Ports and Harbors

School.

That was the last thing I wanted to think about. The absolute last.

Today was my last day though. I, Tino Väinämöinen, am almost an official adult.

So I wished.

My friends, Berwald, Mathias, Lukas, and Emil, were definitely not mature. And since they weren't, I have no chance.

"Tino, wake up. Wake up…" A voice sung in my ear. It was a sly, mischievous voice. This voice was one that could only belong to an idiot of a Dane. Mathias. He was probably so excited he could hardly sleep. Or (his real intentions) was just here to pester. As always.

"Leave him be." A very stern voice uttered from behind. That was the only reason I had any intentions of opening my eyes this morning. But why was it so important? Probably the only sane one of the group, Berwald, had been the owner of the voice. It was such an indescribable voice. The Swede hardly could speak English unless he was super angry, so his speech seemed so rugged, so discreet, even if you had never heard him speak before you would know, "It is Berwald." Even though he was so distinct, he wasn't thought too well of. Some of the other students thought he was a weird old man, he has been called countless names, and he has been excluded from every group but ours. Even Mathias doesn't like him.

We all were in a boarding school, one for international students. We each were from different countries. I, Tino, am from Finland. Berwald is from Sweden. Mathias came from Denmark, Lukas from Norway. Emil came from Iceland. We have a French student, a Brit, an Italian, an Estonian, a Russian, and many more students. Not one of us though is from the same country. We all were called here personally, the school is very prestigious. We supposedly represent our country. We all are very intelligent, at least in our own way.

There are also little cliques of groups. The German and the Austrian as well as a student who claims to be from the Old Prussian Empire all hang out together. The three students from the Baltic States stay together as well when they can. The American stays with a Japanese student and the Brit, occasionally with a Canadian. We of course, are referenced to as the Nordic Five. Every group has some odd geographical reference behind it.

I sat up stretching, yawning afterwards. "Good morning sunshine." Mathias giggled. Berwald stepped in front of him, so all I could see was Berwald and not the grandiloquent idiot behind him, "I am making coffee for you and Lukas."

Let me clarify one thing. I hate Lukas.

Well, I don't hate him all the time. Only when Berwald is around.

Lukas stepped from behind the others, holding Emil's, his Icelandic brother's, hand. Emil obviously hated being treated so young, but he was the youngest of the group. Emil was still a junior, so he would not be graduating today.

Everyone else was in their school uniforms. Everyone else, except for me. I got up to get dressed, only in my boxers still. It didn't matter, we all were guys. I went over to my drawers and got out my uniform that had just been cleaned. We all wore ours a little differently, but it helped us show our styles more freely. Mathias wore his with a black jacket, Berwald wore a blue jacket with his, Lukas wore the normal yet with his hair clip, Emil with the second most preferred acceptable pants (Blue pants instead of the normal tan) and I in a tan vest and normal pants with a long white shirt underneath.

I went to see if the coffee was ready, and luckily it was, and got a cup. The style of brewed coffee is actually preferred back in my home of Northern Europe, and even in America. I drank a bit to see if it was good and, as always, Berwald was perfect.

We all ate breakfast at my place; I would have cooked some pannu kakku for everyone but Mathias insisted on making a baked cheese omelet. He was saying how easy it would be, not even knowing a thing about Finnish pannu kakku. Though we fought over the oven, Berwald took over and made some of his own pancakes, so I had to give up and let Mathias cook his omelet.

As we all sat down to eat, Berwald talked about how his mother used to make Swedish pancakes. He also told us how she taught him to remember the recipe. It was fun listening to him, until Lukas spoke up about how his mom used to cook.

After breakfast we all left for school.

"I'll get there before you by running!" Mathias laughed as he ran out the door. Emil and Lukas took a casual stroll, not even caring about the Dane. Berwald stayed by me, making sure I wasn't left. I could feel his stare beaming down at me, even though I wasn't looking. My face turned red, and I blamed it on the heat. When I looked up at the Swede, he was sure enough staring down at me. I was so intimidated, so terrified I nearly screamed. It took me a second to collect myself, my heart still racing. I cursed in Finnish, knowing that the look in my eyes may have been rude. "What does that mean?... 'Perkele'?" I heard Berwald say in his heavy accented deep voice. I looked up at him, thinking of how to explain it. "Long ago, right after the Second Swedish Crusade, Finland converted to Christianity. Perkele was originally a pagan god, equal to the Thor of your homelands. Perkele later meant devil as it was demonized by the church."

"I see." Berwald said.

We soon arrived to our boarding school, Mathias pretending he was asleep. "What took you so long I have waited for you all" He smiled, laughing a little through his grin. He tried to look calm and composed, though he was still panting.

It didn't take me but two seconds to realize today, we would all do something very stupid.