Trace of life

The bus parked at the bus stop, waiting for passengers. Lip followed the man and walked almost to the end of the transport. The seat turned out to be free; there were not many passengers today. Silently reaching the desired stop, Lipngot out. Along the way, Dorster met Evie and went with her to college. Evie Fons is the girl sitting next to Danny. They seem to be friends. She doesn’t communicate with Lip, and in principle Dorster didn’t care about her. For the whole class, except Dan. At the entrance to the college, the guy was greeted by Danny, as always. He smiled and shook Lip's hand. "How long have you been here?" Lip asked the guy. He shook his head, sat down in an empty seat in the hall and the smile on his face began to slowly slip. "The test is tomorrow." "I remember," Dorster replied casually. "Are you prepared?" "Yesterday, in my free time, I solved all possible options, so half of the answers will exactly match." "And Theon?" Danny asked angrily. Lin smiled slyly, looking away. Dorster took his things to the locker room and, returning, sat down next to Dan. "He promised me a chocolate bar." Lip said, "I understand that I'm doing wrong, but I won't give up a freebie." "He's just messing around, he'll write off a high score and fuck you, not chocolate." "We'll just see if Theon keeps his word." Dan sighed, got up and headed for the second floor, Dorster hurriedly stomped after him. The first lesson was physics. A complete joy for the whole group! Their physicist is just a miracle. It's hard to even imagine how you just sit, play or chat with someone, doing nothing, while the teacher stands in the corner of the office, looking at the papers brought to him and pretending not to notice the whole farce. They had very few tests for the entire semester. On the day of the test, the physicist always goes through all the rows, suggesting the correct answers. In just two years, he became the favorite of all students. In his lessons, you could sit down with anyone you wanted, so Dan apologized to Evie and sat down with Lip. They, unlike the whole group, chatted in whispers. Lip, listening to his friend, nodded, and he was completely devoted to drawing. Dorster often has swings when someone tells stories... He, without noticing it, begins to draw abstract pictures on the last pages of notebooks of what is happening. And now: The Forest, a full package of all sorts of goodies, Danny and his parents. There is a river nearby, not too narrow, but not too wide either. A cleared clearing where two tents are set up, in the center a bonfire surrounded by logs; a fallen tree in the distance, which serves to kindle a fire. The fire rushes up to the dark, dark sky, and the moon is still visible, which dimly illuminates everything around. The crescent moon. The page was gradually filling up. Somewhere the drawing is great, somewhere it is slightly faulty. In any case, drawing in the classroom in notebooks in a cage, this creation turns out better than on canvases. "Go online! Evie shouted, looking at the guys." At first, Lip thought it was addressed to him, but he remembered in time that they were not communicating. Dorster looked at Danny questioningly and sighed. Dan smiled at the girl and took out his phone, reading the incoming messages. Lip was curious. The guy, curling his lips into a tube, imperceptibly approached Danny, trying to make out the messages. And it would have been all right if Dan, who was engrossed in reading, hadn't said the following: "You're fucking stinging." "I'm interested!" Lip replied in a loud whisper. "Is there something between you?" Dan, hearing the question, immediately turned off the phone and looked at Lip with an uncomprehending look. Dorster, as if saying nothing, although he was clearly pleased with this turn of events, looked at his watch – there were still about ten minutes left. "How could you think of such a thing, Lip!" thought Dorster to himself. True, Danny is friends with Evie, but they don't feel anything for each other. That's what Dan said, but not Evie. What if she's in love with him?

