The Fells - 2. Chapter 2 - I wonder how far this road goes.

Chapter 2 – I wonder how far this road goes.

I couldn't decide if the situation was utterly horrible or if it was absolutely wonderful. The expressions on my friends faces told me that they thought it was simply hilarious. Damn them.

“Fredrik, I'm jealous!” Astrid said in a voice much too loud for the occasion.

“Shh! Seriously...”

“I'm jealous too.” Robin said, ignoring me. “You never cuddle with me like that.”

“Shut up you guys. You'll wake him up.”

“Aaw, listen. His snores are so cute.”

“I thought you liked my dad...” I said, hoping to shut Astrid up.

“Eeh, I like boys in general” she replied with a nonchalant wave of her hand. Shameless girl.

The boy I liked was drooling on my shoulder, soundly asleep. The major issue about this was... I had NO idea how to act when he'd wake up in this position. Still... feeling the weight of his head on my shoulder sent tingling sensations up my neck and down my back. It was one thing having a crush on him from afar but now... His mere physical presence reinforced my feelings tenfold. Though I wasn't sure yet if that was a good thing or not.

Trying to think about something else I looked outside at the scenery, mostly fir forest as it's the most common habitat in the whole country. We had already driven past Gävle, a relatively large city by the Baltic Sea, and after nearly two hours the road signs told me that we were approaching Hofors. Using my limited geography skills I deducted that we were around three hours away from our destination. I was still looking out the window when we hit a bump in the road that was big enough to shake the bus rather violently.

“SNRF!” I felt Oskars head leave my shoulder.

“Uuuh... Where are we?” He looked kind of cute with his dishevelled hair and a trail of saliva down his chin. I couldn't resist chuckling a little.

“We're about three hours away from Sälen I think.” He didn't seem to realize that he'd been sliming on me for quite a while. Phew.

“Oh. Why does this place have to be so damn far away?” I couldn't do anything but agree.

“Yeah... two hours feels longer than normal when you don't have anything to do.”

“Hehe, I wouldn't know with the way I fell asleep after, like, three minutes... Hey, what's that on your shoulder?”

Shit. I had no idea what to say, unluckily for me, Robin did.

“That's your body liquids.”

Gee, that's a nice way to put it! I swear, he becomes more and more like Astrid with every passing minute.

“Huh? Wha..?” His expression when he realized what Robin meant was almost comical. “Oh! Shit, I'm sorry! Omigod...”

Seeing Oskar blush, in a manner that wasn't very different from my own, was mesmerizing. In fact, I was so preoccupied staring at his crimson face that I didn't respond at first. Of course, this only added to the awkwardness level of the situation.

“I-it's no big deal!” I sensed that he was going to continue apologizing. “Really! It's not! Don't worry.”

“If you're sure... I AM sorry though.” He shot me an apologetic smile.

Heh, 'If I'm sure?' I actually had to stop myself from saying 'It was nice'.

Something good did come out of that awkward situation though. It was a really effective ice breaker. We actually managed to talk with a moderate level of awkwardness for the rest of the ride. I found out that he was the middle child in a family of five, a hockey player and somewhat of a health nut. He told me that he likes to read, which was unexpected, and that he preferred jazz when it comes to music. We did talk about me and my family too but I didn't say anything about my mother and he didn't ask either. Robin and Astrid joined the conversation if we ran out of topics, I was really thankful for their help.

After passing trough Mora, a town famous for producing dalahästar which is brightly colored wooden horse sculptures, we started to notice a change in the surrounding nature. We were finally approaching the southern border of 'The Fells'.

A Fell is a mountain shaped by the prehistoric ice sheet that used to cover quite a bit of the Northern Hemisphere. In Sweden they usually have a characteristic rounded shape. Fells are also often situated above the timberline, this results in them having a pretty unique type of flora and fauna.

The Scandinavian Fells are popular ski resorts during the winter and I've only seen them in their snow covered condition. That's why I was surprised at the mixture of purple heather scrubs and dark green or rust colored moss or lichen decorating the mountainside. At this altitude there was still fir forest trying to climb its way up the mountain. In my imagination I'd pictured plain brown earth or tan grass under all that snow I'd seen before. Instead, the scenery was surprisingly becoming more and more breathtaking as we travelled.

The road turned steeper and after a while we were practically driving up the mountainside. The bus drove past a small community consisting of a few houses and a gas station before it continued further up the mountain. When we were beginning to reach the flat landscape on the top of the fell I saw a bunch of red buildings in the distance.

“Pay attention, were getting close to Högfjällshotellet, our choice of stay here in Sälen.” My biology teacher was standing in the front with the microphone in her hands.

“We've rented apartments belonging to the hotel. Each apartment has its own kitchen and two bedrooms, one with four beds and the other with a double sized bed. Settle your sleeping arrangements peacefully. You've been divided into groups of six for each apartment and we expect you to manage the cooking and cleaning on your own. Now for the groups...”

She started calling out names but I didn't pay that much attention. Except for the double size bed arrangement this was stuff we've all heard before.

