Tamara Mikheeva

Don't betray me!

Don't betray me!

Chapter first

Outsider

– You have two stars, four half-stars, two outsiders in your class; and if there is at least one outsider, then this team cannot be called united, do you understand, Tatyana Viktorovna? It is forbidden. Your class is not easy, there are so many leaders, almost all of them are choleric. Moreover, you need to work on the cohesion and integrity of the class...

Yulka was sitting in the teacher's toilet, pressing her ear to the plywood wall, behind which there was a psychologist's office. The words sounded muffled, but legible. Yulka didn’t eavesdrop on purpose, it just happened: she was embarrassed to go to the student toilet - there weren’t even partitions between the toilets, let alone doors with latches - but it wasn’t difficult to get into the teacher’s room. Even if someone sees it later... in general, it will be too late to make a fuss.

– The test is very simple but effective. Immediately reveals what and how in the classroom. I suggest the following circumstances: imagine that you have a birthday, and your parents allowed you to invite only one person from the class. Only one. The one who gets invited the most is the star. Whom no one chooses, no one will write at all - he is an outsider. Simple but effective.

Yulka remembered this test well. They had a week of psychology then, every day there was testing for a lesson, or even two. It's so boring, boring. But she remembered about her birthday. Because for one short second she hesitated to answer. But, gritting her teeth, she wrote to Anyuta. And then I imagined the birthday I had dreamed of. If only it were possible to invite one person. And he would come. Probably with flowers. With white roses, for example. Or with lilies. Or maybe just with a bouquet of clover to make everything clear. She would open the door for him, and for a whole minute they would stand side by side in the dark corridor. He would hold her by the tips of his fingers and look into her eyes. And then he would smile - his smile...

– There are two stars in your class, with a large gap from the rest. So, now... 8th "B" grade... yeah, here we have stars... Artem Listov.

Yulka’s heart skipped a beat and froze.

“Tell me, tell me, please, Nadezhda Vladimirovna, tell me... I beg you, tell me!”

-...Alice Lappa.

It seemed to Yulka that she was a balloon on a string and suddenly she was pierced, she rushed around the toilet, hitting the ceiling, walls and fell onto the cold tiled floor with an empty, shriveled rag.

- Well, now half stars. These guys scored lower, but are also very popular in the class. So... Volodya Ivanov, Alexey Demin, Nastya Ponomareva, Anna Sych...

- Owl? – Korochka was contemptuously surprised. She probably even shrugged her shoulders. The class teacher of 8 “B”, Tatyana Viktorovna Kovrigina, nicknamed Korochka, did not understand and did not like Anyuta.

- But it’s all just little things. The most important thing, of course, is the outsiders - that's who you need to pay attention to. Tatyana Viktorovna, dear, these are unfortunate children, rejected, isolated, not needed by anyone. That's the problem - you have two of them! Can you guess?

- Mmmm... I don’t even know. Well…

Of course, she doesn’t know anything about them, where should she be! Their class at school is the only one that does not go anywhere with the class teacher: neither to the movies, nor to the base, nor on hikes, nor on excursions. The crust doesn't care about them. She only cares about one thing: that everyone eats during the big break and that the money is donated to the school fund on time.

- Well, maybe Gurevich?

– No, he scored a little... two points, it seems, but still.

- Portnyagin?

- Also two.

- Samoilova? Sumaneeva?

The psychologist must have shook her head, because Korochka said plaintively:

- Well then I’m lost... I can’t even imagine... I know them all, I’ve been teaching them since the fifth grade, I...

- Ozarenok.

Korochka was still babbling something and arguing (“Well, Yulia is so well-mannered, polite, she studies well, reads a lot...” - “No one says that she is bad, but in the class they don’t accept her, she is lonely...”) , but Yulka had already jumped out of the toilet. I only had time to hear that their second outsider was Ganeev. And I wasn’t surprised.

Lessons had long ended, the school was empty and noisy. Yulka helped in the library after school, which is why she stayed late.

Actually, Yulka hasn’t been missing from the library for a long time—she’s grown up. It was in elementary school that she ran there at every break: she sorted out forms, glued books, or simply sat between the shelves and read. She liked that there were so many books around, all different: old, frayed, with frayed crusts and falling out leaves, and new, fresh, strong, smelling of printing ink. She liked arranging books by topic and alphabetically, she liked that she could quickly find any book, they were all like her friends. I also liked that in the school library, as if at home, she could always come, and she was allowed to go to the fund, at the library table, but others were not.

Now there were more interesting things to do, but Yulka continued to be friends with the librarian Oksana Sergeevna and helped if she asked. So today Oksana Sergeevna intercepted her after the sixth lesson:

- Julia, sunshine, help! They brought so many books, I need to take everything in, it hasn’t been sorted out for the whole day, and tomorrow I have six lessons in a row...

Of course, Yulka stayed. She helped drag books from the car at the porch to the library, put those that were handed out today in their places, looked at the new releases, alphabetized the forms piled up in a pile, listened to Oksana Sergeevna tell her how “smart” and “sunny” she was and what Oksana Sergeevna would I did it without her, and then, before leaving school, I popped into the toilet.

It would be better if she went home straight away! I wish I hadn't heard all this! Sweetheart and Listovsky, that means they have stars in their class, and she and Ganeev... Ganeev! The gloomy, ugly, psychotic loser Ganeev was, of course, an outsider, everyone shied away from him. The only good thing about him was that his eyelashes, black, long, curved, as if made up, made all the girls jealous.

But she – Yulka Ozarenok – and suddenly an outsider? There was something to surprise Korochka! After all, Yulka is not even a quiet person, she takes part in all the holidays, comes up with ideas, she has a lot of friends (!), all the girls share secrets with her and ask for advice. And suddenly - an outsider? The word is so creepy. Like a sentence. Without the right of pardon. And no one will ever know about this, because the test results are not disclosed, only the class members are told to take measures to “unite the team.”

You live and live, and everything seems to be normal, and suddenly it sounds like a death sentence. Verdict without right of appeal: OUTSIDER! How does this happen: an ordinary girl with many friends becomes an outsider??? And now what i can do? How to live further? Who to communicate with if everything is EVERYTHING!!! - you weren’t chosen during testing??? Answers can only be found by moving on with life. Talking, going on a hike, dancing, discovering new facets in the characters of classmates and relatives.

