"Alright, Elizaveta. Let's see what you got." Elizaveta nodded and sat down at the chair next to her physics teacher's desk. She pulled a plaid white and blue folder out of her backpack and opened it. Inside, it had everything she would need for the Robbert Baolin Scholarship. She had the information sheet for the scholarship and parts of the information required. She set it on the desk and Mr. Jones began leafing through it. Alfred F. Jones was the physics and general sciences teacher at Hetalia High, so he generally taught Freshmen and Seniors, and the occasional Junior. He has golden hair, bright, blue eyes, and a dashing smile. To put it short – he was sexy, and every girl (or boy every now and then) fell for him. Although single, he never actually seemed interested in anyone.
Mr. Jones hummed as he looked through her packet. Elizaveta watched him scan through the packet. After a few minutes he set it down and looked at Elizaveta.
"It's coming along and you know what information you still need to get right?" She nodded.
"I am going to talk to my parents for the financial information and I also need my transcript of my grades and SAT scores."
"You know where to get that from?"
"The advising office right?"
"Right." There was a pause as Mr. Jones continued to look at the information packet. "So, do you have an idea about who you're going to ask for reference letters from?"
"Yep! I want to ask Mr. Zwingli for one."
"The girls basketball coach? You're on the team right?" Elizaveta nodded. "That's a good idea. Anyone else?"
"W-well…" she looked down and blushed. Mr. Jones gave her a questioning look which she didn't see. "I… was sort of hoping to ask you?"
"Well, of course! I'd be happy to!" Then he laughed loudly and Elizaveta relaxed. She was worried about his answer even though she knew it was slightly ridiculous to worry about something like that – especially since Mr. Jones was always so nice and he is the one who suggested the scholarship to her in the first place. About a week back, he brought up the scholarship to his Senior AP physics class, which is also Elizaveta's class. Not too many people seemed interested in it because, although it was a big scholarship, there was a lot of work involved too. After class, as she was gathering her things, Mr. Jones came up to her and basically said, "You should consider doing the scholarship, Elizaveta. I think you would have a really good chance." She thanked him and she said she'd think about it. The next day, she asked for the info.
"Really? Thank you so much, Mr. Jones!"
"No prob kid! Anybody else you're thinkin' of? It might be a good idea to have at least three or four." Elizaveta thought for a moment and then said, "Well, maybe I can ask Mr. Karpusi… I do help out at the animal shelter a lot."
"Sounds good!"
"As for a fourth…" Elizaveta thought for a moment and remembered her third period. "I was thinking my English teacher, Mr. Kirkland?" Mr. Jones' head snapped up at the mention of the name.
"Kirkland?"
"Yes, I'm doing quite well in his class." She clarified, missing the special look in his eyes.
"Well! Why don't we go ask him!" He stood up and started making his way to the door.
"We?"
"Yep!"
"Now?"
"Why not?" He said and turned around to look at her with a goofy smile. Elizaveta was confused. Why was Mr. Jones going with her to ask Mr. Kirkland for a reference letter? Although, he was more than willing to help her through the scholarship process, she was pretty sure that asking for reference letters was something she's supposed to do by herself. "C'mon!" He said excitedly, and she decided not to question her ridiculous teacher.
The walk to Mr. Kirkland's room would have been silent if not for the constant blabbering of her physics teacher. He was saying something about his brother's polar bear, whose classroom they just passed which is probably why he brought Mr. Williams up, but she couldn't be bothered with that right now. She was still thinking about the strange change in attitude her teacher got when she mentioned the strict English teacher, who would not hesitate to fail anyone – unlike a certain physics teacher. She didn't think they were friends or anything because they hardly talk to each other. Of course, their classrooms are on opposite sides of the school. The English department and Science department don't even have the same lunches so it's not like they eat together. Maybe they run an extra-curricular activity together? No, that wasn't it. Mr. Kirkland was in charge of the book club while Mr. Jones runs the science team and robotics club, and she doubted Mr. Kirkland would ever go to one of those and same vice-versa.
