Scream Me a Dream

Tuesday May 18, 2010
10:48am

Dunn rubbed his eyes tiredly as he walked into the kitchen, ready to scour the cabinets for the coffee bag, only to be surprised when he saw a pot already brewing. He looked around the room with a frown, before looking at the time on the microwave. It was nearing eleven, everyone else was still asleep, and seeing as he was the early riser of the bunch he had to wonder who had gotten up and made the coffee.

Shrugging, happy that he didn’t have to wait, he grabbed a mug and poured himself some of the coffee, before wandering outside to the deck. Taking his usual seat at the table he kicked his feet up on the chair next to him and looked out at Bam’s property, only to frown when he saw a figure running laps, down on the stretch of land where they had done the demo derby for Viva La Bam.

When he looked a bit closer, the small frame was that of a woman, and the only woman staying at Castle Bam was Soya. It had been two days since the “interview” and it was the second time in those two days that he had actually seen Soya.

The day after the interview, Ville and Soya hadn’t left the room except to go to the bathroom and Ville to the kitchen to get them food only to take it back up to the room. When Bam had sent Raab up to get them for dinner, Raab had found them laughing on the bed and had come back down saying that Ville said they had already ate.

The next day, they had disappeared before anyone was up and had returned later in the evening just as they were getting ready to leave for The Note. Soya had seemed annoyed as she trudged shopping bags up the stairs to their room, while Ville laughed the entire way up, holding his own bags. Bam had gone up and apparently invited Ville and Soya to join them, only to return to the group dejected. When they had returned later that night, practically carrying a drunken Bam, he had noticed Ville and Soya on the couch, Soya asleep, her head in his lap while Ville watched the rest of Nightmare Before Christmas.

He was surprised to see Soya alone and not attached to Ville as she had been since she had gotten to the house. Dunn had to wonder if Soya was the one wanting to avoid them or if it was Ville being protective of her and keeping her away until he was sure Bam would back off.

He drank the rest of his coffee just as Soya jogged up the steps to the deck, only to stop when she saw him sitting there.

“Morning.” He greeted with a nod of his head.

She pulled her earphones out and wrapped them around her iPod. “I didn’t think anyone was up.”

“Only me, everyone’s still asleep.” She looked over at the door, then back at the chair next to him. “So you are avoiding us.”

“Oh! No.” Soya said shaking her head, apparently deciding to take the seat next to him. “Not at all.”

“So it’s Ville?” Dunn asked.

Soya rolled her eyes. “He swears he’s not upset, but I can tell he is a bit. He’s always been very protective of me.” She scrunched her nose up. “Really, all my friends are.”

“Just means they love you, right?”

“It does.” Soya agreed, looking down over the deck at the pool. “Do you think Bam would mind if I sat out by the pool today?”

Dunn laughed. “You really need to stop asking if Bam would let you. You seriously have free reign of the house, if you want to sit by the pool, sit by the fucking pool.” Dunn considered how long ago they had cleaned the pool. “I would advise against getting in, I’m not sure if we’ve cleaned it since the last time Novak took a shit in there.”

Soya looked at him wide eyed. “What?”

“Yeah, he took a dump in the pool. When Bam gets up I’ll ask him if we’ve cleaned the pool.”

Soya nodded. “I’m going to go wake up Ville, then. Do you want breakfast?”

Dunn smirked. “Do you want to make me breakfast?”

Soya laughed as she grabbed her iPod. “I’ll make breakfast. Give me ten minutes.”

“Dude, you’re cooking me breakfast, the most missed meal around here, take your time.”

Soya smiled at him, going back inside and going up to her room. She closed the door quietly and stifled a laugh as she saw Ville sprawled on the bed, still in his jeans from the day before. He had intentionally been keeping her away from the rest of the guys, keeping her locked in the room with him for an entire day, only letting her out to use the bathroom, with the excuse that he wanted to spend the entire day with her, uninterrupted.

