(y/n) wasn't sure of what was to come after she'd been pulled by the hand by a dark haired boy, bolting off into the empty suburban street. all she knew was that she was running, and she was laughing. the streetlights provided an almost magical glow to the boring neighborhood, and there was something in the way that the lanky curly haired russian moved that brought a strange feeling to her stomach, and she couldn't really tell what it was supposed to signify.
"boris!", she cried out between pants and laughs, struggling to catch her breath. she tugged on his hand and stopped for a second, bringing him to a halt. "boris, where are you taking me?"
boris turned around and pushed his black hair to the left side of his eyes, panting like a dog. "magic place. c'mon let's go." he aggressively grabbed her again and began racing down the empty road.
in other cases. (y/n) would have felt more nervous, perhaps even scared. she likely wouldn't have even gone with this boy she rarely even knew. but something in him sparked a curiosity; she was desperate to know more about him. it wasn't only because she found him attractive, though that was a playing factor. he was interesting. the way he managed to talk in ways that could be both silly and childish, yet eloquent. the way he bashed the "capitalistic evils of american society" in mrs. spears' english class hadn't failed to bring a little smile to her face. the way he spoke of thoreau's writings; boris pavlikovsky was so educated and thoughtful that it frustrated her then, sitting in the corner of the classroom, as other kids in the room chided him for his viewpoints and even his accent. they couldn't see how damn brilliant he was. but boris-he didn't seem to care. he demanded to get his point across, and so he did. that confidence he showed, despite all else, had wooed quiet, reserved (y/n) in an unexpected way. she'd always noticed him, always wanted to know him better. only now were they starting to connect.
•_•
(y/n) and boris were standing on a playground, out of breath from their run. it was small and run down, with a few swings and a slide with Dora The Explorer characters peeling off the side. the sand from the desert looked blueish-grey in the late-night, approaching dawn sky. it seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, yet it wasn't too far from the neighborhood they'd emerged sprinting from. "what are we doing here?", (y/n) huffed out, looking up at boris with wide eyes despite the hour.
boris gave her a nonchalant look, and then shrugged. "chat?", he asked, and then sat down next to the slide. he pawed at the sand next to it and pulled out something; a ziploc bag of brownies. (y/n)'s jaw hung and she had to force herself to shut it. she knew that those couldn't have been just your average homemade brownies.
"wanna taste?", boris asked her playfully as he shoved an enormous bite of the crumbly chocolate treat into his mouth. he grimaced. "not very delicious today. little burnt. but hey, i think it will do the trick"
(y/n) bit her lip as she stared into boris' eyes; he looked sort of dazed with a soft smile plastered onto his face. "it's definitely hitting him", she thought to herself.
"i've never..done any drugs either, boris.", she said shakily. "i just...i don't know how I'd feel being out of control like that."
"your choice, printsessa. i would never pressure you. but...maybe you would get to explore a different part of yourself. like meeting a new person, a new part of your brain. maybe that would be nice eh?"
(y/n) stood on a ledge on one of the corners of the small playground, fiddling with her lip anxiously as she eyed the bag of space cakes.
"fuck, okay.", terrified as she was, she still pulled out boris' half eaten brownie and took a tiny bite. "mm..boris it's nice! it tastes good i don't know why you didn't like it."
"man, who fucking enjoys CRISPY brownies? no way, i like them soft.", he called out with a laugh. he was now laying on his back, staring at the stars. "soft, soft, soft."
(y/n) quickly finished her portion and almost instantly, everything felt as if it was floating upwards. boris, the playground, herself. yet also planted on the ground. her head just seemed as if it were ascending.
(y/n) plopped down next to boris on her back and smiled slowly at the sky. everything seemed to slow down; she was aware of what was happening. she knew that she was high. but at the same time, this was all so new to her..was she high? was this what it felt like?
