Chapter 13

When she woke up the next morning, the sun hasn"t risen yet. It was very early. Maija didn"t get up - she was still on her back, trying to wake up, her eyes wandering all over the empty ceiling. Then, the events of yesterday came into her mind - she remembered Martin"s expression as he was leaving. Maija knew that it was no use just staring at the ceiling, thinking of ways to get back at Helena - it couldn"t possibly fix what already happened. Still, it was sort of amusing to imagine what Helena"s face would look like, if she was dragged by her perfect, smooth blonde hair. 
   Maija got dressed quickly, and then wrote a note to her father, which she hanged, with the help of sellotape, on the door of her room. The note said - "Papa, I"ve gone out for a walk, I"ll be back soon. M." Without even having breakfast, she went outside the door and started walking energetically in the direction of the park on the hill.
   Just like last Sunday, the park was full of old ladies walking their dogs, and middle-aged men jogging while listening to the news on their pocket radio. Maija went on - soon, she reached the old park - unarranged, in disorder, with trees growing in all directions. There was the bench with "Tommy and the Rippers were here" written on it. Easily, she found the large stone on which she sat exactly a week ago.
   She took off her jacket, put it on the cold stone and sat on it. The big oak tree by which it stood looked even sadder - almost all of its leaves were gone by now. Maija reached out her hand and caressed the wide, rusty trunk.
   "I"m back, friend," - she said. - "I came here to wait for the boy who visits you always. Tell me, have you seen him lately?"
   The tree"s upper branches moved up and down slightly in the cold wind. It seemed as though they were saying - "he was here, he was here not long ago". Maija nodded sadly, looking down to her feet and noticing fresh footprints, far larger than her own.
   "He probably came here yesterday," - she whispered, - "I hope he will be here today too. I hope he comes soon - I"ll be waiting."
   She didn"t have to wait for too long. Soon, she heard familiar footsteps behind her and turned around. Martin looked quite surprised to see her - she was afraid he might say something like "what are you doing here?", but he didn"t. Instead, he just came closer. She made some room for him on the stone and he sat down next to her.
   "Hi," - he said uncertainly.
   "Hi." - she replied in a shaky voice. She wanted to add something but the words suddenly got stuck in her throat. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, looking down to the neighbourhood beneath them.
   "I"ve seen you at the party yesterday," - she finally said, - "but you left very soon."
   "I didn"t have much to do there." - he explained gloomily, - "I hardly knew anyone. Actually I don"t know why Tommy invited me, probably because he just wanted to be polite - although it"s not very much like him. So I left, and I went-"
   "Here," - Maija said hastily.
   "Yes," - he nodded, looking at yesterday"s footprints. - "I went here. You, on the other hand, were having a great time with your boyfriend-"
   "Tommy"s not my boyfriend." - she said. - "I know that"s what you probably heard, and I even know who is the source of this story, but it"s not true."
   "But everyone say that you and him - well," - Kai looked at her with disbelief.
   "So everyone say," - Maija agreed. - "but I know better, right?"
   "So you"re not-"
   "Not at all," - she smiled, seeing the angry clouds clear up, - "why would I say that I wasn"t, if I really was?"
   "No, I guess you wouldn"t," - agreed Martin, a bright gleam in his eyes. He paused for a second and said, - "tell me, what would you say if I told you I had a surprise for you?"
   "A surprise?" - Maija smiled and looked in his eyes, barely aware of what she was saying, - "For me?"
   "Yes," - he said. - "actually it"s a surprise for myself too, because I just though of it - so it"s a double-surprise!"
   It seemed that everything was smiling - the corners of Martin"s lips and eyes, the sun that came out for a moment and lightened everything around, even the bare branches of the oak tree. Martin got up from the stone and gave Maija his hand to help her rise.
   "Let"s go," - he said. - "I think you"re going to like this."
   And so they went. They were walking down the pretty clean streets, that became busier and busier as they got further from the neighbourhood. Maija wondered how she didn"t notice before their colorfulness - it seemed that every window winked at them, that the busy rush was a song sang especially for them. Soon, they were almost at the center of the city, standing on a wide street.
