Notes: This story has been sitting in my laptop since... like... forever, and I probably would have waited just as long before publishing it. One of the prompts for HetaliaExtravaganza2k17, however, fit it perfectly, so I decided that why not? I could publish this first chapter to test the waters.

Warnings: This story is going to include violence and child abuse, please keep this in mind if it might bother you. I don't think any of the above is going to be graphic, but still...

AmeCan will be the main pairing (and obviously, they aren't related since this is Nyo!Canada and not canon Canada), but there are also some other pairings in the background. (Ask if you want a full list.)

That said, I hope you will enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, nor do I get any profit from writing this. Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya, and credits for the cover picture go to 塩基 (pixiv ID=222179).

Chapter One

Maggie's hands clutched the strap of her schoolbag as she stood completely still, almost holding her breath.

The woman in front of her – Martha Evans, the headmaster's secretary – kept ignoring the girl while her grey eyes swept over the papers in her hands. She mustn't have been very old – probably in her early fifties – but the skin of her face was drawn, and her eyes, behind a pair of huge glasses with a spotted frame, looked dull. Her hair was in a short cut that was probably meant to be practical and fresh at the same time, but at that moment only looked messy and in need of a washing, and the dishevelled appearance wasn't helped by the way grey strands showed among the dull dark brown.

'She works too much. She probably has children at home, and a husband that doesn't help her. She's tired and stressed.'

As soon as those words crossed her mind, Maggie realized that she had been staring at Mrs Evans and quickly lowered her eyes, blushing violently.

Mrs Evans was running a finger under each line as she read.

Her hands were big, with long fingers and short nails covered by chipped red nail polish. A thin wedding ring stood out on her ring finger – she was married, just like Maggie had thought.

She shifted on her feet. Mrs Evans was almost done with the files from her old school, and Maggie could feel her stomach knotting with the rising tension, she had to remind herself how to breathe.

Mrs Evans's eyes stopped over one of the last lines, making Maggie's heart skip a beat.

'Did I do something wrong?'

It wasn't the first time she changed school, and she had already contacted the administration through e-mails several times to explain her situation, so her forms should have been all right, but…

Leonardo Da Vinci High was an extremely prestigious school. Both Mrs Evans and the headmaster had mentioned it more than once. Not only it had strong connections with one of the most prestigious universities of the United States of America, one that each year made it to the list of most important universities in the entire world, the high school itself was highly renowned, attracting students from all over the world. It even had an entire campus-like building to house them, just like the nearby University.

Of course, that also reflected in the fees. How Maggie had managed to get a full scholarship, she would never know. She had always managed without problems in school, she had even skipped a grade, but she wasn't anything special and none of her previous schools had been particularly demanding… surely, there had been a mistake. On top of that, Mrs Evans looked quite cross. She had been fairly annoyed when Maggie had shown up in her office, snatching the papers from her hands without uttering a single word.

Finally, after what felt like a century, Mrs Evans raised her head from the sheets.

A weight plummeted inside Maggie's stomach. She knew what was about to happen: Mrs Evans would offer her a small, fake smile, then she would start saying, gently but coldly, that there had been a mistake. No, Maggie wasn't suitable for the school, how could it have even crossed her mind to enrol there? Anyway, she'd better leave, and quickly, and she shouldn't even think about setting a single foot on the school's ground ever again. And then… then she would have to go home and tell Steve what had happened. The last part made Maggie's blood run cold.

Mrs Evans smiled, but it was a tired, tight smile that didn't reach her eyes. Maggie held her breath and clenched her hands even harder, almost unaware of the way her nails were digging into her soft palms, leaving red marks.

"Well, I'd say everything is in order," Mrs Evans declared. She sounded brisk, but not unkind. "Your grades are exceptional, I see you've even skipped a year… I don't think you'll have any problem settling in."

Maggie needed a few moments to fully understand those words. When she finally did, the wave of relief that washed over her was so intense that it made her head spin. It wasn't what she had expected. It definitely wasn't what she had expected… but she wasn't about to complain.

"O—okay. Thank you," she muttered clumsily, her voice so faint that Mrs Evans probably didn't even hear her.

The secretary was already at work, her fingers running over the keyboard.

"Marguerite Williams, is it? Sophomore… here, this is your schedule."

Mrs Evans pushed 'enter' with more force than necessary, and the printer behind her shoulders started up.

"God, which idiot can even think about having his children transfer like this in the middle of October…" Maggie heard her mutter as she turned to take the papers.

Her stomach immediately twisted, but when Mrs Evans addressed her again, she looked as composed as she had been before.

"Class schedule, your locker's number and combination, and this is the note you should show your teachers," she explained, pointing at each paper before handing them to Maggie.

The girl analysed her schedule.

'First period, English. Room 2A. That is… Where?'

From what she had glimpsed, the school was huge, she could easily get lost without managing to find the right room before the end of the period…

Maggie lifted her eyes on Mrs Evans, but the secretary was working on something on the computer as if she had completely forgotten the girl standing in front of her. It wouldn't have been the first time.

Maggie waited a few moments, almost holding her breath. Mrs Evans didn't spare another glance at her, instead visibly growing more and more disgruntled as she examined whatever was on the computer's screen.

Annoying her further wasn't something Maggie was looking forward to, but the alternative was getting lost as she wandered across the school, getting detention, and having to tell Steve why she was late. Crossing Mrs Evans suddenly looked more appealing.

"Mrs Evans?" Maggie asked shyly.

The secretary tore her eyes from the computer's screen.

"Why are you still here?" she snapped.

Maggie instinctively took a step back.

"A—actually I… Might I have a map of the school, please?" she stammered, proud of her idea. It was an excellent solution. A map of the school. They had to have one somewhere, didn't they?

Mrs Evans looked at her with a different expression, as if struck by an epiphany.

"Right," she sighed, "I suppose nobody has shown you the school yet, and—"

Before she could finish talking, the door swung open, making Maggie instinctively turn with a startled gasp.

"Mrs Evaans!" shouted the boy who was standing in the doorway.

Maggie was momentarily taken aback by the sight in front of her eyes. The boy was… bright. Everything about him seemed to ooze confidence, vitality. He was standing straight, with his shoulders squared and his hands carelessly tucked inside the pockets of a pair of faded jeans that, along with a blue hoodie, fitted perfectly his tall, athletic body. His eyes seemed to glow behind a pair of steel-rimmed glasses; they were the most vivid cornflower blue Maggie had ever seen – up to that moment, she would have even considered impossible for human eyes to be of such an intense hue of blue. The rest of the boy wasn't any less notable. A golden tan complimented his straight nose and the delicate features of his face, and straight dark blond hair framed his head, completely ordered except for a stubborn strand that stuck out in front of his hairline.

