As I headed into the college, I wondered what Alfred's friends were like. Would they be taking classes that made no sense for their major, too? Because after I made it home last night, I'd thought it through, and felt very confused about why a Psychology major and a Criminal Justice major would be taking a studio lighting course. And Creative Writing? Yeah, it wasn't a requirement for film, but I liked to write in what little free time I had, publishing humorous stories on sites like Wattpad and such, so it made perfect sense for me. I had a lot of interests, which was why college was taking so long for me to complete.

Maybe it's the same for Alfred and Matthew... I mused to myself.

Same as always, I grabbed a seat in the back to the right, and took out a notebook, opening it to a blank sheet. I frowned at the whiteboard in the front of the room. The words were a bit fuzzy. I knew I should've used my glasses that day instead of being silly and putting in colored contacts. I had convergence insufficiency, so I normally wore my special glasses to school, using contacts for everything else. But, stupid me, I'd wanted to have violet eyes, like my brother with his contacts, so I'd popped them in and came to class without thinking.

Now I was seriously regretting that...

"Charlie!"

I looked up, a big smile spreading across my face at the sight of Alfred heading my way with Matthew in tow. Behind them were three others, but I barely looked at them as I stood up to greet my new friends.

"Alfred! Good morning!" I laughed at his huge yawn, then sheepish smile. "Looks like somebody didn't get enough sleep."

"He was up late playing video games last night," Matthew answered for him. He ducked under Alfred's hand and claimed the chair closest to me. "Wii bowling, I think."

"Bowling's fun!" Alfred muttered, slouching in the seat to Matthew's left.

"Not when you're supposed to be sleeping."

I snorted a laugh. "Honestly, you two are something else. Makes me think of Garrett and me."

"Who, the bird nut?" Matthew turned to me, smiling mischievously.

My laugh came out more like a bark. "No need to be so nice, Matt. He's the resident bird-brain."

Alfred chuckled at that. "Reminds me of an old friend we used to know..." he trailed off, frowning when he looked me in the eyes. "Wait a minute, why're your eyes purple?"

Matthew glanced at Alfred, then looked at my eyes, raising an eyebrow in question.

I shrugged. "I'm a cosplayer. I like fiddling around with colored contacts. My brother's eyes aren't naturally violet, either, ya know."

"Really? What color are they?"

I grimaced and shook my head at Alfred's question. "You'll have to ask him. He gets very defensive about his looks. Kind of a sort subject with him, since he looks so different from the rest of the family."

Alfred nodded, then suddenly grinned. "If his eyes are pink, I'll have to laugh."

"No," I shot him an 'are you nuts?' look. "His eyes aren't pink. Stop trying to manipulate me into telling you, goofball."

A throat being cleared nearby caught Alfred's attention, causing him to straighten in his seat. "Oh! Sorry, Artie. This is Charlie, mine and Matt's new friend."

I smiled pleasantly at the guy now holding his hand out to me, shooting a quick glare Alfred's way. We shook hands. "I'm Arthur, not Artie. Pleased to meet you, Charlie."

"Pleased to meet you, too, Arthur." British. Nice. Then I turned to Alfred with an accusatory stare. "Are all your friends hot guys, or what?"

Arthur turned beet red, his light green eyes going wide in shock. Alfred rolled his eyes at me, smirking at Arthur, which just made the Brit more flustered. Matthew gave a cough which sounded suspiciously like an aborted laugh. One of the guys still behind Arthur chuckled.

"I can see why you like her, amigo."

Alfred beamed. "Yup. I've decided to keep this one, Toni."

I glowered at him. "I'm not a pet, dumbass. Unless," I tilted my head to the side, pretending to consider it. "that means free food and not having to work."

His expression was priceless! "Huh?"

"If I'm gonna be your pet, you have to take care of me. Oh, and if you put a collar on me, I'll do worse to you than I did to frog-legs yesterday."

"Wait, wait, wait," Arthur was suddenly excited, staring at me with admiration. "Is it true you stabbed Francis?"