   "Did you have anything for breakfast?" - Martin suddenly asked.
   "As a matter of fact, no." - Maija admitted. - "What about you?"
   "Me neither," - he said. - "you know, it would be better if we sat down in that small cafй over there and had something to eat. My surprise will require lots of energy!"
   Soon, they were sitting in front of each other, the small table groaning under the weight of pies and big mugs of hot chocolate. They ate happily, and then started walking again.
   "I would like to know where you"re taking me, anyway," - started Maija, but went silent right away, because their destination was already in front of her eyes.
   "So, what do you think?" - Martin asked enthusiastically.
   "Oh, no," - Maija went slightly pale. - "I should have known - the skating rink, of course - I just have to warn you, I haven"t placed a foot on ice in my life."
   "Never?" - Martin seemed surprised. - "What, you didn"t have a skating rink there at the South?"
   "Well, we had," - said Maija. - "but it wasn"t half as big as this one. And ice-skating wasn"t so popular, either, so I never had a chance to practise."
   "You have a chance right now - don"t worry, it"s not difficult at all." - Martin encouraged her. - "I will help you."
   Standing on ice really wasn"t so difficult - Maija managed to straighten her back, her feet shaking. When she tried to take a step forward, though, her feet didn"t seem to be in her control anymore - she almost found herself sitting rather than standing. Looking at the people around her, all of whom were gliding easily on the smooth surface, she felt quite ashamed of herself.
   "I"m only making fun of myself," - she said to Martin, - "everyone here look as if they could skate before they could walk. I don"t think I"ll ever learn."
   "Oh, come on - do you lose hope so quickly?" - he smiled, - "It"s alright, give me your hand - don"t worry, I won"t let you fall - and let"s go."
   Maija tried to step forward once more, and would have fallen without a doubt if Martin didn"t hold her wrist firmly.
   "I can"t," - she shook her head. - "I guess I"m doing something wrong, there is simply something I"m not getting."
   "You"re just afraid," - said Martin, - "it"s all in your head - see, if you think you can do something, you can."
   Saying that, he gave a sudden push that made him glide towards the center of the skating rink in high speed, dragging frightened Maija behind him - she gripped his hand so tight that fingernail marks were left on it.
   "Oh, you can"t do this to me," - Maija groaned, - "please, take me back to the corner - I need to lean against the wall, I won"t be able to stand otherwise."
   "Of course you will," - he assured her, suddenly letting go of her hand. - "See? You"re still standing, aren"t you?"
   Indeed, Maija was standing, her arms stretched to the sides like wings, trying to gain a little balance. She felt that it wouldn"t last for too long, though.
   "I"m falling!" - she screamed as she felt her feet sliding in different directions. Martin grabbed her hand, trying to prevent her from falling, but it was too late - the next second, both of them were lying flat on the smooth, cold ice.
   "You won"t let me fall, will you?" - Maija rolled with laughter, trying to sit.
   "Well, even the professionals have their downfalls." - Martin said, - "And at least now you know that falling isn"t so horrible - we"re both still alive aren"t we?"
   He got up and pulled Maija up from the ice. Indeed, after the falling, nothing seemed so scary anymore - she has tripped a couple more times, but it wasn"t quite as painful as she imagined. After a couple of hours and about a thosand times in which they both crossed the skating rink, Maija could feel quite proud of herself - her feet were now holding firmly to the ice, and it didn"t seem to her that every little blow of the wind could take her off course.
   Maija knew that tomorrow her muscles were going to be caught up, and both of them felt a healthy kind of tireness.
   "Time to rest a bit, isn"t it?" - Martin said, gasping, but unable to take the smile off his face.
   Hand in hand, they went off the skating rink and sat on a nearby bench, breathing heavily. After sitting there for a little while, they went on - without a clear purpose, they were walking around the city - walking down the big, vivid streets, and small, quiet ones. They were talking while they walked - words didn"t mean anything, while there was a hidden meaning in every glance, in every smile.
   Suddenly, it got dark although it wasn"t time for sunset yet. Maija looked up and saw that the sky was covered with dark clouds.
