I waited nervously in the waiting room to the principal's office. I drummed my fingers on the bottom of the chair I was sitting on. I don't think I'm ready for the news that would be told to me, and it's freaking me out. I, the awesome Gilbert Beilschmidt, wasn't usually scared. I always kept an awesome expression on my face even when I felt like crying on the inside, but awesome people never cry. I haven't been this nervous for anything, but I just couldn't handle what I was about to hear.
What would my friends think of me? Or my bruder? Or Vati? Toni and Franny would probably move on without me; they would find new friends. West would move on ahead of me, always one step ahead only this time it's real. And Vati? He would be disappointed with me; I could never look him in the eyes anymore.
The door opened up and a familiar face peered through. It was Feli's grandpa, Principal Romulus Vargas. He's a pretty cool guy, if you ask me, but he's a terrifying wreck when you piss him off. And I'm pretty sure I've pissed him off. He called me over with a scowl on his face, which creeped me out even more than Franny's 'rape face.' I shuffled into his office and plopped down on one of the comfy chairs in front of his desk. I placed my feet on his desk like I usually do when I'm called to the office.
The look he gave me was unnerving. "Feet off," he commanded in a booming voice. I quickly took my feet off his desk and instead crossed them, all with a fake grin on my face.
"What's the problem, big guy?" I asked in my awesome Prussian accent. Romulus did not crack a smile at me. He instead continued to give me a serious glare. I took that as a signal to wipe the look on my face, so I dropped the smirk. "Hey look, whatever it is, I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh you know what I'm talking about." Romulus slammed a stack of papers on the table. I looked at them for a second, but then I leaned back on my chair to avoid it. I took a deep breath to calm myself down then looked back at Romulus. I didn't give a response so Romulus continued on. "'Missing homework,' 'doesn't pay attention in class,' 'skipping classes'?" Romulus looked up at me with a serious look on his face.
"Yeah, so what?" I asked, my voice failing me and becoming shaky. Romulus only became angrier.
"'So what'?! Gilbert, you're failing high school!" he shouted. His tone sent shivers down my spine which was very rare. It took a lot to scare me. But there was something else in his voice. He sounded a bit... worried. "You have F's and U's in every class for every category!"
"Yeah, Francis and Antonio are doing the same thing anyway, why aren't they in here, too?" I spat back. I knew where this was going, but I didn't want to admit it was true.
"For your information, Mr. Bonnefoy and Mr. Carriedo are doing quite well. Mr. Bonnefoy has top marks, surprisingly. And even if Mr. Carriedo sleeps through class, he has a good enough grades to be passing. But you..." Romulus looked at me with his brown eyes, a strict yet worried look on his face. "Gilbert, we're almost a fourth of the way through school and... if this continues on... I'm afraid you can't graduate high school."
There it was. The bomb that would completely obliterate his life. I knew it was coming, yet it still took its toll on me. My hung my head low as I looked at the floor. There was no way I can get away from it. I'm going to be stuck in high school while everyone else moves on. Not even tutors could help me since no matter how easily they put it, I still fool around. There is no hope for me.
"... still a way to help you out of this mess..." I heard Romulus say while I looked at the floor. I raised my head and looked up at him.
"What...?" I questioned. Romulus gave me a familiar smile.
"You could get a tutor, as simple as that," he replied shortly. I only gave him a look of annoyance.
"Tutors? More like torturers..." I added silently, hoping he didn't here me. "I haven't learned a thing from any of them, not even from my brother!" I yelled back in irritation.
"Well, we have another tutor that can help you. She's a Junior, but she's top of the class. She wants to do extra credit so I offered her to tutor you," he said with a strange twinkle in his eyes. Romulus was back to normal again, not the strict Romulus he was a while ago. "If you improved in your grades by the end of the year, not only does she get extra credit, but so do you." I thought about it for a moment.
"Is that the only way to get a passing grade?" I asked reluctantly. I was unsure about the tutor. I thought it would be the same as before.