Such a handsome boy surely had to be just as popular – and Maggie had been staring at him, she realized suddenly. She immediately looked down at her feet, fidgeting in embarrassment.

"Jones," Mrs Evans greeted coldly. Judging from the intonation of her voice, she seemed to be pondering whether to strangle the boy or hit her own head against the desk. "It's Tuesday. How are you already in trouble?"

"But I got in only two minutes late!" whined Jones, "Only two minutes! And it wasn't even my fault, I—"

"I. Don't. Care," Mrs Evans interrupted him, her voice as cold as ice. "You're getting detention after school."

"Hey, that's not—" Jones tried to protest, only to be immediately silenced.

"I don't have time to waste with your whining! And since I doubt Mr Sherburne would welcome you in class, go to the library or something…"

Jones seemed to decide that complaining further wouldn't be wise, because he turned to the door – and at that moment, he did a double-take as he realized he wasn't alone in the room.

"Whoa, have you been here the whole time?" he asked, staring at Maggie. "I didn't see you… What did you do? Already in trouble… I had never thought I would be beaten by a freshman!"

The last thing Maggie had expected was Jones to notice her, let alone talk to her, so she didn't have an answer ready. Her surprise was so great that it took her a few moments to even realize she was supposed to reply, but Mrs Evans beat her before she could come up with something.

"Unlike somebody else in this room, she didn't do anything wrong, Jones," she stated dryly as she finished scribbling down his note. "And she's not even a freshman, for the record."

Jones gave Maggie a quizzical look.

"You aren't?" He asked without hiding his astonishment, "But… How is it even possible? I mean, how can I have not seen you before?"

Maggie blushed violently, tightening her hold on the sheets. She knew she wasn't beautiful, but she had never thought to be so ugly that she had to be noticed… Actually, she had always considered herself rather plain and unremarkable, seeing how people usually ignored her.

Mrs Evans let out a long, tired sigh.

"She just transferred, Jones," she explained in Maggie's place. From her voice, she seemed to have settled on throttling the boy.

At that point, Maggie only hoped to be dismissed quickly. For how unpleasant anonymity could be, it surely was nothing compared to being on a popular boy's radar. She was perfectly aware she wasn't beautiful, thank you very much. She didn't need to hear it from somebody else as well.

"Well, this explains everything," Jones commented jovially, "So, you are…?"

Once again, Maggie was caught by surprise by the question. She didn't think the knowledge of her name was needed to mock her… Not that Jones would remember it for more than a few minutes, but still…

And for the third time, Mrs Evans was the one who saved her.

"This is Madeline Wilkins," the woman said, her voice suddenly lighter. She sounded almost satisfied.

Maggie bit her lower lip. She was used to people getting her name wrong, but she had said it only a few minutes earlier…

"And since you have a free period, why don't you keep flirting with her as you show her around?"

Maggie jerked her head up, her eyes widening in horror. Oh, now she did understand why Mrs Evans had sounded so pleased: this way, she wouldn't have to take care of Maggie herself…

She can't be serious!

A teacher wouldn't leave her in the hands of a bully, would she? …Apparently, yes.

"Of course, leave it to the Hero!" answered Jones, a wide smile plastered on his face. "Let's go, m'lady!"

Apparently unaware of Maggie's panic, he swung his left arm around her shoulders and led her through the door.

Maggie automatically followed the boy's steps, keeping her body rigid. She couldn't figure out what he wanted. In spite of her first impression that Jones was mocking her, there was nothing in his demeanour that might suggest so, excluding his off-hand comment.

Once they had put some distance between them and Mrs Evans's office, Jones stopped and released Maggie to turn to face her.

"That woman can be a real harpy, try not to get on her bad side," he said with a conniving air, winking. "Anyway, I'm Alfred F. Jones, otherwise known as the Hero! And whatever people tell you, the 'F' stands for 'Freedom'."

Maggie blinked. Her first assumption seemed even more wrong. Alfred was positively beaming, his bright white teeth on display, and his voice sounded lively, seemingly lacking any malice.

Hesitantly, Maggie took the offered hand. It seemed huge around her much smaller one and the skin was callouses, but the hold felt firm and pleasantly warm.

"Marguerite Williams," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, before Alfred could learn the wrong name.

Maggie was aware that it was stupid, Alfred was bound to forget in a few moments, but she didn't like when people referred to her by a name that wasn't hers.

Alfred blinked in confusion.

"Wait, wasn't your name Madeline?"

Maggie could feel her face heating up.

"N—no, Mrs Evans said it wrong. It's Marguerite. But everybody calls me Maggie."

"Oh, okay," was Alfred's only comment as he shrugged. He smiled again. "Maggie, then! Let's get down to business!"

Without any warning, Alfred snatched the papers from her hands. As the first thing, he led her to the locker – and all the way, he kept talking. ("So, what grade are you in?" "Oh, cool, I'm in grade ten too! What are your favourite subjects? I hate literature, I just don't get why we have to lose time studying things written by people who have been dead for ages…")

Unused to anybody paying her so much attention, Maggie struggled to come up with the answers, but Alfred didn't seem to mind, and each question was immediately followed by another one, mixed with his comments. Moreover, in spite of his previous remark, he didn't seem to have any intention of mocking her. Maggie was starting to think that it hadn't been a snipe at how horrible she looked but an awkward attempt at putting her at ease, if not a completely innocent observation. Alfred did sound like the kind of person who would be familiar with every student in the school and immediately spot a new face.

Only after Maggie had finished tucking her books inside the locker Alfred stopped talking. Taken aback by the unexpected silence, Maggie looked up to find him leaning against the next locker and staring at her with a strange expression, something between puzzlement and curiosity.

"Is there anything wrong?" Maggie asked immediately as a familiar wave of panic bubbled up her throat.

Maybe she had been wrong. Maybe Alfred actually meant to tease her… not that Maggie could have blamed him. With her stuttered and monosyllabic answers, she certainly hadn't made a good impression.

"You don't have a coat," Alfred pointed out unexpectedly. "Weren't you cold this morning? Why don't you have one?"

His voice sounded kind, and it almost held a note of… concern? Was it possible?

It took Maggie a moment to answer.

"Oh… Oh, no, I… Well, you see, I used to live near Ottawa, and it was way colder than here, especially at this time of the year…"

Alfred's blank stare suggested Maggie that he didn't have the slightest idea of what she was talking about.

"Ottawa. Canada's capital?"

A spark of understanding lit Alfred's eyes.

"Oh, yeah, Canada! I see. This weather must feel like summer to you, then," he said, as if that settled the question.

