"…You have to be kidding me." Guatemala stared down at the outfit laid out for her on her recently made bed. With the events her first few days had in store for her, by the time Monday came rolling in she completely forgot that she was required to wear a uniform.
The morning was going well for her; she woke up before even Hawaii, so after stretching and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes she made her way down to the restroom. Since only two of the many showers were occupied, she selected the one closest to the door and turned on the water. It wasn't until she had completely scrubbed shampoo- a tropical scent Hawaii insisted she borrow- into her hair that she realized she had been murmuring the song America had serenaded her with on their first date. She abruptly silenced herself, glancing around in embarrassment as if expecting listeners to be standing beside her under the water, and then just smiled and continued the tune in a hum.
A few girls greeted her on her way back to the dorm; she simply gave them a half-hearted wave in return, not exactly glad that a couple of her peers viewed her for the first time while she was in but a towel. She had barely turned her key into the doorknob of her dorm when Hawaii embraced her in a hug. "Good morning, Guatemala! Oh, gosh, you're wet." She laughed and took a few steps backward, giving her companion enough room to enter.
"Sí, people usually get wet after showering," Guatemala muttered, making her way over to her bed. Halfway through taking a step, she froze and glanced over her shoulder at Hawaii. The Hawaiian was obviously lost in a daydream at the moment, so Guatemala didn't feel rude as she looked her up and down. "Is that… our uniform?" she muttered. Hawaii blinked heavily, jolting back into reality. Her airy grin turned solid and bright.
"You bet! Isn't it cute?" She held out her arms like an airplane and revolved on her spot; however, Guatemala was no longer watching. Instead, she was looking at the ensemble set out for her, the pleasant mood from when she woke up being suddenly forgotten.
Every piece of the outfit was laid out separately: a black tie; a plaid red skirt; a reddish-pink blazer jacket; a simple white dress shirt. Hawaii was right: it was cute. Fashionable, but not too fancy… Basic, but not too plain. Guatemala had to admit, it would look nice on others and maybe even her, yet something about it just made her skin crawl.
"Well what are you waiting for, mon, try it on," urged Jamaica. Guatemala jumped slightly, unaware that her mellow roommate was awake. To her surprise, the Jamaican was sitting cross-legged on her bed (despite the fact that she was in a skirt) and smiling casually at her. Jamaica and Hawaii's uniforms were identical to Guatemala's, except Hawaii's jacket was cream-colored and Jamaica's was a navy blue. Well, at least the students' clothing would have some variety…
"Shouldn't you two have gotten showers?" Guatemala questioned, her eyes now glued back on her ensemble.
"Got them last night," the other girls answered simultaneously. Guatemala just nodded slowly, and reluctantly slid off her damp towel.
~.~.~.~.~.~
The rest of the week went by quite smoothly for Guatemala. She managed to adjust to the uniform, especially when America told her that she "totally rocked it." Guatemala still couldn't believe that she had a boyfriend, yet alone such a cute and funny one. Yeah, he was an airhead, but she was used to people like that, having grown up with Spain. Although it was true that they only acted like a couple by greeting each other at meals and hanging out during breaks, Guatemala didn't complain: she knew she was lucky to be in a relationship at all. Besides, she was content eating with Jamaica, Hawaii, and Cuba plus America promised to take her on another date soon.
Not only that, but Guatemala managed to make a few new acquaintances over the first three days of classes. She couldn't really call the first person a friend, though they weren't exactly on bad terms…
Her final class before lunch that Monday was Biology. As she had for all her previous classes, she smoothed out her skirt and wiped her face of any expression besides a slight smile before entering the classroom. The teacher- a spectacled woman that looked to be about 60 years old (very few of the teachers were countries themselves)- motioned her over the second she walked in. "You must be Guatemala," she confirmed.
"Sí, I am," Guatemala responded with a small nod to her head.
The teacher also nodded, and gazed toward the only lab station that didn't have 2 people sitting at it. "England, I know you've been doing fine on your own, but would you mind having Guatemala as a lab partner?" she called to the back of the room. The boy in question had been staring outside with his elbow propped on the desk and his chin resting in his palm, but he now glanced in the teacher's direction. He shrugged with a bored sigh before returning his eyes to the window. Guatemala made her way over to sit beside him, already accustomed to the stares she received as she passed.
She didn't at all like the vibe she got from this blonde boy: it was obvious that he'd much rather be anywhere else. A thought popped into Guatemala as she carefully sat in the seat beside him. America was always talking and smiling, and he was so popular… Maybe she should try on America's outgoing personality. There was a minute until the bell rang; here was her chance. "Hola, I'm Guatemala. You're England…?"
England sighed again and brought his arm down, turning slightly to face her. "Yes. I am."
