Chapter Nine

"Dani-boy is back", Fareed greeted me as soon as I walked into the classroom.

I had had to take off a couple of days from school and work, but by Wednesday morning I was able to drag myself to the class. Fareed placed his arm on my shoulder and squeezed me into an awkward half-hug.

"Dani-boy?" I frowned.

"Not good?"

"Definitely not", I shook my head.

"Dan Dan?" Fareed suggested and I shook my head again. He was about to make up new names when Joakim showed up. He looked dazzling in his black t-shirt and ripped jeans. Joakim hugged me in a way that was far from awkward.

"It's really nice to see you", he murmured and brushed a wisp of hair off my face.

"I was gone only for a few days", I pointed out, but I couldn't deny that I had missed him too.

We sat down at the back row, Joakim on my other side and Fareed on the other. Viljo joined us soon after and gave me a bashful smile. The teacher hadn't arrived yet, so we just sat there waiting.

"Dani?" Fareed broke the silence.

"No", I declined before anyone else could ask what the heck he was talking about.

"Okay, how about Danny?"

"I've been called worse, so why not", I gave in. That seemed to make Fareed happy and therefore I didn't mind having a new nickname that much.

We had a new teacher. He was a funny, vibrant and bald man, who seemed really passionate about sculpting and all the possible forms of art. When I listened to him, I couldn't wait to learn more about sculpting technics, he was just that good.

"Isn't he amazing?" Fareed preached on our way to the cafeteria. They told me about the first day with the new teacher and his lecture about lights and shadows in painting.

"For example, did you know that warm light has a cold shadow?" Viljo joined the conversation.

"Well, yes, but not always. It can change by the color of the surface of the shadow, the color of the object in front of the shadow or if the shadow is reflected back from another surface. But yeah, basically warm light has cold a shadow", I concluded.

"Oh, forget I even asked", Viljo huffed. "Of course you already knew."

"Leave him be, it's not his fault he's smarter than any of us dim-witted fools", Joakim laughed and started scooping soup on his plate.

Maybe one of the reasons why being with Joakim felt so good was that he made me feel special, like I was the only person he saw in the room. Still I couldn't help but wonder how long it would take until he'd get bored with me.

"Want to do something tonight?" Joakim asked, his eyes studying my face intensively.

"I have to go to work."

There it was, only for a second or two, frustration and disappointment. Then it was gone. That look was nearly undetectable, but it lingered on my mind for the rest of the day. Even if Joakim said it was okay and smiled and walked me to my flat, it kept bothering me. Until I went to work and got my mind immersed in books and guiding customers.

Working at the library was exactly the kind of job I was good at. Learning and remembering the self sorting was easy for me and I had read quite many books so I could give recommendations about them. Some customers even came there just to talk about books, which I found entertaining.

Of course there was the shelving and other practical work as well, so I had to carry piles of books and push holders around. It was tiring, I'm not gonna lie, but I also can't deny physical exertion wasn't good for me. In such a short time I had already started noticing some muscles on my scrawny arms.

Today two old ladies, Berta and Hilkka, wanted to spend a moment with me. Actually they did that almost every time I was on shift. So there I was behind the service counter, talking with them about cats and books. Although I must say it was mostly about cats.

"How did a handsome young man like you end up working here?" Hilkka asked me after updating us with the latest news about her two cats.

"Well, it's a long story actually. Let's just say I'm studying here and I have no money", I answered.

"Why won't your parents help you to pay for the studies?" Berta voiced.

They were a funny duo: Hilkka was short and round and her hair was white and curly, whereas Berta was tall and gaunt and her hair was straight and only touched with silver. Hilkka was talkative and Berta only joined the conversation when she had something to ask.

"They're not around", I explained.

"Isn't it lonely here without your parents?" Hilkka continued. I hadn't thought about it that way and I didn't really miss them that much. I guess I was so used to not have them in my life, I didn't always remember they were missing in the first place.

"It is sometimes", I admitted, still smiling widely. Then we continued talking about cats and books, until I had to go help other customers.

On my way home, I decided I didn't have to worry about my love life. Maybe Joakim didn't like talking about his private life, but it wasn't like I had told him that much about mine either. That's just what some people are like.

Maybe he had looked at me a weird way or I might have misconstrued the whole thing. Maybe Joakim had looked disappointed just because he couldn't spend time with me? Makes sense, right?

It was 9 pm and I was on my way back to the dormitory. I could feel the exhaustion in my muscles and my stomach was grumbling, but surely I would feel better as soon as I took a shower and had something to eat.

It took me a while to find the keys. They were lost in the bottom of my bag like they always seemed to be, but eventually I got the door open.

"Wait, don't shut the door", Kuisma was panting as he set his hand on the doorjam. The first thing I noticed was his bloody knuckles.

"What happened to you?" I exclaimed. There was blood on the corner of his mouth and on the corner of his eye. Not to mention the already swollen chin, which would soon be all black and blue.

"Just let me in first." Kuisma stumbled past me into the flat. My first thought was that now there was absolutely no way I'd get to go to bed early. Then I realized how horrible that sounded and started worrying about Kuisma instead.

Kuisma slumped on his bed and didn't seem to have any intention to clean his wounds. When I saw that, I had to count to ten. I really didn't want to sound like an unsatisfied big brother.

"Are you waiting for me to take care of those bruises for you?" I sounded exactly like an unsatisfied big brother.

"No, you don't need to do anything", Kuisma grumbled and wiped off some of the blood from his eyebrow with the back of his hand.

Despite his words, I started looking for a first aid kit. Luckily we had one, so I had something to work with. I sat next to Kuisma on his bed. I knew I didn't need to take care of him, but I felt like I owed him that much after what he did for me when I was sick.

I had never cleaned someone else's wounds, and I had always thought things like that happen only in the movies. But of course people had fights in real life too and apparently some people didn't care if they'd muddle their sheets with blood and apparently someone else had to clean up the mess.

"I don't need your help", Kuisma snapped. I acted like I didn't hear anything and started to wipe his chin with a tissue paper and disinfectant. Kuisma resisted at first, but after a while gave in and just stared at me sullenly.

"Tell me what happened."

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you." Kuisma lowered his gaze.

"Try me", I bid without taking my eyes off the bruise I was cleaning. Kuisma opened his mouth, shut it and then just sat quietly for some time.

"Are you done yet?" he asked. He didn't seem angry, just defeated.

"Okay, fine", I gave in. I wanted to scold him for fighting, but the look in his eyes told me it really wasn't the time.

A while later I was laying in my bed, in the dim room. I had already switched off the bedroom lamp but the kitchen door was open and the lamp was on, shedding light to the room. When Kuisma finished showering, he walked into the room with just a towel around his hips. I pressed my eyes shut, feeling like a creep for staring.

"Are you sleeping?" Kuisma uttered and I opened my eyes. I didn't really answer him, I just made some sort of vague utterance to show I was still up.

I had time to notice there were also bruises on his abdomen, before I turned to my side so I could stare at the wall instead. Seeing him like that made me wonder who would want to hurt him so bad. Sure, he could be irksome at times, but beating him up seemed a bit extreme.

"Thanks." Kuisma sounded like it was taking real effort to say it out loud, and that was it. Neither of us said anything more and at some point, probably pretty soon, I fell asleep.