Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2008 13:54:53 -0400
From: walrus
Subject: the-truth-about-iceland, chapter one.

I awoke to my shrill alarm clock's buzzings. It was my first day of high
school, so I was determined to look good for the day's first impressions. I
was sure that every other freshman of Clouder High School was just as
nervous as I was, but that really didn't matter to me. With the help of my
best friend, Emma, I decided to wear a light green American Eagle t-shirt,
with a sky blue hoody over it. Assuming that it would look pretty stupid to
wear shorts with a hoodie, I wore a pair of extremely light blue jeans. I
might have only been 5'7 at 145 lbs, but hey, the look fit me well.

Before I knew it, my bus was at my house, which I was kindly informed of
with a "You're going to be late!!" from my mother. I unconsciously wondered
about my father, but I dared not ask my mom about him. You see, my dad is
an alcoholic, so I just assumed he was out at some bar. I ran outside, my
dirty blonde hair swaying in the wind behind me, and finally plopped on the
bus right beside Emma.

"How was your night?" Emma asked with concern. To most people, that
question would have been viewed as a simple, everyday question. With Emma
and me, it meant much more. Asking about my night was a lighter way of
asking if I had to endure any domestic abuse from my drunken father. I
tried to reply casually.

"Uneventful." I said nonchalantly. Apparently that was informative enough,
because she changed the subject to school.

"What do you think the guys will be like?" she said with eagerness. Oh yes,
here comes the scary truth. I am gay. Only Emma and my mother know, but
that's still a lot. I shudder at the thought of what my father would do if
he knew, although I sometimes wonder if he'd care, as he barely
acknowledges my existence in any case.

"Straight." I said, somewhat bitterly.

"Oh come on! You know that some guys have dirty secrets just like you!
There are over two thousands at this school!" she said, her eyes
gleaming. She was actually probably right, but I wasn't going to tell her
that, so I just made a weird noise to let her know I heard her.

Finally, I said, "Do you think they'll give us a lot of work on the first
day?" As if on cue, the bus stopped.

"I guess we're about to find out." She replied, almost as bitterly as I
felt.

High school should be illegal. It induces about fifty different emotions in
a teenager at once, along with all of the hormones, which, all in all,
cannot be healthy for a growing human. Just then, the most prominent
emotion that I was feeling was anxiety, although I was sure that I was no
different from anyone else at that point.

"Who's your homeroom teacher?" she asked me.

"Mr. Bates. What about you?"

"The same!" she said cheerfully. This did brighten the situation. Perhaps
Emma and I would be able to make new friends together. We set off to find
the room which we would go to first thing for the next three hundred
seventy eight school days.

When we finally reached our destination, we were blown away. The door was
covered in millions of different colors. Nevertheless, the brilliant door
was still closed, so we were stuck waiting with around ten other
students. Everyone seemed to know everyone, except for one guy who looked
to be 5'8 or so. He wasn't really dressed in what people would call
"normal", but I guessed that he could've said the same about them. He had
on what looked to be swimming trunks, a button down shirt, and
flip-flops. It took us a while to register what we were looking at, until
we recollected our manners. Seeing this as a perfect opportunity to make a
new friend, we both approached him and smiled.

"Hi. My name is Emma, and this is Nathan." She said, gesturing towards
me. I tried to be as polite as possible.

"Heya! My name is Cody!-"His introduction was cut short by a disturbingly
loud bell, for which I was grateful.

A short, fat man who was rather unattractive came to the door and unlocked
it. He took his seat at a large desk in the front of the room, while we all
sat in thirty tiny desks. I was pretty sure that they weren't legal due to
the discomfort they provided, but everyone knows that lawsuits against the
school system never go through in this town.

Emma, Cody, and I chose desks at the back of the room, thankfully, so we
were able to pass notes without the worry of being subjected to paying
attention to a long lecture about the rules. As with all schools, the first
day included long, annoying syllabuses which were required to be signed by
a guardian. Such syllabuses carried harsh punishments if the requirements
weren't met (signed and returned in ten days-"no exceptions").

