I'm Not Bulletproof
I'm Not Bulletproof
*beep beep beep*
I squint my eyes and sigh. My third day Finland and I start school. I’m already starting to panic.
What if the kids make fun of my Finnish? I mean, Finnish is my third language. Estonian being first, Russian being second and Finnish being third and English being fourth. My English is surprisingly good. I write all of my journal entries in English. I also write my songs in English; no one would want to sign a girl that sings in Estonian.
It’s not like anyone knows where Estonia is anyway.
I sit up and look around. Man Alexi’s room is a mess. There are black shirts scattered on the floor along with a guitar, countless numbers of guitar picks and trash. All of my things are packed neatly in my purple suitcase. My room back at my old house was even neater.
I only brought enough clothes for a week. I pray the movers come soon. I can fit into Katerzyna’s clothes if it comes to it. But short and tight miniskirts along with a tube top are not my thing. And will never be my thing.
I don’t understand why my parents let her dress like that. I’m not even allowed to wear a Björk shirt. Not fair.
There, only a few feet away from me lays a sleeping Alexi. It was 6:30am and school starts at 8am. Should I wake him? I don’t know what time he usually wakes up, but yesterday he slept until 1pm. But it was a Sunday; everyone sleeps in on Sundays. Except for me.
“Alexi,” I say, hovering above him.
I got no response.
“Alexi,” I say a bit louder.
I sigh in frustration, “Alexi,” I poke him this time.
Still, I got nothing.
“Yo!” I clap my hands together. He jumps in surprise. He looks startled. I did sort of yell. I blush slightly.
I hope he doesn’t yell back.
“I’m up,” he says groggily. No, he is not awake.
“What time is it?” Alexi asks.
“6:30,” I say.
“Fuck, that’s too early!” he exclaims. No, it’s not.
“School starts at eight, right?” I ask. He nods in response.
“Is there a dress code?” I ask timidly. He looks at me like I have grown another head.
“We used to have dress code at my old school,” I explain. Our dress code was a white blouse with a blue and white plaid skirt. And if we didn’t wear the appropriate socks, plain white, knee high, we’d get sent home.
I wore black and white horizontal stripped socks before, and I got suspended. Imagine what my parents said to that. Imagine what they did.
I begin to get ready. I picked out my outfit in my head last night. I will wear my black short sleeved corset top, with lime green fish net shirt underneath it. And for my bottom, well, I only brought two pairs of jeans, my somewhat tight jeans and my light blue jeans. In fact, I only brought three shirts as well.
I’m a goddamn mess already.
I decide to skip on a shower. There is something about bathing in a stranger’s house that kind of disturbs me. I have to shower eventually though. I won’t even use the toilet here. Only if I am going to piss my pants will I use a bathroom other than the one at my own home.
I guess one can call it being pee shy?
I got dressed and brushed my teeth. When I re-entered the room, Alexi is sitting on his bed half asleep. Has he moved in the past fifteen minutes?
I look at him and wave my hand in front of his face. He lifts his head slightly.
He looked kind of sick.
“Are you ok?” I ask.
He nods, “I’m just really tired, that’s all.”
For some reason I think there is something more than that.
“You must be starving, you haven’t eaten since you’ve been here,” he says.
“No, I’ve had something while you were sleeping,” I lie.
“Oh, ok,” he gets up and pulls some clothes out of his closet. It was the exact same thing he wore Saturday. But whatever, I’m going to be wearing the same thing for a while in about a week or so.
*at school*
This school is so different than the one back in Elva. It is so much bigger and has a lot more students.
I look at my schedule; first period- History, room 112. I’m guessing it is on the first of three floors?
I walk into the class to see Alexi sitting in the back row. At least I have the same class as him.
“Hi, are you a new student?” the teacher asks me.
I nod and hand him my schedule. I watched him write my name in the grade book.
“Ah! You’re from Estonia!” he exclaims.
“Yes,”
“Welcome, take a seat,”
I take a seat in the second row. I would take a seat in the back by Alexi, but his friends are there. I don’t want to put myself in an embarrassing situation. I avoid those like it’s the plague.
“Class, open your books to page two hundred-forty three,” the teacher says. Thank god he put the page number on the board. I only know the numbers one through ten in Finnish.
The chapter is on World War II, something I am very knowledgeable about. I mean, come on, I am the daughter of a general.
“Can someone explain how WWII affected the United States?” he asks.
No one answered his question. I raise my hand and he calls on me.
“While WWI caused the Great Depression, it was WWII that somewhat brought the US out of it. It gave jobs to build tanks and other weapons. And because of the Depression, they now have social security checks and welfare,” I say.
“Can you explain how social security works?” the teacher asks me.
“It is primarily designed to provide insurance to the unemployed and retired,” I say.
“Fucking nerd!” I hear Alexi yell. His friends howl in laughter.
“Alexi! How disrespectful!” the teacher defends.
Was he making fun of me?
Not even three hours ago he was being nice to me! Maybe he’s bipolar. How much of an asshole can he be? I tried to put myself in a non-embarrassing situation, and ended up getting stuck on one. Great…
I am not a nerd. He is just dumb.
Only another five minutes and History will be over with. Then I have Geometry. I am really good at math. I guess I am good in every subject actually. But I am not a nerd.
