"We're home!" Peter Kirkland burst through the door of his home, with his elder sister, Wendy, close behind. The two siblings took their shoes off and walked through the house till they came upon one of their brothers. "Arthur, we're home," Wendy said calmly, though barely heard over Peter's, "Jerk Arthur, we're home!"

Arthur looked up, glasses perched on his nose. "Oh Wendy…Peter…welcome home." The two stared at Arthur who was sitting at his desk. "What," he asked, getting annoyed.

"Arthur…why do you always where that same jump suit every time we see you," Wendy asked.

Arthur sputtered, "It's…it's not the same one, I have multiple ones!" He looked down at himself, clad in a blue jump suit with white stripes. "And this is easier to study in, now would you please get out of my room."

"But I wanna play Jerk Arthur," Peter whined. Arthur glared at him, which translated to "Play with Wendy instead, you brat," which led the eighteen year old Wendy to lead poor Peter out the room.

Now, you may be wondering why the Arthur now is different from the one people see at school. This is because Arthur Kirkland…is an ego/power maniac. He would do anything for praise. The personality at school…is a lie! Because of their jobs, Arthur's parents spent a lot of time away from home, leaving Scott, the eldest brother, to look after Arthur, his elder sisters, and his little brother. Though the siblings loved him, they teased him constantly, so he got praise out his parents. Soon, he achieved more things and got more praise. Arthur began to dwell on the praise and does anything to get it. He loves having followers and people do his bidding. He pretends to be nice and comforting at school when really…he's a little meaner, harsher, and curses like a sailor. His family knows this….even Arthur knows it and he's proud of it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When dinner arrived, the Kirkland family sat around the table. (Minus the parents, they were staying the year in their home country of Britain, while the kids stayed in their American home) As they ate, they talked about school. Scott, being the oldest, was out of school and working as a lawyer in the local law firm. He was currently looking for an apartment. The eldest sister, Patricia, talked about her day of shopping and working at the grocery store. Their parents still sent them money, but Patricia got a job to help out (and to stay out of college). The second oldest, Wendy, talked about her day at school. She was about to go to college, but went to a different high school than Arthur. Peter, instead of talking about his day, talked about Arthur, earning a hit on head from Arthur.

"But honestly, you're really an ego-maniac," Peter said to Arthur, "to be number one academically, you study all night. To be number one athletically, you train, even though it doesn't look like your number one in that anymore!"

"Don't…remind me," Arthur growled, not wanting to think about Alfred at the moment.

"Even to look good in front of others, you pose in the mirror!" Peter groaned, "Why don't you stop faking all the time, it creeps me out!"

"Me too," Wendy claimed, "I visited your high school one day and I barely recognized you! You were so nice, hardworking and calm. At home, you're lazy and you yell all the time.

"I DO NOT yell all the time," Arthur yelled, "And I'm calm when I have my tea! Maybe not as calm as at school, but if I was exactly like I was at school, I'd die of exhaustion."

"Maybe you should stop faking then," Patricia said, smirking, "I see you with the neighbors and they always say what a gentleman you are. It makes me laugh."

Scott laughed. "Well Arthur's been like this since he was a lad back in Britain. He hasn't changed since we've come to the States."

Arthur sighed and went to back to his fish and chips. "I don't understand what's wrong with this family," he sighed, "when I hear the voices of my followers, I feel…happiness."

"And I thought you were weird enough with that unicorn," Peter laughed, dodging the chip thrown at him. Wendy laughed and then said, "But I believe you have a rival now."

Arthur pounded the table. "Yes, and I will not lose to him, especially after what happened that day…"

Flashback

It was a month before, on the first week of school. The new freshman had to attend a special ceremony in honor of welcoming them to Hetalia Academy. As Arthur sat in the crowd, he had turned out to principle talking. Even though everyone in the room was elated, Arthur felt miserable. "Damn it," he thought, "I thought that if I tried hard enough, I would get the best grade and be first the class rep, not the runner up. But…it wasn't me. Someone was actually better than me. That…was my high school debut. How will I be student council president now! For all I know, he's probably some big, fat computer geek."

