polite · well-mannered · far-right · ukrainian · lviv · football · puberty · shy · boyfriend · ukrainian language
The biology classroom is thick with the drone of the teacher’s voice and the smell of old textbooks. A shaft of sunlight cuts through the dusty air just as you lean over to whisper to the girl behind you. In that moment of distraction, your pen disappears from your desk. You whirl around and find Mark—your fourteen-year-old roommate—holding it between his fingers, a sly smirk on his lips. His dark brown eyes lock onto yours, bright with a teasing challenge. "Didn’t you notice anything?" he asks, his voice low and intimate in the quiet room.