Poor England…your one-to-four game with Germany was a good attempt anyway. I called my father in Germany to settle some details about my oncoming trip there, and at first I couldn't hear him because he was in the street where Germans were running around, cheering, drinking and loudly blowing red-yellow-and-black vuvuzelas (for real) and in general just having a ball. Ignore those blissful, celebratory Germans, England, you made it far!
In more relative news…um…here's October! Since "Hetalia" is a high school here, I gave them school colors: red and black, which is more threatening and badass than the Italy-esque red and green I first considered. Also Arthur does a project on a French artist who doesn't actually exist, so you who take French classes, don't say I misspelled some artist's name. He's not real.
October 2nd
Friday, and our third football game of the season
I would have liked to be there, with my cheeks painted red and black
Couldn't make it due to Peter's play, though
He's loud and likes to be noticed, so for him, acting is both showing off and getting off
Okay that sounded bad.
I love my little brother, all thirteen years of him and every (not really) time he couldn't shut the fuck up
You know, he makes an appropriately airy and mischievous Puck
Most of the audience thought so, too, and his crazy-intricate costume gave added flair
Not that Shakespeare needs flair, his works are pieces of art all on their own!
Once it was over, he jumped off the stage and hugged Mum and me
"Did I do good? Huh? I loved my last line, did I restore amends or WHAT?"
Suddenly he was six years old again and wanted me to play horsie
And I assured him he'd been great.
October 5th
The worst thing to wake up to on a Monday morning
Be you blonde, brunette, bookworm, athlete, lover or fighter
Is a sex dream.
Which you realize, now that it's gone, you really bloody enjoyed
Fuck.
October 6th
In an early chapter of Plague Dogs, I notice Richard Adams included a good, long paragraph about freedom
Its trials, tribulations, rewards and "devoted servants"
Which was relative considering the two main characters had just escaped a laboratory
That particular paragraph is probably what caused me to dream of Kiku standing on the "free" side of a fence
Heracles and I were on the other for some reason, conversing about something probably inconsequential
My subconscious apparently thinks I would forget Kiku has troubles similar to mine
Yeah, right.
We're both imprisoned. Thanks for the fucking reminder.
October 8th
The school's first soccer game!
I looked for Alfred in the stands—he wouldn't come for me, but perhaps for his brother?
And he had.
Knowing that, I may as well have downed half a dozen Red Bull, I even kicked the ball out from under the offense's heel
He took some serious offense to that, it seems
Since in the second half of the game he jumped up and randomly kicked me in the thigh
It hurt like all hell, and Matt and this other kid, Trent, had to hold me back to keep from kicking his bratty arse
Everyone in the stands was watching that and I looked like a damn fool.
It's okay, though; just before Matt scored the winning goal, I kicked that jerkoff in the face! HA!
October 10th
I noticed Peter giving me a curious look during breakfast this morning
A look which reminds me of the day a long time ago when he came up to me with eyes so innocent
And asked me if I like boys
My whole body froze with fear and burned with rage…and I said yes
It must have shown on my face, because he promised with the solid certainty of a second-grader that he would never tell
He's at an age now when he knows what a dark secret it is
I was his age when my revolted mind and careless body began to fight for dominance
My normality, my logic, all I'd ever known on one side
Alfred on the other
Guess who won.
I wonder if it could possibly have turned out the other way, the "normal" way
Is that even in my hands?
Peter told me later on I had a piece of omelet on my face. Little twat.
October 11th
Went over to Kiku's house today to watch some Shugo Chara
Which he likes because it's cute and full of magical girls, and I because of the mystical little fairy egg-things that surround Amu
Kiku loves cute anime, and I like fictional characters who have problems similar to mine and can deal with it
We never talk about it outside his house. Ever.
Right after Ikuto left Amu staring dumbstruck, Kiku clicked on the pause icon to deliver some (late) news
"He..Heracles took the drawing I made him and said thank you. And that's all he said."
I know his fine, clipped speech, and I know one sentence can represent heartaches as harsh as lightning
"It was a Persian, wasn't it? Are those his favorites? You need to find out his favorite breed and draw more of those."
He smiled and thanked me, and pressed play once more.
Doki doki dokiiii…
October 12th
We began a project in French today which involves presenting a biography of an artist
I was put with Marissa Archer, gymnastics and daydreamer extraordinaire,
And Luke Worthington, who was inspired to head down the medical career path just because of Hugh Laurie (good damn choice!)
Madame LaRue gave us Alexandre Labrie, best known for his portraits of young women in summery settings
There's also a minority of young men among the majority of young women subjects, though
I turned the page of the reference book and found a blonde man holding a cane, walking determinedly forward
He was even thinner than Kiku, sported a monocle, wore a top hat and breeches—I mean he was fucking British
But his face was so similar to Alfred's, or my mind wanted it to be similar
I couldn't take it, and stormed out without a bathroom pass
I stood in a stall in the empty bathroom and dropped my face into my tight hands, ground my teeth
He rules my life and mind. I can't help it.
October 14th
Woke up to Marie and Umbra hovering over me, fanning me with their wings
Which made me feel a little more chipper as I waited for the bus with the Beatles in my earbuds
But didn't last until third period, that is, Advanced American History
In which Alfred leaned across the aisle and, I could swear, murmured into my ear
"Hey, did you finish number nine? I didn't get the bit about Davis' election."
He may as well have whispered that he was hard; I all but exploded
"Why should I give you answers? Read the damn handout, it's right in there!"
What is wrong with me.
Mr. Reagan's glaring made him zip back into his seat.
I can't remember the last time he initiated conversation with me, and it…just…scared me
So I lashed out. Defended myself. Put up a barrier. Pretended to be angry because I didn't know what else to do. Something.
