Chapter Two~ The Dance
Once inside, Turid gestured for her to take off her outerwear so she could hang them up. "So, please, tell me your name, kjært." She had called her something equivalent to dear, or sweetheart.
"Um," she started, pulling her arms out of the coat to hand it to the older woman. "I'm Anjelica. Everyone calls me Anjie, though."
"Anjelica? Oh, what a beautiful name. Very, um..." she struggled to find a word. "Well, it is lovely. So, Anjelica, the boys tell me you are a transfer student from America. Why don't you tell me a bit about yourself while we wait for the tea to be finished?"
"Mamma," Magne rolled his eyes. "We need to get started on our paper. Gry is already waiting upstairs." The last part was directed at Anjie.
"Right," something in her deflated a little. "Um, Mrs..."
"Seier, kjært, but you can call me Turid."
"Turid. It was lovely meeting you."
"Oh, of course!" she waved her hands. "School comes first. I will bring the tea when it is finished."
"Ok. Oh, also, my mom asked if you could call her to let her know I made it safely."
"Ja, I can do that. Just leave me her number and I will call her."
Anjie chuckled a little as she handed Turid the piece of paper with her mother's phone number on it, before turning to Magne, who gestured for her to go up the stairs first. As he put his foot on the first step, he turned back to his mother with an exasperated look. She just gave him a thumbs up, to which he sighed and followed after Anjie.
Turid turned towards the kitchen, only to see Laurits watching her with an eyebrow raised. "You're really laying it on thick, mom."
She scoffed. "It's about time your brother finally starts dating. You are two years younger than him and you've already dated quite a bit. He's never even so much as mentioned a crush."
"Sure, he has...just not to you."
"And why not?!" Turid exclaimed, busying herself by arranging a tray for the tea and cookies.
"Because he knew you'd act like this. It's embarrassing to him. Besides, I think he's more into Gry than the new girl. She doesn't even speak fluent Norwegian."
"Well, there is nothing wrong with that. The important thing is that she is trying, at least. And, anyway, I didn't see him running out to make sure Gry was safe from Nisse." She told him, hand on her hip.
"Whatever, mom." Laurits grabbed the bowl of cereal he had been munching on and went to sit in the living room.
"You're going to ruin your dinner!" She said a bit forcefully. The boy didn't seem to care.
)0(
Anjie had been made to sit adjacent to them at Magne's desk, as he and Gry had both already taken up residence on his bed. She was sitting half turned so she could hear and see Gry's words better. They worked for a few minutes before his mother knocked on the door to deliver the tea and cookies with a smile. Anjie went to meet her and take the tray from her, thanking her profusely in Norwegian. The woman stood for a second, taking in the scene excitedly before she finally retreated from the room. When both girls looked to the boy beside them, he had his face in one hand.
"I am so sorry." He groaned.
"Your mother is nice." Anjie told him, setting the tray down on the desk and passing the mugs out on saucers with a few cookies. "Besides, she just trying to make sure we're taken care of. Anyway, where were we?"
For another hour they went over the material they had been collecting, Anjie's fingers flying over the keys at lightning speed. So far, it was just a rough draft, but she would go back through and clean everything up when she got home for the night. She had turned to finish up the last few lines of text when Gry asked Magne something. From what she could understand of the conversation, which was not in English (which made her feel a little left out), was Gry asking something about glasses. She pointed to the stereo system, atop which sat a pair of coke bottle glasses. That was strange. Anjie hadn't seen him wear glasses all day. The conversation continued. It sounded like Magne was trying to flirt with Gry, but was super awkward about it.
"Well," Gry suddenly said in English. "I think we should call it a night. Are either of you coming to the party?"
Magne shook his head. Anjie looked between the two of them, confused. "I didn't even know there was a party. When?"
"Tomorrow night, at the school. It's for the Spring Equinox." Gry told her. "It would be a good way for you to get to know some of the other students."
"Oh...um..." she glanced at Magne, who looked a little forlorn. "I don't know. I'd have to ask my parents. I haven't actually been to a party before. Will there be adults?"
"Oh, yeah." Gry nodded. "Principal Jutul will be there, along with a few other teachers, to chaperone. Anyway, I've got to get home. Bye." With that, she gathered her things and disappeared from the room, leaving Magne and Anjie to themselves.
