I am SO sorry, guys! Uploads will be more regular now, I didn't mean to forget about posting on this site! *bows repeatedly* Please continue to support me, not that I really deserve it after this utter catastrophe...
Canada, America, England, and I were taking a walk to clear our heads before our big Literature test (it was England's idea to walk around, but I agreed whole-heartedly with it) when I saw a small orange flier taped to a lamppost out in the courtyard. I stepped closer to read what it said, and was delighted with its message.
"A Halloween dance? Cool!" I exclaimed, and America was suddenly at my side, reading the paper as well.
"Awesome, dude! I love these sorts of things!" he said happily. A cold breeze picked up and I pulled my scarf (borrowed from Canada) up over my mouth and nose.
"A costume is required to get in, that's all," Canada noted as he read some of the details listed.
England sighed. "These dances always are good for one thing: making my perpetual headache grow worse."
"Aw, lighten up, dude! These things are always so kickin' epic! Just because you can't stand a little loud music doesn't mean they aren't fun!" America defended.
I ignored the verbal brawl that started up between them and turned to my dormmate. "What do you think you'll dress up as, Mattie?"
"I don't think I'll go, actually. These types of events always tend to give me bruises."
My mouth formed a tall "O". "Unacceptable! Mattie, you should totally go! Besides, it's not like people don't notice you at all nowadays."
"Th-That's because you're always talking to me, but the music would make it too hard to do that!" he protested, but I shook my head determinedly.
"There'll be quiet corners around the dance, and besides you aren't there to talk the whole time, you're there to dance. That's why it's called a dance."
His cheeks flushed, probably from the cold. "I know that..."
"Who are you?" Kumajirou asked, and I facepalmed (but with part of my face being frozen it hurt) while Canada replied with the usual "I'm Canada."
"Please, Matthew? I'll even help design your costume, if you would like!" I put my reddened hands together in front of my face like I was praying, and I knew it would get him to say yes. It always did, for some reason.
"I... If you're really that bent on my going, then... okay..." he said rather reluctantly.
I pumped my fist happily. "Yes! Don't worry, this'll be fun! I've already got some ideas for your costume!"
"That fast, eh?"
I nodded rapidly before turning back around to break up America and England's argument. We continued with our walk, America and I discussing a costume design for England because America had somehow tricked him into agreeing to go to the dance. (A/N: America and Bookie: Muwahahahahaha~ England: =.=)
"Okay, okay. Let's think. What's easy, good-looking, and cheap to make?" I pondered aloud, back in our dorm after our classes of the day. I held a small notepad in one hand and a pencil in the other as I tapped it against my chin. "Oh! I know, what about a ghost?"
Canada gave me a slight "Really?" look. "I feel like a ghost everyday, so maybe something else?"
I gave him an apologetic smile. "Right, good point. Man, Mattie, that's depressing." I crossed out ghost, having written it down when the idea came to me.
"Wait a second... You said you feel like a ghost because no one ever sees you, right?"
He nodded a little sadly. "Right... Where are you going with this?"
"If people don't see you, then we could play into that to make your costume seem realistic!" I proposed, excited that I was getting somewhere with this. "So if we do something like a ghost, something that reveals only a little of a ghost-like quality, then it would freak people out, right? That's what they do in movies."
He nodded slowly, catching on with the idea. "Right, right. So, what sort of disappears without really turning invisible?"
We sat in silent thought for a minute or so, pondering diferent ideas, when America burst into our room with a DVD case in hand.
"Dudes, we gotta get in the Halloween spirit! I rented this R-rated killer mummy movie that'll-"
"That's it!" I exclaimed, interrupting America's explanation of the horror movie. "Mattie, you'll be a mummy for Halloween!"
"A mummy?" Canada echoed, and I nodded rapidly.
"Yeah, it's perfect! If people don't see you, but they see the bandages, then it'll look like the bandages are floating! It would be so cool!"
Canada grinned. "I like it! Let's definitely do that. But what about for you?"
"Umm, hello? Movie to watch?" America called as he waved the case around. "Come on, guys! England won't watch it with me! He kicked me out of my dorm so I gotta watch it here!"
I snickered. "He kicked you out? Why am I not surprised?"
"Because you know us all pretty well," Canada answered, also chuckling. "Alright, let's watch it."
"Thanks, bro!" America put the disc in our DVD player and plopped down on Canada's bed, and I joined them all there so we were all squished and stuff.
"Dude, I almost peed my pants at that one part!" America exclaimed, wiping tears from his eyes while holding his glasses.
"Eww," I replied with an expression that matched my reply. "That was a pretty scary movie, though, I'll admit. What'd you think of it, Mattie?" I looked at him and he was still crushing Kumajirou against his chest in slight fear. "The movie's over, you can relax."
"I know, but that was a pretty bloody ending." He released his polar bear, who gasped for air dramatically and tumbled to the floor and freedom.
I giggled at the bear's drama and turned on my iPod Touch, opening up Google and going to the Images tab.
"Whatcha doin'?" America asked as he put his head on my shoulder to look over it.