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Ladder of Success: The Secret Formula for Turning Lagging Students into Achievers

Don’t give up on students who are lagging behind. Apply the right approach to them! This is your main task as a teacher. Let's start with simple recommendations, and then move on to the main formula.

Five as an absolute?

For struggling students, an A is an unattainable peak. Who wants to try if it is known in advance that success is unattainable? That's why you can't measure everyone with the same ruler. Let “four with a minus” become the same holiday as “five”. This does not mean that you need to lower your requirements. This means that learning should bring satisfaction to everyone, not just those who got an “A.”

Clear goal

Studying is not a thing in itself. We study at school not for the sake of A's, but for the sake of knowledge, and knowledge has a specific applied aspect. Underachieving students often do not understand what they are doing at school and why they need to study. Help them find their path to a goal where each new step is an opportunity to celebrate their achievements, consider next steps and set themselves up for success.

It sounds obvious, but try asking students a simple question: “Why are you in school?”

Encouraging progress - the engine of progress

By rewarding even small achievements, you encourage academic achievement. Your main goal is to ensure that the student becomes his own teacher and mentor. Low self-esteem is the main enemy of success, and the joy of small victories is the path to big victories.

Ladder of success

What is the “ladder of success”? This is a strategy. It makes it possible to set global goals and achieve them.

How it works?

1. The student draws a ladder with a long-term goal at the top (top goal).

2. One step below, the student indicates the goal that precedes the top goal.

3. Moving down the ladder, the student creates a plan to achieve the top goal. Ultimately, getting to what needs to be done this week (or today) to get closer to the top goal.

Looks simple, doesn't it?

What does this give?

1.Development of determination

The realization that any global goal consists of simple steps along the way to it develops determination and allows you to focus on the path to simple intermediate goals, without dissipating energy under the yoke of the “overwhelmingness” of the main goal.

2. Dopamine stimulation

The hormone dopamine gives a feeling of joy and success. It stands out when a person achieves a goal and stimulates the achievement of new successes. The long and difficult path to a big goal may be overwhelming, but the movement from one success to another, where at the end of the path there is a natural culmination, is within everyone’s strength.

3. Connection with reality

When a goal is broken down into several steps, it becomes clear what works and what doesn't. This is how the success strategy becomes flexible and easily adapts to circumstances.

Summary

The “Ladder of Success” formula is the key to improving academic performance. Examples of academic top goals: “finish the quarter without failing,” “learn to write without mistakes,” etc. When working using this method, lagging students need the help of a teacher. Check the progress of the stairs every week. Remember that productive work with a teacher is no less stimulating than success itself.

Sometimes intermediate goals include sub-goals. The teacher can help in their creation and implementation. Use your imagination to adapt this technique for each student, as well as patience and perseverance. The results won't take long to arrive!

http://multiurok.ru/vavem/blog/add/

Outsider is a scary word that makes you ache in the pit of your stomach, meaning that you are alone and no one needs you. Yulia Ozarenok found out that she was an outsider by chance, after hearing a snippet of conversation between the class teacher and the school psychologist. This is where her misfortunes began.

"Don't betray me!" – the story is realistic, and Yulia will have to figure everything out on her own – no magic will help here. Perhaps only the magic of true love and friendship.

Tamara Mikheeva
Don't betray me!

Don't betray me!

Chapter first
Outsider

– You have two stars, four half-stars, two outsiders in your class; and if there is at least one outsider, then this team cannot be called united, do you understand, Tatyana Viktorovna? It is forbidden. Your class is not easy, there are so many leaders, almost all of them are choleric. Moreover, you need to work on the cohesion and integrity of the class...

Yulka was sitting in the teacher's toilet, pressing her ear to the plywood wall, behind which there was a psychologist's office. The words sounded muffled, but legible. Yulka didn’t eavesdrop on purpose, it just happened: she was embarrassed to go to the student toilet - there weren’t even partitions between the toilets, let alone doors with latches - but it wasn’t difficult to get into the teacher’s room. Even if someone sees it later... in general, it will be too late to make a fuss.

– The test is very simple but effective. Immediately reveals what and how in the classroom. I suggest the following circumstances: imagine that you have a birthday, and your parents allowed you to invite only one person from the class. Only one. The one who gets invited the most is the star. Whom no one chooses, no one will write at all - he is an outsider. Simple but effective.

Yulka remembered this test well. They had a week of psychology then, every day there was testing for a lesson, or even two. It's so boring, boring. But she remembered about her birthday. Because for one short second she hesitated to answer. But, gritting her teeth, she wrote to Anyuta. And then I imagined the birthday I had dreamed of. If only it were possible to invite one person. And he would come. Probably with flowers. With white roses, for example. Or with lilies. Or maybe just with a bouquet of clover to make everything clear. She would open the door for him, and for a whole minute they would stand side by side in the dark corridor. He would hold her by the tips of his fingers and look into her eyes. And then he would smile - his smile...

– There are two stars in your class, with a large gap from the rest. So, now... 8th "B" grade... yeah, here we have stars... Artyom Listov.

Yulka’s heart skipped a beat and froze.

“Tell me, tell me, please, Nadezhda Vladimirovna, tell me... I beg you, tell me!”

-...Alice Lappa.

It seemed to Yulka that she was a balloon on a string and suddenly she was pierced, she rushed around the toilet, hitting the ceiling, walls and fell onto the cold tiled floor with an empty, shriveled rag.

- Well, now half stars. These guys scored lower, but are also very popular in the class. So... Volodya Ivanov, Alexey Demin, Nastya Ponomareva, Anna Sych...

- Owl? – Korochka was contemptuously surprised. She probably even shrugged her shoulders. The class teacher of 8 "B", Tatyana Viktorovna Kovrigina, nicknamed Korochka, did not understand and did not like Anyuta.

- But it’s all just little things. The most important thing, of course, is the outsiders - that's who you need to pay attention to. Tatyana Viktorovna, dear, these are unfortunate children, rejected, isolated, not needed by anyone. That's the problem - you have two of them! Can you guess?

