⏱ ~4 min reading
The boy's name was Yarema. He came to Sofiyka's class on Monday morning.
The class teacher, Mr. Serhiy, introduced him briefly:
— This is Yarema. I moved from Chernihiv. I ask you to love and respect me.
Yarema stood by the board. Tall, thin, in a sweater with a deer pattern. He looked down at his feet. When Mr. Serhiy pointed to an empty desk by the window, Yarema quickly went there, as if to hide.
He sat silently for the entire first lesson. He didn't look around. He didn't ask questions. During the break, he stayed at his desk, opened his notebook, and drew something in it.
The children stared at him, whispering. Someone shouted:
— Hey, newbie!
Yarema did not look up.
The bell rang, the next lesson began.
When it was time for lunch, everyone ran to the dining room. Sofiyka walked next to Lilaya - they always sat together, exchanged sandwiches, and talked about TV series.
In the dining room, Sofiyka took a plate of buckwheat and a cutlet. She poured compote. She turned around and saw Yarema.
He was sitting at the end table. Alone. The same plate was in front of him, but he wasn't eating. He was just unfolding his napkin and folding it again.
Lilya pushed Sofiyka:
"Well, let's go, we'll take our places.".
Sophie stopped.
"Lilya, sit without me. I'll be right there.".
— Where?
Sofiyka nodded towards Yarema. Lilya furrowed her eyebrow.
"But he's silent. He sits by himself - that's good.".
— What if you move to Chernihiv and sit alone in the dining room?
Lilya thought. Then she shrugged.
— I would cry.
"Here. And he's not crying. At least I'll stay by his side.".
Sofiyka took the plate with both hands and went to the far table.
“Can I have it?” she asked, placing the plate in front of her.
Yarema raised his eyes. They were gray, with long dark eyelashes. Surprised.
"You can," he said quietly.
Sofiyka sat down. She unfolded her napkin, spooned buckwheat onto her fork. She was silent. Then she said:
— I'm Sofiyka. I'm sitting at the second desk by the window. I have a notebook with a teddy bear.
"I know," said Yarema. "I saw it.".
— And you are Yarema. I love that name. My grandmother has a neighbor named Yarema. He is kind, but strict.
Yarema smiled faintly. Very slightly, at the corner of his lips.
“What do you like?” asked Sofiyka.
— To draw.
— What are you drawing?
Yarema hesitated a little. Then he took out a notebook from under the table. He opened it. There was a dragon. Not just any dragon — but one that breathed fire, with blue scales on its belly and green on its back. The details were tiny, delicate. It was clear that Yarema had been drawing for a long time and seriously.
Sophie gasped.
"Wow. Are you alone?"
— Alone.
"Will you teach me? I only draw flowers. All my dragons come out like cats with horns.".
Yarema laughed. Quietly, but genuinely. For the first time all day.
"I can. It's not difficult. You just have to draw lightly with a pencil first.".
They finished lunch together. Yarema told me that he had a friend in Chernihiv who also drew. That his mother had moved him here because she had found a new job. That they still had a lot of boxes at home and he didn't know where the pencils were.
"I'll lend you mine," said Sofiyka. "I have colored ones. Twenty-four.".
When they returned to class, Lilya ran up to them with a reprimand:
"I already thought you had left me.".
"I didn't quit," said Sofiyka. "I just came with a friend.".
Lilya looked at Yarema. He blushed a little, but didn't hide.
"Hello," said Lilya. "I'm Lilya.".
— Yarema.
— Do you have a deer tail on your sweatshirt?
— It's a deer, yes.
— That's cool.
It wasn't a very long greeting, but it was the beginning of something big.
A month later, Yarema was already sitting with them and Lilya at dinner. They had some common jokes. They went to the library together. Yarema taught Sofiyka how to draw dragons, and she taught him how to weave flowers in the edges of pages.
Once Mr. Serhiy said to Sofiyka quietly:
— Thank you for hanging out with him that day.
"And I didn't do anything special," Sofiyka was surprised.
— You took the first step. And that's the hardest thing. Because after that, everything just goes your way.
Sofiyka nodded. She thought that in reality she simply couldn't pass by that day. That's all.
Or maybe it's precisely with such "simple" that everything important begins.
💡 The first step towards that is friendship.