I nodded. "Yup. Stupid moron was bugging me. Didn't take a hint, even after Alfred tried to tell him to shove off."

Toni, a tanned guy with laughing green eyes and dark brown hair, smirked. "And is it also true you used a pen?"

I smiled, showing my teeth. "Right in the fleshiest part I could find."

Arthur took one of my hands, clasping it between his, and told me, "You are now my idol, Charlie."

Ooo-kaaay... "I didn't really do anything..." I protested weakly.

"Francis is a guy who'll flirt with anything on two legs that breathes," Toni said. He took a seat at the table in front of us, turning around to sit in it backwards to face me. "The fact that you probably just scared him off forever? That's a legendary story. Nobody has ever managed to keep Francis off their back for long."

I stared at him, then looked questioningly at Alfred and Matthew. They just nodded their heads in affirmation.

"Ragazzi la state mettendo a disagio*," the last guy muttered, taking the seat next to the aisle. Arthur settled between them.

"Lovi~," Toni whined. "Why didn't you sit by me?"

When "Lovi" turned to glare blackly at Toni, who I assumed was either Cuban or Spanish, I recognized him as the guy from the Goodwill store back in January. "I know you two!"

Toni turned to me, curious. "You do? How?"

"Goodwill, remember? Granted it was a couple months ago, but he thought I was someone he knew," I gestured to "Lovi", who had stiffened in his chair. "What a coincidence!"

Toni immediately beamed warmly at me. "Ah, si, si! I remember you now! Una mujer tan bonita**," he said, giving me a small wink.

I had no idea what he said, but whatever it was made "Lovi" hiss something lowly at him in Italian. Toni gave him a wounded look, responding in slightly off Italian. "Lovi" just glowered, then turned sharply away.

Arthur merely muttered, "I am NOT getting in the middle of this."

Matthew leaned over to whisper in my ear, "Don't worry, that's just Lovino being Lovino. He's prickly on the outside, but on the inside he's really a good guy."

Unsure, I still nodded.

XXX

Somehow, I found myself tagging along with the group to the local Panda Express after class. It was only 11, but Alfred had declared it was "close enough to lunchtime to eat", and then said I was joining them. Matthew quickly added they would buy my lunch. Sneaky guy.

It was a repeat of the cafe, only with Americanized Chinese food. Alfred was stuffing his face happily with the broccoli beef, while Matthew had opted for the orange chicken. Arthur copied Matthew, and Toni followed their lead. I chose to order as many veggie spring rolls as I possibly could, along with the fried rice. I absolutely loved that combo. As I placed my order, I noticed Lovino just standing there a few feet away, staring down at the different mounds of food, his brow wrinkled in thought.

"My sister says the broccoli beef is good," I offered him a smile at his startled look. "Of course, I wouldn't know. I don't eat meat. But whatever you get, you must try the fried rice. It's to die for," I ended dramatically.

He stared at me blankly. Starting to feel stupid, I turned away to wait for my food and drink cup, feeling my face burn in embarrassment. If it had been Alfred, he would've played along. I had no idea how to interact with this guy.

"Grazie. Lo apprezzo***."

I knew what 'grazie' meant, so I managed a small smile and a soft 'you're welcome' in return. The smile became more genuine when I heard him order two bowls of the fried rice.

It didn't take long for us to finish our meal and head back outside. It was a chilly day, so I pulled my sweatshirt sleeves back over my arms, having rolled them up in the restaurant.

"Chigi, it's so damn cold," came the muttered words to my left.

I peeked through my bangs at a shivering Lovino, glaring at the sky in annoyance. A few seconds later, I had my extra hoodie out of my backpack, and offered it to him. "Here, you can use this."

Lovino looked at it suspiciously, then at me. "Why?"

Are you kidding me? "Cuz you're cold? Why else?" I gave him an odd look. Weirdo.

"Y-you don't need t-to," he said, stubbornly keeping his hands at his sides, though his eyes looked at the hoodie with longing.

"Oh, don't be so sexist!" I snapped, throwing the hoodie at him, and it hit him in the face. He yelped in surprise, gaining the others attention. "Just put the damn thing on before you freeze!"