- Mmmm... I don’t even know. Well…

Of course, she doesn’t know anything about them, where should she be! Their class at school is the only one that does not go anywhere with the class teacher: neither to the movies, nor to the base, nor on hikes, nor on excursions. The crust doesn't care about them. She only cares about one thing: that everyone eats during the big break and that the money is donated to the school fund on time.

- Well, maybe Gurevich?

– No, he scored a little... two points, it seems, but still.

- Portnyagin?

- Also two.

- Samoilova? Sumaneeva?

The psychologist must have shook her head, because Korochka said plaintively:

- Well then I’m lost... I can’t even imagine... I know them all, I’ve been teaching them since the fifth grade, I...

- Ozarenok.

Korochka was still babbling something and arguing (“Well, Yulia is so well-mannered, polite, she studies well, reads a lot...” - “No one says that she is bad, but in the class they don’t accept her, she is lonely...”) , but Yulka had already jumped out of the toilet. I just had time to hear that their second outsider was Ganeev. And I wasn’t surprised.

Lessons had long ended, the school was empty and noisy. Yulka helped in the library after school, which is why she stayed late.

Actually, Yulka hasn’t been missing from the library for a long time—she’s grown up. It was in elementary school that she ran there at every break: she sorted out forms, glued books, or simply sat between the shelves and read. She liked that there were so many books around, all different: old, frayed, with frayed crusts and falling out leaves, and new, fresh, strong, smelling of printing ink. She liked arranging books by topic and alphabetically, she liked that she could quickly find any book, they were all like her friends. I also liked that in the school library, as if at home, she could always come, and she was allowed to go to the fund, at the library table, but others were not.

Now there were more interesting things to do, but Yulka continued to be friends with the librarian Oksana Sergeevna and helped if she asked. So today Oksana Sergeevna intercepted her after the sixth lesson:

- Julia, sunshine, help! They brought so many books, I need to take everything in, it hasn’t been sorted out for the whole day, and tomorrow I have six lessons in a row...

Of course, Yulka stayed. She helped drag books from the car at the porch to the library, put those that were handed out today in their places, looked at the new releases, alphabetized the forms piled up in a pile, listened to Oksana Sergeevna tell her how “smart” and “sunny” she was and what Oksana Sergeevna would I did it without her, and then, before leaving school, I popped into the toilet.

It would be better if she went home straight away! I wish I hadn't heard all this! Sweetheart and Listovsky, that means they have stars in their class, and she and Ganeev... Ganeev! The gloomy, ugly, psychotic loser Ganeev was, of course, an outsider, everyone shied away from him. The only good thing about him was that his eyelashes, black, long, curved, as if made up, made all the girls jealous.

But she – Yulka Ozarenok – and suddenly an outsider? There was something to surprise Korochka! After all, Yulka is not even a quiet person, she takes part in all the holidays, comes up with ideas, she has a lot of friends (!), all the girls share secrets with her and ask for advice. And suddenly - an outsider? The word is so creepy. Like a sentence. Without the right of pardon. And no one will ever know about this, because the test results are not disclosed, only the class members are told to take measures to “unite the team.”

“And it’s good that they won’t find out,” thought Yulka, not even because of herself, but because of Sweetie. And so the star couldn’t be brighter.

Yulka walked and remembered. When and which of her classmates had her birthday? It turned out that all the girls had, well, except for Samoilova and Sumaneeva, but they are known fools, Yulka herself would not have gone to them. So, everyone invited her just like that? For company? Yulka always had normal relationships with everyone. With Varya Yakupova, for example. They could even have become very close friends if Varya had not been so busy: she studied at the Olympic reserve school and spent all her free time training.

Well, of course, it happens, sometimes Yulka gets into trouble with Lapochka or with her eternal singer Svetka Marfushina, but who hasn’t got in trouble with them even once? Sweetheart has such a character that it’s simply impossible not to get along, but half the class wanted to invite her to her birthday, just her and no one else! And Yulka is nobody. No one. Even Anyuta.

Chapter two
Anyuta

Anyuta was ugly. All sort of awkward, clumsy, tall, red-haired, with a potato nose. In elementary school she was teased as Giraffe. She did not eat meat, she tinted her already red hair with henna so that it glowed in the sun, cut her hair short like a boy, wore multi-colored baubles, and embroidered all her jeans with bright flowers and mythical animals. The teachers didn't like her. For indifference and complete fearlessness.

My parents didn’t understand Anyuta either. They were simple people, all these Pansies’ “troubles” irritated them.

- Don't disgrace me! Take off those bling! Everyone’s children are like children, but this one... Anna, you’re a girl! Aren't you ashamed yourself? I wish I could wear a skirt at least once a year!

Anyuta put on headphones with rock blaring in them and pretended not to hear.

Current page: 1 (book has 7 pages in total) [available reading passage: 2 pages]

Tamara Mikheeva
Don't betray me!

Don't betray me!

Chapter first
Outsider

– You have two stars, four half-stars, two outsiders in your class; and if there is at least one outsider 1
An outsider is a member of a group who has views and behavior patterns that deviate from accepted group norms, due to which he is excluded from the normal course of intergroup interactions.

This team cannot be called united, do you understand, Tatyana Viktorovna? It is forbidden. Your class is not easy, there are so many leaders, almost all of them are choleric. Moreover, you need to work on the cohesion and integrity of the class...

Yulka was sitting in the teacher's toilet, pressing her ear to the plywood wall, behind which there was a psychologist's office. The words sounded muffled, but legible. Yulka didn’t eavesdrop on purpose, it just happened: she was embarrassed to go to the student toilet - there weren’t even partitions between the toilets, let alone doors with latches - but it wasn’t difficult to get into the teacher’s room. Even if someone sees it later... in general, it will be too late to make a fuss.

– The test is very simple but effective. Immediately reveals what and how in the classroom. I suggest the following circumstances: imagine that you have a birthday, and your parents allowed you to invite only one person from the class. Only one. The one who gets invited the most is the star. Whom no one chooses, no one will write at all - he is an outsider. Simple but effective.

