After awhile, we managed to get England and Charm to stop arguing. It wasn't exactly a good thing for me, because he insisted that we go back to school, where he would later give me detention. I thank Charm, that it didn't happen. I don't know how, but he had convinced England to join us on our little trip around town, which is why we were currently at the park. Why? Because Charm was a country bumpkin, that's all I could figure. It didn't matter to much. I enjoyed the scenery. England was much more...lush compared to the desolate savannah of San Diego.

"How long have you both known each other?" America asked, out of the blue.

We all turned to him, and Charm replied for both of us.

"Hm...eleven years, give or take." He said, in a normal tone for once.

England turned his attention to me, and seemed upset. I hadn't the faintest clue why he would be.

"That's almost as long as I've known England!" America smiled as he made this comment.
"Not as long as France though."

France nodded.

"Oui, I've known Angleterre since we were bébés"

Charm smiled.

"Kind of like Laddie and me, Eh Amy?" Charm gave me a nudge and one of his well known grins.

I only nodded.

"Actually Charm and Laddie are a lot like you both." I said, gesturing to America and England.

"LIES!" Charm exclaimed suddenly.

I sighed.

"Laddie and I don't argue that much, give me credit here Amelia!"

I brought my hand to my face and wanted to groan, but instead I smiled before laughing.

We talked like this until late afternoon. We walked Charm to his hotel, before taking a taxi back to school. I was mildly surprised that England hadn't brought his car. When we got to school, it was dinner time, and America immediately ran towards the cafeteria. France told us he had some paperwork in the Student Council's office to take to the principal's office, so it was just England and I, walking to the cafeteria. It was relatively quiet as we walked, my mind on the fast approaching Christmas vacation. What's Italy and France like? The countries I mean, but you probably knew that. Will I run into America and Canada while I'm in France? I was brought out of my thoughts, as England made a comment.

"You seem to have a lot of foreign friends."

I turned to him and he held a look of curiosity. I nodded.

"Yeah, a lot of people in my home town are immigrants."

"You never told us a lot about your friends." England frowned.

I brought my hand to my forehead and restrained a groan.

"I'm sorry I don't tell you every little detail in my life."

"You hardly tell us anything in the first place."

I sighed, not sure how to respond.

"Well, if you want to know something, then ask."

"Alright then. How many languages do you speak?"

"One. I understand Spanish, and to a degree, Japanese. I'm in French."

"What? You're in French?"

I frowned.

"I was curious!"

"Why would you be curious about that?"

"Because I wanted to know how similar Latin-rooted languages are!"

"You-..." He paused in his retort.
"You wanted to know about Latin-rooted languages?"

I crossed my arms.

"It's not like the school has Latin as a course."

The conversation ended there, as we arrived at the cafeteria, where America greeted us with hype.

"It's the beginning of the November banquet already! Look at all the food!"

America grabbed my hands and spun me in circles with him, I got a little sick to be honest.

"Oi! Put her down, you're making her sick, ya git!" England pulled me out of America's grip, to my relief.

After the world stopped spinning, I took notice of the room. The room was decorated a bit nicer. The tables were put together giving the appearance it was one long table, with a large white table cloth draped over it. Different varieties of foods were across the table, and people were actually passing it around, to my surprise.

"What the..." I muttered in confusion.

Is it Thanksgiving?

"Don't tell me you didn't get the notice." England said in annoyance.

"Is this Thanksgiving?" I asked in pure curiosity.

He scoffed, which irritated me.

"No! This is the November banquet. It's an end of the semester party, sort of."

"Sort of?"

"Well...We eat, like Thanksgiving, but we also stay in the cafeteria until eleven. After we eat, we clean up, as part of the banquet, and watch movies, dance, or whatever the Principal gives us to do for activities."

"Oh...Cool!" I exclaimed, jumping up I excitement.

It was like Thanksgiving back home, only without the adults to make sure the boys didn't drink...not that we had alcohol here, I'm sure.

"Come on, sit next to me!" I said, tugging on his arm, in the direction of two empty seats.

"W-What?" He blushed, for some weird reason.

It was the last day of the November Banquet and the school semester. I had procrastinated my packing to read the letter Charm had sent me.