Which wasn't properly true – Alfred seemed to hold the opinion that Canada's entire territory was marked by a perennial winter, but Maggie let it slide. She was simply relieved that her lack of a coat had been solved so easily, she didn't want to think about how hurriedly she had snuck out of the house as Steve's swearing in the background started growing louder and louder…

Maggie shuddered. When she got back, she would have to face the consequences of her actions.

"Hey, you okay? You kinda spaced out…"

Alfred's words shook her out of her thoughts. The boy's blue eyes were fixed on her, clouded by a trace of concern. In spite of Maggie's automatic nod, his expression didn't change.

"You sure? You aren't getting sick, are you? Canadian or not, it was pretty cold this morning… and waiting at the bus stop is never pleasant."

"Oh, but I walked, I didn't have to take the bus," Maggie answered softly, trying to mask her surprise at Alfred's concern, which seemed genuine. "So I warmed up quickly."

She couldn't even recall feeling cold that morning. She hadn't noticed the temperature at all, actually, too spooked by seeing Steve so out of control at that time of the morning, but it sounded like a believable excuse.

Alfred nodded, his features finally relaxing.

"Makes sense. Where do you live?"

Once again, Maggie was taken out of surprise by the question. She couldn't see why it would matter to Alfred… was that what small talk was like? Yes, it was probably that.

"Near the beginning of Madison Street," she answered anyway.

She wasn't expecting Alfred's face to lit up as it did.

"Hey, you must live next to Francis's house, then! He was saying that he was getting new neighbours…"

"Oh, yeah. Francis is a friend of Dad's," he added immediately after, probably seeing Maggie's confusion. "His best friend, actually. Kinda. I mean, they argue all the time over petty things, but they're actually very close. And… oh!" Alfred's eyes widened with a sudden realization. "Marguerite…"

'What's wrong with my name?'

Maggie stiffened. Alfred was almost rolling her name on his tongue, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Hey, that's French, isn't it? Do you speak French?"

"Yes?" Maggie answered hesitantly, unsure of where the conversation was headed.

To her further confusion, Alfred chuckled.

"Oh, man, Francis's gonna be so happy! He's French, you know? The frenchiest French to have ever existed, probably. You know, he's been living here since college, that was like, almost twenty years ago, and he still refuses to drop his accent! He's always complaining about not being able to speak French to anybody… Don't be scared if he hogs you to speak French, okay? He's in France right now and I don't think he'll be back until the end of the week, but once he is, he'll totally want to talk to you in French… he's not a bad person, I swear. He's only a bit... Overenthusiastic at times."

Maggie nodded, a slight smile tugging at the corners of her lips. Speaking in French sounded wonderful, actually, it had been such a long time…

"Oh... You have an English surname and a French name, so I guess that the French part comes from your mother, right?"

Maggie hesitated before giving a small nod, her stomach clenching. The situation was far more complicated than that... but she didn't feel like discussing it with Alfred. For how nice he was, he was still a near-stranger.

The boy frowned, running a hand through his hair.

"Oh man... He's totally going to flirt with her. But please don't get angry, okay? He's just... He's not being serious, he would never truly try anything with a married woman, it's just his behaviour I guess..."

"Okay. No problem," Maggie answered softly.

A sudden pang of pain surged through her chest. Her mother would have loved to meet this Francis, probably. Flirting had been a second nature to her, and she had always preferred French over English. She would have played Francis at his own game and later laughed about it with Steve… but that was never going to happen.

Luckily, Alfred didn't seem to have sensed her turmoil.

"Well then, enough of this," he declared, "Shall we go on with our tour?"

Maggie immediately nodded, forcing herself to focus back on the present situation. Dwelling in the past wasn't going to help anybody.

For the next thirty minutes, she found herself following Alfred through the maze of the school – that was huge, just like she had supposed – while he rattled off whatever ran through his mind, easily keeping Maggie from getting back to her melancholic thoughts. By the end of their tour, she was aware of most of the social circles that were in the school, which teachers were considered sterner and which were the elective courses one should choose for an easy A, but, especially, she had gained an astonishing amount of information about Alfred.

The boy was the quarterback of the football team (not the captain because he was still only a sophomore, but he was definitely going to be the captain next year), seemed to be on friendly term with most of the school except for some Russian ("Freaking Communist!") senior, didn't like the food they served in the cafeteria ("It's too bland! What's with all the dietetic crap? It tastes like cardboard!"), was good at maths and physics and liked coding, while he hated any subject that actually demanded him to study and was horrible at geography, which Maggie had already guessed.

But, more importantly, he seemed to be completely unable of keeping quiet, he hadn't stopped talking for a single moment. Maggie didn't mind. For how loud Alfred was, he seemed to be genuinely kind, his smile looked authentic and his blue eyes – Maggie still couldn't fully believe human eyes could be of such an intense colour – were lively and warm at the same time.

From what Alfred had said, Maggie was sure he was very popular. The logical conclusion was that he would completely forget about her after that hour, but the time Maggie was spending with him was turning out to be surprisingly pleasant; she was determined to enjoy each stolen moment before getting back to her usual invisibility.

Too early, they wounded up in front of the room that was supposed to hold Maggie's first class of the day.

"It's just a few minutes until the end of the period, do you want to wait until the next one?" asked Alfred.

Maggie shook her head.

"Oh, no, I don't want to waste any more of your time."

Alfred pouted slightly.

"Hey, helping a young lady in need on her first day of school is not a waste of time! Really, I can take you straight to your next class…"

"Oh, n—no, thank you, really, but you have already done enough," Maggie retorted quickly.

Alfred was extremely helpful, but he surely had something he would rather do instead of showing her around, and Maggie already felt guilty for occupying most of what could have been a free period; she didn't want to detain him any longer.

"And Mrs Evans said I have to introduce myself to the teachers…"

"As you wish," sighed Alfred, so nice that he even feigned disappointment. "If you're really sure…"

'No, I'm not,' Maggie wished she could say as she looked the boy's hand, clenched into a fist, getting closer to the door. 'Behind that door, there's a whole class full of strangers… I don't know what to do, I can't deal with so many people, I won't know what to say and I will either look like a stupid or nobody will even notice me… Please please get me away from here…'

Alfred's hand struck the wooden door. Without waiting for an answer, he thrust it open and strode inside the room, dragging Maggie with him.

"Mr Bronson!" he greeted loudly.

Mr Bronson – a man Maggie judged to be in his early sixties or late fifties, tall and a bit heavy-set, with greying hair that was starting to thin around the temples and bright brown eyes on a surprisingly smooth face – turned to Alfred with an expression that looked half annoyed and half desolate.

"Alfred Franklin Jones," he greeted coldly, "I was sure I had avoided you this year, what are you doing in my class?"

(So that was what the 'F' in Alfred's name stood for? 'Franklin'? Why on earth would he tell her it was 'Freedom'? Weird… Then again, Maggie shouldn't be the one to talk.)

