Pripyat, Winter of 1985-86, New Years:
“S novym schastyem!” The people gathered in the cozy house cheered, danced, and drank, celebrating the new year. The mood was light as a television blasted music from a corner.
Outside, there sat two adolescents on the porch, quietly observing the snow settle on the ground. They paid no heed to celebrating the new year. Between the two, there was an awkward tension. The girl was reserved and sitting timidly on the bench near the door. The boy leaned against the brick wall of the house.
Their families hanged around each other often, along with four other families with children their age. The rest of the guests stayed inside because it was either too cold or they wanted to enjoy the party atmosphere.
“Sounds like they’re having fun.” The boy commented, trying to stir up a conversation with the girl.
“Yeah,” she replied, not meeting eyes with him, but only staring at her shoes. Geez, how do you talk to a brick wall, the boy thought. He semi-rolled his frost blue eyes, and ran his fingers through his light brown hair. A few minutes of silence passed between the two.
The front door suddenly opened, and another girl with dark brown hair stumbled onto the porch, hurriedly closing the door behind her. The other two turned to stare at her in surprise.
“I can’t take this any longer. I’m done with this.” The girl muttered to herself, leaning against the door with relief. After calming down, she looked around her to see the two still staring at her in shock. “Oh. Hello, Zenon and Julie.”
Regaining his composure, the guy apparently named Zenon, replied, “Can’t handle the party atmosphere either, Esfir?” The dark brown haired girl turned to face him, contemplating. It had been a long time since the families had gathered together, and she didn’t know if he discovered anything since that day.
“No, I can’t handle that everything is fake.” Esfir responded. Zenon held her gaze, trying to decipher what she meant. Esfir sighed, turning her head to look at the scenery. “Nevermind. Forget what I said.”
It’s too risky to tell him while we’re here… they’ve probably bugged the place with cameras and wiretaps- or even have wiretaps on us. Anyways, it’s not like I can trust him. For all I know he could be irrational and idiotic, Esfir rationalized. The best thing to do is to meet up with them later and observe their personalities.
“Seriously, what is it? You can’t just say something and bother not to explain it. Just don’t say it at all,” Zenon snapped. Esfir wrinkled her nose, annoyed at his rudeness.
“Are you going through depression? There’s no need to take out your anger at the world on me. I could make it easier for you and hand you my scarf. Better yet, I could take your life myself.”
“Depressed? Kill myself?” The arrogant boy laughed sharply. “You wish. You shouldn’t hate so fast.”
“Hm. Interesting, you avoid the deflecting part on taking out your anger out on me. Besides, don’t turn this back on me. If you want respect, you’ve got to treat others with it, too. Sadly, you apparently don’t understand that.” Zenon scowled, and started opening his mouth to reply.
"Stop it. It’s New Years,” Julie said quietly but sharply. The blue eyed boy had forgotten about her, and was caught off guard. The guy isn’t particularly cognizant, Esfir noted. Zenon huffed, shoved his hands into his pockets, and stormed back inside the house.
