A summary of "The Mystery Girl" by Elena Nesterina Automatic translate

Elena Nesterina’s novella "The Secret Girl," published in 2012, tells the story of teenagers in a small seaside town, where the arrival of a new student, Glikerya, changes the routine of the ninth-grade class. The book depicts the clash of personal freedom with harsh social pressure, revealing the fragility of teenage emotions and the importance of parental support.

This story is part of the well-known book series "Only for Girls," published by Eksmo, which also published other works by the author dedicated to growing up and first love.

The arrival of a new student

One autumn day, a mother and daughter arrive at dawn in a black car in a small seaside town. They rent an old fisherman’s house made of darkened shell rock, perched on a cliff overlooking the raging sea. Life in this dreary place seems gray and predictable to local ninth-grader Olya Sokolova. A dreary autumn rain falls every morning, and the only entertainment in town is a shopping mall. But soon, a new girl arrives at her school.

Glikeria is brought to ninth-grade "A" by the school principal. Her unusual appearance immediately draws surprised glances from her classmates. She wears only black clothes — a knitted hooded sundress, a turtleneck, leggings, and ballet flats. She wears a large silver pendant on a chain, and her long dark hair is pulled back into two ponytails. The new girl will likely be one of the shortest in gym class.

Marina Sergeevna, the homeroom teacher of Class 9A, teaches physics and is going through a personal crisis. At home, her overprotective mother constantly tries to marry her off, arranging intrusive meetings with her friends’ sons. Marina feels like an uninteresting failure, but at work she tries to maintain her professional enthusiasm. The arrival of Glikerya causes her a vague anxiety. The girl is too calm, confident, and friendly, completely oblivious to the judgmental glances of those around her.

Confronting school rules

Soon, Glikerya arrives to class on a shiny black scooter, which she parks in the school garage. After class, she’s surrounded by a crowd of curious onlookers. A popular senior, Kostya Komkov, brazenly tries to take the scooter from her for a test drive. Glikerya firmly refuses. Kostya grabs the handlebars, but Glikerya abruptly makes several circular motions with her left hand in the air. At that very moment, the boy falls to the pavement with a scream and writhes in pain.

The frightened girls lift Kostya up, and Glikerya calmly leaves. Rumors quickly spread throughout the school that the new girl is a real witch or a powerful psychic. Tenth-grader Lana Boyarshinova, who considers herself the local witch and fortune teller, tries to calm the crowd. She assures everyone that Glikerya is simply attracting attention. Olya Sokolova mentally sides with the new girl, glad that the impudent bully has finally received a fitting rebuff.

The next morning, the duty patrol of the "Committee for Good and Order," led by Lana Boyarshinova, blocks Glikerya’s entry to the school. She forgot her change of shoes. The girl kneels, rummages through her backpack, and pulls out two blue plastic bags — surgical shoe covers. She puts them on over her high lace-up boots, but the guards refuse to let her in. The standoff drags on until Sashka Makushev arrives and brings Marina Sergeyevna to her aid.

The physics teacher tells the duty officers to let Glikeria in to class. The new girl thanks her and rustles her shoe covers down the hallway with a smile. After class, Marina Sergeyevna examines the student’s file, which she says is Moscow. There’s no information about her parents, which the physics teacher finds suspicious. She calls the girl in for a talk, but Glikeria politely asks to postpone the conversation because she’s in a hurry. After this, Olya, Sashka, and Dimka Savinykh decide to start following the mysterious classmate.

Mysterious walks by the sea

Glikerya arrives again on a scooter. Olya, Sashka, Dimka, and Tatyana Oguzova, who has joined them, pursue her on their mopeds. The girl rides past wastelands to a remote coast. There, she leaves her scooter, makes her way over wet stones to a slippery cliff, and sits down at the water’s edge. Under gusts of icy wind, she begins to sing an old song about a lonely sea and a sail. Her song carries over the waves, astonishing her pursuers.

Olya Sokolova emerges from her hiding place behind a boulder, facing the elements. Glikerya spots Olya and offers her a ride to town on her scooter. To avoid revealing her friends, Olya agrees. On the way, she worries that her suspicious friend will take her to a dangerous place, but the trip ends safely. Olya asks to be dropped off at the first shack she comes across, to conceal her true home.