Yulka remembered this test well. They had a week of psychology then, every day there was testing for a lesson, or even two. It's so boring, boring. But she remembered about her birthday. Because for one short second she hesitated to answer. But, gritting her teeth, she wrote to Anyuta. And then I imagined the birthday I had dreamed of. If only it were possible to invite one person. And he would come. Probably with flowers. With white roses, for example. Or with lilies. Or maybe just with a bouquet of clover to make everything clear. She would open the door for him, and for a whole minute they would stand side by side in the dark corridor. He would hold her by the tips of his fingers and look into her eyes. And then he would smile - his smile...

– There are two stars in your class, with a large gap from the rest. So, now... 8th "B" grade... yeah, here we have stars... Artem Listov.

Yulka’s heart skipped a beat and froze.

“Tell me, tell me, please, Nadezhda Vladimirovna, tell me... I beg you, tell me!”

-...Alice Lappa.

It seemed to Yulka that she was a balloon on a string and suddenly she was pierced, she rushed around the toilet, hitting the ceiling, walls and fell onto the cold tiled floor with an empty, shriveled rag.

- Well, now half stars. These guys scored lower, but are also very popular in the class. So... Volodya Ivanov, Alexey Demin, Nastya Ponomareva, Anna Sych...

- Owl? – Korochka was contemptuously surprised. She probably even shrugged her shoulders. The class teacher of 8 “B”, Tatyana Viktorovna Kovrigina, nicknamed Korochka, did not understand and did not like Anyuta.

- But it’s all just little things. The most important thing, of course, is the outsiders - that's who you need to pay attention to. Tatyana Viktorovna, dear, these are unfortunate children, rejected, isolated, not needed by anyone. That's the problem - you have two of them! Can you guess?

- Mmmm... I don’t even know. Well…

Of course, she doesn’t know anything about them, where should she be! Their class at school is the only one that does not go anywhere with the class teacher: neither to the movies, nor to the base, nor on hikes, nor on excursions. The crust doesn't care about them. She only cares about one thing: that everyone eats during the big break and that the money is donated to the school fund on time.

- Well, maybe Gurevich?

– No, he scored a little... two points, it seems, but still.

- Portnyagin?

- Also two.

- Samoilova? Sumaneeva?

The psychologist must have shook her head, because Korochka said plaintively:

- Well then I’m lost... I can’t even imagine... I know them all, I’ve been teaching them since the fifth grade, I...

- Ozarenok.

Korochka was still babbling something and arguing (“Well, Yulia is so well-mannered, polite, she studies well, reads a lot...” - “No one says that she is bad, but in the class they don’t accept her, she is lonely...”) , but Yulka had already jumped out of the toilet. I only had time to hear that their second outsider was Ganeev. And I wasn’t surprised.

Lessons had long ended, the school was empty and noisy. Yulka helped in the library after school, which is why she stayed late.

Actually, Yulka hasn’t been missing from the library for a long time—she’s grown up. It was in elementary school that she ran there at every break: she sorted out forms, glued books, or simply sat between the shelves and read. She liked that there were so many books around, all different: old, frayed, with frayed crusts and falling out leaves, and new, fresh, strong, smelling of printing ink. She liked arranging books by topic and alphabetically, she liked that she could quickly find any book, they were all like her friends. I also liked that in the school library, as if at home, she could always come, and she was allowed to go to the fund, at the library table, but others were not.

Now there were more interesting things to do, but Yulka continued to be friends with the librarian Oksana Sergeevna and helped if she asked. So today Oksana Sergeevna intercepted her after the sixth lesson:

- Julia, sunshine, help! They brought so many books, I need to take everything in, it hasn’t been sorted out for the whole day, and tomorrow I have six lessons in a row...

Of course, Yulka stayed. She helped drag books from the car at the porch to the library, put those that were handed out today in their places, looked at the new releases, alphabetized the forms piled up in a pile, listened to Oksana Sergeevna tell her how “smart” and “sunny” she was and what Oksana Sergeevna would I did it without her, and then, before leaving school, I popped into the toilet.

It would be better if she went home straight away! I wish I hadn't heard all this! Sweetheart and Listovsky, that means they have stars in their class, and she and Ganeev... Ganeev! The gloomy, ugly, psychotic loser Ganeev was, of course, an outsider, everyone shied away from him. The only good thing about him was that his eyelashes, black, long, curved, as if made up, made all the girls jealous.

But she – Yulka Ozarenok – and suddenly an outsider? There was something to surprise Korochka! After all, Yulka is not even a quiet person, she takes part in all the holidays, comes up with ideas, she has a lot of friends (!), all the girls share secrets with her and ask for advice. And suddenly - an outsider? The word is so creepy. Like a sentence. Without the right of pardon. And no one will ever know about this, because the test results are not disclosed, only the class members are told to take measures to “unite the team.”

“And it’s good that they won’t find out,” thought Yulka, not even because of herself, but because of Sweetie. And so the star couldn’t be brighter.

Yulka walked and remembered. When and which of her classmates had her birthday? It turned out that all the girls had, well, except for Samoilova and Sumaneeva, but they are known fools, Yulka herself would not have gone to them. So, everyone invited her just like that? For company? Yulka always had normal relationships with everyone. With Varya Yakupova, for example. They could even have become very close friends if Varya had not been so busy: she studied at the Olympic reserve school and spent all her free time training.

Well, of course, it happens, sometimes Yulka gets into trouble with Lapochka or with her eternal singer Svetka Marfushina, but who hasn’t got in trouble with them even once? Sweetheart has such a character that it’s simply impossible not to get along, but half the class wanted to invite her to her birthday, just her and no one else! And Yulka is nobody. No one. Even Anyuta.

Chapter two
Anyuta

Anyuta was ugly. All sort of awkward, clumsy, tall, red-haired, with a potato nose. In elementary school she was teased as Giraffe. She did not eat meat, she tinted her already red hair with henna so that it glowed in the sun, cut her hair short like a boy, wore multi-colored baubles, and embroidered all her jeans with bright flowers and mythical animals. The teachers didn't like her. For indifference and complete fearlessness.

My parents didn’t understand Anyuta either. They were simple people, all these Pansy’s “troubles” irritated them.

- Don't disgrace me! Take off those bling! Everyone’s children are like children, but this one... Anna, you’re a girl! Aren't you ashamed yourself? I wish I could wear a skirt at least once a year!

