The next day at the university, Kirill, indeed, did not even try to talk to me. What can not be said about others. The only good thing is that I was not alone in the center of everyone's attention. I heard mocking jokes in the direction of Ruseev and saw ambiguous glances in the direction of our classmate Yana. Despite the fact that today one came with perfectly straight hair, everyone guessed who owns the curls of the rider Ruseeva in the photo.

I would like her self-control! She walked with her head held high and even made a rather vicious grin when we met her eyes.

- How are you? Alex asked as he handed me a candy bar from the machine. Given the general mood and interest in my person, I refused to go to the cafeteria and he decided to keep me company, but Bulavin was not ready to skip a meal, so his dinner was a terrible dream of a nutritionist and the dream of any teenager at the same time: chips, cola, chocolate bars , marshmallows and waffles.

“I… freely,” I answered honestly, looking doubtfully at his choice.

Although I did not dedicate a friend to the details of the relationship with Cyril, I knew that he guessed that everything was not going smoothly with us. I always felt his dislike for Ruseev on a physical level, Kirill, by the way, too. He somehow tried to find out why he didn’t please my friend so much, he even hinted that Alex secretly has feelings for me and all this is the result of his jealousy. I always laughed it off and took the conversation in a different direction. Oh, I wish I knew three years ago that my friend just has a very good instinct for assholes ...

Therefore, Bulavin did not even try to portray friendly sympathy, he knew that I simply would not have believed him. But to show stormy joy, we must give him his due, he did not. For this I was especially grateful to him, given the curious looks around, his fun would hardly have gone unnoticed and raised unnecessary questions.

We randomly moved around the first floor in search of a free audience to eat, but instead we stumbled upon a group of sophomores who immediately began to hoot derisively and offered their candidacies for the vacant position that Kirill had left. I just rolled my eyes and was about to continue our search when one of them laughed out loud and said:

“In general, men don’t walk away from normal women, so if Ruseev preferred to stare at someone on the side, then it’s quite possible to assume that something is wrong with her,” he nodded in my direction.

Alex twitched towards him, but I stopped him, giving this company my most haughty look:

- The only thing wrong with me is that I initially managed to get into a relationship with an asshole, but don’t worry, I won’t repeat this mistake a second time, so you don’t have a chance.

I abruptly turned around, intending to proudly leave this company, but I froze in place. Alex swore dirtyly, noticing the cause of my stupor.

Damn it! With all these events, I absolutely got out of my head that the fifth-year internship is coming to an end and they are returning to their studies.

Despite the fact that we studied at the same university with my brother and his best friend (and my best enemy in combination) Gleb, for the first two years I managed to ignore their proximity because the faculty of international relations, of which I am a student, was in a different building . But from the third year we moved to the main building, and throughout the year our couples will be held here, on the law school's legal territory. And if my first reaction was stormy joy - finally, Alex and I will see each other more often, because he is also a future lawyer, then then it dawned on me that there were two more law students that I could hardly avoid meeting.

The fact that the fifth-year students spent almost the whole of September on an internship allowed me to relax and forget about their imminent return for a while. That is why I now froze in the middle of the hall and tried to remember where and why I was going before I saw Uritsky. His eyes flickered over his silhouette in the hope that over the years he had grown a goatee or at least gone bald, but no ... luck is clearly not on my side today, because Gleb has become even more beautiful. Previously, he always cut his hair short, but now his hair has grown a little and he could well appear in an advertisement for a men's shampoo, and definitely a premium one, and not one that is both shower gel, conditioner and washing powder if desired. Teenage disorder is gone, only the eyes remain the same - such a deep and such a cold blue look. Once I was ready to compose verses to his eyes and, I confess, even reached the point of comparing them with sapphires and the purest waters of Lake Baikal. Fortunately, even at the age of fourteen I had the sense to keep my poetic delights to myself. Now, the first thing that comes to mind when you see his gaze is ice. Although... maybe it's because he's looking at me.

“I see nothing changes in this life,” he said mockingly instead of greeting. “The years go by, but your need to be the center of attention has not gone away.

“I could say the same about your need to jump to conclusions. But who cares, right? You and I are unlikely to change, so I propose to pretend that we do not know each other. If my memory serves me right, you've been very good at this in the past.

And without waiting for an answer saturated with poison, I had no doubts about it, I grabbed Alex by the arm and hurried to the second floor, where the lecture was soon to begin. The appetite, which had not been very present before, was now completely gone, so I returned the candy bar to my friend and headed to the audience.

“Hey,” Bulavin hesitated, “do you want me to go with you?” Sit next to me and glare at anyone who looks your way?

“Yes, it will definitely stop the interest of others. It's all right, honestly.

“As a friend, I dare say you don’t look like everything is fine.

“For this,” I waved my hand towards the audience and the students inside, “I was ready. I even read the affirmation mantra in front of the mirror ten times in the morning. But for Uritsky ... I was clearly not ready for him. I'm never ready for it.

“I’m afraid to ask what kind of mantra you read there,” the friend asked.

“Well, everything is as usual: everyone around is idiots, I’m one clever and beautiful woman and stuff like that,” it was already harder for me to hold back a smile.

“Great mantra,” he remarked. - We must take up arms. Is it obligatory to stand in front of the mirror or can you just sit at the lecture and affirm?

- You can also at a lecture, but then it’s better not out loud.

“No, if not out loud, then all the charm is lost,” Alex complained and waving goodbye to me, went to his audience.

The rest of the day passed more or less calmly, despite the fact that even the teachers seemed to be aware of the events and looked in my direction with curiosity. Cyril, fortunately, did not appear at the general lecture for the entire stream. On the one hand, I was annoyed that he kind of threw me into the embrasure of everyone's attention, but on the other hand, I was pleased that at least I did not have to worry about his attention. Although, with the return of Uritsky, the list of people who will have to be avoided in the corridors of the university has been replenished by one.

The return of Gleb also meant that my brother would soon return. Trouble does not come alone, as they say. I was so focused on the situation with Kirill that the imminent arrival of my brother just fell out of my head. Well, we must seize the opportunity while it is not there yet.

Having rushed home for the crew, I went to the track.