Chapter 11: Never judge a book by its cover

The following morning, I walked out of the dorm building, to be welcomed by the sight of white. Snow coated everything, some still lightly falling from the sky down to the ground, a wind coming around and whipping the coat I had tightly wrapped around myself for warmth. I sneezed before I cursed and fast-walked to school, wanting to get out of this misery as soon as possible. I wasn't used to snow.

The school was thankfully very warm, me finally breathy steadily as I felt the warmth melting my cold skin. But apparently this was still not bad for most people here. According to Matthew, there was a lot yet to come. I cursed again.

Everything was normal until I walked into cooking class. Our teacher told us to get partners, the first cooking lesson being apple pie to get in the mood for Thanksgiving. Everyone found a partner to match up with except Natalia and I. We were instantly forced to become partners.

The teacher then began the class by going over each of the procedures to cook the pie, telling us to decide with our partners who was going to do what.

"You get to clean the dishes," was the first thing Natalia said as she stared out blankly at the front board that was too far away for anymore to be able to see.

"No, we will do them together," I replied. Natalia ignored me.

"You can cut the apples while I finish up with the rest and make the dough. Then you can wash the dishes." She looked down at her nails, picking at one long nail that seemed to have split.

"No. I will not do all of the boring chores just so you can do all of the good ones." Natalia looked away from her nails to look at me, staring right at me with this boring look.

"You will do the dishes." She whipped her head back down at her nails. I clenched my teeth down as I watched her continue on with her tedious work.

"How many blasted times am I going to have to tell you! I will not do the dishes by myself. If anything I should do all of the important parts," I whisper-yelled at her, hoping to get my point across. She once again looked back up at me, her eyes narrowed as she said the words, "you, will, do, the, dishes."

I clenched down the table with one of my hands, not wanting to release everything out right now until the class was at least over. I didn't want to receive a detention.

Fortunately, neither of us talked the rest of the class, watching our teacher go through all of the procedures in a painstakingly slow process. The bell rang freeing us all from this boring non-cooking cooking class. Natalia was the first one to get out of her seat, mouthing the words "You will do the dishes" and "dick-butt" to me before glaring at a few girls seated at the kitchen closer to the door.

The next day rolled around, nothing very new happening other than another boring class of procedures, finally being promised that we would be able to start cooking the next day. That was when the battle was going to begin.

Other than that another fight happened in the cafeteria, with probably the same people as the past few fights. I wasn't sure though for I didn't turn around to look at the scene. I just watched Gilbert's face contort with pain as he watched the scene. According to Antonio, Francis wasn't here today for he gotten a fever, staying in his room in hopes of feeling better soon. I hope he stays sick though, it's a lot more peacefully when you're missing a piece of the 'badass' trio and I thankfully don't have to deal with his flowery perfume.

"How do you do it?" I questioned during tutoring, when I thought it was an appropriate enough time to ask. Alfred looked up from his homework as he said with a bit of a teasing tone, "math? Well I guess I'm just naturally better than the next person-"

I coughed, to stop Alfred from talking as well as to relief the tension in my chest as I said, "the girls and all of the fighting." He then lean back in his chair, sighing with discomfort as he began to wonder.

"I don't know…" he half-ass replied.

"How can you even stand it?" I questioned again after coughing, tapping the pencil against my lips as I looked up. He sighed again, this time while leaning forward onto the table, half of his face buried by his arms.

"I don't know…" he said again. I gave up and went back down to my work, only to be startled when Alfred jolted up and began talking.

"Like, I'm not even that amazing. Why would they even want me? They know that their time has passed, that they aren't going to be my partner, yet they keep trying. I'm not even that worth all of the attention, yet they keep flocking over to me as I'm a magnet." I leaned on my left hand, watching as the other tried to comprehend what I was wondering about. It was actually quite funny.

"I just, just don't understand why they try so hard," he said again until he looked up at me. I flinched back a bit, surprised. "Do you think I'm really worth all of that hard work?"

I looked around to my side, then to the other, trying to avoid the question. I wasn't sure what to say. I wasn't sure if I should say what he wanted me to hear or the truth. I glanced back at Alfred, who was still wondering, his face pleading to go on.

"Well, you not the worse looking person in this school, and I guess you have a nice body women are looking for after playing your blasted sport of football so I guess that maybe pleasing to the opposite gender." Alfred was still looking at me, looking surprised at what I was saying.

"So to conclude, I don't think you're as amazing as your possy makes you out to be," I glanced down quickly at Alfred who looked a bit dejected. "But, maybe you do deserve the attention every now and then."