Finally, at lunch time, we were able to talk with one another without the
fear of getting in trouble. Since we didn't really know anyone, we all just
decided to sit at a small booth. Emma and I had discussed Cody in private,
and decided he'd have to know about my orientation sooner or later. We
decided sooner. Since I was going to come out to a more or less stranger, I
decided to have fun with it.

While eating, I searched the room for a random guy that I thought was
cute. Bingo. The guy appeared to be about 6' tall, with light, shoulder
length brown hair. Even from where we stood, I could tell that he had icy
blue eyes. It was kind of hard not to notice, when they seemed to reflect
all of the light in the room.

'Well, here goes nothing.' I thought to myself.

"Wow, he's hot." I said loudly enough so that Cody and Emma could hear. I
was pretty sure that Cody dropped the fork he was holding, but I just
pretended not to notice.

Taking a hint, Emma asked, "Who is?"

"That tall guy in the Hollister hoody. Do you see him?" I pointed.

"Oh, I see. Yeah, he's pretty cute." She replied. We both kind of just
ignored Cody until he broke our lust enhanced atmosphere with a rather
dodgy question.

"Are you gay?" he said, dumbfounded. I had thought it was pretty obvious;
apparently not.

"Yes." I said blankly.

"Okay." He replied.

"Aren't you going to like, freak out and run now?" I asked, somewhat
surprised by his simple response.

"No, of course not."

Whether it was the lack of friends on his part, or just an open mind, I
would never know. What I did know, however, was that he didn't act any
differently around me, so that was pretty cool. The chilly month of August
passed by rather quickly, and school was pretty uneventful; until a week
before autumn break.

"Oh my god! It's a few days before Halloween! I can't believe that you
don't want to do anything, Nathan!" Emma had been going on and on about
Halloween for the past three weeks.

"We are in HIGH SCHOOL if you haven't noticed, Emma." I said, rather
subtly.

"Yes, but we are also only fourteen! Come ON!" she begged.

"It'll be a lot of fun." Cody said meekly.

I scowled. "Fine. What are we going to do then? Go trick-or-treating?" I
said in a mocking tone.

"Oh, well.. um.." Emma started, but went blank.

Conveniently, the soccer team's goalie walked up to Emma. "Hey, you're in
my history class, yeah? I'm Sean. Well, anyway, Jake Eren is throwing a
huge Halloween party, and he wanted to know if you wanted to come. He said
you could bring your friends too, if you want."  Sean nodded toward us as
he mentioned us.

"What do you guys say?" Emma asked us brightly.

"Sure." I said cheerfully.

Cody, however, was not so keen on the idea of a party. Nevertheless, he
agreed to go.

"See y'all there then." Sean said before walking off.

Cody turned around to face Emma.

"Why would he invite you personally?" he questioned. Emma turned a furious
shade of red.

"You like him? Just who IS he anyway?" Cody asked. At this rate, Cody would
be the cause for the need of a stronger word than "jealous".

"Unfortunately, I don't think it's any of our business." I said darkly,
stepping between the two.

"Whatever." Cody said indignantly.

The rest of the day was a blur. I eventually gave up on trying to get Cody
and Emma to talk. On the bus home, Emma asked me if I wanted to spend the
night with her.

"Sure, just let me call my mom." After a few rings, my father answered. I
hung up without saying anything.

"Can I stay the night?" I asked her, choking back tears. She understood
without any explanation.

When we finally got to Emma's house, she instantly burst out into a rant.

"Like really, I don't even know what his problem is! So what, I like a guy,
and he might like me! Do they not do that where he comes from or
something???" she said angrily.

"Chill out. He's obviously jealous. I bet he likes you or
something. Whatever it is, you two can't go on arguing over something so
silly." I said casually.

"Yeah? Well tell him that!"

"It takes two to argue." I pointed out.

She sighed and said, "I guess you're right." She got on her hotmail account
and sent Cody an e-mail.

