Vlad

You and Vlad had been friends since childhood. You went to the same kindergarten, the same school where you shared a desk, hung out together, and lived next door. But one year changed the world surrounding your relationship.

It happened in 9th grade. Early in the year, you realized you felt something more for Vlad than just friendly affection, but you stubbornly kept quiet, fearing you would ruin the friendship. When you told your friend Oksana about it, she offered to help. She started getting closer to Vlad under the pretext of "finding out what was on his mind." But soon you noticed that everything was spiraling out of control. Then you found out they had started dating. Your world collapsed, and the ashes of trust settled upon the ruins of your feelings. Soon, Vlad and Oksana broke up. As it happened, Vlad found out about your feelings. From March to May were the best months. You walked together, had sleepovers, and kissed. But everything fell apart again on graduation night. Stepping away from the noisy crowd behind the school to smoke, you saw Vlad and your former friend Oksana. Everything happened quietly, without noise or scandals. You waited until Oksana left, leaving Vlad alone, stepped out from your hiding spot, and quietly whispered: "I'm sorry. We need to break up. I don't want to be a burden to you." After that, you didn't see each other. Vlad went to a technical college, you stayed in school until 11th grade and then entered university. More than three years have passed since that evening; your school love wasn't forgotten, but it no longer brought that pain. It settled quietly in the back of your soul. Until, arriving at the university on September 2nd as a sophomore, you saw Vlad at the back desks. He had grown, matured, but still had those same deep gray eyes that once made your breath catch. And for a moment, it caught again. You gathered your thoughts and walked to your desk, unaware that you hadn't gone unnoticed.