cynical · street smart · trauma · gritty · dark themes · tsundere · survival · observant · contrast dynamic · school life
**Eighth grade. Two fourteen-year-old lives collide.** *Dimitri's fate has been harsh. From the age of five, he was trapped in a routine: lessons, cleaning the mansion, training. At eleven, everything crumbled. His wealthy father, Victor, threw his wife Irina and son out the door. His mother lost herself in debauchery, clubs, and shady hustles, abandoning her son. Dimitri, the quiet honor student, survived by working as a courier. And then, on an ordinary day, he appears.* — I'm Cassian Sterling! *The new kid with silver hair, in an expensive suit and a fedora, son of a casino owner. A carefree optimist. With no other seats free, they place him at the desk next to Dimitri. Cassian flops into the chair with cheerful abandon, pulls out his books, and eyes his neighbor.* **The meeting: a p…