The next morning started at the (in Sabrina's opinion) insane hour of four in the morning. Hope and Emily had gotten to sleep in as Sabrina was forcibly removed from the hotel by Ali.
"Go get Carly," Ali snapped. Sabrina yawned and nodded, knocking on Carly's door before turning the handle and walking inside to see something scarring.
Tyler and Carly appeared to have smeared their bodies in super glue and stuck them together. Her fingers were so tightly wound in his hair that Sabrina was pretty sure they'd need a comb to get them out. His hands were travelling ever farther south, one of them even began to lift the hem of her shirt before Carly made a small noise of distress. This stopped the hands in their tracks and they settled on her hips. Their heads never disconnected, there seemed to be no need for air between the two of them. Sabrina slowly backed out of the room, her face in flames. She made sure the door shut quietly behind her.
"Where's Carly?" Taylor asked.
If it were possible, Sabrina's face turned redder. "She's, uh, busy."
"Making out? I couldn't find Tyler either."
Sabrina nodded furiously.
"I knew it! You owe me ten bucks!"
Sabrina sighed and covered her face with her hands.
Ten minutes later, they were all in the van, though Carly and Tyler's faces turned bright red every time the two of them made eye contact.
"Oh, grow up," Ali grumbled as they buckled up, but Sabrina ignored her, choosing to catch a quick nap before they got to the first shop. It was a chic little boutique that, judging from Carly's and Ali's reactions, was very exclusive.
Sabrina trailed after the group, yawning excessively.
"Oh, get over yourself. Try this on," Ali said rather good-naturedly, shoving a frilly pink shirt at Sabrina.
"That's not really my style," Sabrina said cautiously.
"Like I give a shit. Put it on, it'll look good on you."
Sabrina nodded and moved into the next aisle, where she shoved the shirt in a random pile of pants and speed-walked out the door. She didn't slow until she made it to a coffee shop on the corner of the street. The bell attached to the door jingled cheerfully.
"Welcome!" said the cute boy working the counter. He had messy black hair and bright green eyes that you could hardly see behind the askew glasses. He wore an apron with a little nametag that read "Hello, my name is Harry!"
Sabrina smiled at his enthusiasm. "Hello."
"What can I get for you today?" he asked.
She looked up and was instantly overwhelmed by the sheer number of options. "Er… well… Surprise me."
Harry grinned. "Yes ma'am!" he said before bustling about, mixing various things and dumping it all into a plastic cup and sticking a straw in it. "Here you go!"
Sabrina took a sip. "This is good! What's in it?"
Harry winked. "Just a little magic."
Sabrina giggled and took her drink to a booth. On the table, there was a tabloid, and on the tabloid, was her and America. The headline shrieked, "Country scandal with human?"
Sabrina suddenly felt sick. She had known this was going to happen, so why was she so surprised? She couldn't bear to read the article, she pushed the entire magazine off the table so it landed in front of a tall man with blond, slicked back hair, and silvery grey eyes. He picked it up and set it on another table.
"You obsessed with him too? Can't bear to see him with another woman?" he asked. He was also wearing an apron, but unlike Harry's, his didn't have a nametag.
Sabrina sighed. "That's not it. I just feel bad for the girl. She probably doesn't know what she's getting into."
The boy rolled his eyes. "And you do? Listen, if I know anything about this Alfred character, he probably wouldn't go for a human. Granted, I know next to nothing about him, but if I were a country, I would want to be with someone who would understand exactly what it was like to be me." Sabrina thought he looked in Harry's direction, but she couldn't be sure.
"But what if they are together? What if he chose her for the wrong reasons?"
"If you had lived for over 200 years, I think you'd know what you're doing. But that's just me." The boy wiped down a table.
"I'm the girl in the picture," Sabrina blurted.
The boy smirked. "I know. Good luck. We'll be rooting for you."
Sabrina nodded and walked back over to the shop.
"Sabrina! Where were you?" Alfred yelled.
Sabrina flinched. "Sorry, I was getting some coffee."
Alfred sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "That's fine, just tell me next time."
"Okay," Sabrina murmured.
Ali was standing near the dressing rooms with the frilly pink shirt Sabrina had discarded and a death glare.
"Put this on and give me some coffee," she growled. Sabrina thought it was best not to argue.
~Hours Later~
They emerged from the shop laden down with bags. Sabrina was surprised by the sheer variety of clothes in the store. She had ended up buying a red shirt that was very Oriental style, with a high neckline and an embroidered dragon lounging on the back of the shirt. She had gotten new black skinny jeans; hers were worn through at the knees. Ali had insisted she buy a pair of studded combat boots.
"It just completes the look," she said. Ali herself had bought purple pumps, leather pants, a frilly white shirt and a black sweater. Carly had chosen a green sweater dress, brown knee high boots, and a pocket watch necklace she had dubbed "the cutest thing ever."