She hadn’t fought it much, mostly because the selfish side of her wanted him for an entire day as well. They had spent the entire day talking, and reminiscing about their time together in Finland.

The next day, Ville had woken her up early and dragged her out of bed, pushing her into the bathroom telling her to get ready. Half an hour later, she had been dragged out of the house and pushed into a taxi that had started down the road, without Ville even telling the driver where they were headed.

Apparently shopping is what Ville had in mind, he had taken her to the King of Prussia mall and had stolen her wallet so she wouldn’t be allowed to pay for anything. When she’d refused to buy anything with Ville’s money, he’d started grabbing things off the shelves randomly and putting them on the counter, telling her if she didn’t pick something, he was buying her things anyway. He had done that in every store they had gone to, the bastard.

Deciding she didn’t want to be nice, she jumped on the bed, landing on top of him.

“Omph!” Ville groaned, looking up and seeing Soya laughing at him. “Not nice.” He groaned again before burying his face back in the pillow.

“Up! Up! Up!” She said, kissing his cheek. “I want to sit by the pool today.”

“Then go sit by the pool.” Ville muttered. “Unlike you, I didn’t pass out at nine in the evening.”

“You dragged me in and out of every store of the mall yesterday, not only that, but we were mobbed twice. I was tired!” she defended, sitting up so she was straddling his bare back.

“Well, I went to sleep around two.” Ville told her, his eyes still closed.

Soya counted quickly in her head only to laugh. “You’ve already slept a full eight hours. Come down with me!”

“No.” he whined. “Let me sleep, I’ll meet you down there in a little while, promise.”

She leaned down and kissed his cheek again. “I’m holding you to it.” She went through her suitcase, pulling out her bathing suit as well as a pair of denim shorts, and a loose yellow tank top. Kicking off her running shoes and socks, she went to the bathroom and changed, braiding her hair to keep it away from her face. Going back to the room, she put her running clothes back into her suitcase, slipped on her black flats and grabbed her messenger bag.

With one last look at Ville, who had fallen back asleep, she left the room and went downstairs to the kitchen. Putting her bag on the counter, she opened the cabinets, finding the pancake mix she had found one her first day of looking through the cabinets.

The next half hour was spent making stacks of enough pancakes to feed all the men in the house, as well as scrambled eggs. Putting the pancakes and eggs on plates, she sat them on the counter and made sure the coffee was brewing, before grabbing an apple for herself and going up towards the deck where she’d last seen Dunn.

“Breakfast is ready.” She told him, adjusting her bag on her shoulder. “I would get it while it’s hot and everyone’s still sleeping.”

“Thanks.” Dunn called out as he rushed past her to get to the food. Shaking her head, she went down towards the pool, deciding that while she wanted to be in the sun, she didn’t want to burn either, so the best place to sit was at the tent. Going in, she placed her bag on the table and sat, slipping on her sunglasses, pulling out her sketchbooks and a pencil.

“This is fucking good.” Dunn groaned motioning to the food.

She looked up and smiled at Dunn as he sat across from her. “Glad you think so.”

“So where’s Ville?” Dunn asked. “He’s usually attached to your hip from what I’ve seen.”

“He’s still sleeping. He went to bed late last night; he said he’d meet me down here, probably when he realizes he’s left me alone.”

Dunn chuckled, and looked at her uneaten apple. “Is that your breakfast?”

“Hmm?” she looked at the apple and gave a nod, “Yes, that’s my breakfast.”

“That can’t be enough.” Dunn told her. “Jeez no wonder you’re so tiny.”

Soya laughed. “I’m still feeling the food Ville shoved at me yesterday. Apparently I’m tiny to him too.” She looked through her bag and took out her small case of pencils, taking one out, before turning to one the pages in her sketchbook that she had been working on.

Dunn stretched his neck to see the started drawing, surprised when he saw Ville’s face on the paper. “Wow.”