"Hey, are you listening to me?"
"What?" She looked up at her teacher who just chuckled and shook his head. "Oh, sorry Mr. Jones." She said embarrassed.
"It's alright. Anyways, we're here." Sure enough, she recognized the bland door from her third period every day. He winked at her and opened the door.
"Afternoon Artie!" Mr. Jones said excitedly and bounded into the room. Elizaveta followed him after a moment's hesitation. Artie?
"Artie?" Mr. Kirkland said as if he read her thoughts. "I thought I asked you not to call me that Mr. Jones." He glared at the physics teacher who rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"C'mon, Art. And call me Alfred geez." Mr. Kirkland rolled eyes.
"What do you want Jones?"
"Oh!" He said as if he had forgotten the real reason he walked across the school. "I broughtcha somethin'!" What.
He moved aside and pushed Elizaveta forward. The English teacher raised a large eyebrow and stared incredulously at Mr. Jones.
"I hardly think that that's appropriate." Mr. Jones awkwardly laughed and said, "Aha, well… uhm… you see…"
"Mr. Kirkland," Elizaveta cut in before her physics teacher made anything worse. "I was wondering if you would be willing to write a reference letter for me." The Brit looked at her and smiled. Mr. Jones made some sort of noise behind her but she ignored it.
"Of course, what's it for if you don't mind me asking." He asked as he reached for a pad of paper and a pen on his desk.
"It's for the Robbert Baolin Scholarship." He nodded and wrote it down.
"I'm glad you are going for such a great scholarship. You'd be a good candidate."
"Thanks! But it was Mr. Jones who actually suggested it to me."
"Really?"
"Yep!" They both looked back at him who had turned a bit red from the attention he had suddenly garnered.
"When would you like it by?"
"Two weeks at the most?"
"I'll try to complete it in one."
"Thank you so much, Mr. Kirkland!"
"Anytime, Miss Héderváry. Is that all?" She nodded. "Well then, have a good day."
"You too!" She said as she walked out with Mr. Jones.
"Cya later Artie!"
"It's Arthur, git!" He called back and Mr. Jones just laughed in return.
The trip back to the physics room was much calmer and quieter than the previous one. Elizaveta looked up at her physics teacher who still had a small goofy smile on his lips but it was softer and more sincere. He was looking off into the distance with a strange look in his eyes and was he blushing? She thought back to her teacher's strange behavior with Mr. Kirkland. He was loud and said things without thinking but he actually didn't do anything. So, why would he make the trip all the way across the school for one question when she could have just asked him after class- wait. Elizaveta paused. Rapid talking? Blushing? Long, lost looks off into the distance? How could she not have seen it!? She usually prided herself in being able to notice these things before the people involved even knew it themselves! But now it makes sense! Mr. Jones was in love with Mr. Kirkland! How adorable, she thought with a smile as she watched Mr. Jones walk dreamily in front of her.
Of course, she knew what she had to do. There was no way she could something like this go, especially when Mr. Jones needed her help – badly. At this rate, Mr. Kirkland would pass obliviously by him. No matter how smart they both are, Elizaveta could clearly see that they were both idiots when it came to relationships and crushes. She almost squealed aloud at her new ship. Realizing how far she had fallen behind, she hurried to catch up to her teacher and created a plan of action along the way.
Back at the classroom, Mr. Jones sat down at his desk and gathered Elizaveta's papers back into the folder.
"Well, that's taken care of." He laughed and looked up at Elizaveta who was still standing at the entrance, studying her teacher. He shifted awkwardly and chuckled a bit. "Something wrong?"
"I don't think so." She said with a sly smile. He cocked his head to side and gave her a confused look.
"Mr. Jones, do you like Mr. Kirkland?" The American blushed slightly and said, "Well, of course I like him!"
"That's not exactly what I meant."
"What do you mean?"
"You like Mr. Kirkland don't you?"
"I thought I just answered this question…?"
"I don't mean it in that way."
"I'm still not exactly sure what you mean…"
"Mr. Jones!"
