^^ Since SagurnLeRamenCountry is writing me my Cloverfield/Hetalia story, I'm writing her this~ It's all her idea, but it's my writing. Yes, I do requests (you don't have to write something for me, but since she was writing that for me already, I decided to write this for her) so just message me (please don't review on any of my stories for it) if you have an idea that you're too lazy to write/too unsure of yourself/etc.
So~ R&R, and enjoy!
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Chapter 1: Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures
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Annalise drummed her fingers on the table as she skimmed through the want ads. She could barely read the French in the beginning, and soon gave up reading the words, instead favoring to look at the pictures and names. She thought about asking her sister to help translate (since Alffie could understand the most popular languages, her specialty being Spanish), but Anna had too much pride to ask for assistance. She glanced up from the paper to her siblings. Alffie and Peter were currently thumb-wrestling for who would get the prize in the cereal box. Annalise ignored the noise and instead studied her brother and sister.
Alffie was the second oldest of the three, although she looked older than Anna. Six years younger than herself, Alffie was only in her second year of high school. With wheat blonde hair cut shoulder-length and sky blue eyes, she was practically the epitome of American (air force bomber jacket and insanely absurd patriotism aside.) She was currently wearing the girl's high school uniform, a black jacket with white-button-up shirt and brass/amaranth collar-bow. Anna noticed that underneath the sleek black pencil skirt, Alffie's stockings were drooping and wrinkled, a quarter of the material falling into a sort of crown on top of her Mary Jane's.
Peter wore the grade school boy's uniform—white collared button-up, black dress pants, black dress shoes, brass-and-amaranth plaid tie. His jacket lay haphazardly on the floor beside his seat, and he didn't make a move to retrieve it. Blonde hair that looked like someone had cut wherever they felt like, the same color as Anna's, was the only thing that proved he shared her blood. Sharing Alffie's obsession with video games, and always constantly tormenting his sisters, Peter was vastly different than Annalise.
Annalise surveyed her appearance while she was at it. Her champagne colored hair was tied into pigtails, her celadon green eyes shielded by her polished glasses, and she considered herself pretty even without any make-up. She wore a tan vest over a white collared button-up shirt with ruffled sleeves, with a red tie. Her red plaid skirt wasn't very long, but it was tolerable to the twenty-one-year-old. She tugged her sagging white stockings back up to her thigh, then glanced down to make sure her shoes weren't scuffed. She glanced at the clock above the stove.
"Okay, Alffie, Peter, you both have to get off to school now."
Alffie pouted. "Awww, but Anna! We have ten minutes until first bell!"
Annalise rolled her eyes. "And it takes ten minutes to walk there. Leave now and you won't get in trouble."
Alffie sighed and tucked the prize into her jacket pocket. When she crouched down on the floor to retrieve her bag, however, Peter reached into her pocket and snatched the prize out. He stuck his tongue out at her when she turned around to glare at him. She tackled him onto the linoleum floor, wrestling with him as she tried to steal the toy back. Anna facepalmed, then walked over to the two. She took the toy out of Peter's hand and set it on the table. "We'll decide who gets to keep it after school."
Both of her siblings scowled at her, both murmuring something about Anna acting like a mother. She simply rolled her eyes and settled back at the table. She had a good few hours to lounge around until she'd have to choose a job.
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After long and considerate contemplation, Anna finally figured out the solution to her problem with picking a job. She tacked the newspaper onto the wall in the hallway and flung a large cutting knife at the ads. She sauntered up to the paper and, taking the knife out of the wall, studied what the employer was looking for. Female, twenty-to-twenty-five years of age, reasonable attitude. She blinked. She was female. She was twenty-one. Her attitude was reasonable. She grabbed a notepad and wrote down the address.
She made her way to her bedroom and stripped her clothes off. After pulling on pajamas, she set her alarm for three-o'clock and pulled the covers over her head. She deserved a nice long nap.
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Waking up to two someones jumping on your bed was not a very pleasurable awakening. Annalise growled and tried to knock them off the bed. Peter simply cackled, while Alffie doubled her jumping efforts.
"Anna! Anna! Did you go to your job interview? Huh?" Alffie was asking.
