Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

SebSey: Finding Your Place

Michelle walked down the hallway, fighting the tears. It was her first day at a new school, and she had already managed to become a target of ridicule. The things those girls said to her…

It was exactly the same at her old school. Why was it that she always attracted the hatred of her peers? What did she do? She remembered introducing herself, and… Did she do something wrong then? The girls at her previous school had always told her that she was stupid and that she couldn't do anything right. Did she somehow manage to mess up her introduction?

Everyone else was on their way to the lunchroom, but Michelle wanted to be somewhere she could be alone. She didn't want to be anywhere near those girls or their mocking. She just wanted to be left in peace.

"Whoa!"

Her eyes had been blurry with tears, so she didn't see the boy until they had collided with each other. Michelle fell on the ground, though the boy remained upright. She had messed things up again. Now they had another reason to mock her and ridicule her and…

"Are you alright?" the boy asked.

She wanted to kick herself. She had gone and embarrassed herself in front of someone again. This day just couldn't get any worse. She wiped at her eyes, furious at the tears that dared to fall.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the boy said. "Did I hurt you? Here, let me help you up."

Michelle paused when she noticed his hand held out in front of her. She looked up at him, unsure that she was seeing correctly. The boy looked concerned for her. He was cute. Michelle sniffed and accepted his outstretched hand, allowing him to pull her up.

"You're the new girl, right?" the boy asked. "I'm Marcello. I think we have first period together."

"H-hi, Marcello," Michelle said. "Um, I-I'm Michelle. Sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Oh, I do that all the time," Marcello said. "Do you want to sit with me and my friends at lunch?"

"Huh? Um…"

"Or, have you already made other friends? A pretty girl like you would be able to make friends easily."

"N-no! Um…" She blushed. Did he actually think that she was pretty, or was he teasing her? "I-I don't have anyone to sit with."

"Great. Oh, and just so you know, the lunchroom is in the other direction. Come on."

Marcello hooked their arms together, and Michelle had no choice but to go with him. They got in line at the lunchroom, and her eyes wandered around. She could see the group of girls that had teased her, and she looked away.

They managed to get their trays and their food, before Marcello led her towards a table on the far end of the lunchroom. There was already a group of students sitting there. They looked as though they were having fun together.

"Guys, this is Michelle," Marcello introduced as he sat down. "She's new here."

Everyone introduced themselves. It didn't take long for them to return to normal, bantering and joking with each other and occasionally actually eating. What surprised Michelle the most was that they didn't ignore her, and she was equally involved in the conversations. It was hard to believe that she had been in tears earlier.

After lunch, it turned out that she had another class with Marcello. As they made their way towards History, Michelle saw those girls again, clustered together. One of them spotted her, said something to her friends, and they all burst into laughter.

"Don't worry about those girls," Marcello said. "They're just jealous because you're so much prettier than they will ever be."

He had said it loud enough to allow those girls to hear him. Michelle burst out laughing, not just because of his words, but because of the outraged expressions on their faces. Perhaps she wasn't the one with the problem after all.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Marcello took her hand and squeezed it in response.