I stood in front of my class, hands held together and with a small smile on my face. Regardless of my appearance I was shaking like a leaf in a winter wind. I had been put into a class for foreign children in my grade. Even the teacher herself, Mrs. Heredarvy, was a full-blooded Hungarian woman, and had one of the kindest voice I had ever heard.
"Everyone, this is Natalia. Like you, her family has also come from a different country to live in America. She is of Belarusian decent but was raised in Switzerland. Do try to make her feel welcome here."
I looked around the room, trying to not keep eye contact with anyone for too long. There was a girl with green eyes and blonde hair, two boys who I thought to be twins, and 3 kids sitting next to each other, and seemed to be shaking as bad as I was. Maybe they were new too?
She turned back to me and put a hand on my shoulder, kneeling down and pointing to an empty seat in the 3rd row, nest to the blonde girl, whose eyes brightened. "That is your seat, next to Emma."
Luckily for me, my seat was the last one on the end of the row, so I wouldn't have to talk to anyone. I wasn't prepared for someone like Emma. As soon as I took my place in the blue plastic seat, the teacher gave her instructions for that day. "Today, we will be making name cards."
She passed out some thick and heavy paper and continued. "Fold the paper half way, hot dog style. On one side, draw your native country's flag. On the other, write your name in English and your native language. Around that, draw pictures of what you like!"
She returned to her desk, and the class began to engage in small conversations as the other kids worked. Emma turned to me. "You're Belarusian? That's so cool! My home isn't too far from yours!"
"O-oh..really?"
Her smiled grew wider. "Mmhm! I'm from Belgium!"
"Belgium..like Belgium waffles?"
She laughed. "That's what everyone says."
Emma had a peculiar interest in cats and tomatoes, as these were the only things that had been drawn on her card. Some time passed, and then I heard a bell ring. I looked to Emma for an answer, and she supplied one.
"It's time for recess!"
She dragged me outside to meet with the other children that were in my class, known as the 'immikids'. Our class wasn't that big, so we only had a handful of children in the room. She pointed a finger at a group of 3 kids. "Those are the shivering triplets!" she proclaimed.
"I-I'm Eduard, and I'm from Estonia." said the one with glasses.
"I'm Torii, and I'm from Lithuania." said the lone girl.
"A-and I'm Raivis. And I'm from Latvia." added the shortest one.
"A-actually, we aren't triplets…" the shortest one said. "Y-y-yeah…w-we're just brothers and a sister." added the lone girl in that group. Emma rolled her eyes and continued her introductions. "These are the Vargas brothers! Lovino and Feliciano!"
The two brothers turned to look at me, the darker haired one with a harsh glare and the lighter hair one with a ditzy smile. The dark-haired one, Lovino, simply grumbled something and turned away. What, did he hate the world? The other, Feliciano, stood there with a giant idiotic grin on his face, like he didn't have a care in the world.
Emma drew my attention to the next immikid. "This one is Im Yong Soo. He's from Korea."
I have nothing against anyone from Asia, but he aggravated me from the second I saw him. He was loud, hyper, didn't know the meaning of "sit down and close your mouth for the rest of the class". And the way he talked, adding da-ze to the end of everything. I really did hate him, and so did most of the class. His smile never disappeared however, and during the times I was down and saw him wave to me, I forgot about my sadness and that I actually didn't like him for a brief time.
Regardless, I began to doubt the intelligence level in our group.
At 2:15, the bell rang for school to be let out. I, of course, was that last one to leave because I always take my time to make sure none of my papers are ruined so that they are at least somewhat legible before I hand them in; it was one of the things I learned from Ivan.
As I zipped up my bright white backpack and slung it over my shoulder, Mrs. Heredarvy called me to her desk. Like any normal child would, I was frightened. Did I do something wrong? Did someone snitch me out for putting that stupid Korean in a headlock? Several thoughts swam through my mind as I approached her desk. I was met with her soft compassionate gaze instead of the fire breathing dragons that American teachers were rumoured to turn into. "I received a call from the principal about your way home. Your sister called. It seems that you will be walking home with your neighbors?"