“... Robin Ahlqvist... Fredrik Grönlund and... Oskar Wahl. You're in apartment number twelve.”

Wait, what? Did I hear her right? I looked at Oskar and he was smiling at me. Omigod. Was I seriously going to share an apartment with the guy I like? This is either going to be heavenly or dreadful.

The bus came to a halt in a courtyard surrounded by the red buildings I saw before. The apartment section of the hotel seemed to be to our right, a wide three story building. The main building, probably containing conventional hotel rooms, was in front of the bus and seemed to be about five stories high.

I was in a daze as we all grabbed our bags and walked out of the bus. Not even noticing my teacher shouting something over the crowd and Robin leaving my side. I was thinking about the possible implications or scenarios that could ensue with me and Oskar living together, my imagination was literally going haywire.

“Helloo? Fredrik..? FREDDYFROG!”

“Wha..? Don't call me that Robin.” My cheeks turned warm. Ugh. As I've said before, I think he's becoming more and more like Astrid...

“Well I wouldn't have to if there was another way to bring you back to earth!” he said, rolling his eyes. “Anyways... Me and the other guys are going to get our card keys and settle in but we thought our group should get a head start with the grocery shopping...”

We'd been informed beforehand that every student should bring a set amount of money for food. We would then buy and cook everything ourselves. The hotel apparently had an adjoining supermarket, albeit a small one.

“Yes..? You want me to start browsing for our 'provisions'?”

“Exactly! You're smart freddyfrog. But I was kind of thinking you and Oskar could go together.”

Huh? Was this a setup?

“Sure!” I heard Oskar reply somewhere to my right. I couldn't really believe that he wanted to spend time with me now that he didn't really have to. It made me feel good.

“Great! Don't worry about your bags, we'll take 'em with us to our apartment.” Robin shot me a devious grin before handing me a wad of cash for the food. I watched as he literally ran off with our luggage.

Turning Oskars way I noticed him smiling expectantly at me. Without Robin or Astrid there, it felt like my safety net had been removed. Still, I knew that I couldn't really do anything except being myself and hope that he would like what he saw.

We started to walk towards a smaller red building which supposedly was the supermarket. Oskar pushed the glass door open and we both entered the store. The interior was like anyone would expect. Shelves filled to the brim with various goods, mostly the basic stuff anyone would need. It wasn't the largest store but it seemed to have everything and anything we really 'needed'. I noticed that, unsurprisingly enough, the store only had one employee working at the moment.

“Well... I'm not used to buy my own food. Or cook it. Any idea what we should get?” Oskar said, looking at me with an expectant smile.

“Ehm, yeah sure. I'm usually the one to cook at home so...”

It was a little frighteningto be with him when we were all alone so I turned around and grabbed a shopping basket. For some reason, not looking at him made me regain some composure.

We made our way down the aisles while grabbing different products form the shelves, Oskar seemed to be quite lost at what to choose. I on the other hand tried my best not to look too much like a housewife while efficiently picking item after item that I knew we were going to need for basic cooking. As we strolled along, I felt more and more comfortable in Oskars presence. We began discussing different dishes and what we would need to make them, I was surprised that we shared a taste for spicy food and different kind of vegetables. I knew that Robin, who's from the 'TV Dinner Clan', would complain fervently. Not that I cared really.

By the time we reached the cash register we we're eagerly discussing the finer points of tomato based stews, my bashfulness long since gone. Or maybe I'd just pushed it away for the moment. Whatever, we were actually able to keep up a conversation without my friends constantly coming for my aid. I DID blush when we brushed hands though, both of us had aimed for the same bag of groceries, but I was quick to recuperate and act like 'normal' again. We grabbed the bags, both of us carrying one in each hand, and made our way outside.

Apartment number twelve was on the second floor, accessible by sturdy wooden stairs on the outside of the building. We climbed the stairs and knocked on the wooden door, painted in some dark brown color. It didn't take long before Robin appeared to let us in.

The apartment was painted 'stockholm-white' and we basically entered the living room, and kitchen, as soon as we stepped inside. I didn't get to see much of it though before Robin dragged both me and Oskar to the left and to one of the bedrooms.

“Ta-dah!”

In front of us was the dreaded double size bed complete with our luggage on top of it.

“I'm afraid you're gonna have to share.” Robin said, looking very pleased with himself.

I turned to Robin, trying to say something by the lines of 'oh-my-god-what-the-hell-are-you-doing?' with some kind of best friend telepathy when Oskars voice made both of us turn his way.

“I want the right side, that okay with you Fredrik?” Ugh, how could he be so casual? It made me feel like he wasn't interested or bothered in the slightest.

“Sure, I don't mind.” I said trying to look indifferent.

<><><><><>

Hiking was way better than I'd expected. After everyone had cooked and eaten some lunch the whole class met up outside the apartments. Since we were basically on top of a fell already the closest trail was just over the road from the apartments. I noticed how different the air felt up here. Cleaner.

By now, everyone was geared up for hiking, even though we'd been informed that we wouldn't walk very far the first day. I wore my dads old boots, thinking that it would be a waste of money to buy new ones, they were only a tad too small and the shoelaces tended to unlace themselves pretty easily. Must've been the material or something.