"boris.", her voice didn't sound like her own. it was almost fun to talk. (y/n) felt like she was listening to herself speak in a film. he looked at her and returned the same goofy grin that she gave him, and they both started to laugh slowly and in a way that made their stomachs ache for no reason, eyes crinkling at the utter glee they were feeling. "god this is so cool!", she sputtered between giggles. "we should do something! we should go have fun!"
she jumped up to her feet, and immediately turned bright red when her green skirt flew up, giving boris a brief, but clear view of her black lacy underwear. "shit, sorry." , she mumbled, tucking her hair behind her ears. "i-"
"is okay, (y/l/n)", boris replied as he cocked a half smile. "why the hell would i mind?" (y/n) blushed furiously at his response. "help me up.", he said, putting out a hand for her to grab.
(y/n) smiled and lazily tried pulling him, and failed, as the boy was giving her dead weight. she collapsed down next to him again, sighing.
"where are you from, (y/n)?" , he asked her in a quiet voice.
"oh, um. here. pretty boring. not like you, ha-ha."
"you aren't boring.", he flipped himself over so he was held up by his elbows, staring into her face. "not at all. you are special, i see that."
she smiled again bashfully, scanned his face pensively for a second, and then spoke. "neither are you. what about you, boris...i've always wondered about you." her weed soaked brain seemed to completely disregard all the formalities she usually felt when conversing with people. (y/n) felt relaxed. she was drawing circular shapes with her index finger in front of her face, staring back at boris. "tell me."
"i don't know, (y/n). i'm russian...and ukrainian. i speak both. you can tell. also i speak polish, lived there also."
"why'd you move so much?"
"my father works for a coal company. we had to.", boris laughed again, but there was a flicker of pain in his eyes. "agh, he's a fucking prick, though. my mum died when i was young, and i am stuck with him, you know"
(y/n)'s eyes almost naturally flitted to the mark on boris' cheat; a purplish-reddish bruise. someone had definitely hit him, and her gut told her it was his dad that did it. "i'm sorry boris.", she murmured gently.
"it's ok. really. is fine.", he said quickly, trying to push out any sadness that may have been visible on his face "ha, also i know a little bit of Arabic, i lived in Saudi Arabia. i was even muslim for long time. lived in Indonesia too."
"are you an atheist now?",(y/n) asked openly. she normally would have never asked so freely of someone's religion, but boris felt different to her.
"yeah.", he responded carelessly. "i stopped being muslim because i drank though. that's disrespectful to their religion. better to not be part of it than be bad Muslim, yeah?"
"yeah."
"(y/n)?", he continued. "now your turn."
(y/n) was silent for a few seconds. it was as if her brain froze up. she didn't know what to say about her life.
"i, um.", she started. "well i live with my mom and dad and sister, and it's cool i guess."
boris raised an eyebrow at her. "that's not enough. tell me about your friends, eh? those girls i always see you walking with."
"i have some friends in school..they're nice, it's fine. it's fun. we do dumb shit together like hang out at each others' houses and scroll through Instagram while not actually talking to each other at all." she said with a bitter laugh. "or i listen to them list off who they've fucked recently, or who's fucking who, or who's annoying and who isn't annoying, or who dresses like a hoe or doesn't dress like one." she pauses. "no, god, it's fucking boring."
boris smiles at her. "you aren't like that." (y/n)'s eyes sparkled at him as he spoke. "nah, you are cooler."
"come on you barely know much about me pavlikovsky."
"i know enough already to make my opinion. you are so interesting, so thoughtful. and you feel so lonely even when surrounded by people." (y/n) stared at him in awe, her smile never leaving her face. "i see you in class too, you know, (y/n)? first thing i thought is you were hot, then i thought you looked sad. i don't know why but i want to."
(y/n) snorted at him calling her "hot", but really it made her toes curl and she felt oddly warm. "you're flattering, boris.", she said. "i'm nothing special."
the two sleepy, yet slightly smacked, teens lie on the sandy ground of the playground for a little bit more, staring at the illuminated sky, and the full moon right in the middle. it was beautiful. it was perfect.
but reality hit (y/n) like a train. she jerked up. everything still felt slowed down from the weed, and she panicked. "fuck, how much time has passed?" , she worriedly thought to herself, fumbling around for her phone in the sand.
4:56 am
39 missed calls
"uh, um, boris.", she croaked out, wobbling as she stood up. "i got to go, my parents are going to kill me."
she started to run, but then turned right back around to see boris sitting up and staring right at her.
"boris.", she calls out. "i want to see you again."