During literature class in Anzhelika Arkadyevna’s office, it’s Glikerya’s turn to read poetry. She comes to the board in a formal dress and quietly but expressively recites Pyotr Vyazemsky’s poem "To Friends." The words about distant, lonely friends and black roses deeply touch Olya and Sasha. The teacher gives the new student a rare A+. That evening, Olya researches Goths and witchcraft online, trying to unravel the essence of Glikerya’s character.

Exposing magic and confessions of love

During physical education class in the gym, Olya and Sashka notice a stack of heavy gym mats begin to fall on Glikeria, who is standing on her back. They manage to pull the girl out just before a concrete beam collapses from the ceiling. Due to damage to the foundation, the school is closed. A grateful Glikeria suggests that her rescuers skip the rest of their classes. They head to a cafe at the shopping center, where the new girl shares her thoughts on the beauty of fading and melancholy.

The group heads to an old, abandoned cemetery. Glikerya insists that solitude among the graves helps one appreciate the value of life. Olya and Sashka remain by the fence. Sashka confesses his love to Olya and kisses her. For Olya, this kiss in the twilight becomes an unforgettable experience. Glikerya stands on the edge of the cliff, contemplating the illusory nature of human existence. After the walk, Marina Sergeyevna writes notes in the diaries of all three truants.

Sashka Makushev decides to completely change his image and declares himself a goth named Atrum. He comes to school wearing a long black coat, leather pants, and an eyebrow piercing. To avoid being forced to remove the piercing, he plays a prank involving stage blood. In literature class, he expressively recites Edgar Allan Poe’s "The Raven." Olya supports him, dyes her hair black, and wears the silver ring he gave her.

Soon, Olya and Sashka are detained by a police patrol at the cemetery and taken home. The next day, Marina Sergeevna calls a class meeting. She invites representatives of the "Committee for Good and Order," led by Lana Boyarshinova. The teacher accuses Glikeria of exerting a destructive influence on her classmates. The committee activists begin to reprimand the ninth-graders for their passivity and informal appearance, accusing the new girl of dangerously "casting a spell" on Kostya Komkov.

Glikerya calmly steps up to the board and takes a standard pocket-sized stun gun for protecting against dogs from her backpack. She demonstrates its effect on Marina Sergeyevna, who feels only a slight shock. The girl explains that she simply touched Kostya’s hand with the device when he tried to take her scooter. Glikerya delivers a bold speech about freedom of choice, accusing the committee of spiritual violence and a philistine fear of anything unusual.

Family protection and self-discovery

After the meeting, Glikeria leaves, and Lana Boyarshinova threatens to complain to the head teacher. Kostya Komkov humorously bows to Marina Sergeyevna, but Sashka Makushev punches him in the jaw, demanding an apology to the teacher. That evening, Olya goes to look for Glikeria at the abandoned cemetery. Instead, she finds Sashka there, declaring his love for the new girl. He cynically calls his relationship with Olya "training." Glikeria scornfully rejects the traitor.

Olya comes out to them, and Glikerya takes her crying friend to the sea on a scooter. On the shore, Glikerya consoles Olya. She explains that the betrayer will one day do it again, and suffering only helps one understand the value of true love. The girl tells Olya about her family: her father is an archaeologist, currently working in Romania, where he and her mother will be moving in the spring. Olya decides to break up with Sasha, keeping only his ring as a memento.

Olya washes off the black nail polish and returns to her former appearance, but continues painting. Her new works, combining refined graphics and bright motifs, delight the art school teachers. At a general parent-teacher meeting where they plan to punish Glikeria, her mother unexpectedly arrives. The woman is dressed strikingly in luxurious black lace and a corset. It turns out she is a famous writer, in town seeking inspiration.

The writer delivers a brilliant speech in defense of her daughter and Sasha, arguing for the benefits of creative expression. She easily pacifies Dimka Savinykh’s rude father, and the meeting turns into a warm welcome with readers. Marina Sergeyevna, inspired by the example of a mature, independent woman, decides to change her dreary life. She fills out an application to participate in a scientific expedition to the Nazca Desert, realizing that teaching was not her true calling.

At the school New Year’s disco, Glikerya appears in a white evening gown embellished with pearls. She shows Olya a glass vial containing a tear of her deceased noble friend. The girl searches for the most romantic place on the planet to break this vial in his memory. Sashka asks Olya to dance, hoping to remain a lonely, tragic goth. Olya agrees to dance, but realizes that a wonderful future awaits her without him.