A/N: Okay, people, let me just tell you that I am no longer writing this story alone! A good bit of this story is also going to be written by my good friend, Ninjacookie19 (look her up on deviantart!) HI, NINJA! *waves like an idiot*.
Anyway, I do not own Hetalia. I only own Mrs. Edwards, Nico, Lise, Principal Morrison, and New York!
I crossed my arms, and tried to listen to Mrs. Edwards droning on and on and on. Seriously, the woman could make freaking Pearl Harbor sound boring!
"And so…" Pause, "…the Hawaiian military base…" Drone, "Pearl Harbor…was attacked…by the Japanese…in December of 1941…"
That was when I started to zone out. Screw Harvard; this is boring! I risked a look behind me at Lise, who had long since fallen asleep. Her blonde hair spilled over her desk as she drooled on her textbook. The fan blew the curl at the end of her long ponytail back and forth.
I clenched my fists in frustration. It wasn't fair that she sat in the back where Mrs. Edwards barely ever paid any attention, and I was stuck in the middle, where Mrs. Edwards, in her quest to be "fair," called on the most.
[Yes, I KNOW that you couldn't help it, Lise! Now stop whining!]
Doesn't help that I'm one of the smartest kids in the class, either. (Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. We-Want-Our-Children-To-Get-Academic-Scholarships-To-Harvard, aka, Mom and Dad.)
[NICO! Don't you DARE talk about Mom and Dad like that!]
[S-Sorry, sorry!]
"Well, Nico?"
I looked up in surprise. "I-I'm sorry, ma'am. What did you say?"
Mrs. Edwards gave an exasperated huff and said, "I asked what the Allies and Axis were, Nico."
I felt my mind go blank. Axis, Allies? What were they? I knew America was part of one of them , along with England, and Germany was in the other, but I knew zip other than that! I mentally licked myself for spacing out.
"Um…Germany was in…the Allies, right? And—"
Giggles and snickers told me I was very wrong indeed.
Mrs. Edwards gave me a sad look, like, "You're my bast student; where did I go wrong?"
"Sorry, Nico," she said. "Anyone else want to try—Oh, yes, Peter?'
That weird boy, Peter Kirkland, had his hand in the air. I didn't know him personally; I sometimes remember making fun of his British accent and sailor costume, and getting a smile and a laugh out of him, mostly when the jokes I told about him weren't funny at all. Again, Peter was weird like that.
Anyway, he answered with, "The Axis was the group America was fighting against, containing the countries of Germany, Italy, and Japan. The Allies were the countries fighting against the Axis, containing America, Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and China."
Mrs. Edwards beamed at Peter, and said, "That's correct, Peter. How did you know the countries? I don't that that we got to that yet."
Peter hesitated for a moment, like he was afraid to answer. Then, his ever-present smile came back on his face, and said, "My big brother, Arthur, is really into British history! His stories on World War 2 are so vivid, you'd think that he was there himself!" I watched him closely. I could see that he was lying; I've watched Joan enough times. His eyes were shifty, and he kept shuffling in his chair
Cheater, I mercilessly thought at him. Stupid kiss up.
[NICO!]
[I'm SORRY, Lise! I didn't KNOW him then!]
Mrs. Edwards then turned on me. "Okay, Nico, after that blurb, I would like it if you reread the section." Then she seemed to get an idea. "In fact, I want all of you to learn the names of the countries in the Allies and Axis, and their leaders at the time. We will be having a quiz on this on Friday, so start studying!"
Groaning, moaning, and insults to Peter followed. Nothing unusual.
I was just starting to get into Hitler's rise to power when the intercom turned on.
"Will Lise and Nico Stoker, and Peter Kirkland please report to the principal's office?" While part of me worried that I did something wrong, another part of me thanked my lucky stars that Mrs. Jamison called Lise and me by our nicknames. Lise's first name was okay. (Well, I admit it, her name was actually really pretty.)
[OW! Lise, what the heck?]
My first name, however, was the ugliest name I had ever heard of. That was the reason I went by my middle name, Nico. There was no way in HECK that anyone would name a kid born in 1998 something like that unless they were named after somebody. That was the reason I wasn't surprised to find out I was named after my birth father. "Famous Warrior" my foot.
Anyway, Peter and I both looked at Mrs. Edwards, who nodded. Peter immediately headed for the door, leaving me the task of waking up Lise (a jab in the back of the neck with a pencil eraser), which earned us a dirty look from Mrs. Edwards.
We walked down the hallway, with Peter a few yards in front of us. "What did you do to him?" Lise hissed at me.
"I didn't do anything! Well, I did make fun of him once, but—"
"I knew it! You bullied him, and I'm being pinned as your accomplice because I'm your twin! This sucks!"
I laughed at her. "Aren't Christians supposed to have clean mouths?" I was interrupted by a smack in the face. "And be pacifists?" I asked again (not the smartest thing I've done, I admit).
