Ten years after the death of Nina's father, her mother remarries, to a widower from a neighboring town. He and his son move into their house. This is how Nina gains a half-brother, Andrei. They are the same age and now attend the same graduating class. Andrei has withdrawn since his mother's recent death. He doesn't speak and clashes with everyone, and his classmates bully him. Only Nina immediately warms to Andrei. She understands his grief over his mother, as she herself was very attached to her late father.