"I'm looking for pictures I could base Mattie's costume off of," I replied as I typed "Mummy ghost" into the search engine.
"Who?" America asked, and I smacked my forehead exasperately. Turning to Canada, I pointed at America's face, which still looked over my shoulder.
"How do you put up with this all the time?" I asked him, and he just shrugged in reply. "Mattie, Canada, the guy who's bed you're sitting on at the moment," I said to America, who said "Oooh" and got up, stretching and yawning.
"It's late, dudes, so Imma hit the sack. 'Night!"
"Good night, America," Canada said softly.
"'Night!" I echoed, scrolling through my image results. America left and shut the door behind him.
"What do you think of this one?" I asked Canada, holding up my iPod and showing him the picture I'd selected.
"Um, maybe a little less... bloody?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I was kinda thinking the same thing." I went back to scrolling and found another, this time the bandages not quite so blood-soaked and only splattered a bit here and there. "How's that?"
Canada looked at it for a moment, and then nodded. "It's perfect. What kind of material should we use?"
"I was thinking the same thing I use to wrap up my chest with," I said. "They're pretty durable and we could still put the bloodstains on them pretty easily. Plus I know where to get them."
"Okay -yawn- then." Matthew covered his mouth with one hand as he yawned, and I caught it and mirrored it. "It is late. We should go to bed," Canada suggested, and I nodded.
We both dressed in our pjs and climbed into bed, shutting the lights off after saying our "Good night"s.
I sat up in bed quickly, panting from adrenaline and fear, the afterimages of my nightmare stamped into the backs of my eyelids. I'd dreamt that the mummy in that horror movie had been chasing me and had my wrists and ankles wrapped up in its bandages, pulling me into it and encasing my entire body. My face felt wet, and the fingers that touched my cheek came away wet with salt water.
"That... was scary..." I breathed, and that's when the bedside light from Canada's side flicked on, blinding me for a second.
"Melina? Are you okay?" Matthew's soft voice asked as I rubbed the spots away from my eyes.
"Y-Yeah, sorry. Did I wake you?" I asked without looking at him. I didn't want him to see that my face was streaked with tears because of a little nightmare.
"It's fine, don't worry. What's the matter? Did you have a nightmare?" I didn't hear his footsteps (man is he quiet) so it surprised me when I felt the bed next to me dip as he sat down and put a hand on my shoulder concernedly.
I jumped a little at the unexpected contact. "Y-Yes, but I'm fine, r-really." 'Stop stuttering, Melina!'
He put a hand on the side of my face farthest from his sight and turned it so he could see my face in the lamplight. His eyes widened and then softened when he saw how wet my face was. "Was it really that bad?" he asked quietly, setting my racing heart at ease quite a bit.
'Y-Yeah, I've never reacted t-to nightmares w-well," I stammered, looking away from his glasses-less face in shame. 'Why did I have to be such a baby right now? Dammit...'
"You know, neither did I when I was young," Canada said, and I looked at him again, touched that he would empathise with me like that.
"Y-Yeah?"
He nodded and started wiping my tears away with a corner of my blanket, being so gentle and kind that I almost started crying again.
"Do you think you'll be able to sleep now?" he asked, and I mutely shrugged my shoulders. "Well, what do you think would help you go back to sleep?"
I thought about it. Whenever I'd get a nightmare while living with Martin he'd just scream at me for being weak and stupid and make me go back to bed. I had no idea how to make it better with someone's help...
"I dunno..." was what I said, wrapping my arms around my knees and resting my chin on them.
"Well, when France took care of me, he would sing me a lullaby in French that would help me go back to sleep," Matthew suggested, and I just shrugged my shoulders again without looking at him.
He hugged me then, gently making me lean my head into his chest as he wrapped his arms around me loosely but securely. I glanced up at him and saw he was blushing the tiniest bit.
"I-Is this okay?" he asked, and I nodded. He began singing very softly, and even though I didn't know French it was still a beautiful melody. I could feel my eyes drifting shut and my heart rate going way down, back to a normal sleeper's pace.
Matthew's POV
She was asleep about halfway through the second verse, and I finished the song to make sure she wouldn't wake up if I stopped abruptly. She was breathing very softly, not the panting or hyperventilating of someone who woke up from a nightmare. I smiled softly and moved her onto her back, fixing the tangled sheets up and retrieving the pillow she'd thrown to the ground in her terror.
To tell the truth, I'd been awake for a couple seconds before she was, and she'd sounded pretty scared. I could only imagine what she'd been dreaming about...
I got off the side of her bed and went back to my own bed, curling up with Kumanini next to me. I fell asleep fairly quickly, feeling good that I'd helped my friend out. It also told me that she wasn't as tough as she tried to seem, what with her seemingly happy and carefree air. She wasn't like that all the time, this experience had taught me. I felt like I'd unraveled another knotted heartstring she tried to cover with a smile.
The last two things I heard were Kumajira's soft snores (which sounded like he was saying "Who... Who...") and Melina's slight shifting in her bed.