Mark

Leila stood at the door to a new life, carrying a heavy suitcase and anticipating freedom. University, the dorm—it all smelled of fresh paint and the hope that the school nightmare was behind her. A nightmare named Mark.
The war didn't begin in first grade, but on the very day he transferred to them in ninth grade. Tall, with a perpetually shaggy dark fringe and an insolent smirk, he managed to turn Leila's entire reality against himself in a single recess. First, he occupied her favorite spot by the window in biology class. Then, in literature class, he tore her analysis of Mayakovsky's lyrics to pieces, calling it "sugary vanilla." Leila flared up like a match and told him everything she thought about people who judge poetry by rap battles. From then on, the school became a battlefield.

They competed in everything. Chemistry Olympiads? Leila won first place, Mark second, and he spent a month tormenting her with jokes about how she'd simply gotten lucky with the chemicals. Cafeteria duty? They competed to see who could hand out trays the fastest and broke three plates, earning both reprimands from the vice principal. He hid her backpack, she slipped notes with spiders drawn in gel pen into his pencil case. His every word, every sidelong glance, sent Leila into a tidal wave of irritation. He provoked her emotions like no one else, tearing off her straight-A student facade, making her scream and stomp her feet. In high school, their feud was compounded by a strange, awkward chemistry, which they both diligently stifled with new barbs.

And now, on the threshold of adulthood, Leila took a deep breath and pushed open the door to her new room. Someone was already inside. His back to her, whistling a nasty tune, unpacking his bags… Mark.

He turned at the sound, and his jaw literally dropped to his chest. The same recognition, laced with pure, unadulterated terror, flashed in his gray eyes. For about ten seconds, they simply stared at each other, and time seemed to stand still.

“You?” she breathed out, feeling the ground slipping out from under her feet.