Soya smiled and moved the book closed to Dunn so he could see. “I actually started it before I saw him again; I just haven’t been able to finish it.”

“Why not?” Dunn asked.

Soya shrugged. “Just couldn’t. It’s like that with almost all of the ones I end up drawing of the guys. There’s a few of Linde in there along with Mige, most of them unfinished.”

“Can I…?”

“Yeah go ahead.” Soya said gesturing for him to go through it, grabbing another of her sketchbooks and flipping to a clean page while Dunn flipped through the other sketchbook.

XxxxxxX

Ville wondered downstairs, rubbing his eyes, almost tripping over his feet on the bottom step.

“Graceful.”

Ville looked up from glaring at the step, to see Bam sitting at the counter, looking at the two plates of food. “Thanks, what’s this?”

“I think Soya cooked breakfast.” Bam said. “I’m not sure why though.”

Ville shrugged as he grabbed a Red Bull from the fridge along with a water bottle. “I wouldn’t question it; I would just eat it before everyone else wakes up.”

Bam nodded and loaded his plate, while Ville made up his own and started outside. “Where are you going?”

“Outside, Soya said she was going to sit by the pool.”

“Oh…” Bam said looking down at his plate. Ville looked over at Bam and couldn’t help but laugh. His usually hyperactive friend looked uncomfortable and very out of place in his own home.

“Bam you can come out with me.”

“No, I know.” Bam said carefully. “It’s just… You’ve been avoiding us since the whole interview thing.”

Ville sighed and put his plate and the two drinks down, leaning his hip against the counter. “I have.”

“Look, about the whole parents thing…” Bam started.

Ville shrugged. “Soya’s not upset about it, I’m more upset about your pushing than anything else, but I should know by now that that’s your nature.”

“I guess for me, it’s hard to understand not being close to your family. I mean yeah, some of my family is annoying as fuck, but I still love them.” Bam shrugged.

Ville nodded. “And Soya loves hers; she’s just not close to her mother and father. Her father is an ex-politician and he was rarely home and her mother isn’t anything like Ape. It’s a different type of family then what we’re both used to, Bam; but they’re hers.”

“I know.”

“It’s a sore spot for Soya; you got to let it go. If Soya wants to talk about it, then she will. Though I doubt you’ll be the first person she’ll go to.” Ville pointed out, with a smirk.

“I want to apologize to her, but she didn’t let me last time.”

Ville nodded. “Soya’s a big believer in meaning it when a person says they’re sorry and Soya knows if you mean it. Come outside, I didn’t see her bag when I came down, so she’s down by the pool working.”

Bam raised an eyebrow, curious to mean what Ville meant by working. He didn’t think the concrete by the pool was all the great for dancing. They gathered their plates and went outside towards the pool, finding both Dunn and Soya at the table inside the tent. Dunn was finishing up his breakfast, while flipping through a sketchbook, while Soya had her iPod on, her head bent over another sketchbook, drawing what looked like some type of portrait.

“Morning.” Ville said, Dunn nodding as he flipped though another page.

“Have you seen these?” Dunn asked, pointing to the notebook.

“Not as of yet.” Ville said, putting the can of red bull in front of Soya, causing her to look up. She looked at the can with a frown and shook her head, tapping the side of her head. Ville nodded in understanding, putting the water in front of her instead, causing her to smile at him and look back down at her book.

“What the fuck was that?” Bam asked, clearly amused by their telepathic conversation.

“If she drinks it, it goes straight to her head.” Ville explained. “Certain drinks and certain medicines affect her in different ways.”

“What happens?” Dunn asked.

“I get loopy.” Soya said pulling out her ear buds, pausing the music she had on. “Some of it knocks me out. Red Bull just goes straight to my head and makes me sleepy, most energy drinks do, which is why I stick to coffee.” She smiled at Bam. “Good afternoon.”

Bam nodded. “Thanks for cooking.”

“No thanks necessary,” she said with a wave of her hand. “Might as well make myself useful.”