I peaked through one eye to look at Alfred, who was smiling up at me. He was like a dog, his tail wagging viciously as he was happy to receive the praise. I gave him a crooked half smile before I returned back to my work.

"What about you though?" Alfred suddenly asked. I looked up from my work again, giving him a confused look.

"Well you know, you're not really the most unattractive person in this school and well, you're pretty good looking apart from one thing." He said as he stared at something above my eyes. I furrowed my brows, Alfred laughing a bit when he noticed the movement.

"It's these little things isn't it?" I questioned, even though I knew the answer. Alfred just bobbed his head smiling.

"Those things do take away a lot of space. They are quite big." he said as he laughed a bit while leaning against his chair, the front two legs in the air as he balanced himself. "But they're cute" I look up at him, bemused.

"Cute?" I said, the word rolling off of my tongue with disgust.

"Yea, whenever you get angry they furrow together and its adorable." I narrowed my eyes a bit he continued to stare up at them.

"There not adorable they're just eyebrows," I said as I turned my head to the side, hoping to break the gaze.

"They are still far from eyebrows thought." My head snapped back up, annoyed.

"Just belt up will you," I replied.

Alfred kept leaning back, his arms up in the air as he said, "ah the British are coming!" He continued to make small screaming noises.

"Stop making such horrible historical references." He continued to make noises.

"The British are coming, the British are coming. And they have brought their most destructive weapons with them! The eyebrows!" He made mocking noises of something big hitting the ground, probably the eyebrows. My face suddenly went hot as I jumped up from my seat.

"Holy- just be quiet will you!" I demanded as quietly as I could, hoping that it would stop all of the insults.

"Nooo, they're destroying the villages and everything. The number of men is going down by the seconds but don't worry, the hero will come save the day!" Alfred said as he pumped a fist in the air. He then made some random swoosh sounds as his hand glided through the air, probably representing the hero, or to be more exact, him. I threw my papers into my bag and I stuffed my pencil back into its case.

"That's it," I said while swinging the bag over my shoulder. "I'm done. I'm leaving and I hope you are happy." And with that I turned around and walked to the bookshelves. The swooshing sound stopped.

"Wo-wait, I didn't mean to be that rude. I'm sorry, just wait!" He pleaded behind me.

"Well too late, I'm going to be leaving now. Hope you enjoy the rest of your day not doing nothing but eat hamburgers dipped in obesity and shake full of stupidity, as all Americans seem to be these days. And also, the hero is a lame name to give to yourself."

"Wow, that was harsh man. You don't-hey! Hero's a perfect name to give myself. Cause I'm so courageous and-wait! Wait!" He called out, hoping that I would stop. I kept walking, bringing my arm up to my mouth as I coughed into it. I was out the door until someone tapped my shoulder.

"I said wait," Alfred said as he breathed a bit heavily behind me. I turned around and kept walking.

There was some yelling as well as running involved, until I was finally out of the door, the American walking next to me.

"Why are you walking with me?" I asked, demanding more than giving him a chance to answer if he pleased.

"Cause I don't want to be alone." He said in a pouted manner. He glanced down at me.

"Whatever." I said, looking forward. "You just better not make any more jokes about my eyebrows or I'm gonna make fun of your weight." Alfred quickly looked over at me, looking a bit sad.

"That's uncalled for Arthur, really really uncalled for," he said as he looked over at the street, a jokingly hurt look on his face. I kept looking forward, time to time glancing at the passing car.

I raised my arm up once again to cough. Alfred looked over from the road to me as he scooted a bit to the side.

"Are you getting a cold?" He questioned.

"It's just a slight cough," I replied, my arm falling back to my side. I turned to the side to look at the brick wall surrounding the school, to avoise Alfred's gaze towards me.

"Are you gonna be okay?" He asked. "I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" I looked over at him. "I said I'll be fine." He turned back to look forward. "Plus, why would you care?"

"Well, cause if you're sick I don't want to be around you to also get sick." My head quickly spun to yell at him, only to stop when I noticed that it was a joke, that he was smiling at me. I just raised my hand up and hit his arm, receiving a small ow as I said, "wanker".

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The time was finally here, the time to cook pie with Natalia. I would be a lie if I said I wasn't worried about how this was going to turn out, both because of my cooking skills as well as my amazing partner that I seemed to not be able to get along with. Natalia was already there, already getting the ingredients as she had her hair tied up and an apron. I quickly joined her.

