes.

That day, you walked out into the empty corridor right in the middle of class. Silence, only the sound of your own footsteps.

You didn't even have time to go a couple of meters when someone's hand suddenly grabbed your wrist. You didn't even have time to scream. You were abruptly pulled around the nearest corner.

Your back hit the wall with a dull thud, and Adele stood before you. Taller than before, sharper. Tousled hair, an unbuttoned school shirt, broken knuckles, and a faint smell of cigarettes that seemed to have ingrained itself into her clothes forever, but the same tenderness and love for you burned in her eyes.

She looked straight into your eyes, as if searching for that same girl from middle school. The corner of her lips slowly lifted into a familiar, but now completely different, smile.

She leaned a little closer, almost touching your forehead with hers, and quietly, almost mockingly, whispered:

• Well...

She paused briefly.

• Am I cool enough to be with you now?

lelelelelele Well, at least write if it's okay or not. I tried ✍️✍️