"Will the class rep, Alfred F. Jones, come to the stage," the principle announced.

"Alfred..," Arthur began to think before the person sitting next to him jumped up, elbowing him in the shoulder. Arthur rubbed his shoulder and was about to glare at the person but froze. "Everyone," the person shouted, "My name is Alfred F. Jones and I will gladly represent our class!" There were oohs and aahs, and maybe a few groans as Alfred grinned. Arthur could only stare at him.

End Flashback

"And after that," Arthur continued, "he became number one in the school. Bloody hell! It's only because he's an athletic pretty boy who's nice to everyone he meets, so that makes everyone automatically swoon over him! It must be some plot to wipe me out! I haven't been this humiliated in my 15 years since that one time that French kid put a frog down my pants when I was eight! And that was before we moved here! But I will not lose to him! I may have lost in those things, but I will beat him in grades!"

Arthur then rushed out the dining room and into his room. He grabbed his books and began studying. Peter and Wendy followed him. "Arthur, don't you believe that you're taking this a little too…seriously," Wendy asked. Arthur just shook his head and continued reading. Wendy sighed. "Alfred sounds nice to me though."

"You're in for a disaster," Peter followed with.

"Will you shut up, you gits," Arthur screamed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Arthur sighed as he walked down the hallway. He was alone in the hallway, since he was always early so he would be on time. (And for appearances) Upon reaching his homeroom, he opened the door expecting no one to be in the room.

"Ah, morning Arthur!"

Arthur froze, shocked to see Alfred sitting at his desk already. (They had homeroom together) Quickly regaining his posture, Arthur smiled his well practiced smile. "Good morning Alfred." "Damn." Arthur walked over to Alfred, who was smiling big. "You are early today."

"Well, we had practice this morning, so I thought I might as well come in. But I must really early if I'm here before you! You always come in early Arthur, it's amazing," Alfred replied, smiling.

Arthur smiled back. "Ah, I see." "Uh, why did I have to see this idiot first thing in the morning? But, he'll never know how disgusted I am with my poker face." "You're on the football team right? I haven't played since I was a child."

Alfred chuckled a bit. "You're talking about the soccer team? Yep, we usually have practice in the evening from six to eight, but once a week Coach makes us have practice first thing in the morning."

Arthur put on an impressed face. "Oh wow and yet you still have time to study? I'm impressed."

Alfred looked away, his face going a light shade of pink. "Oh no, it's…I mean." Arthur stared at him. "Is he…embarrassed…you have to be kidding me." "I mean," Alfred continued, "you're hard working, pretty smart, and you're also class rep with me which makes you awesome! You're also popular, and gentleman like, I can't believe someone like you still really exists!"

Arthur felt his face heat up and shook it off, blaming the room for being hot. "Why is he so nice?" Arthur thought. "It's nothing really," Arthur simply said smiling. The classroom started to fill and Alfred left his desk to talk to someone. Arthur turned his head and smirked. "Get ready Jones. You have just guaranteed a one way ticket to hell from yours truly."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The days went by quickly. The days soon turned into weeks. Alfred and Arthur continued to be popular, with Arthur secretly plotting against the younger of the two. (By nine months) Arthur studied harder and harder each night, sometimes passing out, freaking out Wendy. The rest of his family let him be, already having given up hope on him. The time of the first big test was fast approaching. In Arthur's school, there were three big tests: the Midterms for half of their classes, the Midterm for the second half which was also the time of the Final for the first half, and the Final for the second half. Arthur studied each night, until one night, he realized, "For some reason…this has gone from having praise…to beating Alfred." This did not stop him from studying like a maniac.