I began pulling out some of the spices, Natalia demanding behind me about everything they needed to get at the moment. After placing them onto the counter she threw an apple at me, barely catching it before it hit my head. "Cut the apple dick-butt," she demanded as she pulled out the appropriate measuring cups for the spices. I obeyed her for a while. Grabbing the ingredients, cutting the apple, grabbing more ingredients, and cutting more apples.

"Hurry up, and pass me the cinnamon" "I'm waiting for the flour" "God, could you move any slower?" "wrong utensil dick-butt, look at what you're doing" continued on for as long as I could count, until she left for the bathroom, leaving me in blissful solitude. I was finally able to relax, take my time cutting the last apple before throwing it in the bowl. I threw in all of the ingredients, mixing them together as Natalia came back, horrified.

"What are you doing?" She questioned. I looked up and showed her the bowl that I was mixing. She grabbed onto my shoulder shaking me a bit as she said, "that's for the dough!"

I looked down and behold, there was apple mixed in with the flour dough for the pie. I looked over at the counter where there was another bowl, filled with the correct spices we were supposed to mix with the apple with. The blood drained from my face as Natalia pulled the bowl out of my face, dumping all of the insides into the sink, spraying it down with water before quickly drying it with a towel. She threw another apple at me, demanding that I hurry up and cut more apples.

"You almost done?" "You're taking too much time!" "Everyone else is already filling their pie already hurry up." continued on again until I finally snapped.

"Will you stop yelling at me!" I said as I replied back at her snarky remarks. She looked over at me, her eyes narrowed.

"We wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for you messing up with the bowls," she said while rolling the dough out, checking to see if it was thick enough.

"Well it wouldn't be going horribly if you would just calm down and stop yelling at me," I said as I looked down, cutting the last part of the apple, my hand reaching into the class bag for another one, only to find nothing.

"There are no more apples…" I mumbled out, Natalia looking up as she gave me an annoyed face while saying, "what?"

"There are no more apples," I said again, this time turning around and saying it to her so she could hear me better. She stood up straight, walking over to where I was to also look into the bag. "There are no more…" she mumbled as well. She looked around to find the teacher, only to not see her in the classroom.

"Ugh," she groaned as she sat down in one of the chairs. She ruffled her head, the tightly tied up hair becoming a bit loose from the action.

"And I promised to give some to big brother…" she mumbled. "It's all of your fault," she said suddenly to me, her voice a bit cold. I felt myself shiver.

"What?" I questioned, turning around. "I said it's all you fault. If you didn't mess up then we would have been able to make pie and I would have been able to make big brother proud of me. He wanted some, he actually wanted some and its ruined!" she exclaimed, pushing herself out of the chair.

"Well it's not all my fault!" I said, defending myself. I didn't know what I was saying. Of course it was my fault, if only I payed attention to what I was doing, if only I was careful about what I was doing then maybe none of this would have happened. But that didn't mean that my pride was going to back down just like that.

"You shouldn't have been yelling at me, demanding me what to do in the first place!" She looked at me and sneered. "And why does it matter if you're brother gets any. Just tell him it's ruined, that we messed it up."

"You mean you messed it up!" She replied back. My eyebrows scrunched up as he opened my mouth for a reply. "No, we."

"If only I wasn't paired up with such a bad partner then none of this would have happened," she said. "I bet you are a really bad cook that burns and ruins everything that you try to make! And because of you this is ruined you-"

She stopped in the middle of her sentence when flour was thrown in her face, her eyes blinking slightly as she tried to register what just happened, her white face matching my white hand. I jumped back, startled in what my instincts and anger made me do.

"Wait-no, I didn't mean to um…" I stuttered out, my hands raised up in front of me to defend myself. She wiped her hand through her eyes, trying to get it out. It wasn't long until she grabbed a handful of flour and throw it at my face. I breathed through my mouth, making the flour stuck in my mouth out as I also wiped some off of my face. After rubbing them as much as I could I looked up, Natalia smirking down at me in a supercilious manner.

My hand ran through the counter grabbing onto the cinnamon container and throwing it at her, the cap popping off when it hit her head, the content spilling all over her clothes. Now it was war.

Everything happened quickly, and everything happened in the most immature manner possible. Natalia threw some of the cut apples that were mixed with the ingredients at my face, the lemon flavor sour in my mouth. I returned the favor with some more flour, it covering Natalia's back as if she just got snowed on and she separated bits of the dough, making small balls which she threw at my face, me trying to chase after her. When I neared her she rushed over to the sink, turning it on as she grabbed the spray, drenching me with water as I tried to fight it off. In between all of the gurgling noises and pleads in telling her to stop I heard the teacher, yelling at the two of us to get out of the class and to go to the principal's office. And with that, we were kicked out of cooking class, me, completely drenched with some dough and flour in my hair as Natalia was covered in flour, some brown from the cinnamon bottle that spilled onto her.

