Ways to Annoy People in an Elevator

The days were growing in length, the sun was regaining its strength, and the students-and teachers- were quickly losing their focus. Yes, that's right; it was June. Ah, June! A month both despised and admired for the agonizing suspension it entails. In June, the eyes of each teacher and student trailed ceaselessly to the clocks and calendars, hoping that their eyeballs could become telekinetic and urge the time pieces forward. All were itching for the freedom of summer vacation to untie them from the restricting bonds of work that came with the school year.

Of course, when students were not busy in la-la land daydreaming about summer breezes and no school (or of course testing their telekinetic abilities with the clocks and calendars) they were frantically going over the vast mountain of notes, quizzes and assignments accumulated over the course of the school year. For before the great freedom of summer vacation came its great price: End of the Year Exams. How these exams were dreaded! They took the teachers unconscionable time and effort to create and then mark, and they took the students unconscionable time and effort to study frantically for- lest they desired to fail their courses.

One studious student in particular had decided earlier in the year that his home- and the jerk older brothers that inhabited it- was not a suitable environment for serious studying. Not that he would outright call said brothers out on it; oh, no. This student was a gentleman, and would rise above that bloody git Scott. He would not yell at him-and those other gits he had to call brothers-and waste his perfectly good breath, no matter how much he liked his eyebrows the way they were, thank you very much, so couldn't he just be left alone with them?! And yes he did have friends aside from Flying Mint Bunny, and so help him if any of those plonkers mentioned Minty to the others at school-!

*Ahem*.

Yes, as this narrator was saying, this student was a gentleman who knew better then to scream his head off and chase his brothers around their house. So when he arrived at the library, his text books were not slightly battered from throwing them at his older brothers (and in turn having them thrown at him). He was not physically exhausted from chasing them around the house (and through the yard, and then down past the café, and then to goodness only knew where else). And he most certainly was not out of breath from screaming every good insult he knew (even making up some good new ones!) at those beasts. Still, all in all, it felt bloody good to sink into one of the soft arm chairs by the fire place for a few moments before getting to work.

The sensation of peace, calm, and relaxation continued briefly as he mused over his study notes for only a few moments. Just as he began to recollect a certain important physics lecture, his tongue sizzled to a parched crisp in his mouth. Needed moisture seeped away from his lips, and his mouth felt like the dried up lands of the Sahara desert. A wave of immense thirst overtook him, which was most possibly (not!) derived from all that text-book throwing/dodging, running, and screaming. Barely managing to stifle his sigh, the student quietly gathered the few papers he had taken out, hoisted his back-pack back on, and strode calmly over to the staircase.

Hetalia Library, to put it simply, was huge. The first and second floors held every kind of book imaginable, as well as a bit of studying space. The third floor claimed the café, water fountains, and bathrooms. The fourth floor was designated solely to work, housing many computers and even more studying chairs and tables. The 4 floored library was equipped with a single staircase and a single elevator. Of course, this student was a loyal staircase user- exercise is a necessity, after all, and he had to keep in shape one way or another. Yet instead of pulling open the door to the staircase, he simply….pulled the door handle. It refused to budge. His thirst mounting, the poor boy pulled more frantically. "Drat, it's locked," he muttered. There was no time to ask a staff member as to why the staircase may be off limits; if he didn't drink something soon, a forest fire would burn up within his mouth. He needed tea, pronto. With that rather desperate thought in mind, he threw his hands up helplessly in the air and resorted to desperate measures.

Just as the elevator doors breezed open, he was mentally admonishing himself for not drinking something earlier. After all, he had chased his broth-er, walked calmly- past the café on his way to the library. Why didn't he grab some earl grey then? And maybe a scone, too. Not that there was anything wrong with his own baking, of course-

"You coming on, dude?" The chirpy question broke his train of thought. Looking up out of his thoughts, his bright green eyes looked into the open mouth of the metal elevator. Propped in between the doors-presumably keeping them open for him-stood a rather pretty young lady that looked about his own age, perhaps only a year or two younger. Bright blue eyes shone above a confident smile, framed by rather tousled short brown hair.

