Forfeit

Chapter 11

Rolf stretched out and yawned as his eyes flicked open and stared at his dark ceiling. He looked over at his alarm clock, and the big hand was pointing at the twelve while the little hand was pointing at the five. His eyes widened when he realized how late he had awoken. Rolf sat up, now fully awake, and looked around his room. On the floor slept Kevin and Nazz; they had come over Rolf's house the day before, and, Rolf's parents being more hospitable than usual, had insisted on letting the two of them stay the night with Rolf, especially since they were leaving in the morning to visit Rolf's old country. They originally wanted to Rolf to go with them, but Rolf insisted on staying behind so that he could tend to the farm and the house. Rolf loved visiting his home country, but he decided that he ought to be there for Nazz and Kevin; he knew he had to find a way to repay Nazz for saving his skin, and he knew that spending a month in his home country wasn't the way to do it. Rolf got up and walked over to Nazz and Kevin, who were both curled up in sleeping bags on his floor. Rolf knelt and gently shook Nazz by her shoulder, waking her up. She sat up and yawned, very groggy and half-asleep.

"Hey, Rolf, is it time to get up already?" Nazz asked as she stretched her arms out above her head.

"Yes, Nazz-girl, it's very late," Rolf informed her as he pointed over at his alarm clock, which was barely visible in the darkness of Rolf's room.

"Wow, we slept until five o' clock in the afternoon? That's crazy..." Nazz commented as she pulled herself out of her sleeping bag. Rolf chuckled at Nazz, as if she had told a joke. "What's so funny?" Nazz asked.

"You must be poking Rolf's ribs, she-who-cannot-tell-time! It is five in the morning!" Rolf informed her, causing her to freeze.

"Five in the morning? Rolf, that's super early, not super late!" Nazz exclaimed before rubbing her weary eyes.

"Not for Rolf; he has much work to do in the fields, and must wake up at four in order to complete it," Rolf explained to a shocked Nazz.

"Wow, I'm sorry about that dude," Nazz replied before rolling up her sleeping bag. She really wanted to go back to sleep, but she figured she was already awake so she might as well start her day.

"Sorry about what?" Rolf asked, clearly confused.

"Uh...never mind. Let's just get Kevin up," Nazz responded, deciding to drop the conversation. Rolf and Nazz walked over to Kevin's sleeping bag and Rolf knelt down beside him and gently shook him, causing him to slowly stir and wake up.

"My head..." Kevin moaned as he rubbed it and looked around the room, his vision coming into focus. He spotted Nazz and Rolf looking down at him. "Crap, don't tell me I slept in," Kevin said as he sat up.

"It's five. Five in the morning," Nazz deadpanned as Kevin donned a confused look.

"What? Well why are we up so early?" Kevin asked as he looked over at Rolf, who seemed amused. "And why does Rolf look so damn happy?"

"Rolf is amused by the ways of the West. In Rolf's home country, one would never wake up as late as you two do unless he wanted to be hit with the rod of indolence," Rolf explained, although it was clear that Kevin and Nazz were stuck on trying to figure out what indolence meant.

"Right. Well, I guess I might as well get off of my ass now that I'm awake," Kevin muttered before climbing to his feet and rolling up his sleeping bag.

"Now that you two lazy-good-for-nothings are awake, Rolf shall prepare a morning feast for us!" Rolf proclaimed before strutting out of his room and into the hallway. Nazz and Kevin stared after Rolf as he walked away.

"All the years I've known the guy, and he still manages to surprise me," Kevin said to himself as he and Nazz turned to each other. "I guess he'll always be weird."