The next morning was not a good one.
The night before, when Teresa had gotten back, she found her mom was already sound asleep on the old couch. Being exhausted herself, she also retired with no dinner. Now, she was frantically pulling on her clothes while brushing her teeth. The girl shot a glance at the clock. Just a couple more minutes and she would be late. There was no time to eat breakfast, and she probably wouldn't get lunch either, thanks to her favorite classmates.
Coming out of her room, the girl noticed her mom was still passed out in the living room. She grabbed her bag with a sigh, homework untouched, and left the small apartment.
After a moment, she came back in, and took one of the apartment keys. Wouldn't want to forget those.
While walking, Teresa assessed her sped up choices. The clothes she was wearing would easily cover up the injuries from yesterday and any from today as well, if she was to piss off her tormentors again that easily. She didn't plan to, though. No more stupid and risky ideas. "Nope," she even said aloud, just to seal it.
"Hey, who are you talking to, Hündin?" a familiar Prussian voice called, joining her walk to school.
Too loud. Dammit, Teresa.
"Her imaginary friends, of course," Francis smirked. "Just like Iggy."
"I don't have imaginary friends!" the Englishman exclaimed in protest. "And besides, how would someone like her make any friends, imaginary or not?"
"That's a good point," Alfred mock-thought. As Teresa endured the onslaught of comments, she noticed that Lovino was missing from the group. He was usually right there, standing next to Antonio, but today he was absent.
"We have places to be, guys," the Spanish teen reminded the group. "Much better places than hanging with Teresita here, no?"
"You're right," Gilbert finished. "No need to hang out vith such unawesomeness." And with that, the group walked ahead of her towards the school, some spitting a last insult at the girl. That was weird…they didn't stay to beat me up some more.
"Teresa?" a softer voice asked. She turned around. "Matthew!" she sighed in relief, expecting another bully. "Um, hi."
"It was my brother?" the Canadian asked, his face framed by anger. Teresa blanked. "Um…" He saw that.
"I knew he was teasing some people, but not like that…." Matthew looked away in shame.
"No, it's okay, there's nothing you can really do.." Teresa admitted, trying to look at her situation from Matthew's point of view. Finding out your brother's been kicking around a girl you just met? Must be difficult.
"Agh, they're all so stupid," he murmured, watching the group enter the school building in front of them.
"Yeah, agreed."
There was a minute of silence.
"Why don't we swap phone numbers, just so you can feel like you have someone on your side?" Matthew suggested shyly. Teresa's face flushed red with embarrassment. She had known this would've come up at one point, but not so soon. "I don't have a phone," she muttered.
"That's alright," the teen accepted, surprising Teresa. She had expected a judging Really? at the least. "Do you have a computer to email?"
"Actually, I do," Teresa answered. It would've been a surprise to anyone who knew her predicament. They'd gotten it when the person in the apartment below them had gotten a new laptop to replace an old desktop computer. The nice young man had offered it to the family of two, and they accepted it.
"Great!" Matthew smiled. "I'll write down my email if we have time once we get inside."
Ding, ding, ding, diiiiiiiing~
"Apparently not," Teresa stated, annoyed at the bell. "I'll see you at lunch."
"See you."
The two friends parted ways.
Teresa sat in her assigned seat in homeroom, waiting for the teacher to complete her attendance. She was probably half deaf - the group in the back of the classroom was being irritatingly loud. Sitting back in her chair, the girl let her mind wander.
I wonder if Feli is in any of my classes? the girl asked herself, remembering the cheerful Italian counterpart to Lovino. For the first time, she observed the people around her. Usually she only paid attention to the teacher and her bullies, but only because they demanded her attention. If left to her own thoughts, she would drift off. Most of the teens appeared to be half asleep or bored out of their minds, except for the group in the back and a tall boy with long brown hair, who was fully asleep on his desk. Did he not get any sleep last night or something? Curious, Teresa decided to pay attention to the attendance.
"Bondevik?"
"Here."
"Bonnefoy?'
"Présent."
"Carriedo?"
"Presente."
"Héderváry?"
"Here."
"Jones?"
"Here!"
"Karpusi?"
No answer.
"Heracles?"
Silence, punctuated with some muffled laughter. Heracles? Sounds very Greek-mythology-ish. The girl sitting next to the teen poked him. "Πέντε ακόμη λεπτά," he muttered, swatting at the girl.
More laughter filled the room.
Hesitantly, the girl poked him again. "Εάν μεταφράζετε αυτό, καλό για σας…." More muttering in what Teresa guessed was Greek. "Είναι καιρός να ξυπνήσετε … already?" Heracles lifted his head tiredly. The dark haired girl stifled her own giggles at the scene.
"Heracles, there's a problem with you sleeping in class," the teacher sternly stated. "That problem is that it's not allowed. Meet me after class." The teen nodded sleepily.
The lesson started after that show of entertainment, and Teresa again sunk into boredom. Her mind started wandering again. Heracles seems like the friendly type...maybe I should start trying to make more friends? And then I can have my own revolution and overthrow the bullies...sounds nice….
"Miss Scharpe? I don't have your homework."
"Crap," Teresa muttered. That's going to be a problem…
Teresa hurried to find an empty table in the cafeteria. Today she was much earlier than the day before, luckily, but she still had to rush to find a seat. There was always the option to sit outdoors, but due to the cold temperatures, she'd have to compete with every other 10th grader for a table. Searching carefully, in order not to miss anything, she found a spot at a fully empty table. Usually, once she sat down, no one would sit at the same table, and she'd be left alone. Today, though, things were going in the opposite direction they usually did, so she expected that to change as well.
"Hey, Teresa," Matthew greeted the girl. "Mind if I sit with you?" The all-knowing Teresa is right again!
"Yeah, sure!" Teresa smiled. On the outside, she kept her cool, but her insides were throwing a party. I have a friend again! Matthew sat across the table, swinging his lunchbox onto the table. Teresa, on the other hand, had forgotten to bring money and didn't bring any lunch. The two sat in silence.
The Canadian opened his box to reveal a clear plastic box filled with...
"Pancakes?" Teresa blurted, curious. Matthew looked up with pink cheeks.
"Yeah, I like them. I know it's weird, though..."
"No, not at all! It's a cool idea!" The teen also pulled out a miniaturized version of a maple syrup bottle. "Does this count as weird yet?" he asked, smiling.
"Nope!" Teresa answered honestly, her stomach rumbling. The fluffy pale cakes looked delicious. And the smell...
She must've either been drooling or staring, or maybe both, because Matthew chuckled. "You don't have a lunch," he commented, "and you look extremely hungry. Do you want one?"
"Yes please," Teresa accepted eagerly. Matthew chuckled again and handed her a pancake doused in syrup. He watched as she hungrily bit into the breakfast food. "Is it good?"
"Mmmm," was the delighted response. The girl bit into it again. "I'm glad. I made them myself."
Teresa nearly spat out the pancake. "How? It's amazing!"
Matthew shrugged. "It's a gift."
The twosome enjoyed their lunch chatting and eating, unaware that a certain American was watching.
Ooh, a certain American. Creeepy. *forshadowing forshadowing*
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