"Well, there's that or community service..." he said dully, as if not wanting me to take on the offer. "You do services for the school before school, during school, after school..."
"I get it. I get it," I surrendered. "you want me to do the tutoring thing." I looked at Romulus for a moment. His eyes were sparkling with delight. "So, where do I sign up?"
I waited for my new tutor at the park with my two best friends, Antonio and Francis. We sat at the picnic table next to the fountain, where I told the tutor to meet us. I wondered how she would be like. Would she be mean like my old tutors? Strict like my dad or bruder? Or is she going to be fun to work with and make learning enjoyable? I doubt that last part will happen, I thought.
"I wonder if she'll be cute," wondered Francis out loud. He then turned to me and looked at me with his soft blue eyes. "If you don't want her, can I have her?"
"Oh please, Francey-pants," I replied back to him slyly. "All women prefer me over you, anyway. There's no way I'm giving her to you if she's a hottie. But if she is quite well fed..." I looked at him with a wide grin on my face.
"Oh, how about me?" asked Antonio with a sparkle in his green eyes, similar to Romulus's. "Will I get a chance at this chica?"
"Oh but Toni, Lovina will get jealous," I told him jokingly. Both Francis and I know that Antonio couldn't read people's emotions even if someone wrote it out in a book and read to him. We often kid on Lovina's, Felicia's older twin sister, crush with Antonio. She acts like she hates him, but everyone pretty much knows the truth. Antonio's face lit up in realization.
"You're right! I can't make Lovi mad at me, even if it looks kinda cute..." he exclaimed. Francis and I could only laugh at our friend's bluntness. Antonio started to laugh with us, too, even if he didn't know what was funny. He then stopped laughing and pointed past us. "Hey, who's that?"
Francis and I turned to see a girl who looked like she was looking for someone. She has long, strawberry blonde hair tied up in pigtails with clips with kept away her hair from her face. She had lavender eyes behind her glasses. To me, she looked like an angel from heaven. I stopped staring at her when I realized that Francis was speaking.
"Oh, I know her," he said plainly. "She's a Junior. Her name's Madeline Williams. I hear she's top of her class in every subject."
"Eh? Really? How do you know?" asked Antonio. Francis only sighed nonchalantly. I had to admit, I was pretty interested, too.
"She lives across the street from me," he replied. Francis then glared at Antonio and I. "And don't even try to get her. Her brother Alfred is a bit over protective and won't let anyway date her so easily. Trust me, I know." Antonio and I giggled at the fact that he was beat up by a Junior. I saw Madeline come closer to our table. My heart started to beat a bit faster, which was weird. I never felt this way before. Madeline reached our table.
"Oh... uh... Francis, do you know a man named Gilbert Beilschimdt?" she asked. My eyes lit up. She looked at me in surprise and I only grinned.
"Of course! It is I, the awesomest Gilbert Beilschimdt! Bask in my awesomeness!" I said proudly with one foot on top of the table and arms raised high. She looked at me, startled. I frowned a bit then plopped myself back on the table. I patted next to myself on the chair, motioning Madeline to sit next to me. Madeline reluctantly did so.
I don't know what it was, but I guess the look on my face made Francis and Antonio whisper to each other and giggle. "Well, I guess we should leave you alone then?" said Francis teasingly.
Antonio giggled. "Yeah, we better not interrupt your study time together~" And with that, they both hid behind the bushes. Madeline looked at me in confusion, and then she smiled shyly. I swear, it was the cutest thing I have ever seen in my life.
My heart started beating weirdly as we both sat and stared at my homework. I tried to make conversation with Madeline, but she was really shy. I don't know what's going on with me. The Awesome Me for some reason was also unreasonably quiet. I am so out of character right now. Madeline kept on blabbering on about my homework, but I couldn't focus. So, I awesomely interrupted her.
"Hey, listen here, Maddie," I butted in, "I'm having trouble focusing." Madeline looked up at me as if I was going to scold her.
"Oh, uh, sorry..." she apologized quietly. Wow, I thought, she really is Canadian. "Am I boring you...?"
