a girl replied. She took out a notebook, and Nina understood that this girl was the monitor of the group, so Nina came close to register her attendance.
«You’ve missed two days,» the monitor said. «The government gives us free education, so you must not be late or skip school.»
«I was sick,» murmured Nina. «I have a certificate from the doctor.»
«Okay.» The girl made a note. «Just remember in future.» She surveyed Nina and grinned. «You’re Jewish, aren’t you?»
«I’m Russian,» Nina retorted. «You can check my papers.»
«Give me a break.» The girl snorted. «You are too ugly to be a Russian.»
Oh! This hurt Nina more than anything, and she silently went deep into the room and sat down at a free place.
«Don’t mind her.» A plain girl sat next to Nina and sighed. «Just five guys for twenty of us. We have no chance, buddy. But we are here for study, not looking for a man, eh?»
Nina nodded. «Ugly,» she thought with bitterness. «I’m ugly…»
«Victor!» the girls screamed, and Nina looked at the young man just entering. Athletic and tall, he waved to the auditorium, casually sat at his place, and struck a pose.
Nina sighed, watching some of the girls move closer to Victor. But a new guy entered the room and her heart jumped like a frightened bunny. Very slender, this blue-eyed blonde was cute as a cherub. His slightly curly hair emphasized the affection in his tender face. Bashful and shy, he looked like the Little Prince of Saint-Exupery.
«It’s an angel.» Nina only could stare at him. ' How could this creature walk on Earth? He should fly…»
«The right man for an ugly girl,» a mocking voice sounded in her mind, and she thought with vexation: «Who cares about him? What kind of man could he be?»
But her heart did not want to hear her mind.
A technician came into the room. She pulled a wagon carrying a big gas cylinder. Nearing the central table, she tried to put the cylinder on it, and she could not, as it was too heavy. Then the thin «angel» hoisted the cylinder with one of his hands, and put it in its place on the table. A whisper of delight ran over the hall.
«Thank you, Vlad,» the technician said.
«Vlad!» Adoring the sound of his name, Nina exclaimed impulsively. «You are a real noble knight.»
His long gold-colored eyelashes flapped like wings of a butterfly as he glimpsed her.
«He looked at me.» Exited, Nina did not even notice gazes from the other girls.
«It’s her job, tubby, to take care of the equipment!» the monitor girl loudly addressed her, for the second time driving Nina into the puddle of painful shame, as she was always concerned about her weight.
«You deserved it,» Nina said to herself. «You’re stupid! If you are ugly, then sit silently.»
But she could not resist herself.
She tried to catch the attention of this guy, but she could not. A group of girls followed Vlad all day long, in the cafeteria, during the reception, at the next lecture. He did not see her behind those tall blondes, and Nina dared not push someone away, as the others did many times to her.
The only relief for Nina was that Vlad Lapin looked very concentrated on study and was so absorbed that he did not even notice the efforts of those girls.
They accompanied him until he returned after school to the apartment building for male students, where entry of females was prohibited.
«He’s dumb,» the monitor girl said with disappointment. «Third day. I bet he’s gay. Or just sick. I give up. There are other guys here.»
The girls went in different directions.
«Sick?» Nina thought about Vlad. «Gay? No matter, we can be just friends. Oh, God! Just to see him… Just to see.»
At home, Nina stared at her reflection in the mirror, and watched as her mother, Alla, came close. They lived together, alone. Alla divorced a long time ago, and Nina did not even remember her father.
The woman tenderly caressed her daughter’s black ringlets. «How was your first day, honey?»
«Mom, am I ugly?» Nina asked instead of giving an answer.
Alla sighed. «You are beautiful, it’s just that not everybody likes classic beauty. I’m afraid you’ll never find a man who can appreciate you enough.»
She left, but Nina still searched her own face; she was satisfied with her lips only.
«It’s considered that big eyes are beautiful. Lie! I look like a cow!» Nina took sunglasses and put them on, trying to hide her eyes, but now her long nose made her resemble an owl. She threw the glasses away and cried with despair.
«I am ugly,» she thought again. «Nothing can help.»
* * * * *
«God Bless America,» thought Nina, smiling with those memories. «So many women around are stout and black-headed. I’m not a social outcast anymore.»
* * * * *
Jeff Menard finished all the formalities in the local animal shelter and returned to his police cruiser. He got in and hesitated for a while. Deliberately, Jeff turned his computer on and typed: «Vera Grach.»
He gazed at the screen. Married. This word killed all his hope.
«Of course, she should be,» Jeff muttered inaudibly. A bitter pain pricked his heart. «I’m a fool. Such a woman…» And he turned the computer off.
* * * * *
A few days later, as Jeff Menard was driving his police cruiser along the small road behind an apartment building, he saw a vehicle moving in the opposite direction.
He recognized the car of Vera Grach, and he sighed. To his surprise, the car was moving very erratically, and he thought that Vera might be drunk.
However, when the vehicles neared each other, he saw Nina Lapina was driving and Vera was next to her. Jeff understood that Vera was teaching her friend how to drive. The car passed by the police cruiser, and Jeff continued to watch it in the mirror.
A few hundred yards farther down, the road turned. Nina lost control, and the vehicle, still heading straight, left the road and vanished from Jeff’s view into a ditch.
Jeff gasped and whirled his cruiser around.
He reached the place where the accident had happened, got out, and looked down.
He sighed with relief. The slope of the ditch was not steep. The car just stopped, and both the women, safe and sound, were standing near it looking at each other in confusion. They heard the police officer’s arrival and turned toward him.
Vera waved her hand, and Jeff neared.
«Officer,»