"She's a nice girl." She told him. When he looked at her questioningly, she said, "It's not hard to see that you like her, Magne. You're basically drooling on her," she laughed. "Anyway, I think you should go to the party, even if it's just to ask her to dance once."
"I've never been to a party before. No one ever invited me." He looked down at his hands, playing with his nails.
"Me neither, buddy."
His head shot up. "Buddy?"
Confused for a second, she stared at him, before she realized what he was asking. "Yeah, of course. You're the only one who's really been nice to me so far. I mean, Gry is all right, but I think it's more because she's being forced to because of our situation of being in the same group."
Magne sighed heavily, a small, nervous smile on his lips. "I'll go to the party...as long as you go, too."
Taken aback, she blinked. "What?"
"You are my friend. I will be nervous to ask Gry to dance. At least with you there, I'll have someone to give me strength to do it."
A strained smile came across her face. "Sure, I'll be your wingman. As long as it's ok with my parents. And..." she chuckled, "You have to pick me up from my house, like a true gentleman."
He laughed. "Should I bring flowers, too?"
The question pinged something in her chest, but she laughed it off. "Sure, why not." Standing from her chair, Anjie stretched for a moment, popping her back in the process. "Oooooh. I should probably be heading home, too." She sighed.
"What is it?"
"Oh, nothing." She lied. When she glanced his way, he had his arms crossed saying that he didn't believe her. "That pot roast I brought to school was the only thing we've had in the last week that hasn't come from a can. And Mom's not cooking again until tomorrow. I'm just not looking forward to clam chowder again."
"Why don't you stay for dinner?" he blurted out.
"Huh?"
"I mean...mamma would be upset if she knew you were going home to canned soup. She's making... laks og poteter?"
"Ok, the second one I know. Potatoes. But the other one...I have no idea."
"It is a type of fish."
"Well, I guess it's a good thing I like fish then. But you may want to make sure it's ok with your mom for me to stay. I'm sure she wasn't planning on another person to feed."
Nodding, Magne rose from his bed and made his way across the room in long strides. "Mamma!" he called down as he trotted down the stairs.
"Eh?" Anjie heard her respond as she made to follow, bringing her backpack with her so she wouldn't have to come back up when she left.
"Er det greit at Anjelica blir til middag?" Is it alright if Anjelica stays for dinner?
"Ja, ja! Selvfølgelig. Laurits, sett et sted for henne, takk." Yes, yes! Of course. Laurits, set a place for her, please. Turid turned back as Anjie came down the steps. "You are most welcome to share our meal with us. Come." She waved her over. Anjie felt a tug on her bag, and turned to see Magne pulling her bag off her shoulder to set to the side.
"Thank you," she said sheepishly. "You are too kind."
"Nei, nei. It is always nice to have guests for dinner. Especially new friends. Now, what would you like to drink? We have soda, milk, water. We may even have a bit of eple juice." Apple.
"I don't drink soda."
The silence was so heavy one could have heard a pin drop.
"You don't?" Laurits finally asked.
"Uh...no, I don't. I don't like fizzy drinks. Never have."
The dark-haired brother laughed, a high-pitched noise. "You're so weird."
Turid smacked him in the back of the head. "Laurits!"
"Hva? Hun er!" What? She is!
"That was very rude," she chastised him. "Apologize."
"No, no, Turid. It's ok. It's not the first time someone has called me weird. Won't be the last."
"Even so," she leveled her son with a glare. "It was unkind and he is going to apologize for that comment." When he just stared at her, she hissed, "Right now."
The boy groaned, then turned to Anjie with an eye roll. "Sorry for calling you weird. Would you like some water with your dinner?"
"That would be fine, thank you."
Laurits rolled his eyes again and moved to the sink to fill up a glass with water. "No!" Magne nearly shouted.
"What?" His brother asked with a bit of an attitude.
"Not from the tap." He accidentally knocked into Anjie and his mother on his way into the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator, and came back with a bottle of water in his hand. "Here. You shouldn't drink the tap water. It's not good for you."
"Here we go," Laurits muttered.
"Hold munn." Shut up. "You know Jutul has been dumping stuff into our water for who knows how long." He turned back to the girl. "That's why Isolde and I were going up the mountain that day. To get water samples of the run off from the ice melting. I had to come back down halfway there because I got a concerning message." He glared at his brother.