"'Boring me'? Kesesese..." I laughed. "No, it's not that. It's just that I feel like I can focus better if I actually know you better, ya know?"
"Oh, that makes sense," she said as she placed a finger on her chin, as if to think. "Well, you already know my name, Madeline Williams." I looked at her intently, silently motioning to tell me more. "Uh... well, I used to be in choir..." My eyes widened in surprise. I never saw her as a singer, seeing how shy she is.
"Choir? So you're a good singer?" I asked. She merely shrugged. "Well, you're like a bird!" I said with a grin on my face.
"A... bird?" she asked with a quizzical look on her face. "How am I a bird?"
"Well..." It was my turn to look up, thinking. "You can sing like one, that's a first. Your hair is yellow like a chick's feathers. And..." I thought about it for a moment, but then something came to me. "And you're cute like a bird!" I grinned at her while she stared in confusion. I proudly leaned back, my arms crossed on my puffed out chest. "And because of my awesome revelation, I shall now call you Birdie!"
Madeline looked at me in shock. "B-Birdie...?"
"Ja, isn't it an awesome name?" When I turned to look at her, I was surprised to see her giggling. I felt my face warm up. It was a silent giggle, as if Madeline was trying to stop herself from laughing, but she couldn't. "H-hey, what's so funny?" I asked, feeling a bit conscious about myself all of a sudden. I hope she wouldn't see how red my face was.
"O-oh," she said as she wiped away a tear from laughing so hard. "It's just that... that no one has every given me a nickname before." I stared at her with surprise. "And now that I think about it, I kind of am like a bird. That's why I thought it was funny... I hope I didn't offend you," she apologized again. I was getting tired of her always apologizing.
"Nah, it didn't offend the awesome me one bit," I said, calming down a bit. "Well, let's get back to work then, eh, Birdie?"
"Yeah," Madeline replied as she smiled at me. It wasn't a shy smile either. She was smiling a pure, genuine smile, and she wasn't afraid to do it. It made my heart beat fast. "Let's continue on..." What she said next really got my heart going.
"...Gil."
The next few days were awesome.
Madeline's tutoring has really helped me a lot. I've improved in my homework and tests, which was all thanks to my awesome new tutor. It was days like this that made me think if she was more than just a tutor to me... Or more than just a friend. We've been hanging out a lot, both inside school and outside school. And it was not just for tutoring. We hanged out for the sake of hanging out. I've been to her house, and she's been to mine.
Plus Francis was right about Alfred. He is crazy protective of Madeline. At first, he wouldn't even let me see her. He had gotten scolded at when I first came to Madeline's house. We became awesome friends as time passed, bonding over our love of video games and action movies. But it was always different when Maddie's around. He would turn into a different person. But Al and I are cool.
Francis and Antonio were acting real weird, too. Whenever Madeline came to sit by our table, Antonio would go to Lovina's table and Francis would go bother this British girl. When I came to confront them about it, they merely said they wanted to give us some 'alone time.' It was weird and really awkward. And during the times Madeline wasn't there, they sure talked like she was. They would go on and on about how Maddie and I make a cute couple. Sometimes I'd deny it, sometimes I wouldn't. It was all really confusing, the relationship between Maddie and I.
I had to admit, Maddie made the world's greatest pancakes and homemade maple syrup. She said her grandmother taught her all about making the syrup to be nice and sweet, but not too sweet. I thought it was awesome. I even gave her an Awesome Me Honor Award for it being so awesome. Now that I think about it, she's the only one I have ever considered to be as awesome as me...
"Gil!" I heard my name being called. "Gilbert!" I turned around to see Madeline running at me, waving around a paper envelope. Oh boy. It's just after school and I was waiting at the park next to the fountain that my buddies and I always hang out at. She came up to me, tired and panting. I placed a hand on her back, asking if she was okay. She snapped back up and looked at me. "I have it," she announced. "I have your progress report!" I looked at her with surprise.
"Woah..." I got the envelope and looked at it. I started to become anxious, and I didn't want to open it. I felt my lip quiver in nervousness.
