(Marian Dalton)š”
That day, Marian skipped not only math and chemistry, but also a foreign language class. He only returned to Garniun for the music literature class. After reviewing the schedule sent out by the head of the faculty, he noted that he would have to go to these two hours without Ellie - she had a lesson in her specialty now.
With a heavy sigh, Marian overcame the last flight of stairs and found himself on the fourth floor. There, he was greeted by light blue walls and many wide-open windows; one could carelessly fall out of one of them. The rising wind occasionally brought colorful leaves from outside, which occasionally crashed into the glass and fell, remaining lying on the glossy floor. To his surprise, the corridor was empty. There were still about seven or eight minutes left before the lecture, but it was strange not to find a single living soul; after all, there should have been a zealous fan of the subject who comes thirty minutes before the lectures and stands waiting under the doors. However, even after blinking hard, Marian didn't find anyone. Deciding that there was no point in waiting any longer, he approached the doors of the classroom. Perhaps it wasn't locked during breaks. When Dalton approached, he came across a simple explanation for such an outrageous situation: a paper sticker was glued to the door with the inscription: "The MS class at 2:00 PM will be held in the music building, room 6."
Just as he finished reading the message written in a crooked handwriting, light, hurried steps were heard from behind. Marian turned around. Nael Levix came up to the landing, and when he met his gaze, the young man froze, looking around the empty corridor in bewilderment. He was probably just as surprised as Marian had been a couple of minutes ago by the absence of classmates: light eyebrows rose in a silent question.
"Sixth room, music building," Marian answered loudly so that the guy at the other end of the corridor could hear him.
Nael, slightly frowning, straightened his shoulders as usual and replied with a slight smirk:
"Thanks for the tip. I expected to see someone from the group, but... it seems they beat us to it, as always... in general," an awkward pause hung between them.
Surprisingly, he was quieter at the second meeting. Did Ellie beat him up or something? Marian noticed yesterday: these two get along well enough to be called friends. It was probably not surprising, Ellie's character allowed her to find an approach to any living creature, even to such a "notlikeotherguys" like Nael: "I get along well with everyone, but I don't recognize any of them." Hah, okay, whatever, it's not for Marian to judge him, he's no better himself: "today I will be terribly disappointed in this world, and tomorrow I will decide to bother my classmates with sharp bursts of interest in them and tactility." If it weren't for Levix's presence in the corridor, Dalton would have curled up into a ball from laughter, unconsciously his brain began to play yesterday's scenes, distorting the sound and making it so funny that he just wanted to slide down the wall and shake somewhere in the corner like a madman. But no! Noooo, what are you talking about! Marian held on... the only thing that betrayed his unbridled fun was a ridiculous smile stretching from ear to ear. It was perceived by Nael with caution: the young man squinted, the corner of his lips twitched, but the guy preferred to remain silent in response to the strangeness of his companion.
The journey to the music building took place in complete silence. Levix was glued to his phone, flipping through cards with theory for the lesson, while Marian shamelessly stared at him. Now that he finally had a moment to examine the beast from close range, without getting a poisonous spit in the eye, it was extremely difficult to restrain his curiosity and not look at his attractive appearance. He had to admit: Nael was extremely good-looking. If Ellie weren't a southerner, one might think they were relatives: Levix had beautiful golden hair and light gray-blue eyes. He was narrow-shouldered, lanky, tall, but still slightly shorter than Marian himself. He should be on the catwalk, not in music, he definitely had a sense of style: his school look alone was worth it. The colors of the suit itself, to match its owner, echoed with nobility. Today it was a cream shirt, a wine-colored vest and trousers, and a jacket of the same color, elegantly draped over his shoulders. Straight golden hair was gathered in a low ponytail, and at the base, as if making the final touch in this neat image, was a simple bow made of red velvet ribbon. It was hard not to notice that the style as a whole resembled something old-fashioned. Gilded chains sliding over his shoulders kept the jacket from falling off his shoulders, the buttons on the vest shone as if each of them was a small coin. It gave the impression that you were facing a person raised in aristocratic circles. Nothing special in general, Dalton noted, the son of another rich parents obsessed with high-cultural fashion, it was common to meet such people among ordinary people here.
