Dynamite Days

"Well...so much for the movie," Lilja grinned, picking at her chipping nail polish. They hadn't even gotten halfway through the movie before one of them had to start messing around. After that, it was like a dominoe effect. She and HP watched in amusement as their three friends went hurtling up the stairs on by one.

HP sighed. "Did you really think we'd get through the whole thing?"

Lilja snorted. "Do we ever get through a whole movie?"

"Haha, no." HP answered, putting the movie on pause. He laughed, "C'mon."

Lilja followed HP up to the kitchen, where Jarppi was digging in the fridge for more food.

"Where's Jukka and Jarno?" Lilja asked, hopping onto the counter.

"I dunno," Jarppi shrugged, handing Lilja and HP both a Coke.

"Jukka, I swear to God, if you don't give me back the camera, I will kick you in the head so hard it will send you into next year!" Jarno's voice echoed through the whole house. Jukka's maniacal laughter followed after as he dashed past the kitchen, Jarno at his heels.

"Does that answer your question?" Jarppi laughed.

Lilja took a drink from her soda then handed it to her brother. "Yes, I do believe it does," she laughed. A sudden and loud thud came from the next room and the three friends in the kitchen exchanged amused looks. Lilja hopped off the counter first, and rounded the corner to see that Jarno had tackled Jukka to the ground, and the camera was sent flying across the room and into the wall. They were both wriggling on the floor trying to reach it, but trying to keep each other away at the same time. Lilja stepped over them, and bent over to pick the camera up. She held it up and gave the boys on the floor a cheeky smile.

Jarno scrambled to his feet and snatched the camera, examining it for any damage. "I swear, if there's anything wrong with it, you're paying for it," he muttered at Jukka. When he found there was nothing wrong, he let out a breath of relief and smiled brightly. "All good!"

Lilja rolled her eyes and grinned. Jarno never stayed mad for long. "Okay, are we done messing around? I want to finish the movie!" she whined like a child.

"Ugh, I've seen it so many times, though!" Jukka whined right back, getting up off the floor.

"Then you should have said so and we wouldn't have started it," Lilja said.

"Yeah, but what kind of friend would I be if I got what I wanted all the time?" Jukka asked, batting his eyelashes and getting really close to Lilja.

Lilja laughed, pushing him away. "Who ever said you were my friend?"

Jukka's jaw dropped as he feigned shock and pretended to cry.

"Awe, you know I didn't mean it, Jukka!" Lilja giggled, holding out her arms. Jukka broke out into laughter at his own acting and hugged Lilja tightly, lifting her in the air and swinging her around. Before she could protest, Jarppi grabbed her feet, and she was being swung back and forth by her hands and ankles.

"Hey, look. A swing!" HP pointed.

"No, HP...don't!" Lilja laughed, but it was too late. HP sat slowly on her stomach as Jukka and Jarppi continued to swing her. Jarno quickly turned on the camera and recorded it all. "God, HP...you weigh a ton!" Lilja grunted.

"Would you rather Jarppi be in my place?" HP asked, eyebrows cocked.

Lilja's eyes widened and she shook her head. "No, no, that's quite alright!"

"Hey!" Jarppi said defensively, putting his hands on his hips...and dropping Lilja's feet in the process. She landed on the floor with a loud boom, HP on top of her.

"Satana, perkele!" Lilja cursed, wheezing as she rolled out from under HP. She clutched at her abdomen, eyes shut tight as she writhed around.

"Shit, I'm sorry, sis!" Jarppi chuckled, standing over her.

She opened one eye at him. "Yeah, whatever. Just help me up!" she grunted.

Everyone laughed as Jarppi pulled Lilja to her feet. She hunched over, still holding her stomach and growled. "Why do I always get hurt?"

Jukka laughed, swinging an around her shoulders. "Because you're you." he said, planting a sloppy kiss on her cheek.

"Right...that explains it," Lilja said sarcastically, laughing lightly and wiping the wetness from her face.

Jarno put the camera down and scoffed. "But you're not always the one getting hurt. I'm always the one getting shit thrown at my head. I'm surprised I'm not suffering from brain damage yet."