Anyuta put on headphones with rock blaring in them and pretended not to hear.

But Anyuta had a brother, Zhenya. Oh, what a brother he was! Yes, Yulka would give everything in the world for such a brother without a second thought! He studied at “university” in distant Moscow, wore long hair pulled back into a ponytail, played the guitar and hitchhiked across the country every summer. One day he took Anyuta with him, although he told his parents that they were going to a student camp. With her brother and his friends, Anyuta hitchhiked to Lake Baikal. Along the way, she cut off her thick braids, pierced her ears, embroidered her first jeans with flowers and dragons, acquired ten baubles and stopped responding to “Anya.” When, after this journey, Anyuta came to school on September 1, she was a completely different person. A harp in a leather case hung around her neck, and during recess, standing at the window, Anyuta extracted monotonous melancholy sounds from it.

Yulka liked this Anyuta much more. What is there! Yulka was ready to follow such Anyuta on her heels and listen about her adventures without ceasing. The class giggled at both Yulka and Anyuta, so it was doubly pleasant to be friends.

“They are fools,” Anyuta said lazily and indifferently about her classmates.

“And fools,” agreed Yulka.

They laughed at Yulka in class even more than at Anyuta. And why is unclear. Although, of course, if it weren’t for Maxik Gurevich, nothing would have happened. It all started in second grade, when Yulka came up with a Georgian great-grandfather for herself.

One day Yulka was walking home from school and was sad. Just like that, for no reason. Thoughts flowed slowly and sadly. At a traffic light, a gray-haired old man approached her and suddenly spoke. Not in Russian. Yulka opened her eyes. The old man was handsome, with a hooked nose, with a face carved with deep wrinkles and piercing black eyes. Yulka had only seen such old people in books before.

“Sorry,” she said, “I don’t understand.”

The old man spoke again. Yulka even felt hot. Maybe she got sick and stopped understanding human language? The words flowed like water from a high-raised jug onto the stones. There were so many sounds “g”, “x”, “r” in them, as if it was not a person who was speaking, but mountains. And Yulka listened until the old man fell silent questioningly.

“I don’t understand,” Yulka repeated plaintively. - I only understand Russian!

“Wai...” the old man exhaled condemningly. - Ashamed. It's a shame not to know your native language.

– I know my native language! – Yulka, who had an A in Russian, was indignant. - I'm Russian!

“Russian...” the old man sighed again. – You can’t hide Georgian eyes. They shine from afar.

And left. Yulka was indignant to herself. Then I thought about it. When I got home, I looked in the mirror for a long time. I was looking for something Georgian in my eyes. Well, dark. But not so much. Yulka's eyes are the color of strong tea. Uncle Lyosha even sings to her: “These eyes are opposite the color of tea-a-a-ta...”. Well, the eyelashes are black and long, no worse than Ganeev’s, even longer; They once measured it with the whole class: Yulka’s thick fluffy eyelashes can withstand three matches, but Ganeev’s only two. So what? But the old man’s words, sad and proud, sank into Yulka’s soul.

And then Yulka sorted through old photographs and among them found one: the old man in the overcoat looked very much like the one from the street!

- Ma-aaa-aam! Who is this?!

- Why are you screaming like there’s a fire? This is... oh, this is my grandfather. Innocent, he was a military man, died in the war.

Everything was coming together. Yulka's ancestors undoubtedly lived in Georgia. In her imagination, her great-grandfather was a real hero. He was a scout, went into hiding, lived incognito in their city and died heroically at the hands of spies and traitors. Eight-year-old Yulka believed in this unconditionally. And of course, she immediately told the class about everything. It was so romantic! They believed in Yulka and were a little jealous; no one else had such a legendary great-grandfather. Until Maksik Gurevich went to Yulka’s mother and asked to tell her about her hero grandfather. He, they say, Maksik, is preparing a report for class. Mom couldn’t understand what they were talking about, and honestly said that Yulka had made it all up. Yulka was laughed at. And Maksik still addresses her only as: “Vai, Ozarenok.”

This was in the second grade, now they are already in the eighth, so many years have passed, and he is still... And if it weren’t for Maksik, everyone would have forgotten everything long ago, you never know who comes up with things about themselves in childhood. But Maxik won’t let anyone forget, that’s for sure. And Yulka hates him. She hates his gray eyes, his sharp, freckled nose, his bony hands and his nasty, cracked voice. And he pretends not to notice him. Because if you react to Maxik, it will be even worse. Maksik is under the highest patronage of Her Highness Sweetheart.

“She makes me sick,” Anyuta said through clenched teeth, watching Alisa Lappa, nicknamed Sweetie, languidly close her eyes while talking to tenth-grader Mitya Vershinin.

Yulka grinned.

- Well, is she beautiful? – Yulka asked Anyuta when they once again discussed Sweetie.

“No,” Anyuta shrugged. - And he learns just like that. I’ll tell you more, I myself heard guys say that she annoys them.

- Why do they dance to her tune? Anyut, why?

- How do I know? Degenerates, I'm telling you! Listen, our peers - they are generally behind in development, they are still kindergarteners, you understand? And the psychology of a kindergartener... - but then Anyuta noticed Yulka’s unhappy face and delicately moved on to another topic. Anyuta was good. She was the only one who understood Yulka. She alone knew her secret and did not despise her for it.

“But she also invited someone else to her birthday. She chose someone else out of everyone, not me. Maybe even Sweetheart,” Yulka thought and thought on the way home. The thought of Sweetie even made Yulka feel nauseous, but then the phone vibrated, and she reluctantly reached into her bag - she didn’t want to talk.

- Hello, monster! Where are you anyway? Won't you come to your dying friend?

- People don’t die from colds.

“But simply out of boredom,” Anyuta laughed. - Why are you so sad? Will you come?

Yulka hesitated for just one second. She would never dare to ask Anyuta directly. It's somehow humiliating and embarrassing. And to sit and talk about trifles when that’s what’s in your heart...

- I... no, Anyut, I can’t do it today. Oksana Sergeevna asked me to help with the books, I’ve been sitting here for three hours sorting them out.

I’ll call you later from the city center, okay? Don't die, come on!