“She didn’t even eat any of it.” Dunn told them.

Ville frowned at her, she’d been reluctant to eat at the mall the day before, he’d had to threaten to watch her eat before she’d even pick at Chinese food he’d gotten from the food court. “Did you eat?”

She pointed to the apple core that was sitting on a napkin on the table. “Apple.”

“That’s not breakfast.”

Soya shrugged, not seeing the problem. “I never really eat breakfast. Josef and I are usually rushing around in the morning so an apple or a muffin is usually the first thing in our hands. Old habits.” She told him.

“You should eat more Soya, you’re so skinny.”

Soya laughed as she looked at Ville. “You’re one to talk! And look who’s mothering now!”

Ville pouted. “Have a bigger lunch all right?”

Soya rolled her eyes. “I planned on it, but fine.”

“So what are you working on?” Bam asked pointing to her notebook.

“Costume.” Soya said looking down at the nearly translucent red dress she’d been working on. “It’s not quite done yet, just something I had floating around.”

“She’s fucking amazing.” Dunn said pushing the sketchbook he had been looking at to Bam.

Soya blushed. “I’m not that good.”

“Your modesty is annoying, kulta.” Ville smirked at her.

“You’re annoying.” She teased, before sticking out her tongue at him, just as her cell phone buzzed on the table. She reached for it answering without looking at the caller ID. “Hei?”

“Soya?”

Soya straightened in her seat, and grabbed Ville’s arm, causing him to turn to her with a raised eyebrow. She put her finger to her lips, looking over at Dunn and Bam who were laughing over something. “Hei Mamma.” She said with wide eyes, causing Ville to turn to Bam and Dunn and snap at them to get their attention. He put his finger to his lips, much like Soya had done, and looked at Soya, who was noticeably paler.

“Soya? I hear voices who are you with?”

“I’m having lunch with Josef and members of the company.” Soya lied with a wince. Her mother was the only person she would lie to, and even then, she hated doing it.

“Are you sure?”

“Mamma, I’m positive, I would pass you to Josef, but he’s excused himself. I’m surprised you called.”

“Oh, now I’m not allowed to call my own daughter!”

“No! no! Mamma, of course you’re allowed to call.” Soya said backpedaling, her mother had a gift for turning everything around on her and making her feel even worse than she usually did after speaking to the woman. “I’m just surprised is all; you don’t usually call me during my breaks.”

“Well, one of the ladies of the salon asked about you today; it reminded me that I haven’t spoken to you since we left New York.”

“Oh,” Soya said quietly. “Well it was nice for her to ask of me.”

“So…how are you doing?” her mother asked tersely.

Soya winced, her mother had never been good at small talk either; she despised it, really. She usually called to criticize or to inform her of some event she had to go to, never to ask how she was. It surprised Soya really. “I’m…fine.” Soya said slowly. “How are you?”

“Oh Soya, you know how I despise small talk but I’m well, thank you.”

“How’s Aida?” Soya asked thinking of her little sister. She pulled her knee up to her chest, hugging it to her closely, as she leaned her chin on her knee, staring at her shoe. “Last time she called she was telling me about her dance classes.”

“Aida is fine, Soya. As for her dance classes, well, she’s not up to par.”

Soya sighed, this is what she had worried about. “Mamma, she’s only seven, you can’t hold her up to my standard. It took me years to get to where I am today.”

“Who said I was comparing her to you? Trust me Soya, even you have room for improvement.”

Soya took a deep breath, trying not to let her mother’s words hit her so hard. “Of course I can improve mamma, I’m not saying I can’t. I’m just saying that Aida-”

“Aida must work harder if she ever wants to dance professionally.”

“She’s doing it for fun, mamma,” Soya whispered, “I highly doubt dancing professionally is what she’s looking to doing.”

“You really believe I would pay the money I do for Aida’s dance classes if it were just a whim? For fun?” Elizabeth scoffed.