"Well," Madeline stared at me with an irritated yet excited look on her face. "Aren't you going to open it? I haven't read it yet, so I'm gonna be surprised to see it, too." The tone of her voice was different from usual. I could tell she was nervous, too.
I looked at the envelope once more. Come on, I thought to myself, open it, open it for you. For Madeline. The envelope was shaking in my hand as I slowly lifted up that tab and steadily pulled out the paper. I closed my eyes, hoping for the worst. I was expecting it to be an F like usual. I heard Madeline gasp in surprise. I opened up one eye and opened the other when I couldn't believe what I was seeing. An... A? I got... an A? I thought that this couldn't have been my paper, but then I looked up at the top of the page. Beilschmidt, Gilbert, it read. I blinked once, then twice.
"You did it..." I heard Madeline whisper from behind me. "You did it, Gil. You got an A...!" I was surprised when Madeline had suddenly jumped on my, hugging me with a strength similar to her brother's. To tell you the truth, I had begun to tear up. I had never gotten an A before. And it was all thanks to Madeline...
"I did it!" I finally yelled after being silent for so long. Everyone at the parked looked at me like I was mentally insane, but I didn't care. I had tried my best and I finally did it. I got a good grade. I got an awesome grade.
"You did it, Gil! You've gotten better! You did it!" Madeline was so excited and happy, it was weird. Just to see her jump around in joy was cute. I smiled at her.
"No," I told her. She looked at me with her bright lavender eyes. I gave a wide grin. "We did it!" I grabbed up Madeline by the waist, and she surprisingly didn't resist. "Oh mein gott, we did it! Together!" I said, happy tears flowing down my eyes as I twirled Madeline around. "I'm so happy, I could kiss you right now-" I suddenly stopped dead in my tracks and dropped Madeline. I bet my face was red as a tomato. "I... uh... I didn't... I didn't mean to-" Suddenly, Madeline leaned up to me and gave me a kiss on the lips.
My face turned very red. Then I calmed down and continued to kiss her back. She then leaned away from me. It was a short kiss, but it was my first one so I didn't care. Madeline's face was red, too. She looked shyly at the ground, like she always does. "Uh..." she started, "t-that's my reward... for getting a good grade... S-sorry if it was bad. It's the first time I ever kissed somebody before..."
"N-no," I replied, feeling a bit flustered. "It's okay. It was... uh... my first kiss, too..." I admitted quietly as I ran my hand through my white hair. I never felt this way ever in my life. But now I know what this feeling is. It's love. And I like it.
"Awww..." Madeline and I turned to see a whole group of students gathered around us at the fountain. I completely forgot that we were at the park in the first place. Everyone's face, especially the girls, was scrunched up in a weird expression, as if they have seen something really adorable. Madeline and I blushed, That's when I realized that Antonio and Francis were standing by next to Kiku, Felicia, and my bruder Ludwig. Both of them were holding cameras in their hands.
"Now that's," announced Ludwig with a smirk I have never seen before. "going on the school newspaper."
A/N: What did you guys think, eh? I had fun writing this, and I can't wait to write more in the future! School is over in 1 week and I'm so excited ;-; Sorry if Prussia's a bit OOC in this one. I've never written in first person for a story as long as this before, and I didn't know what to say as Prussia himself.
I honestly don't know where this story came from. I just thought of the term 'study buddies' and thought 'Oh, that would make a good PruCan story.' I don't know if you've noticed, but I absolutely ADORE PruCan. It's my OTP forever 3
So, I have three stories I can do now. One is a father-son type-ish story about France and Canada, a sequel to this titled 'Prom Dates.' (Very subtle...), and a one-shot about Gilbird and Kumajirou's bond together. As long as it's a one-shot I'll do it. Trust me, I've tried doing chapters for FanFic, but it ended up with me scraping the idea because I took too long to update it. I'm avoiding chapter stories as much as possible.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this story! Please Read and Review! They feed the plot bunnies so they can leave me alone to do more important things!
With love, Purple~