"Oh..." was all Anjie could say. In an attempt to lighten the mood, she took the bottle from his hand and said, "Well, I don't know about y'all, but I'm starving!"
"Ja!" Turid agreed. "Let's eat."
They all sat down quickly. Magne pulled Anjie's chair out for her, then sat down beside her. Turid dished out her food before passing the platter to Laurits, who repeated the actions as his mother did the same with the next dish. The plates went around the table, reaching Anjie, who was somewhat surprised to find it was salmon covered in sauce. She took a bit and placed it on her plate, set it back down in the middle of the table and took the next one from Magne. As he handed to her, her fingers overlapped his under the dish, causing both of them to jump a little and briefly meet each other's eye. Anjie huffed out a small laugh, then pulled the dish away from Magne and finished loading up her plate.
Anjie took a bite of the salmon, immediately moaning in delight. "Turid, this is amazing."
"Really?" the older woman asked. "Well, if you like it so much, I'm more than happy to give you the recipe. I got it from my mamma, and she from hers."
"And she from her, and so on and so forth," Laurits continued, sounding like he was annoyed.
Anjie glared at the younger boy for a moment before she replied, "I would love that, thank you. Maybe I'll make it sometime and bring it over for you to try. Let you critique my efforts." The last part was said with a small chuckle.
Turid responded in kind. "Oh, I would love that." Anjie didn't see the look she shot Magne, one that said something along the lines of: Hey, she's coming back. That's good! "I would very much like to meet your parents as well, Anjelica. Your mother sounded lovely on the phone."
Anjie, who had just taken a bite of food, nodded with her hand over her mouth as she began to speak. "I'm pretty sure my mom and dad would like to meet you as well. They like to know the parents of my friends so they know I'm ok when I go over to their house."
"So, what do your parents do for a living?" Turid inquired as she gathered up a bite of food.
"Well..." she finished swallowing her food, then cleared her throat. "Mom is an online therapist, so as long as she had internet, she can work from anywhere. Dad works, as it happens, for Jutul industries." Everyone perked up at that. "He works in the financial offices; I don't know exactly what he does. He tries not to bring his work home with him."
"So, Jutul does have factories in other parts of the world?" Magne asked.
She turned to him. "Yeah, that's why we moved so much. But, since this is the center of Jutul industries, Dad is convinced this is going to be our last move."
"And how are you finding Edda, kjært? It's not too cold for you? I know many outsiders think that the climate is not exactly hospitable."
Anjie thought about her answer for a moment before she spoke again. "I've only been in Edda for about a week and a half. I have never really liked the cold." Turid seemed to deflate a little. "But I'm coming to find that the people here are much warmer than New York." She turned on Magne with a sweet smile, silently thanking him for taking the time to talk to her.
"Aw, well, I am happy you are at least making friends already. Are you going to the Spring Equinox party the school is having?"
"As a matter of fact, I am. Magne agreed to go and ask Gry to dance as long as I went with him to give him courage."
A strange look came over their mother's face. "Hmm."
Magne got a sudden feeling of anxiety. "Hva?" What?
"Oh, nothing, gutt. Nothing at all." She had basically just called her son 'boy' instead of his name. She continued staring hard at her food as she cut it up, somewhat vigorously.
Anjie looked between the two of them, confused. She happened to look across the table at Laurits, who only shrugged, not having any idea what was going through his mother's head either. Glancing at Magne, he had a slightly panicked expression. The rest of the meal was spent in relative silence, only to be broken by the odd question here or there about school and other students. At the end of dinner, Anjie offered to help clear the table and clean up. She was told that she could pick up the plates, but it was the boys' responsibility to do the dishes while she put the leftovers away.
"But," Turid started, pursing her lips as she looked between her son and his guest. "Laurits can start the dishes by himself. Magne..."
"Ja, mamma?" He was nervous. Did he do something wrong? Was something said at dinner that made her mad?
"Why don't you walk Anjelica home?" The girl in question started to protest, saying that she only lived a short distance away, but she was cut off. "Nej. It is dark already, and I don't trust Nisse to not accost you again. Nej, I would be much more at ease if he walked you home." Anjie just nodded, shyly spinning her rings. Then Turid pointed at her son. "Jeg må snakke med deg når du kommer hjem." I need to talk to you when you get home.
"Ja, frue." Yes, ma'am.
