Hey, so. This story is partially based off my summer last year, but also very much not.

I don't actually know all that much about Latvia and Estonia's characters, but I tried, and it's definitely been fun, but I don't know if I succeeded or not.

I apologize very much for making Raivis sound so very American. Normally I would alter my own speech patterns in writing to make it sound more neutral, but I didn't do that for this for a variety of reasons. For one, this is set in America because that made it easier for me to write. Also, everybody in the story has been living in America for several years, so they would have picked up on the mannerisms, especially if they were younger. And I'm feeling super lazy due to end of year finals and such. So.

I don't own anything.

Have fun.

Monday, June 7th. 12:30 p.m. Galante Household.

Rrriinnngg! Rrriinnngg! Rrriinnngg! Rrriinnngg! Rrriinnngg!

"H-hello?"

"Hello, this is Eduard from Louisiana Tech University. I'm calling to take a survey of people ages 18 to 42. Is there anyone available I may speak to?" I blinked, once in surprise and then again in excitement. Friggin' yes! It was the first call of summer. I checked the clock- 12:30 sharp. This was going to be awesome.

"Oh sure, just hold on a sec- wait, never mind. Sorry. My parents are too old and I'm too young. My brother is like, 19, which fits. But he's not here. Actually, he's never here. Sorry. Oh well. How're you today?" I loved talking to the poor summer interns who always called. There was no pressure, no way of them ever knowing who you were. The nervousness that usually laced my every action in real life could be discarded almost completely and I could simply be myself.

"Um… I'm fine, thank you. Well, I'll just-"

"Call back later, right? Cool. Talk to you tomorrow!" and then I hung up on him. Eduard, wasn't it? Oh, this was going to be a fun summer.

Tuesday, June 8th. 12:30 p.m. Galante Household.

Rrriinnngg! Rrriinnngg! Rrriinnngg! Rrriinnngg!

"Hello?"

"Hello, this is-"

"Hey Eduard! This is Raivis! Remember me? Oh wait, I don't think I ever told you my name. Whoops. Oh well. My name is Raivis. Anyways, there's still nobody here for you to survey because it's still just me. It's going to be that way for a while. This is Eduard, right?" I stopped for a moment, insensibly worried. It'd be really awkward if it was anybody but him.

"Y-yeah. This is Eduard." He responded.

"Oh. Cool. I was just checking, because it would really suck if it wasn't you. I mean, I was pretty sure, but it could also be Feliks, my brother's boyfriend. He calls sometimes to talk to Toris even though Toris doesn't even really live here anymore. I don't think Feliks really cares though because he just keeps talking until I hang up on him. Honestly, I'm pretty sure he keeps talking even then." Gosh, I kinda felt bad for this guy, having to listen to me ramble on like this.

"Your brother has a boyfriend?" Eduard gasped, and I could image his jaw dropping.

"Yeah, he does, and if you've got a problem with it then you can just go be stupid somewhere else because that's stupid." I declared. I was surprised when he only laughed.

"No, no, that's fine, I was just surprised. Most people aren't so open about it." I shrugged, even though I knew he couldn't see me.

"My family is a little strange. Anyways, I know you probably have a list of people you have to call before you're allowed to go home so I'll let you get to it now. Bye, Eduard!" and then I hung up.

Wednesday, June 9th. 12:30 p.m. Galante Household.

Rrriinnngg! Rrriinnngg! Rrriinnngg!

"Sveiki, Eduard! How are you today?" I greeted excitedly

"Es esmu labi, paldies." I literally fell off the couch with a girlish shriek at his response. "Raivis! Are you okay?" He called worriedly.

"You speak Latvian?" I demanded. I had never met someone outside my family who spoke my native language.

"Only a little. I used to live in Estonia, and I spent a semester in Latvia for a school exchange project." Eduard explained.

"That is awesome! My family moved from Latvia like seven years ago and there is absolutely nobody here that speaks the language. It's so annoying and my brother, Toris, he's actually adopted from Lithuania so he doesn't speak it very well, he only speaks Lithuanian. 'Cept now apparently he's learning Polish because Feliks is Polish. You see what that means? That means he wasn't willing to learn a language for his brother but he is willing to learn a language for his boyfriend? I mean, what the heck? Bros before hoes, man!" I was cut off from my rant when Eduard burst out laughing. I frowned, trying to decide whether to be offended or not.

"Raivis, did you learn Lithuanian on account of your brother being from Lithuania?"

"Well… no." I grumbled.

"Then stop blaming him for doing the same thing. I think you're just lonely, aren't you? Don't take that out on… Toris, was it? Just be glad he's found someone that makes him happy." Well dang this guy was smart. I hadn't heard such logical advice in years.