I felt disgusting. My clothes soaking onto my skin like a second layer and the ever few movements that caused some more flour to pour down from my hair. I was safe to say I was feeling miserable.

With both the lack of conversation and the both of us still infuriated with the other, it didn't take us that long to the receptionists desk next to the tall wooden doors to the principal's office. And I was really hoping that I would never have to come here again.

When the receptionist noticed the movement in front of her, she looked up, adjusting her glasses to get a better look at the two of us before she laughed.

"Oh my Natalia! What mess did you get yourself into today?" She finally asked, Natalia standing at the receptionist's desk as I took a seat in one of the chairs placed up against the wall.

"No! This time it's different!" She said in her defense. "For once I actually didn't start the fight!" The receptionist leaned back, the chair squeaking a bit as she glanced at me. I glared back at her, hopefully warning her how annoyed I was at the moment. Her chair squeaked back when she leaned back toward Natalia.

"Anyway, Mr. Perkinson is in the office today so I'll tell him you're here, knowing how much he loves your company." Natalia groaned to this as she leaned back onto her heels, holding onto the ledge of the receptionist's desk to stay upright.

I leaned onto my hand as I stared out at the empty hallways, at the huge windows where very little light was coming through because of the cloudy sky before I sneezed.

"Um, hey! What's your name?" The receptionist asked, me pulling my head up from my position to look at her, some flour falling off from my hair. The receptionist held a phone to her shoulder as she listened to Natalia say something before slapping her shoulder. Natalia just chuckled as the receptionist looked back at me. "Arthur, Arthur Kirkland ma'am."

The receptionist nodded her head a bit as she picked the phone back up, saying my name before pausing and quickly saying Natalia's.

It didn't take long for us to hear the booming voice of mr. Perkinson yelling out 'Natalia' in an obviously extremely aggravated tone. My body went stiff as the receptionist tapped Natalia's arm, saying something that looked like "good luck."

When we walked in, Mr. Perkinson was sitting at his desk, his fingers intertwined as he calmly waited for us as I followed Natalia to the other end of his desk. The principal looked at the two of us before he leaned back, getting right to the point.

"Natalia, the longer you keep this up you will be suspended or expelled." Natalia's head shot up, looking right at him as her mouth opened to say something. The principal glared up at her and Natalia retreated back, looking down at the ground. "I have no idea what kind of relationship you have with your brother but this has got to stop after this. If I see you anywhere near your brother for the next month or two or even participate in another fight then you will be shipped back to your family."

"What! You're giving me restrictions on when I can see my brother! You can't do that!" Mr. Perkinson pushed himself up from his chair.

"Well, you obviously get into fight whenever you're around your brother so yes, I am going to put restrictions."

"T-that isn't fair!" Natalia yelled, her voice cracking a bit. I instinctively took a step back, away from the two angry people as I watched cautiously.

"Is it fair Natalia! Is it? That I have to deal with all these complaints from angry parents on how upset they are because their child got in a fight for doing nothing!?" His voice boomed, Natalia's mouth shutting as she stared up at him. The man breathed a bit, trying to calm himself down before he plopped down into his chair, it squeaking from the sudden weight.

"Natalia, I'm sick of this, and you're sick of this. Let's just put an end to all of this nonsense," Mr. Perkinson said as he placed a palm on his forehead. Natalia looked down at the ground, her bow bouncing a bit before her head shot back up. "But-!"

And then I sneezed, causing the whole conversation to go silent. It was pretty embarrassing, having the two of looking at me. Just having my presence noticed caused me to shivered a bit, the cold of my clothes chilling my body. The principal was the first one to do something after noticing the state of my clothes.

"I'm sorry Mr. Kirkland that you had to be apart of this mess. Natalia greatly apologizes for what he did and she won't do it again, right?" he said as she looked at her, Natalia looking back at the floor. Mr. Perkinson sighed as he leaned in the chair.

"Um, on the contrary actually," I began to say until the man raised a hand, stopping me mid sentence.

"It's okay Mr. Kirkland, you don't need to take the fall." Natalia looked over at the two of us, the look of betrayal prominently showing on her face. I opened my mouth to say something until someone else beat me to it.

"You may both head back to your room if you wish." I looked over at Natalia, who was looking back at the ground again, before she turned around and stomped to the doors. "Remember, don't let me catch you Ivan!" Natalia kicked the door open, the sound of foot on wood harsh as she walked through the doorway. I hastily followed after her.