Yulka put away the phone and walked faster. It’s good for Anyuta to say that her classmates are behind in their development! Anyuta herself has been hopelessly in love with her brother’s friend for two years now, all you hear from her is “my Igor, my Igor.” And Yulka doesn’t understand at all how you can love someone who lives far away, is six years older than you, and even recently got married!

Yulka was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t realize that she was walking past Anyuta’s house. And Anyuta stood at the window at that time, wrapped in a checkered woolen scarf, and watched as her best friend walked past and calmly lied to her that she was in the library. Lies straight to your face. That is, he is lying to his ears.

Anyuta narrowed her eyes and realized that this was a betrayal.

Chapter Three
A month ago

At home, Yulka tiredly flopped onto her bed. Nastya brought her mother by her skirt, pointed her finger at Yulia, and said:

“Yulia, Julia came, Julia was tired, she was at school, studying,” mother cooed. -Why are you so gloomy? – she asked Yulka in a business-like manner.

Yulka shrugged.

- So... you said it yourself - I’m tired.

Of course, I could have told my mother. But Yulka didn’t. Mom will definitely ask: “Well, maybe you yourself are to blame for something, Yulia? Maybe you're behaving incorrectly somehow? Or are you being arrogant?

Mom was most afraid that Yulka would suddenly become arrogant.

Mom works at city radio. When Yulka was in second grade, she hosted the “Bookshelf” program with her mother and talked about her favorite books. And once they even staged a small radio play. Listovsky took part in it together with Yulka. For some reason, since then, my mother has been very afraid that Yulka will have questions and grow up arrogant. Why should she wonder? The program lasted only a year, then it was closed because there was no money for children’s programs, and so all of Yulka’s fame ended. She no longer remembered this. Almost. Only my mother is still worried.

Little sister climbed onto Yulka’s lap, patted her cheeks, pulled her hair, and hugged her neck. Mom went into the kitchen, and Yulka could no longer hold back, tears flowed from her eyes. Why? Well, why is everything like this? She didn't do anything bad to anyone! Why is she considered an outsider?

Yulka began to remember the past school month. Nothing even happened, no conflicts! Well, maybe at the Spartakiad... Yulka sighed: it was in vain that she then got into a fight with Sweetheart and Sofia.

Every year at the beginning of September the school held a big “Sports Against Drugs” celebration. This was the most important and favorite event in the first half of the year. Firstly, classes were cancelled. Secondly, all classes, from the first to the eleventh, gathered at a large stadium, which was located on the border of the city and the forest; the road to it was a whole event, especially for kids.

Yulka was not an athlete, but she loved the Spartakiad. You could fool around, cheer for your own people, straining your throat, and feel that everyone was together, at the same time. She herself did not participate in any stage of the competition: she could not run fast, nor could she long jump, nor could she do pull-ups or push-ups. But everyone without exception had to participate in the cross-country race, the main event of the Spartakiad. An asphalt road of five kilometers stretched from the stadium to the village of Matyushino, sometimes uphill, sometimes downhill, and was divided by the organizers into kilometers. If you run one kilometer, you can check in at the checkpoint and run back; your class will count two kilometers (one there and one back). If you still have strength, run further to the next checkpoint. Starting last year, the boys of the Yulka parallel considered it shameful not to reach Matyushino. Bringing ten kilometers to your native class is a matter of honor.

Yulka had never run the top ten, but any test where she could test her endurance seemed important to her. Therefore, this year she and Anyuta decided that they would run to the end, and began to encourage the whole class to do so.

- Abnormal, or what? – said Nastya Ponomareva. – Have you forgotten what mountain there is?

“Well, let’s get in little by little,” Yulka persuaded. “We’re not running for a while, the main thing is to run the top ten.”

“If the whole class runs, we’ll immediately come out on top,” said Varya Yakupova, the school’s best athlete, thoughtfully.

“I definitely won’t run,” Alena Dyatlova sighed. “I can’t even run alone.”

“Well, if you run alone anyway, they’ll force everyone.” On foot, but you have to walk.

- Well, one is not ten...

“I’m not going to puff up the mountain either,” Sofia snorted. - There is nothing more to do!

- Come on, come on! - Alice suddenly said. – Don’t you understand? “Ashki” will overtake us in jumping, as always, and “Veshki” will beat us in football, there are Vesnov and Kolyada. All hope is for the relay and cross-country! Let's all hit the top ten.

Nobody argued with Sweetie. Even Dyatlov. She just sighed heavily and popped a handful of nuts into her mouth.

After the procession of classes and the grand opening of the Spartakiad, competitions began. An elementary school was frolicking in a separate area, doing long jumps and push-ups and pull-ups; fans with banners and flags zealously supported their own. Passions were boiling on the treadmill.

This year, Yulka was given the opportunity to work out her abs. To be honest, she didn't cope very well. She didn’t even make it into the top ten, and Sofia rolled her eyes: what can we expect from her? But as soon as Yulka got up from the grass and found out the result, a lathered Korochka ran up to her.

- Julia! There, Alice sprained her leg while jumping, so you can run the relay instead of her!

- I?! No, Tatyana Viktorovna, I’m not a good runner! Yes its true! I'll just ruin everything! Just ask Georgiy Georgievich!

Alena Dyatlova, round and plump, sat on the podium and chewed an apple. Alena has been losing weight unsuccessfully for two years now. Every month she tried a new diet, she was constantly hungry and chewed something all the time: apples, nuts, dried apricots.

– Finally, perform for the honor of the class! All the other girls who can run are busy in other stages. Come on, Julia! As you run, you run!

Half the class had already gathered around Yulka and Korochka: the limping Alice with a suffering face, Marfushina supporting her, the relay participants, who were not at all happy that Yulka would run instead of Alice. Sweetie was a born sprinter, and with Yulka they would complete the relay.

- Relay participants! Please gather at the start! The relay starts in two minutes! – was heard throughout the entire stadium.

- Yes, that’s it! Let's start!

- I won't run! – Yulka insisted. - Let someone else, I can’t, I don’t know how to run fast!

“There’s no one else,” Leaf cue suddenly said. “Everyone who knows how is already running.” Come on, Yul, whatever happens.

