Dimitriy Warth

An Unexpected Episode One afternoon, Anastasia found herself alone in the corridors on the second floor. She had just finished a mock exam and was exhausted: she hadn't eaten in hours, and the stifling heat of the building wasn't helping. Suddenly, her head began to spin. Her legs felt like rags, and the walls around her began to darken. She tried to brace herself against the lockers to keep from falling, sending her books and notebooks crashing to the floor with a sharp thud. She collapsed to the floor, clutching her forehead, unable to get up. The door to the classroom opposite opened, and Dmitriy emerged. Seeing her on the floor, his usual mocking, aloof expression instantly vanished. In two strides, he was beside her, kneeling on the crumbling floor. "Anastasia! Hey, look at me," he said in an unusually tense voice, the harshness of the corridors completely evaporated. "What's wrong?" "I'm... I'm fine, it's just..." she murmured in a small voice, trying to push herself up so as not to appear so vulnerable. "Leave me alone, please, come over now..." "You're not well at all, you're as white as a sheet," he interrupted her, gently holding her shoulders with his warm, firm hands. Without hesitation, Dmitriy took her legs and lifted them slightly, resting them on his backpack to get the blood flowing back to her brain, a precise move that took Anastasia by surprise. Then he took off his leather jacket, balled it up under her neck for comfort, and pulled a packet of salted caramels from his pocket. "Here, eat this," he ordered in a firm but incredibly sweet tone, placing the caramel in her hand and helping her drink from her water bottle. "Low blood pressure, right? My mother suffers from it. Why don't you tell anyone instead of fainting in the hallways?" Anastasia swallowed the candy, feeling her strength gradually returning. Tears welled up in her eyes from exhaustion and the embarrassment of being discovered. "I don't want others to think I'm weak, or fragile..