After the week of the test, the students had their tests returned in homeroom. The teacher came up to Alfred's desk. "Very good Mr. Jones," he said handing him the test. The other students in the class came over to him, exclaiming, "Wow Alfred, you got a 95." "Can you tutor me?" "Alfred, you really are the best." Arthur simply kept his composure, inwardly growling. The teacher came to Arthur. "Well done, Mr. Kirkland, top in the class." Arthur looked at his test. He had gotten one hundred. Next to it, read his status: he had gotten the best grade in the class.

"Wow," the other students ran to Arthur's desk, "that's amazing Arthur! I didn't know you were that good! Hey, let's form a study group sometime!"

Arthur continued staring until a big smile spread across his face. "I…I DID IT! I GOT TO HIGHEST GRADE! I BEAT ALFRED! This is…my high school debut." That's when he saw Alfred walking over. "Hmph, eat that Jones. Let's see you keep up that act through this!"

Alfred smiled. "Wow, look at that. You truly are amazing Arthur!"

…

"Huh"

Arthur was puzzled. "Wait a moment. This…was not the reaction I was expecting. I thought I would beat him if I did better on grades…but yet he's so happy. Why is he still so happy? And why am I…unhappy. Alfred…didn't want to win from the beginning, did he? He didn't even care who was better. The only one who cared…was me. He's the real thing! Argh, I was so stupid! In the end I was the idiot…trying to compete with the real deal. Hypocrisy. All my life, I wanted to praise…and now…it really was stupid trying to gain it by being something I not?" Arthur continued to smile, thought painfully with the rest of the class, while one student with short black hair stared at him from his desk.

After homeroom ended, Arthur started to walk to his next class. Suddenly, a hand grabbed his arm. "Arthur, wait minute!" Arthur turned to see the last person he wanted to see at the moment. "Listen," Alfred said, "I was wondering…if you wanted study together sometime?"

Arthur looked at him. "Is he asking…no…no he's not." "Sure, that's sounds good," he said forcing a smile.

Alfred beamed. "Great! I can bring some books over to your place sometime. Is that alright."

Arthur smiled. "Sure. Let me give you my address." And they exchange addresses and cell phone numbers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Peter and Wendy ran around the house. "Peter, don't forget to bring money with you. I am not paying for you!"

"Aw, but you're the adult here!"

"I don't care." Wendy stopped at the couch where Arthur was laying in his jump suit. "Arthur, are you sure you don't want to come to movies with us."

"I'm fine," Arthur said lazily, "it's Saturday and I'm still tired from exams."

"Naw, he's just depressed cause he found out how awesome Alfred is and now he feels like shit," Peter yelled laughing.

Arthur threw a pillow at him glaring. "Shut up and watch your language. And I'm over it. So he turned to be great person…I mean, like how everyone says? I can't change it now!" Wendy sighed, grabbed Peter, and went out the door to her car.

Arthur sighed. "Ah, I live for days like this. Wendy took Peter to the movies, Scott's at the gym and Patricia's shopping. No annoying siblings to ruin my day. Nothing but the telly, some scones and a hot cup of Earl Grey. Life is perfect." That was when the door bell rang. "What is it now?" Arthur groaned, "Ah, I bet Wendy forgot her car keys. She probably sent Peter back for them. Honestly." Arthur got up and stretched and walked to door, which kept ringing. "Yeah yeah, I'm coming."

That day…way did I let my guard down?

Arthur opened the door. "Just hurry up and grab the keys, you brat," he yelled. Standing in front him was not his little brother. The person in front of him wasn't very little, but a big, blonde, bespectacled man…

…

"Oh…shit!"

Alfred stared, wide eyed, at Arthur who only stared back. They stared for about a minute until Alfred cleared his throat. "Um…I tried calling you to see if you wanted to study to…today. But you didn't pick up…and you never gave me your house phone…so I just came over…I see…this is a bad time…um…"

Arthur simply gaped at him. "Um…" was all he could say. "My life…is ruined."