Soya nodded. “I understand, I would have just hoped-”

“Speaking of whims,” Elizabeth interrupted. “I hope that yours have been kept in check.”

“What do you mean?”

“You think I don’t know that right after you stop dancing on your breaks you don’t eat any junk Soya? I know exactly what you put into that body of yours. I only hope you learned from last time.”

Soya rubbed her temples. “I’m not eating junk Mamma.”

“Tell me what you had for breakfast then”

“An apple mamma, and light salad for lunch, would you like to know what I have planned for dinner as well?” She snapped, causing her to groan inwardly.

“That’s one Soya,”

“Anteeksi.” She whispered, looking up when she felt Ville put his hand on her leg and squeeze. She looked away from him, not wanting to see the pity in his eyes and ashamed that she still acted like child when she talked to her mother.

“If you had eaten healthier you would have been able to make those turns Soya.”

“Kakann ei välitä vitun muuttuu!”(No one cares about the fucking turns!) Soya hissed only to realize what she had said aloud and clap her hand over her mouth, she looked over at Ville who had raised an eyebrow, but his eyes held worry in them.

“That’s two Soya.” He mother hissed in her ear.

“I didn’t-”

“Have you heard from the Valo boy?” her mother asked, cutting Soya off.

Soya frowned; another thing she hated about her mother was how even though her mother may have been furious, it didn’t stop her from getting to the subjects she wanted to talk about. “I…” she looked at Ville again, then back at her foot. “No, mamma, I haven’t. Why?”

“One of the girls was reading one of those trash magazines in the salon, apparently he’s in some type of satanic band.”

“It’s not satanic Mamma.” Soya sighed. “It’s rock.”

“I thought you hadn’t heard from him.”

“I haven’t mamma,” she smiled at Ville. “But his band is big here in the US.”

“You listen to the trash?” Elizabeth asked in disgust.

“It’s not trash Mamma, he’s amazingly talented, he always has been.”

“Well apparently he’s in New York,”

“Is he?” Soya said. “Well I haven’t spoken to him since I left Finland, mamma, so I have no idea what’s he’s been doing since then. How’s Papa?” She asked quickly changing the subject.

“Back in the hospital.” Elizabeth said flippantly.

“Back?” Soya said sitting up. “What do you mean ‘back’? When was he in the hospital the first time?”

“Oh Soya, you know your father and his back.”

“I didn’t know that his back was-”

“I have to go Soya, I have a few meetings to get to.”

“Oh, well tell papa…” she trailed off when she heard the dial tone in her ear. Putting the phone carefully on the table she stood and started out of the tent.

“Soya.” Ville started, reaching for her arm.

She sidestepped him and shook her head. “Not now.” Ville watched as she headed back into the house and rubbed his face tiredly.

“Wow.” Bam muttered looking at the phone that was sitting on the table.

“You should see that woman in person.” Ville muttered, debating whether he should follow Soya up or give her a moment to herself.

XxxxxxX

Soya fell face first into the bed with a groan, debating if she was upset enough to crawl under the covers and fall back asleep.

The phone call itself hadn’t been the worst one she’d received form her mother, it had actually been pretty tame considering that Soya expected a lot worse. Whenever her father was out of town or not around her mother took that as an advantage to uncensor herself and tell Soya what she really thought. Without her father there to rein her in, Elizabeth Toivonen could be vicious.

She was also the only person alive that could get Soya so frustrated that curse words actually flew out of her mouth. She looked at the clock and decided that she would spend the next five minutes feeling sorry for herself and wondering what she had done in a previous life to deserve a mother like the one she had, before she sucked it up and went back down to the pool to enjoy her afternoon in the sun.

She was about to close her eyes, when she heard a vibration. Looking up with a frown, she looked over at Ville’s side of the bed and saw his phone vibrating against the nightstand. Reaching over, she looked at the caller ID, and couldn’t help the grin that grew on her face as she answered Ville’s phone.