Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Hetalia, and therefore don't own any of the nation-characters who make an appearance. I also don't own Warsaw (Viktoria)- she is the property of the Prussia-level awesome Bohemian Otaku who was kind enough to let me borrow her (thanks!). She will probably regret that decision in the near future- just kidding! However, I do own both Vilnius (Gabriella) and Minsk (Alexei).

Just a note. I originally came up with Vilnius and Minsk for Bohemian Otaku's letter story, but if you've read it, (which I'd be willing to bet only one of you has- and yes, that means you Jordan ;D) you'll notice that in this fanfic there are some clear differences for the purposes of the plot. For example, all the kids are 14 instead of 9, and while Warsaw and Minsk are well-acquainted, Vilnius does not know Minsk very well at all yet. In short, just go with it.

And now, onto...

People Who Live in Glass Houses

Chapter 1

"Okay, so I was thinking: me, Nikki, Anna, and you totes need to go see that movie after school. Ya know, the one with that guy on the train and he has only eight minutes to stop somebody from bombing the train, but then you find out he's actually been dead since the beginning of the movie." Viktoria shoved a binder in her locker then pulled out her math book and 'like, mega ugly' gym clothes. It was a little difficult since her locker was on the top row and she was so short, so she had to stand on a pile of textbooks to reach. "So, like, you're coming right?"

For the first time, she glanced over at Gabriella who was leaning against the lockers, backpack clutched to her chest, and turning her head slowly as she watched someone walk down the hallway. She wore a small smile, and she sighed almost as if she would be content to watch this person forever. It was a look Viktoria recognized from some of their friends at school: puppy love.

Viktoria shut the faded and chipped green locker door- she had to slam it or else it got stuck and would be impossible to open later- then gathered her books up off the ground. She followed her sister's line of sight until she caught what she was looking at. Viktoria had seen him somewhere before, she was sure of that. He was of average height for his age- maybe 5'6 or so, and she estimated he was probably about fourteen years old. He had light blonde hair, and she could barely make out a sort of dark violet eye color but he was too far away to tell for sure. And he was wearing surprisingly old clothes- a cream colored baggy shirt with a dark blue vest that looked like they belonged in a Shakespeare play, black jeans, and old black boots that reminded her of ones she'd seen pirates wearing in pictures.

Viktoria looked down at her own pink plaid skirt and white short-sleeved shirt, then at Ella's black shirt and jean shorts, and she couldn't help but think the boy was a bit weird. Normally, weird wouldn't be a bad thing, but for some reason she immediately felt a certain inexplicable dislike for this kid. But since she had no real basis for it, and she wasn't about to go acting like a jerk for no reason, she just shook off the feeling.

"Like, haven't we seen him before? He looks totes familiar." She paused, then added, "But he's cute, don'cha think?"

"H-huh?" Ella shook her head slightly to get her attention away from the boy and onto what Warsaw was saying to her. She struggled for an answer for a few moments. "Um, n-no he's, I mean I was just…" She turned back to where he had been standing a moment ago, but he was gone, lost in the crowd of high-school kids.

Viktoria rasied an eyebrow, "Come on, you can say it. You practically had your eyes glued to him. In fact, I bet you didn't hear a word I said before." She gestured her head to the left and they began walking to home room, which was one of several classes they had together.

"N-no, sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

"Whyyyyy?" Viktoria prompted, smiling.

Ella blushed, "…Because I was watching the new kid."

"Whyyyyy?"

"Because I think he's cute." She admitted reluctantly.

"Then like, you have to talk to him! Now! Right now!" As she threw open the door to their home room, she continued, "And then you have to come with me, Nikki, and Anna to go see that movie I was talking about." She maneuvered her way through discarded papers, backpacks littering the floor, and people socializing in the isles, to the seat in the back left corner. Viktoria dropped her pink Vera Bradley purse on the floor and pulled a pencil from the dark recesses of her backpack.

Ella tucked a strand of curly brown hair behind her ear as she set her backpack down in the seat next to Viktoria's. "Sure I'll see the movie with you guys. Which one is it aga-" Without thinking, she stepped backwards and right into someone. She spun around. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sor…" She trailed off. She was at eye-level with his chest and so close that she had to look straight up to see his face, but she already knew exactly who it was she had just bumped into. The boy from the hallway. And when she did make eye contact, she couldn't even remember how to speak. "Um… uh…"

"Watch where you're going." He said, glaring at her as if she'd burned him.

She quickly snapped out of it and backed away. "Right. Of course, I'm sorry."

He nodded once and sat down in the seat in front of Vilnius.