Even with his nose buried in his phone, Nael managed to walk with perfect posture and his head held high. Marian's cheek was burned by the angry gaze of icy eyes. Annoyed by the close scrutiny, the young man finally turned his attention to him. His angry, prickly look did not bode well, but Marian only smirked and removed the overhanging bangs from his forehead for better eye contact. Meeting his indifferent chocolate eyes, Nael shuddered, the tip of his pointed nose twitched comically, and he rolled his eyes theatrically and turned away.
"What a funny boy! You can really feel the unprovenness in him," Marian thought, silently following Levix. Now it was so interesting not just to peek through the crack and take a look at his soul with one eye, but to tear off the entire shell, to look at its naked insides. This year promises to be interesting.
In class, Marian sat at the very end, on the same row as Nael, who in turn took his favorite place at the teacher's desk. Dalton managed to doze off pretty well under the emotional mumbling of the teacher, each time shuddering and waking up from another squealing cry of the woman. Nael, as it was not difficult to notice, had a fierce passion for the history of music, no matter how much Marian assured himself that there was nothing more to be surprised at, Levix immediately dissuaded him from this, once again throwing a barb at the teacher, Dalton even sleepily thought about not just sleeping in class, but watching this performance, but after thinking a little, he still decided to get some sleep. But he noted for himself that in his not very modest opinion: Nael's voice was much... much more pleasant than the squeak of the woman who replaced Idolly Mironsa today. To tell the truth, Marian was right, the woman's voice was more like the clanging of rusty, unlubricated hinges of a gate swinging in the wind. Against its background, Nael's unremarkable voice sounded softer, calmer, lulling Dalton's sleepy consciousness.
Having dozed off throughout the lecture, Dalton woke up only to the announcement of homework. The life and work of Adrian Valmont. Read the textbook, make a table on the biography, describe the works according to the plans - nothing new. It's not a big loss if Marian doesn't do it. He'll do it the night before the deadline, hardly sooner.
"3:35 PM"
They were dismissed. After the class, it got a little warmer outside, the lazy autumn sun came out, and a fresh sea breeze was blowing. It would be nice to walk to the embankment, Marian didn't have time to get there in the morning.
In such weather, it was extremely pleasant to return to the main building. The group walked slowly, enjoying the fresh air and the sun. Winter is coming soon, and although they are not in the very north of the region, the sun will soon become an unaffordable luxury. Cheerful conversations were heard. Marian didn't want to participate in the discussion, but he caught a glimpse of Nael's very cheerful expression. He liked... he liked to discuss, he liked to reason and rethink. Music was clearly his passion. Marian could only envy and quietly step into the shadows. Musicians are obsessed people, and he never remembered himself being like that. He remembered how his mother loved his playing, how her gentle hands stroked his head when little Marian, not yet reaching the floor with his feet, sat on the couch in front of the huge piano in their hall... Home... oh, how long ago it was. Marian remembered how his mother secretly learned small sonatas with him from his father.
Once on New Year's, she woke him up early in the morning, took him to the city. There they walked, for a long time, through the snow-covered streets, among the bright lights, tied to the pier of fishing boats and ships. After that, they went to a shopping center. There, in a very successful bookstore, stood an old wooden piano, rattling and wheezing on every note, with a sticking "D" key in the first octave. It belonged to the father of the bookstore owner, that decrepit old man who often visited the bookstore, who always sat lifelessly in the corner opposite the piano and looked with his dim eyes at those playing. He was short-sighted, deaf in one ear, but he had played all his life, these ailments never stopped him. But two or three years ago, he developed a terrible tremor in his hands, which made it completely impossible to play. Then he moved his instrument here and listened to other strangers playing.
Mother brought Marian here so often that he already remembered how hard he needed to press the "D" so that it would finally show signs of life, and he did it flawlessly the first time. He thought that this time she would ask him to play something and already reached for the instrument, when his mother took him by the hand and pulled him in a completely different direction: to that dark corner, where the old man, wrapped in thirty scarves and six jackets, sat pitifully groaning and constantly snorting. He himself was as thin as a stick and as dry as last year's leaf, his clothes often hung on his bones, trembling with his body. He looked like a skeleton, always gloomy and tired-looking, often his appearance caused fear in children, and they ran to their mother or father in tears. The old man loved Marian for God knows what: perhaps for how well the boy played his instrument, perhaps for how often he and his mother were here, or perhaps for the fact that little Marian was never afraid of him. In fact, the old man was cheerful and friendly, he smiled very rarely, although he tried, he did it awkwardly, crookedly.
