All right, I ran home so that I could type this up before I forgot it. I hope you enjoy this! I think it'll be a cute idea. Also if you are alerted to one of my other hetalia stories…I AM SO SORRY! I'M CERTAIN YOU HATE ME.
As Arthur Walked down the sidewalk he looked into the shop windows. The electronic shop had just gotten in brand new televisions starting at $190.00. He made a mental note to tell his parents about it because he was sure that they wanted to take a look. The next window was a bakery. He paused and looked at the assortment of breads and pies; eyeing a particularly golden-crusted apple pie that made his stomach growl in protest for deciding to skip his lunch and pocketing the change. He licked his lips contemplating walking in and asking how much it was, but he needed the change for his book, so he continued towards Beth's Books.
As he opened the old wooden door he was greeted by the pitched ring of a bell and a friendly hello from the woman behind the counter.
"Hey Beth," Arthur walked up to the counter with a smile and reached into his pocket for his quarters. "Alright, I've got $1.25, what books can I get for that?"
Beth put on her glasses and counted out the coins then picked them up in her plump hands. "Well, I just got in a nice new copy of The Adventures of Tom Sauer in just last Tuesday. Does this peak your interest?"
Arthur put on a sorry smile. "I would take you up on that offer Beth, but I borrowed that book from my friend a few months ago. Got any Shakespeare?"
Beth tilted her head from side to side. "I've got three of his plays and a book of his sonnets." She stopped her head and looked at Arthur through her spectacles. "However, they aren't new."
"That's fine, so long as it's Shakespeare, It's fine with me. American literature is wonderful and interesting, but I'm homesick and Shakespeare...just helps." Arthur replied with a shrug.
"Yes, you're from England aren't you?" Beth stood from behind the counter motioning for Arthur to follow her.
"That's right, in about a week my family and I will have lived in Washington D.C. for one year." He smiled. Beth paused at a bookshelf in the back of the store and placed one finger on the spines of the books and moved it slowly to the right.
"That's wonderful! How do you like America so- there they are- America so far?"
"It's alright I suppose, but I still miss the familiar streets of England."
"Well then maybe these will get you to feel a little closer to home." She smiled and stood aside for Arthur to look at the small selection. "If you see one that catches your fancy, bring it to the front and I'll bag it for you."
Arthur smiled and got to work on pulling the four books off the shelf and sat on the carpeted floor. The first book was the sonnets. Arthur only ever learned one of them, and he could never remember which sonnet number it was. So that one was a possibility. He placed it on the floor to his right. He picked up the next book, slightly larger in width than the first, and eyed the title. Hamlet. Arthur was already familiar with the story plot of Hamlet and how it was a tragedy. Therefore he placed the book to his left. The next book was a hardback cover with a design along the spine, but it was thin. The title read Much Ado About Nothing. Again Arthur was familiar with the plot. He liked the play; in fact it was one of his favorites because of the utter stupidity of Dogberry and Verges. He placed it to his right on top of Hamlet and reached for the last book.
The final book was Romeo and Juliet. Arthur was almost ashamed of himself. Despite how popular this particular play was, he had never read it. The only thing he knew was in the end, both Romeo and Juliet die.
He picked up the books from the floor and placed them back on the shelf but keeping in his arms the sonnets and Romeo and Juliet. With his decision made, he walked back to the front and greeted Beth by placing the quarters and books in front of her.
She picked up the books and smiled. "Good choices. I thought you would go for Romeo and Juliet." She counted out the quarters and placed the in a desk drawer giving back a nickel along with the selected books. Arthur titled his head in confusion.
"Why do you say that?" He questioned. "I could very easily change my mind and get Hamlet or Much Ado About Nothing."
Beth laughed. "Arthur calm down, you just seem like one that would enjoy and good romance story."
"Oh." Arthur smiled and laughed. "I suppose you would be right about that. I may be a boy, but I enjoy a good romance story as much as anyone."
"All the best of men do!" She laughed and waved as Arthur walked out of the store with his new books. He sighed contently and went back to peering inside the store windows. He passed a women's boutique and next to it was a haberdashery. He paused at the window and looked at the shirts and shoes displayed, and then saw the price that made his heart sink and his feet start moving again. He stopped at the end of the sidewalk and where the street began. He waited patiently for the cars to pause for a moment for him to cross when he heard coughing.
More than likely a sickly old man or woman out on a stroll before the sun set, or someone just clearing their throat, but that had to much gust to be just a clearing of the throat. The cars paused at the light, giving Arthur a chance to cross the street, but curiosity killed the cat… He turned his head for the source of the cough.