Soon, we were walking outside back to the dorm buildings after getting out stuff from our cooking class; Natalia way ahead of me while I walked slowly behind, wrapping the jacket around me tighter and tighter in hopes of warming myself up. I kept on sneezing, along with the rare cough.

I felt bad. In the beginning I was infuriated at first but now it was all replaced by guilt. I was the one that started everything and she was the one that got everything. Well, maybe she deserved it, I thought, in high hopes on making myself feel better. I don't know what kind of relationship she has with her...brother but it can't be something so serious that she can't be seen around him anymore. But then again, she did attack that girl. I shivered from both the memory and the cold. Yeah, she deserved it. After continuously calling me dickbutt she deserved it, after bossing me around and making a fool of me. But in the end, she ended up taking all of the blame…

"Hey!" I called out, Natalia turning around as he neatly trimmed flour coated hair swirled around her. She glared at me, the creases on her forehead prominent.

"I know a friend that has some, alcohol. You want some?" She stared at me a bit, her gaze cold. I sneezed again. When I opened my eyes I jumped back a bit, startled to see Natalia standing right in front of me. She then grabbed my arm and pulled me to my dorm building before she flung me forward. "Lead the way dick-butt." I snarled at her.

And with that we walked up the stairs to Francis' room, kicking the door for entrance.

"What the hell do you doing?" Francis groaned out as he rubbed his face, his cheeks red from staying under the covers for so long." And what the hell happened to the two of you?" He questioned, glaring at our messed up uniform.

"Long story. Anyway we want some booze." Francis stared at us with some disbelief for a bit before shrugging a bit, moving from the doorway to let us in. He then walked over to his closet, opening it with one great pull before he bent down to pick up two bottles.

"This is all I have left so have fun." Natalia instantly took it, popping it open as she trotted over to the bathroom, kicking the door open before quickly closing it, the sound of a zipper being opened the only thing emitting from the bathroom.

"Why is she here?" Francis whispered to me, his voice laced with desperation and irritation.

"I invited her." He looked over at me, like I just grew a second head, his eyes scrunched up in his attempt to comprehend what was going on. "Oh belt up and be a man," I said before I let out another great sneeze.

"Oh merde Arthur, you're soaking." Francis pinched my arm, raising the soaked cloth up a bit before watching it snap back at me when he released it. "Go to your room and change. You're getting my floor wet," he said as he led me to the door, pushing me out with one shove. I shoved my hand into my bag as i walked, diffing around for my key before I popped my door open, quickly changing into my pajamas as well as dusting my hair as much as possible, thankful that I wouldn't be going back to school for the day. I let a out a great cough, my voice sounding course and raw.

"What I got back to Francis' room, Natalia was changed into her gym outfit, her hair tied up loosely on the top of her head as it plopped to the side. Francis was sitting against the wall as he was cocooned inside of his blanket, quickly looking over at me, his face brightening a bit when he noticed my presence.

"Another one!" She exclaimed, lowering the bottle she had finished drinking. Francis just stared at her, then at me, his face both amazed and in denial.

"Um, maybe you should sit down for a bit and let it get into your system before you decide about drinking some more," Francis said as he tried to reason with her. Natalia looked over at him, pouting a bit before raising her foot and slamming it against the wall, centimeters away from Francis' face.

"I said, more." Francis just nodded a bit as he reached over to get another bottle, But right when Natalia reached over to take it he pulled his arm back, causing her to pout again.

"I'll give you the bottle, after we go into Arthur's room." What? Natalia looked over at me, her eyes narrowed down.

"Okay." And with that she walked over to me, looping her arm around mine as she began pulling me to my room backwards. I struggled against her a bit, giving up instantly because of her strength. As we walked she wobbled around a bit. I glared at Francis who was trailing behind us with his blanket and alcohol, mouthing the words 'why' to him.

"Because she's crazy and your problem' he mouthed back, making a swirling motion with his finger next to head before pointing at me.

When we made it to my room Natalia began drinking the new bottle, the bottle becoming empty just as quickly as she got intoxicated. Francis and I just watched her as she played by herself in silence, until I let out a cough.

"Are you getting a cold too Arthur?" Francis questioned, quickly swallowing down the next cough so I wouldn't raise suspicion.

"No way, I said, my voice hoarser than I expected, my throat feeling itchy. "No way I'm succumb to a measly cold, especially like you." Francis clicked his tongue, quickly looking down at his phone before he continued to look forward as Natalia flopped to the ground, mumbling some incoherent words as she hugged the empty bottle.