I gulped. "Y-yeah, Angie, Alfred, a-and Mattie…"
"Alright. Also, it seems that you will be staying at their house as your sister is still at work. That is all Natalia, have a good day, and I'll see you tomorrow."
I gave her a quick bow before rushing out, giving her a small wave as I exited. Ivan was standing outside the door, his hands in the pockets of his tan coat and the bottom half of his face tucked under his pale pink scarf. "I assume the teacher told you how we were getting home and with who?" he said. I nodded in response. "Not too happy about it being Alfie." I told him, holding his hand as we approached the front gate. "Really? So why did you call-"
"It slipped!"
I looked back up from the cracked concrete ground to see 3 figures waiting by the gate, one of them jumping like an idiot and waving his hands around. "HEY! HEEEEEEEEY! Over here!"
"Yes yes we can see you Alfred." Ivan retorted as we approached them. Matthew stood behind his brother, giving me a small, shy smile. I loved his smile, I really did. It was so innocent and loving, and he was a complete opposite from his brother. "Hey hey Natalia! Walk with me! I'll protect you!" said the dumbest of our group. I quirked a brow at him.
"What could you possibly do? You're a stupid little boy who can't do anything right. How could an idiot like you do something as big as protect me?"
I crossed my arms. Then he did it. The one thing that made me melt a little, and still does today. He flashed that silly grin of his. He grabbed my hand and pulled me along side him. "Just come on, I wanna show you the neighborhood."
I looked back at Ivan, who was shooting daggers at Alfred from behind. Oh boy, this was going to be fun.
Despite feeling scornful at him, I didn't really mind him holding my hand. Sure, they were colder than Ivan's paws and the tiniest bit sweaty, but even then, he held them delicately, like the tiniest squeeze with shatter them like thin glass. As his fingers wrapped around mine, I actually felt somewhat safe with him and my cheeks felt warm. He walked a little ahead of me, pointing out the houses of who lived where, the best houses to go trick-or-treating (whatever that meant). We walked past an old, run down looking place, rusty brown and not very appealing. "This is where Scruffy lives." He proclaimed, pointing to a medium sized doghouse. The paint was a faded blue and cracked and peeling off in various places. Outside the entrance was a washed out green water bowl, 'Scruffy' crudely written around the edge. Ivan gave him a look. "Scruffy?" he said with disbelief.
"He's the biggest, meanest, most strongest and monstrous dog in the neighborhood! If you don't back off, he'll rip you apart and keep your bones and his owner will take your skull and make it into a new dish bowl for him!"
I rolled my eyes at him. "Quit screwing around!" I yelled.
"Grrrrrr…."
The 5 of us froze as a low growl emitted from the doghouse, and a creature lumbered outside of its prison. It was a medium sized lab, with a glistening golden coat, and it looked anything but scary. "You guys are idiots."
I approached it with an outstretched hand.
Next thing I knew, all 5 of us ran screaming, sprinting down the street as the beast gave chase.
A good 10 minutes passed, and not one of as had began to lag yet. Our short legs pumped as we raced to get to Arthur's house. As it came into view, I tripped, skidding on my knees (not ruining my dress thankfully). Alfred stopped, grabbed my hand again and pulled me along the rest of the way. The 5 of us slammed into Arthur's door, ten small fists banging on the door. As soon as the door cracked open, we sped past Arthur, who looked very, very, confused and lost. We went upstairs, skipping 2 or 3 steps at a time. Ivan, Angie and Mattie dove into Matt's room, and Alfred dragged me into his. We collapsed on the floor, catching our breath and crying like babies. I felt pathetic, and embarrassed. I couldn't believe that I showed my soft side in front of them, I usually wasn't scared of anything. I turned my attention to Al. He was on his back, one leg propped up, his right hand resting on his chest, which was rising and falling quickly. Crawling over, I examined his face. I refuse to say gaze because that is NOT what I was doing.
His cheeks were flushed, his eyes closed, skin glistening with a bit of sweat. All that fast food and he can still be fit? He amazed me sometimes. My eyes lingered at his lips for a moment. I wondered for a second, all the possibilities of my actions. What if I decided to lean down a little closer…
