– How are things at school? Grandma asked.
– Fine.
Have you found a bride yet?
– Nu-u ba, – the teenager blushed.
– Oh, okay. What kind of girl? Good? – she sat opposite, taking an interest in amorous affairs.
– Ira, our excellent student, – the guy surrendered, knowing that his grandmother would not back down and it would be easier to answer right away. She is beautiful and very smart.
– Take care of her, sit at the same desk, share chocolates.
She doesn’t even look at me.
It was painful for Denis to admit that Irina not only was not interested in him, but joined the persecution, considering him the lowest grade. The girl perceived any tackles with mockery, exposing her classmate’s love for all to see and mocking him in every possible way. Why did Denis again eat his anguish and pain, feeling that no one in this world understands him.
Masha returned to the fallen tree and indignantly clarified:
– Are we going to sit here? – it was uncomfortable to walk in heels, but beauty, as you know, requires sacrifice and never focuses on brains.
– Well, they are probably looking for us, – Denis muttered quietly, looking at the dry rations and feeling his mouth fill with saliva. I wanted to eat incredibly.
– Will they find it and what will happen to us next? – the excellent student was reasonably indignant. We are in the forest! Where will we go? The darker it gets. And here wild animals walk. We’ve got strange chips on us, they’re probably tracking wherever we go.
– Smart such!? Maria said with a sneer. “So we’re going to vegetate here?”
The branch cracked. The teenagers fell silent, staring fearfully into the darkness. The pale moon provided poor illumination, and angry shadows flickered among the dark silhouettes of the trees. Or is it wild imagination? Denis looked around and, noticing that one of the Ouroboros employees accompanying them had a machine gun, picked it up from the ground and pointed it into the darkness.
– Wait! We will shoot! – the guy said in a trembling voice, realizing that he did not even know how to pull the shutter.
The footsteps stopped.
Ira put down her textbook, rested for five minutes and moved on to the next subject. She had an excellent memory, perseverance and the ability to memorize everything, even if there was no understanding of the subject. Red diploma has become the meaning of life. After all, grades matter. Excellent students are always forgiven a lot, they will have the opportunity to enter any university in the world, and then work, career…
She could do nothing but study, study and study again. But sometimes I wanted to do something, so when urging the Losers on any boil, the girl was not worried. The teachers won’t believe she’s capable of doing nasty things or supporting something like that. Irina considered herself better than other people. Despised those who are unable to learn. She hated beauties like Masha, who achieved everything thanks to money, connections and a pretty appearance. Only study, only hardcore!
Therefore, Irina chose strict suits for herself, actively participated in school life, and joined the club of human rights activists. Everything where study was needed interested the girl. She did not have any feelings for people below her in “internal” rank, and curry favor with those who could influence her “promotion”. She denied the “excellent student syndrome”, considering this nothing more than an excuse, and continued to cram, doing her homework in full and thrilled only with praise, again looking down on her classmates.
– Chapter 5-
Defeated, but not surrendered
The door taken out frightened Alena, who was already hysterical. Eugene did not pay any attention to the crybaby, examining the abandoned house. In the next room, two sports bags with a poor content were found: two flasks of water, matches, a flashlight and two packs of bandages. When Eugene came to himself, he found a crying classmate who, smearing tears on her cheeks, was wheezing, not intending to calm down. A light dress and jacket are stained with mud. Zhenya just rolled his eyes and patted his pockets to find that the phone had disappeared from his jeans pocket. The T-shirt is cool, so he zipped up the jacket and touched his neck. The skin hurt and almost immediately the fingers found a small button on the neck. Turning his gaze to Alena, Evgeny noticed exactly the same chip, which, apparently, was implanted in all the project participants.
The rumble of the fallen door made the guy flinch and jump up from his seat, ready to fight back against the unknown troublemaker. Alena screamed in fright, starting to cry even more. “And where does she have so many tears?” – the guy thought aloofly.
The floorboards creaked and Dimka entered the room. The classmate looked collected and as if ready for anything. On his shoulder hung the same bag that lay against the wall. Dimka is dressed simply: jeans, T-shirt and jacket. “Well, at least the uniform at school was canceled, otherwise it would be inconvenient,” Zhenya thought dejectedly.
“Oh, you’re here,” a classmate remarked without surprise. – And tearful here. Che, long since woke up?
“Recently, I suffered from hallucinations,” Zhenya admitted, pinching the bridge of his nose. – Where are we? Where are the others?
I don’t know, I just found you. This is an abandoned village.
“Yeah, you never know such places around the country,” drawled a classmate.
– Hey, – Dmitry turned to Alena. – Hare whine, your head already hurts.
The girl nervously fell silent, trying to suppress her tears.
– And what to do? Jenny folded his arms across his chest.
– Play. We are in the project, we are being tracked, – he nodded at the chip on Alena’s neck. “So we need to get out of here, find clues and get to the rally point.
Alena made a strange sound, as if she was about to burst into tears again. Tiredly rolling his eyes, Dmitry looked out the window and clarified:
Are you going or are you staying here?
– Let’s go, – Zhenya quickly decided and, picking up the backpacks, pulled the girl by the hand.
Awkwardly shifting her feet, Alena walked, stumbling all the time in her shoes, which she received not so long ago as a birthday present.
– Why are you crying again? Stupid! the mother yelled, which made the girl even more hysterical and annoyed her parents.
– No, look at her! – the father was indignant. – There would be no mother to help, but she is crying!
– Shut up! Shut up!!! – Mom brought a belt over her head. In the next second, the blow fell on the girl’s head.
“Why do everyone have children like children, only you are stupid with me,” my mother continued to swear furiously.
– No need! It hurts me, – the girl tried to stop another spanking, but she only made it worse.
– She looks at the boys. It would be better if you were so interested in studying! Maybe you also sleep with anyone you get? Things to check!
Mom grabbed her school backpack, emptying all her pockets. Later, she checked the desk lockers and her daughter’s personal belongings, as if she wanted to find compromising evidence.
– Mommy, don’t! Alena roared, but another slap on the head silenced her.
Alena