"Don't you think that was a little… Harsh? What you did to America?" Hawaii suggested as they sat down at the dining hall that evening. Guatemala sighed, swirling the spoon around in her stew. The fact that the meal reminded her so strongly of home was bittersweet.
"I guess, si… I just… I'm a prideful person, you know? I don't want to be confused for anything or anyone that I'm not, and my people arealways getting mixed up with Mexicans…"
Hawaii nodded slowly, chewing on a slice of pineapple. "Yeah, I get what you're saying… But, I don't think that was all it was behind it. You wouldn't have punched everyone that called you a Mexican, would you?"
Guatemala started to retort, but then realized her friend was right. "No, I don't suppose I would… I'd curse them out, but I don't think I'd punch them… That hard, at least." Hawaii giggled slightly. Guatemala took a bite of her stew, smiling at its deliciousness, before she decided she wasn't done talking. "Cuba said that Americans take advantage of newbies… So, I sort of figured it'd be hard to make putty out someone who punched you in the face." She paused, and since Hawaii was chewing, she thought she'd add one more thing. "Maybe Cuba was just making that up based off of some grudge, I don't know, but he seemed to mean it…"
Hawaii swallowed her food. "Oh, yeah, he meant it. He's got every right to hold a grudge, America's what we call the asshole of the world… He can be really lovable, though, if you get past his obnoxiousness… He's a sweet guy, really. His people are more manipulative than he is… He's too dumb to be manipulative. And you know," she shook a chopstick at Guatemala, "he really sees something in you. This is his second year here, and he's only had 3 girlfriends. He'll tease girls, and flirt them up, but he only asks out the ones he's really sincere about."
Guatemala rolled her eyes, yet couldn't help but blush slightly. Unable to form a response, she simply ate a few more spoonfuls of her stew. It was like bliss for her taste buds every time.
"I still think there's something else behind why you punched him," Hawaii indicated while taking a sip of her tropical smoothie. "When he taunted you, did you feel like… Like there was some vicious fire creature storming around inside of you?" Hawaii made rapid motions with her hands to help prove her point.
Wow, that's exactly it… Guatemala stared at her incredulously. "Si… Like my insides were being clawed by flames."
Hawaii smacked her palms together, smirking slightly. "Guatemala, you've got a reluctant crush on him."
The tanner girl choked on air. "¿Qué"
"You've never been in a romantic relationship before, right? And you're not willing to start now?" Guatemala glared to the side, nodding. Either she was too easy to read, or Hawaii was some type of expert at this stuff. She hoped it was the latter. Hawaii was absolutely beaming now, her hands gripping the table excitedly. "That's it, then! He was messing with you. Your new friend told you bitter things about him. So, the fact that he made you feel fluttery inside set off this chain effect of emotions similar to hatred!"
It was silent for a moment, Hawaii's enthusiastic reasoning still lingering in the air like steam. Guatemala poked at her stew and felt her cheeks turn pink. "Well, there's no point denying that those American dickheads are pretty cute…" Hawaii giggled successfully and returned to her dinner.
"Hey, you said that this was America's second year here. I never asked, how long have you been here?" Guatemala inquired, dabbing at the corners of her mouth with a napkin. Hawaii held up her index finger.
"This is year 1 for me, too! Same for Jamaica."
Guatemala's jaw dropped slightly. "But- How could you know all that you do about this place if you just started this year?" she asked skeptically. Hawaii winked.
"A girl can learn a lot in a month and a half."
Jamaica then joined them at the table. There wasn't that much food piled on her tray, but she had been the last person to arrive in the lunch room thus she had to wait at the very end of the line. "Where's Captain America?" she questioned casually, plopping down beside Hawaii.
"He's at that table over there today… 'The Hero' probably didn't have enough guts to sit by Guatemala, not just yet. He's probably admiring her from afar…" Sure enough, when she looked across the aisle, America's eyes were flickering away from Guatemala's face. Guatemala raised an eyebrow, turning away from him.
