Foolish Games

8.Joni's boyfriend?

The whole Sunday, Joni was mostly hiding in his room, trying to deal with his conflicting emotions. It seemed that he couldn't get a hold of himself, he was fighting back tears, it seemed hard to breathe, and... he hated feeling so weak. He would not allow himself to cry. He wasn't allowing that weakness or what he considered as such.

Why should he even cry? For Misha? - No, he was not worth it.

In his mind, he constantly went through every bit of what he could remember from the night before, how it had felt, and... It had felt good in the end, but it had hurt at first and even now he still felt slight discomfort down there... Most of all what bothered him was how Misha behaved that morning.

Monday didn't find Joni in any better mood. The stupid love bites of course were still so very visible on his neck and though he wasn't in pain anymore, his body still felt exactly what had happened.

The breakfast was an awkward affair that morning. His father was tense, glaring at the marks on his neck that Joni had no idea how to hide, he had tried some toothpaste before going to bed, being advised to do so by one of his friends, and well... it hadn't helped a shit. It had been silly to even try, but  he had been desperate.

And his little brothers... they were snickering... whispering... obviously, it was about the said marks that threatened Joni's peace of mind.

"I want you to come home straight after school, Joni." His father finally spoke. Joni took a deep breath.

"Why?" He asked, not that he had had any plans to go anywhere anyway, but...He didn't like to be told either.

"Considering what you did this weekend, you will not go out unless it's school, or gym, or some other healthy activity for this whole week." This made Joni growl in annoyance.

"You can't do that!" He protested. "I'm-"

"Yes, I know, you're seventeen and I can because I am your father."

"What did Joni do? Daddy?" One of his brothers wanted to know.

"He did something he shouldn't have. Something bad for him," Asko explained calmly.

"Oh come on! Dad! Uuuh, you're so fucking annoying!"

"Watch your language," he was simply warned.

Joni stared down at his juice, trying to calm down, the yelling and bitching didn't work, ok, he had seen this... then... what would?

"But-" He started.

"Not another word," his father said sternly and Joni didn't remember the last time that he had been as tense as he was now. He saw it best to stay quiet, he would think of something later, something to change his mind with.

He was cursing silently as he was getting ready for school. He wanted to turn eighteen and fast because being seventeen sucked.

He stood in front of the mirror fixing his hair, groaning when looking at the marks. He wanted them gone! They were...ugly... and... reminded him of... Misha... And then Dima would be sure to ask questions that he wouldn't know how to answer and...

There was a soft knock on the door before it opened, it was Katja. Joni glared at her in the mirror.

"I thought you might like some help," she said, stepping further in. "...with those bruises, I mean," she continued before he could say anything and that's when he saw the makeup bag in her hands.

"Just a little foundation, cover-up, won't hurt you," she explained.

It wasn't as if Joni had never had any makeup on his skin, but it was only when doing work as a model. He looked at his stepmother and nodded. She smiled gently at him.