Chapter 2: Magnet

I was back in my room, sitting on the bottom bunk bed, with Mei chatting. Or rather, Mei was talking, and I was listening, sorta, but I was distracted and just replied absently or nodded whenever it seemed like she was asking a question. I still couldn't get my mind off of Arthur. Who was he that he would make my heart pound and my brain form these images?

Those visions…I felt like somehow, we had a connection that I couldn't explain. Did he have the same visions when he heard my name or thought of me?

"Hello? Hellooo? Earth to Ally!" Mei waved her hands in front of my face.

"Oh, sorry, what?" I blinked.

She pouted. "You were spacing out and whenever I asked you something, you would either nod blankly or say 'uh huh' or 'okay'. Seriously, what's on your mind?"

"Oh nothing. I just had a funny encounter." I tried to shake off the question. "By the way, do you know who Arthur is?"

"Arthur? Arthur Kirkland?"

"Yeah, whatever his last name is…"

"He's a sophomore and he was the student council president last year. He'll probably be running again this year. I really don't know that much about him other than the fact that he's from England. His eyebrows sure are big though! How do you know him?" She gave me a puzzled glance.

"Uhhh, I don't really…"

"Then, how would you know who he is…?"

"I bumped into him today."

Her eyes widened. "Ohhhh, that makes sense. He's a close friend of Xiang's."

"Who's Xiang?"

To my surprise, she blushed. "Oh, just a friend. He's a sophomore too."

I didn't want to push the girl, so I resolved to find a way for the two to get together.

I was curious. "So what's the deal with Artie? He seemed kinda pissed off about something."

The girl gasped. "Wait, he was in a bad mood? How did you escape? You're not trembling or anything."

"What? What do you mean? Do his bad moods have any meaning?"

"Oh, about that…" She suddenly got all secretive.

"What? About what?" I was dying to know.

"Well, the thing is…he was probably in a fight with Marianne or something."

"Who's she?"

"His girlfriend. They started going out sometime towards the end of last year, at least I think they're together-together, but I'm not sure. The thing is, whenever they get into fights, his bad moods are kinda frightening, and people are always scared of him."

I couldn't help but feel sad. Why should I? I mean, he and I are nothing to each other, right?

Damn…then again I'm not too surprised.

"That's nonsense. He was actually nice to me, after that initial snarky comment, of course. He even apologized and everything!"

Mei's mouth hung open. "What!"

I crossed my arms. "It's true!"

She shook her head. "You're either really lucky, or…" She broke off.

I pressed her. "Or what?"

"Or somehow you mean something to him…" She trailed off, walking off to the closet to change, leaving me sitting on my bed, confused.

Doesn't he already have a girlfriend? Why would I matter to him?

Mei came back out in her sundress. "It's your turn! Go change!" She pushed me into the closet and threw the turquoise dress into my arms.

I stumbled and almost tripped. A vision flashed before my eyes of a woman who had my hair, but longer, to her waist, wearing a midnight blue floating dress. As she fell from the heavens, her dress seemed to pull the clouds from the sky.

As I regained my balance, the image disappeared.

What did it mean? Did it have something to do with me?

Did I have a past?

When I came out in the dress, Mei tugged my hand. "Come on! You don't want to be late!"

I let myself be pulled along down the marble staircase, across the expansive lobby, and into the huge dining room. By the time she stopped, my feet had started to ache. Strappy high-heeled sandals really hurt…I don't recommend running in them.

"Yay we're here!" Mei clapped her hands happily. I looked in the direction she was looking.

A few people were already sitting down, while more were trickling in.

She turned to look at me. "Are you alright Ally? You have this really pained look on your face."

"It's my shoes. They're not suited for running or long-distances." I winced.

"Oh, sorry. But we're here now so you can rest!" She pointed at the tables. "Each seat has a name card. So basically they're assigned so you can't sit wherever you want."

"So where's my seat?" I asked casually.

"There." She pointed.

I walked towards it, and twisted around. "Hey Mei, why are you over there?"

"My assigned seat is over here. But don't worry! I'll talk to you later!" She smiled and sat down.

I sat down and sighed. I feel so awkward sitting here by myself. Then two people came by and sat down next to me. (Not on either side of me, just on one.) I glanced up once and saw that it was an Italian girl and a German guy. I think their names were Felicia and Ludwig. I continued staring at the ground because I didn't know what to say to them.

As people trailed in, more people sat down at my table, and someone flopped into the chair right next to me, so I turned to see who was sitting on my other side.

It was him. Arthur I mean. The older guy with the mesmerizing green eyes and characteristic eyebrows. He wasn't looking in my direction though. He was arguing with the pretty French girl on his other side.

I guess that's Marianne?

Thanks fate. You really know how to mess with people.

For some unknown reason, I kept running into Arthur. It was like I was drawn to him, like a magnet. Yet, he obviously had to be taken.

Life was so unfair.

I didn't want to be a whiny bitch or anything though. I didn't even know why I felt like this. Whatever.

In any case, I didn't feel like talking to them at this point. So I turned and pretended to be interested in what Felicia was babbling about. I leaned over and heard stuff about pasta. Yeah, okay sure.

But the whole time, I felt like someone was staring at me.

It was so weird.

"Excuse me? Ally?" I started at the sound of my name.

"Yeah, what?" I turned towards the voice.

Oh wait. Shit. It was him.

I found myself facing Arthur Kirkland.

"Um, yeah, hi." I tried to avoid eye contact. Didn't need him to mess with my head when he's taken. That would only complicate whatever emotions and crap I was going through.

He grabbed me by the shoulders. "Come on, look at me. Is something wrong?"

My heart clenched when I looked into those orbs that so painfully reminded me of brilliant emeralds. "N-no. Nothing."

Such brilliant eyes, and they would never be mine.

Ugh, what was wrong with me...shouldn't be selfish, right?

He stared at me for a few seconds, then finally let go of me. He turned back to make a sarcastic remark to the French girl, who had apparently made some sort of comment that I didn't hear.

Now I couldn't stop turning around and giving him secret glances. Damn magnetism.

A/N: Lol pirate England mood, or maybe black magic England mood. Fem! America has a different personality because of the AU and stuff. Her tone also kinda shifts from the first chapter. Poor America. She just doesn't understand what's going on. I also kinda used the feast and the tables from Harry Potter as inspiration.

The various countries sit in their region of the world.

For example, the Nordics sit together, the Baltics (and Poland) sit together, and the Asians sit together.

West Europe consists of England, France, Spain, North Italy, South Italy, and Germany.

Central Europe consists of Prussia, Hungary, Austria, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein.

Eastern Europe consists of Greece, Turkey, Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine.

America gets grouped with West Europe, because the countries kinda count as the West. Prussia gets lumped in with Central Europe because most of his history revolves around the countries there. Got it?

Sorry if some don't make sense. Like Greece or whatever.

China: Review aru! You will get some yummy snacks.

Ta ta! ~Lantern