The rhythm of your throw

A blow to the very heart
The next day, Kai and Phoebe were animatedly discussing something in class when the conversation suddenly turned to the songs the guy wrote.
“Listen, what if you write a song about basketball?”
“About basketball? Are you serious or just kidding?”
“You’re talking as if I’ve always given you useless advice,” Phoebe said, turning away to the window and watching the basketball players from her school. “Well, for example, if you like Mark so much…”
“What?” No, that's not true, I don't care about him.
How could you......
Phoebe interrupted him and put her hand on his shoulder.
Hush, calm down, what are you so upset about? Am I really right)? - she smiled slyly and looked outside - By the way, Mark is there, - she pointed with her gaze at the window, and Kai hurriedly turned around.
"Where?" - then he noticed that his girlfriend was laughing, and felt the heat on his face - very funny
“Come on, you yourself said you didn’t care about him.”
At that moment, the teacher interrupted their conversation.
“Guys, please give me a minute of your attention.”
Kai turned around and saw a guy next to him who looked like Mark.
“thanks. In any case, there will be a basketball game in the next lesson. I would like the whole class to come.”
Kai listened to the guy attentively, but his ears were burning, and he decided to cover them with his hair and turned away before Phoebe started joking.
"Why are you so nervous? Look at your lover," she whispered to Kai, burning his skin with her breath.
“Shut up, for God’s sake, just shut up,” Mark said and left, but after that, everything turned upside down for Kai.
In the next lesson, Phoebe and Kai were sitting in the stands with the class. Kai was trying to catch Mark’s eye, holding a notebook and a pen on his lap and at the same time adjusting his hair.
“Calm down, Kai, you’re acting like you’re not at a match, but on a date.”
“Just shut up already,” Kai found Mark’s gaze and stared at him.
“Maybe you should try to befriend him?” “What if you don’t like talking to him?”
“I… I don’t know. What if I actually do like him?” — Kai tucked a few stray strands of hair behind his ears.
Without taking his eyes off Mark, he said: “He’s so handsome, and for some reason I think he’s a good conversationalist.”
“Oh my God, this is going to take a while.”
The match continued as usual. Kai tried to come up with lyrics for the song, but it was impossible because of the noise. When everything quieted down and the match was coming to an end, Kai was already about to leave, but Phoebe suddenly stopped him.
“Where are you going?” “Have you forgotten your promise?”
“Ah… I just thought maybe you’re right and we shouldn’t be friends with him.”
“Listen, how many times have you listened to me in your life? That’s right, so what’s stopping you from listening to me now?”
“I…” I don't know.
At that moment, Mark was walking behind them, and Phoebe nudged Kai in his direction.
“Go on,” she whispered, and left the hall.
“Hi, listen, you probably don’t remember me, but…”
“Wait, aren’t you the guy from that office?”
“He remembered me?”
“Yes, it’s me. I wanted to thank you for saving me.”
“Oh, come on, I didn’t even save you.” The guy extended his hand. “My name is Mark.”
Kai extended his hand in response. “And I’m Kai… Kai Stone.”
“Nice to meet you.” Mark turned away and started gathering his things, preparing to leave.
“Did you talk to Phoebe?” Kai asked sharply, trying to stop him.
“Phoebe?” Phoebe Brooks?
- Yes, that’s her; you and she seemed to be preparing for a performance or some kind of event.
- Oh yes, that’s right, you know each other?
“Yes, we’ve been friends since childhood,” he paused and replayed the guy’s words in his head. “You have such a beautiful accent — you’re not American, are you?” Kai left the hall with Mark, almost forgetting his bag.
“Well, yes, I’m Russian — Mark Avdeev.”
“Strange surname, of course,” Kai thought, keeping his distance. “So why are you in the USA then?”
“Yes, we moved here five years ago because of my mom’s job.” At first, we just wanted to live here for a while, but then we kind of got used to it.
— Wow, listen, is it really true that it’s almost always cold there and winter is long?
Mark just laughed, which made Kai feel awkward, and then Mark put his arm around his shoulders.
— That’s just amazing, that’s the tenth question this year. No, we have many cities where it almost never gets cold.
— Oh… sorry, I was just curious.
— It’s nothing, I’m used to it. Tell me more about these myths, and I’ll explain everything.
— Actually, I don’t know much. I wasn’t really interested in Russian culture — it’s too hard to write songs about it.
— You write songs? Wow, I didn’t expect that from you. Listen, what do you play? Who inspires you? Do you have a favorite genre?
Kai was taken aback by such a barrage of questions, but, on the other hand, no one had ever asked him about music like this before, and something painful yet pleasant pricked at his chest.
“Sorry, I just heard what instrument you play — the guitar.”
“Oh, do you have any songs?”
Sparkles flashed in Mark’s eyes. It seemed that he was very interested in Kai’s answers about music. The guy smiled foolishly and continued answering Mark’s questions.

“By the way, you don’t really look like a Russian.”
“Why is that?” Mark stopped mid‑sentence, and the smile immediately faded from his face.
“Well, you have freckles and reddish‑brown hair. I thought only brown‑eyed brunettes lived in Russia.”
Mark laughed again, leaning against the wall. “Wow, so I don’t look like a Russian at all?
You’re even cuter than they are.” Here, Kai realized what he had said and covered his mouth with his hand. “I mean, I wanted to say that you look much better than I expected.” The guy’s ears turned a traitorous red, and he tried to hide them behind his hair.
“It’s nice to hear that,” Mark said, putting away the things. Then the bell rang.
"I completely forgot, I have geometry now, bye, Kai, see you later."
Before disappearing into the crowd, Mark made an imaginary pistol with his fingers and aimed it at Kai’s heart, then disappeared through the classroom door.
Kai’s breath caught, and he stared at the spot where the brown‑eyed guy had been standing

TG:https://t.me/RitmTvoegoBroska [From the author]- guys, sorry, the chapters are getting too long, and the translator is cutting them down a lot. Also, I don’t have time to format everything. Either you’ll have to read the clumsy translation (or translate it yourself from the Russian version), or I’ll try to find a translation team. Also, subscribe to my Pinterest: Soyeon202.