Today, Mom took him straight to the old man. He stood up, smiled, then nervously rummaged in the folds of his numerous clothes and, finally finding it, pulled out a battered old and half-ruined collection of etudes: "For violin and piano" by Adrian Valmont, the cover read.
His mother also used to play the violin. It was she who taught him to play the piano, she instilled music in him. Mom stopped playing because of her father, he didn't like music, he couldn't stand it. Every time he forced his mother to study with him, he shouted, they argued. Once, through the walls of his room, he heard them arguing for a long time and very loudly, then his father's voice subsided, only his mother's remained, this had never happened before, usually his mother fell silent. Then there was a ringing, sharp bang, the steps of heavy father's boots, the deafening roar of the front door, and everything fell silent. For a while there was silence, as in a burial ground, Marian quietly got off the creaky spring bed, which had long been too small for him, tiptoed to the door, pressing his only toy, a yellow duck given by his mother, to his chest. Marian had a huge number of toys, all of them were new, shiny, given by his father, he would never and under no circumstances agree to play with them, no matter how angry his father was, it seemed to him that if he broke at least something, his father's anger would be much stronger, much scarier and more painful.
Now, as soon as he opened the door, a muffled voice of his mother seeped through the crack along with a strip of light. She muttered something unintelligible, her silhouette stood hunched on her knees by the window. She was praying. Marian opened the door a little wider, knowing that it was strictly forbidden to do so, it creaked for a long time. Mom turned around, now when the light fell on her face, it could be seen that her whole face was covered in tears, and on her right cheek there was an uneven mark, it certainly wasn't there before, Marian thought, but where could it have come from?
Mom squinted her tearful eyes, but, seeing him in the doorway, smiled painfully and beckoned him to her with trembling hands. Marian was glad to get out of his dark room into his mother's warm embrace, even when she ran her long, thin, icy fingers through his curls, lulling him with her faltering speech. They sat for a long time, it seems that he fell asleep then, because he could not remember anything else from that day.
And how could she love this man so much? Stronger than music, stronger than herself... stronger than Marian himself, although the latter could now be argued, because of the two of them, she chose her son, on that snowy night when they left. It was scary then that his father would not want to let them go, would chase after them, grab them, forbid them, but he did nothing and even helped to take things to the platform.
"3:50 PM"
Biology class. He woke up when a box with someone's skeleton was knocked on the table next to his head. Dalton looked around, a familiar halo of light hair flashed before his face.
"Good morning," Levix said with a slight ironic smile.
Marian, still trying to come to his senses, blinked stupidly, looked around and froze in a stupor, staring at the young man in bewilderment, like a ram at a new gate. What the hell!? What devil brought him to the first desk?! Satisfied with his reaction, Nael couldn't help but smirk.
Finally coming to his senses, Marian did not stop staring at him, on the contrary: he did not take his eyes off his classmate. Propping his head with his right hand, he settled down more comfortably, and his eyes narrowed searchingly.
"What's wrong with you?" Nael muttered discontentedly, allowing himself to be examined for only a couple of minutes.
"You mean you can look at me, but I can't admire you?" Marian made an offended face in response.
"Do you want to tell me: you didn't notice that you can't talk in lectures? Don't make me regret that you didn't continue sleeping," the young man smiled sarcastically.
Marian didn't even think about giving up, he just brazenly moved his chair closer, almost leaning his whole body on Nael.
"M-m-m! How interesting!" Marian whispered, feigning cheerfulness and stretching his lips into a smirk, clearly trying to annoy his interlocutor, "You say you can't... but YOU are talking. And how is it that you are so right, and you break the rules! Ai-yai! How not good!"
Slightly blushing from such impudence, Nael clung to the table. Marian's disgustingly smug grin made him feel disgusted, and he was about to open his mouth to say something biting, but all the words got stuck in his throat and he gave up, leaning back slightly. Just to get away from this.
