A group of friends.

Nat isn't the kind of person you should approach with, "Oh, you used to be so sweet!" Because you'll get a look that makes your coffee go cold and a sarcastic, "Sweetheart? You mean that girl who smiled on command? Sorry, I erased her from my biography."

Nat (she insisted on being called that) is sixteen years old and about 5'7". Her pixie cut looks like it was blown into place by the wind rather than by styling. She has bleached hair, blue-gray eyes, and thin-framed glasses. She also has piercings: a nostril and a smiley face, which she calls "little rebellions against boredom."

Things used to be different. From childhood—modeling agencies, contacts, hairstyling. At fourteen, she won Mini Miss City, and that's when the world decided that being pretty was an invitation to bullying. Comments, whispers, memes about her... Nat endured them until the end of the school year. And then she did what she does best: she chose herself. She cut her long dark hair, took out her contacts, stopped being cute. And she doesn't regret it one bit.

Her parents, by the way, aren't the kind to roll their eyes and sigh, "Why do you do this to yourself?" They're more the kind who calmly say, "If it makes you feel more comfortable, then okay." At her new school, Nat didn't settle for sitting quietly in the back row. She quickly gathered a group of equally noisy and chaotic kids around her. There are six of them, and together they're like a mini-hurricane: always up to something, laughing at their own jokes, and wreaking havoc on the school. If an impromptu battle or argument breaks out in the hallway, you know Nat's nearby.

Nat's little weaknesses:

1. Chocolate. Only milk chocolate, only with raisins. She always keeps a bar in her backpack, sometimes two—"in case of stress or a sudden holiday."
2. Fitness tracker. She's not a marathon fan, but she likes the idea of ​​a tracker: "It counts my steps while I'm thinking about something important."
3. Stone rings and bracelet. Two rings (one engraved with "Never say never") and a bracelet. Nat says the stones "aren't magical, but if you really believe in them, they're almost magical."

Seventeen years old, tall, as if he were made to stand in the doorway and block the way—and do it with charisma. Dark hair, dark eyes with a perpetually mischievous twinkle. He and Nat are the unspoken leaders of the group: if they're not on board, there's no party. They're not a couple, but Nat sometimes catches himself staring at him a little too long, then looks away and mutters something sarcastic to hide his embarrassment.

The Prince is always surrounded by a swarm of girls—he's the kind of guy who can make anyone blush with just a glance. But he makes a clear distinction: friends are sacred, and he doesn't drag fleeting crushes into the company. "You're more precious to me than someone for the weekend," he says, somehow managing to sound genuine rather than pompous.

His mother died when he was three, and since then he's been raised by his father and older brother, Yura. Yura is now a prominent businessman, and it was he who gave Lyokha a separate two-room apartment for his fifteenth birthday—as a sign that he's "grown up now, you need your own space." Lyokha lives there, and it's his little fortress: a little sloppy, but cozy, with a ton of little touches that remind him of his childhood and his brother. He's proud of Yura, but sometimes he gets angry that he's overprotective. "I'm not a child!" he yells into the phone, then sighs and listens anyway.

Valentin "Val" Sokolov
The Prince's best friend and the ringleader of the group. Slightly shorter than Lyokha, his dark hair has one bold bleached streak—Nat dyed it for him as an experiment during their "night of bold decisions." Val is always where it's loud, fun, and, preferably, where there's food. He's the kind of guy who can suddenly say, "Let's get some shawarma," in the middle of a serious conversation, and for some reason, everyone agrees.
He knows where the best pizza, burgers, and shawarma are in town. He's not just "that guy who's always hungry"—he's also a peacemaker. He has a knack for defusing tension with a single, funny remark.

Karolina "Caro" Yudina
A gossipmonger. Caro knows everything about everyone, and she does it with such passion that even Nat is shocked. She has a bob that constantly changes color and dark eyes.
Caro forms an irresistible trio with Nat and Val: together, they can talk about anything and everything. Her style is a mix of boldness and flirtatiousness: she loves bright accessories, unusual scarves, and platform shoes that clack loudly through the school hallways, signaling her approach.

Vlad "Adam" Adamenko
Blond-haired, blue-eyed, and perpetually disheveled, as if he'd just gotten out of some adventure, Adam is the kind of guy who's the first to jump into things you shouldn't: abandoned buildings, fights, trouble. It's like he has a built-in danger radar. At heart, he's not a hooligan; he just can't sit still.
He's had to be pulled out of trouble, and he knows it. His signature phrase is, "It's not stupidity, it's experience." And everyone at the company is used to the fact that if Adam says, "I know a shortcut," it's through a fence, a construction site, or private property.

Egor Adamenko
Vlad's twin brother, and they really do look alike. Yegor has a slightly calmer look, and a less brazen smile. He also gets involved in everything Vlad does, but he does so less out of a thirst for adventure than out of a sense of responsibility for his brother.