"Yes, thank you." Without another word-a desperate attempt to save on mouth moisture- he stepped inside. As the doors slid closed, the girl let out a tiny giggle. "Ya know, I bet you meant to take the stairs, right? Real funny they're out of order, hahaha!" Her laughter was just a little too confident, as though she were enjoying some private joke. The green eyes of passenger number two narrowed in suspicion, particularly as this brass girl continued. "I mean, not that I know anything about the idiot who poured rotten, liquefied hot dog from the dump all over the steps. It wasn't like I gave him that totally awesome dare!"

"That's a disgusting dare." The accusation slid off his lips before he could hold it in. How did you even liquefy a hot dog? He was almost positive he didn't want to know. The girl remained undaunted, however. She merely grinned wider.

"That's what the others said, too. Hey, what's your name? I think I've seen you 'round school once or twice before. I'm Emily, by the way."

"Arthur." Moisture was seeping out of his mouth at an alarming rate, or else he would have given her a more decent introduction. Then again, perhaps it was wise not to get too friendly with this odd girl. After all, daring someone to defile the staircase of a public library with spoiled meats didn't exactly give much in the way of a character check. Although even he had to admit, she did seem rather interesting- and pretty, too.

"Huh. That's a cute name." Just as Arthur realized that her remark had produced a faint blush, she cleared her throat. "Speaking of dares…" she muttered under her breath. Arthur suddenly felt his thirst beginning to dissipate as slight concern took over. What, she was dared to do something as well? Arthur's grip on his back-pack tightened. So help him, if that girl dumped spoiled meat on him-

"I must find a more suitable host body." Her confident chirping had deepened down to what could only be described as a menacing growl. For a split second, what looked like a bolt of lightning flashed through the ocean currents of her endless blue orbs, and her smile slid higher into an almost evil-looking sneer. The elevator suddenly felt like a metal cage, trapping Arthur in.

It was startlingly familiar to the time his brothers had trapped him in Great Aunt Fannie's doll collection closet. After being cooped up with 1000 ancient dolls grinning down at him for two hours, he had screamed bloody murder when the door to that wretched closet door had finally been opened; mentally scarring both himself and Great Aunt Fannie's unlucky nursing aid. That experience had not only left him with nightmares of knife wielding 100 year old dolls, but also a perfectly reasonable terror of being stuck in tight spaces with creepy, possibly murderous objects that looked as though they were staring directly into his soul. Apparently that fear also extended to being trapped with disturbing adolescent girls.

Emily took a step forward, entrapping him into the small corner of the metal death-box. How had this thing not made it to the third floor yet, for crying out loud?! This girl looked ready to kill him-or worse yet, suck out his soul!

But wait. That was ridiculous. For Heaven's sake, he had better sense than to fall for some silly teenaged high school dare! He was ending grade 11 and would soon be in grade 12, ending his high school education, and moving onto university. It would be completely foolhardy to fall for some silly-no, he wouldn't even waste time thinking about it.

"You're being ridiculous." Arthur managed to accuse her in an even tone. He instantly regretted saying so, as his words only produced an even wider, far more wicked grin from this girl. He swiveled his head to the doors, which hadn't budged; then he glanced at the buttons. This ridiculous girl had pulled on the switch that momentarily stopped the elevator. That's all she was, too. A ridiculous girl. She was not the embodiment of an ancient doll, out for revenge on his soul. Now all Arthur had to do was move away, flip that switch back and ignore this Emily until he got to the third floor.

"Am I?" The cool, sinister tone didn't sound a thing like the boisterous gloating from earlier. The words swirled around his heart, squeezing until his pulse protested by quickening and his skin began forming a defensive shield of sweat.

"Tell, me, Arthur. What do you think of dolls? You know…old, bitter dolls found in creepy old closets."

*Five Minutes Later!*

"Ugh!" The blonde teen kicked at the elevator viciously. "Like, come on you stupid elevator! Hurry up! Torris and I want to get out of here so we can, like, totally get super yummy lip gloss at Gold and Glittery! Torris!" He whirled over to his friend dramatically. "What's wrong with the elevator?!"

Beside him stood Torris, fellow teenager and best friend. Torris, who most certainly did not want to, like, totally get supper yummy lip gloss from Gold and Glittery merely sighed, well used to his best friend's antics. "I think someone stopped the elevator momentarily, Felix. It should get running again soon."

"Why aren't we taking the stairs again?"

"Because Gilbert, Francis and Antonio smeared spoiled, liquefied hot dog all over the staircase and are now being forced to clean it all up. The staircase is out of order." Torris shuddered at the thought; it probably smelt putrefied and disgusting. Beside him, Felix followed suit and shuddered as well.