Cody, I'm real sorry that you feel the way you do, but I can't help it that
I have feelings for this guy. I shouldn't have to feel bad because of
it... it's just not fair. Well, see you at school.

-Emma.

"That sounds pretty good." I said.

"Let's hope he thinks the same."

The day of Jake's party was on a Friday, and it was the talk of the school.

"Are you two ready for the night of your lives?!" Emma exclaimed
eccentrically, just hours before the party started. She and Cody were back
to normal.

"Sure!" Cody said in his regular, cheery tone. Emma was wearing a white
tank top with faded caprice.

She had helped me pick out what she called 'party clothes'. This, by the
way, consisted of the tightest pink Abercrombie shirt she could find, and a
pair of regular cargo shorts. As if the tight shirt wasn't enough, she had
made me shave my legs that morning.

"I might as well wear a paper sign that says 'FAGGOT'. " I said grumpily.

"Oh be quiet! Smooth legs are so much more attractive than hairy legs." She
replied. Whether that was true or not, I didn't know, but I had to admit
that it made me look cleaner.

She had forced a blue polo over Cody's head before rushing us out of the
door. Some girl that Emma knew from volleyball was picking us up in a red
Chevrolet corvette. 'Rich much?' I thought to myself.

"Thanks so much, Becky!" Emma said as we got in.

"Anytime!" the girl said cheerfully. I recognized her as a junior.

It was about 8:00pm when we got there, and the sight took my breath
away. The house had to be at least four stories high, with two
balconies. It was so lit up that you would've thought it were daytime.

When we walked in, we saw a lot of familiar faces, as well as mountains of
alcohol. I had never drunk before then in my life, and I saw this as a
perfect opportunity to try it. I lost track of what was happening very
quickly. After all, that's what these parties are for, right?

Before going upstairs in the "pass out room", I noticed that Emma was with
an extremely burly guy, whom I assumed to be Jake. I couldn't see Cody
anywhere, but I was sure he was okay. The house was so large that I
probably would've gotten lost searching for him anyway. Five hours and a
bottle of vodka later, I passed out. At about four AM I was urgently shaken
awake.

"Nathan! We need to leave; NOW!" Emma whispered frantically. Downstairs
people were scattering about.

"Not now..." I said drowsily.

"The police are coming!" she said, a little louder this time. I shot
straight up, quickly coming to my senses. "Let's go!" I said. That guy Jake
was with her.

"Where's Cody??" I asked, now fully awake.

"I last saw him on the second floor's balcony. Come on!" Jake said,
speaking for the first time.

We all ran to the balcony and sure enough, he was laying there; passed out.

"Hey! Get up dude!" I yelled at him, not bothering to keep quiet like Emma
had.

He opened his eyes a little and said in his drunken stupor, "Fuck off."

"We don't have time for this." Emma said, annoyed.

Jake crouched down and grabbed Cody.

"Help me, won't you?" Jake said.

I knelt down and grabbed Cody's legs, while Jake got his upper body. We
quickly carried him down to Becky's car, who was in a hurry to get out of
the vicinity.

"Drive, drive!" I told Becky. We all got dropped off at Emma's house, whose
parents were thankfully out of town.

"Who do you think called the police?" Emma asked.

"I don't know, but it was pretty lame of whoever did it."

"What'll happen when the police get there and you aren't there though?" I
said.

"The unlucky people who didn't get the message will get blamed, I'm
afraid." He said devilishly.

Eventually, Jake and Emma began dating, much to Cody's dismay. But even
greater news spread through the school like wildfire a few weeks
afterwards. One day in homeroom, Mr. Bates, instead of playing solitaire
the whole period like he usually did, made an announcement, as did every
other homeroom teacher.

"We will be receiving three exchange students from Gardab`r, Iceland
tomorrow. One male and two females. Their names are Jakob, Lilja, and Anna
respectfully. I hope that you all will greet them graciously, and hopefully
you won't confirm any stereotypes of Americans that they may have." His
eyes dangerously glided over a group of guys in the front. "That is all."
He said, resigning to solitaire.