"Don't worry, I didn't miss you either," Alfred reassured him cheekily, "I'm here to carry out my heroic duties! Mrs Evans told me to take care of the new girl, and I had to bring her here after showing her around."

Alfred moved to a side, pointing at Maggie and leaving her under the scrutiny of the teacher – and undoubtedly, of the students that filled the room.

Maggie stared at her feet. Her throat suddenly felt dry, and her stomach was flipping.

"Oh, right," Mr Bronson muttered, "I had completely forgotten you were supposed to arrive today… Jones, you're free to go."

Alfred didn't need to be told twice. He headed towards the door with confident strides, but before stepping out, he stopped and turned to Maggie.

"See you around!" he said with a bright smile and a wave of his hand, then the door closed behind his retreating back.

Mr Bronson cleared his throat.

"Well, since the period is almost over, why don't you introduce yourself?"

He was smiling in a way that was clearly meant to be warm and reassuring, and Maggie did appreciate the effort he was putting into it, but a mere facial expression could do nothing to ease what was about to come. Swallowing in an effort to bring some relief to her painfully dry throat, she turned towards the rest of the students and lifted her eyes, trying to force her lips into a smile that came out looking more like a pained grimace.

"I—it's nice to meet you all," she muttered, her voice barely above a whisper. "I'm Marguerite Williams, but everybody calls me Maggie. I just transferred here, I lived near Ottawa until a few days ago…"

Wow, that was lame.

But seriously, what else could she say? Maggie had heard people talk about their interests sometimes, but she sincerely doubted anybody would be interested in hers. Or maybe she could have added a stock phrase like 'I hope we'll be great friends' or something, but that would have made her sound so haughty… not to mention that she already knew it wasn't going to happen.

Mr Bronson cocked an eyebrow.

"Okay then, Maggie. Don't you have anything else to say?"

Maggie could only stare at him with a lost expression. She knew she had said too little, but she honestly had no idea of what to add without sounding like an idiot.

"Eh…"

Somebody snickered.

Maggie blushed and trained her eyes on her shoes, clenching her hands. Her stomach was churning, she was suddenly really glad she hadn't had breakfast.

"Well, since this is an English literature class, why don't you tell me what your favourite book is?"

Mr Bronson's voice was sweet in an almost condescending way, and when she lifted her eyes, Maggie saw that his face was still sporting an encouraging smile.

There were a thousand things Maggie could have said at that question. In fact, she would have been able to go on for hours talking about books… but for some reason, her mind was completely blank at that moment; all she could think about was how everybody's eyes were trained on her, ready to jump at her first misstep like a pack of hungry wolves.

"So? Come on, there is no need to be shy. You are going—"

Whatever Maggie was going to do was lost in the ringing of the bell that tore through the awkward silence, marking the end of the period. All the other students immediately lost their interest in Maggie as they started to gather their belongings, chatting with their friends.

Maggie could find no words to express how thankful she felt for the perfect timing. Quickly, before she could embarrass herself any further, she took her leave from Mr Bronson and headed towards the next classroom, mingling unnoticed with the wave of teens that filled the corridors.

The next periods followed more or less the same pattern: Maggie handed the note to a perplexed teacher, the action was followed by an increasingly pitiful introduction, and the girl was finally relegated to an empty desk and promptly forgotten. Which was a blessing, considering how she managed to make a fool of herself each time she had to speak in front of so many strangers.

Lunch break finally came, and Maggie managed to sneak unseen out of the room to take shelter in the library. As she had hoped, it was almost empty, and Maggie easily found an unoccupied table in a secluded spot.

She immediately started doing her homework as she munched an apple, the only way she knew to divert her mind from the nerve-wracking morning. Literature was quite easy, Maggie had already studied those subjects in her previous school, while she was slightly behind with Biology, but a quick review of her notes confirmed what she had already guessed during the lesson, which was that the autonomous study she had done in preparation for the new school was more than sufficient.

The break ended too soon for Maggie's liking, but at least the time spent on the books had allowed her to calm down a little – which meant she didn't feel like she was going to throw up any moment, but it was better than nothing.

Forcing her breaths to follow a regular pattern, Maggie gathered her notebooks and headed towards the room that held her next period, Maths.

'I can do it. Only two hours left.'

By the time she had reached the classroom, Maggie had changed her mind. There was no way she was going to be able to endure another period like the previous ones, she realized as she stared at the closed door. Not on the same day. Being invisible was one thing, it wasn't always pleasant but she could put up with it, but showing off in front of so many people, having to look at their bored and disinterested eyes only to be left in a corner, like a broken toy the owner had lost interest in… no, she couldn't do it.

Yet, she had no other option.

With detachment, like it didn't even belong to herself, Maggie looked at her white hand as it leaned on the handle, applying just enough pressure to open the door soundlessly. She knew what was going to happen: in the best scenario, somebody would raise his head and look at her briefly, only to forget about her a minute later and go back to his previous occupation, or more likely, Maggie would find herself standing in a corner, without knowing what to do, completely overlooked by the room's occupants.

But Maggie hadn't considered a factor – a factor that had Alfred Jones's bright eyes and wide smile.

As soon as she stepped into the classroom, she was greeted by a gleeful exclamation, immediately followed by a loud "There you are, Maggie!"

Taken completely by surprise, Maggie stopped dead, staring wide-eyed at Alfred's beaming face.

"Come here, I kept you a seat!" Alfred yelled, pointing at the empty desk at his right.

Maggie needed a few moments to understand his words. Everything suggested that she had misunderstood, there was no reason a boy like Alfred Jones – nice, cheerful, handsome, undoubtedly popular – would not only remember her, but also want her to sit next to him…

In spite of that, Alfred was still there, looking at her with a warm smile on his face.

Maggie was overwhelmed by a wave of gratitude and relief so intense that it almost brought tears to her eyes. She was sure that it was nothing personal, Alfred was simply a nice person, but regardless of the reason, it was the first time in years that she felt accepted, almost welcome.

Quickly, before something could shatter the illusion, Maggie crossed the room and sank on the offered chair, her head spinning.

Alfred's smile widened.

Maggie wanted to hug him, kiss him, and at the same time burst into tears, but she managed to restrain herself and reciprocate with a hesitant smile.

"Thank you," she whispered, looking at Alfred with shining eyes.

Alfred shrugged.

"For what? Keeping you a seat? Hey, that was nothing! It was the least I could do, considering it's your first day and you don't know anybody… and I'm the Hero! It's part of my duty to make sure you feel welcome! By the way, where were you at lunch? I was looking for you, but I couldn't find you anywhere…"

Maggie straightened on her seat.

"Really?" escaped her lips before she could think of something cleverer to say.

