I just laid there; well, more like float. I was surrounded by a pit of darkness that seemed to have no end, nor a beginning. As curious as I was, I shakily stood up, only to find that I was different from before. There wasn't a curl obstructing my view, and I wasn't as short. I was myself again. I looked down the see that I was wearing what I wore when I talked to Athena the night before I disappeared. Where was I, and why was I here? I was about to call out when I saw a figure make its way towards me. It took me a while at first, but once I noticed the qipao, I knew it could only be Taiwan.
"You're not doing too well, Emi," she stated, with her arms crossed and a look that read 'I told you so.'
"Yeah, well, what would you really expect?" I raised my eyebrow irritably. What would she expect? I was having the time of my life? Yeah, now all I need is Switzerland to come in and really start the party.
"You said I was perfect and bubbly. Sorry, I'm not all tough like Vietnam," her voice was dripping with venom, but at the same time, it was spoken in a bittersweet way.
"Look, I didn't mean it! Now could you send me back? I have a report due," I hollered at her. There was no way I was going to loose my self-respect or pride by pleading to her.
"Not until you get Japan to like you."
"Why do you want to make my life so miserable? You're perfect! You're nice, smart, pretty, that's everything anyone could as for. Why are you torturing me?"
"I can't answer that."
"Then why do you care? I just got hit in the head by a lead pipe," my voice was starting to get angrier by the second.
"You don't have a clue, do you?"
I was about to run over and get some answers from her, but I felt the entire scene start to fade away and blur. I panicked and reached out to her, but she was gone.
*・゜゚・*:.。..。.:*・'(*゚▽゚*)'・*:.。. .。.:*・゜゚・*
My eyes fluttered open to a bright light, then shut again so the light wouldn't melt them out of their sockets.
"Ugh, it's so bright, it burns!" I complained as I shielded my eyes.
"What are you? Romania?" a voice lectured. I slowly rested my gaze- once my pupils stopped burning- on Japan and Korea. The former looked concerned, while the latter looked simply confused. I was about to sit up, but my head started to ache. Damn Russia.
"Are you okay, da-ze?" Korea asked.
"Just peachy," I groaned as I slowly sat up. "Where's Russia?"
"He got in trouble for hurting you, and we carried you to the infirmary," Japan answered. "Are you sure you're fine? You've been acting awfully strange lately.
"I'm fine. Just having trouble with a lot of people," I took a sip from a cup of water that was beside my bed. Now that I think about it, I have the Awesome Trio, Hungary, and maybe Russia on my ass.
"Well, you did laugh when Denmark got turned down. You'd have to have a lot of guts to do that, da-ze," Korea stated.
"Yeah, yeah. None of them scare me. It's Russia and Belarus that do," I shuttered at the thought of the siblings. "Besides, it was Hungary that threw the potato."
"Why would she do that?" Japan inquired.
"Because, Austria somehow has a crush on me and she's jealous. She's probably gonna break my skull with her frying pan."
"Uh . . . that's very . . . blunt of you to say that," Japan slowly added.
"Yeah, I don't have the patience or energy to be tact," I swung my legs over the side of the bed after downing a couple of pain killers.
"Were you supposed to take all those pills, da-ze?" Korea nervously asked.
"I'll be fine. Do either of you know what time it is?"
"About three or so. School just ended. China had to meet with a group of his. India and Thailand are attending their Elephant Admiration Club. Macau and Tibet are studying in the library. Hong Kong went to go meet up with Iceland. And Vietnam agreed to sign up as an editor for the school's newspaper," Japan concluded. I never knew Iceland and Hong Kong were really friends. Seems kind of strange, though; a Nordic and an Asian.
"Anyways, thank you for your concern, but I have a truck full of homework that I need to complete." With that, I waved them off and headed to my dorm. What was the last part that Taiwan said, though? I wouldn't understand? Clearly, she wouldn't understand getting knocked unconscious with a lead pipe.
*・゜゚・*:.。..。.:*・'(*゚▽゚*)'・*:.。. .。.:*・゜゚・*
I had finished taking a shower when Vietnam returned to our dorm.
"What made you stay there so late?" I started to wring the water out of my damp hair while I interrogated her.
"A lot of editing I had to accomplish. So, are you feeling better?"
"Yeah, except for the fact that I downed some pain killers and nearly passed out while doing homework," I shrugged in a nonchalant way. Although, my voice easily gave away the bitterness that I was feeling.
"And you sound completely neutral about this?" Vietnam, yet again, raised her eyebrow.
"Yup. With the exception of having a vicious Hungarian, a trio of airheads, and maybe even an insane Russian on my ass," I grunted as I felt a knot start to build up in my- or Taiwan's- straight locks.
For a while, Vietnam just stared at me, not knowing what to say. "Wow, just when I think I know you, you do something completely out of the ordinary."
"Isn't that a good thing?" I tilted my head to the side, acting dumber than I really was.
"Depends on how you look at it. So, are you okay?" she repeated.
"I guess so," I sighed. "I really should stop screwing up. If I hadn't laughed, the potato-throwing wouldn't've been blamed on me. If I hadn't run away from Austria, Hungary wouldn't be trying to kill me. If I hadn't said anything about Taiwan, I wouldn't be stuck I'm this mess!" Vietnam put a hand in my shoulder. It's times like this where I wish I was perfect; almost. Just perfect where I could still be myself, but where I could be almost flawless. My close friend has, the best grades in class, especially math. But I just have to, sometimes, be stuck with the ditzes who struggle in everything; and I'm Asian! I shouldn't even be in their group! If only Emi Tsai was like that. If only I was perfect, outgoing, and pretty, like Taiwan.
"They're just small mistakes that can easily be fixed," Vietnam tried to comfort me.
"Yeah, I'm just gonna be stuck in here forever," I sulked back into my room and went to bed.
I softly laid under my covers, lost in thought again. What am I going to do, again?
Who's to say
I can't do everything
Well I can try
And as I roll along I begin to find
Things aren't always just what they seem
