Alfred turned over and hit the snooze button, yawning as he settled back into the warm, soft blankets.
Slowly, he opened one eye to check the time, and then bolted upright and tried to leap out of his bed. However, he only succeeded in falling on his face, wrapped in blanket. Hurriedly pushing himself up, he raced to put on his uniform and ran downstairs.
"Crap! I'm gonna be late!" he thought to himself. And on the first day, too. Grabbing a slice of toast, he burst out the door and sprinted down the sidewalk with his toothbrush still in his mouth.
The bell rang just as he ran in and sat down. The teacher, a scary-looking man with blond hair, glared at him, then sighed and turned towards the board.
"welcome, students." He said in a deep voice. "My name is Ludwig and I will be your teacher this year. Hopefully most of you can behave and get a passable grade."
He paused to glare at Alfred again. "today is the first day, so turn to someone close to you and let's have a group activity." Alfred looked over to the person sitting next to him. He was about the same height, with short blond hair and green eyes.
People moved away from him, whispering things like "don't get near him" and "he'll curse you!". Alfred turned to talk to the poor boy when a girl's shout rang out across the room.
"OMIGOD IT'S ALFRED F. JONES!" she squealed, and heads turned towards him. He was a bit of a celebrity here at hetalia high school. Scratch that, he was the most popular teen in the entire school district. Soon he was engulfed in the crowd, and Mr. Ludwig looked up with a glare.
"I said PAIRS! If you cant follow directions as simple as that, I'll have to pick pairs for you!" which he did. Alfred was paired with the boy next to him.
"Hello!" he said enthusiastically. The boy turned.
"you don't think I'm cursed?" he asked. Alfred shook his head.
"of course not! Besides, even if you were, it wouldn't affect me, 'cuz I'm the hero!" he stood up and struck a pose. The boy laughed.
"you're the first person I've met in a long time who didn't call me cursed!" he said in awe. "my name's Arthur, by the way." They shook hands and soon seemed like the best of friends.
The next day, Alfred joined the football team. After practice, he took off his helmet and noticed someone in the stands. It was Arthur.
"Hey Arthur!" he said as he got to where Arthur was sitting. "I didn't know you liked football!"
"I don't." replied Arthur. When Alfred looked at him questioningly, he blushed ever so slightly and explained, "I didn't have anything to do, and your kinda my only friend, so…" they looked at each other, blushed, and looked away.
"ummmm… d-do you want to come over to my place later?" stammered Alfred. Arthur looked up in surprise.
"s-sure…" he replied, internally happy that someone actually would want to spend time with him. Everyone, including former friends, thought that he was either cursed or would curse them. He stood up, and looked away from Alfred. "t-thanks…" he whispered. Alfred smiled.