I walk into the classroom only to see a complete mad house. The teacher was sitting at her desk, feet kicked upon it and was ignoring her students altogether. She didn't look wasted, but she was definitely drunk, justified by her rosy pink cheeks and overly calm appearance. Of course, I'd be the one to know something like that. The students seemed like they're going out of their way to make as much noise as possible. I take a seat by a Japanese fellow with an unusual black haircut. The late bell rings and everyone takes a seat as the teacher rises, and awaits the boring beginning of the year orientation.
"Bonjor, mes amis. My name is Franciose Bonnefoy, but you will refer to me as Ms. Bonnefoy.", She said, winking at , I swear, was me.
"Zis is 'onors chemistry", She continued, pushing back her long, brownish locks. "And throughout 'ze year, we will be covering 'ze basic 'tings you'll need to know for 'ze exams. Now if you'll excusez-moi…"
Ms. Bonnefoy went back to her wine and the class dispersed into their respective cliques. I sighed and tilted my head down, while taking my book out of my bag.
"You'd 'zink 'zat we 'wourd being doing someting educationar' today.", I heard the foreign student commented.
"That's what I figured.", I added. "Anyway, my name is Arthur Kirkland." I held out my right hand and the oriental boy hesitantly took it.
"My name is Kiku Honda. Wiz' 'zat accent, are you an exchange student, too?"
"Yes, I came from England to study abroad here."
"Odorokubeki! Does 'zat mean you are from 'Rondon?"
"Not everyone born in England is from London, but in this case, yes. Are you from Tokyo or something like that?"
"Yes. I was born and raised 'zere, but just rike you, I am studying here in America."
Kiku and I continue talking throughout the remaining class period, and it turns out we have a lot more in common than I thought. The bell rang and everyone scurried out of the classroom.
"What crass' do you have next, Arthur?", Kiku inquired. I cringed when he said 'Arthur'. Just an old habit.
"Let's see.", I started. I pulled out my now wrinkled paper. Thank you, Alfred. "I have Mythology next. You wouldn't, by any chance, have that as well?"
"No, but at 'reast we have chemistry together.", he assured.
We walked along the hallways and broke off when we had reached our classrooms. I strided into my Mythology class and again, saw a group of bat-shit insane students. I involuntarily took an empty seat next to a flirty, long haired, blonde. The teacher came into the classroom and slammed her papers on the desk.
"Alright, listen up and listen good. I'll only say this once." I noticed her British accent immediately and I felt a surge of familiarity rush over me. I observed her long, blonde pigtails and her green eyes behind her small framed glasses. What the bloody hell was Alice doing here?
"I don't like repeating myself so here it goes. I'm Ms. Kirkland, your Mythology teacher. This year, we will be covering faery tales, Norse mythology, and a bunch of other topics that I bet most of you wankers don't even care about. Good enough acclimatization? Hope so. You can continue talking, but keep it down."
Everyone continues talking, but I stand and walk over to Alice's desk, trying to ignore the blonde frogs' eyes following what I had a feeling was my arse. What a perv.
"Uh, Alice?", I test. She definitely didn't look like she was in the mood.
"How the hell do you know my name? Are you some sort of-", She starts before she glances at me. "Oh, Arthur! I haven't seen you in years!"
It's like her whole mood changes as soon as she recognizes me. "Why are you here? How are you here? What did your dad have to say about this?"
"It's not like James gave two runny shits about me leaving. And why are you here? If I remember correctly, you wanted to teach orphans in Africa. Why the change of heart? Or did a certain little girl lie to run off to do whatever she pleased.", I feigned as a younger Alice.
"Oh shut the hell up. I don't suppose it's any different than what you're doing.", She half joked. Her face grew unexpectedly sullen and she asked, 'So how were things at home? Before you left, that is."
I felt a sharp pain piercing through me like the prickly blade that was too recognizable to bear.
"How do you think?"
"Terrible, huh?"
I gestured to my nose to show she was right on.
"But, I mean, is James any different? Has he 'calmed' down, at least a little since you were small?"
"No. He seems to have only gotten worse, and I had to get the hell out of there. I feel bad for Allistor and the whole lot of them. I feel bad for leaving them behind, but I figured that leaving England would help me to leave my memories, too."
Alice looked reminiscent and shook her head. "I remember when I had to babysit you, we'd play with your imaginary friends because you didn't want to get beaten up by your brothers. Especially that one friend, what was its name? Flying Mint Bunny or somethi-"
"Don't remind me.", I interrupted.
"Ha! So it was? Well, I still don't know how you're managing to live on your own, but I'm still glad you're here."