A burst of chatter instantly occurred.

"I wonder what the guy looks like." I said curiously.

"I guess you'll see!" exclaimed Emma.

"Since you might be meeting some hot foreign guy tomorrow, you'll need my
awesome fashion skills."

She continued. I acknowledged this with a groan.

"Be sure to shave your legs!" she giggled. Before I could respond, the bell
rang.

Everyone was still talkin about it at lunch. "Why should I shave my legs?
It's about thirty degrees outside and there's no way in hell that I'm
wearing shorts." I said stubbornly.

"Because silly," Emma started, "you never know what might happen!"
Apparently she thought that explained it all, because she then changed the
subject. She hadn't shut up about Jake since the party. I tuned her out and
got lost in my own thoughts.

"I hope he has a hot accent." I thought aloud.

"I bet he has a hot body. I heard that it's so cold up there, that their
fat shrinks the instant they go outside!" Emma exclaimed, to which we
replied with awkward stares.

Unfortunately, Emma probably believed that.

"Do me a favor and don't talk when we meet him." I said half-jokingly,
half-seriously.

The next day finally came. I had shaved my legs as Emma had suggested, and
was wearing the extremely light jeans that I had worn my first day, except
this time with a white turtle neck ("very fetch", Emma had said).

Thankfully, Jakob had been assigned to sit right in front of me! He was
quite a sight. His skin pigment was very light, with blue eyes so light
that they were almost silver. His blond hair was equally bright, along with
the coat of hair covering his legs and arms.

"Is he albino?" a short girl had whispered to another.

"Hey idiot, you would be able to tell that he obviously isn't if you
actually knew what albino meant!"

Emma had yelled across the room. The girl had just scowled and looked
away. Whether or not Jakob could understand what was happening was not the
question. I was barely paying attention to them, because I was thinking of
what to say. Eventually, after tossing around a few clich‚ catch phrases
around in my head, I decided to just plainly say, "Hi, I'm Nathan. You're
Jakob, yeah?" to which he replied with a small smile and, "Yes."

My jaw just kind of dropped at his smile. I was pretty sure that I looked
real dumb at that point, but by then I didn't really care. His teeth were
so perfect and white that it saddened me when he closed his
mouth. Pathetic, right? His voice sounded like someone had translated their
thoughts of heaven into a music score. I suddenly snapped out of my
thoughts and came back to Earth.

"Oh, I see. What's your next class?"

"P.E.?" he had said the letters quite slowly as if he thought there had
been some mistake.

"Physical Education. You do exercises and stuff. I have it next hour also."
I explained.

"Do you enjoy exercising?" I proceeded to ask.

"Oh yes, I love it actually. Back in Iceland, I would always play
football... or soccer as you call it whenever I could. I was also on the
weightlifting team, you see." He explained.

I tried so hard not to imagine Jakob in a wrestling uniform, but to no
avail. I quickly changed the subject.

"So er, what do you think of our school so far?" I asked.

"It seems nice, but there are many rude persons..." he said.

 "Oh, yeah, there are a lot of dickheads." I said bluntly.

"Dickheads..?" he said curiously. I couldn't help but to giggle.

"A jerk or something of the sort." I said.

"Oh, I see. There's a lot of slang in English that I'm not used to." He
said.

"Yeah, it's like that." I said sheepishly.

The bell interrupted our lovely conversation, and we walked to the gym. I
didn't really realize that I had totally blown off Cody and Emma until
after homeroom, but I figured they would understand. Any guilt that I felt
was quickly brushed away from my mind when I saw Jakob in the locker
room. Although his chest was extremely light like the rest of his skin, and
shaven, he was still totally hotter than any of the losers that I was used
to.

'They really don't make them like that over here.' I thought to myself
enviously.

The period came and went all too fast, and I told Jakob that he and his
friends could sit with us at lunch if he wanted. I was so glad when he said
they would.