"Well that's just plain gross. Why would they do something like that?"

"I believe it was a dare. I think Antonio might have thrown around some tomatoes in there as well."

"Definitely icky," Felix grimanced. "Oh hey, the doors are ope-"

"LEAVE ME ALONE! I TOLD GREAT AUNT FANNIE I WAS SORRY FOR INSULTING HER DOLLS, THOSE THINGS GET BLOODY CREEPY AFTER THEY STARE INTO YOUR SOUL FOR TWO HOURS! YOU DON'T WANT TO HAUNT ME, HONEST! I HAVE HUGE EYE BROWS AND HORRIBLE OLDER BROTHERS!" A voice screeched. A blur of blonde hair and wild green eyes rushed past Felix and Torris, who both promptly jumped about 5 feet into the air. All eating in the nearby in-library café just about dropped their food and stared at the mentally scarred teenager as he blurred past, apparently running for his life.

"Um."

"Like, what even was that?!"

All they got as an answer was hysterical giggling, coming from the elevator. When they looked inside, however, Emily had managed to calm down the giggling and tried her best to wear an innocent façade. "I don't know what's up with that guy, honest. I really hope he's okay." Her huge blue eyes were the depiction of true innocence and concern.

"Yeah, me too!" Torris agreed, looking back in the direction Arthur had ran in. He had since vanished.

"Oh, as a complete side note, you guys?"

"Yeah, Emmers?"

"Yes Emily?"

"Remember when I asked you guys about what freaks dudes out? And one of your first answers was dolls?"

"Um, yeah?"

"Well, I just wanted to thank you dudes for that." As she spoke, Emily flicked away the remaining evidence from her crime in her eyes away to the corner of the elevator; her few tears of laughter.

Shrugging, Torris and Felix stepped inside the elevator. Just as Torris pushed the button for the first floor and Felix began to gush about Gold and Glittery, Emily's eyes widened and she let loose a tiny, seemingly shocked gasp of terror. "Oh no!" She cried out. "Didn't you dudes hear that?!" The elevator doors slowly began to close shut.

"Hear what?" The fellow teens chorused in concern.

"Did you hear that cable snapping sound?!"

The last image seen before the doors firmly slammed shut were of three pairs of eyes staring dead on ahead, full of emotion. The bright green eyes of Felix and the bright bluish green eyes of Torris were alight with matching horror; while the bright clear blue eyes of Emily were alight with pent-up laughter.

As the elevator began its dissent with not a loose cable at all, a figure stood by the café, gazing helplessly at the entire scenario. If you peered closely, you'd realize it was also a teenage boy that looked startlingly like Emily, except with silkier hair that looked like more gold had been dipped into its blooming, loose curls. His eyes were also a concerned, kind violet colour, as opposed to cheery mischievous blue. He groaned softly to himself as he whammed his head into the palm of his hand.

"First that twin of mine dares Francis, Antonio and Gilbert to defile public property, and then she gets herself dared to scare the maple out of innocent people on elevators?" He began shaking his head into his palm. "That's it. Emily is not hanging out with the Bad Touch Trio unsupervised ever again."

A/N Any of you recognize some of that? Yep, "I must find a more suitable host body" and "Did you hear that cable snapping sound?!" are two of the ways to annoy someone in an elevator! This is a list you can find on author's profiles, including mine. Let me just state for the record that dolls are not demonic in this story; I do not like writing about magic or demons, as they go against my beliefs for being wrong. Arthur was just freaked out by Aunt Fannie's doll collection, poor boy. Aren't his brother's simply gems?

You know, Britain is a rather brave character, which makes Arthur very brave as well. I guess America-and in turn, Emily- have really mastered the art of getting under his sleeves. He's usually quite collected and sensible.

I'll probably upload some one shots (but not more chapters to this) that continue with the list. I'll probably have different characters, different scenarios…but they might mention this one too:D After all, I imagine Arthur will want to have a little chat with our dear Emily once he calms down. After all, what she did was not very nice. On that note, Mattie will probably be having a little chat with her as well, after he has to calm Torris and Felix down.

Oh yeah, should probably mention… DON'T DO THIS AT HOME, KIDS! Terrifying people in elevators? NOT a good idea.

Have a great day! Thanks for reading!