"I've never been to a school like this before, it's magnífico… Nothing at all like the little public school I used to go to," Guatemala commented. England groaned under his breath, making the forced friendly smile on Guatemala's face falter. She wasn't going to give up so soon though. "Biology, huh? This should be pretty interesting. Are you good at this class?" The look on England's face clearly said that he would love for her to shut up, but she ignored that. "I'm pretty superstitious: scientific reasoning isn't always good enough for me. I'm not half bad at this type of thing, though…"
The irritation evident in England's emerald colored eyes suddenly dimmed. "So you believe in stupid things like magic?"
Guatemala tried not to look too offended. "Sí. Folklore and pixies are much more appealing than textbooks and primates." Being talkative was gradually becoming more natural.
To Guatemala's mild shock, a minuscule smile seeped onto England's features. "Funny. I thought I was the only one who thought that way." Now smiling herself, Guatemala started to reply, but was interrupted by the shrill sound of the bell that signaled class was now in session.
The next companions were made on Tuesday, when Guatemala entered Literature class for the first time. "What perfect timing for you to join us, Ms. Guatemala! We were just starting our Shakespeare unit, and didn't have an even number of students for the groups… Now we do!" exclaimed the teacher, who was a young British man. He motioned toward the only cluster of desks where 3 students sat instead of 4. Everyone in the trio was male: a stern-looking, muscular blonde boy, a gentle-looking Asian boy, and a boy with reddish-brown hair and a big smile on his face as he doodled in a notebook. "Sorry if you feel uncomfortable working with all men, but they wouldn't hurt a fly," the teacher assured Guatemala with a warm smile.
"Ciao, pretty lady! I'm Italy!" the smiling one chimed, taking her hand in both of his and shaking it eagerly the moment Guatemala sat down. She chuckled, unable to frown in this boy's cheery presence.
"Hallo, I'm Germany," the blonde grunted. Certainly, it was possible to frown around him. Cowering was also probable.
"Konnichiwa, my name is Japan," murmured the Asian boy.
"It's nice to meet you all. I'm Guatemala," Guatemala responded, slowly looking at all of them. And that is how she met and befriended the Axis.
The last person, Guatemala met on accident. She had walked around half the school before realizing she had read her schedule wrong, and was heading to Art, not English. The thing is, those two classes were on the complete opposite sides of the gigantic school. In her haste to straighten herself out, Guatemala actually got herself even more lost and ended up stumbling into the music room about 3 minutes after the bell rang. A boy with cross-shaped clip in his blondish hair had the entire class's attention as he stood at the front of the room, drawing a bow back and forth across a violin's strings. The sound it created was so beautifully melodic that Guatemala couldn't help but stop and listen.
"…Can I help you?" The teacher- Mr. Austria, Guatemala knew him as- caught sight of Guatemala and turned to face her… along with the rest of the class. The blissful music that had been filling the room came to a sudden halt. The boy on the violin had looked so at peace, focused; Guatemala felt immensely guilty for interrupting.
"Lo siento, it's just… I can't find the English room…" Mr. Austria failingly attempted to mask his frustration.
"The English room? That's right around the corner," he indicated.
"Oh, alright… Gracias…" Trying to deny that her face was practically glowing in embarrassment, Guatemala turned on her heel and dashed back into the hallway. She managed to hear Mr. Austria saying: "I'm sorry Mr. Norway, please continue," followed by the sound of the violin resuming. Although Guatemala wished she would never again have to see the poor boy whose solo she interrupted, in truth she would come to be quite close to him….
Before she could even acknowledge that she wasn't alone in the hallway, Guatemala was colliding with someone. "OW!" they shouted in unison as their foreheads bashed together, Guatemala ramming into the other person so hard that she knocked them to the ground.
"Watch where you're going, bastard!" the person shouted, rubbing his temple furiously. He opened one eye, and softened his expression the slightest bit when he realized it was a girl that had run into him. A blush swept across his cheeks as he became aware that Guatemala was leaning over him, her knees on either side of his waist, as he lay on the floor.
"Shouldn't you be in class?" Guatemala snapped, scrambling upright.
"Shouldn't you?" countered the boy, dismissing the position they had just been in and glaring at her. Guatemala found something about him rather familiar… That's right! He resembled Italy from Literature, right down to a stray strand of hair, except that his hair was slightly darker in color and his face had slightly different features. Not to mention his expression was the complete opposite of Italy's constant one.
"I'm new, I have reason to be late," Guatemala reasoned, brushing off her knees. The boy started to growl something else at her, until the loudspeaker crackled to life.
"Lovino Vargas, please come down to the main office," a female voice called.
"Damn it, that's me," the boy huffed. Without a backward glance at Guatemala, he pushed himself to his feet and speed-walked irritably down the hall.
Gears seemed to click in Guatemala's head as she shuffled off to English. Lovino Vargas… That led her to think of "South Italy," which led to "Romano…" A look of pure disgust made its way onto her face. "That's who Papa wants me to date?!" she shrieked under her breath.