Jarppi grinned. "Yet?"

"Shut up," Jarno chuckled, slapping Jarppi across the back with one of the couch cushions. Jarppi made an 'oomph' noise and grabbed one of the other cushions, then the two Jarnos began having a 'cushion fight'.

Needless to say, they never finished the movie.....

****

"Lil, heads up!" Jukka said, tossing a head of lettuce at her. Lilja swung at it with one of Jukka's old baseball bats, sending it over his head into the sink.

Jarppi, who was sitting on the counter next to the sink, raised his arms in the air and shouted, "Touchdown!"

Lilja snorted, resting the bat on her shoulder. "That's football, stupid!"

"I know that," Jarppi said pointedly, retrieving the lettuce from the sink. He ripped off a leaf and stuck in his mouth.

"Um, Jukka, don't you think you're mom will be mad when she finds out we've been using her vegetables for baseballs?" HP said, munching on some of the lettuce anyway.

Jukka shrugged. "Probably. But she's used to it by now."

HP let out a noise somewhere between a scoff and a laugh. "Wish I could say the same. My mom's always complaining about how I'm going to end up killing myself someday..."

"Yup, that pretty much sounds right." Jarppi joked, patting HP on the shoulder.

Lilja swung the bat in her hand then pointed it at Jukka. "No, if anyone around here ends up killing themselves, it's that guy,"

Jukka made a face at Lilja, but then smiled. "Yeah...probably."

Lilja rolled her eyes, and got back in her ready-to-swing stance with the bat as Jukka took back the lettuce from Jarppi. But right when he was ready to pitch it to Lilja, the phone began to ring.

"Hold on," Jukka said, walking past Lilja to the phone on the wall. "Hello?" he answered. A couple seconds later, he held it out to Jarno. "It's for you. It's Eija," he said.

Jarno took the phone and placed it to his ear. "What?" he answered.

Eija was Jarno's younger sister. She was only sixteen. Eija was nothing like her brother and his friends. She liked to avoid anything that involved the risk of injury, and she was very girly, always making sure her long blond hair looked perfect, and that her makeup was just right. Truth be told, Eija was the only thing that kept Lilja sain in a world full of dudes. Although she didn't like stunts, Eija was a firm believer in pranks, always finding some genious plan to pull a prank on her brother. She was the type of person who would turn into a criminal mastermind if given the chance. She was, overall, a very sweet, kind and caring girl. That, accompanied with her fun spirit made her one of Lilja's best friends.

Jarno eventually put the phone back on the hook and sighed. "I gotta go. My mom wants me to come home."

"Wait, how did she know you were here?" Jukka asked.

Lilja flipped her hair. "Girls just know stuff."

Jarno laughed. "My mom called Mrs. Leppala and she let her know we came here," he answered Jukka's question.

"Oh," Jukka answered simply.

Jarppi dropped the lettuce back in Jukka's hands. "Yeah, Lil and I better get home soon, too. I don't want to miss dinner."

"Of course you don't," HP teased.

"You gonna head home too, Hannu-Pekka?" Jukka asked.

HP thought a moment. "Um...nah. I might bunk here for the night if it's okay," he said. Jukka immediatley nodded. Everyone knew HP's parents weren't exactly on the best of terms for the moment, and HP hated going home to their arguments. So, no one questioned him when he asked to spend the night at one of their houses.

It took at least another twenty minutes, however, for everyone to depart from the Hilden house, mostly because of Jukka, and his sudden urge to hide everyone's clothes from when they changed earlier, but also just from everyone not wanting to leave the warmth of the house and trek back home in the snow.

"Wimps!" Jukka shouted as he stood on the front steps with no coat. The cold never really bothered him that much. He was prone to not wear very much outside during winter.

"I'd rather be a wimp than a frost-bitten neanderthal." Lilja retorted. Jukka acted like he was going to punch her, but instead embraced her in a quick hug before she followed her brother down the steps.

"Alright, I guess we'll see you tomorrow, guys," Jarppi said, waving.

Jukka and HP waved back and went inside, while the other three began their walks home.