Chapter Four

There's a certain appeal on not the first but the second day in a new milieu. It's the day when you're still optimistically enthusiastic about all the newness, but no longer too anxious to notice it. You already know where to go and who you're going to be with, so you can focus on your enthusiasm.

I woke up early, had my breakfast cereals and took a nap, just like I did on the first day. This time I wasn't late, so I was optimistic it was going to be a good day.

We had a lecture about the color theory before lunch. The lecture hall was a small chilly room behind another heavy metal door and old concrete stairs. We sat on uncomfortable seats arranged in the middle of the cramped room.

I swear that room was going to cause me nightmares with its post-apocalypse vibes. It didn't help that I was certain you could blast a bomb in the room and the door wouldn't even dent.

We had lunch that wasn't quite as tasty as the vegetable patties the day before. Don't get me wrong I have nothing against barley groat porridge. It's just that it's porridge and porridge doesn't feel like a lunch type of food.

That day it was just me, Viljo and Joakim. I hadn't noticed how much Fareed talked until we had to do the talking for him.

During the lunch break I discovered Viljo's fixation to serial killers. He seemed to know them all from Jack the Ripper to Juhani Adaminpoika. His knowledge was so comprehensive I wasn't sure if it made me impressed or intimidated.

Joakim didn't have any unusual fixations and it was almost impossible to get any information from him. Sure it was only day two, but at that point you should be able to say at least one thing he liked or was interested in.

This was all I had managed to scrape together: Joakim was 21 years old, he was presumably into art and he had suggested that he was into guys. So was gay, bi or pan. His body was toned, so maybe he was into sports too? Joakim was flirtatious but well-mannered. He had wooden earrings and he..

..was looking at me.

"Enjoying the view?" Joakim asked, an askew smile spreading on his lips.

"I was just trying to figure you out."

"Figure me out? How's that going?" he was looking almost too pleased with my answer.

"Not so well", and I really tried not to say more. "To begin with, I have no idea if you're into guys or what kind of stuff you're interested in or even what's your favorite color." Of course I had to spill it all out. So much for playing coy.

If anything, my flood of words made Joakim astonished. He didn't have time to answer though, since Viljo chose the best possible timing to storm back from what he called "a food cigarette".

The rest of the day we had live model drawing. That was pretty much all that was worth mentioning from the evening classes. But if I needed to mention something anyway, it would be that we were using charcoal and I hated it. It felt like I was only causing mess and specks. By the end of the day my arms were blotted all the way up to my elbows.

I took a long hot shower and the aromatic scent of soap oozed from my skin even after I had gotten dressed and dried my hair. I was just about to boil water for noodles when I heard knocking from the door. You can probably guess who it was – it's not like I had made many friends in the new city.

Joakim looked flustered when his eyes took in the sight of me. I could feel his eyes roaming on my shower fresh body from head to toe. After a while he seemed to recuperate from his daze.

"I was just wondering if you'd want to watch Game of Thrones with us", Joakim asked with his signature smile.

"Um, yeah, but I'm starving." I was also exhausted, but mostly starving.

"We'll order pizza and we have beer too", Joakim explained.

So there I was, spending the evening at my neighbours'. It was a bigger flat with a lounge and three bedrooms. I have to admit I felt slightly envious when I spotted they had a tv and five comfy armchairs.

Joakim shared the flat with Viljo, Fareed and two other guy. The talkative one was Ari and the other one, who was rather quiet, had a name that started either with R or L. He mumbled it so quietly I couldn't really tell the difference.

"Can I offer you beer or is that as bad as weed?" Joakim called out from the kitchen.

"It's as bad and it tastes even worse, but I'll have one", I pointed out casually while observing their bookshelf.

"Ten is the best album from them", I overheard Ari talking with Joakim as they found their way to the lounge. Joakim was carrying two open beer bottles in one hand, while the other he was holding a huge bowl of popcorn. It looked rather daring, but Joakim managed the task gracefully.

"Are you kidding me? Vitalogy is hands down their best album", Joakim argued and passed me one of the beer bottles he was carrying.

"Where's my beer?" Fareed moaned. He was lolling in an armchair and his sheek was swollen from a wisdom tooth removal he had had earlier today.

"Well, you're not a good-looking guy and I definitely don't want to get into your pants, so.." Joakim glimbsed me meaningfully when answering.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but did that sound like he thought I was good-looking and he wanted to have sex with me? Since I wasn't sure I just took a gulp from my beer and acted like I didn't hear anything.

"Oh, gross! Get a room.." Fareed cried out as he got up from the armchair. "And I don't mean with me!" he continued from the kitchen.

I had seen Game of Thrones already, but some of us hadn't, so it wasn't such a terrible way to spend time. Although I found the first two episodes dull somehow, after that it got better. It took the first episode before we even made the order and half of the second one until we finally got our pizzas.

When I opened the cardboard box, the aroma of spicy seitan, herbs and crust made my belly rumble. I wasn't kidding when I said I was starving and that was more than an hour ago.

"So no one is seriously going to do anything about the real issue? They just care about the Iron Throne but the White Walkers are totally fine?" Fareed remarked mouth full of pizza.

"Pretty much so", I answered while snatching another slice.

We had barely finished the second episode when I had consumed an entire pizza and two bottles of beer. My stomach was happy, I was slightly buzzed and my eyelids felt heavy.

"I'm gonna get some sleep now", I announced bluntly and stood up from the armchair. Fareed and Viljo started complaining, but Joakim just followed me to the hallway wordlessly.

"I'll walk you home", he offered.

"It's literally three steps away", I mumbled although I didn't really mind that much. It just felt pointless, like I wouldn't find my flat without a convoy..

Another pointless thing was going through the trouble of tying my shoelaces even if I was only going to cross a couple of meters of the hallway to get to my door. We didn't talk on our way to my door, not that there was time for a proper small talk.

I was just about to dig my keys out of my pocket, when Joakim pressed me against the wall. His gestures were gentle but determined.

"I've wanted to do this since the day I met you", he whispered before his lips found mine. I didn't feel drowsy anymore, my every cell was awake and my body buzzing with energy. The kiss was soft and warm and it took my breath away.

"Oh", was all I could get out of my mouth when Joakim parted from the kiss. He was still standing so close to me I could feel the warmth of his breath on my skin.

I lifted my arms and embed my hands in Joakim's hair before kissing him again. Joakim responded to the kiss eagerly and pressed his body against mine. His hands slipped under my shirt and I became aware of our surroundings: we were making out in the hallway. Anyone could walk in.. So I started to fumble for my keys still kissing Joakim.

I managed to open the door and Joakim pushed me into the flat. He kissed my neck and pulled up the hem of my shirt. We staggered into the bedroom, pretty much ripping off our clothes..

..and I could feel someone staring at us. Someone stood in my bedroom. At that second I noticed two things: his eyes were golden, in a really prominent way, and there was an open travelling bag on a bed behind him.

"Who the hell are you?"