"Ah, that's right, I hear you gave him a face full of fist…" Jamaica smirked appreciatively at Guatemala, giving her a nonchalant thumbs-up. "Good job, mon." Guatemala offered a smile, though it was short lived as she caught sight of what Jamaica was bringing to her lips.
"Jamaica, is that… Rum?" she asked.
Smiling, Jamaica held up her glass and shook it slightly from side to side. "You bet it is. Want some?"
Guatemala wrinkled up her nose. "No. We're in school, how could you even think about getting high?"
"Oh, I'm not getting high. It's not getting high if you only have a glass twice a week," Jamaica assured her, raising an eyebrow and taking a long sip. "You a drinker?"
"Well, actually… Si. Not heavy, but… I love a few beers or something like a margarita every month," she answered. Grinning wider, Jamaica patted her hard on the back.
"Then we have got to meet up at the bar sometime. There's one in this school, ya know."
"What?" That didn't seem like something a school would have inside of it, even if many of the students were adults or practically immortal countries…
Jamaica tilted her glass a bit. "True story. Bottoms up!" She leaned her head way back, and drained every last drop of the reddish brown liquid.
After all three girls had eaten their fill, they headed upstairs to the dormitories. It was quite a journey, considering Jamaica was staggering slightly as she hummed some relatively catchy rhythm, and Guatemala was trying her best to avoid America's eye. At one point, she had been glancing over her shoulder to make sure he wasn't following her, and she ended up bumping into someone. "Oh, lo siento!" she squeaked, for this person was about 3 times her size. However, she saw with relief, it was just Cuba. He smiled down at her.
"Not a problem. Are you headed up to bed?"
Guatemala nodded. "Si."
"Well, buenas noches."
"Gracias, same to you." She bowed her head slightly and trotted up the staircase. She didn't notice Cuba's pleasant gaze lingering on her.
The trio of roommates managed to make it to their dorm without running into any unwanted situations. Jamaica was out like a light the moment she sprawled out on her bed, and she began snoring lightly. Guatemala rolled her eyes with a smile and started unpacking.
"Here, let me help you," Hawaii offered, draping Guatemala's baby blue blanket over the end of her bed, which was in the rightmost corner of the room. "You know, it's only 7… Lights out isn't until 10:30," she noted. Guatemala shrugged as she situated her bland yet special pillow on the bed.
"I suppose we could walk around for a while, or, something…" Opening the top drawer of her empty dresser, she yawned. Hawaii chuckled.
"You don't have to stay up… I get it if you wanna turn in early, it must have been a long day for you. Besides: early to bed, early to rise! If you get up early tomorrow, we'll have the entire Saturday to explore," she reasoned. Guatemala nodded, just now realizing how tired she actually was. A thought suddenly crossed her mind.
"Today's a weekday, isn't it? I didn't see anyone heading to any sort of class…"
"Ah, that's because we had off today! Staff meetings or something…" Hawaii unzipped a suitcase filled with colorful, neatly folded outfits and began carefully organizing them in one of Guatemala's drawers. Guatemala hated it when people touched her things, but it seemed Hawaii was handling them orderly… Maybe this girl wasn't so bad after all.
"I guess that's everything, then… Buenas noches," Guatemala breathed once all her baggage was empty. Hawaii nodded, freely stripping out of her clothes and searching for pajamas. Guatemala wasn't exactly timid about that type of thing, seeing as she'd known of citizens in her country that couldn't afford any clothing, so she slipped her dress off too and pulled on her nightgown.
"Good night!" Hawaii chimed, hopping onto her colorful bed with only one arm pulled into her pajama top so far. Guatemala curled up on her bed, watching the volcano-shaped lava lamp on Hawaii's bedside table with mild interest. Her eyes stayed glued on the lazily moving bubbles until she drifted off to sleep, her dreams filled with various faces, endless corridors, and a certain blue-eyed American.