Junior High: A Romance {RusAme}

Just Hanging Out

I V A N

September 6, 2014

This Saturday, Ivan determined to go ice skating at the rink at least once while he was here. Ivan loved ice skating, and he wasn't afraid of showing that. In fact, he had invited his (somewhat) new friend, Alfred, to come along; he agreed. He also asked if it would be okay that he brought his brother, and his brother's friend along. It would be, quote unquote "funner" to have more people skating around rather than two. He agreed to the pleasant idea. More people to come would equal more friends. That was something he craved.

Since on this day it was particularly warm outside, Ivan chose to wear Fall clothes, but brought a heavy jacket, thick socks, and thick pants for the rink.

"Sestra(sister)! I am going to the ice skating rink! I will be back at 4:00!" He shouted. Her only response was a loud 'okay', and then, he left for the ice rink
____________________________

When Ivan got there, he already saw Alfred, Alfred's brother, and some albino kid. He immediately ran up to the brothers, and said an excited 'hello'.

"Hey Ivan. I'm glad you wanted to hang out today! We're gonna have so much fun, but first, let me introduce you to Gilbert. He's a freshman at the high school down the road from our school. Oh, but don't worry, he won't beat you up or anything. He's pretty cool." Alfred said. You could basically see Gilbert's ego, let alone tell that he was a cocky bastard. 'This kid is gonna be such a mood killer' Ivan thought. He didn't like people that were arrogant. Jesus Christ, he hated people like that. They're just so fucking annoying.

Ivan lived for the feeling of the wind blowing through his hair while he skated. He wasn't just skating though, he was only warming up with some moves that even some girls couldn't do. That's what being a champion can do sometimes, right? He always managed to grow quite confident on the rink. The ice was something that calmed him down.

And then, there was Matthew. The little shit knew how to skate very good as well. Therefore creating a huge competition between the Russian, and Canadian. A friendly one, that is.

To say the least, Ivan kicked Matthew's ass in ice skating, and Matthew kicked Ivan's ass in hockey. Afterwards, all four of them went to a sit-in restaurant. Gilbert claimed that he was going to pay for everybody's meal, but everybody chipped in anyways.

"So, pipsqueak, you enjoying the "American Dream" yet?" Gilbert asked Ivan. Ivan thought about it for a second, was he enjoying this so called "American Dream'? Well he had actually made friends, so the was a definite yes! Ivan's mouth was full of food so he just nodded. Alfred secretly smiled at that. He was the only one at their table who was truly American, and that made his American pride swell. Technically, Matthew had been born in Canada while they were on a vacation, thus making him a Canadian. Although they were twins, they only looked alike, Alfred was about a year older than Matthew (Alfred had been held back in kindergarten so him and his brother could be in the same class together).

Gilbert made a small noise of agreement back before chewing what he had in his mouth. "You know kid, when my Granpappy, my brother, and I came here, I didn't wanna make friends with anybody. My late parents had always said Americans were idiots. I mean lots of them are, but the ones I know, and hang out with at school aren't too bad. They don't have a lot of common sense, but they have lots of book smarts. It's very hard to get to the top of my class, y'know?" Gilbert said. The short paragraph hung in the air for a while before anybody answered.

"I mean, I guess I can understand it. I haven't been here too long, but I can tell you now that I'm a lot more social than I was back in Rossiya(Russia). I never had many friends or anything like that. I was always alone. I guess everybody hated me." He answered sadly. He was correct though; not many people liked him due to his rough nature. Matthew pitied Ivan for a second. He knew exactly what that felt like- to be ignored that is. Mattie wasn't hated, nobody ever noticed him is all; he blended in with the crowd easily.

Wanting to get away from the heavy topic, Alfred changed it a bit. "So, Ivan! Can you teach us some Russian words?! I want to know one or two." Ivan smiled widely at this. Ivan thought for a moment. "Well, "da" means "yes" and "nyet" means "no" in Russian." Ivan offered. That seemed efficient enough for the time being, since they were all finished. As they were walking out of the door, the owner shouted a "come back soon", and then they left.

All four of them decided that they weren't ready to go home just yet, their mischievous sides were coming out. Gilbert had suggested that they prank call a few people with the pay phones but, Alfred and Matthew had both said that sounded lame (which hurt Gilbert's ego a bit), and suggested that they just go down to a creek nearby. For some reason, that idea sounded really appealing to Ivan. It wasn't really fall yet, and it was still pretty hot outside. He could take a good swim, relax a bit, and just talk with his new friends.

For the first time in his life, he felt, well, normal.