"Charlie, are you attacking Lovino now?" Alfred called, looking like he was trying to decide between laughing or being shocked.

Lovino yanked the hoodie on, giving me a mutinous look. I merely narrowed my eyes at him before responding to Alfred with, "No, not if he knows what's good for him."

Lovino scowled, stalking off after Toni. I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out after him like a little kid. Why'd he have to act like such a jerk to me? I was only trying to be nice!

"You'll have to forgive Lovino," Arthur came up beside me, an apology in his eyes. "He's been looking for some old friends, and hasn't had any luck in finding them. None of us has, in fact. The situation is getting to him, and he's been snapping at everyone."

I shrugged, giving him a smile. "It's fine. But someone had better warn him that if he pulls that attitude on me again, I'll pull a pen on him."

Arthur chuckled, running a hand through his sandy blonde hair. "I'll make a note of that."

XXX

The next couple of weeks of Creative Writing were nearly unbearable. Lovino had promptly given me back my hoodie the next time he saw me, but apparently decided to give me the silent treatment after that. Hmph. Like I cared.

Okay, I cared a little bit. It hurt that there was someone I wanted to make friends with that wanted nothing to do with me.

There was another new addition in the studio lighting class: Lovino's sister, Feliciana "call me Feli" Vargas. She was really sweet, her eyes a beautiful amber brown, a nice contrast to her brother's hazel green. Feli took an immediate liking to me after I brought a boxed lunch of spaghetti and shared some with her. She offered to make some authentic Italian pasta and bring it to the next class, and I agreed, eager to try some real Italian cuisine.

But the more time I spent with my new friends, the more it puzzled me. They weren't all American. In fact, the only American was Alfred, since Matthew turned out to be a Canadian. Feli and Lovino were Italian - surprise, surprise - Toni was Spanish, Arthur was obviously from England, and then there was that Francis guy who was blatantly French. What got me was their names. The only reason I knew Alfred's last name was because he'd introduced himself that way the first day, and Lovino's and Feli's last name was because Feli told me her whole name right off the bat, then proceeded to glomp her brother. Matthew Williams and Arthur Kirkland were Alfred's half-brothers, all three having different dads, which confused the shit out of me. What, did their mom sleep around a lot?

They just looked at each other, then grimaced at me. I took that as an "unfortunately, yes".

Toni turned out to be Antonio Fernandez-Carriedo, and frog-legs was Francis Bonnefoy.

It was the last names that bugged me for a while. I couldn't understand it. They felt so familiar, like I'd heard those names before, but couldn't remember where. It was when I was digging through my DVDs for something mindless to watch to lull me to sleep one night that I stumbled across my Hetalia collection. I frowned, looking at the case. The answer to what I'd been thinking about what on the tip of my tongue, yet I was unable to bring it to the front of my mind. I shook my head, annoyed with my poor memory, and popped a Hetalia DVD into the player.

When England and America came on the screen, it hit me, and my jaw dropped.

I've been going to class with the countries?!

XXX

*You guys are making her uncomfortable.

**Such a beautiful girl.

***Thank you. I appreciate that.

So... yeah, I wrote this in another go, too. It was about 3:30, 4 o'clock this morning I was letting my sister read the three chapters I'd had up so far, and we were talking about what would happen next. What we discussed was a bit different, but I thought this worked better. I'm not a fan of Francis, so I didn't even mention him much in this chapter. But when I bring him in again, he's going to be very wary of Charlotte and any pens she may be holding.

XD XD XD

And Lovino is upset because they aren't finding their missing friends, so like Toni said, he's taking it out on everyone, even poor Charlie. But she's not a doormat, so whenever he gets in her face, she'll get right up in his. Growing up with two brothers made her unafraid of confronting moronic guys, lol.

So, tell me what you think of the chapter! I, personally, thought the third chapter was my best work, but that was because of Charlie stabbing France with a ballpoint pen, heh-heh-heh...

See you in the next chapter!

Allonsy~

Eli