The White Witch: From Karelia She Came

Chapter 2: The Scholastic Pack

"And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul."

- John Muir

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"Riina I don't want to be rude but..." Reijo took a deep breath before finishing his sentence knowing a barrage of words will be thrown. "Why are we here?"

"Because Yuju-chan told us something so important, we need to have a private discussion about it!"

"Who...?" He looked at her confused by the nickname.

"Youko you moron!" Riina pointed out the obvious being pretty annoyed by the question "Jeez," she crossed her arms turning away and huffing. "All of those Swedish language courses you've been taking made you a special needs kid."

"Are you seriously calling me mentally defective because our school doesn't make us learn Swedish?" Questioning Riina's racial statement about Swedish people, Reijo felt slightly annoyed but also surprised that she would say something discriminatory about Swedish people in public. Especially when they're in the Ruokolahden koulu liikuntasali or Ruokolahti school gymnasium, the main place for school activities that involve physical fitness such as volleyball, hockey, etc.

The name is to avoid confusion with the Ruokolahden Liikuntahalli or Ruokolahti Sports Hall as it functions as the town's place for recreation and basic gym needs if you're going to stay fit. Although the sports hall is the main place to handle someone's needs to work out, the school gymnasium opens its doors to the public on the weekends and sometimes on weekdays if there aren't any classes using much of the gymnasium.

"Yes, I am."

"Riina you can't say in public or anywhere! If someone reported you to the police, you'd get in trouble for being racist!"

"No, I won't, watch m- MPGH!" Riina was cut off by Reijo putting both of his hands over her mouth and pushing on it in an attempt to silence her.

"Be. Quiet. Already." Giving the best death stare he could give while also lowering his tone, Reijo usually wasn't used to acting tough and all but he knew that if she continued to bladder her mouth, she would get in trouble.

He couldn't say he could tolerate her attitude nor did he like the way she acted. But he did care about his friends and if someone didn't educate or punish Riina for her stupidity and overconfident attitude, she could get into trouble with Authorities. Now that the two were alone for the first time, he now had a better understanding of why Youko liked to call her 'a Karen' but she only said this through text on their mobile phones.

They weren't rich and affording a smartphone costed a lot more than what someone would pay for a flip phone. Even if their parents had the money, Reijo knew his wouldn't and the choice by the majority of Finns was Apple phones or Nokia. Being given a Nokia 2760 Flip when he entered grade six as a present, he felt proud to be given a phone even if it was a flip phone. It didn't stand out much since at the time, the model he owned was used by a majority of people in the Nation.

Youko on the other hand used a Nokia 3720 Classic, when he first saw this, his initial idea was that Youko's parents bought her a new phone since she asked for it seeing that a better model was out. This was partially correct, Youko asked for a new phone but the reason behind this was that when she was out walking in the forest in September 2009, she tripped on an unexpected branch sending her body onto the dirt floor. But she got the new phone because her entire gut was sent into a rock shattering the phone and leaving her in excruciating pain. He remembers well that she told him on a piece of paper at the hospital 'I feel like a metal pipe slammed into my stomach at full force.' Thinking about the note gave him shivers and he expected the note to be about the butt of a rifle hitting her, not that he felt it nor did he want to ever feel it.