"Just keep yourself warm, okay?" I unconsciously nodded my head, quickly stopping, hoping that he didn't see that.

"There's no way I'm going to follow advice from such a frog." Natalia jolted up, taking her wet hair down before shaking her head, her hair flying everywhere.

"Wow, Arthur! What's this?" Francis questioned in a playfully suspicious tone as I looked over. "For all of your lonely needs. Especially the tensions."

In Francis' arm was a large body pillow, in the other was a letter he was reading choppily from. "Where the hell did you get that?"

Francis looked back down at the note squinting his eyes before widening as he whispered, "Allistor." I crawled over to the side of my bed, holding onto the edge as I looked down. There was a navy colored bag, along with an empty sack in which the pillow was probably in. i furrowed my brows, confused as to why he wanted me to open this is up badly. Then, my eyes caught sight upon something white in the bag, leaning forward a bit more to get a better look.

"Hey! Let go, you, brute woman!" I looked up to see Francis and Natalia having a tug a war with the pillow. The pillow looked ready to split, it's white cover stretching to its max for the two stubborn idiots.

Ignoring the two I turned back around and grabbed for the rectangular object in the bag, quickly recognizing it as an envelope. I leaned back onto the wall as i opened it, narrowing my eyes as I read the same words over and over again. "5 tickets to...a concert?" I murmured to myself, tilting my head to the side in bewilderment. All of a sudden something banged onto the wall. I looked up, to see Francis rubbing the part of his head that made harsh contact with the wall as he loosely held onto the pillow that was vacant on the other side. Natalia was standing up, her normally straight hair straying everywhere.

"I need to go get Ivan!" She yelled loudly, spinning her head in circles to find the door. I looked down at my wrist, the pointing to the time school was over. After making herself dizzy she found the door, leaning onto the side of the wall for balance as she walked over to it.

"No-Natalia, you can't!" I yelled out, jumping off of the bed and quickly trotting over to where she was. I grabbed onto her arm, pulling her back as she stayed put, pulling forward.

"No! I need to go get my big brother!" She exclaimed, taking a step forward, pulling me with her. I began panicking, cursing at my lack of strength as I turned around to look at Francis.

"Francis! You have to help stop her!" Francis just continued to stare at me, as if he was debating whether if it was worth it or not before sighing, pushing himself up. By the time Francis came next to me Natalia had been able to pull herself three more steps forward, me now holding onto her stomach for a better chance to hold her back.

"Where should I grab?" Francis asked, his voice lacking greatly of enthusiasm or even worry.

"I don't care, just anything! Her arm, her leg, her hair, just keep her back!" Francis grabbed onto her arm and pulled, Natalia taking another step forward.

"Are you even pulling her back?" I questioned, the words spilling out between my teeth as I clenched my jaw shut, hoping that it would give me more strength.

"I could say the same to you! What are you, skin and bone!" Francis spat out.

"Just pull! It's not that damn hard! Keep her away from the door!" I growled back, Natalia inching closer and closer to the door as Natalia kept mumbling stuff about Ivan and big brother, her right arm trying to push me off as the other one was occupied dealing with Francis.

"Okay, you know what. We're going to pull together at the count of three okay?" Francis called out as he read my mind, my arms too tired to continue fighting this brute woman. "Do it do it!" I yelled out, my vision becoming temporarily blinded from the mass of silver hair that flew into my face.

"One, two, three!" And we gave a nice pull, Natalia finally getting away from the door as she toppled on top of us, pushing us onto the ground as we all fell with an umph. The three of us grumbled, me trying to spit out the hair that had gotten into my mouth as my rib and back was blossoming with pain. Natalia shifted on top of us for a moment before she rolled herself off, her hand blindly searching for the bottle.

"Why the hell did we have to do that? Francis asked, his voice faltering a bit as he breathed.

"She's drunk for God's sake. You'd think I'd let her out and have her reveal to the teachers on how he got intoxicated?" Francis let out another groan, pushing himself up as he accepted the answer. Natalia's hand carrying the empty bottle suddenly shot up, her exclaiming for another bottle. Francis grumbled some more as he crawled over to find the last bottle.

Suddenly, something clinged onto my leg, the weight holding it down when I tried to move and see what it was. Holding onto my leg was Natalia, her face rubbing onto the cloth of the sweatpants I was wearing as she mumbled the words, " 1-9-16-3", her eyebrows furrowing a bit in discontent. I reached over tried to pry her arms off of me, her grip still strong as she continued to murmur the words. When Francis came back, having had found the bottle he just stood there, silently laughing to himself.