"Sure!" answered Alfred, unaware of her perturbation. "Since you don't know anybody, I wanted to introduce you to some people… By the way, this is Tolys Laurinaitis!"

Maggie's attention shifted to the person sitting at Alfred's left – a slender boy slightly shorter than Alfred himself. His worn-out grey sweater and the wavy brown hair that almost reached his shoulders gave Tolys a slightly unkempt look, but something in his ashen features and pale green eyes spoke about a gentleness that immediately made Maggie take a liking to him.

"Nice to meet you," Tolys said with a small smile. His voice carried a foreign accent Maggie couldn't identify (she would have guessed it was an Eastern European language, but it wasn't Russian or Polish). It was fainter than Alfred's, and his smile more reserved, but not lacking warmth.

"The pleasure is mine," Maggie answered automatically, smiling shyly. "I'm Maggie Williams."

"I know, Alfred kept talking about you the whole time."

At those words, Maggie's attention went back to Alfred, surprised and insecure at the same time. She didn't remember doing something particularly embarrassing in front of him, but then again, she might not have realized it…

Alfred looked slightly flustered.

"Well, it's not every day that you get to escort a transfer student…" he said sheepishly before quickly changing topic. "Anyway, how was your morning? What do you think about the school?"

Maggie shrugged.

"It's not bad," she said, deciding to stay vague. She didn't know Alfred well enough to know the answer he was expecting, and she didn't want to disappoint him. "The teachers seem good, and the program is not much different from the one I had before…"

"Did you follow the same classes in Canada?" asked Tolys, and Maggie, deeming it a safe subject, launched into an explanation of Canadian school system, while Alfred and Tolys (but mainly Alfred) sometimes remarked highlighting the differences from the American one.

Maggie couldn't recall the last time she had talked so much, but she slowly found herself relaxing.

Alfred was just as loud and lively as he had been that morning, but his demeanour felt welcoming, while Tolys was much more discreet and quieter but not less kind, and he seemed to be trying to put Maggie at ease.

"I don't envy you, having to introduce yourself in front of everybody mustn't be easy…" he said at one point, "But don't worry, the worst should be over. I think that between three different classes you should have already met a lot of people, maybe the teachers will stop asking you to talk…"

Alfred didn't seem to understand the problem – then again, Maggie was quite sure somebody like him wouldn't feel uncomfortable even if he had to talk naked in front of a crowd of strangers. There was something in Alfred that made her think that he was born to be at the centre of attention. Yet, for an unfathomable reason, he had chosen to get to the classroom early with Tolys so he could sit next to her.

Maggie was so engrossed in the conversation that she didn't realize that other students had started filling the classroom until the dull thud of a bag being dropped on her desk jerked her back to reality. She gasped and turned abruptly, finding herself face to face with a glowering girl.

'Uh oh…'

There was no mistaking the antagonizing approach: the girl was leaning towards Maggie in a clearly intimidating manner, one of her hands flat on the desk next to a designer bag, her fingers spread, the long nails sporting a flawless bright red nail polish. The other hand was resting on the girl's hip, over a black skin-tight skirt that barely reached her mid-thigh. The social status wasn't hard to guess, either: every single detail in the girl's appearance seemed to be meticulously planned. Light brown hair framed her head in carefully arranged waves that ended up in ringlets slightly below her collarbone, a touch of golden eyeshadow enhanced both her tanned skin and light brown eyes, making them look bigger, the knitted eyebrows were masterfully painted. Her lips were tight and drawn, but Maggie could still recognize the subtle lipstick that made them look shinier and darker. A red shirt (exactly the same shade as the nail-polish) encased the girl's upper body, evidencing her flat abdomen and a modest breast enhanced by a clearly padded bra, and opened with a frill at the waist, giving the illusion of a narrower waist point. The look was completed by a heavy gold necklace and red and golden bracelets adorning her wrists.

One of the popular rich girls.

And for some reason, Maggie had managed to get on her bad side without having ever seen her before – no, that wasn't true. She could recall getting a glimpse of that girl in one of the previous periods. Maggie quickly retraced the day, trying to understand which of her actions could have provoked such a fury in the girl in front of her, but her mind was blank.

"What are you trying to do?" hissed the girl, "This is my seat."

Oh.

OH!

Of course, everything was clear. How had she not realized it before? Alfred was so friendly that she had ended up forgetting about it, but a boy like him had to be popular, and consequently, the aim of girls far more beautiful and confident than Maggie was.

Girls exactly like the one standing in front of her.

"Sorry, I…" she found herself stammering as she blushed and lowered her eyes, unable to hold the other girl's fierce glare. "I didn't know this was your seat, I'm really, really sorry, I'll move right now."

"You'd better."

Maggie hurried to grab her bag and started to get up, keeping her head down.

A hand on her wrist, kind but firm, stopped her.

"I don't recall this seat being yours, Alyssa," said Alfred.

While not unkind, his voice sounded cold, and his features were tight – he wasn't exactly frowning, but he looked close to it.

"But I always sit next to you!" whined Alyssa, pouting.

Her tone was completely different, it retained nothing of the coldness that had been there when she had addressed Maggie – but the biggest indicator of her change of attitude probably was the way she was bending forwards, her cleavage in plain view.

Alfred wasn't impressed.

"And? It's not like we always sit in the same places. I asked Maggie to sit here, and you should be nice to her, it's her first day! Why don't you sit with your friends?"

It wasn't what Maggie would have expected. Nor Alyssa, apparently, for instead of retorting she gaped at Alfred, her eyes wide with astonishment, before snapping back to Maggie. She stared at her for a few moments, wordlessly, furrowing her brow and wrinkling her nose as if she were looking at a cockroach.

Maggie lowered her eyes. She started twisting a strand of hair in her fingers, suddenly painfully aware of how unflattering and unsophisticated her clothes were (a loose blue and red checkered shirt that reached her mid-thigh and a pair of blue leggings. Comfortable, but nowhere close to something that could be called fashionable…) and God, her hair was stupid… being straight at the top allowed her to keep a side-bang, but there was that one single curl that always stubbornly refused to conform to the rest of the hair, dangling in front of her face… Maggie had to use every inch of her will to prevent her hands from running up to try to smooth it down. It would be useless anyway, it would only make her look more pathetic.

Unexpectedly, Alyssa smiled. It looked so fake that Maggie briefly wondered why she was even trying.

"Oh, of course, I hadn't thought about it!" Alyssa chirped, "Oh, Alfred, you are always so nice… it's just like you to be welcoming to the transfer student…" She shrugged. "Of course, I can lend you this seat for a few days. Maggie Williams, isn't it? I'm Alyssa Westbrook. I'm in the cheerleader team… if you need anything you can ask me, okay?"

And with a small wave of her hand, Alyssa headed towards a group of girls who were whispering at the other side of the room.