Dear Amelia,

It's good to be back home after three years. The family is the same as always. Cousin Mickey is bullying me as always. You remember Mickey, right? The tall one, that kept hitting on you? He says Hello, by the way. I wish you could see Ireland, You'd love it here. The Sheep are doing well, and that Ram I got for my birthday is all grown up! My cousins call him Aries, and I like the name, so we're keeping it. Aunt Mel tells me he keeps ramming Mickey in the ass, and it was hilarious watching him. Rammed Mickey right into the mud. I went into town the other day, made a call to everyone back home, and found out they're on their way to England. Micheal should be there the day after you get this. You'll find some pictures here. I know this is a short letter, but as you can see, it's torn in half. Aries ate half.

Love,
Charm

His last name was torn in half, possibly by the Ram he claimed to have. I looked at the envelope and emptied the contents onto my desk. I smiled at the pictures. One was of Charm and Aries, Aries was eating fodder from Charm's hand and bit him on accident. Another had Charm and his cousins all standing arms in arm, grinning ear to ear. Third one was all of them at their 'swimming hole' which was a small lake, and the last... It was an old photo, the kind you'd have to have developed. It had Charm and Laddie standing side by side. Charm had his arm around Laddie, grinning like an idiot. He was wearing an oversized shirt and some shorts, both dirty from working, while Laddie was pouting, arms crossed, wearing a light blue, long-sleeved button and dark blue jeans, all clean, despite both were in a field, working.

Suddenly there was a knock on my door. I turned towards the door, and sloppily dropped the letter and photos into a drawer.

"Coming!" I called, stumbling over a couple boxes and a suitcase on my way to the door.

It was Hungary.

"Hi." I smiled at her.

"Hey..." She smiled back at me, her hands behind her back as she rocked back and forth on her feet.

"Is there something you need?" I asked, getting a tad nervous by her behavior.

"Well...there is something you could help me with." She said softly, biting her lip.

I frowned.

"What is it?"

"Well...remember that performance they're going to have for the dinner tonight?"

"Yes?"

"You know that Austria is conducting it, right?"

"Get to the point." I said in a stern voice, not enjoying where this was going.

"Could you play first chair flute for the orchestra, tonight at the performance." She said so quickly I almost didn't hear it.

Silence ensued for a moment.

"WHAT?" I screamed.

"It's just the school's sonata!"

"What happened to Taiwan?"

"She's too nervous! She got sick!"

Damn Taiwan's anxiety! I knew she wasn't looking well this morning.

"Why me, why are you asking?"

"Because, Austria seems so sad! Besides, I know you know the movements!" She pulled on my arm.
"Come on! Please!"

Why did she have to like Austria?

"What? I didn't agree!"

"But Austria's really upset! Come on! You love music!"

"I don't want everyone to see me on stage!"

After she...ahem, persuaded me to perform, I found myself in Austria's classroom.

"Austria! I found someone!" Hungary chimed, as she lead me into the classroom.

He turned, in surprise.

"You did?" He asked as though it were an impossibility.

Upon seeing me, he lit up.

"Ms. Dickinson! It's so wonderful to see you." He smiled and shook my hand.

"It's good to see you too, sir." I said in uncertainty.

"Amelia agreed to perform in the orchestra tonight at the banquet!" I turned and glared at Hungary as she said this.

"Eh, but do you know all the movements?" Austria asked, looking at me hopefully.

I felt a pang of stage fright take over me as I nodded. I did know how to play the melody and the accompany parts for the 3 movements, but...I wasn't sure I could play the final movement.

"Uh...but I'm not sure I can do the third movement." I looked down, turning red.

Why did Taiwan have to get sick? I was going to suck on stage in front of the school, I just knew it. I'd never played first parts in performances, and I wasn't sure I could do it now either!

"As long as you know how to play it, you'll be fine." He said to me.

He turned to Hungary and gave her a hug.

"Thank you, so much!"

I felt my shoulders relax. I didn't want to do this, but Hungary and Austria looked happy. Hungary was happy to help Austria, and Austria was happy to have his performance ready to go. Now, all I had to do was perform the three movements without screwing up or freezing up. Great, just great. Thank you god.

Awhile later, Hungary was fitting me in a black dress to match the rest of the musicians.

"Does it fit?" She asked, as put it on in the changing room.

I opened the door, dress in hand. I held it up to her, and felt my eye twitch.

"No." Was all I said.

Fifty dresses later, we were out of black dresses.

"You don't fit any of these! I cant' believe they don't have your size." She scoffed in anger.

I sat in the corner, moping at my weight. I gained a few pounds, so I wasn't very pleased. (...Don't ask. TT_TT)

"Looks like we're going to have to settle with white."

