You were one of the new exchange students in the Tampere High School. the halls were nice looking, beautiful at some point. You were welcomed warmly by many students and teachers in the halls, and so you'd be invited to eat lunch with one of the boys who was considered bad due to his friend group, but he was actually a sweetheart. you'd sit beside him shyly, the floor of the rooftop slightly cold underneath you. He'd then start talking to you in kind and sweet words, but then you saw some students approach him. you thought they were going to bully him or something like that, but instead they sat around him and lit their cigarettes, talking in Finnish and laughing. you didn't know Finnish, so you didn't know what they're talking about. You were new to this whole country, cold weather...

Eventually, you felt a pair of eyes burning into the side of your face, and when you looked up, it was one of the bad girls of the group. She noticed how lightly covered you were, but didn't do anything at first. That was until she saw the shivering, the small, delicate wrists. She didn't care about her reputation, no. She was used to the hate.

With a cigarette stuck between her lips, she took off her own jacket, putting it protectively around you, eyes still burning into yours. You were starting to warm up to her, your hand gently taking hers. When the teachers saw you, they mistook it for a romantic act and didn't approve of your behavior. of course, y'all were blissfully unaware of the stares.

That same day, you never really bothered to take off Erika's sweet scented jacket. You'd find yourself walking down the halls only to see her arguing with some dudes which looked older and stronger than her. But she didn't care. With bloodied knuckles, she'd hit them harshly across their faces, making the attention of the teachers immediately spike up, and they pushed through the crowd, hissing and yelling out to her: "Ms Vikman!!!!"

Aaand whatnot. You'd immediately run to her side, trying to check out her bloodied hands but she didn't let you. The teacher didn't either, looking at you and telling you to leave in a rather mean way. That made Erika frown and she would immediately tell the old man:

"Don't be an asshole... Let her stay.."

But then the teacher started rambling on how she's no good influence for you, how she's only a mean and cruel troublemaker. It was true, and yet still hard to believe. Erika didn't seem phased at first, but then her lips pursed and she clenched her fists, probably wanting to punch him in the face:

"I'm perfectly capable of handling myself, and if you think I'm too much, then you're too little."

What did she get with those words...? Detention. And her nicotine taken away. When the classes had ended, you'd pass the detention classroom only for it to get opened, with Erika pulling you inside. She simply stared at you for a bit in the dimly lit room, before mumbling quietly:

"Can you like... stay..? I did all the work but I'm not allowed to leave this hellhole until morning. Besides, I'm not a fan of this creepy classroom."

She'd then gesture over to where a huge human skeleton and animal skeletons were. Ah, the biology classroom. That stuff looked far too eerie in the dark, how could someone even approach it, touch it? Outside a thunderstorm had started, the constant lightning making her slightly flinch and light up your faces. Although, despite the flinching, the sight of you still in her jacket made her smirk slightly, but she didn't comment. Instead, she'd ask:

"Got any nicotine on you?"

and she'd wait for a reply, to hear your soft voice again. You were a beautiful girl, although she'd probably never be brave enough to say it out loud. Not yet, at least.