"Help me get her off of me!" I commanded in a whisper, Francis quickly getting down as he quietly said, "Okay okay." We began pulling, trying to get her tight wrap off of me, only for all of our effort to be futile. All of a sudden something white plopped right next to my leg, the body pillow looking fluffy and welcoming.

"Hey, Natalia-? It's Ivan," Francis began saying in a whisper, Natalia instantly woke up, squinting for a clearer vision.

"I'm right here," Francis continued to say, pushing the pillow closer to her. Natalia than finally released my leg, reaching out and hugging the pillow as she murmured Ivan, drifting back into her slumber. I stretched and moved my leg, happy that it was finally free.

"Holy shit," Francis suddenly said as he leaned against the bed, rubbing both of his hands onto his face and sighing. "She's crazy…"

I looked over at Natalia, who was rubbing her face onto my new gift I had received from my bastard brother as she continued to mumble.

"Ivan's, her brother right?" I asked Francis, who finally brought the hands down from his face to look over at Natalia, nodding his head a bit before he tilted it to the side.

"I thought he was her lover or crush…."

I looked over at Francis, my face distorted in a bit of disgust as I mumbled, "Incest?"

Francis looked over at me, his eyes half lidded to give off the look, 'are you kidding me?' I flapped my hand in the arm, motioning him to forget about it as I looked over to the side.

"What is she saying?" Francis questioned, leaning forward toward Natalia to listen. "1, 9, 16, 3…"

He pulled away, scrunching up the ends of his eyes as he whispered to himself, "What?"

"I have no clue either." I buried my face into my knees, blindly extending an arm out. "Give me the bottle." Soon, I felt a cool touch, quickly encircling my fingers around it as I raised my head up for a sip. When the liquid poured into my mouth I quickly pulled away, forcing myself to swallow the alcohol that was in my mouth.

"Blegh! Is this vodka?" I looked over at Francis who just nodded his head. "This shit is strong."

"And she drank two bottles…" I glanced down at Natalia with disbelief and a bit of respect. I tried taking another sip, only to fail miserably as I coughed from the strong flavor.

Nothing happened for about thirty minutes, Francis and I soaking in the silence as he slowly fell asleep. It was until someone busted through the door, waking the two of up.

"Hey guys!" Gilbert's loud voice said, waking us up even more. "What are you guys doing?"

"Why are you even here?" I groaned out, rubbing my eyes so my vision would become clearer.

"What do you mean? Francis called me over." I looked over at Francis, looking up a bit when he remembered.

"What did you even do to get out of school so early?" I removed my arm to look at Antonio who was hiding behind Gilbert making his way over to the empty spot next to Francis. I leaned my head back down onto the edge of the bed, looking up at my plain white ceiling.

"Don't ask." I said as I looked down at Natalia, curled up into a ball with the pillow, continuing on with her mumbling.

"Oh, and like you asked, I brought him over." I looked up at Gilbert, my brows furrowed.

"Him?"

"Yeah, him," Gilbert said as he pointed at a man I didn't notice behind him with his thumb.

"Hi," he said shyly, a soft but nervous smile on his face as he waved his hand a bit. "I'm Natalia's brother, Ivan. I'm here to pick her up."

"Aa," I stuttered out, seeming to have been paralyzed on the spot for I just sat there, not so sure what to do before snapping myself out of it. "Um yes, you sister is right here, sleeping."

Ivan walked toward Natalia, sighing as he just watched her sleep, his face looking exhausted and tired. Natalia continued to snore a bit, tugging the pillow into a closer hug. He then picked her up, one hand on her back while the other was tucked under her legs, the body pillow falling to the ground as Natalia's grasp around it loosed. Ivan stood up as he looked over at me, the smile still on his face. "Could you get me her bag too?" I shivered a bit as I nodded taking the bag as I followed him to the door.

"Thank you for everything you have done for her today," Ivan said when he turned around to look at me.

"Oh no, it's, nothing," I said in a hurried tone, waving my hands back and forth as the man's smile got a bit broader.

"It's okay, I know it's more than nothing. A lot more to be exact." He chuckled a bit, looking down at Natalia who was moving a bit.

"I'm sorry for anything that she may have done and I know she has a horrible personality that drives people away from her as well as her persistence and stubborn personality, which I blame on her rough childhood but." I looked up at Ivan, whose mouth was partially covered by his long thick scarf. "Please be her friend. She doesn't have many and I can't stay by her side forever. She's just, lonely."