—

The second pair was mathematics. Damn it! Lip hates her so much. While sitting in class, Lip thinks about everything that comes to his mind, but not about solving problems, examples and other things related to it. Their teacher, of course, is a tinker. Lilia Voris is not the most beloved teacher in almost all college groups. What about her? Or maybe she is! To talk about her is to start a conversation about hell. If you learn more about her, or at least attend her lesson... In short, she doesn't like the noise–and, in principle, none of the teachers are kind to her–she doesn't like what someone is wearing. God! Especially girls! "Oh my God, what are you wearing, Sally!" "Wash off your makeup, Trixie, wash it off!" "Who do you look like, Lee?" And if it's boys? "Trevor, this educational institution is a college. An educational institution, not a gym!" "You're stopping me from doing my homework, Paul! Your presence seduces me. Get out of here!" "Why are you messing with him? Find yourself a girlfriend, it's high time!" Yes... Speaking of Paul, he didn't do anything. Lilia just wanted to show off. Lip and Danny went up from the second floor to the third and went into the office. In general, neither Lip nor Dan liked to stay in class during recess. But now, when you just need to get out of here somewhere far away, there's little point in changing, because her role ends in two minutes. Cursing under his breath, Lip sat down at his desk and took out everything he needed. Danny watched him go with his usual gaze and sat down at his desk. The group was slowly filling up. Lip would have preferred to be on the sidelines for that moment, but Theon turned around just in time. Dorster met his gaze–eye to eye–and nodded his head briefly, asking in silence. "Do you remember about the test?" Theon said, curling his lips into a tube. "Of course I remember." Theon thought about it, and later, concentrating on the Lime Tree – eye to eye again!! - he asked: "So which chocolate would you prefer?" "I don't eat sweets," Lip lied. "Then... Then I do not know," Theon thought again. "Maybe then the payment will be ten cents?" Lip's eyes flashed, but he refused, because he understood that it was somehow wrong. Yes, he helps, he helps for a simple "thank you", not for a fee. It's unpredictable. "I don't need anything." Dorster answered, although he needed a lot. Theon gave him a look that was a mixture of surprise and despair. He looked straight into Lip's eyes, and then said: "I'll figure something out."

—

Twenty-second minute of the lesson. Puzzles with a half–page solution are still flowers. Lip is surprised by the examples every time he opens the textbook. Why the hell did they come up with such huge examples, with a bunch of random numbers and signs??? If you just sit there and mentally ridicule a person who writes something on a blackboard, then this is quite normal for Dorster. It's not normal to stand at the blackboard, decide something and think about the people who are sitting behind. What if they're laughing at you? Now the group independently solves the numbers set by the teacher. And the teacher himself is outside the classroom – the deputy director called, demanding something from him. How I wanted to sit in silence for the rest of the time.. everyone chatted incessantly about their own, someone preferred to speak quietly, and someone so that the whole group could hear him. The noise stopped very soon – the teacher arrived in time, announcing the start of the long-awaited test. All the laughter and discussion turned to outrage and "Well, why are you torturing us?" Danny was flipping through his notebook, photographing with his eyes all the rules and examples after each topic he had covered. Evie helped him with this – she wrote cheat sheets for his needs. Other guys brazenly, in front of Lilia, viewed the material they had learned using their phones, took pictures and recorded answers to questions on the Internet. Lip noticed Theon, who was repeating the material with Carl. Dorster, as if beside himself with surprise, broke into a smile, cocking his head to one side. The test was small – only twelve questions to answer "yes" or "no", "true" or "false". Three tasks are already difficult, and six are for getting complete answers. Those who went daily and did not miss a single class know that the test is nonsense. But those who didn't care about studying will have a very difficult time. Although yes, it is a serious matter to have time to complete the test, printed on two pages on both sides, in five minutes. In short, who will be lucky. Lip decided to take the test out of order. It's easier this way because you can first complete tasks for which you presumably already know the answer, and then focus on the rest. If he doesn't have time to finish writing something, it doesn't matter. The main thing is that the task sheet is not empty. Trying to complete as many tasks as possible, Lip quickly threw a piece of paper on Theon's desk. By this time the bell rang – I made it! Right on the nose. Everyone was hurriedly writing something on the sheets while packing up their things. After handing out the lily leaves, everyone leisurely left the office, discussing something. Lip followed them, stopping at the window–Danny had joined the queue last and was now letting the crowd through. "hello!" Smiling, Evie waved her hand and disappeared into the crowd going off into the distance. Lip waved grotesquely after the girl, then turned his attention to Theon, who left the office with Carl. Karl himself, as if knowing what was going to happen, nodded to his friend and left. Theon walked over to Dorster. "Hello again," he said, smiling. Lip smiled back and wondered what had brought Theon to him. The direct question "what do you need" seemed to him something like discontent... Strict? The answer came by itself when Theon realized what was going on. "I'm just chatting. I don't think it's a good idea, but I'm bored." "And Carl?" "He's already 'grown up,'" Theon said, mimicking the blows. "OK. Shall we go for a walk? Well, for the sake of interest." The guy nodded in satisfaction in response to Lip's question. Dorster waited for Danny, telling him that he would take a walk with Theon in College Park and then return. Dan sighed and smiled, whispering to himself something like "yes, you will come back." When he reached the park, Lip followed Theon, who, in turn, talked about everyday life in college. The topics gradually changed – everyone supplemented them with their own impressions and thoughts. For some reason, listening to Theon Lip seemed interesting, even to some extent pleasant. But when they returned to the college, they wandered into the right office, already holding hands.