She said, "I was seven and you were nine, I looked at you like the stars that shine in the sky, the pretty lights…"

Hungary sighed as she looked at the line ahead of her in the lunchroom. There were so many kids ahead of her… The school was giving out pudding cups with lunch today, which only happened on very special occasions, and she just couldn't miss it. But the cups were going fast. Would she make it in time?

"Hey," said a voice next to her. "I was there first." She felt a nudge on her arm and turned to her left, finding herself staring into the face of a boy perhaps a little bit older than she was, with bright red eyes and white hair. He's albino, she realized, a little amazed by this realization.

"Hey, what are you looking at?" the albino boy demanded.

Hungary exhaled sharply. "You were not ahead of me, I would have remembered that." She moved up with the line, determined not to let some silly boy take her place. She would not lose her pudding cup.

The boy continued to stand next to her, the cheeks of his otherwise pale face flushed with anger. "What are you holding anyway? A frying pan? What do you need that for, people make food here, ya know."

Hungary was getting seriously annoyed with the albino. "I will hit you!" she threatened. "I brought it because it's a good weapon and you never know when you need to protect yourself." The white-haired boy snorted, seeming to think that was ridiculous, and just then the line moved up. Hungary saw the last pudding cup and grabbed at it at the very same moment the albino boy did.

Automatically a fight ensued. The two children gave each other a "challenge-accepted" look and began wrestling about the linoleum floor of the cafeteria, Hungary not thinking about how her skirts were probably flying up past her knees and showing her white underwear. "Fight! Fight!" the other children shouted, excited by the action. And they did. The boy tugged at Hungary's hair and she scratched his face. He pinned her down and she reached up and bonked him in the head with her frying pan.

She didn't think she'd hit him quite that hard. But he certainly ceased to fight, and now a couple of teachers were dragging them separately from each other and France, one of the boys in Hungary's class, got the pudding cup.

She had to wait in the office for a very long time. Luckily, that was something she was accustomed to. She knew Principal China's office like the back of her hand, and so she simply used her fingernails to continue carving the picture of a dolphin that she had started on the seat of the chair last week. This time it took longer than usual, however, and she knew that her parents would probably arrive soon. She sighed and her stomach felt a little twisted up. What had happened to the albino boy?

Finally Principal China was leading the boy to the room, and his whitish hair was partially covered by a large bandage. "I had to get stitches," he explained sulkily, and Hungary felt the slightest bit guilty. Oh, well. He was alive, so she didn't feel too bad. A girl had to defend herself, after all… and her pudding.

Principal China announced that the two would have to wait for their parents and the albino boy took a seat behind Hungary. "Are you okay?" she asked him.

He shrugged. "I feel funny." They had given him a lot of medicine before he had the stitches, and he felt like little stars were dancing around his head. "My, uh- my name is Prussia."

"My name is Hungary," she replied. "I'm glad I didn't hurt you."

She didn't mean for this to embarrass him, but his face turned red and he declared, "A girl couldn't hurt me. I just let you hit me with that thing because I wanted to see what it would feel like."

"Oh, sure," she said, unconvinced.

Prussia looked down at the seat of her chair and noted the dolphin. "That looks awesome," he commented. "How did you do that?"

Hungary giggled. "My fingernails."

Prussia smirked. "I decided I like you. Do you want to be my friend?"

"Okay!" Hungary smiled and spit on her hand. Prussia spit on his and they shook, a solemn bond of friendship. Prussia invited her to come over the next day, and she said she would if she was allowed and they weren't in too much trouble.

Just then the office door opened and Germania appeared, looking down at his son with some frustration but also some worry since he heard he'd had to go to the emergency room. Prussia stood up and took Hungary by the hand, introducing her to his father. "Hey, Vati, this is my new best friend Hungary, and she's coming over to our house tomorrow!"