He found it immediately. Lying on the corner, resting his back on the bricks of a butcher shop was a boy. His eyes were squeezed shut and he had a shiner and blood dripped from a swollen lip, his shirt was slightly torn and dirty. Beside him laid a pair of cracked glasses.
"Oh my god!" Arthur exclaimed and rushed to the boy. He knelt to the ground and pulled out a hanky from his pocket that he used to clean his reading glasses, and pressed it to the boy's lip to try and stop the bleeding.
The boy said nothing but opened his eyes and tried to stand, only to fall back to the ground. Arthur looked around at the people walking by. Why weren't they helping?
"Hold this to your lip." Arthur commanded. The boy obeyed silently. "Now I'm going to help you alright?" The boy nodded.
Arthur wrapped an arm around the boy's waist and swung a dirty arm over his shoulders to help him to stand up. He grunted in pain. "I'm sorry, I know you're in pain, but if you want me to help you, you're going to have to cooperate with me and stand."
The boy didn't stop the grunts of pain, but stood with Arthur's help. "Alright. Now that do you're standing, do you think you can walk?" He nodded slightly. "Good. Now I have to make a stop and then I'm going buy something to help you, alright?"
He nodded again and Arthur began walking back down the sidewalk until he reached Beth's Books. "Beth, I'm going to have to return the books."
"Is there something wrong with them? Or did you decide Romeo and Juliet wasn't your thing after- Oh my goodness! What happened?" She accounced with alarm at the site of the beat up boy around Arthur's shoulders.
"I don't know, but I need to return the books so I can buy something to treat his wounds." Beth nodded and got out the quarters that Arthur had given to her earlier. Arthur placed the bag with the books on the counter and claimed the change. "Thanks Beth."
He didn't wait for her to reply and he walked as quickly as he could out of the store with the boy's weight slowing him down. They walked passed the electronic store and the coffee shop when the boy mumbled something.
"What was that? I didn't catch it." Arthur looked at the boy as they entered the pharmacy.
"Thank you…" he spoke.
"Don't thank me, I just wanted to help you. Now can you sit here?" Arthur pointed at a stool by a counter. The boy nodded and slowly eased himself on top of the stool. Arthur sighed and walked to the employee.
"Do you have an ointment that stops swelling and pain? For cheap?" The pharmacist said nothing and reached under the counter and pulled out a little packet of gel. "One dollar please." He placed the coins on the counter and walked back to the boy on the stool.
"Now this will probably sting, so bare with it alright?" Arthur commanded as he opened the packet. The boy nodded. "Now can you tell me what happened to you?"
"I was mugged." Arthur blinked in surprise and he put some of the ointment onto his fingertips and moved to apply it to the shiner of a black eye that was getting worse by the minute. "I pulled out a five dollar bill from my pocket that my parents gave me this morning and someone just beat the living hell out of me. I didn't see their face,but the money was gone and I was on the ground in pain before I knew what happened-OW!" He winced when the cold gel met his eye.
"I'm sorry that happened. People get greedy these days- Sorry, you have to bear with the pain- you should have left it in your pocket." Arthur rubbed the gel on his eye.
"Yeah, I wish I would've." The boy sighed. Arthur finished applying ointment to the eye then applied more gel to his fingertips and moved towards the boy's lips. Thankfully the blood had stopped dripping which made this a little easier to do.
"Ow-dear lord that- OW!" the boy brought a hand to his face. "That's smarts…"
"Sorry… I'm almost done. I swear." Arthur said in a sympathetic tone. The boy squinted his good blue eye and let Arthur continue. Arthur rubbed the gel smoothly to the large cut then moved to the swelling around it.
"There." Arthur stood back and wiped his fingers off on his shirt. "Do you feel any better?"
The boy said nothing and nodded. Arthur smiled. "Well that's good to hear."
They stayed in an awkward silence for a few moments before the boy stood slowly from the stool. "Thanks a lot… uh… I never caught your name stranger."
"My name is Arthur Kirkland." The boy nodded.
"You're not from around here are ya? You have an accent." The boy questioned. Now that he was standing straight, Arthur could see that he was shorter than this boy by a good few inches.
"No I'm not. My family and I moved from England about a year ago." Arthur replied.
The boy nodded again and extended a hand slowly. "Well it's good to meet you Arthur. My name's Alfred Jones."
"It's nice to meet you too." Arthur took Alfred's hand and shook it slowly.
WHEW! THANK GOD! ^^ I really think this story will turn out well (HOPEFULLY) thank you kindly for reading.