"Argh fine! I think I might like like Arthur," he mumbled as he blushed bright red and looked down. She had to prevent herself from laughing out loud at her teacher. Like like? Oh gosh, he's more of a child than I thought.
"What do you think?" Elizaveta looked at her teacher who had such a hopeful look his eyes.
"Huh?"
"Do you think he might… like like me back?" Elizaveta thought back to her English teacher for a moment.
"I think… I think he might. After all, he's not completely horrible with you…" Mr. Jones looked at her quizzically. "What do you mean?"
"Well, Mr. Bonnefoy, says that Mr. Kirkland can be really harsh to people he doesn't like." At the mention of the Family and Consumer Sciences teacher, the American's eyes darkened and he muttered something under his breath. "But the way I see it," she continued. "is that, Mr. Kirkland acts nice around new people but is more mean to the people he knows."
"So what you mean is… Arthur is… in love with Francis?" Wait, what? Francis… Bonnefoy? The FaCS teacher… in love with…?
"Oh god, no. I think their relationship is permanently at the level of hate. I mean, I think that Mr. Kirkland probably actually does... uh… like like you, but he just doesn't know it yet." Mr. Jones frowned as he processed what she said.
"He doesn't know it yet? Then how do you know?" Elizaveta laughed.
"Trust me on this. I know."
"Okay…" he said warily.
"Don't worry, Mr. Jones, because I'm going to help you!" Mr. Jones raised an eyebrow.
"You are?"
"Yep! Because you need my help whether you admit it or not." The physics teachers sighed and shook his head.
"Okay, what should I do then?" He asked with a small smile.
"Well, Mr. Kirkland is extremely cultured. Maybe you can take him somewhere he would be interested in this weekend. Just get the tickets and ask him to go with you." After a moment Mr. Jones nodded and stood up with a big smile.
"Alright! I think I'll do that! This will be awesome!" He gave Elizaveta back her folder who began to put it away. "Oh wait, I forgot to ask! Do you have an idea for the essay portion?" She paused and then smiled.
"You know what? I think I do."
"Alright, well, tell me how it's coming along on Monday!"
"You too, Mr. Jones!" She said with a wink.
~~~~Line Break~~~~
"So, how'd it go?" Elizaveta asked the next Monday after school. They went over a bit of her scholarship things before she decided she couldn't wait any longer.
"Well…" Mr. Jones put down the papers and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm not sure."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I did what you suggested and I took him out to a football game on Friday." Football? Okay that's not exactly what I had in mind when I said "cultured" but I guess it works…
"Okay, that sounds pretty good. Mr. Kirkland has always been a pretty big fan of soccer anyway."
"S-soccer?" Elizaveta looked up into the wide eyes of her physics teacher.
"Please don't tell me you made him watch American football. He absolutely hates that sport."
"How was I supposed to know!?" Mr. Jones whined and Elizaveta groaned. No wonder her English teacher seemed a little irritable this morning.
"Okay, new plan. Ask Mr. Kirkland out to eat. He runs the book club every Thursday so you can't do it then, so I would try for Wednesday."
"Okay… what should I wear?" Elizaveta shrugged.
"Depends on where you go to eat."
"Which is…?"
"I don't know, wherever you two want to eat." Then she seriously looked at him. "Somewhere date worthy." Mr. Jones nodded and smiled.
"Sure! This should be no problem!"
~~~~Line Break~~~~
Elizaveta requested to see Mr. Jones again quickly before school on Thursday because she couldn't meet him afterwards due to basketball practice and had a quick question about the essay portion of the scholarship. Besides, she had to know how the dinner went.
"Mornin' Eliza!" said her teacher who was setting up the classroom for his first class. She glanced briefly at the box of rocks on his desk before answering.
"Good morning Mr. Jones! How'd it go yesterday?" Mr. Jones almost dropped the scale he was moving.
"Mr. Jones? Are you okay?"
"W-well…"
"What happened?" she demanded.