With that, she smiled, taking hold of Anjie's shoulders. "You are always welcome here, kjært. If you need anything, anytime, you let me know. Ja?" When she had nodded and muttered 'yes, ma'am', she smiled widely and waved them off as she went to finish cleaning off the table.
Anjie turned to see Magne with her coat, holding it open for her to slip into. With a slight huff of a laugh, she did so, also taking her scarf and hat from him as they got ready to walk the short distance to her house. Once she had shouldered her bag, he motioned for her to lead the way. It seemed to have gotten colder again. But, since the sun had set, she sort of expected that. Granted, it had been a soaring 62 degrees that day, Fahrenheit. For someone who was from the southern United States, it was freezing A shiver ran through her as they walked past Nisse's trailer. Magne noticed this.
"Are you cold?" he asked.
With a smile, she responded. "I'll be fine. It's just right there," she pointed a few houses down. As they walked, she skipped a little. "So, your mom..."
"Ja, I know. I am sorry about her."
"No, no, no." Anjie stopped him with a hand on his bicep, since she couldn't reach his shoulder without having to raise her arm. With a start, she realized that he seemed to have more muscle than he let on with his soft-spoken demeanor. "Um, no. I like her, she is so sweet."
"Really?" his eyebrows shot up towards his hairline. "She wasn't annoying to you?"
"What?" she made a face. "No, not at all. She cares about you and your brother, that's why she's so up in your business. My mom is kinda the same way. Anyway," she dropped her hand and started walking again, slowly. "Do you play any kinds of sports?"
"Hm?" his confused look made her chuckle. "Nej. I do not. Mamma doesn't want me playing sports because she's afraid I'll get mad and hurt someone."
"Really? You?"
He sighed, "I have had some issues at previous schools. I lost my temper. Mamma thinks it's because of my learning disabilities, that I get frustrated. She even told the principal about it."
"Well, that kind of sucks. I mean, sure you got a little tense earlier with Oscar, but I can understand why. From what I've seen of you so far, the only time you get upset is when someone is being an ass. But there's also the fact that playing sports could help you channel whatever anger or frustration you have in a positive, constructive way. Have you ever thought about football? Or maybe even hocky? At least in those you have to be a little aggressive to make the plays. Are you any good at anything? Sportswise, I mean."
He stopped in his tracks, something she didn't notice at first, until he spoke again. "I can throw a hammer over half a kilometer. Farther even."
It was her turn to stop. Surprised, she turned around quickly. "Really?!" He nodded, nervous. "Well, that's...I mean...that's really impressive, Magne. Pretty sure that's impossible, but..." he sagged a little. "How did you find that out?"
Raising his eyes to hers, he noted that she was openly curious. Not cynical or anything, genuinely curious. "The other night, when you saw me outside in the storm..."
"The day Isolde died?"
"Yeah. I...got angry. I picked up a hammer from my yard and threw it. It ended up a kilometer and a half away, in Vidar Jutul's windshield. Yesterday, I tried to do the same thing, and I managed to throw it..." he had to think about the number translation, "541 meters." Holding his breath, he waited to see what she'd say.
"Is that what you were trying to tell Gry earlier? When you two were speaking Norwegian?"
"Um...yeah, some of it was. She didn't believe me, though."
"Well, that's definitely something I'd like to see with my own eyes before I make a decision, but I don't think you'd lie for no reason. Have you always been able to do that?"
"Nej," he shook his head, "All this just started when we came to Edda. I've always been the fat, stupid brother as Laurits would call me."
Narrowing her eyes towards his house, she huffed, "Y'know, the more I learn about your brother the more I want to pop him in the mouth."
"Pop?" he asked.
"Hit."
"Oh."
"Anyway," she moved towards her house. They were only a few yards from her front door. "We'll figure out what's going on later. But, for right now, I have to go inside. And you need to go home and get some rest before the party tomorrow, Casanova." At her gate, she went up the step and turned around to graced him with a smile. "This is me. Thank you for walking me home, Magne." Leaning forward, she braced herself on his shoulder, causing him to lean forward, too, and she placed a small peck on his cheek. "Good night."
He was speechless as she went through the gate. It wasn't until she was already halfway up the steps to her door when he finally found his voice. "God natt," he called. She turned and smiled down at him once more with her key in the lock, then turned and went inside. He waited until the door closed behind her and he heard the deadbolt slide into place to leave. The walk back to his house seemed shorter than the from it, but he still had a strange look on his face when he walked in and hung up his coat. In a daze, he turned, but stopped when he was face to face with his mother. "Uh..."