"Jerk-Anna probably didn't even look at the ads while we were gone." Peter replied, bouncing painfully on Anna's foot.
"I can hear you, bloody gits," she mumbled angrily from her asylum of blankets and pillows.
"Well? Did you go yet? Where are you going to be working, Anna?" Alffie spoke between jumps.
Anna groaned in anger, then sat up, frightening the two minors into sitting down. "For your information, it's tomorrow." She frowned, then glanced at the alarm clock on her bedside table. "Why are you two here at two?"
Alffie grinned. "I don't have any classes at the very end of the day, so I was allowed to leave. I found Peter on the playground and we left school!"
Anna scowled. "Alffie, you can't just take Peter with you. That's called ditching school, and I'm pretty sure he can get in some very bleeding bad trouble for it."
Alffie looked sheepish, while Peter rolled his eyes in disinterest. "So what are you going to be doing, Jerk-Anna?"
Anna rolled her eyes. "Why should you care?" She didn't have an answer, so she simply changed the subject. "Weren't you two going to discuss calmly who was going to keep the cereal box toy?"
Alffie and Peter looked at each other with wide eyes before vaulting off the bed and scrambling downstairs, shouting at each other and crashing into objects and walls. Anna sighed. And she had specifically said 'calmly,' too. She smiled when she realized that she was going to be able to get some well rationed sleep. She burrowed deeper into the covers and closed her eyes...
...And opened them again when the doorbell echoed throughout the house.
She moaned and rolled over onto her stomach, pulling a pillow over her ears. Maybe if she ignored them long enough, they'd go away—
"Anna! There's a guy at our door!" Alffie yelled from downstairs.
Anna sobbed silently into her mattress before swinging her legs over the edge and landing silently on the hardwood floor. "Alffie, you know what to do!" Alffie always knew to invite the guest in and offer them something to drink. Yet the girl always had to tell Anna that someone was there, as if Anna would somehow magically be able to transport herself to the door and greet them herself. God, why did all the visitors seem to stop by when Anna was underdressed?
She tugged off her pajamas and pulled on her clothes from early. She tied her hair back up with the red ribbons, and retrieved her glasses from the bedside table. After settling them onto her face, she made her way downstairs.
As soon as she laid eyes on the visitor, she hated him with a passion. He had wavy blonde hair down to his shoulders, scruff all along his jaw and chin, and cerulean eyes that practically glittered. He wore a silky mauve button-up collared shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and black dress pants with black dress shoes. He smiled seductively at Annalise and stepped forward, holding out his hand.
"Francis Bonnefoy. I live next door, to the right. I heard that someone was moving in, and I thought that I would come and welcome you." Annalise felt herself grow wary when she heard the English words spoken with a French accent.
She gingerly put her hand in his. "Annalise Kirkland—" she gaped and turned bright red when he brushed his lips atop the back of her hand. He released her hand and grinned at her.
"I cannot explain my joy that my new neighbor is such a lovely young woman. If you ever need anything, and I mean anything, just—" She shut him up by slapping his cheek as hard as she could. She rubbed at her stinging hand and glared at him.
"I'm sorry, but I do not appreciate lewd and improper insinuations being spoken in my home," she stated curtly.
He chuckled and brought his hand to his cheek. "I suppose I deserved that." He winked at her and turned to leave. "The offer still stands, though, Mademoiselle Annalise." Anna ran forward and slammed the front door as soon as Francis had crossed the threshold.
Anna turned on her heel and fixed a steady gaze on her stunned siblings. "Do I have your word that neither of you will open the door if he is on the other side?"
Alffie blinked, then nodded. Peter rolled his eyes and mumbled, "Sure, whatever."
Anna sighed and tugged at one of her pigtails. What had she done to have such a neighbor?
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^^ So, here it is! It's rather short, in my opinion, but I wanted to get this finished tonight. I'm looking forward to reading your story, Sagurn, and I hope you finish soon~ I'll be waiting patiently~
And yes, Alffie is America. Annalise is England, naturally; more characters will be genderbent, and I'll explain who they are when they show up. :/
Review! Hope you enjoyed!
