LOGINELVIS POV Oleg didn't yelp. Only looked surprised. Actually surprised. Guilt burned through me, threaded with fear. If I stayed one more second with him, I'd crumble and follow him anywhere. “You can skip class,” I said quickly, stepping back. “I can’t.” I turned on my heel and left. I could feel his stare on my back the entire time. ********* Throughout class, Oleg's face haunted me. Maybe I was too harsh. Harsh?? I'd been cruel. Then again— You don’t just drag someone around like that. Right. He wasn't used to defiance, I knew that. He was used to getting his way, to people bending, to me bending. It’s okay if he doesn't get it today or any day, I convinced myself. ********* During break, after my internal war, my legs carried me toward Oleg’s side of the school. Head down, I picked at my fingers, worried my lip between my teeth, barely noticing where I was going It was my first time here, and I had no idea where he even had lectures. Thud. My forehead collided wit
ELVIS POV Strong arms snatched me backward by the waist. “What the—put me down!” My legs kicked uselessly at the air. How could he be this strong? Taller by inches, yet still just a child like me, I spun in his grip, unable to gain leverage. He swept me toward the bed as if I were feather-light. “Oleg! Do you even realize I’m serious?! Let go of me!!” The urge to punch him screamed through my veins, but he had both my arms pinned, my body trapped against his ribs. A frustrated cry tore from my throat at the thought of Father barging into this— “The door, Oleg, stoppp—are you out of your mind?!” Then I was airborne. I landed heavily on the mattress, rebounding beneath me. Just as I scrambled upright, he was on me. My breath rattled, unevenly loud. Sweat beaded at my temples. “What the hell—stop right now!” The profanity left my mouth, and it barely fazed him. I swung at his face. Lightning fast, his hand trapped my wrists against the bed. Just as quickly, my other hand
ELVIS POV “You’re holding it like you want to strangle it.” “Easy for you to point fingers,” I shot back. “Pay attention.” He tossed the ball lightly and swung. The racket sang through the air, and the ball hurtled across the court, landing exactly where he'd intended. Sometimes I wonder if Oleg was a genius; he made everything look effortless, like breathing. He handed the racket back. “Try again.” I missed the first shot. Oleg moved behind me. I felt the warmth of his body aligning with mine, his chest pressing lightly against my back. His hands found my shoulders, adjusting my stance, his touch lingering a breath longer than necessary. Heat bloomed wherever he made contact, even through the fabric of my shirt. “Relax your wrist,” his breath raised goosebumps in its wake. His hand covered mine, guiding the swing, and together we sent the ball arcing through the air—vertical this time. As soon as he stepped back, the world seemed to shrink into stillness. Every glance fro
ELVIS POVAt first, I believed the strange orbit he’d built around me was already excessive—surely the most he could tolerate another human being. Compared to now, that level of presence must have meant no more to him than a normal person accidentally crossing paths with a stranger and forgetting them minutes later.These days, however… it felt like Oleg had decided his purpose in life was to exist as some quiet, breathing ghost, glued to my shadow.The strange thing was, we didn’t act like normal friends. No hanging out, no loud jokes like other boys our age, no sprinting around, no talking about girls—though I was quietly glad for that. I’d never been the type to pry when my old friends obsessively argued over who was the prettiest or the ugliest, or all the other nonsense.He never asked about my life, never cared what was happening with me, or how I felt. Since he didn’t, I didn’t bother sharing, and that was fine. I’d long since grown used to keeping things to myself.With Oleg,
ELVIS POVMy eyes widened. Blood rushed in my ears.“Is that fucking real?”“Bad words, kiddo,” he chortled, clearly relishing how it got under my skin.I rolled my eyes and caught a smile—or not?I snatched the book, flipping through pages, confirming the impossible.Bee Brown’s updates had been agonizingly slow. Series one had taken forever to conclude, and I knew the wait for the sequel would feel endless.Yet here it was.Here.I looked up at him, and my face fell into a grin so wide my sore lip throbbed in protest.“I follow her updates… There was nothing about—how did you get—”His hazel orbs never left me.Self-conscious under his stare, I asked, “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”His face changed subtly.He reached for the book, but I dodged, clutching it to my chest.“No way in hell.” A foreign laugh bubbled up. “You gave it to me. And I doubt it’d be of any use to you, since I don’t think you read.”How did you get—You’re loud, was all he said.He tugged me toward
ELVIS POVTrue to his word, he'd shown up at school today.I scanned the corridor, confirming we were alone. My fingers traced the tender ridges on my skin—marks left by his teeth.Why do you keep doing that?The question burned hotter than the sting itself. I let out a tired huff and started to stand.“Sit.”His command came before I could react. Every part of me wanted to cause a scene, to drag the hallway’s attention to us, yet I obeyed, dropping back into my seat without resistance.I stared at him as Father’s actions from yesterday replayed in my mind. Annoyance soured into jealousy, then hardened into something closer to hatred. Technically, he’d done nothing wrong, and that only made things spiral further. He was simply existing, and somehow that existence had become the source of everything strange and unnameable blooming outside and inside me.He said nothing, arms crossed over his chest as his strange hazel eyes studied me.“What’s wrong, kid?”The casual address grated.“No
ELVIS POV“What? Disappointed?” he gravelled.Oleg pivoted toward me, his expression lighting up with a terrifying, childlike glee, as if he were on the verge of unwrapping a Christmas gift.I couldn’t answer. I just stared.My lungs refused to fill properly, each breath scraping in shallow, fractu
OLEG POVI slid into my usual place at the head of the table and watched Elvis stroll in with that sluggish, half-alive gait that grated on my tolerance even before we came into the dining room. He didn’t so much as glance at the seats near me, “not the second, not the third, not the fourth.”No, h
LOSIF POVPavel remained stationed in front of me, the binoculars never leaving his face, his actions caught in a looping rhythm as he lifted, refocused, and sighed over and over, his knuckles paling with each adjustment as he scanned the private grounds from afar, as if sheer persistence could forc
OLEG POVMy eyes plunged back down, fastening on the exposed skin. It was torture, considering the silver I could see felt like deliberate teasing. The impulse to yank him awake, to break the spell, grated against a darker, more possessive desire to let the view last. "Who the hell wears a tracksui