"What?" I stood up and turned.

White meant I would stand out, and that I did not want.

"Don't worry, it'll match the menses tuxedo shirts."

"No. No no no no no no no no." I said, waving my arms.
"It's bad enough I have to play first chair, at the last second, but now you want to make me stick out like a sore thumb on stage? No!"

Irony was being a bitch today.

"Just wear it! Unless you want to wear an undersized black dress." She said, holding up a simple white dress that mirrored the black ones.

I glared at her and took it, heading for the changing room.

After I put the dress on, she sat me down in front of a vanity, and had Belarus and Belgium dolly me up. They curled my hair and put it up in a bun, holding it together with a pink bow I handed them.

The time I sat behind the curtain on stage, seemed as though it took forever. I didn't know whether I should have been thankful or not for the prolonged wait. The curtains rose, and the performance began.

"Has anyone seen Amelia?" I turned to France, whom sat beside me in the front row.

He shrugged in response.

"Non, I haven't seen her since she left the dorms with Hungary."

We heard them announce the beginning of the performance and Russia pointed out something odd on stage.

"Hey! There she is, da!"

I looked up, and in the first row, center chair, Amelia sat. I was surprised in all honesty. She looked completely different from any other time I'd seen her in a dress. She sat up straight, for bloody once, and she was perfectly poised.

"One of the performers grew ill at the last second, so please welcome Amelia Dickinson, who will be replacing Taiwan for tonight." The announcers said.

Amelia stood as we all clapped, and bowed, elegantly I might add.

"I didn't know she played the flute." I whispered.

"If you weren't always so busy with student council, you'd know." America said.

I winced, as it seemed to hurt more than it should have. Out of the five of us, I knew the least about her. It was quite irritating to know she was so close to that idiot America. I often felt sad seeing them so close. Not that it affected how much work I gave her. Not at all.

She was very good about her posture. As Austria raised his baton, her flute rose in time with it. I was even more amazed with her when she started to play. Although Vietnam was singing the anthem, It seemed as though Amelia was leading the entire orchestra in the song. Her eyes were closed and she was very focused on playing. Everyone else had their eyes on Austria, trying to keep tempo, but she was perfectly on beat, without even looking.

I turned from my left to my right and everyone had their eyes closed as if they were listening intently. It was as if she'd mesmerized the entire crowd with her playing.

After the performance, everyone stood and clapped, and the orchestra stood and bowed in return.

I held my posture as we walked off stage, but as soon as we were behind the curtains, I let myself release a held breath of air and fell back as I became an emotional puddle. Thankfully Lithuania caught me.

"Whoa! Are you okay, Amelia?" He asked.

I nodded as he lowered me into a chair.

"I'm fine, I'm just a little...jittery is all."

"Do you want to see the nurse?"

I shook my head.

"No, I'm fine."

Austria walked over.

"Are you sure? This isn't the first time you would've fainted on us."

I laughed at the comment and nodded.

Austria smiled at me.

"You did well for having done this at the last second, keep your eyes on the conductor, though, you forced everyone to follow a different tempo..." He went on and I nodded at each mistake. On the inside I was moping. I knew I didn't do perfectly, but I had hoped to do better. (Yeah, she's not as amazing as England described her to be, that's the reality XD)

After changing, I told Hungary I was going to bed early. The cold air of the autumn night was nice against my blushing skin, and I felt thankful for the approaching winter. As I approached the dormitories, I noticed England sitting at the patio between the dorms. He seemed to jump at my presence, and got up to greet me. I smiled in return.

"Hey England, why aren't you at the cafeteria getting dinner?"

I watched him turn red and he stuttered for a moment or two.

"Well, I...Uh, Great performance!" He shoved his hands in his pockets and I nodded.

"Thanks...I guess." I frowned at the memory of Austria pointing out all the flaws.

"You really took me by surprise, I didn't know you could play."

I shrugged.

"I'm no good."

"On the contrary."

I looked at him, surprised with the compliment.

"I think you gave a stunning performance, everyone enjoyed it and it was the first time we've heard the anthem since Austria performed it a few years back."

"Thanks." I smiled.

He walked closer to me.

"I really mean it. You did give a good performance."

I tilted my head.

"You don't usually compliment me like that."

He blushed and turned on his heel to leave.

"Don't expect it often." With that he left.

I smiled and laughed.

He wasn't always an asshole.