She ignored me, and walked up to Peter, and said, "Hey, Peter! Do you have any idea why we're being taken to the principal's office? Like, what'd ya do? Turn Nico in for bullying or something?"
He turned to look at me. "That was you?" His face broke into a grin. "Nope! It's all over and forgotten! It was actually quite funny, what you said!" He turned, and started talking to Lise again.
"…I called you a gay sailor," I whispered lamely, trying to ignore the guilt that was seeping into me.
When we entered the front office, Peter spoke to Mrs. Jamison. "Hi, there! I'm Peter Kirkland, and these are the Stoker twins!"
Mrs. Jamison looked at us with glazed, exhausted eyes full of—holy crap—pity. "Of course," she smiled. "Down the hall to the right."
We nodded, and entered the principal's office. Principal Morrison was looking prim and proper, as usual, with her neatly ironed dress and stupid bun. In front of her was a man in a suit with a briefcase. He gave us the fake grin Mrs. Jamison gave us, and I knew something was up when the man (Mr. Lucas) shooed Principal Morrison out of her own office, and said these three words. "I'm sorry."
You know the feeling of when you're going through something so terrible, something you know you should be screaming and crying at, but you don't? Because it doesn't seem real? That's what it was like for me.
I barely even heard about what happened. Even now, months later, I still don't know all the details. I just remember little words here and there. "Your mother and father…Crosswalk…Drunk driver…Car…Hit…Broken necks…No pain…Passed away."
[No, Lise, I'm not crying! I've just got something in my eye, that's all…I'm not…crying…Oh…you are, too? Well, it's okay. Hold my hand.]
Lise, oh crap, she was like a fountain. Tears ran down her face by the gallons, and she kept screaming things like, "You're lying!" Lucky little…
Eventually I wrapped my arms around her as she twined her little wooden rosary (from our birth mother) around her fingers and murmured prayers under her breath.
"So, I guess that means we'll be moved to a relative's, right? Joan and Lanie adore all of them, so I guess that's alright," I murmured.
Mr. Lucas shook his head. "Your sisters will be moved to your aunt's." Good. Joan and Lanie loved Aunt Lucy. "You, however, have a very different destination, according to your parents' will."
At this, he opened his briefcase and pulled out a manila envelope, from which he pulled out a piece of paper saying, "The Last Will and Testament of Craig Stoker." Dad…
"'If, God forbid, anything should happen to us, Karen and I would like to keep our children as far away from foster homes as possible. Our two youngest, Joan Agnes, and Alana Eden, are to go to Karen's sister, Lucinda. However, our two beloved twins, Lise and Nico, will go to a year-round boarding school called the International Academy. There are some things about Lise and Nico that Karen and I don't understand, but we do know that this is the right place for them,'" Mr. Lucas read.
"That's it?" Lise whispered, her voice hoarse.
Mr. Lucas solemnly nodded his head. "The rest don't concern you; it's just about where their money and property will go."
You mean money. I knew exactly where their property will go: their belongings snapped up by the first relatives to get their hands on them, and the rest by the ones who pay the most. Our three-bedroom apartment, Lise's and my home for thirteen years, to the first person to rent. It's just not fair…
"What's this go to do with him?" Lise asked, pointing to Peter. I started. I had almost forgotten he was there. Instead of his stupid grin, he was staring at us with pity in his eyes. Ugh. Shutupshutupshutup.
"I…I was sent to this school in New York to watch out for you," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. (How unlike him… [OW!]) "I knew you were special, and the International Academy are for special people, like you."
"Special people?" I murmured. "What's so special about us? We're just two normal kids."
"Dear boy, you are far from normal," Mr. Lucas said, that half-smile saying I was supposed to take it as a compliment. "Do you know the circumstances of you and your sister's births?"
I winced. Here's something I think you should have known before: Lise and I were adopted. Abandoned to Social Services by two jerks who probably never loved us in the first place.
"I have a drawing our mother did of us hanging on the wall of our room." Unfortunately, true. "And I know that Lise and I were named after them." Again, unfortunately, true.
Peter looked at Mr. Lucas. "Excuse me, sir, but there is too much to explain and not enough time. You can tell them once we get to the Academy."
Mr. Lucas's eyes widened. He checked his watch. "Goodness, Peter, you're right! Come on, the gates'll close if you don't get back to the Academy by nightfall!"
We didn't even have time to react as we were shepherded outside of the school into a black Cadillac.
Once we were out of the school, I asked Mr. Lucas, "Um, sir, no offense, but who are you?"
He looked at me through the rear-view mirror, and flashed me a grin. "Well, since you asked nicely, I'll tell you. To my friends, I'm Jake Lucas. To my co-workers, I'm New York. I'm the headmaster of the International Academy."
I turned to Lise, who didn't make any reaction. I guess it was good that we met our headmas—
Wait a second.
New York?