"Umm… thanks, I guess. I probably really needed to hear that. Anyways, you probably have to go, right? Talk to you tomorrow then! Ardievas!"

"Hüvasti!"

Thursday, June 10th. 12:30 p.m. Galante Household.

Rrriinnngg! Rrriinnngg!

"Tere, Eduard! Guess what I did today!"

"You googled how to say 'hello' in Estonian." He replied drily. "And tere to you too."

"Haha yes, I did. I also measured myself again and I think I'm a whole centimeter taller than I was yesterday!" I exclaimed happily.

"Do you measure yourself every day?" Eduard asked incredulously.

"Well… yeah." I admitted reluctantly. "But it's only because I'm really short."

"Oh, I doubt you're as short as you think you are. Everybody has that stage. Just wait for your growth spurt."

"I'm fifteen years old and I'm only 4'5." I stated flatly. "I'm pretty sure most guys don't go through that. I'm a midget." There was a moment of awkward scuffling sounds from his end and after a moment I realized he was laughing at me. "Hey! That's so not cool, Eduard!"

"I'm sorry, Raivis, but that's adorable." I scowled in response. I didn't want to be adorable.

"Well, excuse me then," I said, sarcasm heavily lacing my words. "But how tall are you?"

"About 5'8."

"Ugggh." I groaned. "Why does everybody have to be so much taller than me?" And you know what he did? He just kept on laughing. That jerkface.

"Well, anyways, I should probably get going. I have a lot of people left on my list to call." Eduard explained.

"Alright. Talk to you tomorrow, then. Bye!"

Friday, June 11th. 12:30 p.m. Galante Household.

I checked the clock worriedly for the nth time. Why hadn't Eduard called yet? Did he get tired of me? Maybe they aren't supposed to call if it's clear that they aren't ever going to reach someone in the age group they're looking for. Maybe he just didn't want to bother pretending to like me anymore. It wouldn't be the first time. Plenty of people had given up on being my friend in the past. But mostly that was because of my size, not my personality. Oh well. It didn't matter, did it? I had always known that someone like him would never truly like someone like me.

Friday, June 11th. 12:38 p.m. Galante Household.

Rrriinnngg!

"Oh my gosh Eduard thank goodness I was afraid you weren't going to call me today! You know you're eight minutes late, right? I was afraid maybe you had assignments to stop calling after a certain number of strike outs. Or maybe I've just been annoying you beyond belief and you didn't want to talk to me anymore." My voice wavered embarrassingly at the end of my spiel and I brought a hand up to wipe away the tears that had pooled in my eyes.

"Raivis, Raivis, Raivis. Calm down. I was a couple minutes late because someone actually took the survey today. I have no instructions to stop calling after a certain number of calls. So I'm going to keep calling all summer as long as you're the only one home. And to be honest, I'm glad, because you seem to brighten my day quite a bit." What? That meant… he actually liked me? He liked talking to me and wasn't just tolerating my presence the way everybody else did? For some reason, I could feel my heart stumble and trip over itself.

"Really?" I swear, if he was just screwing with me, I was going to cry.

"I promise. You see, most people I talk to during the day are either remarkably rude or remarkably polite. Either way, it gets incredibly droll after about fifteen minutes. There are some people who I'm quite sure say the exact same response every time I call. It's awful. But you don't do that. And I like it." Eduard explained. I'm pretty sure I deflated at that, the wind taken right out of my sails. He only liked me in comparison to how boring the other people were. That was… surprisingly disappointing.

"I like talking to surveyors on the phone. It's safe. I can be who I am without worrying because I'll never meet you so it doesn't really matter in the end." I said bitterly.

"What? Oh…" was the quiet response. "Well… I have to go now. I'll talk to you tomorrow, Raivis. Bye."

"Bye." I whispered, wondering what had gone wrong.

Saturday, June 12th. 12:30 p.m. Galante Household.

I checked the clock worriedly for the nth time. Why hadn't Eduard called yet? Did he get tired of me?

This inner monologue had become frustratingly familiar.

Sunday, June 13th. 12:30 p.m. Galante Household.

Well, that was it. He stopped calling me. Why did he have to go and reassure me only to break my heart the next day? I hadn't thought he was cruel, but I guess I was wrong.

Okay, for translations and explanations.

Sveiki- Hello (Latvian)

Es esmu labi, paldies- I'm fine, thanks (Latvian)

Ardievas- Goodbye (Latvian)

Hüvasti- Goodbye (Estonian)

Tere- Hello (Estonian)