   "Damn," - said Martin, following her sight. - "if we don"t hurry and find a shelter we"ll soon be soaking wet - it"s going to rain any minute."
   "Look," - said Maija, pointing to the right, - "there"s the same cafй where we sat on our way here. We can sit there."
   When they entered the cafй and sat in front of each other at that same little table in the corner, Martin said:
   "It"ll take a long time until the rain is over. The rains are horrible this year. Look what a storm - and it"s freezing cold outside. Soon, the first snow will fall. I hope it happens in the next couple of days - rain is so depressing. And the dead leaves on the trees and on the ground - I don"t understand why people find it beautiful."
   "There was never any snow where I came from." - Maija told. - "And the trees didn"t lose their leaves - they stayed green through the whole year. The water never froze, and at winter we had millions of birds coming from here to spend the cold season at the South. But you know what," - she continued, - "I still like it better here."
   "I sure hope so," - said Martin. - "I hope you"re not thinking of going back. You"ll see how much fun it is here. You see how great you fit in here and how - how everyone like you," - he blushed.
   The cafй was almost empty. They were sitting there alone, their forgotten cups of coffee getting cold on the small marble table. They were looking into each other"s eyes and smiling, and they didn"t notice how the time passed by, the rain ended, and the people on the street closed their umbrellas. It was already sunset when they went outside to the bus station. Bus number 65 stopped by.
   "Exactly what we need," - said Martin. - "that bus will take us straight home."
   They stepped off the bus by the park. There was still a bit to walk - when they were standing in front of Maija"s house, it was already dark, and the first stars were appearing at the sky. Maija felt the skin of her face become hot when Martin took her cold jand in his.
   "You know," - he said shyly, - "it"s my birthday tomorrow - and, well - it"s probably not going to be so much fun - not a big celebration or anything, but still - I would love it if you could come."
   "I"ll come," - promised Maija, smiling.
   Martin crossed the street, and she went through the front door of her house, as though carried by air. To her surprise, she found her father and SanDra in the living room. Vlad looked at her rather stiffly. She didn"t realize how late it was before she looked at the clock.
   "Hello," - she said, feeling the ground under her feet again.
   "Where have you been all day long, dear?" - Vlad asked. - "I found your note, but you didn"t say where you were going, and I was worried about you. Tommy came here to see you not long ago, and I didn"t know what to tell him - did you know that he went to look for you? He"s probably searching for you all around. We called Sandra but she didn"t know anything either."
   "I"m sorry I made you worry, Papa," - said Maija, looking at his feet. - "I didn"t mean to. I was just looking around the city. I"ve been at the center and - and all around."
   "Alone?" - Vlad raised an eyebrow. - "It"s rather dangerous, dear. Why didn"t you ask Tommy to show you around? I"m sure he"d be happy to do it."
   "I wasn"t alone," - Maija blushed. - "I was with - with a friend from school."
   "Alright then, dear," - said Vlad, - "though I still don"t understand why you didn"t just tell so in your note - it would have saved us all the trouble and the worry."
   After promising never to do so again, Maija went up to her room, followed by Sandra. Maija sat down on her bed, a huge smile on her face.
   "Well?" - asked Sandra. - "Come on, tell me - where have you been all day long? Or you better say - with whom?"
   "Guess," - said Maija, winking, and continued after a brief pause, - "I"ve been with Martin."
   "No way!" - exclaimed Sandra, covering her mouth with her hands. - "But when did you have a chance to set a date?"
   "Shh! Someone might hear," - Maija looked around suspiciously, as if she expected to see Helena standing on a tall ladder outside the window, - "It wasn"t a date - we just met in the park - oh, you just have to hear all about it! But the best thing is, that he invited me to his birthday tomorrow."
   "Now that"s something!" - Sandra clapped her hands in excitement. - "It"s a shame I can"t come to help you prepare - tomorrow I"m going to a movie with Will." - she blushed and paused for a second, - "what you need to think about, is what you"re going to tell Tommy - I suppose you should call him - maybe he"s already home."