Warsaw wrinkled her nose, hands on hips. She tapped Vilnius on the shoulder and mouthed 'stick in the mud!' while pointing to the new kid. She stuck out her tongue to the back of his head.

The bell rang, and everyone scampered to their seats as the teacher stood up in front of the class. "Everyone! Settle down, I have an announcement to make." She got mixed responses. A few kids gave her their attention, but most simply kept talking from their seats, or passed notes, or threw things across the room. "As you may have noticed, we have a new student. His name is Alexei and he's transferring here from Belarus." There was the resounding noise of people not caring as the Belarusian boy stood for just a moment at the teacher's insistence, and sat back down.

Belarus? Viktoria thought. That's weird. He looks, like, so familiar, but if he's here all the way from Belarus, there's no way I could have met him before.

"Hey Ella, don't you think-" She began.

But she stopped as Gabriella leaned forward to say to Alexei, blushing and stuttering, "Hi, um, m-my name is… uh, G-Gabriella. But most people just call me El-"

"I know who you are," He turned around in his seat and put his elbows on her desk. He moved closer so his face was only inches from hers and whispered venomously, "Vilnius."

She gave a little gasp. "How did you know?"

"Mother Belarus warned me about you." With that, it immediately clicked in Warsaw's mind who he was. How could she have not noticed before? It was so painfully obvious!

"Minsk," Viktoria said with a touch of contempt, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring. No wonder she didn't like him right off the bat. She had never gotten along with Minsk, or any other part of Belarus for that matter. For his part, Minsk looked at her for just a second, face completely expressionless in that annoying 'I hate you but I'm not going to give you the satisfaction of seeing just how much I hate you' way he had, before snapping his head back to Vilnius. However, Warsaw was able to revel in the fact that she knew he disliked her just as much as she disliked him. He simply happened to be a bit better at hiding it than she was.

"Mother Belarus warned me about you," he repeated. "She said you were just like your father: a pathetic mouse, not even worth my time."

Vilnius turned her eyes to the floor, shrinking in on herself as if she wanted to disappear right then and there.

Completely unfazed, Minsk lifted a hand and gently brushed a lock of hair from her face. "But, in this particular case, I disagree with my mother's assessment." Vilnius blinked in surprise and gazed at him curiously.

"Wow, are you like bipolar or something?" Warsaw interjected. She had known Minsk- or Alexei, as she knew she would have to call him, though she didn't want to- long enough to be well aware of the fact that he was bad news. "Seriously, one second you're being a jerk, and the next you're acting like this?" She shook her head. "Just like Belarus's kid to be so cruel. Give it up Alexei, you're totally not fooling anybody!"

He shifted his attention to her, while still playing with the strand of the little brunette's hair. On one hand, Ella felt a bit trapped like this and wanted to pull away, but on the other hand she found she didn't really mind. "You forget," Alexei said, in a more polite tone than Warsaw had ever heard him use when addressing her, "that I am not my mother. In fact, I am nothing like her. And it has been a great many years since we last saw each other Viktoria. I think you'll find I have changed quite a bit in the last three centuries."

"Once a rat, always a rat," she retorted.

He shrugged. "Believe what you will."

The bell rang, signaling the end of their first period home room. There was a mad dash out the door, and within ten seconds the three capitol cities were the only students left. Alexei stood and swung his backpack onto his shoulder. "Now that I've transferred here, I suspect we'll be seeing a lot of each other," he said to Vilnius, making a point of ignoring the seething Warsaw entirely. She just nodded slowly, seeming almost entranced by him. With just the barest hint of a smile, he picked her pencil up off the desk and held it out to her. She reached for it, but at the last second Alexei snapped it in half. He dropped the broken pieces on the floor. "Goodbye, Gabriella."

"See what I mean?" Warsaw picked up both halves and tossed them into a trash can on their way out. "A total jerk. Trust me Ella, he's not worth your time."

"You're probably right…" She paused in the middle of the hallway. "Oh, gosh, I completely forgot something back in home room. Go on ahead, I'll get it and see you in the changing rooms for gym class in a few minutes." She was gone before Viktoria had time to say anything. She weaved through the crowd back to the classroom. After looking behind her to make sure Viktoria hadn't followed, Gabriella took the broken pencil out of the trashcan, and put it in her pocket.

oOo

And so concludes chapter one~ And even if you think you know where this is going, there'll still be plently of stuff that you won't see coming. I actually have more written, but it's stuff that fits in later. And I'm also working on another story with Warsaw and Vilnius (no Minsk, sorry!) which is very loosely based on the Warsaw Uprisings in the early 1830's, but don't expect that to be up for a while yet. Gosh, I'm such a scatter-brain lol!

May the force be with you,

that crazy chick