(1) My Pen Friend is Far Too Gorgeous...AND HE WANTS ME TO VISIT HIM?!

How do you react when you get a letter from your pen friend from Finland?
You smile and say, 'That's nice.'
Then you open it, read it, dind his English is better than your Finnish, maybe write a letter back in his language, and wait for the next reply.

Well lets back up a moment, shall we?
How do you react when you get a letter from your pen friend from Finland and he sends a picture?
You read the note, maybe write a letter back in his language, and wait for the next reply.
Then you look at the picture.
But how do you react when you find out that your pen friend is way too good looking to be human?!
You run up to your room and stare...at the picture.
Do you send a picture of yourself?
What if he thinks your ugly and him and his hot Finnish friends laugh at you?
What. To. Do.

This happened to me last June, 2005. One more week of school. I put the picture next to my computer in my room.
I am half Finnish, and used to live in Finland for the first eight years of my life.
Mum being British, insisted that I go to a British school.
Dad, being Finnish, insisted that I learn some Finnish.
So I did both.
Then we moved.
To Canterbury, England.
And my Finnish speaking level has gone way down.
So to keep it up, I got a pen friend from Helsinki, Finland.

I sat on my bed, thinking for a while. Sure, I'm pretty, I've been told I'm gorgeous, sexy, bangable, you name it.
OKAY you caught me, I'm only told I'm beautiful from Dad and Mum.
Maybe should just take a picture of a model and send it to him with a note that says, 'That's me!'. Giselle Bundchen, Tyra Banks, no, Claudia Schiffer.
But that would be obvious. Damn.
I looked in the mirror. Dirty blonde hair that I always tied back.
Rimless glasses.
Crystal turquoise eyes.
Scrawny body that was slightly tanned in that scandanavian way.
I wear jeans and a plain top with trainers when I don't have to wear school uniforms.
But worst of all.
I had acne on my forehead.
I thought about doing a makeover on myself. It was about time and my parents had always wanted to take me to a spa or salon. I thought that was for obnoxious prissy girls.
So that's what I did.

I went to school for the last week. Said goodbye to my friends, and came home. I stared at the picture by my computer.
God he was so........perfect.
I re read the letter he sent:

Maryse,
I think my English has gotten better by writing to you. I am finished with school now, and me and my friends like to go into Helsinki and walk around the city. Here is a picture of me, it was taken just before I went for a magazine shoot. Send me a picture of you! I want to see how you look like. Mother said that you can come to my house this summer if you want. We have lots of extra rooms and my father said it yould be nice for you to see Helsinki again. Talk to me on MSN Messenger. My email is SexyLix@hotmail.com.
Hope to see you, write back!
Felix

SexyLix? Ooohhh, his name was Felix, that had duel meaning you were sure...
Magazine shoot?!
Oh no, he's a model on top of it?
And he wants me to come.
And send a picture of myself.
Damn it, damn it!
I threw a stuffed animal I had in my hand that I had been strangling because of all this new at my computer screencausing a cup I had to fall and smash on the floor.
3....2....1...
"Maryse? Are you alright? What was that noise?" came my father's voice from the bottom of the stairs.
"I'm fine! I just dropped something!" I called back.
"Oh, okay!" my father was one of those Finnish people that just acquired a British accent from speaking english most of the time (check Ville Valo of H.I.M). It made it easier for me. I cleared up the glass and threw it away.
What was I on about, ah yes, looking better. If I was going to visit him, I definately had to change what I was staring at in the mirror. But first, lets ask the 'rents.
I grabbed the letter and walked downstairs, making sure to leave the picture behind. If my mother saw that he was gorgeous, she might not let me sleep in the same house.
"Mum? Dad? Erm...Felix just wrote to me and he wants me to come to Helsinki." I said quickly and threw the letter on the table. Dad was reading the Daily Post at the kitchen counter and mum was drinking tea while searching for something in the refridgerator. My dad put down the paper and read Felix's letter. He raised his eyebrow.
"How old is Felix?"
"Sixteen, like me." I said.
"Okay, it says something about a picture in here. Can I see this picture?" Dad inquired.
"Er....ehhm....yes." I said and ran upstairs. SHIT! I was so idiotic sometimes. I grabbed the picture and walked downstairs. By the time I got to the kitchen, Mum had read the note as well. She reached out for the picture and I handed it to her. She cocked an eyebrow and whistled,
"Wow." was all she could say. Dad beckoned for it,
"Hm..." was all he said.
"Can I go?" I asked.
"I'll think about it." was all Dad said. Mum gave me a wink and I took the opportunity to ask her.
"Er..Mum? Erm, remember that spa you talked about?" she nodded her head happily.
"You want to go? Sure. I'll come with!" she said. That was so easy.
This spa wasn't your average spa. From what Mum had said, ot had everything.A place for hair, a place for skin, a place for nails, a place for massage, a place for wax and a place for tan...not like a needed the last one.
"Okay, thanks Mum!" I said and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"I'll make an appointment for tomorrow!" she shouted back up.
My Mum is really cool. A lot of people aren't able to say that, but I am. She's young, she only had me when she was sixteen which makes her 32 now. She has long blonde hair like me, big brown eyes and that sort of Gwyneth Paltrow look. She was a goddess and a lot of people mistook her as my sister. She went to this spa every week and that was the results.

I waited on the last step to hear their conversation...



conversation in the results!

"Aww, Viktor! Maryse finally asked to come to the spa with me!" Mum exclaimed happily and I smirked. She had been trying to get me to go for ages now.
"I hope it has nothing to do with seeing this boy." Dad said darkly.
"Come on, shes a teenager now, let her live a litte. Besides, he looks like a respectable boy." Mum retorted. YES MUM! I LOVE YOU.
"Respectable..." Dad snorted. "What do you think?" he asked. Yes..this is where Mumsie is always good.
"I think it is an even better opportunity for her to get better at her Finnish and to see where she used to live again. And to make more Finnish friends!" Mum said. I heard Dad sigh.
"I suppose..." Dad sighed. I was so happy, I didn't want to hear anymore and went to bed that night hoping that whatever they did to me tomorrow at the spa, they would make me beautiful.




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