The bell finally rung. I get up and put my book into my bag. I see Alexi standing in front of me. He looked a little sad. I glare at him and walk out of the door. Fuck him…
Asshole…
I squint my eyes and sigh. My third day Finland and I start school. I’m already starting to panic.
What if the kids make fun of my Finnish? I mean, Finnish is my third language. Estonian being first, Russian being second and Finnish being third and English being fourth. My English is surprisingly good. I write all of my journal entries in English. I also write my songs in English; no one would want to sign a girl that sings in Estonian.
It’s not like anyone knows where Estonia is anyway.
I sit up and look around. Man Alexi’s room is a mess. There are black shirts scattered on the floor along with a guitar, countless numbers of guitar picks and trash. All of my things are packed neatly in my purple suitcase. My room back at my old house was even neater.
I only brought enough clothes for a week. I pray the movers come soon. I can fit into Katerzyna’s clothes if it comes to it. But short and tight miniskirts along with a tube top are not my thing. And will never be my thing.
I don’t understand why my parents let her dress like that. I’m not even allowed to wear a Björk shirt. Not fair.
There, only a few feet away from me lays a sleeping Alexi. It was 6:30am and school starts at 8am. Should I wake him? I don’t know what time he usually wakes up, but yesterday he slept until 1pm. But it was a Sunday; everyone sleeps in on Sundays. Except for me.
“Alexi,” I say, hovering above him.
I got no response.
“Alexi,” I say a bit louder.
I sigh in frustration, “Alexi,” I poke him this time.
Still, I got nothing.
“Yo!” I clap my hands together. He jumps in surprise. He looks startled. I did sort of yell. I blush slightly.
I hope he doesn’t yell back.
“I’m up,” he says groggily. No, he is not awake.
“What time is it?” Alexi asks.
“6:30,” I say.
“Fuck, that’s too early!” he exclaims. No, it’s not.
“School starts at eight, right?” I ask. He nods in response.
“Is there a dress code?” I ask timidly. He looks at me like I have grown another head.
“We used to have dress code at my old school,” I explain. Our dress code was a white blouse with a blue and white plaid skirt. And if we didn’t wear the appropriate socks, plain white, knee high, we’d get sent home.
I wore black and white horizontal stripped socks before, and I got suspended. Imagine what my parents said to that. Imagine what they did.
I begin to get ready. I picked out my outfit in my head last night. I will wear my black short sleeved corset top, with lime green fish net shirt underneath it. And for my bottom, well, I only brought two pairs of jeans, my somewhat tight jeans and my light blue jeans. In fact, I only brought three shirts as well.
I’m a goddamn mess already.
I decide to skip on a shower. There is something about bathing in a stranger’s house that kind of disturbs me. I have to shower eventually though. I won’t even use the toilet here. Only if I am going to piss my pants will I use a bathroom other than the one at my own home.
I guess one can call it being pee shy?
I got dressed and brushed my teeth. When I re-entered the room, Alexi is sitting on his bed half asleep. Has he moved in the past fifteen minutes?
I look at him and wave my hand in front of his face. He lifts his head slightly.
He looked kind of sick.
“Are you ok?” I ask.
He nods, “I’m just really tired, that’s all.”
For some reason I think there is something more than that.
“You must be starving, you haven’t eaten since you’ve been here,” he says.
“No, I’ve had something while you were sleeping,” I lie.
“Oh, ok,” he gets up and pulls some clothes out of his closet. It was the exact same thing he wore Saturday. But whatever, I’m going to be wearing the same thing for a while in about a week or so.
*at school*
This school is so different than the one back in Elva. It is so much bigger and has a lot more students.
I look at my schedule; first period- History, room 112. I’m guessing it is on the first of three floors?
I walk into the class to see Alexi sitting in the back row. At least I have the same class as him.
“Hi, are you a new student?” the teacher asks me.
I nod and hand him my schedule. I watched him write my name in the grade book.
“Ah! You’re from Estonia!” he exclaims.
“Yes,”
“Welcome, take a seat,”
I take a seat in the second row. I would take a seat in the back by Alexi, but his friends are there. I don’t want to put myself in an embarrassing situation. I avoid those like it’s the plague.
“Class, open your books to page two hundred-forty three,” the teacher says. Thank god he put the page number on the board. I only know the numbers one through ten in Finnish.
The chapter is on World War II, something I am very knowledgeable about. I mean, come on, I am the daughter of a general.
“Can someone explain how WWII affected the United States?” he asks.
No one answered his question. I raise my hand and he calls on me.
“While WWI caused the Great Depression, it was WWII that somewhat brought the US out of it. It gave jobs to build tanks and other weapons. And because of the Depression, they now have social security checks and welfare,” I say.
“Can you explain how social security works?” the teacher asks me.
“It is primarily designed to provide insurance to the unemployed and retired,” I say.
“Fucking nerd!” I hear Alexi yell. His friends howl in laughter.
“Alexi! How disrespectful!” the teacher defends.
Was he making fun of me?
Not even three hours ago he was being nice to me! Maybe he’s bipolar. How much of an asshole can he be? I tried to put myself in a non-embarrassing situation, and ended up getting stuck on one. Great…
I am not a nerd. He is just dumb.
Only another five minutes and History will be over with. Then I have Geometry. I am really good at math. I guess I am good in every subject actually. But I am not a nerd.
The bell finally rung. I get up and put my book into my bag. I see Alexi standing in front of me. He looked a little sad. I glare at him and walk out of the door. Fuck him…
Asshole…