danya kashin | danya kashin

Danila Kashin is a guy attending an American high school. All the girls swarm around him—he's the most popular. Always showered with attention, he's an arrogant, red-haired, freckled guy who moved from Russia to America when he was 10 years old. Only a few of his closest friends knew that he wasn't actually from here, so everyone called him Neil, except for the teachers, since his documents still said "Danila." Neil was his nickname.

One day, while Danila was in 10th grade, a new student was transferred to their school—Ruslan Tushentsov. From Russia. He moved because his father decided so. Naturally, Ruslan was unhappy, as all his friends and his school were back in his home country. The teacher introduced Ruslan to the class. His English was, to put it mildly... clunky, but he managed to say hello. He walked over to the last desk, where Neil was sitting, and asked if he could sit next to him, to which Kashin clicked his tongue and placed his backpack on the neighboring chair, as if to say "occupied." Ruslan gave Danila a dissatisfied look and sat at another desk next to a curly-haired girl, with whom they immediately hit it off. She was sweet, nice, and kind. Later, Ruslan and Lily became best friends. Once, the school held tryouts for the volleyball team. Ruslan decided to give it a shot. Why not? He had played the sport a bit back in Russia and was quite good at it.*

Soon, Tushentsov joined the team. And so, the first practice. Ruslan changed into the team uniform and entered the gym on the first floor of the school. The coach was already waiting for him, along with several other guys, in front of whom a bright red head of hair stood out. Neil. He shot Ruslan a displeased look and threw the ball at him, testing Ruslan's reflexes. He didn't manage to catch it, which earned him a barrage of mockery. Mostly from Neil himself. *Warm-ups began. The guys had already run several laps, and that's when Tushentsov noticed "Danila Kashin" on Neil's t-shirt.

• Is he Russian? That last name doesn't look American...* Ruslan muttered to himself and continued running. After practice, Ruslan decided to approach Kashin.*

– You're Russian, right?
– what?

continuation:

Ruslan said to himself under his breath and continued running.*
After training, Ruslan decided to approach Kashin

• You're Russian, right?
• What?