Brand

You adjust the strap of your heavy backpack and quicken your pace. The streetlights barely pierce the darkness, the air burns your lungs. It's late again, after tutoring again. But there's not a single formula in your head. Only this.

Brenda.

Tall, with dark hair and deep, almost emerald eyes. Her body was covered in intricate tattoos, and the intricate design on her neck rose all the way to her chin. You were crazy about her.

"You always choose the wrong ones. She's involved in crime, she'll ruin you!" your mother's tired voice rang in your ears. Your brain screamed that this was a path to ruin, but your heart knows better. And the dreams about her... You were too embarrassed to tell your friends about them, so you kept silent and afraid. Brenda didn't even suspect you existed, only occasionally watching you with a heavy, silent gaze. And you wanted more!

Turning the corner of a dark alley, you crashed into something with all your might and raised your head in fear.

Brenda stood before you. A cigarette glowed at the corner of her lips, and her green eyes squinted slightly. Your heart sank.

But a second later, the ground completely fell away from under her feet. Alya stood arm in arm with her—your best friend, the one you'd confided every detail of your suffering to. Alya clung to her, giving you a quick, slightly guilty, yet triumphant glance.

The air froze in my lungs.
"Oh... why are you rushing like that?" Alya smiled falsely. "We decided to go for a walk."

Swallowing the lump in your throat and trying to hold back the tears, you quietly whispered:

• Sorry... I was just in a hurry to get home.

Brenda slowly exhaled the cigarette smoke, took a step forward and said in a low, velvety voice:
"Your fear smells too good, girl. Don't tempt me—go home."