Alfred shook his head.

"I don't know what's gotten into her…"

"I'm sorry," Maggie muttered, "I didn't want to get you in trouble with her… You've been very nice to me, really, but you don't have to sit next to me… I'm so very sorry, really, I—"

Alfred stopped her, holding up one hand.

"Whoa, whoa, hold on! There's no problem, really! Aand honestly, it's not like I enjoy sitting next to Alyssa, she can be so annoying… I don't understand why she won't leave me alone!"

'Does he seriously not realize it?'

That short exchange had been enough for Maggie to notice how Alyssa moved around Alfred, flaunting her body, and Alfred must have been around her for at least one year, how could he have possibly not noticed anything?

"Are you really sure you don't want me to move?" Maggie asked shyly, avoiding mentioning the other issue.

"Of course!" Alfred answered immediately, beaming. "I wouldn't have saved you the seat otherwise."

"Don't worry about Alyssa," Tolys interjected with surprising vehemence. "You shouldn't listen to her, she's just a spoiled bitch."

Tolys was looking askance at the group of girls Alyssa had joined, who were muttering animatedly.

Confused, Maggie turned to Alfred, hoping for an explanation, but at the same moment, the teacher walked into the room, and Alfred shrugged.

The following period turned out to be much better than the previous ones: Mrs Sheonang, a tall and slim woman in her fifties, seemed quite demanding but even more competent. More importantly, she accepted Maggie's note with a nod, telling her not to hesitate to ask if she needed any additional explanation, and almost skipped the introduction part, simply mentioning to the class that Maggie (whom some of them had already met, as Mrs Sheonang remarked) was a new student and she would stay with them for the rest of the year. Maggie's esteem for her new teacher raised incommensurably at that, but it wasn't the only thing that put her at ease: Alfred and Tolys's presence unexpectedly lightened the mood. They didn't find the time to talk, the teacher demanded absolute silence, but more than once Maggie found herself locking eyes with Alfred, who answered with a reassuring smile or a wink.

The period came to an end quickly, and Maggie found out with unexpected pleasure that she would also share with the two boys the following class, World History. Alfred even insisted on carrying her bag ("What kind of hero would I be, if I let a girl carry such a heavy bag?"), which initially led Maggie to wish she could bury herself from the embarrassment – it was like everybody in the corridor could suddenly see her, she could feel their eyes pierce her back as if she had a target painted on it – but at the same time left her a bit flattered.

They had almost reached the room when a shout echoed across the corridor.

"Liet, wait for me!"

A moment later, Tolys stumbled, hit by a boy who enveloped him in a hug from behind.

Alfred chuckled at Maggie's alarmed expression.

"Don't worry, it's all regular! Maggie, this is Feliks. His surname is impossible to pronounce, don't even ask. He's from Poland."

Feliks was shorter than Tolys almost by a whole head, slight and pale-skinned, with delicate features. He had big, slanted jade green eyes and his shoulder-length golden blond hair was so straight and glossy it could have belonged to shampoo commercial.

"And Feliks, if you are back with us, this is Maggie."

Feliks peered over Tolys' shoulder without relishing his hold on the taller boy's sweater.

"Uhm…hi," he muttered shyly, looking briefly at Maggie before turning his gaze down.

"Nice to meet you," Maggie answered with a weak smile.

Her stomach twisted, the nausea that had miraculously quelled down during the previous period resurfacing. She had felt at ease with Tolys and Alfred, but Feliks's discomfort reminded her that she didn't belong with them.

Alfred burst into a loud laughter.

"Whoa dude, don't be like that! She's not gonna eat you, I swear, she's super nice. Seriously, Fel!"

At the same time, Tolys nudged Feliks with his elbow, and Feliks finally detached himself from his friend's back.

"Uhm… I actually already saw you," he said with a little more confidence, but still without meeting Maggie's eyes. "We have Biology together, but you probably didn't see me, I was sitting in the back…"

"Oh! Actually, I remember seeing you!" Maggie blurted out before she could stop herself.

She had suddenly remembered catching a glimpse of Feliks in a class… but she hadn't truly focused on him and she had mistaken him for a girl due to a mixture of his pink sweater, delicate features, and longish hair. Oh well…

At her words, Feliks suddenly beamed.

"Really? Well, I suppose I'm hard to miss!" he said loudly, startling Maggie.

Without warning, Feliks took a step closer and grabbed one of her twintails, bringing it to the front as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"By the way, I totally love your hair! It's, like, so shiny and silky… and this colour is totally fabulous, it's, like, almost impossible to get it with a dye, do you know?"

The sudden turn of his personality left Maggie gaping at him, her brain not prepared to handle that kind of situation.

'Did he just… compliment my hair?'

Luckily, Tolys understood her uneasiness and dragged Feliks away with a soft sigh.

"Fel, this is too much… she's really shy, I don't think she likes being stared at like this. Come on, let's get inside, you know how much Mr Trevis dislikes latecomers…"

Maggie followed the three boys inside the classroom and stopped at the door as they settled in some desks in the second row. She would have liked to sit with them, but she feared she might have already bothered them enough for the day…

Once again, Alfred solved the dilemma for her, placing her bag in the seat next to his one.

"Come on Maggie, come here!"

Maggie didn't need to be told twice and she quickly slid next to him, disregarding the nasty looks Alyssa and her friends were giving her. She was sure that Alfred would completely forget about her as soon as the novelty wore off, but there was nothing bad in enjoying a bit of human contact in the meantime, was it?

The class went on smoothly, Mr Trevis barely noticed Maggie's presence and didn't comment on it or ask her to introduce herself, which Maggie took as an unexpected blessing, even though Alfred looked oddly annoyed. The teacher was fairly young and didn't have a tight grasp on his student, which resulted in a continuous chatting in the background. In that kind of situations, Maggie would have stayed silent, diligently trying to take notes, but for the first time in her life, she found herself engaged in whispered conversations with Alfred. The bell that marked the end of the period came so quickly that it took her by surprise.

"Ugh, I have another detention…" Alfred groaned as he gathered his notebook and pencils. "I would have asked you if you wanted to go for a walk, you know, see a bit of the town, but I don't know when she's going to let me go…"

"Oh… d—don't worry, you have already done so much for me…" Maggie was quick to reassure him, taken aback. Being nice to her at school was one thing, but offering to spend some time with her outside school time? That was new. Just how nice could Alfred get?

Alfred snorted.

"But I wanted to show you around! Seriously, that woman is a harpy… she keeps giving me detentions!"

"Well, maybe she would stop if you arrived on time," suggested Tolys, but before he could say more he was dragged away by an eager Feliks, who was blabbering something about an ice cream.