"I took him out to McDonalds and-"
"McDonalds!?" she exclaimed. He looked at her with a small smile.
"Well yeah…"
"I thought I said somewhere date worthy?"
"Hey! McDonalds is date worthy!"
"Oh my gosh…" she groaned. Why did she decide to help the two most oblivious people on Earth?
"Sorry… if it helps any, Arthur was too busy glaring at the food to yell at me?" Elizaveta glanced up at her teacher incredulously. She sighed and quickly thought of another plan that was sure to work.
"Give Mr. Kirkland a small gift."
"Huh?"
"Give Mr. Kirkland a small gift that he would actually like. And make sure to write a card with it." The physics teacher thought for second and then said, "I got just the gift in mind!"
"Okay that's good. Oh, and no cheap toys from the kids' meals at those fast food places either!" Her teacher's smile faded for a moment then returned.
"Don't worry, I got another idea!" So he was thinking about doing that.
"What should the card say?" Elizaveta thought for a moment and the said, "Whatever you want it to be. Say what your heart feels – as cheesy as that sounds… oh, and make sure to use correct spelling and grammar. Mr. Kirkland absolutely hates text talk."
"Okay, okay. Don't worry Elizaveta. I got this." She rolled her eyes and remembered the box of rocks.
"Oh, Mr. Jones?"
"Yes?" he asked with a grin. Elizaveta just pointed at the box on his desk and gave him a confused look. The man laughed awkwardly and shrugged.
"I don't know, some students probably put them there as a joke. Though it's been happening a lot more often lately…" He added more to himself. He went over and picked up the box. "I usually just put them back outside."
~~~~Line Break~~~~
The next day, Elizaveta anxiously went to her third period class. She didn't have the time to see Mr. Jones before school that day so she had to wait until fifth period before she would see him. When she got to her English class a very important Brit was missing and in his place was a substitute teacher. Where's Mr. Kirkland? Does it have anything to do with Mr. Jones? I hope not. Most of the students were happy that their English teacher was gone. That is, until the sub read off the todo list he left.
During fifth period, Mr. Jones seemed to be acting normally, going over his lesson just as excitedly as ever. After he finished, he left the class alone so they can get started on their homework and that was when Elizaveta decided she had to know what happened yesterday. She went to the teacher's desk at the back of the room where Mr. Jones was currently looking through some papers. He looked up as she approached.
"Hey, Elizaveta! Can I help you with somethin'?"
"What did you do yesterday?" She hissed and his smile faltered.
"What do you mean? I did what you said. I'm a pretty good cook so I decided to make him some peanut butter cookies and I-"
"You what!?"
"What? What's wrong?"
"You really don't know much about Mr. Kirkland do you?"
"Well… uh… no?" By this time his smile was almost completely gone and a worried look has replaced it instead.
"Mr. Kirkland is allergic to peanuts." She deadpanned. Mr. Jones paled.
"He's what…? Oh god." He groaned and buried his head into his hands.
"That's why he's not at school today." She mumbled to herself and the physics teacher snapped up to look at her with wide eyes.
"He's not here? But I… Oh god… I killed him!" By now some of the students were looking curiously back at their teacher spazzing out.
"You didn't kill him, Mr. Jones… probably. His allergies aren't that bad." The teacher sighed and gave her a strange look.
"How do you know all of this?" Elizaveta shrugged.
"He tells us some pretty random stuff sometimes." The bell rang signaling fifth period was over and Elizaveta began to walk towards her desk to retrieve her backpack.
"Wait! What should I do?" Elizaveta paused and studied the panicking teacher for a moment.
"Honestly, I'm not sure. Just let it blow over this weekend and I'll see if I can come up with anything for Monday."
"Okay…" her teacher said dejectedly and looked down at the desk he was sitting at.
"See you later Mr. Jones, and don't worry, we'll think of something!" He nodded and waved her off with a small, hopeful smile.
~~~~Line Break~~~~
After school that day, Elizaveta went to Karpusi Animal Shelter to help out. She was of course worried about her physics teacher, and her English teacher, but helping Mr. Karpusi with the animals always calmed her down.