"Oh!? And you won't even say anything in response? Where have all your caustic comments gone?" Marian continued to mock.
"Move away, I can't breathe!" Nael pushed him with his shoulder.
"How boring you are, Nael. Bo-Ring!" Marian picked up a strand of his hair and began to twist it in his fingers.
Nael raised his hand to deliver a juicy blow, but didn't have time - Marian grabbed his arm by the elbow, pressed it to the desk from behind and leaned in very close, his face was inches from Nael's face, almost poking his nose right into the young man's cheek.
"What are you doing, idiot?! We're in class!" they hissed angrily in response.
Marian squeezed his hair in his fingers, pinning the guy to the table.
"You'd think such a fashionable chick like you doesn't like to attract attention to her person."
The blond felt rage boiling inside him. Not because Marian casually called him a chick, but because of the contempt with which he allowed himself to touch and treat Levix. He tried to pull away, but Marian squeezed his hair harder with his fingers, chaining him to himself and smiling nastily. Another minute and Nael would have hit his arrogant face.
"Dalton, Levix, stop this scene immediately! Marian, let go of Nael this second and sit down like all normal people!" the teacher's thunderous roar rang out somewhere above their heads.
Jerking from the angry female voice, Marian finally deigned to step aside at the last moment.
"Yes, yes, of course..." he waved his hand in the air as if brushing it off, after which, as if nothing had happened, he sat down in his place, as if it wasn't him who had just almost strangled Levix.
Work went on as usual. Marian, since he didn't understand much, assisted Nael, who was more skilled in the work. Now, after such a shameful scene for his self-esteem, Levix pretended to be very interested in the laboratory, and then asked, "Listen, how long have you been transferred to us, I don't remember seeing you here in September. And Ellie would definitely have told me."
"I've only been in town for a week," Dalton lied. Not a week, only three days.
"M. I see," Nael replied dryly. "Be so kind as to pass me the tweezers."
"5:25 PM"
Working with Levix was extremely difficult. He grasped everything on the fly, or just knew everything. In any case, Marian barely kept up with him. Nael did most of the work, and only in some moments he asked Dalton to do something. They managed to finish just by the end of the class. And now, together with many other girls and boys, they were happily walking to the Garniun cafe. How surprised Marian was when he first saw how he was beaten here. In Garniun, in the main building on the first floor, there was a kind of street. Lessons were not taught here, and there were almost no classrooms, but there were: a beautiful white installation of a house at the far end from the entrance: the administration was sitting there, several cafes, tables, umbrellas, chairs on the sides. For their city, it was so exotic that, apparently, they drew inspiration from photographs and stories about the south. Marian had also seen such things in the social networks of glamorous girls. According to the stories, the architectural and design departments were engaged in the decoration of this floor, its repair and this entire huge model of the city, they proposed a project and, having received approval, took it up under the full sponsorship of Garniun.
He ordered himself more coffee, but this time he generously poured it with cream and poured five spoonfuls of sugar with a hill, for which he received a dissatisfied look from Levix. Oh, they even managed to be in the same cafe here.
Later, Ellie sat down at his table. She was red-cheeked, disheveled and extremely happy, she was just glowing with happiness. Next to the already emptied coffee mug stood another, filled with fragrant raspberry tea.
"Is it even colder outside?" Dalton asked casually.
"Yes, you can't imagine what a wind there is! And snow! This is the first snow! Although Nael assumed that this year, due to weather conditions, it would go much earlier, but so much so!"
That's it. Now Ellie couldn't be stopped: she began the story from how Nael and Rinam four weeks ago, out of boredom, argued in geography about the calculations of the day of the first snow, to how good it is now outside, how beautiful and what wonderful holidays await them at the end of November.
Marian listened to her absentmindedly, nodding, and sometimes inserting a couple of phrases into the conversation so that it would not turn into a monologue.
"And Lania will come to the Bright Evening!" Ellie announced somehow too happily.
"This... who is it?" Marian cautiously clarified, suspecting that he should already have this information, since the name had flashed in the conversation.
"Eh, you really didn't listen to me," the girl sighed doomedly. "Lania, Lania Levix."