Maggie had already prepared her bag, but she found herself lingering next to the desk. She wanted to wait for Alfred, who was still trying to stack all his pencils inside their case, yet, she didn't want to come across as too stifling.

"Do you need a hand?" she decided to ask in the end, but in that exact moment, Alfred finally managed to wedge in the pencils and swiftly zipped up the case before tossing it inside his backpack.

"Ok, I'm done!" he cheered, "Shall I lead you to your locker, mademoiselle?"

Maggie was positive she could have found her way back by herself, but she nodded. After all, Alfred was the one who was offering to help her, it wasn't like she had forced him to…

Alfred kept a cheerful façade and went on talking to her, occasionally greeting somebody, but as they got closer to the locker his mood seemed to decline.

"Dad is going to kill me…" he groaned as Maggie opened her locker. "It's the fifth time I get detention this month…"

The books fell from Maggie's hand. She whirled to Alfred, her eyes wide, suddenly out of breath.

"Hey, are you ok?" Alfred asked immediately as he bent down to retrieve the books, concern seeping through his voice.

Maggie remained still. Her head was spinning, she had to lean against the locker to keep herself upright.

"Maggie?"

Alfred was still kneeling on the ground, holding some of her books, but he had raised his head and was staring at her.

Maggie forced herself to look at him.

"Will you be all right?" she found herself asking with a trembling voice, her eyes huge. "W—will he… I mean… y—your father…"

"W—what?"

Alfred's wide eyes looked lost. He got to his feet, laying a hand on Maggie's arm.

"Whoa, calm down! I was just exaggerating, Dad won't do anything! I mean, yeah, he's going to give me a good lecture on how I should be more respectful and sensible and blah blah, but aside from this…"

"Oh…" murmured Maggie.

"Oh, yes, of course!" she repeated a moment later, as soon as the meaning of Alfred's words fully sank into her brain.

A forced giggle seeped through her lips.

How can I have been so stupid? No one would hurt somebody like Alfred! Sure, he's loud and he seems a bit absent-minded, but he looks like a good person…

Maggie automatically grabbed the books Alfred was holding out to her and stashed them inside the locker.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it, I'm just really tired…"

"Well, I might have been a bit overdramatic," Alfred admitted with a sheepish smile. "Anyway, I'm sorry but I really have to go now… see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay. H—have a good evening," Maggie whispered, still too stunned to come up with something cleverer.

Alfred walked away, but before going around the corner he turned back.

"I swear I'll be on time tomorrow!" he shouted, winking.

Maggie waved back, smiling softly, and when Alfred's broad shoulders disappeared behind the corner she collapsed against the locker.

She felt completely worn out, and she would have paid anything to be able to crawl under the comforter and stay there until the following day… and at the same time, she felt lighter than she had in years.

'Alfred Jones,' Maggie found herself thinking as she headed tiredly towards her home, 'Who are you, to be able to pay attention to such an insignificant girl as I am?'

Maggie was aware that she shouldn't raise her hopes. There wasn't a single chance that a boy like Alfred could have any interest in somebody like her besides trying to be helpful, friendship was something far out of her range – as it should have been. People like her shouldn't even interact with people like Alfred.

And at the same time, Maggie couldn't stop thinking about him. Those blue eyes, so bright and lively, that wide smile, that loud voice… the simple thought of Alfred's face was enough to bring a smile to her lips. That unexpected breach to her anonymous routine had left Maggie strangely energized, almost giddy. All in all, that first day of school had been far better than she had been expecting… it wouldn't happen again, but that didn't mean that everything would be completely horrible. Maybe leaving Canada wasn't as awful as she had thought…

Maggie was so engulfed in her thoughts that she didn't pay any attention to the journey home, and the sight of her new house almost caught her by surprise.

Immediately, the giddiness she had been feeling up to that moment vanished, replaced by a growing sense of dread. In spite of his apparent eagerness to leave the small town they had been living him, somebody hadn't taken the move and the last frantic days so well, and Maggie was the one who was going to have to deal with it.

The lights seemed off, but the car was still parked under the porch, which meant that Steve was home, excluding the unlikely option he had gotten away on foot, but with a little luck, he was already asleep.

With careful movements, Maggie climbed the steps that separated her from the doorway and inserted the key in the keyhole, turning it with the utmost consideration.

The door creaked slightly as Maggie opened it. She immediately froze, the breath caught in her throat, but the only answer was silence.

Silently, Maggie slid inside the softly-lit hallway and closed the door behind her.

For a moment she stood motionless, waiting for her eyes to grow accustomed to the lack of light, then she looked around. A pair of dirty trainers had been dropped on the floor, but aside from them, everything seemed to be in order.

Maggie tiptoed through the hallway and over the living room, stealing only a quick glance at the figure sprawled over the sofa, with an arm draped over his face and the other dangling to the floor, next to an empty bottle of beer.

She was halfway across the stairs when a voice stopped her.

"And just where do you think you are going?"

Maggie stiffened. Steve's voice was slurred from the alcohol and tinged with the annoyance of a growing headache.

"Come here, there's something we need to talk about."

The little colour it usually had was completely drained from Maggie's face. Automatically, she turned and climbed down the stairs, keeping her eyes accurately trained on the steps. She could feel her stomach twist in protest, her heart starting to pound.

Only once she had reached the bottom Maggie dared to raise her head.

Steve had managed to drag himself to a sitting position, he was blinking as he tried to regain a bit of clarity. After a long, endless moment that seemed to expand in the absolute stillness of the house, his eyes fell on Maggie. They were red and bloodshot, a clear sign of the intoxicated state he was in.

Maggie swallowed and lowered her eyes, training them on her feet, but that couldn't block the sound of the shuffling steps that were heading towards her.

"Yes, Alfred, you already told me what a unique and extraordinary colour her hair was. With this one, it's eight times. Yes, I'm keeping count. And I think the word you are looking for is 'strawberry blonde', not 'some kind of golden blonde but brighter, very warm, with some kind of reddish hue'."

Amusement seeped through Arthur's voice. He was trying to sound annoyed, but Alfred knew him well enough to know he wasn't, and there was a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Well, she has really pretty hair," Alfred said in his defence, shrugging, because Maggie did have beautiful hair.

Its bright, warm colour reminded Alfred of summer and gave light to the girl's otherwise pale colouring, but, more importantly, it was so long, going down to her butt in wavy twintails that ended in two mesmerizing ringlets. Alfred had had to restrain himself from trying to touch it.

He saw Arthur smirk as he dug the fork into his plate.

"Ah, yes. Pretty hair. I guess it's such an icebreaker…"

Alfred huffed, rolling his eyes.

"I didn't tell her, Dad!"