Swatting at him with the drying towel in her hand, she said, "You thickheaded boy!"
Magne tried to protect himself from his mother's wrath. "Hey! Hey! What did I do?!"
"You asked a girl to go with you to a party," Laurits explained as their mother finally ceased her assault.
"Ok, and?"
"'And'?! You asked her to go with you, just so you could have her as backup to ask another girl to dance!" Turid sighed with one hand on her forehead." Oh, Magne, I knew you were a little bit dumb sometimes, but this takes the cake. Anjelica is a very sweet girl who actually seems to like you. Why couldn't you have just asked her to just go with you?! I'm sure she would have been more than happy to go."
"Yeah, if only to have a reason not to go by herself." Laurits chuckled.
It was his turn to be swatted at. "You are not helping matters, Laurits. Your brother deserves to have someone sweet in his life. Especially someone that gets along with his family."
"Hey!" The two of them turned to look at him. "Anjie is just a friend. I just met her today. Yes, she's nice, but I don't think she has any kind of feelings for me like that."
"Really?" Laurits scoffed. "Didn't look like it to me from the window."
"What?" Turid's brow scrunched.
"Yeah, she kissed him when they got to her house."
Before his mother could start making a scene, he shook his head. "It was just on the cheek. She was thanking me for walking her home. That was it."
"Bah! I think you should focus more on Anjelica, rather than Gry."
"Considering that Fjor is after Gry, I'm pretty sure you ain't got a chance, bro."
Magne made a face at his brother, then turned and made for his room. "I'm going to bed."
)0(
Anjie shut the door to her house, leaning against it for a moment trying to make the blush on her cheeks to go away. Why did she do that? She'd only known the guy for a day. Besides, he like Gry. Shaking her head, she shucked her shoes before picking them up and heading into the living room. She was shocked to see her parents waiting there, arms crossed.
"Where have you been?" her mother's voice was dangerous.
"At Magne's house." She took her bag off. "His mom invited me to stay for dinner." Ok, so that part was a little white lie.
"Is Magne the boy that was walking with you?" her dad asked. He seemed a little less irritated than her mother, more laid back about the whole thing.
"Yeah. His mom had him walk me home because of the druggie that lives across the street from his house. And 'cause it's dark out. She just wanted to make sure I got home alright. Anyway, we got quite a bit done on the assignment. I think we're about halfway done now. Gry is having me type everything her and Magne research and organize it, then she's going to translate it into Norwegian for the actual presentation."
"Well, why isn't Magne doing any of that?" her mother had finally uncrossed her arms. Her father, on the other hand, had decided he didn't want to stand up any more and sat down in his armchair.
"He's dyslexic, mom. He has a lot of trouble writing or reading anything."
"Then how is he doing research?"
"Listening. He has apps that read the stuff on his phone and computer for him out loud so he can do the work."
Her mother made a little 'ah' sound, then followed her father and sat down in her own chair. "So...I hear there's supposed to be a big party going on at the school tomorrow." Shonda's voice was questioning.
"Yeah, I was actually going to ask y'all about that. Is it ok if I go? Magne kind of asked me to be his wingman."
"His wingman?" This time it was her father that asked the question.
"Um...yeah. He's gonna ask Gry to dance with him, but he's kinda shy, so he asked me to go with him as encouragement."
Her parents shared a look. "Well, I guess that answers that question." Joe chuckled.
Shonda slapped at his arm. "You hush." Then, turning to her daughter, she asked, "Do you want to go? You know you don't have to just because someone asks you."
"I know that. As a matter of fact, I think it would be good for me to at least go to one party. Gry said it would be a good way to get to know some of the other students. And besides, nothing untoward," she drew out the word in a joke, "could happen. There's gonna be teachers chaperoning."
After giving her husband a look of some sort of silent communication, she turned back to Anjie. "I suppose it would be alright. As long as there are actually adults there. And if anything happens, or you see someone doing something that they shouldn't, you call us, and we will come get you."
"I know, ma. It'll be fine."
"Yeah." Joe snorted. "Especially with that Magne kid with you. I doubt anyone would dare to try anything with him around, as big as that boy is."
Something in Anjie beamed a little bit. Surely, they were right, nothing bad could possibly happen with Magne around.