"Mornin' Eliza." Said a relaxed voice as she entered the shelter.
"Good morning Mr. Karpusi!" She smiled at the owner who was lazily petting a cat on the counter.
"Here to help out today?"
"Yep! Where do you want me to start?" Mr. Karpusi glanced to the back.
"Well… I could use some help with the dogs if you don't mind. Kiku's currently on the phone." He gave a slight grimace and Elizaveta laughed. Mr. Karpusi doesn't get along with the dogs too well and usually has his husband, Kiku, take care of them. Of course, Kiku was on the phone right now and he could stay on the phone sometimes for hours at a time just listening to his friends' problems. He's a great person to confide in, Elizaveta can vouch for it.
"Sure, no problem!" She went into the room with the dogs and got started with their cages first. She cleaned their cages and made sure their food and water were full. Then she took the dogs out for walks, generally two at a time. Elizaveta had just come back from her third walk when she saw Kiku petting one of the dogs while still talking on the phone. She just left him alone and began to put the dogs back in their cages. That is, of course, until a certain name caught her attention.
"Calm down Arthur, I'm sure it's nothing." Arthur? It couldn't be… Elizaveta, curiosity killing her, slowed down her movements and scooted closer towards Kiku.
"Yes, I know… No, I don't think so… Arthur, he may not have noticed… I'm sure." By now Elizaveta was less than two cages away. She still couldn't hear the other voice though so she wasn't sure if it was her English teacher or not.
"Do I think what? Oh, of course… well, I-" Kiku glanced over at Elizaveta who jumped back.
"Yes, Arthur." He sighed after a small smile was sent in her direction. "No, I don't think you sh- was that the door? Okay, then. Alright. Goodbye." Kiku turned off the call and gave a curious glance in Elizaveta's direction who busied herself with the dogs.
"Hello, Elizaveta," he said with a smile. She turned even redder.
"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"
"It's okay. There's no harm done." She didn't say anything as they continued to play with the dogs.
"I'm sorry, but may I ask who you talking to?" Kiku just laughed slightly.
"That was Arthur Kirkland, a friend of mine. I think he works at your school." Elizaveta looked at him with debelief.
"Really? Is he okay? He wasn't at school today due to some peanut butter cookies and-"
"How do you know about that?" She snapped her mouth shut and Kiku looked curiously at the younger girl. She frantically tried to come up with an excuse.
"Well, you see… he told the sub about the cookies… who told us…?" Kiku raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. Elizaveta finally caved in after a few awkward moments.
"Okay, fine. I know Mr. Jones gave the cookies to Mr. Kirkland because-"
"Mr. Jones? Alfred? He gave the cookies to Arthur?" He looked at her in shock.
"Well, yeah. Didn't it say on the card?"
"No…" Elizaveta mentally facepalmed. "How do you know about that?"
"I'm kind of the one who told him to do that. I've been trying to get Mr. Jones and Mr. Kirkland together for the past week, but nothing's working according to plan." Elizaveta looked down at the puppy in her lap. She couldn't bear to see his reaction.
"I know how you feel." Huh?
"What?" She looked at Kiku who was chuckling.
"I've been trying to do the same thing. Except, every time Arthur does something, something goes wrong or Alfred doesn't notice. Arthur's been trying to leave his homemade scones on Alfred's desk this past week but apparently it hasn't been working because Alfred hasn't said anything. He insists that it will work though." Elizaveta thought back to the box of rocks on Mr. Jones' desk on Thursday.
"Can Mr. Kirkland cook?"
"Not at all." Yep, that explains it.
"So, what should we do?" Kiku looked curiously at her.
"I have an idea but it might not work. May as well give it a try though right?"
~~~~Line Break~~~~
Ever since fifth period, the rest of that day has been torture! Alfred was over ridden with guilt and was about ready to tear his hair out with worry. What if he really did kill Arthur? Allergies can get really serious. Even if he did live through it, Arthur would never want to see Alfred again. At least I didn't put my name on the card. He buried his head in his hands. He had to fix this somehow. He was tired of screwing everything up.