"Do I have to wear a skirt?" Taylor groaned.
Ali glared at her. "Yes. Otherwise you just look like a slob." Taylor had purchased black high tops, a black tank top, and a flannel shirt. She had been looking at the pants when Ali forced her into getting dark purple leggings and a black plaid skirt.
They piled into the van and drove back to the hotel, where England was waiting for them in the lobby, holding a tabloid. Sabrina felt her heart plummet and her stomach jump up into her throat at the same time, making for a very odd feeling.
"Alfred?" England asked, holding out the magazine. Alfred took it and scanned the page. He sighed.
"Iggy, what do you want to do about this?" he asked.
England rolled his eyes. "Well, I would've thought the answer was obvious. We're going to have to come out."
Alfred grinned. "Awesome!" he exclaimed before kissing England full on the mouth. He sprinted up the stairs, only pausing to yell, "We're leaving in an hour!"
England's face was flushed. When he noticed everyone staring at him, blushed deeper. "Well, what are you waiting for? A bloody invitation?"
When Sabrina got back up to her room, Hope and Emily were sitting on the bed, gossiping.
"And I heard Germany and Italy are together!"
"Well, no shit, everyone knows tha- oh hey Sabrina!"
Sabrina smiled and plopped her bags down. "Can someone help me get ready?"
Hope and Emily exchanged a look before grinning evilly and descending on Sabrina like makeup-wielding werewolves.
An hour later, Sabrina's normally curly hair and been pressed flat so it flowed like silk. Eyeliner had been smudged around her eyes and her lips had been painted bright red.
Emily looked critical. "Is she ready?"
Hope studied Sabrina closely. "Almost. Just one more thing." She rummaged around inside her purse and pulled out a compact and a brush. The brush was incredibly soft against Sabrina's cheeks. "There! Just a little blush and she's perfect!"
The van they had taken to go shopping was too small, so they piled into a limousine and drove off to a building that Sabrina had never seen before. Lots of people stood outside of it with flashing cameras. Everyone groaned. They pulled up to the building and quickly walked toward the door.
"C'mon lover boy, let's go," Emily said, nudging England, who seemed to be in something of a daze.
The minute they walked into the conference room, people shouted questions.
"Are the allegations true?"
"Do you use the bathroom?"
"Do you like Doctor Who?"
They pushed through the crowd to the small stage at the front of the room. They each sat in an uncomfortable metal chair, while Alfred went up to the podium.
"Hey dudes! So, I'm here to show you my candidates today, they're gonna come up here, and say stuff about themselves, and you can ask them questions and stuff! Cool, so here's my first candidate, Tyler Gazel!"
Tyler meandered up to the podium, looking nervous. "Well, uh, my name is Tyler, I'm 15, I'm from California, my mom is a fashion designer, she works for Target, and uh, well, I like to read, and uh, take pictures, and play basketball." The end of his sentence trailed off so it sounded more like a question than a statement. "Any questions, I guess?"
A flurry of people began to shout questions. Tyler tried to answer every one the best he could.
After Tyler was Carly, then Ali, and then Taylor. Finally, it was Sabrina's turn.
"And, last of all, we have Sabrina Anderson!"
Sabrina stepped nervously up to the podium. "H-hello, my name is Sabrina, I'm sixteen, and I live in Illinois. I play, well, I guess I played, clarinet for my high school's band. I have one sister, and I like to write in my free time. Does anyone have any questions?"
The storm of yelling started up again. Sabrina couldn't focus on a single person, she was so overwhelmed.
"Ye- uh- no- I mean… EVERYONE SHUT UP!" she shrieked into the microphone. The room quieted instantly and Sabrina breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay. Raise your hand if you have a question." Sabrina thought she was lecturing a room full of preschoolers.
A lone journalist raised his hand.
"Yes?" she asked.
"Are the allegations that you are having an affair with Alfred Jones true?"
Alfred pushed her gently away from the podium before she could reply. "No, they're not. For multiple reasons. One, I'm gay, and two, I have a boyfriend. Artie?"
England stepped up. "Yes, it's true," he said, before planting a kiss on Alfred's lips.
Suffice to say, everyone flipped shit.
Beta's Note- Cliffhanger-esque ending is cliffhanger-esque! So, this is the last chapter for a couple of weeks, until I see Luna again. (We're on Christmas Break at the moment) This was a really long chapter, wasn't it.
So, quick story. I was just decorating cookies with my family, aka, "Family Bonding Time." My youngest brother laughed so hard that eggnog came out of his nose and got in all the frosting... My family is so weird. We're really sarcastic and introverted, so any time we're all forced to be together in one place, hilarity or awkwardness usually ensues. Generally both. But shhh, I wasn't supposed to tell you that.