I continued to stare up at Ivan, surprised at the abruptness as he stared down at Natalia, who was still mumbling about the numbers, the smile on his lips looking a bit sadder before he looked back up at me. All of a sudden someone yelled something from inside my room, me turning around to see Gilbert jumping up and down with excitement before I turned back to look at Ivan, who was now holding onto Natalia's bag. "Either way it's up to you, I won't be forcing you to do anything but, really, she's a lot more than what she makes herself seem like."

And with that he left, just as mysterious as he appeared as I watched the ends of the scarf trail behind him. A cold wind washed over me for a second, shivering a bit as I went back into my room only to be attacked by Gilbert.

"Holy shit Arthur! you got tickets to Against the World!" I looked into his blood red eyes, shocked.

"Against the World? What's that?" I questioned, confused and startled as I thought about ticket, the envelope I received from Allistor coming into my mind.

"Against the World is this band that's performing at one of the bars in town. Apparently they sound amazing and all of the tickets are sold out so you got lucky!" Gilbert replied, his voice dipped with excitement. "There are five tickets so we could all go!"

Antonio looked enthusiastic as well while Francis was mirroring my reaction of confusement. "Um, yeah." I said, shifting my face into a grin. "Let's all go then." Gilbert got even more excited, giving me a sudden but brief hug before pulling away and telling us all how this maybe the awesomest thing that has ever happened to him while I seated myself next to Francis, who was having a kick out of watching Gilbert freak out. I smiled, happy to see Gilbert so ecstatic about this coincidence. I guess I can see why Allistor wanted me to open the present so badly.

Her horrible personality drives people away as well as her persistent and stubborn personality.

I stopped for a moment, remembering those words Natalia's brother had said not too long ago. He want's her to have a friend. I thought. I guess it wouldn't hurt, to give it a shot, but.

Which I blame on her rough childhood, but.

But what Arthur? A pessimistic side of my mind suddenly said. What about her should you care? She's just someone that gets under you skin that happened to have taken the fall for a situation that was your fault. You already repaid her, why should you be her friend?

Please be her friend. She doesn't have many and I can't be by her side forever.

Because...

She's a lot more than what she makes herself seem like.

She's just, lonely.

Because….

OOOOOOOOOOOO

The next day Natalia was in the cooking class, reading as she sat at the table for those that have been kicked out the kitchen for the period of time. I too, for being a part of the whole disaster was suspended from cooking for a week, was told to spend the class as a study hall at the table, which honestly seemed like a better idea that having cooking class itself. Don't get me wrong, I love cooking, but as a person that messes up pretty much every single time and has tons of homework to do, I would rather spend my free time finishing up my work for more sleep.

When I got to the table Natalia continued to read her book, sticking her face a bit closer to the pages as I sat myself down, taking a deep breath. I made a decision, and I wasn't going to back out of it. Even if I got rejected. My hands were shoved into the pocket of my bag, grasping onto the paper item as I pulled it out, looking down at it once more before I placed it on the table, sliding it over to Natalia. Natalia stopped reading, looking down at the item with curiosity before looking at me with confusion.

"During Thanksgiving vacation there's going to be this concert in town, and I was wondering, since I had an extra ticket, if you wanted to come along." I pulled my arm away, looking to the side away from Natalia in fear of what she would say. She could mock me, ridiculing me to why she would want to hang out with me, or why she would want to go to a measly concert. But all there was was silence, thinking it was safe I looked over.

Natalia was holding onto the ticket with both of her hands, staring down at it with a bit startled and shocked before she looked up at me, her blue violet eyes that seemed to shine a bit and the usual frown or scowl on her mouth was the opposite, being a tiny smile that seemed a tiny bit stiff, from what I assume is the lack of smiling over the years.

"Yeah um, I'd love to come."

She looked back down at the ticket, before whipping her head back up to look at me.

"I'm doing this just for myself thought, so you have nothing to do with it."

Because….

She's exactly like me.

I just fortunately have friends.

A/N: Renka

Holy shit I'm finally done. It came out way longer than I expected, but that seems to be the case for everything I've been writing recently…..I hope this was enough for Natalia, but her role will have one important part in the future which I'm getting a bit excited about writing.

I'm sorry to have to say this but since mid terms are coming up as well as losing my study halls that I have been using to writing this story, updates with sadly not be scheduled anymore. This doesn't mean the story is on hiatus, just that when the next chapter will come up will be unpredictable. But I'll try my best to stick with the original plan of every two weeks.

Fun Fact: On February 11th 2-13, hackers broke into the Emergency Alert system networks in Great Falls, Montana and Marquette, Michigan to broadcast an emergency alert that zombies have risen from their graves in several counties in Montana and Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Now I can go have dinner. Thank you!