Finally, a half an hour after school let out, Alfred stood up and looked at his empty classroom. What could he do? He repeated this question over and over in his head as he walked out to his car. As he started his car he thought of something. Maybe I should check on him and make sure he's okay. It was my fault after all… So, Alfred drove to Arthur's house paying little heed to the speed limit.
He pulled up to the small tan house (he had to deliver the cookies here, which is why he knew where the house was! That's all!) and stopped the car but didn't get out. His nerves were eating away at him but as a hero, he had a job he had to do!
Alfred made his way to the front door and rang the doorbell. After a few agonizing moments the door opened and Alfred's heart just about stopped. Standing in the doorway, holding a phone, was his adorable Arthur looking absolutely miserable. He had rashes covering his face and his eyes were red and watery. At the sight of Alfred, Arthur's face turned even redder and his eyes narrowed, well as much as they could.
"What do you want Jones?" He sniffed. "I'm not in the mood for your antics today." Alfred fidgeted nervously and mumbled something.
"I'm sorry? I didn't catch that." Arthur said.
"I said… I'm sorry Arthur. I didn't know you were allergic to peanuts…" If Alfred had looked up he would have seen the look of shock pass over Arthur's face.
"You were the one who gave me the…" Alfred nodded as Arthur trailed off.
"I wasn't trying to kill you! Honest! I was just trying to give you something that I liked when I was a kid and I didn't realize you were allergic until – why are you laughing?" Arthur was indeed holding on to the door frame as his body shook with laughter. Every now and then a laugh would escape his lips and Alfred thought it was probably the most beautiful noise he's ever heard. Finally, Arthur regained control and Alfred was still giving him a wtf? look.
"Er, sorry about that," he said still chuckling. "But I'm not going to die." Alfred let out a sigh of relief. "My allergy isn't even that bad. I just get a few rashes and a runny nose and that's the extent of it. Now if I eat a whole can of peanuts, then it might be serious, but I didn't. I just ate one cookie..." Arthur trailed off and thought back to the sweetly written note with no name that was with the cookies and blushed.
"Were you the one who wrote the note?" Arthur finally asked and Alfred blushed.
"Well, uh…" shit, he had forgotten about that. "…yeah."
"Did you mean it?" Alfred hesitantly looked into Arthur's beautiful green (and red) eyes.
"Yeah." Arthur smiled brightly and so did Alfred.
~~~~Line Break~~~~
Elizaveta walked to her physics room before school Monday. She and Kiku had formulated a plan now that they knew that the two teachers had feelings for each other. She just hoped Mr. Kirkland was back at school today. She also brought everything she needed for the scholarship including all the reference letters and her essay. As she neared the room she heard two familiar voices.
"Let go of me git!"
"I don't wanna!"
"'Want to!' Speak with correct English you- hey! Stop that!" Loud laughter echoed down the nearly empty hallway and Elizaveta hesitantly peeked into the suddenly quiet classroom.
Her physics teacher had her English teacher trapped between him and the teacher's desk in a deep kiss, both hands on either side of him while Mr. Kirkland was gripping the other's shoulders.
Elizaveta stepped away from the classroom and look down at her scholarship folder. The scholarship could wait until later she decided. For now, they can have their time together. Besides, she thought with a sly smile as she walked away from the classroom, I'll just make Mr. Jones tell me all the good details later.
A/N
Hey guys~ Hoped you liked it! It was based on a short joke one of my roommates found on tumblr: If you ship two teachers would that be considered a scholarship? (Yeah, I probably worded that wrong, but I don't remember it word for word... you get the gist though)
That same roommate, who doesn't really like Hetalia, helped me out with some of the content for this story, so thanks! :D
Sorry, if the story was kinda lame though, I learned that I suck at writing fluff D: This also turned out differently than what I planning but it seems okay... xD
I should probably be working on my other stories though... haha...