He said it so well, kindly, and called her by name... everyone even looked at him, it was so unexpected. In general, Yulka gave up. But while they were walking to the start and discussing where to put Yulka, an unpleasant feeling of irreparable failure grew within her. This is how a condemned man goes to execution. He knows that there is no escape and that something terrible is ahead, but he goes anyway.

They blew the whistle.

- Come on, come on! – the stands exploded. - Come on, run!

Taras ran in front of Yulka. He ran great, overtaking everyone by half the distance. Yulka heard Katya Ivlina from the Ashki say:

- Well, that’s it, let’s blow the relay.

“Wait a little longer,” someone answered her, but Yulka couldn’t see who. Taras was inexorably approaching. He handed her the wand clearly and correctly, right into her hand, but Yulka still hesitated for a second. This second was enough for Yurka Kolyada to reduce the gap that Taras achieved at the previous stage. The stands screamed and groaned. Yulka only felt that the stick was smooth, that the sand on the path was binding her legs, that Yurka Kolyada was breathing in her ear, that the end of her stage was soon coming, she would give the stick to... who? To whom? Where is the one to whom she should give this damn smooth stick, which slips from her hand and is about to fall, drown in the sand, and it will be a shame, shame, shame.

- Come on, are you blind?! – Listovsky roared very close by, snatched the wand from her hand and rushed along the path. Yulka tripped and fell. A lump was beating in my throat, like a frightened bird, scratching with its claws, my heart was pounding somewhere in my temples, it was painful and offensive. She ran fine! Not better than everyone else, but okay, only Kolyada overtook her, but he studies at the Olympic reserve school, can you really overtake him? What a fool she was - she didn’t see Listovsky! I couldn’t pass the wand! Yulka buried her face in her knees.

- Ozaryonok! Only you could do that! I ruined everything!

- The whole team worked for you, and you...

- All that remained was to hand over the wand...

- Oh, what are you pumping into her? Useless!

Anyuta sat down on the grass next to Yulka, hugged her shoulders, and said to the others:

- Get away from her. She immediately said that she couldn’t do it.

Korochka ran up. All conversations immediately fell silent.

“Well, you see, you were afraid,” she smiled at Yulka. – It’s not so scary, right?

Yulka looked for Listovsky. He stood to the side, bent over, with his palms on his knees, and still couldn’t catch his breath: Yulka delayed the transmission so much that even Artyom couldn’t make up the time and came second to last.

And then the cross-country began. And everything could be fixed. But Sweetie sprained her leg, not too much, Yulka saw that she was jumping quite briskly around the stands, but, of course, she didn’t run the cross-country race, and after her, everyone else forgot about their agreement to run “top ten.”

“What’s the point now,” said Sweetie, “anyway, because of the relay race, we won’t even get third place... Let’s take a cross-country walk to the first point and okay.”

“On the contrary, we need to run,” Yulka wanted to say this calmly, firmly, but it turned out too hotly, almost with tears. - If we run everything, well, whoever is without injuries, we will have a chance, because we are good in jumping and in volleyball too, and...

- You know? - Sweetie said mockingly. - You should shut up, runner!

Everyone laughed.

- And you! – Yulka suddenly exploded. – I wanted the best! And I didn’t ask for it! You yourself forced me!

- Who forced you, it hurts!

- So run now, since you’re so businesslike!

- And I’ll run!

- Come on, come on! Just don't trip!

Yulka and Anyuta really ran the top ten.

– What if we can’t? – Anyuta asked, out of breath from running.

“If we can’t, we’ll come back,” Yulka answered sternly.

- But are you going to be able to?

- Going to.

They ran slowly, talking, they were overtaken first by the boys from the class, then by the girls. Maksik Gurevich made a sarcastic comment about the relay race, but Yulka noticed with surprise that Listovsky said something to him, and Maksik shut up. It’s a pity that Yulka didn’t hear what exactly it was. Her classmates burst into ridicule, and Yulka just clenched her teeth. Gradually, people dropped out, returned to the stadium, and left the race.

When Yulka and Anyuta were crawling up the mountain beyond which Matyushino began and the last checkpoint stood, their classmates met them again: they had already reached it and were now returning.

“Wow,” Taras and Volodka Ivanov said almost in unison when they saw them, and Listovsky looked at Yulka for a particularly long time, carefully, but she still didn’t understand whether he was angry about the relay race or not.

- Well, now you can do another ten kilometers, right? – Anyuta grinned.

- No, it’s true, Anyut, I don’t know how to run fast, I can only run like this – for a long time. And boring.

- Well, it’s clear, you’re a marathon runner, not a sprinter. Who else would explain this to our chickens? – she sighed.

When Anyuta and Yulka returned to the stadium, they didn’t even have the strength to snap at Sweetie’s jokes. Wearily, they collapsed onto the benches.

“You’ll carry me home,” Anyuta moaned.

- Yeah, someone would have denounced me.

- Oh, well, now our heroes will return and take you anywhere! – Sofia sang right above them. “Here, Ozaryonok, is what you’ve brought our boys to: they ran through the top ten, and before the time ran out, they ran as long as they could, just to cover up your mess in the relay race, to at least somehow correct the situation.”

“So you’ll have to carry them home and you’ll also have to stay,” said Sweetie. - Heroine!

Now, almost a month later, Yulka no longer remembered what exactly she answered to Sofia and Sweetheart, but something very sharp, because they squealed for a long time.

– That’s it, Yulechka, wait for a new boycott. How tired I am of this! – Anyuta lazily commented then.

But there was no boycott. They took second place in the competition. Then Sweetheart fell in love with Vershinin, and she had no time for revenge on some Ozarenok.

Yulka sighed, sat Nastya on the sofa and pulled out the top drawer of the table. There, in a notebook with a brown cover, she had her greatest treasure - a photograph of Listovsky. She took a camera with her to the Spartakiad, but she couldn’t take pictures because of all the chaos. She remembered him when they were about to leave. Then she clicked Artyom secretly. He had just come back from his second cross-country race, he was wet with sweat, tired, disheveled, but still very handsome.