His father had been making fun of him since he had caught Alfred trying to flirt with a waitress that summer. Alfred thought that he had been doing well, and neither he nor the pretty waitress (Jessica, according to the nametag) had been intentioned to carry the banter any further than a couple of light-hearted remarks, but Arthur seemed to find it incredibly amusing.

Arthur cocked one eyebrow as he swallowed his bite.

"Oh?"

"I just said that she's pretty," Alfred explained, "That's… kind of objective. I mean, anybody could see that."

Maggie looked almost like a porcelain doll, with her little, delicate pale face, high cheekbones, a slim, small noise whose round point turned upwards that stood over a pair of crimson lips, small but plump. What had gotten Alfred's attention above everything else (aside from the hair), however, were her eyes. They were big, slightly slanted, framed by long, dark eyelashes, and they were of an amazing colour, a delicate pale lilac. It seemed to fit Maggie perfectly, it was in complete harmony with her porcelain-white skin, enforcing the impression of delicacy given by the girl's appearance.

And in spite of that…

"But she's not a girl you flirt with just for fun."

Somehow, Arthur looked even more amused at that, the smirk now clearly evident on his lips.

"Because you only flirt with some kind of girls."

Alfred sighed, rolling his eyes.

'And people say I am the oblivious one…'

It was a real wonder how his father had managed to get married, in Alfred's opinion. Alfred knew that Arthur initially attracted women with his generally gentle and polite disposition, but the truth was, he didn't have any idea of how to deal with romantic situations. Alfred strongly suspected that Francis had had a heavy hand in the outcome of his parents' relationship. Or maybe it had been completely his mother's doing. Alfred didn't remember her well enough to know how she would deal with romance, but she had been lively and headstrong, and, according to his father, he was just like her.

"You only do some casual flirting with girls who might enjoy it," Alfred explained patiently, "And Maggie looked too shy for that."

'Shy' wasn't enough to describe Maggie, actually. Most of the time, she had looked like she wanted to disappear, and what Alfred had found most puzzling was that she almost succeeded. It had something to do with the complete lack of confidence each of her movements screamed, but Maggie somehow easily faded in the background, in spite of her remarkable appearance. Alfred himself hadn't seen her in the beginning, even if they were in the same room, and he wasn't sure he would have truly noticed her if he hadn't been appointed to show her around – something he was very grateful for.

"Ah, I see. So, you kept looking out for her because she looked uneasy?"

Arthur's smile was softer now, more genuine.

Alfred shrugged, shoving a bite of hamburger in his mouth.

"Yeah, of course. That's what anybody should do, right? And it was nice, anyway. I mean, she was nice."

Alfred had done most of the talking, he had realized later. Which wasn't that unusual, but people usually grew tired of him after some time; instead, Maggie had just kept listening, without showing any sign of boredom, while she had said hardly anything about herself – and that only made Alfred more curious. There was something highly unusual about Maggie, he still hadn't figured out what it was, except for the contrast between her low confidence and physical appearance, but he was confident that he was going to find out soon. That girl looked like she could use some friends, after all.

Arthur's voice brought him back from his reverie.

"Well, for how pleasant this conversation about the new girl was, don't think that I have forgotten what the original topic was. And don't look at me like that, Alfred Franklin Jones."

Alfred barely restrained himself from groaning. His father looked serious now, his brows knit over his sharp eyes. There was no escaping the lecture.

'Well, at least I tried.'

Sighing internally, Alfred prepared himself for the well-rehearsed talk on respect and responsibilities. His father was way too strict about that, he had only been a few minutes late… but at least he wasn't punishing him, and in twenty minutes, everything would be back to the norm. Arthur would probably get back in a good mood as soon as he heard about Francis and Maggie's mum, actually. In spite of the temporary annoyance, Alfred would say that it had been a good day.

(word count: 10,323)

Notes:

I thought about using Madeline for Canada's name as most of the fandom, but I prefer the name Himaruya suggested for her, Marguerite. I like how its meaning goes with Canada's personality. Basically, Marguerite can be translated in two different English names, Margaret (and its variations), that comes from Greek and means 'pearl', and Daisy ('marguerite' is the name of the daisy flower in French). However, I have a strong dislike for the name 'Meg', so I decided to use 'Maggie' for short. It sounds sweeter anyway. And I'll mostly use Maggie, since from all the media you English-speaking people seem to have the strange habit of going mostly by your nickname, even in semi-formal settings? (Please correct me if I'm wrong on this.)

Always about Maggie, you may have noticed that she doesn't wear glasses. There is a reason for this and I'll explain next chapter, but in any case, Himaruya has drawn younger America and Canada both with and without glasses, so I think that it gives writers free rein to decide at what age they started needing them. Alfred still wears glasses because I have a hard time imagining him without them, they're like an indelible part of his character in my mind.

Arthur is Alfred's father, and his mother is Nyo!America (Amelia F. Jones). Alfred has her surname for reasons that will be explained in later chapters.

Steve is an OC, and so are Alyssa and the secretary at the beginning. There will be a lot of OCs in this story, being so long I needed a lot of characters, and I didn't feel like using Hetalia characters as antagonists. All the main characters will be from Hetalia, however.

On more important matters: I've been working on this story since March of last year. I usually don't like romance, but there was a moment in which I craved for a cliché, long AmericaxNyo!Canada high school story, and I couldn't find anything I liked. Since I had some free time, I just went like 'Oh well, I'm going to write one myself'. I didn't think it would turn out to be very long, like, 40k words at most, but I surprisingly found myself having a blast writing this story, so it just… went on, turning into a novel-length, slow burn, cheesy and cliché high school romance story. I'm warning you again: this is cliché and predictable, and probably the most self-indulging thing I've ever written (and family and friendship have a big focus too, not only romance. Alfred and Maggie won't just fall in love like that, they will get to know each other and discover what they have in common, and some of the issues Maggie is facing are too big to be solved by another teen. This is why Francis and Arthur are main characters too…). But if this doesn't scare you off, please do read on! :)

Please let me know what you think! And if you have any question don't hesitate to ask. If you want to remain anonymous, I'm also on tumblr, under the username feynavaley.

On a last note, English isn't my first language, I've likely made some mistakes. What is different from my other stories, however, is that the first draft was written in Italian and translated only later, so I think that there is a higher probability of oddly-phrased sentences that still reflect the Italian structure. I apologize for anything wrong you may find!

Edit! A note on the pairings, since somebody asked me: this isn't going to be FrUK. Francis and Arthur are friends, they don't have any romantic involvement.

Edit 2! I have changed Lithuania's name to its more accurate version, Tolys, since the most accepted fanon version (probably result of an inaccurate transliteration from Katakana) isn't actually a real Lithuanian name. I wrote a more detailed post about it on tumblr, if anybody is interested. It's not actually a big deal, but I prefer it this way and I wanted to warn you.