I don't know why I did it.
I…
October 16th
Today, Marissa caught me just outside the door of our French IV class.
"Arthur—I like you."
I stared. And stared.
"Well…since the year started, I have. I um, I like your voice, and you're really funny! Do you wanna go out?"
I stared more. This is what it feels like to be liked.
God, it's so nice.
I wish I had balls like her.
She sat on this for a month; I've been cowering for five years
If I were in her position and was rejected, I know I'd be completely destroyed
So now I'm going out with Marissa.
October 17th
Marissa came to the game last night with Kiku and I and cheered with us
(She says I yell like a drunkard)
Today we went to Baskin Robbins and poisoned our arteries Rocky Road and toppings abound
We shared stories of Madame LaRue we'd learned over the years
From her five husbands to the baby she helped deliver on a plane to Lithuania
Laughed a hell of a lot, had fun
Now that I'm sitting here and thinking about it, I realize what I feel when dating a girl
Is rather like the feeling just before anesthesia puts you out for surgery: dulled, different, and definitely not romantic
But she honest to god just enjoys my presence, and I won't take that away from her just yet.
October 19th
I neglected to mention the dance that the dance the Student Council organizes each Halloween is coming up
Mostly because I've spent every Halloween since I moved to America harvesting candy from Peter
But Marissa, again showing her bravery, asked me to attend it with her
Hinting not-really-subtly that she wanted to show me off some to her friends
Maybe I have a little heterosexuality in me after all: I said I'd be glad to do it, and I meant it
To get into Hetalia's Halloween dance you traditionally need seven dollars and a costume
I'll be…a pirate!
October 22nd
Hetalia versus Compton tonight…my fight, not Alfred's
(He broke two fingers in his last game in fact, and I spend several minutes every day in history…uh…
Well, not chanting or anything, just telling Umbra to use her healing powers on him, and she's been working hard!)
Anyway, our performance wasn't the best, and I was really pissed off about it post-game
I got a ride home from Katyusha again, an angel in compared to her witch little sister
Spent a couple hours sewing up my costume to relax, smiling a little more with each stitch
…Not the kind of thing I'll post on Facebook.
October 26th
Good to be back in a Scholar Bowl practice session again!
Not thinking about Alfred at all! Nope!
Kiku and I had an absolute ball giving the team a basic rundown of the history of Iceland
Which amounts to the word "Norwegians," mostly
Our resident Norwegian, Alexander, was bored, damn stoic twat
It was quite amusing to glance at the others' faces when our knowledge conflicted and we bashed each other in Japanese
Once I'd forgotten that Alfred had walked past me in lunch without saying anything, I couldn't have been bothered with the apocalypse!
Depressed? Who's depressed, you fucking prick?
October 27th
After several delays due to Madame LaRue being absent
There was a…car chase or something, I hear…
We presented our project on Alexander Labrie: I introduced our topic flawlessly, I daresay
Luke is all right but can't pronounce t'aime to save his life
Marissa, standing next to me, tripped over ten words at the most
And beamed at me widely when as we returned to our seats among the faint applause
I can't believe I'll eventually have to dump such a happy, bright person just for my selfish sexuality
It's not fair.
October 30th
Today at lunch I had planned to brag about my pirate costume to Kiku
But he had his own story to tell for once, so I graciously let him go first
As it turns out, larger and more menacing creatures are aware that Kiku's brain is in fact the Encyclopedia Britannica
Three of said parasites surrounded him in his College Algebra class
Demanding to have their homework done by morning or else they'd blah blah blah
He gave them the statistical rundown of how many teenage prisoners were raped daily in America
Sent them walking silently back to their little corner
I bought him an ice cream sandwich to congratulate his fending off the bullies himself
It doesn't always turn out like that.
October 31st
My costume. Is. Bloody. Ace.
Red coat, damn sexy black breeches, feathered hat, earrings and an eye patch for a bit of flair
Met Marissa outside the gym and felt surprisingly manly being ogled by her girlfriends
And a lot of other people, once I got inside; it seems British pirates are quite fancied by Americans
Like Alfred.
Who said I looked "fucking awesome," while standing in fucking attractive chaps and western vest
Totally unaware of my just-about-nauseating heart palpitations
Pirates and cowboys morphed into movies, so we talked about some favorites:
The Princess Bride, and of course, each Indiana Jones.
He said next weekend I should come over and watch Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
I kissed Marissa goodbye—dashingly!—and went home
And felt so astoundingly, ungodly, happy…Mum woke me up to tell me I'd fainted on the floor
This chapter is less depressing than the first, I think. Arthur is smoothing more into school life and a little less away from the fact that he hasn't seen Alfred all summer (which I haven't said before because it's not particularly important, but I guess I'll stick it in there somewhere next chapter). Adding, somewhat, to his pile of unfortunate events is Marissa, representing the mask many homosexuals in the past had to wear, and sometimes still do. I hope you all don't dislike her for that. She's a random OC and has no way of knowing Arthur's heart lies elsewhere…
Oh, and you've got to admit he'd definitely glance at Shugo Chara (Kiku would steal it if that weren't just impolite) and yes, Marie and Umbra are a few of his "fairy friends." More on them later.
Other random note: Alexander is Norway, if that wasn't obvious enough. Dunno about most of the fandom, but that's what I call him. (In fact, the only other name I've heard given to him is Elias.)
The pirate costume I had in mind (which I did NOT make, btw) for Arthur can be found HERE: http:(slash)(slash)browse(dot)deviantart(dot)com(slash)?qh=§ion=&q=pirate+england#(slash)d2nwjjs
Mmmm.