Chapter 1. Outsider

Chapter 2. Anyuta

Chapter 3. A month ago

Chapter 4. The smell of clover, the radio and the skating rink

Chapter 5. Bonding Event

Chapter 6. Complex 8 “B”

Chapter 7. Great stupidity

Chapter 8. I will never forget

Chapter 9. Star and Outsider

Chapter 10. Note

Chapter 11. Doubts

Chapter 12. Wonderful October

Chapter 13. Insomnia in 8 “B”

Chapter 14. Forget Listovsky

Chapter 16. Why are brothers needed?

Chapter 17. Conversations in the staff room

Next stop is the sky!

CHAPTER 1

Outsider

You have two stars, four half-stars, two outsiders in your class; and if there is at least one outsider, then this team cannot be called united, do you understand, Tatyana Viktorovna? It is forbidden. Your class is not easy, there are so many leaders, almost all of them are choleric. Moreover, you need to work on the cohesion and integrity of the class...

Yulka was sitting in the teacher's toilet, pressing her ear to the plywood wall, behind which there was a psychologist's office. The words sounded muffled, but legible. Yulka didn’t eavesdrop on purpose, it just happened: she was embarrassed to go to the student toilet - there weren’t even partitions between the toilets, let alone doors with latches - but it wasn’t difficult to get into the teacher’s toilet. Even if someone sees it later... in general, it will be too late to make a fuss.

The test is very simple but effective. Immediately reveals what and how in the classroom. I suggest the following circumstances: imagine that you have a birthday, and your parents allowed you to invite only one person from the class. Only one. The one who gets invited the most is the star. Whoever no one chooses, not a single person writes at all, is an outsider. Simple but effective.

Yulka remembered this test well. They had a week of psychology then, every day there was testing for a lesson, or even two. It's so boring, boring. But she remembered about her birthday. Because for one short second she hesitated to answer. But, gritting her teeth, she wrote to Anyuta. And then I imagined the birthday I had dreamed of. If only it were possible to invite one person. And he would come. Probably with flowers. With white roses, for example. Or with lilies. Or maybe just with a bouquet of clover to make everything clear. She would open the door for him, and for a whole minute they would stand side by side in the dark corridor. He would hold her by the tips of his fingers and look into her eyes. And then he would smile - his smile...

There are two stars in your class, by a wide margin from the rest. So, now... 8th "B" grade... yeah, here we have stars... Artyom Listovsky.

Yulka’s heart skipped a beat and froze.

“Tell me, tell me, please, Nadezhda Vladimirovna, tell me... I beg you, tell me!”

Alisa Lappa.

It seemed to Yulka that she was a balloon on a string and suddenly she was pierced, she rushed around the toilet, hitting the ceiling, walls and fell onto the cold tiled floor with an empty, shriveled rag.

Well now half stars. These guys scored lower, but are also very popular in the class. So... Volodya Ivanov, Alexey Demin, Nastya Ponomareva, Anna Sych...

Owl? - Korochka was contemptuously surprised. She probably even shrugged her shoulders.

The class teacher of 8 “B”, Tatyana Viktorovna Kovrigina, nicknamed Korochka, did not understand and did not like Anyuta.

But this is all just small things. The most important thing, of course, is the outsiders - that's who you need to pay attention to. Tatyana Viktorovna, dear, these are unfortunate children, rejected, isolated, not needed by anyone. That's the problem - you have two of them! Can you guess?

Mmmm... I don't even know. Well...

Of course, she doesn’t know anything about them, where should she be! Their class at school is the only one that does not go anywhere with the class teacher: neither to the movies, nor to the base, nor on hikes, nor on excursions. The crust doesn't care about them. She only cares about one thing: that everyone eats during the big break and that the money is donated to the school fund on time.

Well, maybe Gurevich?

No, he scored a little... two points, it seems, but still.

Portnyagin?

Also two.

Samoilova? Sumaneeva?

The psychologist must have shook her head, because Korochka said plaintively:

Well then I’m lost... I can’t even imagine... I know them all, I’ve been teaching them since the fifth grade, I...

Ozarenok.

Korochka was still babbling and arguing (“Well, Yulia is so well-mannered, polite, she studies well, reads a lot...” - “No one says that she is bad, but in the class they don’t accept her, she is lonely. ..”), but Yulka had already jumped out of the toilet. I only had time to hear that their second outsider was Taneyev. And I wasn’t surprised.

Lessons had long ended, the school was empty and noisy. Yulka helped in the library after school, which is why she stayed late.

Actually, Yulka hasn’t been missing from the library for a long time - she’s grown up. It was in elementary school that she ran there at every break: she sorted out forms, glued books, or simply sat between the shelves and read. She liked that there were so many books around, all different: old, frayed, with frayed crusts and falling out leaves, and new, fresh, strong, smelling of printing ink. She liked arranging books by topic and alphabetically, she liked that she could quickly find any book, they were all like her friends. I also liked that in the school library, just like at home, she could always come, and she was allowed to go into the fund, at the library table, but others were not.

Now there were more interesting things to do, but Yulka continued to be friends with the librarian Oksana Sergeevna and helped if she asked. So today Oksana Sergeevna intercepted her after the sixth lesson:

Julia, sunshine, help! They brought so many books, I need to take them all in, they haven’t been sorted out for the whole day, and tomorrow I have six lessons in a row.

Of course, Yulka stayed. She helped drag books from the car at the porch to the library, put those that were handed out today in their places, looked at the new releases, alphabetized the forms piled up in a pile, listened to Oksana Sergeevna tell her how “smart” and “sunny” she was and what Oksana Sergeevna would I did it without her, and then, before leaving school, I popped into the toilet.

It would be better if she went home straight away! I wish I hadn't heard all this! Sweetheart and Listovsky, that means they have stars in their class, and she and Taneyev... Taneyev! The gloomy, ugly, psychotic loser Taneyev was, of course, an outsider, everyone shied away from him. The only good thing about him was that his eyelashes, black, long, curved, as if made up, made all the girls jealous.

But she - Yulka Ozarenok - and suddenly an outsider? There was something to surprise Korochka! After all, Yulka is not even a quiet person, she takes part in all the holidays, comes up with ideas, she has a lot of friends (!), all the girls share secrets with her and ask for advice. And suddenly - an outsider? The word is so creepy. Like a sentence. Without the right of pardon. And no one will ever know about this, because the test results are not disclosed, only the class members are told to take measures to “unite the team.”