The landscape was flat, you could hardly believe this was on top of a mountain if it wasn't for other fells in the horizon. This was also way above the timberline so except the occasional small mountain birch there wasn't a tree in sight. The ground was covered in green, white and orange moss, and sprigs of black crowberry could be seen pretty much in every direction.

We walked with the whole class a good forty minutes. For some reason Oskar still hung out with us, not that I was about to complain. But it made me wonder why he didn't walk with his group of friends. Another thing that made me wonder, or feel a little hopeful, was the fact that even though Robin and Astrid had no problem chatting it up he seemed to talk to me more than them. I was definitely a little awkward talking to him but he didn't seem to mind.

It felt good. Walking on a gravel road with a late summer sun illuminating the landscape, breathing the cold refreshing mountain air and being in the company of my friends and the boy I liked. I felt myself relax and just enjoy it all. Dad had been right when he said the trip was going to be great.

“I wonder how far this road goes, I can't even see anything in the distance.” I said spontaneously when the thought struck me.

“Well, this is called the Southern Royal Trail.” Oskar said. “It starts at our hotel and goes all the way to Storlien in Åre, I think it's about 340 kilometers.”

“Holy shit! No way I'm walking that far!” Robin's eyes were wide with horror.

“Me neither.” Astrid said. “I'll have you carry me in your strong arms Robin.” She tried to look pleading and flirty at the same time, of course the result was plainly comical.

“Hey! You're the macho one here, I bet you could carry all three of us if you wanted to.” Robins grin was suddenly distorted with pain when Astrid hit him on his shoulder.

“Ouch! See, this just proves my point! You brute!”

I watched Oskar smile at the playful banter and then at me, when he noticed my gaze. Not able to help myself, I smiled back. It was almost as if we shared a moment. Maybe we did. Nevertheless his grin made me feel tingly, nervous and ridiculously happy and excited.

It didn't take long until we reached a small lake surrounded by firs that were short enough to be bushes. The water was calm and mirrored the pale blue sky perfectly. The whole class sat down for a short rest and every student was given a mug of blueberry soup, a common snack for the Swedish hiker. Some of the guys even braved the ice cold water and tried to make a game out of who could endure it the longest. Naturally none of them lasted more than a minute.

We took the road back to the hotel, walking leisurely. Since there was only one road to follow the teacher wasn't very concerned about keeping the group together. Everyone seemed to walk in their own tempo with their friends. Our group was among the last ones to reach the hotel, mainly because I'd spotted a lemming run past and everyone tried to chase it so we could get a picture of the poor creature. After all of us had been outsmarted by the small rodent, we continued or walk in an even slower pace while keeping a relaxed light hearted conversation.

I was on a high the rest of the evening. Except for me, Oskar and Robin there were three other guys from my biology class living with us. They were a rare type of 'cool nerds', which made them both smart and funny. We all ate the dinner I made, a vegetarian pasta dish with tomatoes, zucchini and chili that everyone except Robin seemed to like. He doesn't really count though since everything he puts in his mouth seems to be chemically processed in some way.

The dinner seemed to go on for several hours as everyone had a really good time, making some new friends and establishing already existing friendships. Eventually we all sat down on our balcony, looking at the orange sky while talking and sipping coffee or tea. When you're this far up north the sun never really sets during summer. Late at night there's some hours of twilight before the sun rises again in the early morning.

After maybe an hour the conversation started to lag a little and everyone seemed to have yawned at least twice. We decided collectively that it was time to go to bed. I was kind of nervous when I stripped down to my boxers and pulled to covers over me. Oskar didn't seem awkward at all though and that calmed me a little.

“Good night Fredrik.” he said with a gentle smile as he turned off the lights.

“'Night Oskar.” I turned to face the other side, it was hard to look at him in this situation. Despite the darkness.

It took me a long time until I finally managed to sleep that night. My back, the side that was turned his way felt warm with just the fact the he was close and my heart seemed to have been replaced with a small bird by the way it fluttered and beat rapidly.

<><><><><>

The boy sat alone during recess. He'd turned down Robin's invitation to play soccer and was currently sitting on a rock beneath the branches of a large oak. He had a dry brown leaf in his hand, the remnants of last autumn. With the fragile leaf between his fingers, he felt the irresistible urge to crumble it to pieces.

Starting with ripping the leaf in half, he soon had nothing but crumbs in his hand. Picking up another, he proceeded to rip that one apart too. He wasn't really aware of it, his mind was boggled by another matter entirely.

He imagined that he was talking to the Vittra. Even though he considered himself to be too old to have imaginary friends, sometimes they were the only ones he could 'talk' to. And sometimes... he liked to imagine that his mom was a Vittra, always close to him but invisible. He only thought like that when he really needed her. It gave him some comfort. Picking up yet another dry leaf with his sixteen year old hands, he tried to tell the Vittra what was on his mind but he couldn't really say it out loud to them. To himself. Despite what his father had said to him when he was little during story time this was something that felt too big for him to not matter.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes before whispering.

“I think I like a boy.”