Ah, Levix! Now everything fell into place. Nael's older sister, she left for the central region, and now she was returning from tour. In Garniun, they sometimes gossiped in the corners about some abnormal love and bordering on madness admiration of Nael for his sister. It will be interesting to look at her. Perhaps they had seen each other somewhere before, since there were rumors about her good career and great fame from an early age. But Marian was always bad at remembering names, so it was pointless to assert something now.
"How long has she been gone?"
"Mmmmm," the blonde pondered. "It seems to be in the second month of this summer, I don't remember exactly."
Ā
He nodded in response, taking a sip of his coffee. Summer had ended over a month ago. Now he had a distinct feeling that time was running surprisingly slowly here, its speed could only compete with how long a wad of chewing gum stuck to his pants would stretch.
"How many days until she arrives?"
"Oh! More than half a month, but I can't wait!" Ellie sang, breaking into such a blissful smile, as if she had just been recognized as the composer of the century, no less! Marian did not share his friend's joy, but understood the reason for such a reaction. He had heard about Ellie's connection with the Levix family, which was also evidenced by such good relations with their youngest son and the fact that she was regularly invited to their house for the Luminous Evening - a family holiday, by the way, which means something! He finished the rest of his coffee, still trying to comprehend the whole situation.
"I think it will be interesting to meet her," Marian finally said.
"Yes, you are absolutely right," the girl blew on the steaming mug. "Wait a minute... Oh! Oh! Are you going to visit them for the Luminous Evening too?" Ellie choked on her tea, jumping up in surprise. "I'm certainly surprised, but I won't pester you with questions, but... You haven't gotten so close to Nael that he's inviting you to a reception?!"
Marian almost choked on his coffee after her from such an unexpected violent reaction, but managed to refrain from coughing.
"What, sorry?" the young man frowned slightly. "He invited me?"
"So no?" Light eyebrows rose up. "Then how did you plan to meet her?"
"I didn't plan it," he replied directly, shrugging slightly. "And I don't think I should visit there."
Marian looked away, and with a finger of his free hand, tapped something on the table, obviously unsure of his words, not wanting to show interest.
"And how do you get there?"
"Me?.." Ellie was taken aback. Her green eyes darted around, and a slight blush covered her cheeks. "Lani invites me."
Marian smirked at the girl's reaction. Of course, he already knew how and why Ellie was invited. One of the life lessons he had learned, sometimes saving his life in the Northern region: check the people you make friends with. From an early age, Dalton learned to pick out all sorts of nuances with his eyes and perfectly, very quickly memorize large amounts of information, which was facilitated by playing music, of course. He leaned slightly forward on the table, resting his chin on his hand, looking at her with interest.
"You're close enough, I'm right, aren't I?"
"And tell you everything."
There is nothing more interesting than the secrets of other people, so he continued to listen to her, tilting his head slightly to the side, waiting for an answer, despite the rather skeptical look.
Marson interpreted this look in her own way and, knitting her brows, irritably remarked.
"You shouldn't hope for my help in this matter. In your case, an invitation can only be knocked out of Nael."
Her gaze softened, and her fingers were already twisting the third napkin.
"I really advise you to make friends with him. Believe me, I've known him for years, despite the ostentatious friendliness and sociability, he's quite lonely... like you..." she bit the tip of her finger. "I have no right to give such advice, but it seems to me that it would benefit both of you."
Marian unconsciously nodded at her words, and then looked straight into her face, listening carefully. He thought about it, and then slowly replied:
"You think he wants to be my friend? Hah... No, definitely a bad idea."
"Why do you say that, it seemed to me otherwise, although we don't know each other at all," Marson chewed her lip. "Why don't you just try?"
"Sorry? Are you serious now?" the young man grimaced.
"Absolutely! You can't give up without even getting down to business!"
"You can, if you know from the very beginning that the business won't work out!"
"And you can think you know!"
Marian's silence expressed a clear doubt in the answer, but, nevertheless, he could not but admit in his heart the truth of the girl's words, so he simply remained silent.
"Oh, that's it! If you don't want to, you don't have to, let's close the topic," Ellie was undoubtedly offended by Marian for his reaction to her attempt to support him. Okay, these inevitable disappointments won't last more than half an hour. That's Ellie's nature.