Chapter 1
Of All the Gin Joints in All the World
A few weeks later, specifically October 15th, 2011, Arthur was extremely surprised to see two of his classmates sitting under the cork tree on top of the hill. He tried to change directions before the two spotted him, but it was too late.
"Arthur, mon ami! Where are you hurrying off to? Aren't you coming to sit?" the blond Frenchman called, a hand raised in a wave.
Arthur bowed his head down and sighed before trudging up to the tree. He reluctantly sat down in front, neither near Francis nor Alfred.
"Hello, Francis," he grumbled. The awfully flirtatious teenager smirked.
"Quoi? Are you not happy to see me, old pal?" he questioned. Arthur scoffed.
"As if, you frog!"
Alfred nervously chuckled, and glanced back and forth between the two as they argued. Arthur and Francis were supposedly childhood friends, and although they never got along they somehow always had each other's backs. Unless, of course, they were plotting pranks against the other.
The American boy didn't understand how their friendship worked, when it went against most of Arthur's personality. Arthur never forgave anyone for pranks or was fond of those who insulted and challenged him.
Yet, there they were arguing but with soft smiles.
Francis noticed the slightly jealous look on Alfred's face and stopped midsentence.
"Ah so you're ready to admit that you were wrong?" Arthur asked smugly. Francis looked back at him briefly and rolled his eyes with a shake of the head. He pointed at Alfred's dazed look to which the Englishman frowned.
He reached over to wave a hand in front of his face, and having reached too far ended up falling into Alfred's lap. In the process, he had also managed to elbow the boy in the knee.
Alfred jumped up in shock, knocking into Arthur's face in return. Francis blinked, taking a moment to take in the situation before breaking into a slight chuckle. The chuckle ended up being the cause of a laughter fit that caught the attention of many students.
All three didn't know how the situation seemed so funny at the time. But Francis could never recall a moment that Arthur had genuinely laughed in the last 6 months so it didn't matter.
A girl with bright green eyes and curly brown hair was walking with her boyfriend of 3 years when laughter interrupted them. She looked up to see the source and smiled fondly at the sight.
"Well, Roderich would you look at that?" she said, pointing a finger towards the trio.
He glanced up, a bit irritated that the obnoxious laughing had stopped their conversation about an upcoming music recital. However, once he noticed where it was coming from he too smiled.
"I wonder what's so funny."
"I don't know, but if it made Arthur laugh then it must have been quite interesting..." she replied.
The two stood watching them get along.
"Hey, Roddy...? Let's go join them at lunch sometime."