The bell rang and kids nearly ran to get out. Most of them probably had lunch about now. 3rd period was lunch period. The block was cut into 3 lunches, one consecutively after another: A, B, and C. I had C lunch, so it didn't matter to me. I grabbed my things and bid Alice farewell.
"See you later, Arthur. And remember, if you ever need me, just give me a call." She pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled her phone number on it. She handed it to me and I thanked her as I ambled out into the hallway. God, her handwriting is still the same as it was the last time I saw her. Sloppy and impossible to decipher.
My next class, lets see. I had a creative writing class for third period and trudged the entire way there. I start daydreaming until a particular rowdy blonde came charging at me in the middle of the damn hallway.
"ARTIEEE!", he screeched at the top of his lungs, arms around me like an anaconda.
"What the hell, Alfred?", I demand, trying to pry his arms off me, but his idiot strength overcame me. Oh god, people are staring now.
"What do you mean, 'What the hell?' I haven't seen ya all day! I miss my Artie!"
I blush a little at the fact that he called me his Artie. I never really belonged to anyone. Ever. What the hell am I saying? I can't let him get too close. Sure, I appreciated his company and he's grown on me a little, but I just can't let him get to me. No one can. Never.
"Bro, you have Creative Writing next, right? I didn't know that you liked to write. That's pretty badass."
"I suppose. What do you have next?"
"Football practice, dude!", he exclaimed, fist pumped in the air. He seemed overly excited at this for no apparent reason.
"Oh, I thought you were the athletic type.", I retorted.
"Whatever. Hey, what lunch do you have? I have C lunch, so it's right after football practice for me."
"I have C lunch, as well. Right after Creative Writing."
"Really, dude?! That's totally awesome!"
"Heh heh, right.", I say, uncomfortably. He can be kind of too loud for me, sometimes.
"How about we take our lunch and eat outside today? There's an oak tree out back by the football field that we can chill at. So what'dya say?"
"I say your vocabulary is getting worse everytime I hear you speak. But, I suppose I could, seeing as I don't have anyone to sit with." After I say this, Alfred pulls me into a strained bear hug and nuzzles the top of my head.
"Oh Artie, you don't have to be so formal and stuffy with me! If you wanted to sit with me you could say 'Sure bro", or something like that, like a normal person! We're pals now, right? Besties even?"
"I don't know, you might end up killing me before I ever commit to that."
He lets go and ruffles the top of my hair with his large, warm hands.
"Alright, bro. I let go. Better?"
"Better.", I assert.
I arrive at my destination and Alfred waves goodbye, and I as well. I watch him strut out of the double glass doors and outside to his class. I don't know what his deal is. I've been acting out of character ever since this morning, which is coincidentally when I met the brat. I sighed, knowing that I probably can't get rid of him now. At least he means well. I walk into, yet another, uproarious classroom and take a seat by a another blonde boy, with an outrageous curl hanging in his face. A very young girl with light blonde hair and a rebellious curl similar to the boy's sitting next to me. She stood behind her desk and cleared her throat.
"Alright class, I'm Madeline Williams, but do refer to me as Ms. Williams. Welcome to Creative Writing and, throughout the year, we will do a lot of book reports, deciphering the methods of writing styles of famous authors. We will also be doing a unit where we will write our own stories, of our own topics. More recently, we're going to write poems and present them to the class." This woman was so softspoken, I bet even mice couldn't hear her.
"So lets start with an icebreaker, eh?" Ms. Williams suggested.
A collective muffle of sighs came from the students, since they didn't have to do anything in their previous periods.
"Okay, I want you to write a paragraph about yourselves, so we can become better acquainted. It would make me right happy if we all got along, eh?"
Everybody pulled out a piece of paper and began to write right away. I sat and thought hard, as I casually held my pencil and the blank paper taunted me. With the end of class approaching, I quickly made up some random shit to look like I was a normal person.
My name is Arthur Kirkland. I recently moved from London, England to study abroad here at Hetalia Academy. I have 3 brothers named Allistor, Dylan, and Seamus. They chose to stay in England with my father, so it's just me living with a relative. My hobbies include reading, writing, and drawing.
There, good enough.
"The bell's going to ring in a couple of minutes, and I wouldn't want to be the reason why you're late. Please pass up your paragraphs and they'll be your first 100 of the year in here, eh?", The teacher deemed.
Everyone passed up their work, I included, and started packing up. I needed to go out by the football field to find an oak tree, seeing as that's where Alfred wanted me to eat with him. I'll just go straight there. I don't need to eat, because I'll end up getting stuck in the cafeteria. The bell bonged and everyone shot up and took off. I strolled the hallways and came towards the double glass doors I saw Alfred walk out of earlier. I push open the doors and was immediately blinded by the bright, balmy sun. My eyes adjusted and I began trekking towards the only oak tree I saw. Hm, Alfred isn't here. Probably getting lunch or, the more likely reason, forgot about me. I sat down against the rough bark and sighed heavily. Then, trouble came.
