Peyton has had a rough go of things. A distant father, a drunk mother. The usual sort of sob story.
When Peyton finds out that her dad is getting remarried and that she's going to have to take a road trip across the country with her brother and her...
"I can't do this," I mutter as my teeth are chattering and Elias has wrapped himself around me with his arms wrapped around my waist but I still feel like I'm going to freeze to death.
"Yes you can," He assures me with a bright laugh. "If you don't, everybody is going to laugh at you. Would it be easier if I just push you in?"
"No, no don't do that," I say quickly, staring down at my doom. "Okay. Fine, I'll do it. I'm going to die though, I hope that you know that."
"You'll be alright," Elias says. I hear some of the people behind us laughing at me, saying something about me being American. "It hurts for a second but then you get used to it and then you get out. It's really quick and then you're done I promise. Come on, I'll jump in with you."
I nod as he unwraps himself from me and then takes my hand in his. I squeeze his hand so tightly that it's probably hurting him but he doesn't say anything. "Okay. Yeah, okay, let's do this. You better jump."
"I will," He grins at me with his beautiful grin. If I wasn't freezing and surrounded by fifty of his relatives, I would kiss his beautiful grin. "Ready?"
I nod again and he starts counting down from three.
"Three... two... one... go!" He counts down and then we're both jumping off of the dock and into the little part of the lake that isn't frozen over, a hole in the ice. Because, apparently, in Finland when you're bored, you just jump into frozen lakes for fun. The water feels like a thousand knives stabbing my body but when I resurface, Elias is there and I just stare at him, take a deep breath, and try to adjust to being a floating humansicle.
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All of the people around us start clapping for me, applauding the stupid American who actually conformed to their Finnish traditions.
"See? It's not so bad," Elias says with a small laugh.
"I want out," My teeth are chatting so badly that I'm afraid that I'm going to chip one of my teeth but I'm laughing because I can't actually believe that I just did that. We climb out of the ice water and other people from his family start getting in after us.
What Elias had failed to tell me when we first met on that road trip was that although he was an only child, his family is still massive. He's got aunts and uncles and what seems to be a billion cousins, all still in Finland. Which is why, after graduating from UNH, we decided to spend an entire year here in Finland before going back to America to join the work force and settle down with careers.
We've been here for a few months, enjoying the summer and fall climate but now that it's getting into the winter season, the ice is coming back which makes this the perfect time for my first winter swimming lesson.
"Let's go to the sauna and warm up," Elias suggests.
"You did good for your first time," One of his uncles interrupts with a wide grin and it makes me happy that he's accepting my pathetic attempt at winter swimming.