"ARTIEEE", I heard him bellow, again.
"Hello, Alfred", I responded uncomfortably. God, was he loud.
"Been lookin' forward to this since football practice! Sorry about the wait, it was cheeseburger day!", he exclaimed, boxed burger in hand. "Where's your lunch, dude?"
Oh god. Why did he have to ask? "I just didn't want any. So, what are we doing?"
"We're gonna talk, dude! I wanna get to know more about ya!"
Why do you want to know more? I'm going to end up pushing you away, anyways.
"Okay, then. What do you want to know?"
"Hmm…", he pondered. "What's your favorite food? Mine's a hamburger!", he intensely claimed, chomping his lunch.
"I don't really have one. But I do like Earl Grey tea, though."
"Ah, I see." Was he becoming aware? A fool like him?
"Well, what's your favorite song? Do ya have one?"
"'Everything' by Buckcherry.", I said quickly, without even thinking. "Me and that song have quite a history."
"Woah, dude! That's so cool! I thought that it would be a Beatles song, or somethin'. Ya know, since you're British.", he emphasized on that last word.
"Well then, what's your favorite song? 'Friday' by Rebecca Black, or some shit? You know, since you're American.", I impersonate with a smug look across my face.
"Woah, calm down, dude! I was only jokin'! I definitely don't want to piss off a British guy."
"You're damn right. But, what is your favorite song?", I questioned.
He stopped eating for a moment and pondered. "I dunno. Maybe, 'New Perspective" by Panic! at the disco. I sing a lot of songs, even your favorite one. But I don't think I really have one, myself."
"Wow, a loud-mouth like you sings? Color me impressed."
"Shut it, limey!"
We sat there and laughed heartily at each other. This was the most fun I've had in a long time. I haven't smiled like this for months, and I basked in that. Apparently, someone else has noticed, too.
"Hey, bro. I haven't even seen you smile at all since I met ya! You should smile more often. It's very becoming."
I'm not sure how red I appeared to be, but it was starting to get sweltering from how flushed I was getting. Alfred laughed and tousled my already messy hair.
"And how ya blush! It's so contagious!", he giggled, red swept across his face. "Hey, we have about 10 minutes left. I got something for you."
I glance at my watch to see that it was 12:35 and lunch will, indeed, end in 10 minutes. I jumped when Alfred's hand had brushed against my ear, placing in an ear bud. I soon heard that familiar guitar entry and the soothing voice of Josh Todd soon followed.
Buried way beneath the sheets, I think she's havin' a meltdown.
Finding it hard to fall asleep, she won't let anyone help her.
I jerk my head towards Alfred to see the album cover '15' on his phone's screen, and Alfred smiling the opposite direction. I decide to sit and enjoy the song, closing my eyes and mouthing the words:
The look on her face, a waste of time. She won't let go, gonna roll the dice.
Losin' her grace, starts to cry.
I feel the pain when I look in her,
I wanna be, I want everything. I want everything.
Time passed and my favorite part neared.
If I had everything would I, still wanna be alive, or wannna be high?
If I had everything would I, still wanna be alive, or wannna be high?
Now and then she talks to me, and sometimes writes me letters.
The end came all too quickly.
Your eyes, never close your eyes.
Open up your mind and baby, you can have everything.
The music faded and I opened my eyes to see Alfred gazing at me, like I was the most important and interesting thing in the world. I have a feeling that he was like this for most of the time. I never liked attention, but this was different. Too flabbergasted to speak, I raised my eyebrows to indicate, 'What the fuck are you staring at?'
Reading me like a book, Alfred babbled, "Y-you just looked s-so peaceful, and it was just, different. You usually look mad and I thought it was cool to see you otherwise."
Dumbfounded, I sit there and stare at him, earbud still in place. He reaches towards me and retrieves it, brushing my ear again. I still stare at him, stunned. No one has ever talked to me like that. Or done something like that. Why the fuck is he doing this? What does he hope to achieve?
"Come on, bro. Lets walk to English together." Oh shit, English class.
AN: So this is the end of chapter 2 (T^T)/ * * I'm really excited about this story and hope that you'll continue reading it. I didn't update yesterday like I wanted to because it was my birthday! Yes, cake and tacos sit quite nicely at the bottom of your stomach. The song mentioned, 'Everything' by Buckcherry is one of my FAVORITE songs of all time (so of course I don't own it XC) and I think is the perfect song for these two. Pay attention though, as I might make this song have a deeper meaning to the characters than you first thought. But yes, I plan to make the chapters longer than the first one. So stick around and I'll keep updating ;)